Now that I've seen Reality Storm

[Michael Hopcroft]

Now that I have a copy of Reality Storm, i was intrigued by the idea of a medled Millanium City/Empire City Universe.

One villain that comes to mind as someone who would be very interesting to pit agianst some Champions characters is Janus. janus is just plain creepy -- a sadistic serial killer who "hunts masks" -- seeks out supers or other crimefighters and tries to destroy them in mind and body. Without any superpowers at all, he almost brought down the Sentinel, has evaded capture for twenty years with innumerable murders of his head, and is in general the sort of villain who worms his way into your brain and stays there. The sort of villain that even heroes with a CAK might want to see dead, dead, dead.

Mister Matthews is another villain who might fit well opposing Champions characters, with his obsessive hatred of all things superhuman and his incredible skills with genetic engineering.

Then there's Bloody Mary. Not only could she give the Champions a run for their money, but she can creep out just about any group of PCs she encounters no matter what their power level, and her unholy interest in children makes her the sort of villain players would take pleasure in thwarting. What could be more rewarding than rescusing a hundred children?

On the CU side, there are a ton of villains who might pose problems for the Guard. Menton, who is so devastatingly powerful I'm surprised he isn't controlling every mind on Earth already, would be a potent adversary for the Guard, whose lack of a mentalist could prove lethal. I don;t know if the SAS Mid Control attribute GOES that high. Masquerade may be one of the deadliest villains in any superhero RPG, simply because it can appear to be ANYBODY. And how horrifying would it be for Mother Raven to have to face the Crowns of Krim.

[death tribble]

Any idea when it is supposed to hit the shops ?

I have seen nothing about release in Britain yet.

[JJR]

Any idea when it is supposed to hit the shops ?

I have seen nothing about release in Britain yet.

I cannot speak for Britain but I have had a copy since last Friday, so it is out there.

[Lord Liaden]

Any idea when it is supposed to hit the shops ?

I have seen nothing about release in Britain yet.

Since Michael claims to have a copy, it would seem that it's already in Oregon. (*%#! US west coast always gets the cool stuff first. ) So, spill the beans, Mr. H... what's your impression of the adventure? How does the translation matrix work?

As for the impact of the book, I'm frankly hoping that it'll be a shot in the arm for SAS, which has been kind of languishing in terms of new product and fan interest. If the trans matrix is top-notch, this could open up our copious Champions support products to SAS players; good for HERO sales, obviously, but SAS is a fine game with a lot of potential use for Champs players, and more interest could stimulate more product from GOO.

Personally I have several characters from the world of Empire City that I look forward to plundering. In particular, my campaign world could use a good Superman riff like Sentinel.

[death tribble]

I like Alice, Bloody Mary and Phoenix

[JJR]

SAS does not have many villains for its game yet. There are only about 40 villains published in 3 roll calls and 1 criminal intent book. There are not a great deal of choices for a champions game. The villains from the SAS book are the most interesting characters in the SAS world. Kreuzritter, Janus, Iron Duke, Bloody Mary, and Jade Naga are the characters I would uses from SAS.

[Hermit]

Oooo... the waiting is torture, but it will be over soon, yes... soon. Mwhahahaha!

[Agent X]

Since Michael claims to have a copy, it would seem that it's already in Oregon. (*%#! US west coast always gets the cool stuff first. ) So, spill the beans, Mr. H... what's your impression of the adventure? How does the translation matrix work?

As for the impact of the book, I'm frankly hoping that it'll be a shot in the arm for SAS, which has been kind of languishing in terms of new product and fan interest. If the trans matrix is top-notch, this could open up our copious Champions support products to SAS players; good for HERO sales, obviously, but SAS is a fine game with a lot of potential use for Champs players, and more interest could stimulate more product from GOO.

Personally I have several characters from the world of Empire City that I look forward to plundering. In particular, my campaign world could use a good Superman riff like Sentinel.

I think they need to "clean up" their format. I don't like it. The only thing I've bought is the Cheapskate Edition but, looking through their other stuff, it's not a format that works for me. Some of their stuff looks good but they need to be more selective or throw more content down in their books.

[Just A Guy Name]

SAS does not have many villains for its game yet. There are only about 40 villains published in 3 roll calls and 1 criminal intent book. There are not a great deal of choices for a champions game. The villains from the SAS book are the most interesting characters in the SAS world. Kreuzritter, Janus, Iron Duke, Bloody Mary, and Jade Naga are the characters I would uses from SAS.

Don't forget the roughly two dozen write-ups from Emergency Response and Matthews GenTech. Many of the critters from that latter are just monsters, and most of the rest are Sidekicks (more or less), though some are quite powerful. The enhanced version of Monty is a good surprise villain to spring on players. And if the generally poorer artwork (and lack of tie-ins and throwaways present in the SAS corebook and, to a lesser extent, CI and SoJ) diminishes the appeal of the characters from the Roll Calls somewhat; still, a lot of them have good potential as NPCs, with just a bit of polish Scream Queen (from RC1) and Bullet Time (RC2) are just two of my favourites.

[Enforcer84]

Will they be selling Reality Storm at the Hero Store?

[Steve Long]

Will they be selling Reality Storm at the Hero Store?

We will be after the usual one-month delay.

[Metaphysician]

I used to be big on SAS, but frankly, the Champions Universe setting is far better. The only thing SAS has going for it is better iconic heroes, and thats only applicable because Champions doesn't yet really *have* any iconic heroes statted and bioed.

[Blue]

I can only give the typical preliminary thumbs up (as I'm entrenched in the Ultimate Brick right now), but I like what I've seen in Reality Storm. Darren seems to have done a great job. I was worried because following the initial hype it got so quiet.

All plot and background aside, it's worth it just to have the SAS villains statted out in the back for Hero.

[Lord Liaden]

I used to be big on SAS, but frankly, the Champions Universe setting is far better. The only thing SAS has going for it is better iconic heroes, and thats only applicable because Champions doesn't yet really *have* any iconic heroes statted and bioed.

Agreed. Except now, thanks to Reality Storm... we have theirs.

Although, in the pages of Digital Hero, we have been getting more "iconic" heroes, such as the rosters of the Sentinels and the Fabulous Five. I suspect we'll see most of those characters collected in Champions sourcebooks one day.

[Hermit]

I'm sure I've asked this before, but assuming plot and rationalization permit, is anyone else considering making crossover between "alternate game worlds" more common in their campaigns? Not casual like a commute to work, but still...