Essential Books

[FenrisUlf]

Which Champs books would you folks say are essential (beyond the basic rulebook, of course) for (1) use of the 'official' Hero Games Universe and (2) just to play in the superhero genre?

For instance, I'd put Millenium City in the first category and the Ultimate Super-Powers book in the second.

Any help would be vastly appreciated.

[Lord Liaden]

In the superhero genre generally, USPD goes first, absolutely. Gadgets and Gear is similarly helpful, but is less universally applicable IMHO. The Ultimate Martial Artist is of tremendous benefit if martial arts will play any significant role in your campaign. I would actually rank the Champions genre book as crucial only if you're not familiar with the supers genre of gaming; otherwise it's merely useful, but not essential.

For gaming in the official CU, I'd put Champions Universe and Conquerors, Killers And Crooks ahead of Millennium City. The former gives you the whole world/galaxy/dimensional framework and how it fits together, while the latter details most of the villainous movers and shakers. Beyond that the books serve more specialized needs: for example, The Mystic World and Arcane Adversaries will be a big help for campaigns focussing on supermages.

[TheEmerged]

My take on purchase necessity -- adapted from a recent, similar post.

100% = FREd. It's really the only one you need.
85% = UNTIL Super Powers Database (or genre equivalent). Especially if you're fairly new to the system, this/these will give you a major heads-up on how power construction works.
80% = Conquerors, Killers, and Crooks (CKC). If you're fairly new to the system or haven't played since earlier editions this one can give you some good examples of how the characters should look.
75% = Champions Battlegrounds. Normally I'm not a big fan of modules. Okay, normally I'm all but against modules except as a luxury product. This one however has some *very* good, adaptable material (what is Champions-specific is easily changed) worth recommending.
60% = Champions Universe & Millenium City. Good products if you're planning to run a campaign in the Champions Universe or (like me) a near equivalent.
50% = Ultimate Martial Artist. Some good mechanic explanations, and a ruleset that's going to cross numerous genres.
50% = Ultimate Vehicle. This should be fairly deep on your purchase list, but is something you should get around to. It's best benefit IMO is that it gives you a scale to judge your heroes capabilities relative to the "real world". However if your characters want a supervehicle or to pilot a giant robot the importance of this product increases to 80%.
30% = HERO Bestiary. Not as important in some genres (Champions) as others (Fantasy, Star HERO, etc).
10% = Champions. I accept that I'm in the minority here but I was heavily disappointed with this one. There's basically one chart in here I found useful; I photocopied it and haven't opened it since. If you've read a few comic books in your life, chances are good you won't need this.

Your mileage will probably vary and all that

[Metaphysician]

The Champions genre book itself is really only useful for DMs, IMHO.

Obviously, if you want VIPER or UNTIL to play a major role, you need those books. In fact, if your playing in the Champs U at all, I'd suggest them; they give an idea of what is going on elsewhere in the world ( and what your characters might stumble into ), and also are just really well written.