Question: Differences between Dark Champs 4th and 5th?

[The_Hero]

What would the differences between 4th and 5th Dark Champs be, since they were written by the same person?

[Koshka]

4th was the book the Old Guard wanted him to do, and 5th is the book he wanted to do

From a quick runthrough of the playtest, I'd say 5th covers a wider range than 4th. More to come on the playtest board once I get a chance to really read it.

[Steve Long]

That's not a bad way to put it, Koshka.

Basically, the differences are these:

1. The new DC is a genre book for modern-day action-adventure in all its many forms, ranging from costumed vigilante crimefighters, to spies, soldiers, cops, and so on. I was required to make the first one hew to nothing but really low-level superhumans and costumed crimefighters. (I talk a good bit about this in the Intro to the new DC.)

2. The old DC was the first book I ever wrote. I think it holds up pretty well for all that, but it shows its age. This one is written with 11 years of writing and game design experience.

3. The new DC is going to be the foundation for an entire product lined designed to complement it. We know in advance what we want to do withthe line, where we want it to go. The old one was such a success that the company tried to sort of create a line around it after the fact, but with no planning or definition of what "Dark Champions" was supposed to be.

[Edsel]

That's not a bad way to put it, Koshka.
2. The old DC was the first book I ever wrote. I think it holds up pretty well for all that, but it shows its age. This one is written with 11 years of writing and game design experience.

Amazing! This was the best written of the 4th Ed. stuff (IMHO). From then on if a Hero book had Steve Long in the credits it bacame a must buy. I knew it would be good.

[Steve Long]

Thank you, Edsel! That's the highest sort of compliment a writer can receive, IMO. I'll do my best to maintain that reputation.

[Lord Mhoram]

Amazing! This was the best written of the 4th Ed. stuff (IMHO). From then on if a Hero book had Steve Long in the credits it bacame a must buy. I knew it would be good.

Not to suck up to current ownership, but I second that. The holy trinity of HERO authors under the old guard were Allston, Bennie and Long.

I am looking forward to the new DC. I was never a fan of dark street level supers, but I love to run action adventure stuff in the Die Hard/Lethal Weapon mode- so the new book is going to be much more up my ally than the old one.

[Nyrath]

Amazing! This was the best written of the 4th Ed. stuff (IMHO). From then on if a Hero book had Steve Long in the credits it bacame a must buy. I knew it would be good.

Seconded!
I'm currently reading my new copy of The Turakian Age, and it is solid gold. Anything by Mr. Long is worth buying, sight unseen.

[Killer Shrike]

After Fantasy HERO, DC is the book I was most waiting for.

I didnt like the narrow focus of the DC line under 4th; there was clearly so much more to do with the concept. Im glad to hear that the 5th version will be broader.

[WhammeWhamme]

Amazing! This was the best written of the 4th Ed. stuff (IMHO). From then on if a Hero book had Steve Long in the credits it bacame a must buy. I knew it would be good.

" "

[oroborous]

My last group had great fun with the DC material, so I can't wait to see what happens in this newest version.

You can never have too much fun taking on government conspiracies, secret cabals, and things that go bump in the night.

I am going to use it to see how many points all of my free equipment would be worth if our GM had made us pay for it.

[cndblank]

With Dark Champions out, I see Shadowrun Hero in my future.

Thanks for a great book.

[Lord Liaden]

With Dark Champions out, I see Shadowrun Hero in my future.

Thanks for a great book.

Shadowrun Hero may be even closer than you thought :

http://www.starherofandom.com/h_shadowrun/index.php

[cndblank]

Thanks!

It is amazing what he has there.

I'm play testing in a SR Hero group now.

This one will be on Hero Designer.

I see no one has yet done any of the SR critters for Hero.

Hmmmm.

[Steve Long]

I think the creatures in The HERO System Bestiary would cover most of the Shadowrun critters, perhaps with minor changes here and there to account for SR-specific stuff.

[cndblank]

Which I have and with Hero Designer I can crank out the creatures and NPC needed for a SR Hero session with a few mouse clicks!

Hero Designer makes GMing SOOOOOO much easier.

BTW, Dark Champions Rocks!