Just picked up Hudson City...

[AndyStaples]

... so why aren't I posting in the Dark Champions thread? Because I also picked up The Valdorian Age.

I know I'm behind the times with adding these to my collection, but it's been the first visit to my FLGS in a few months - since I got Dark Champions, in fact.

Now, I haven't really had much time to flick through The Valdorian Age - just skim the magic system everyone's been raving about and looking at the pretty maps.

But I've had more of a chance to dip into Hudson City, and while I certainly can't claim to have read anywhere near all, I'm hugely impressed by what I have read. This book is just packed with detail.

It's ironic, in a way. I went there to get Valdorian Age, and Hudson City was an afterthought. I hadn't planned on any kind of heroic vigilante campaign; instead I planned to use Dark Champions for modern action-adventure stuff.

But I'm hooked. I have to persuade a team of characters to walk the mean streets. My Pokerface may talk with a Yorkshire accent than a New Jersey one (I'm lousy at accents), but he'll still plague the PCs.

Well done, Steve. It's been the best impulse buy I've made in a long, long time. It's fun to read, and it gives me enough information that, even as someone who's never visited the States, I think I can begin to do the setting justice.

Roll over Leeds By Night. Hudson City's coming to Yorkshire... though it (and I) will probably be in Kenya before I have a chance to set the campaign up.

Keep your eyes open for the forthcoming Hero players in Mombasa thread on the player finder forum.

[Black Lotus]

Hee, I love that -- impulse buy.

I'm not making fun of you at all. I just know the feeling; gamer impulse buys are WAY more complicated than, say, a candy bar impulse buy, and a lot more subtle.

Here's the way it usually goes with me:

1.) "Hmmm... I think I'll stop by [Hobby Shop Name] while I'm out, and see what's there." Not really planning to buy anything.

2.) Walks into the shop. "Hi there, Dave. Anything new come out recently? OK. No, I'll just be browsing."

3.) "Gee, what's THIS book here?" Picks up book, flips through.

4.) Five Hours Later: "Dave, I need you to check me out." Dave: "Okay, that comes to... $345.67."

5.) Sneaking large stack of books up to room. Girlfriend: "What's that, hon?" Me: "Oh, uh, some books. I'll be--" Girlfriend: "They're game books, aren't they?" Me, looking sheepish: "Oh... uh, yeah. Heh."

[Lord Kilsco]

Humm, I know that, it's the same for me each time I go to my local store.

[Steve Long]

Thanx for the kind words, Andy! I'm particularly proud of HC, and it's always great to hear that someone's enjoying it.

I can't do accents either, so the transplant to Yorkshire (and thence Mombasa) makes sense to me.

[AndyStaples]

4.) Five Hours Later: "Dave, I need you to check me out." Dave: "Okay, that comes to... $345.67."

5.) Sneaking large stack of books up to room. Girlfriend: "What's that, hon?" Me: "Oh, uh, some books. I'll be--" Girlfriend: "They're game books, aren't they?" Me, looking sheepish: "Oh... uh, yeah. Heh."

Oh, god, you know me inside out. OK, it wasn't just Valdorian Age and Hudson City.

They had d20 Apocalypse on the new product shelf, and I've always liked the post-armageddon setting. Here's a top tip: it isn't worth the paper it's written on.

And they were having a GURPS 3e sale (wonder why?). So I picked me up GURPS WW2 Motor Pool and GURPS WW2 Dogfaces (just so the Yanks can be overpaid, oversexed and over here). And then GURPS Middle Ages 1 second edition, even though I rate the first edition as one of the worst GURPS books ever written, and the second edition not much better, but it was only a fiver...

I got out cheap at 60 quid (something like $100) this time.

I refer the right honourable gentlemen and ladies of these boards to the words of Larry Leadhead, every gamer's secret persona:

http://www.larryleadhead.org/c03.html

[Black Lotus]

Oh, god, you know me inside out. OK, it wasn't just Valdorian Age and Hudson City.

Ha! I knew it!

They had d20 Apocalypse on the new product shelf, and I've always liked the post-armageddon setting. Here's a top tip: it isn't worth the paper it's written on.

My advice: Don't purchase d20 sourcebooks, unless they're for D&D. d20 Future was a trainwreck, d20 Past was a catastrophe, and I KNEW d20 Apocalypse would probably follow suit. Soon after purchasing d20 Future, I abandoned ship from WotC for HERO. By the way, Andy, I'm a huge Fallout/ The Stand/ Deadlands/ Post-Apocalyptic fan myself. If you ever need any help with fleshing out/ creating somethin for that genre, it's my personal obsession, so just ask.

And they were having a GURPS 3e sale (wonder why?). So I picked me up GURPS WW2 Motor Pool and GURPS WW2 Dogfaces (just so the Yanks can be overpaid, oversexed and over here). And then GURPS Middle Ages 1 second edition, even though I rate the first edition as one of the worst GURPS books ever written, and the second edition not much better, but it was only a fiver...

GURPS is a good system, but man does it have a lot of sourcebooks. A lot of them are good, too, which is bad because you could go broke. GURPS Space is especially good, and Traveller and Lensman are pretty gewd.

[AndyStaples]

Ha! I knew it!
My advice: Don't purchase d20 sourcebooks, unless they're for D&D. d20 Future was a trainwreck, d20 Past was a catastrophe, and I KNEW d20 Apocalypse would probably follow suit.

In general, I concur. Unearthed Arcana was pretty good though - almost essential for a d20 Modern game.

By the way, Andy, I'm a huge Fallout/ The Stand/ Deadlands/ Post-Apocalyptic fan myself. If you ever need any help with fleshing out/ creating somethin for that genre, it's my personal obsession, so just ask.

I'm showing my age here, but I got one word: Aftermath!

Absolutely the best post-apocalyptic RPG ever.

GURPS is a good system, but man does it have a lot of sourcebooks. A lot of them are good, too, which is bad because you could go broke. GURPS Space is especially good, and Traveller and Lensman are pretty gewd.

I measure the GURPS books on my shelf by the yard, not by the volume. Been playing it for more than a decade.

The only reason I'm not avidly collecting GURPS 4e is because I found Hero.

[Black Lotus]

In general, I concur. Unearthed Arcana was pretty good though - almost essential for a d20 Modern game.

Wasn't Unearthed Arcana an alternative D&D-style genre sourcebook, that could be used in place of the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide? Actually, I think it was also a sourcebook FOR D&D 3e (which I may own). So do you mean it's good for adapting to d20 Modern?

I'm showing my age here, but I got one word: Aftermath!

Absolutely the best post-apocalyptic RPG ever.

Have you played Fallout and/or Fallout 2?

I measure the GURPS books on my shelf by the yard, not by the volume. Been playing it for more than a decade.

The only reason I'm not avidly collecting GURPS 4e is because I found Hero.

ROFL... yeah. It's best if one never thinks about just how much one has spent on their huge collection of RPG books, don't you think?

[AndyStaples]

Wasn't Unearthed Arcana an alternative D&D-style genre sourcebook, that could be used in place of the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide? Actually, I think it was also a sourcebook FOR D&D 3e (which I may own). So do you mean it's good for adapting to d20 Modern?

Uh, yeah. Strike that, and blame my mental abberation. I meant Urban Arcana.

Have you played Fallout and/or Fallout 2?

Both, extensively. Enjoyed them greatly - and they both made me dig out my old copy of the Aftermath! rules.

Fallout and Fallout 2 are excellent C-RPGs, but when I mentioned RPGs, I was thinking of the pen & paper variety. Aftermath! wins in that genre.

How many other games give you the chance of contracting food poisoning from eating raw pig? Or raw human?

ROFL... yeah. It's best if one never thinks about just how much one has spent on their huge collection of RPG books, don't you think?

We count not the cost of the games we own, but weep for those we lent to friends who never gave them back and with whom we are no longer still in touch.

So passed my copies of En Garde!, and my Paranoia Press Scouts & Assassins. So passed the Fantasy Trip and The Archeron Games System...

And I still curse the day I traded a first printing Deities and Demigods (yes, with the Cthulhu and Melnibonean gods) for a first edition Call of Cthulhu - while Call of Cthulhu 1 was still in print...

[Black Lotus]

Uh, yeah. Strike that, and blame my mental abberation. I meant Urban Arcana.

Urban Arcana was good, but remember you must distinguish between a "Campaign Setting" and a "Sourcebook".

Well, one thing I didn't like... Archaic Weaponmaster (I think that's what it was). That prestige class was shoddily built, too weak for a combat class, and... yeah. Ugh.

Both, extensively. Enjoyed them greatly - and they both made me dig out my old copy of the Aftermath! rules.

My favorite lines are from Jules when you first enter New Reno, and when the Redding sheriff first greets you in Fallout 2 (some parts paraphrased):

Chosen One: "You know where I can get some heavy weaponry?"
Jules: "Yeah, man, the guy over at New Reno Arms has some heavy stuff. He's got sh*t that'll kill people you ain't even MET yet!"

and

Sheriff: "Welcome to Redding, stranger. What's your business in these parts?"
Chosen One: "I came here to kick ass and chew bubble gum. And I'm fresh out of gum."

We count not the cost of the games we own, but weep for those we lent to friends who never gave them back and with whom we are no longer still in touch.

Oh, yeah. Then again, I have quite a few books I KNOW I didn't buy... but i don't know whose they are... hee.

Attached is an avatar (made by Yours Truly) that I use on a message board I moderate. You'll find that I'm a huge Fallout fanatic, if you ever get to know me. Think that's pathetic? Well, "F*** you! Have a bullet for breakfast, a**hole!" (Another favorite Fallout line).

[fredrik_nilsson]

Here's the way it usually goes with me:

1.) "Hmmm... I think I'll stop by [Hobby Shop Name] while I'm out, and see what's there." Not really planning to buy anything.

2.) Walks into the shop. "Hi there, Dave. Anything new come out recently? OK. No, I'll just be browsing."

3.) "Gee, what's THIS book here?" Picks up book, flips through.

4.) Five Hours Later: "Dave, I need you to check me out." Dave: "Okay, that comes to... $345.67."

5.) Sneaking large stack of books up to room. Girlfriend: "What's that, hon?" Me: "Oh, uh, some books. I'll be--" Girlfriend: "They're game books, aren't they?" Me, looking sheepish: "Oh... uh, yeah. Heh."

We must be twins, separated at birth!

[Killer Shrike]

... so why aren't I posting in the Dark Champions thread? Because I also picked up The Valdorian Age.

I know I'm behind the times with adding these to my collection, but it's been the first visit to my FLGS in a few months - since I got Dark Champions, in fact.

Now, I haven't really had much time to flick through The Valdorian Age - just skim the magic system everyone's been raving about and looking at the pretty maps.

But I've had more of a chance to dip into Hudson City, and while I certainly can't claim to have read anywhere near all, I'm hugely impressed by what I have read. This book is just packed with detail.

It's ironic, in a way. I went there to get Valdorian Age, and Hudson City was an afterthought. I hadn't planned on any kind of heroic vigilante campaign; instead I planned to use Dark Champions for modern action-adventure stuff.

But I'm hooked. I have to persuade a team of characters to walk the mean streets. My Pokerface may talk with a Yorkshire accent than a New Jersey one (I'm lousy at accents), but he'll still plague the PCs.

Well done, Steve. It's been the best impulse buy I've made in a long, long time. It's fun to read, and it gives me enough information that, even as someone who's never visited the States, I think I can begin to do the setting justice.

Roll over Leeds By Night. Hudson City's coming to Yorkshire... though it (and I) will probably be in Kenya before I have a chance to set the campaign up.

Keep your eyes open for the forthcoming Hero players in Mombasa thread on the player finder forum.

Yeah, Hudson City is amazing. If it doesnt win any awards this year, it's just further proof that awards don't exist to acknowleging excellence.