Enemies of San Angelo

[Dominique]

Did you activate your account?

[RPMiller]

Mark had to set new users to moderated first posts because we were getting spammed heavily for a bit.

Hopefully, we'll get your post approved shortly.

[RobCRogers]

WOW!! I am pleased to see these responses. Always good to hear about folks using the SA line. I've seen a lot of talk about the city book and Enemies. How many of you are using the Denizens book? What were your impressions of it?

I loved Enemies of San Angelo, particularly Anarchy, but was very disappointed in Denizens. The art was very subpar, from the cover on down. A number of the characters didn't have pictures (this is a comic book genre--every character should have a picture), and for those that did, the pictures often didn't match the descriptions. And many of the NPCs were written without a clear idea of what was important to a GM. Random, distracting details about characters were added in to "flesh" them out, but were often boring, not creating plot hooks, just filling space. I was hoping for something along the lines of Normals Unbound, but it was much less useful to me. As an example, I've used about half the NPCs in Normals Unbound over time. I think I've used one NPC from Denizens, and made substantial changes to him.

By the way, the NPCs written for Enemies were one of the weaker parts of that otherwise strong book. It seemed like a good idea in concept, but the relationships were often peripheral, the backgrounds weren't always integrated well, and none of them had pictures.

[Kirby]

By the way, the NPCs written for Enemies were one of the weaker parts of that otherwise strong book. It seemed like a good idea in concept, but the relationships were often peripheral, the backgrounds weren't always integrated well, and none of them had pictures.

I disagree on all accounts except that regarding no pictures for the normals (what was referred to as NPCs, because the entire book is filled with NPCs). I don't feel it's necessary for the normals to have pictures, though it would be a nice bonus to have a "mug" shot.

[RPMiller]

Just bare in mind that artwork is one of the biggest expenses to making a book. So if folks are willing to pay more for pics than pics can be added, but there tends to be a break point of cost vs profit and that point usually reduces pics significantly.

[Lord Liaden]

I've mentioned this to RPMiller before, but while I agree that individual illos for every character would have been nice, what bothered me the most about Denizens of San Angelo was the layout of the stat blocks and background text for characters - or rather, the lack of same. All the character info was crammed together, stacked up like cords of firewood. That not only made it more difficult to read, but made the writeups look hasty and not really important enough to do "properly." In my mind I could only contrast that with Normals Unbound, where even characters without enough game stats to warrant a fully formatted character sheet still had their stats laid out clearly and cleanly, giving the impression (justified or not) that their entries would be worth reading. That can make a real difference to someone just browsing a book off a store shelf, as to whether they buy it or not.

[Dominique]

Okay folks, a one more question for you and a little info. How have you used the various SA products in your campaign? Also, Mark and Rob are tryingto figure out who's going to make the cut for the updated version of the Justice Foundation. If you have an opinion, one way of the other, swing by the GRG message board, and vote. www.goldrushgames.com/forums

[Lord Liaden]

Well, I've used the villain team Anarchy and the solo villains Senora del Oro and Mastermind from Enemies of San Angelo in past campaigns. Anarchy is a colorful, distinctive team with a strongly focussed motivation, rather like Eurostar with a broader agenda. Senora del Oro is probably my favorite character from the collection, with a wonderful name, rich history, unique "gimmick" and a nice character illustration. Mastermind became a name that made other superheroes in my campaign very uneasy; the only thing more disturbing than a fallen hero is one with the power to make you the same way.

As I've posted to the boards before, I used Photon and a few other elements from SA, as well as bits from the 4E CU, in a major plotline for a past campaign. To avoid redundancy I'll just link to that post for anyone who's curious: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?p=502065

(BTW Dominique, I did leave a few suggestions on the GRG message boards. Thanks for the prompting.)

[Dominique]

(BTW Dominique, I did leave a few suggestions on the GRG message boards. Thanks for the prompting.)

Your welcome. They've been a little busy, so I figured I'd give them a hand in keeping interest in SA alive on these boards. Now if I can just get them to publish their prison source book...(hint, hint).

[TheQuestionMan]

Still need to get a copy of Dragon's Gate: San Angelo's Chinatown

Yay!!!

QM

[Dominique]

I shot Rob an email. Hopefully he'll get back to you today.

[TheQuestionMan]

Yeah, but somebody needs to send a noobie the instruction of using his 1st credit card to purchase stuff online SAFELY!!!

Thanks

QM

[Dominique]

QM, I do beleive their online store is secure. Just follow the instructions, and the site should be able to "walk" you through the process.

[RPMiller]

I shot Rob an email. Hopefully he'll get back to you today.

Sorry, I was away for Christmas, but I noticed that Mark replied in the thread. Thanks again Dominique!

[TheQuestionMan]

Done and done. It is on the way.

Finally

QM