How about 2005?

**BobGreenwade** · Feb 21st, '03, 11:58 AM

I know Steve & co. aren't really ready yet to put a lot of energy into such decisions, but I'm curious about what the community at large thinks.

Now that the 2004 schedule is out, what would y'all like to see for 2005?

One of the Hero Guys (I think it was Darren) said something about Pulp Hero being likely for that summer, and I think it's probably the best choice for the next genre book.

In terms of Ultimate books, I think I'd most like to see The Ultimate Energy Projector and The Ultimate Speedster. If I could pick one more, it'd be The Ultimate Gadgeteer.

For setting books, I'd like to see Tuala Morn, The Interstellar Age, and Golden Age Champions.

Some sort of compendium of weapons, armor, and other equipment for Fantasy Hero games (probably geared to one of the three main fantasy settings) would be cool too.

Following up Villainy Amok with something for science fiction and/or fantasy would be great too -- call them Technology Amok and Magic Amok.

I also personally think it would be very cool to expand Worlds Of Empire (depending on its sales) with a series of books about each of the extraterrestrial societies in the Hero Universe. I'm personally fascinated by the Mon'dabi (and I expect that fascination to increase when I get my hands on TE), but I can see several good reasons to start off instead with the Hzeel.

A book covering the Xenovores, as encountered in the Alien Wars setting, would also be a good item to have.

To expand the Champions Universe a bit, sourcebooks on ARGENT and the IHA would be cool. A thread on the 2004 schedule brought up the idea of Tournament Of The Dragon (a redux of WotD) and a second edition of Corporations, both of which I'd definitely jump on.

I'd also be interested in seeing something like (for lack of a better title right now) The Implacables, a sourcebook for Galactic Champions all the great mega-villains who have survived from this millennium until that one (starting with Mechanon, Doctor Destroyer, Isthatha V'han, Takofanes, and Tyrannon -- but not stopping there).

Well, those are the ramblings that have come out of the breeze between my own ears... any other opinions?

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Note: The opinions expressed in this thread, unless posted by actual Hero Games employees and clearly expressed as such, do not constitute an official announcement by Hero Games regarding any book or books.

**Monolith** · Feb 21st, '03, 01:18 PM

Pulp Hero is something I definately would want to see for 2005; as well as some support material for the genre book.

I would also like to see a new "Enemies" book on the schedule; after two years people will be getting sick of the ones in CKC. I would hope by 2005 DOJ would flesh-out the CU so that we have information on IHA, ARGENT, PRIMUS, and any other criminal or law enforcement organizations by the end of that year as well.

As far as Ultimate books, we need Armor to appease The Imperial Khan.

I would also like to see the weaponry book you mentioned; though that might be covered in Gadgets. Really any of the Ultimate books might be good.

I would not mind seeing some of the other "World" books I mentioned in another thread. Another adventure or two could be handy as well.

I have no real interest in Fantasy Hero, so I won't make any comments on that.

As far as Star Hero goes, we will have a complete supply of campaign books, but I think we will be needing more support material for each of those campaign worlds. The campaign books are concise but they do not cover every single aspect of those worlds anymore than Champions Universe covers every single aspect of the Champions world.

It is really hard to think that far out when there is so much in-between I have not wrapped my mind around yet.

Basically I just want to see gaming material that will add to my playing time and helps take away from my designing time.

**SAVeira** · Feb 21st, '03, 01:42 PM

Originally posted by Monolith
I would also like to see a new "Enemies" book on the schedule; after two years people will be getting sick of the ones in CKC. I would hope by 2005 DOJ would flesh-out the CU so that we have information on IHA, ARGENT, PRIMUS, and any other criminal or law enforcement organizations by the end of that year as well.

Have to really agree with you there. I have always felt there need to be at least one new "Enemies" book a year. Also, there is so much of the CU world that truly screams out to be fleshed. Leave it long and interest can die.

S.A. Veira

**Crimson-Hawk** · Feb 21st, '03, 04:38 PM

Originally posted by SAVeira
Have to really agree with you there. I have always felt there need to be at least one new "Enemies" book a year. Also, there is so much of the CU world that truly screams out to be fleshed. Leave it long and interest can die.

S.A. Veira

Well, aside from the fact that each of the "Subsetting" books will most likely include several, if not a couple dozen, characters each, the Meriquai Falls ebook is currently slated to include 50 characters that will be easily portable into the CU. They're not official to the CU, but they're something.

(end shameless plug)

That said, for 2005, I have to agree on a new "Enemies" book. I'd also like to see a Pulp Hero sourcebook.

Another idea that might be neat to entertain, if even for the Hero Plus line, is a "Ultimate Fantasy" line. Books with such imaginative titles at "Ultimate Fantasy Occupations" (which would present occupational package deals and detail them in incredible detail, even giving sample magical powers if need be), "Ultimate Fantasy Abilities" (which would present many spells, spell-like abilities, and "feats" characters and monsters could possess in a fantasy setting), and "Ultimate Fantasy Races" (write your own description for this one...) would grace this line. Talk about spicing up your fantasy or science-fantasy campaigns!

Anyway, just my two-cents worth.

**Dr. Anomaly** · Feb 22nd, '03, 03:27 AM

My personal wish-list would include Pulp Hero (yes, I, too, was disappointed by it not being in 2004, but I'd rather wait a bit for a book the quality of those DOJ has been putting out), Golden Age Champions, and The Ultimate Gadgeteer.

Hmmm...sudden thought...a nice "expansion" for Terran Empire could be a series of short articles in Digital Hero (or on a Terran Empire Resources web page?) each of which details one world, city, port, ship/ship class, newly-discovered minor race, culture, business, or what-have-you -- in other words, a series of nice little tidbits ready to be dropped neatly into place in our own games.

Of course, said series of short articles would require members of HEROdom to write them for the rest of us...any takers?

***Derek Hiemforth*** · Feb 22nd, '03, 05:25 AM

At risk of getting lynched by the mob here, I'd like to register a vote against too many more Enemies books for Champions Universe. (Derek ducks the thrown debris.)

CKC has a lot of enemies in it already. Champions and Champions Universe each have a few. I'm sure future CU products will also have some. And of course, most GM's will add some of their own creation.

If we were also adding another whole Enemies book per year, that would be an awful lot of villains for one hapless setting to deal with, don't you think?

I'm not saying there shouldn't be any new Enemies books, but I'd prefer they not be as common as they were in "the old days." If another one the size of CKC was done in 2005, that would be plenty of villains and plenty soon, IMO. I'd much rather see only the best and most interesting villains make it to print, than to see mediocre ones thrown together to make the year's "quota."

On the other hand, I definitely like the idea of doing a big Enemies book like CKC as one of the early follow-ups for each setting book... not just Champions Universe.

**Monolith** · Feb 22nd, '03, 06:00 AM

Originally posted by Derek Hiemforth
If we were also adding another whole Enemies book per year, that would be an awful lot of villains for one hapless setting to deal with, don't you think?

Considerin there are 88 named superheroes in the Universe in the USA alone (and many more who are unnamed), I do not think 100 villains go too far.

I do not think we need an "Enemies" book every year as long as Champions products continue to increase the villain total, but I do think that adding another 100 every couple of years in a new "Enemies" book is a good thing.

**BobGreenwade** · Feb 22nd, '03, 06:25 AM

I'd like to weigh in to support the idea of about one Champions enemies book per year.

There's plenty of room for it. As pointed out, there are plenty of NPC heroes to go around, so there should be enough villains to have them "overworked" (making a clear need for the PC heroes).

More significantly, not all villains are appropriate for all campaigns. For example, a high-tech campaign could have (to pick from the villains published so far) Mechanon, Doctor Destroyer, Devastator, the Warlord, VIPER, and occasionally the likes of GRAB, Eurostar, PSI, or the Ultimates. Allowing that some of these foes are either overly powerful for a beginning group or only tenuous in their connection to high technology, a few more are needed -- a space that a second edition of High-Tech Enemies (or, possibly, The Technological World as a continuation of the series started by The Mystic World) could fill.

A similar principle would hold for other possible emphases for Champions campaigns: aliens, mutants, psionics, martial arts, mercenaries, and so forth.

**Chris Goodwin** · Feb 22nd, '03, 08:50 AM

How about Robot Warriors 2nd Edition, The Ultimate Mecha, or whatever you want to call it. Even Anime Hero as long as it includes loads of hot crunchy big metal goodness.

**Law Dog** · Feb 22nd, '03, 08:54 AM

Originally posted by Derek Hiemforth
At risk of getting lynched by the mob here, I'd like to register a vote against too many more Enemies books for Champions Universe. (Derek ducks the thrown debris.)

If we were also adding another whole Enemies book per year, that would be an awful lot of villains for one hapless setting to deal with, don't you think?

I'm going to back Derek on this one. I would rather see quality over quantity any day.

I don't believe I'm unique in this aspect, but how many GM's ever use even the best designed Villians as is? I'm prone to redesign almost anything I intend on using anyway. Heck, in the old days, since many of the characters were built either wrong or the math was incorrect, you had to do this anyway. Add to this, the number of other supergames producing villains (I too have swiped Factor Four as a villain group and rewrote them in Champions format and lifted several of the German supersoldiers from the new Godlike supplement for future use in a WWII setting), we're not exactly hurting for villains.

The only thing I occassionaly enjoy with the villain books is the uncommon innovative power design.

**Balok** · Feb 22nd, '03, 09:15 AM

For new "enemies" books, I'd like to vote *against* theme books (like Hi-Tech Enemies). My concern is that attempting to populate a book entirely with enemies that fit a theme can lead to dumb characters.

A genre book I'd like to see, at some point, would be Conspiracy Hero. Right now, the niche might be a little populated, but long about 2005 or 2006, there might be room for a new entry. The sort of book I'm talking about would offer GM's tips on how to establish believable conspiracies, how to manage "shades of grey" campaigns effectively -- not only players who are greyish, but also opponents that don't easily fall into the good/evil dichotomy. I could see this as a good follow on for Pulp Hero.

**BobGreenwade** · Feb 22nd, '03, 10:05 AM

Originally posted by archer
How about Robot Warriors 2nd Edition, The Ultimate Mecha, or whatever you want to call it. Even Anime Hero as long as it includes loads of hot crunchy big metal goodness.

Actually The Ultimate Vehicle started out as The Ultimate Giant Robot (the term mecha wasn't quite in vogue yet). But I'd certainly love to see a second edition of Robot Warriors as a Star Hero subgenre book in '05.

**BobGreenwade** · Feb 22nd, '03, 10:10 AM

Originally posted by Balok
For new "enemies" books, I'd like to vote *against* theme books (like Hi-Tech Enemies). My concern is that attempting to populate a book entirely with enemies that fit a theme can lead to dumb characters.

I don't think you have to worry too much about that. Steve's being an extreme stickler for quality here, a quality that only enhances the experience for writer and player alike.

A genre book I'd like to see, at some point, would be Conspiracy Hero. Right now, the niche might be a little populated, but long about 2005 or 2006, there might be room for a new entry. The sort of book I'm talking about would offer GM's tips on how to establish believable conspiracies, how to manage "shades of grey" campaigns effectively -- not only players who are greyish, but also opponents that don't easily fall into the good/evil dichotomy. I could see this as a good follow on for Pulp Hero.

A book covering a genre that hasn't yet been touched on by Hero would be cool. I mean, even with Cyber Hero, Horror Hero, and Western Hero somewhere over the horizon, I think there's a lot more that can be done, and Conspiracy Hero is just one good example. Others that come to mind include Mystery Hero, Pirate Hero, and Saturday Morning Hero -- even Cave Hero could present some interesting twists.

**Dynamo** · Feb 23rd, '03, 12:24 AM

Ultimate _______ books. I love those things. Topping my wishlist for 2005 would be, in order, U. Energy Projector, U. Speedster, U. Armor, U. Gadgeteer, and U. Mentalist. (I know I certainly won't all five that year, but I can dream.)

Other than that, I'm really looking forward to Dark Champions: The Animated Series and whatever Champions support I can get my mitts on.

Not a big fan of Pulp. May stick with Fantasy Hero itself out of the Fantasy line. Same with Star Hero. Although, I may get sucked into the setting support for Star Hero and Fantasy Hero and change my mind...