Dark Champions

[djkester]

I shall now hope for a kick starter.

[scorpionx1]

yeah, i hear ya. bummer. dark champs was one of my fav's. was really hoping for an update next year.

best of luck to Steve, Darren and Hero!

[Steve Long]

I shall now hope for a kick starter.

Well, we'll see what possibilities might crop up.

[Steve]

Is it possible that a reprint of the 5th edition version could happen?

[Steve Long]

I don't think that's likely, but I'm not in a position to speak for the company officially on this point.

[dan2448]

I really loved the 1993 "Dark Champions." As a high school kid in the mid-1980s, I had been an enthusiastic buyer of "Punisher" comic books, and then Mike Grell's "Green Arrow" as well. That original guide to street level heroes and vigilantes captured that sub-genre so well, and was so novel when it was originally published. I bought it even though I was no longer a regular player of "Champions" anymore at that point. I simply stumbled across it at a "B Dalton" (or some similar mall bookstore). My shock at seeing "Champions" products stocked there (Credit to I.C.E., I suppose) was trumped by seeing a sourcebook focusing on a very specific sub-genre, one that had been a personal favorite of mine.

I really liked the (much bigger) 2004 version of "Dark Champions" for 5e as well. If I had any quibble with it, though, it was that the 5e edition tried to encompass so many sub-genres in addition to the original street-level vigilante, from "Dark Champions: The Animated Series" to "X-Files" to "James Bond."

Having been a life-long fan of the "James Bond" franchise, and having purchased the original "Espionage" RPG all those years ago, I found myself wishing for a dedicated sourcebook on that genre after reading the 1 page blurb at the start of the book. While the excellent detail on firearms was directly relevant to that type of campaign, I found some of the rest of the book to be of limited, if any, relevance (like the otherwise excellent detail on forensics).

Having really liked "Batman: The Animated Series" 20 years ago, I was also very intrigued by the one page of detail on that sub-genre as well. That was an excellent, excellent executive summary of that sub-genre, I remember thinking, which left me wanting more. I was excited that, just months later, an entire sourcebook on that topic, written by Allen Thomas, was published. I really enjoyed that book as well.

The excellent "Pulp Hero" books for 5e confirmed in my mind what a great sourcebook Steve could write for the espionage/spy genre.

I'd be an enthusiastic buyer of "Dark Champions" for 6e if: (i) it was written by Steve, whose work I have enjoyed going back to articles in the "Adventurers Club" 25 years ago, and (ii) it narrowed its focus a bit, and contained a 'sourcebook within a sourcebook' about the espionage sub-genre. I'd be even more enthusiastic if it included Steve's more detailed take on "Dark Champions: The Animated Series."

But I'm afraid that, absent those additions, I'm not sure I'd feel a compelling need to add a 6e version of "Dark Champions" to my library, since it already includes the comprehensive 5e version and the seminal 1993 "Dark Champions."

[Steve Long]

Believe me, dan, I'd love to write a new Danger International for 6E -- I've wanted to for years. The problem, as with Victorian Hero, Western Hero, and a number of other genre books, is that the time, effort, and expense to create such a book isn't likely to be justified by a corresponding level of sales.

Maybe if the Kickstarters I have planned for Mythic Hero and other big books go well, I can contemplate doing a new DI. It'd certainly be a lot of fun to research and write. I just have to be sure it's worth the effort earnings-wise.