BishopofB&W Posted March 31, 2004 Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 Gadgets And Gear arrived at my FLGS last night and I got a chance to skim through it on the bus home. First off, I love the cover. Nighthawk’s bracers, chest piece, and eyes are a medium dark gold. The cowl is narrower and peaked out in the back and the beak looks shorter and a little more curved. It looks more like the head of a bird of prey. There are also two good action pictures of him inside. No Nighthawk follies here! There are relatively few art pieces to make room for more text. The art that is there is of mixed quality but leans heavily to the high end. There’s a picture of Kinetik doing a cartoonish pratfall after a clown throws marbles at his feet. Another shows a hilarious expression on Dr. Silverback’s face after Brainchild shoots him in the back with a tranq dart. It reminds me of Richard Burton’s unintentionally funny film portrayal of Trotsky getting stabbed by a Soviet agent. Then there’s the illustration of the, ahem, distracting costume. Finally, the plates at the chapter beginnings tell a story of an inventor building his first set of crime-fighting gadgets. Steve Long has continued with the formula he used in the Vehicle Sourcebook. He has taken all the classic types of comic book weapons and gadgets and written them up with different options on each. From mutant-neutralizer guns to Questionite™ claws to shrink rays, every type seems to have some kind of representation. He also includes more homages to character-specific gear. There’s a trick umbrella (Wack! Wack!), a set of four metal tentacles (who could that be?), webbing projectors (hey man, everyone knows Spiderman shoots webbing straight out of his wrists:p), and what looks suspiciously like the Mad Hatter’s mind-controlling cards. The Muscle-Powered Ranged Weapons section has plenty of ideas for trick arrows. I think the Powered Armor section deserves special mention. There are about twenty pages of ideas for optional extras on powered armor. Just reading through them can help make sure you don’t forget anything when designing a PA character. I would even go so far as to say that even though it’s not The Ultimate Powered Armor, it may well be a preview of things to come when TUPA finally comes out (hint, hint). Before I forget, it has some cool illustrations of powered armor components. All in all, I think it’s a fine addition to the Champions line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomeAsianKid Posted March 31, 2004 Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 Re: Such Wonderful Toys… I was disappointed though that I did not see the build for two gadgets I have been working on: a cell phone, and a laptop computer with wireless internet. I mean, using the internet gives a character access to tons of skills, how do you build that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BishopofB&W Posted March 31, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 Re: Such Wonderful Toys… I was disappointed though that I did not see the build for two gadgets I have been working on: a cell phone' date=' and a laptop computer with wireless internet. I mean, using the internet gives a character access to tons of skills, how do you build that?[/quote'] Steve said in the beginning of the book that those are going in Dark Champions. Cell Phone: HRRH, 1 24 hr continuing charge(figuring you're not talking on it for hours at a time), must be plugged in to recharge, must be within range of cell towers (-0 limitation normally), gestures,... Wireless internet would get you a VPP of 8- Knowledge Skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheQuestionMan Posted March 31, 2004 Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 Gadgets and Gear Online Will there be a Gadgets and Gear Online for us to contribute too . I believe that this one would become even larger than USDB Online . In the mean time I am going to be jealous of BishopofB&W and SomeAsianKid for getting DoJ's latest release so quickly . [ insert explicitives here ] :( I eagerly await your Reviews to be posted in magizines and online . Cheers E. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gorillaboss Posted April 1, 2004 Report Share Posted April 1, 2004 The Stilt-Man Cometh! I'm a happy camper, if for no other reason than the inclusion of "Mechano-Stilts." I bet someone had to twist Mr. Long's arm to include those! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urklore Posted April 6, 2004 Report Share Posted April 6, 2004 Re: Such Wonderful Toys… I was disappointed though that I did not see the build for two gadgets I have been working on: a cell phone' date=' and a laptop computer with wireless internet. I mean, using the internet gives a character access to tons of skills, how do you build that?[/quote'] I thought Steve said sometime last year that an online PDF was going to be released. It was the everyman's guide or something like that where all manner of everyday items were going to be written up for Champions. Steve? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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