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Hero Needs Reviewers!!

Darren Watts

By Darren Watts
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Xotl Enthusiast

Xotl

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Re: Hero Needs Reviewers!!

 

Just curious: has anyone accepted *not* received a review book yet? I'd normally not mention anything, since they are free books after all, but on the other hand I don't want to get cut off from books for not reviewing a copy of Dark Champions I never received in the first place. It's been a month. I'm in Canada.

 

I thought I'd ask here and wait a while longer before mailing Hero, since they're busy folk.

 

Thanks.

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Xotl Enthusiast

Xotl

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Re: Hero Needs Reviewers!!

 

I just got my DC review copy this morning actually.

 

Did Tina indicate that you were on the list of reviewers?

 

Yeah she did. Thanks for the reply: I just wanted to check on the average shipping time. If you received it I can happily wait another couple of weeks. I'm going to have to come up with an odd angle for my reviews though: several reviews of it have already been posted a while ago (something else that made me think something was wrong), and I don't want to reiterate what everyone else has been saying.

 

Thanks again.

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Xotl Enthusiast

Xotl

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Re: Hero Needs Reviewers!!

 

I just received three books at once a few days ago, including the mammoth Dark Champions, so it's going to take me a while to go through all this material. Thanks so much though: it's great stuff.

 

I've managed to get DEMON read and reviewed, and it just went live at RPGNet, for anyone who's interested.

 

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/10/10802.phtml

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Killer Shrike Grand Master

Killer Shrike

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Re: Hero Needs Reviewers!!

 

Just posted the following review on rpg.net for DEMON. It usually takes about a week or so, but heres the sneak peek (some of the HTML might not display correctly; so dont sweat it):

 

DEMON

Servants of Darkness

Purpose

 

This book is intended to provide support for involving the mystically oriented villain organization of DEMON in the Champions Universe.

 

What this book isn't:

Not a Rulebook

Not a Setting

Not a How-to for Character design

Not a general purpose Villain book

Not a good selection for "bedtime story" readings

What this book is:

A very specifically detailed and distinct organization, complete with NPCs, Package Deals, and a nefarious back story.

A good model for other Cthuluesque cults and covens.

Chicken soup for a tainted soul!

General Use: This book is most useful to HERO System GM's that want to include DEMON in their Champions Universe games. It has practically no use to players, unless the GM is running some kind of "be the bad guys" campaign centered around DEMON.

 

Physical Description

 

Form Factor: Just shy of 1/2 an inch across the spine, with the typical HERO System black header and footer strip. The interior uses most of the page space with a standard font on white background. Very easy to read. Sidebars are present on all pages, used for sidebar entries in many places, but otherwise blank. Chapters are divided with a full page art spread. Standard HERO System formal business like layout.

 

Cover Art: Another Storn cover, this one depicts Witchcraft flinging a spell while a cultist is poised to drive a ceremonial dagger thru Defenders chest plate. (Defender and Witchcraft are iconic Champions Universe characters).

 

I like the cover. It's well executed, thematically appropriate, uses a good color palette, and just all around works.

 

Interior Art: Not as good as the cover overall. There are some good pieces in the interior, but overall a mediocre effort in my opinion. This is compensated for somewhat by the inclusion of a few really good maps.

 

SPOILER ALERT: The nature of this product makes it difficult to review without inadvertently mentioning various spoilers. Players should seriously consider not reading any further

 

All in all, I have some difficulty reviewing the product, because I would really like to gush over some of the more nifty approaches taken in the book, but I dont want to broadcast some of the great fodder for unexpected twists, and general mystery of the organization presented herein.

 

Thus, the following review reads a bit "stiff" even to me, because I am trying to keep a tight clamp on the "neat stuff" and do my best to avoid mentioning such elements. Apologies in advance if it detracts from the value of the review.

 

Itemized Review

Introduction

Even more to the point than usual for a HERO System intro, this one isn't even a full page. It summarize each chapter in turn, and a sidebar mentions other good products to use w/ DEMON.

Res Demonica

The best section of the book in my opinion, this Chapter is essentially the History of the nefarious organization and it's founder. It's notable for it's overall vision and general plausibility. It gives a real gravitas to the rest of the book. The History, rather than being a dry timeline, instead hits the high points in a narrative fashion, illustrating the key events of the matter.

 

Also useful/interesting, are several pages bulletpointing key DEMON schemes and plots across various ages, broadening the usefulness of the product for pure modern supers.

 

The key point to this chapter is everything else that is DEMON is directly rooted in and driven by the all-encompassing vision laid out here at the beginning of the book. Do not skip over it, or else the true elegance of the later material will lack context.

The Nature Of The Demon

A short Chapter, this section simply establishes the different working parts of DEMON, which contains wheels within wheels, and is laid out along the lines of a "magicians circle", a nice thematic touch that lends some internal structure to the organization.

 

Good, to the point, and easy to envision.

The Doings Of The Wicked Ones

The Leadership of DEMON is statted herein. This is the first place my interest dwindles a bit. Several of the write ups of the top man and his support types, and the Inner Circle are too goofy for my tastes. The fine high concept starts to breakdown here along more traditional comic booky lines.

 

The Inner Circle in particular just seems kind of random, even though there is an underlying reason behind their general theme I think most of them could have been done up in a more logical and sinister fashion. Oddly the only one of the Maleficia I like is the one that isn't supposed to be there.

 

The Maleficia are the personal agents of the Inner Circle, with a "Rite" for each of the five Inner Circle members. Since I don't like most of the Inner Circle and their flunkeys are themed after them, no big surprise I don't like most of the Maleficia.

 

All in all, Ill be rewriting almost all of these characters for my own campaign.

Mephistophelean Evil

A much better chapter than the previous in my opinion, this chapter stays true to the promise of the backstory and motif of DEMON. It details the rank and file of DEMON, startup cults, and the "middle management" of DEMON, the Initiates and Morbanes.

 

The handling of Morbanes is particularly adept, with a nice multifaceted modular approach.

 

Finally three sample DEMON aligned powered villains are provided. One of them is even a clever reference to an earlier mention in the history section, granting some good internal consistency.

 

All in all, this section represents the primary "face" of DEMON for PC's to interact with, and the chapter's general utility helps compensate for the campy Inner Circle material of the previous chapter in my opinion.

 

The Abode Of The Demon

A shorter chapter, the bases of the DEMON rank an file, called Demonhames, are described in general terms, and two very different examples are given, complete with maps. Good stuff.

 

Also covered are capsule references to notable DEMON presences around the world. Solid chapter with a lot of good story hooks.

Infernal Devices And Malevolent Magics

A "Stuff" Chapter. Sam Colt made Men equal, but Luther Black made DEMON competitive with super types via the "Arcane Regalia", essentially super powers in the form of profane "artifacts". As an interesting distinguishing move, the DEMON weapons tend to be Hand Attacks and Hand Killing Attacks -- clubs and swords and such. This helps to differentiate them from the more high-tech gunsels of VIPER and presumably ARGENT (if a book for that high-tech org is ever released).

 

All pretty basic HERO System goodness, but useful to the time-pinched and neophytes. A good bread and butter section.

A Gamemasters Demonic Designs

A useful chapter full of story ideas for the enterprising GM, it gives specific ideas of the kind of things DEMON might do in pursuit of their core goals.

 

It also uses the term schadenfreude in a sentence, earning it a certain cachet.

 

Several sections give advice for using the material both in the Champions Universe as written and also with changes in other genres and settings.

 

Overall the chapter has a lot of good ideas and is good use of page space.

Conclusion

Overall this is a very good product. The only flaw for me was the higher echelons of the organization are a pretty large departure from the rank & file. Some people might like that, but I find it disruptive.

 

Otherwise, I also noticed a lot more typos in this book than any other HERO System product -- a lot of dropped "a"'s mostly.

 

A big plus for this book however was the layout and organization was much cleaner and logical than most other HERO System products. You don't have to go flipping around the book to find things, and that wins big points with me. I also liked the clean and crisp separation of information. No conceptual bleed over between chapters to be found -- things are in their proper place.

 

I really like DEMON, and it was a tough sell for me. Comic booky evil is never evil enough for me to respect. It's usually got it's roots in mustache twirling idiocy. DEMON however describes an organization that is not only EVIL, it is also insidious, pernicious, and competent. Or to put it another way, DEMON is no longer the "Diet Pepsi" of evil.

 

You can't help but feel a little unease when reading the plentiful flavor text -- DEMON is a scary, faceless, and shadowy organization with unknown goals, unpredictable methods, and possessed of a certain ineffable menace. And in this it succeeds in being a useful addition many different campaign settings.

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Eosin Veteran

Eosin

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Re: Hero Needs Reviewers!!

 

I finished my Vibora Bay review and posted to RPG.net - this is the first time I have posted a review there so I don't know how long it will be or even if it is up to snuff.

 

Here is a link to the copy I posted in the VB thread.

 

I will send an email with relevant information when I recieve it to Ben.

 

Now, another dose of Nyquil and too bed with me.

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Xotl Enthusiast

Xotl

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Re: Hero Needs Reviewers!!

 

I wanted to ask if any of my fellow reviewers have had problems with RPG.net lately, as they've been sitting on my Dark Champions review for 3 weeks. While I intend to wade through their forums there and see what I can dig up, I'd like to know if anyone here has had the same problem. Has anyone ever been required to ever resubmit a review in order to see it go up?

 

Also, is EN World a better place to post reviews in general? Is there good feedback there?

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Xotl Enthusiast

Xotl

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Re: Hero Needs Reviewers!!

 

I sent in a Dark Champions review a while back. Haven't heard anything from them, and it wasn't posted.

 

Do they tell you if they reject a review??

 

I haven't been able to find information on their review policies, other than a sticky note at the top of their main forum stating that they're short of reviews. I never received a rejection, but I'm not aware that they reject reviews at all (other than those which would clearly be unable to be printed).

 

I'll submit it again and see what happens (might as well take the opportunity to give it another editing pass while I'm at it). If I hear anything I'll post and let you know.

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Xotl Enthusiast

Xotl

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Re: Hero Needs Reviewers!!

 

I just found out that if you log yourself in to RPGnet and go to http://www.rpg.net/reviews/, on your right there's a button marked View reviwer controls. Clicking on that shows any reviews you have written, plus any that are pending. Mine is listed, so they're sitting on it, but unfortunately it doesn't say for how long it is pending. While it lets you view your pending review, it doesn't let you edit it (which is annoying, since I really want to tidy a few things up).

 

So Metaphysician, if yours isn't listed there I guess you should go ahead and resubmit it.

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