The Algernon Files come to Hero!!!

[Kirby]

Re: The Algernon Files come to Hero!!!

 

Okay, I'm ignorant of this subject. Just what is (are?) The Fires Of War: The Algernon Files? Aside from characters being produced into HERO stats, what is this? By reading MitchellS's comments, it looks like a WW2 setting, is that correct? Or is just the book being released WW2?

[MitchellS]

Re: The Algernon Files come to Hero!!!

 

Okay' date=' I'm ignorant of this subject. Just what is (are?) [b']The Fires Of War: The Algernon Files[/b]? Aside from characters being produced into HERO stats, what is this? By reading MitchellS's comments, it looks like a WW2 setting, is that correct? Or is just the book being released WW2?

TFoW:TAS 2 is the follow-up book to The Algernon Files. TAF was a collection of heroes and villains for the M&M game which you could drop into your campaign world. The characters came from an interesting and detailed campaign world but could easily be used as generic. The easiest way to describe TAS would be to think of the old Strike Force book. TFoW:TAS 2 appears to follow the same format only it has characters from the World War 2 time period of that world [but again, can be used as generic].

 

There's been a great deal of background information about the game world posted on the M&M boards. That's why I asked Dave to have some of that material posted here as well. The Champions' players are a year behind on the learning curve and need to get more frequent updates to bring us up to speed with the M&M players.

[Longshadow]

Re: The Algernon Files come to Hero!!!

 

Okay, I'm ignorant of this subject. Just what is (are?) The Fires Of War: The Algernon Files? Aside from characters being produced into HERO stats, what is this? By reading MitchellS's comments, it looks like a WW2 setting, is that correct? Or is just the book being released WW2?

 

Last year, Blackwyrm released a book for M&M called The Algernon Files. Algernon is the AI support for a team of heroes called The Sentinels. The book presented over 100 characters for the M&M game (about 35-40% heroes/allies, the rest sparring partners of different power levels), maps, and optional rules. There was enough info in the character text to easily infer a setting background. Several regulars to these boards bought that book for source material and mentioned (during their own conversion efforts) how much they'd like something done for HERO.

 

Fires of War: The Algernon Files Vol II is a "prequel" to that book, presenting characters, places, maps, vehicles, and some optional rules. The stats are all current as of December 1942. As we were finishing up the M&M book, Dave and I started discussing the option of also doing a HERO version. Dave's eyes lit up and he was a very happy man. So, with my text in hand from the character and setting material, he's doing HERO versions of everything from the book (pretty much double the page count of the M&M book, too). Notice I said "versions," not "conversions."

 

Since we're also doing a 2d ed version of our original book (M&M is getting a second ed here in the next few months), we're giving that material the HERO treatment, too -- both of those books (M&M and HERO) are scheduled for September. Fires of War (both versions) should go on sale in August, M&M at Gencon, HERO hopefully the same.

 

Think of The Algernon Files stuff as either a setting you can use out of the book, or easily transferred material with very few serial numbers to file off (if any) for your home campaign.

 

Mitchell:

The distinction is chronological. The M&M material is already finished, the HERO stuff almost so--hence the scheduling on previews. I leave these boards mostly to Dave -->He's gone to Origins for the week, but I'm sure will start posting previews as soon as he gets back. The link we posted on the M&M boards is to our site's "extras" page and I'll put it here, too.

 

www.blackwyrm.com/extras.htm

 

 

As I said, I'm sure Dave will start doling out preview material as soon as he's able. Who gets what when has nothing to do with how much somebody likes which group. Once the print date gets a little closer, I expect Dave to spread the word here for all he's worth.

[Citizen Keen]

Re: The Algernon Files come to Hero!!!

 

What the....

 

Can I get a link to the press release?

[Egyptoid]

Re: The Algernon Files come to Hero!!!

 

does this mean that the big blue Algernon book

will be translated into Hero somewhere,

 

or does it mean that a 2nd Algernon book

will also have Hero stats inside?

[Longshadow]

Re: The Algernon Files come to Hero!!!

 

What the....

 

Can I get a link to the press release?

 

http://www.blackwyrm.com/products.htm

 

 

does this mean that the big blue Algernon book

will be translated into Hero somewhere,

 

or does it mean that a 2nd Algernon book

will also have Hero stats inside?

 

There will be two different versions of Algernon Files (Vol I) 2.0 released--one will be M&M (128 pg), the other HERO (256+ pg). Both will available in September.

[Citizen Keen]

Re: The Algernon Files come to Hero!!!

 

Looked over the samples. Looks cool. I like it. Not that I would ever give up HERO, for anything, but M&M looks like a well crafted simple system.

[MitchellS]

Re: The Algernon Files come to Hero!!!

 

Looked over the samples. Looks cool. I like it. Not that I would ever give up HERO' date=' for anything, but M&M looks like a well crafted simple system.[/quote']

The good part is you don't have to give up Champions. The new books will also be published with a Hero System version.

[Longshadow]

Re: The Algernon Files come to Hero!!!

 

As per Mitchell's request, this is a collection of snippets I've posted on the M&M boards since the first book was released. It includes a cross-section of stuff I though people mighgt find interesting. I've edited a couple of things that have since changed as we added material. Some of this will get more detailed treatment (and statted, of course) in upcoming products, like, oh, this Q4's Critical Security Update#1.

 

 

F.D.S.I. (The Federal Directorate for Security and Intelligence)

 

The Directorate is (only) nominally an arm of the National Security Agency, completely replacing SIEGE (Special Intelligence Elite Government Enforcement), replacing some functions of the DIA entirely, and subsuming some of the intelligence gathering and counter-terrorist functions of the FBI. It has full authority on any case pertaining to, or exhibiting significant active involvement by, metahumans, those organizations known for using metahumans in their operations (such as FENRIS), incursions by entities of non-terrestrial origin (assumed to be part of its mandate as no such event has, to the public's knowledge, ever occurred), and any case involving elements legitimately identified as being under the blanket classification "paranormal."

 

Founded in response to concerns that existing law-enforcement agencies did not possess the necessary training, personnel, equipment, mindset, or organization to effectively deal with the growing numbers of "criminally-inclined" metahumans or paranormal events, the FDSI was officially signed into existence on September 12th, 1971, by President Nixon. This date was chosen because it marked the one-year anniversary of "The Virginia Incident," an orgy of destruction perpetrated by a single monstrously powerful metahuman and involving a 220 mile swath of devastation, the complete obliteration of an armored cavalry unit, the deaths of several hundred people, and hundreds of millions of dollars in property damage.

 

Though given a broad mandate by Congress, the Directorate remained undermanned and under funded until the Reagan administration -- with one of his first acts in office being the signing of The Federal Security Act of 1981, a piece of legislation which substantially increased the Directorate's budget as well as their legal powers.

 

The most visible elements of the directorate are the Sentries, those specially trained and specially equipped operatives who form the bulk of the active operations personnel. A recent addition as a “spearhead†of sorts is the highly-controversial government sanctioned and supported "superteam" called the Arsenal of Democracy -- though small, they can call upon the full combat arms and logistical support of the Sentries, making them a formidable fighting force.

 

The Executive Director of the FDSI is a cabinet level position and, as such, is appointed by the president contingent to congressional approval. The current ExDir ,or "Metahuman Czar," is Lawrence Harcourt, former senator (Delaware, 1982-1988) and a highly decorated Colonel in the Army Special Forces during the Vietnam Era. The current Deputy Directors are Emil Kryzinski (Operations), J. Hamilton Crowe (Intelligence), and Colonel Tomas Pelovilla (Administration).

 

 

FENRIS

 

FENRIS is a large and predominantly terroristic organization. Though it claims to be global in scope, the vast majority of its operations take place in the western hemisphere. Its members are seldom identifiable as such as they wear no distinctive uniforms, and the dispersed cell structure of the organization prevents widespread identification of larger operations. Though they have been known to use various metahumans in their operations, such individuals are believed to be the results of the same experimentation which produced the Third Reich's Einsatzgruppen Ubersoldaten, and have so far demonstrated the same fanatical loyalty as other high ranking members of the organization.

 

FENRIS was originally founded in the immediate aftermath of World War II. It was funded by, organized by, and primarily consisted of the large number of high ranking Nazi military, Gestapo, and S.S. officers who managed to escape the fall of the Reich (replacing what, in the real world, was the less militant organization called ODESSA). During the first two decades of its operations, FENRIS concentrated on politically motivated crimes that centered on Nazi philosophy, such as targeting War Crimes Tribunal members and early leaders of the state of Israel. As time passed and more of the old guard succumbed to the rigors of age (and the heavy pursuit of Group Zero and the Mossad), a new generation came to power within its ranks. More and more, FENRIS turned to more profitable and less politically-based ventures, such as mercenary-brokering, smuggling, arms-sales, and terrorism for hire. Today, only the trappings of its Nazi founders remain; FENRIS no longer actively pursues the founding of a Fourth Reich, even in lip service. Its goals are profit-motivated and more aggressively short-term; they no longer need to rule the world, instead being quite happy simply to exert their influence from behind the scenes.

 

This in no way mitigates their threatening nature, however. FENRIS has firmly entrenched contacts and "friends" in high places in the United States and many European nations. This infrastructural support, combined with their tactics and methodology, makes them very, very dangerous. They have little patience for melodrama or grandstanding, instead concentrating on efficiency and a brutal productivity. Stand in their way and they won't bother to threaten -- they'll simply kill or ruthlessly co-opt the perceived obstacle and move on with their plans.

 

FENRIS is very much aware that, even with the training, equipment, and numbers they have, that they cannot hope to stand against the actual armed might of any major national military force and therefore seldom allow themselves to be pressed into situations where they might face any more than a determined police presence. FENRIS learned several costly lessons in its early confrontations first with SIEGE and later The FDSI, and knows the value of carefully picking its battles. Losing a few cells or operations is preferable in the short-term to the level of damage an industrialized nation’s military force or The FDSI could cause in any open confrontation. Conversely, the authorities have learned that destroying individual cells or operations actually does very little lasting damage to the global presence that is FENRIS. The metaphor Deputy Director Emil Bryzinski of the FDSI is quoted as using is that he feels like the Norse Gods must have felt, working to keep contained a threat they knew that they could never actually destroy, and that they feared would ultimately devour them all.

 

 

 

The Cybertribe

 

Founded in the mid-nineties by a brilliant computer researcher named Michelle Bryce, the Cybertribe acts in many ways like a large and dysfunctional family. Bryce suffered from Myasthenia Gravis, and was slowly losing all motor function in her meat body. She began replacing more and more of herself with advanced cybernetics until there was more machine left than woman. Seeing herself as a more perfect and “ascended†version of humanity, she renamed herself Motherboard and set out to share the “gift†of cyberneticization with others she viewed as cursed by the natures of their physical bodies. Her chosen were teenagers at the time of their “ascension,†all of which suffered from a variety of physical and other handicaps. Digital Demon was trapped in a body paralyzed by an automobile accident. Now, he’s freed of all physical constraints, a disembodied energy field hopping from one machine to another. Heavy Metal and Sister Steel were autistic siblings long ago given up to a state institution by their parents. Their nervous systems and brain functions rewired by their new “homes,†his a small mecha, hers a cybernetic sheath, they finally interact with the world from which they once lingered apart. Rez never leaves the life support system to which he’s hooked, instead “interfacing†with the real world through a holomorphic proxy. Poor unfortunate Glitch, though no longer limited to the wheelchair and respirator he once hated, is still cut off from most contact with his new brethren, since his “ascendance†activated latent mutations – outside of his own systems, electrical devices which get too close to him just short out or stop working altogether. Finally, Baud, now no longer slow in speech or mental function, exists in a halfway state between energy and solidity, blurring the line between teleportation and raw speed.

Glorified thieves and saboteurs, the Cybertribe seldom works for anybody other that their mother, stealing what they need to stay alive or to upgrade, and generally resorting to violence only when interfered with or when they are protecting their home or each other.

 

 

The Slaughterhouse Six

 

Currently incarcerated in the maximum-security level of Purgatory (Fort Sunderland Penitentiary), the group dubbed by the media as The Slaughterhouse Six are more akin to a force of nature than a gathering of criminals. Exploding onto the scene by perpetrating an orgy of destruction in early ’93 that laid waste to large sections of northern Los Angeles, the six exhibit no real planning, no discernible motive other than causing chaos, and barely function together as a team at all - - and even then, only when maneuvered by circumstance into doing so. Believed to have been organized by their erstwhile leader, Archimedes, it is a mystery why they work together at all, or what his ultimate goal was in uniting them. All anyone has ever been able to put together is that he apparently at least believes that he has a master plan, though no one yet has been able to figure out what that could possibly be. The group as a whole, has escaped incarceration twice, caused a great many casualties and horrific levels of property damage, and then, after intense battles, been captured. The second of these times, they simply all stopped fighting at about the same time, as if they were waiting to be taken away.

 

Archimedes was once Dr. Archimedes Jones, one of the sixties-era band of adventurers known as Danger, Inc, and before that, as a very young man, one of the Timesavers that aided Doc Epoch. Danger, Inc's resident egghead and inventor, he survived as his teammates all either died, were killed, or disappeared. He began experimenting with cybernetics in the early seventies, as a means of keeping his edge among ever more dangerous opposition. His constant “upgrades†seemed to have unhinged him as, after a television special dealing with sixties-era hero types painted him and his friends in a poor light, he apparently suffered a psychotic break. He disappeared from public view for several months, only to reappear with his new “friends†in tow. The rest is history, albeit poorly understood history.

Black Sun is a living star, a volatile cauldron of energy and radiation bound in human form. He is believed to be the survivor of a decades old government experiment in harnessing nuclear energy. Maledictus is a complete mystery, with nothing known of his past or the origin of his apparently sorcerous abilities. His words of powers, heard in the minds of all those unfortunate to be in range when he uses one, are as powerful as they are dangerous, ranging in effect from the disintegration of matter to the introduction of “plagues†that defy scientific explanation or recognized vectors. Scream Queen is a complete psychotic living in symbiosis with a highly sophisticated metallic polyalloy that covers her like a sheath. The sheath gives her enhanced strength, blinding speed, accelerated healing, and limited shape-changing abilities that thus far have including producing claws or sprouting spikes and blades all over her body. Frostbite claims to be the physical incarnation of an ancient northern god. Whether or not this is true, he has demonstrated wide ranging control of cold, covering entire city blocks in a layer of ice, creating ice automata and weapons with only a thought, and freezing all the blood, and only the blood, in a man’s body – killing him instantly. Finally, there is Sineater, a telepath constantly broadcasting and receiving in the area around him, twisting minds and perceptions, absorbing psychic energy, and in some cases, simply shutting minds down.

 

 

Trinity

 

A trio of mutants whose abilities activated during an accident at a nuclear plant they were protesting. Thus far, they’re activities seemed to be designed to bring awareness to the world of the danger nuclear power represents, and to force the cessation of various nuclear programs worldwide. Meltdown constantly generates incredibly high temperatures and deadly amounts of radiation. Halflife seems to move in and out phase with this reality, and can disperse matter on an atomic level. And Ground Zero apparently has control over the atoms in his body, which he is able to disperse explosively and with enough force to destroy a city block, only to reform at will afterward.

 

The Parliament of Shadows

 

The modern incarnation of, and name for, an organization that has existed since before the beginning of man's recorded history. When those that prey on man first recognized the dangers inherent in his grasping the foundations of sorcery, his mastery of his environment, and, most importantly, his ever-growing numbers, the wiser among their number first gathered in an earlier version of the Parliament. Simply put, the Parliament represents an organized body comprised from among the leadership of various supernatural powerbases. In theory, it exists to provide mutual protection, a focus for exchange of information, and a forum for addressing grievances between various groups without their having to resort to the type of violence that none can afford in a world of ever-dwindling arcane resources. In reality, it provides the various members an opportunity to keep tabs on each other’s plans and movements, and to safely manipulate resources to which they otherwise would not have easy access. Though the Parliament itself has not been seen in decades, The Covenant, not to mention various metahuman and mundane heroes, continues to face members of its constituent factions. Due to the timing of their last known sighting and his first known sighting, Sepulchre is believed to have something to do with their disappearance.

Kostechei The Deathless, a seemingly immortal Lich and necromancer of legendary power, has been the uncontestable leader of a cabal of necromancers known as The Brotherhood of the Beckoning Night for centuries. Montressor, sorcerer, alchemist, and thaumaturgist extraordinaire, is the current leader of the Manus Gloriae, a circle of sorcerers founded in the dark ages (originally to combat the Covenant, but they've branched out since then). Der Drache (traditional title), vampire and current lord of Die Nachtkinder, an enormous group of his kind which owe her absolute allegiance. Morgaine the Warcrow, the legendary Le Fay herself, priestess of ancient Celtic gods and representative of what remains of the Unseelie Court. Ironmane Longclaw, former Algonquin shaman and war-chieftain of the Night Tribes, an ancient pact-founded federation of clans comprised entirely of various breeds of shapeshifters. And Totenkopf, revenant and former Knight Templar who helped betray his order to its enemies; cursed to an eternal, tormented half-life, he commands the Bloodguard, those special operatives chosen to actively defend and spy for the Parliament.

 

The Bloodguard

 

The current make-up of the Bloodguard, which in the absence of the Parliament proper has been relegated to the status of glorified errand boys and who search tirelessly for their former masters, is much smaller and less powerful than it has been in the past, as the constituent organizations of the PoS have long since reclaimed most of the members they had “loaned†the guard. What’s left are Mr. Styx, a teleporter whose abilities carry him through multiple planar junctions, Bog, a corrupted earth elemental powered by demonic spells, Hellion, a cambion warrior who can absorb violence and hatred directed at him and convert them into great strength and speed, Brute, an iron golem with illusion spells giving him the appearances of any of several different humans, and Vandal, a shaman whose totem is chaos and who has a legion of violent spirits bound to his service.

 

 

 

 

The Heirophant

 

An eccentric, but brilliant inventor from the Victorian era, Hiram Merrywether dabbled in matters better left alone and accidentally came into contact with an otherworldly entity, the great clockwork consciousness he called Ex Machina. Drawn into that entity’s dimension, Merrywether disappeared from this Earth and was gone for many long years. Returning in the late seventies, Merrywether called himself the Heirophant, high priest of the “god†Ex Machina, whose sole mission was to bring perfect logic and precision to all the cosmos. Though seemingly quite mad, the Heirophant possessed semi-magical abilities he called “mekanika,†enabling him to summon automata from thin air, transform buildings and machines into steampunk nightmares with no more than a thought, and create an apparently endless array of outlandish weapons from his own person. Defeated time and time again by various heroes, he has always returned, tirelessly espousing his holy mission to enlighten the world with his master’s imminent arrival.

 

 

Starbane

 

A living, sentient weapon left over after the ancient war between the Acathii and the Rha’Zhaketh. Essentially, an enormous humanoid construct of superheated plasma with a control mechanism at its center giving it shape and intelligence, Starbane has caused problems on and off over the past twenty years. How it came to be on Earth, and who “awakened†it after all these eons are both mysteries. Though it has been defeated more than once, its plasma shell dispersed, the control mechanism itself is self-repairing and practically indestructible.

 

 

Typhon

 

The result of the CIA’s ill-fated research into Psionics, Typhon is the gestalt entity formed from the psyches of five powerful telepaths in the wake of their death agonies after succumbing to powerful psychotropic drugs, drugs that were supposed to enhance their abilities. Insane from the experience of its birth, Typhon is a purely psionic entity whose natural home would be the Astral Plane. Trapped on the physical plane, the entity needs a host body in order to survive. Unfortunately, the process of hosting such an entity has proven invariably fatal as its powerful energies warp and mutate said bodies into monstrous and terminal conditions. Some individuals have proven resilient enough to survive as long as several weeks as a host under its control, but every single host has eventually succumbed and died. Currently, Typhon is contained within a special force barrier designed to keep it alive. This container is kept in a secure location at Fort Sunderland Megamax Metahuman Penitentiary.

 

 

The Goblin King

 

During one of the times that Typhon was able to run free, infecting one host body after another, it happened into the body of a latent psi of immense and untapped potential. Due to those latent abilities, Typhon was unable to completely control the host, but his presence drove the man insane. While insane, the man assaulted and raped a young woman, leaving her pregnant. His traumatized mother from early childhood mistreated the child of that tragic union. She called him her little goblin and kept him locked in the basement of their home, where he constructed elaborate fantasies as an escape from his miserable existence. Unfortunately that child also possessed psionic potential, vast potential, presumably from the combination of his father’s genetics and Typhon’s singular composition. One day that potential activated. The Goblin King possesses the power to restructure reality on a grand scale, transforming matter and molding memories and perceptions over an area the size of a city. The day his abilities manifested, his home city suddenly became a construct out of juvenile fantasy, rebuilt as a picture of his twisted, gothic fairy tale visions, complete with storm-tossed castles, darkness enshrouded valleys and mountains, and, of course, monsters of all stripes and persuasions. In this realm, he, the dark king of the goblins and other creatures of the night, ruled absolutely. The people in this city were also transformed, thinking their new state the natural one. Exposure to the city’s environs slowly enforced this mindset on any who entered, forcing the military to quarantine the entire area. Eventually defeated by the combined efforts of a number of different heroes, the Goblin King is imprisoned in Fort Sunderland, the same facility as the entity he will probably never know is his true father.

 

 

 

Camelot

 

One of the pocket dimensions created by the Atlanteans was able to occasionally interact with the section of Earth it had originally come from. Unfortunately, its unique dimensional location also bridged a couple of other dimensions. One was a much too close to where a minor Rha’Zha’Keth lord was trapped. It made a number of attempts to capitalize on this by sending minor progeny through the bridge in an effort to secure a beachhead, progeny that had to be fought and turned back. The other dimension was one very much like Earth, but with several important differences in terms of its physical laws. Magic was dominant there and its strongest indigenous life forms were curious enough to do a little exploring of their own. The pocket dimension would eventually be known as Avalon, and the humans that its inhabitants interacted with were the ancient Celts. Those Celts also gave names to their other “visitors,†calling the Rha’Zha’Keth progeny Fomori, and their otherdimensional neighbors the Sidhe. Many stories of the Avalonians and their Celtic allies’ struggles against both other parties would be passed down the ages, becoming muddled and confused over time. Later folklorists and poets would appropriate characters and themes to construct the Arthurian mythos in the middle ages.

 

 

Gods and Pantheons

 

Yes, there were powerful extradimensional beings worshipped by early human cultures as gods. Whether those beings began as humanoids or simply adopted that form over time due to interaction with their worshippers is unclear. It is also unclear if the beings comprising different pantheons were related or even if their home dimensions were the same (with different points of entry into Earth’s dimension). Presumably, it was the strange phenomena of dimensional shallows in Earth’s location that brought us to their attention and allowed their arrival in the first place. However, a number of stories attributed to various mythic figures over time are undoubtedly the result of the activities of any number of metahumans native to Earth, with the identity of those involved, god or metahuman, forever lost to antiquity. What is known is that these beings derived great empathic benefit from being worshipped, and as they were supplanted by other developing religions, they limited their contact with man more and more.

 

One pantheon, that worshipped by the Aztecs, was actually a set of minor Rha’Zha’Keth lords who had slowly used the power they gained from their worshippers to move closer and closer to Earth’s dimension. Many of the tangent dimensions used by the various pantheons as home were in roughly the same dimensional reference -- so this ultimately did not go unnoticed. They were stopped and ultimately destroyed by the combined forces of the other extant pantheons, albeit at great cost in life among those involved. In an effort to make sure that the Rha’Zha’Keth couldn’t reach Earth if the pantheons failed, the leaders of those groups sealed their individual portals to this dimension, seemingly permanently. A very few members of the various pantheons were left on this side of the portals after they were closed – most specifically several of those individuals who were the results of crossbreeding with humans and whose origins in this dimension would have put them at too great a disadvantage in the battle.

 

Note that Horus and the Serpent Queen are only physical avatars of the gods they represent—as such their abilities are pale reflections of their true power in their prime. As her prison was seperated from the heliopolitan plane eons ago, neither the queen nor her jailor were involved in the final cataclysmic battle that decimated their kin.

 

 

 

Metahuman (or simply “metaâ€)

 

An individual manifesting abilities or talents outside those attributed to understood human physiology. Metahuman abilities are differentiated from magic in that most abilities can be measured and explained by extrapolations of well-understood physical laws, in the general sense if not the specific in some instances. In short, magic actually breaks the laws of physics, while meta-traits just bend those laws really, really far.

 

Heightened physical attributes, such as strength or agility, are difficult to differentiate at certain levels (for example, at what amount of weight bench-pressed does muscle power cease being merely human?), resulting in some individuals being classified as both extraordinary humans and metahumans by different agencies. The government think tank ARGUS (Allied Research Groups/United States) introduced a single simple-coded scale combining measurements from many different factors, ranging from energy output and destructive capacity, to exhibited skill with said abilities. This scale uses numbers and colors to establish generally accepted ranges. In order from least powerful to most, the colors are green, yellow, red, and black. The first three are further broken down into five numerical ranges (such as Green-3 or Red-1).

 

Green status is given those metahumans with minimal presentation of non-human abilities, such as a telekinetic limited to moving the pages of a book and nothing more. They can be held in normal incarceration without problem.

 

Yellow status is given those metas whose abilities would require special equipment to incarcerate, such as low-level superhuman strength or low-yield energy discharges.

 

Red status is reserved for serious threats -- powerful metas with the skills and experience to cause major problems; Red level metas require large-scale equipment and special facilities (such as Fort Sutherland or Neverland).

 

Black is not separated into smaller numerical ranges, due to that classification being used for those metahumans whose abilities have exceeded the upper levels of quantifiable measurement, at least by any measures available through current technology ... or in terms of perceived threat level. ARGUS-Black metas, when incarcerated, are held in the covert facility nicknamed Neverland by its personnel.

[mattingly]

Re: The Algernon Files come to Hero!!!

 

As Aaron said, I'm working on converting the book to the HERO System. M&M got written first, so those stats were ready to go.

[Dominique]

Re: The Algernon Files come to Hero!!!

 

Also, Blackwyrm has been kind enough to create a message board over on their site at http://www.blackwyrmgames.com/forum

 

Swing by, register and post your questions on their upcoming line of Champions products.

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: The Algernon Files come to Hero!!!

 

Good to hear. I look foreward to seeing your great work in Hero System.

 

Thanks

 

QM

 

P.S.: Registered and Posted.

[Dominique]

Re: The Algernon Files come to Hero!!!

 

Blackwyrm is taking pre-orders over on thier site.

[mattingly]

Re: The Algernon Files come to Hero!!!

 

Indeed. I was going to get to posting that tonight.

 

Imagine, a book twice the size of the M&M version, for just an extra $5.00!

[Twilight]

Re: The Algernon Files come to Hero!!!

 

Whoa, I need to get this just for the Parliment of Shadows. I mean really stats for Kostchei the Deathless and Morgaine Le Fey alone are worth the price of the book, in my opinion they have it all over DEMON in almost every respect.

[MitchellS]

Re: The Algernon Files come to Hero!!!

 

Whoa' date=' I need to get this just for the Parliment of Shadows. I mean really stats for Kostchei the Deathless and Morgaine Le Fey alone are worth the price of the book, in my opinion they have it all over DEMON in almost every respect.[/quote']

TAF is a good book but I don't know if it's better than DEMON.

 

It'd be interesting to see Chantal go against Morganne LeFay.

[Teflon Billy]

Re: The Algernon Files come to Hero!!!

 

Indeed. I was going to get to posting that tonight.

 

Imagine, a book twice the size of the M&M version, for just an extra $5.00!

As soon as I finish moving to my new apartment and get settled (2 weeks), I'll be pre-ordering your books.

 

Although, I will be coming to GenCon, which would you prefer: A Con purchase or a Website purchase?

 

I assure you that I will be purchasing them regardless so it doesn't matter either way to me which you tell me.

 

TB

[Twilight]

Re: The Algernon Files come to Hero!!!

 

TAF is a good book but I don't know if it's better than DEMON.

 

It's be interesting to see Chantal go against Morganne LeFay.

 

Well I'm a sucker for Arthurian myths so the presence of Le Fay makes me very happy to begin with and the addition of Kostchei the Deathless from Russian myth is simply awesome if you're into mythology like I am. For me the loose orginization of mystic menaces with lots of spying and political maneuvering is far more interesting then the cult trying to destroy everything.

 

Of course I found DEMON to be incredibly creepy and couldn't continue reading the book after a couple of chapters, so I'm most definetly biased here.

[Enforcer84]

Re: The Algernon Files come to Hero!!!

 

Indeed. I was going to get to posting that tonight.

 

Imagine, a book twice the size of the M&M version, for just an extra $5.00!

you guys going to be at GenCon?

[Dominique]

Re: The Algernon Files come to Hero!!!

 

Actually gent's, most of the stuff that Dave and Aaron have been kind of enough to post above, is just some cool additioanl background info, and didn't make into the first book. But, they do have a kick assed mystical villain by the name of Sepulchre! Who's powerful enough to mop the floor with many a team of hero's.

 

There are also a few other mystical characters such as the hero organization The Covenant, an evil witch hunter named Seventh Son, and The Crone (AKA Babba Yoga).

 

There are several teams of villains, and my personal favorite is The Prometheans, powerful group of geneticly engineneed villains, who live on the moon with their "father, Dr. Prometheus. And you rally have to see Hells Belles.

[Twilight]

Re: The Algernon Files come to Hero!!!

 

Actually gent's' date=' most of the stuff that Dave and Aaron have been kind of enough to post above, is just some cool additioanl background info, and didn't make into the first book. But, they do have a kick assed mystical villain by the name of [b']Sepulchre[/b]! Who's powerful enough to mop the floor with many a team of hero's.

 

There are also a few other mystical characters such as the hero organization The Covenant, an evil witch hunter named Seventh Son, and The Crone (AKA Babba Yoga).

 

There are several teams of villains, and my personal favorite is The Prometheans, powerful group of geneticly engineneed villains, who live on the moon with their "father, Dr. Prometheus. And you rally have to see Hells Belles.

 

But we will eventually get HERO stats for Morgan Le Fey and Kostchei right, and the others in the Parliment of Shadows?

 

Not that what you've listed isn't cool but it would be criminal not to flesh out that background. They do have stats for Frau Doktor Veronica von Frankenstein right?

[MitchellS]

Re: The Algernon Files come to Hero!!!

 

But we will eventually get HERO stats for Morgan Le Fey and Kostchei right, and the others in the Parliment of Shadows?

 

Not that what you've listed isn't cool but it would be criminal not to flesh out that background. They do have stats for Frau Doktor Veronica von Frankenstein right?

Those characters aren't in TAF. I do not know which of them will be in TAF 2. Possibly none of them will be. As Dominique said, that was just general world background information but there are some very cool mystic characters in TAF [and I'm sure there will be in TAF 2].

[Dominique]

Re: The Algernon Files come to Hero!!!

 

From the information they have posted, Frau Doktor Veronica von Frankenstein, appears in the upcoming TAF. Vol. II Fire's of War.

 

As for the others go, they have previously stated that if sales justify their continued production of books, then most of, if not all, the characters mentioned in the background will eventually see print. If I've mistated anything, I'm sure either Dave or Aaron will correct me.

 

So, if you want to see more Champions compatable goodies from Blackwyrm, then you need to support them by picking yourself up a copy of their books, and demanding that your local game/hobby/comics shop carry their material (if you bug them they will order more). For that matter, the smae goes for any product you wish to continue to see on the market.

[Sketchpad]

Re: The Algernon Files come to Hero!!!

 

Any plans on any Hero previews? I'd love to see what garphic direction you'll be using

[MitchellS]

Re: The Algernon Files come to Hero!!!

 

Twilight, if you go to the website: http://www.blackwyrm.com you can see [and download] all the full-color pictures of the characters in TAF. It will give you an idea of which characters are in the book.