Voltron64 Posted August 1, 2009 Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 If there were any changes or additions you could make to the Terran Empire setting, what would they be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolgroth Posted August 1, 2009 Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 Re: Terran Empire changes The greatest strength of any HERO universe setting is also its greatest weakness; the timeline of the entire era. Sure, in a way it is nice to know what happens before, but after the setting is a real bummer. It makes me, as the GM, feel like I am trapped by the intended destiny of the setting. This is what made Turakian Age fall flat and it is what causes just about any of the other settings to fall flat as well. So if I could "change" (meaning it was written a different way) anything about Terran Empire, it would be that the author chose a slice of that history to establish the setting and wrote a detailed past for it. The future, OTOH would be left completely blank, allowing me and my players to write our own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted August 1, 2009 Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 Re: Terran Empire changes With respect, I've never had a lot of sympathy for the "timeline restriction" argument. IMO that only becomes a factor if you want to game in multiple eras of the official Hero Universe as written in a single campaign. Otherwise you could, for example, take the default setting of Terran Empire as a starting point and let it develop in any way you and your group see fit. Likewise any of the other official settings. (Turakian Age has built-in options which allow for even more flexibility, but this isn't the thread to bring that up in.) As for what I'd like to change in TE, I'd prefer to add more "super" races. TE already includes some fairly powerful telepaths and some very advanced technology, but most aliens are roughly comparable to human beings in their capabilities. I'd add some species who possess more and more colorful abilities well beyond normal human range: superhuman strength, telekinesis, shapeshifting, energy control, etc. The occasional appearance and influence of incredibly advanced "cosmic entities" would add some spice as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolgroth Posted August 1, 2009 Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 Re: Terran Empire changes Not necessarily an argument per se. Simply a game breaking preference. Super races would be cool. Sort of like Star HERO equivalents to demons and such? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted August 1, 2009 Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 Re: Terran Empire changes Not necessarily an argument per se. Simply a game breaking preference. Not quite sure what you mean by this. Super races would be cool. Sort of like Star HERO equivalents to demons and such? Or elves, giants, merfolk, trolls, wizards... all the things that make many fantasy settings more colorful, intense, and appealing than real life. There's certainly no shortage of such beings in mainstream and popular sci-fi. Take the staid old Star Trek universe: you have Talosians, Q, Horta, changelings, Gorn, androids, Borg, Organians, augments, Ocampa, Species 8472, and more. Easy to assemble a "super team" or galaxy-threatening menace out of those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolgroth Posted August 1, 2009 Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 Re: Terran Empire changes Not quite sure what you mean by this. Referring to your earlier comment about the "timeline restriction argument." I was merely stating that for me it isn't an argument, as I have no desire to force my preference on others. I was merely stating that having a timeline dictated to me beyond the events leading up to game start is something that throws me out of the game. I feel compelled to set things up to follow the narrative. I find that intrusive and restrictive. Again, just my preference. One that meant I had to search elsewhere for a setting. Ultimately I went further and started to build my own. Mechanics-wise, there is little I would change about the Terran Empire. It seems to be written with some measure of internal consistency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted August 1, 2009 Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 Re: Terran Empire changes Regarding "super" aliens, the seeds are already in the Terran Empire setting, just requiring a bit of extrapolation. For example, the Donburil have metallic skins due to the high metal content of their environment and metabolism. Wouldn't be hard at all to make the whole race more like the Champions hero Ironclad, with superhuman strength and invulnerability. The worshippers of the Velarian faith Scomaru Shaan believe their gods incarnate mortal "avatars" -- why couldn't those avatars possess real demigod-like abilities? The Thorgons are products of genetic augmentation, and are constantly trying to improve themselves; no reason they couldn't all be Captain America-level physical specimens. As for the Xenovores, deliberate genetic tampering to produce specialized sub-species is a major element of their society. The possibilities are very broad: winged Xenovores, giant Xenovores, armored Xenovores, Xenovores with inhumanly keen senses, fire-breathing Xenovores, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolgroth Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 Re: Terran Empire changes Sounds fun. Where are the HDC files? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobGreenwade Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 Re: Terran Empire changes My main changes: More alien tech. What do the Mon'dabi have that we don't? The Ackalians? The Perseids? The Se'ecra? The Mandaarians? The Malvans? Spacer's Toolkit gave us a little of this, but more stuff for the GM to throw against the PCs would be wonderful. More in-depth information on the alien cultures. What makes the Klingons and Vulcans interesting isn't bumpy foreheads and pointed ears, or great strength and funky telepathy; it's the warrior's honor and the strictures of logic. What we're given on folks like the Se'ecra and the Mon'dabi needn't be as in-depth as what we now have with the Klingons and Vulcans (I don't think there needs to be an English-Mond'abi dictionary), but something more cohesive -- even a document pulling together what's currently scattered throughout the book -- would be very welcome. In a formal review of the book, someone also mentioned that it would have been good to have pictures of things like fashion and architecture, and I tend to agree. There was some of that, but not nearly enough. This would have been especially welcome in Worlds of Empire; only a couple of the sections included even a single picture giving a vague idea. The book also has zero "enemies" listed in it for the GM to use. Other than starships, the only character sheet in the entire book is for the Empress, and a face-to-face encounter with her is immensely unlikely, almost no matter what angle the campaign takes. Give us a pirate, a psychotic government agent, a con man, a bounty hunter, and a few others (in addition to the NPCs in Star Hero) that we can work with. But I think the one real weakness with the setting is that there's no real sense of immediacy. It's a fascinating setting in general, and my personal favorite in the entire Hero History (allowing that I haven't yet read Atlantean Age), but it has no Doctor Destroyer, or Mechanon 3000, or Sharna-Gorak, or Kal-Turak, or Nabu Gimani. The setting has a couple of good periods during its stretch of time, but in the "official" year of 2640 there's no great monster, villain, or other major threat breathing down the PCs' necks. A game set during the Galactic War or the reign of Sigusmund would have a lot going for it, but something really dark and threatening is what would make the setting really rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowcat1313 Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 Re: Terran Empire changes this might take awhile: 1. expanded starmap, or at least more detail on what planets there are. 2. more cultural and racial information 3. more npc's 4. revised starships, probably keep the current designs, but definately some re-working, I really hate sanitary designs where everything works perfectly etc. I could write a whole chapter on starship re-design, after the input from various folks who looked at Traveller Hero and Terran Empire. oh wait I did write a whole chapter on that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 Re: Terran Empire changes The book also has zero "enemies" listed in it for the GM to use. Other than starships' date=' the only character sheet in the entire book is for the Empress, and a face-to-face encounter with her is immensely unlikely, almost no matter what angle the campaign takes. Give us a pirate, a psychotic government agent, a con man, a bounty hunter, and a few others (in addition to the NPCs in [i']Star Hero[/i]) that we can work with. I agree that more of these in the actual setting book would have been a plus. But for anyone who would like this and hasn't done so yet, do get your hands on Scourges Of The Galaxy. It goes a long way toward fleshing out the setting with colorful bad guys. And pursuant to that... But I think the one real weakness with the setting is that there's no real sense of immediacy. It's a fascinating setting in general' date=' and my personal favorite in the entire Hero History (allowing that I haven't yet read [i']Atlantean Age[/i]), but it has no Doctor Destroyer, or Mechanon 3000, or Sharna-Gorak, or Kal-Turak, or Nabu Gimani. The setting has a couple of good periods during its stretch of time, but in the "official" year of 2640 there's no great monster, villain, or other major threat breathing down the PCs' necks. A game set during the Galactic War or the reign of Sigusmund would have a lot going for it, but something really dark and threatening is what would make the setting really rock. Check out Scourges Of The Galaxy for the Void Messiahs of the Church of the Infinite Dark: insane superhumanly-warped worshippers of the Kings of Edom methodically destroying worlds and stars to twist the galaxy into a gigantic spell to free the Kings and bring about universal Armageddon. It doesn't get much darker and more threatening than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrTemp Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 Re: Terran Empire changes this might take awhile: [...]4. revised starships, probably keep the current designs, but definately some re-working, I really hate sanitary designs where everything works perfectly etc. [...] Actually, the most significant change I would make is: Give the starship stat blocks new ships, that is: New illustrations. Terran Empire starships are Boring Boxes. Regarding the Supers idea: That's what Galactic Champions is for, isn't it. Edit: Oh, and I would check the logics and implications of the Hyperspace drive of the setting. As written, the drive is a "distance shortener" drive, and thus the travel time should heavily depend on the n-space acceleration rates of the ships. The ship stat blocks don't reflect this. I would simply change the fluff text for the hyperspace drive accordingly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 Re: Terran Empire changes Regarding the Supers idea: That's what Galactic Champions is for' date=' isn't it.[/quote'] True in principle, but the setting for Galactic Champions isn't as well developed as the era depicted in Terran Empire. And even GC has little in the way of "super races;" beings with powers are mostly exceptional members of their own species, as with Earthly superhumans. Moreover, the galactic heroes provided are very high-powered, but there are many interesting sci-fi campaign possibilities for beings who are less than world-shakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobGreenwade Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 Re: Terran Empire changes I agree that more of these in the actual setting book would have been a plus. But for anyone who would like this and hasn't done so yet' date=' do get your hands on [i']Scourges Of The Galaxy[/i]. It goes a long way toward fleshing out the setting with colorful bad guys. And pursuant to that... Check out Scourges Of The Galaxy for the Void Messiahs of the Church of the Infinite Dark: insane superhumanly-warped worshippers of the Kings of Edom methodically destroying worlds and stars to twist the galaxy into a gigantic spell to free the Kings and bring about universal Armageddon. It doesn't get much darker and more threatening than that. I don't have SotG, but it's on my list of things to get. Still, the things you quoted really should have been in the core setting book (ALIMO) -- not necessarily in the level of detail as in SotG, but at least given as part of the setting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kraven Kor Posted August 3, 2009 Report Share Posted August 3, 2009 Re: Terran Empire changes Not necessarily an argument per se. Simply a game breaking preference. Super races would be cool. Sort of like Star HERO equivalents to demons and such? You realize you can use the timeline up to the point of the beginning of your campaign and then diverge from there, yes? As with anything in the HERO System, that timeline is there as a suggestion and to give you that much more information to work with. Take what you want and leave the rest - everything in any HERO book is simply there if you wish to use it, and can be ignored if not. That being said I haven't read much regarding the TE setting, having been that type of particularly stubborn gamer who has to make my own world up for everything Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolgroth Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Re: Terran Empire changes You realize you can use the timeline up to the point of the beginning of your campaign and then diverge from there' date=' yes? [/quote']You really have no concept of how deeply my OCD runs do you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kraven Kor Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Re: Terran Empire changes You really have no concept of how deeply my OCD runs do you? Hey, mine runs pretty deep too, hence why I have to create my own settings for any game I run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrTemp Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Re: Terran Empire changes Oh, and don't forget not to use chemical rockets on early starships as in Alien Wars. It just makes no sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voltron64 Posted December 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2009 Re: Terran Empire changes On a side note, I just see Angelina Jolie as a very good visual reference for the Empress. No one here probably disagrees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted December 24, 2009 Report Share Posted December 24, 2009 Re: Terran Empire changes Well, while Jolie radiates strength, intelligence and sexuality, I would imagine the Empress as appearing more mature (although still very attractive thanks to extensive cosmetic treatments). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clonus Posted December 24, 2009 Report Share Posted December 24, 2009 Re: Terran Empire changes While I realize that one can and should diverge from an historical time the moment PCs enter the game, honestly I'd prefer it if the Empire had a longer history in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mallet Posted December 24, 2009 Report Share Posted December 24, 2009 Re: Terran Empire changes Not something that needs to be changed or addressed, but it always struck me as pretty much impossible for the TE to grow so rapidly as it does in the books. Both Alien Wars and TE have humanity building colonies and expanding into space way, way to fast. Where are all the people coming from to live, run and work these colonies? Humanity is almost wiped out by the xenovres but with in 250 years (2400 to 2650) to fully recover and expand and have hundred or planets and colonies all teaming with people and cities? That doesn't seem likely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clonus Posted December 24, 2009 Report Share Posted December 24, 2009 Re: Terran Empire changes Not something that needs to be changed or addressed' date=' but it always struck me as pretty much impossible for the TE to grow so rapidly as it does in the books. Both Alien Wars and TE have humanity building colonies and expanding into space way, way to fast. Where are all the people coming from to live, run and work these colonies? Humanity is almost wiped out by the xenovres but with in 250 years (2400 to 2650) to fully recover and expand and have hundred or planets and colonies all teaming with people and cities? That doesn't seem likely.[/quote'] That's more or less what I mean. The official Terran Empire appears too quickly and disappears with equal alacrity. I think it should have more like a millenial lifespan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristopher Posted December 24, 2009 Report Share Posted December 24, 2009 Re: Terran Empire changes At that size, you might be right. On the other hand, look at how long it took our one planet to go from 1 billion to 6.5 billion people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinobi Killfis Posted December 25, 2009 Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 Re: Terran Empire changes I prefer hi tech projectile weapons over energy weapons, also I'd like more details on psionics and how that jives with the magic being at its lowest which is why there aren't supers thing. But I only have the main Terran Empire book so who knows these may explained in other books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.