Darren Watts Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 Hey all! I'm pleased as punch to announce that my very first Kickstarter project, Champions Live Action, is up and running! Woot! It's a brand new rules set, derived from the Hero System we all know and love but modified for speed and ease of use away from the table. Instead of using dice it uses a "Power Check Device", our fancy name for a stopwatch or any other gadget that can keep time to the hundredths of a second. Turning it on and off rapidly results in a basically random number for the hundredths digit, which is added to a combat value and compared to that of an opponent. It's amazingly fast and easy in use- I've seen it handle combats involving dozens of players simultaneously in only a few minutes. It was originally designed by the talented kids at Echoes of Empires: David Christoph, Ben Walker, Jocelyn Fulljames and Steve Tasker. There's only a small amount of new setting material inside- mostly it's new versions of the tried and true sample heroes and villains of the Champs Universe and a basic guide to the high points of the setting, like Millennium City. If it's a hit, we hope to put out both supplemental adventure books for Champions as well as additional genre books using the Powercheck rules set, for fantasy, horror, pulp, or sci-fi as LARPs as well. With any luck, this title will introduce both a bunch of new LARP players to the world of Champions, and conversely some tabletop players to the wide world of LARP as well. Those of you who've been asking for an alternative form of introducing new players to Hero might want to check this out as well- we think the simplified rules we're using here, while obviously nowhere near as complete and all-encompassing as the real Hero System, will hopefully make a nice introduction to the basic concepts. The rules are complete, and the actual manuscript partly so already. We're asking for pledges totaling $9,000, which will cover hiring our own Ebil Bunneh Man to handle the layout, several of our Heroic stable of awesome artists to add some new illustrations, and then printing and shipping the actual books. At the $10 level we'll thank you in the book and on site as a contributor; at $20 you get a PDF of the book; at $45 you get the book, PDF and a Powercheck stopwatch of your very own! In addition, for $200 we'll put a character you can name and (briefly!) describe in the book as an example build (only 5 of these available), and hey, for $2500 the design team will come out to your location and put on a game for you. Whatta bahgain! Any questions? Put 'em here and I'll do my best to answer! Thanks again for your support, gang! dw http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1832603818/champions-live-action Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 Re: CHAMPIONS LIVE ACTION Kickstarter from Darren and Silverback Press! Good luck!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbywolfe Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 Re: CHAMPIONS LIVE ACTION Kickstarter from Darren and Silverback Press! Pledged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Hiemforth Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 Re: CHAMPIONS LIVE ACTION Kickstarter from Darren and Silverback Press! Pledged. Me too. I've never been a LARPer in the past, but maybe I just haven't met the right LARP... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndianaJoe3 Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 Re: CHAMPIONS LIVE ACTION Kickstarter from Darren and Silverback Press! I'm in. This looks eminently doable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 Re: CHAMPIONS LIVE ACTION Kickstarter from Darren and Silverback Press! It's a brand new rules set' date=' derived from the Hero System we all know and love but modified for speed and ease of use away from the table. Instead of using dice it uses a "Power Check Device", our fancy name for a stopwatch or any other gadget that can keep time to the hundredths of a second. Turning it on and off rapidly results in a basically random number for the hundredths digit, which is added to a combat value and compared to that of an opponent. It's amazingly fast and easy in use- I've seen it handle combats involving dozens of players simultaneously in only a few minutes. It was originally designed by the talented kids at Echoes of Empires: David Christoph, Ben Walker, Jocelyn Fulljames and Steve Tasker.[/quote'] That is a very clever innovation! I wonder if it could be applied to the tabletop game to speed up combat? I have no interest at all in LARPing, but for such initiative and inventiveness I had to make a pledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Archer Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 Re: CHAMPIONS LIVE ACTION Kickstarter from Darren and Silverback Press! Impressive response already. Hope it continues! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbywolfe Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 Re: CHAMPIONS LIVE ACTION Kickstarter from Darren and Silverback Press! I see the estimated delivery is scheduled for August. Is the plan to have it ready for GenCon? If so, will you have someone running some games at GenCon to help build interest? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren Watts Posted April 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 Re: CHAMPIONS LIVE ACTION Kickstarter from Darren and Silverback Press! I see the estimated delivery is scheduled for August. Is the plan to have it ready for GenCon? If so' date=' will you have someone running some games at GenCon to help build interest?[/quote'] Yes, and alas, probably not. Running a LARP is quite a bit more labor-intensive than an RPG, especially at a con, and requires considerably more crew than I can afford to bring across the country. (I'll be at Gencon myself, but only because I'll be working for another company, so at least I can hang out in the Hero booth for a while and show people the game and why it's cool.) We *will* be running a couple of demo LARPs at Dexcon and a few other places this year that aren't quite so spendy. If it takes off, maybe next year! dw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbywolfe Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 Re: CHAMPIONS LIVE ACTION Kickstarter from Darren and Silverback Press! Well, it's not the magical 30% the stats say are so important, but with almost 20% and four full weeks left I think we're off to a good start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren Watts Posted April 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 Re: CHAMPIONS LIVE ACTION Kickstarter from Darren and Silverback Press! I greatly appreciate this early show of support! It looks pretty good so far, so thanks to all who've pledged already! dw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreadDomain Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 Re: CHAMPIONS LIVE ACTION Kickstarter from Darren and Silverback Press! Good luck Darren. I have no interest in LARP but I will pledge for a book anyway. There is often two levels of S&H cost, Canada & Mexico and International. In this case there is only a rate for international so how much is it for Canada, 0$ or 25$? And this thread should be a sticky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren Watts Posted April 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 Re: CHAMPIONS LIVE ACTION Kickstarter from Darren and Silverback Press! Thanks Dread! I understand that the $25 is everywhere outside the US, and includes sufficient packaging to pretty much guarantee undamaged arrival. And I'm not an admin on the site any more, so I can't stickify things myself any more. Can any admin-types reading this do a guy a solid? dw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patransom Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 Re: CHAMPIONS LIVE ACTION Kickstarter from Darren and Silverback Press! Well, I have no interest in LARP, but I couldn't resist throwing in a $20 pledge just to support anything Champions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbywolfe Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 Re: CHAMPIONS LIVE ACTION Kickstarter from Darren and Silverback Press! Well, we've hit the "magic" 30% with 27 days left so it's looking pretty good so far. With all of the $200 spots filled already I guess we'll just have to wait and see if we encounter the usual slow down of pledges mid-project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahuna's bro Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 Re: CHAMPIONS LIVE ACTION Kickstarter from Darren and Silverback Press! i pledged ten dollars 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Khan Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 Re: CHAMPIONS LIVE ACTION Kickstarter from Darren and Silverback Press! Pledged. Good luck Darren, I look forward to reading this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gojira Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Re: CHAMPIONS LIVE ACTION Kickstarter from Darren and Silverback Press! Just noticed this project. I'm not into LARP but I'll kick in a few bucks for wacky fun. It's cool that you have a bunch of folks who have been helping with this already, looks like a great krew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren Watts Posted April 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2012 Re: CHAMPIONS LIVE ACTION Kickstarter from Darren and Silverback Press! Hey everybody! We're over $4k- help us get this project to the finish line! Thanks! dw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt the Bruins Posted April 13, 2012 Report Share Posted April 13, 2012 Re: CHAMPIONS LIVE ACTION Kickstarter from Darren and Silverback Press! Live action games aren't my cup of tea, but I kicked in a bit to support the effort. Here's hoping it funds successfully! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balabanto Posted April 14, 2012 Report Share Posted April 14, 2012 Re: CHAMPIONS LIVE ACTION Kickstarter from Darren and Silverback Press! I gave fifty. I don't need this product and won't be getting a copy, but I support all Hero System stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dan2448 Posted April 15, 2012 Report Share Posted April 15, 2012 Re: CHAMPIONS LIVE ACTION Kickstarter from Darren and Silverback Press! I gave fifty. I don't need this product and won't be getting a copy' date=' but I support all Hero System stuff.[/quote'] A very generous gesture of support. But for $45 you'd apparently be entitled to receive not only a hard copy of the book and a stopwatch, but also a PDF. I'm sure it's unintended, but it seems almost dismissive of the creative effort to decline even to be sent the PDF... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCoy Posted April 15, 2012 Report Share Posted April 15, 2012 Re: CHAMPIONS LIVE ACTION Kickstarter from Darren and Silverback Press! Instead of using dice it uses a "Power Check Device"' date=' our fancy name for a stopwatch or any other gadget that can keep time to the hundredths of a second. Turning it on and off rapidly results in a basically random number for the hundredths digit, which is added to a combat value and compared to that of an opponent. It's amazingly fast and easy in use- I've seen it handle combats involving dozens of players simultaneously in only a few minutes. It was originally designed by the talented kids at Echoes of Empires: David Christoph, Ben Walker, Jocelyn Fulljames and Steve Tasker.[/quote'] That is a very clever innovation! I wonder if it could be applied to the tabletop game to speed up combat? I have no interest at all in LARPing, but for such initiative and inventiveness I had to make a pledge. Sorry I somehow missed this earlier. What LL said, normally I would have little interest in LARP, but I pledged enough to get the PDF to check out what looks to be innovative game mechanics that may be adaptable outside LARP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbywolfe Posted April 15, 2012 Report Share Posted April 15, 2012 Re: CHAMPIONS LIVE ACTION Kickstarter from Darren and Silverback Press! A very generous gesture of support. But for $45 you'd apparently be entitled to receive not only a hard copy of the book and a stopwatch' date=' but also a PDF. I'm sure it's unintended, but it seems almost dismissive of the creative effort to decline even to be sent the PDF...[/quote']Gift horses mouth, don't look in it. You do realize there are numerous board members who don't use PDFs at all, don't you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dan2448 Posted April 15, 2012 Report Share Posted April 15, 2012 Re: CHAMPIONS LIVE ACTION Kickstarter from Darren and Silverback Press! You do realize there are numerous board members who don't use PDFs at all' date=' don't you?[/quote'] Sure. I'm one of them myself. But I think that's tangential to the point. It's very generous to pledge $50 at all, I think. (Even when receiving the hard copy and stop watch.) I say that in part because $50 is above the $45 price for that tier. And it's even more generous to make that pledge and not even ask the publisher to send you the hard copy products, thereby saving them time and money. But receiving the PDF would be more-or-less free. By declining to receive that, you are not saving the publisher much of anything. So that's not an act of generosity. 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.