Ndreare Posted April 23, 2012 Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 So I had a chance Saturday to hang out with Steve Long and play in his STORMLords setting. It was awesome, myself and the other players also got to hang out with Steve after the game and just visit. The nature of a quick sit down game over a long running scenario makes it harder to feel comfortable role-playing or doing the other stuff normally associated with gaming. But Steve has done enough of these he was aware of the challenges before hand and had enough material to keep going. Once we got started it was fast moving from one scene to the next. The opening scenario was an "Awakening" setting, we headed down to south america to put down some Drug Runners, and things got harry from there. The drug runners turned out to be lycanthropes which means that they are rather unimpressed by our guns being pointed at them. Overall the introduction scenario worked great, with our character being introduced to a couple simple powers before being given full access. The next scene was us training an being introduced to the STORM facility and agents. Here Steve shared some hand outs with awesome plot potential discussing other factions of humans and monsters in the STORMLords setting all presented from the point of view of formal training as an agent as handouts. (He even tossed in a training montage for us complete with music.) The following scenario had us going in to "observe" a more experienced team in action as part of our recruit training. We all know how that goes and soon we were in the thick of it with vampires. Rather than cookie cutter monsters, Steve mixed them up a little changing the werejaguars and vampires enough for them to have their own flavor in this setting. Over I would say one 6-hour session is not enough for all the potential this setting has. Our group will be jumping back in next Sunday and I think it will stay our regular setting for a few months at least. Some comments of the system. The power progression tables were different from the usual HERO System approach, functionally more of a level based system for the powers, but all other HERO aspects being normal. Many normal skills are supplemental by micro powers representing the over the top awesomeness of chinese action theature, such as a skilled driver being able to actually get more out of a car than a normal driver or a skilled face-man being able to do more than just slide in a line here or there. Overall the setting was something reminiscent of Men in Black meets Monster Hunter International. A strong turn from most urban fantasy, the federal agents are not crooked incompetents. Instead they are competent and well meaning heroes who have to make tough decisions. The conspiracy aspects expected for urban fantasy are there, but we did not have a chance to get into it. (Again only a 6 hour game.) In full I cannot wait to see the game published and hope it gets the full attention due a HERO System supplement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mallet Posted April 23, 2012 Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 Re: STORMLords Nice! I'll definitely be kicking in for the Kickstarter for this! or just buying a copy if no kickstarter is required. I've been working on/using a "level" based power system for some of my hero games for the last 3-4 years and would love to see how Steve designed it for his setting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ndreare Posted April 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2012 Re: STORMLords Yeh I do not know if Steve will try another kickstarter, but if he kickstarts this one, I will definitely be getting a copy or three. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BhelliomRahl Posted April 24, 2012 Report Share Posted April 24, 2012 Re: STORMLords I have just started to read the STORMLords blog and it looks really interesting. I am hoping he does decide to Kickstarter the project, a pity about Mythic Hero. Maybe another option is Print on Demand, although not sure what difficulties this would present. I will definitely be getting a copy or three. I really think you only need 2 copies, one to keep at home safe and another to use, done that with most of my Hero books. Unfortunately my players are not as kind to my books as I am. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ndreare Posted April 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2012 Re: STORMLords Nah, my gamming group has four players and they will need copies. But usually don't buy books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted April 24, 2012 Report Share Posted April 24, 2012 Re: STORMLords I am definitely in for this one when a kickstarter gets going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbywolfe Posted April 24, 2012 Report Share Posted April 24, 2012 Re: STORMLords I doubt print on demand is an option unless it is how he prints a small run already funded. The whole reason for using Kickstarter was to gauge interest so Steve wasn't working "on spec" hoping to earn enough to justify the time and effort spent on it. Remember, he's trying to make a living at this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted April 28, 2012 Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 Re: STORMLords Thanx for the review, Ndreare! Gaming with you and your group was all kinds of fun -- and renting a room at the pizza parlor for the game was a stroke of genius! As I work through my list of just-got-home chores, I'll have to see about posting the sample character sheets I prepared for the game to my STORMlords blog, so other fans can get a bit of a look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ndreare Posted April 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 Re: STORMLords If your willing posting the player primers you handed us would be awesome too. I have them for myself, but I am sure others would find them just as interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ndreare Posted April 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 Re: STORMLords PS: for the record it was completly awesome to meet you and hang out in person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted April 28, 2012 Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 Re: STORMLords If your willing posting the player primers you handed us would be awesome too. I have them for myself, but I am sure others would find them just as interesting. Well, I don't want to post the full character creation guidebook I sent you. If I do that I'm essentially giving the book away for free, which for obvious reasons I don't want to. (Besides which, it's already a bit outdated, what with various additions I've thought of. ) I might, however, post some of the STORM handouts, like the 5-page one summarizing the setting. PS: for the record it was completly awesome to meet you and hang out in person. And I to meet you. Thanx again for your support of BotE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted April 28, 2012 Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 Re: STORMLords Maybe another option is Print on Demand, although not sure what difficulties this would present. Print on demand was how I was intending to print MH... and how I'd likely print any other book I did for the HERO System as a Kickstarter, since there aren't going to be enough copies to justify traditional printing. POD isn't a separate option at all, it's part and parcel of any such project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted April 29, 2012 Report Share Posted April 29, 2012 Re: STORMLords For those who are interested, I've updated my blog to add the pregenerated character sheets I used for the game I ran for Ndreare and his group: STORMlords 275-point Pregenerated Character Sheets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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