Personal Omnibus Editions

[toddbanister]

I recently had a personal book printed over at Lulu and I was very impressed with the quality so it got me thinking...

 

Before I begin - if this thread is in violation of the board in ANY way - I am extremely sorry. I am not trying to do anything wrong - I just want to get some opinions/help.

 

My plan is to create personal omnibus versions of my favorite three genre books that were never really updated to later editions. I have scanned each of the original three editions but I also want to include all other related works in the book. I have bought all related items that I could find from the store and currently my three omnibus editions include the following:

 

Cyber Hero:

Original Cyber Hero from ICE/Hero

Shadowpunk 0.91 edition (Fan created edition) 

 

Horror Hero:

Original Horror Hero from ICE/Hero

Haunted Heroes

Bloodsuckers Rampage

The Stuff of Nightmares, Vol 1

 

Western Hero:

Original Western Hero from ICE/Hero

Hell's Half Acre

Adventure Club #17 - Hi-Ho Silver Away - Greatest Western Heroes that Never Lived

Adventure Club #17 - Masters of the Spirit World

Adventure Club #17 - The Plot Thickens (1 page adventure seed)

Gun Fu

 

Have I missed any official (or even fan created) products along the way for these genres? I still need to go back through my Adventure Clubs looking for any related articles. I don't have any of the Digital Hero magazines so if anyone knows some that have related articles in them, please let me know and I will also grab them from the Store.

 

Does anyone know if version 0.91 is the latest edition of the fan created Shadowpunk book?

 

I also created some custom covers for the editions - please let me know what you think of them (or how I can improve them) when you have a minute.

 

And NO, I will not sell these personal editions or ever post them online anywhere. They are just for my own fun/collection. 

 

Thanks for the help everyone,

TB

 

Edited January 16, 2019 by toddbanister
Added additional items to the omnibus list

[Duke Bushido]

Yes.  A very important one, I think.

 

For Western HERO, as much as I love the 4e sourcebook, there is a sourcebook that outdoes it.  Well, let me rephrase that: it doesn't out-do it; as a sourcebook, Western HERO had everything: background, genre tips, discussion of breakdowns within the genre....  Sample characters, historical figures, stated out and read to use, maps and maps and maps, a full-fledged town, broken down and visited, a second, roughly-explained "ghost town" that could be fleshed out to be any other town you wanted....  a couple of sample scenarios, one of which was multi-session and a _great_ kick-off to a campaign...  In my own opinion, it really was the _best_ 4e genre book ever published.

 

However, there is a book of equal quality, researched and laid out equally-well, that covers things that Western HERO, solely because of its scope, could not: lots of maps-- maps of the whole country at various points in history.  Great heaping helpings of historical data, and day-to-day information on the lives of the people in the early days of expansion westward, from fur trappers (and a nicely-detailed and historically-acurate summarization of the history of fur trading that runs pretty much up to modern times), railway men-- everything handled with equal care, and presented in scrupulous detail, all the while being a wonderful and easy read; it never feels like a textbook and never feels "dry" to read.  And that sourcebook was called The Old West, and it was published for Third Edition GURPS.  If you are going to actually build yourself a massive single tome, complete with densely-packed information that add all the details you can handle about the westward-expansion days of yore, then this book is a _must_ include, to the point that if you asked which _one_ book (other than Western HERO) you should include, I would have only GURPS Old West, 3e, as my suggestion.

 

Now then, on two other notes, related to your post:

 

Is the fan-made Cyberpunk something for distribution (as in, is it something I can find on the author's website or something?  Because I'm interested!) and can I use your cover art for my own personal reprinting of Western HERO?  I envy you.  I have considered doing something like this for _years_ with 2e Champions-- to include notable characters from various play groups over the years, etc and with Western HERO, from the time years ago I thought I might write a supplement for it (I posted on that some time back.  During my research, I stumbled across GURPS Old West 3e, and realized I could _never_ do the job as well as the authors of that book had already done), but never could find the time to actually do it.

 

Actually, can I use the cover for your Cyber HERO as well?  

 

 

(Seriously, Man: those are _beautiful!_)

 

 

 

[toddbanister]

Duke - you are a legend in my book and I would be honored if you wanted to use any of my covers. If you run across any image that you think would work better for any of them (or if it is just for your own personal edition), just send it my way and I will generate a cover image for you. I created a Photoshop template for them so it is a snap to modify the images.

 

Thanks a ton for the recommendation about Old West! I do remember reading about this in your scan thread and wanted to go nab a copy from Warehouse 23. This definitely will be included in my Western Omnibus.

 

Edit - Oh, and honestly I don't remember where I originally ran across Shadowpunk 0.91 for Hero (the file is dated several years ago). Sorry I originally called it Cyberpunk in the original post. The author of the file is Justin Richt so I will try and find him and see if I can get permission to distribute it.

 

Thanks for the kind words. If I can help you out in any way - just let me know.

Take care,
TB

[Duke Bushido]

Thank you, Todd, for the kind words-- sincerely; I thank you.

 

And thank you particularly for the permission to use those beautiful covers!

 

Oh-- I was going to make an art recommendation, and totally forgot it.  unfortunately, this one is going to be hard to find.  It's the art from Talisorian's _original_ CyberPunk game.  _NOT_ from CyberPunk 2020, mind you. (The re-naming is not a new game; it's a revised edition, and for whatever reason-- possibly the approach of the original timeline, they added "2020" to the title.)

 

For what it's worth, I don't like the art in 2020 much at all; it was gleaned from the European release of the original CyberPunk.  I wish I could tell you that I still had my original books, but I gave away pretty much everything that wasn't HERO after realizing I had been using HERO for every single genre I played since picking up Champions back in the 80s.

 

Mostly it was line art, and often times reminiscent of Nagel and that other guy who's stuff looked like Nagel, but it had _style_.  While the 2020 art varies in quality and theme (but is overall pretty good), the art in the original books had _style_.  Every image screamed "Cyberpunk" and level-headed, chrome-plated bleeding-edge _cool_.   Ive never seen it PDF (though 2020 is pretty easy to pick up), but you might get lucky with eBay or a book finder or someone.  At any rate, if I had to litter a custom-made CyberPunk book with art, I would include as much of that as I could.

 

On a personal note, I'd probably try to hunt down some high-quality (like maybe copies of the original cells or something) images from the original (80s series; not the turn-of-the-century remake) BubbleGum Crisis, or AD Police.  Don't get me wrong: the remake was good, and was clearly done by a team that had a real appreciation for the original, but as I mentioned in a recent post elsewhere, there was a feeling to CyberPunk that younger folks just don't quite get.  Not that they're stupid or ignorant-- it's no fault of their own at all.  They just didn't live through the things that _caused_ CyberPunk, and so they key on what the see more than the feelings those things evoke.  The new series has lots of happy people, doing lots of sunny things.  It just doesn't have quite the same feel.  I don't do it myself, simply because they are so radically different in theme and execution, but a great number of CyberPunk fans used to refer to the original BubbleGum Crisis as the the Japanese Bladerunner, in terms of the phenomenon it was.

 

Oh, that's probably another thing right there: Try not to use screenshots from BladeRunner.  Not because they're bad, but because 1) they're screen shots, and I've _rarely_ seen a good blend of screen shots and artwork.   2) It's _way_ too recognizable.  Artwork in a sourcebook should reinforce the genre; make you want more-more-more.  Screenshots of Bladerunner make you go "Cool!  BladeRunner!  Let's watch Bladerunner!"  or "Cool!  Bladerunner!  Let's play Bladerunner!"   Not an undesirable thing, mind you, but you want to keep the reactions focused on the whole genre.  At least, you know: until you write the BladeRunner Supplement.

 

 

[toddbanister]

Just finished scanning about 12 pages from Adventure Club #17 for the Western Hero Omnibus. 

 

Articles scanned:

Hi-Ho Silver Away - Greatest Western Heroes that Never Lived

Masters of the Spirit World

The Plot Thickens (1 page adventure seed)

 

I plan to quickly flip through all of the other Adventure Clubs tonight and see if there are any other Cyber, Horror or Western related topics. Anyone know of any off of the top of their heads?

 

Thanks

TB

[Duke Bushido]

I can't tell you what issue it's in (I only own the four or five I've bought for my scanning project), but one of the articles in one of the ones I _do_ own referenced an errata article for CyberHERO.  Don't know if it ever actually happened or not, but it might be something to look out for.

 

[toddbanister]

Yep, I found the Cyber Hero errata - its in Adventure Club #20.

 

I have also found

 

Horror Hero:

Adventure Club #23 - The Secret History 

 

Cyber Hero:

Adventure Club #23 - The Cassandra Matrix

 

Western Hero:

Adventure Club #24 - Bustin' Broncs

 

I am now scanning these articles in and will be adding them to each Omnibus here shortly.

 

TB

 

[DreadDomain]

On ‎1‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 10:47 AM, toddbanister said:

I recently had a personal book printed over at Lulu and I was very impressed with the quality so it got me thinking...

 

Before I begin - if this thread is in violation of the board in ANY way - I am extremely sorry. I am not trying to do anything wrong - I just want to get some opinions/help.

 

My plan is to create personal omnibus versions of my favorite three genre books that were never really updated to later editions. I have scanned each of the original three editions but I also want to include all other related works in the book. I have bought all related items that I could find from the store and currently my three omnibus editions include the following:

 

Cyber Hero:

Original Cyber Hero from ICE/Hero

Shadowpunk 0.91 edition (Fan created edition) 

 

Horror Hero:

Original Horror Hero from ICE/Hero

Haunted Heroes

Bloodsuckers Rampage

The Stuff of Nightmares, Vol 1

 

Western Hero:

Original Western Hero from ICE/Hero

Hell's Half Acre

Adventure Club #17 - Hi-Ho Silver Away - Greatest Western Heroes that Never Lived

Adventure Club #17 - Masters of the Spirit World

Adventure Club #17 - The Plot Thickens (1 page adventure seed)

Gun Fu

 

Have I missed any official (or even fan created) products along the way for these genres? I still need to go back through my Adventure Clubs looking for any related articles. I don't have any of the Digital Hero magazines so if anyone knows some that have related articles in them, please let me know and I will also grab them from the Store.

 

Does anyone know if version 0.91 is the latest edition of the fan created Shadowpunk book?

 

I also created some custom covers for the editions - please let me know what you think of them (or how I can improve them) when you have a minute.

 

And NO, I will not sell these personal editions or ever post them online anywhere. They are just for my own fun/collection. 

 

Thanks for the help everyone,

TB

 

Fantastic covers! Personally I would get rid of the black frame for Cyber HERO but your cover for Horror HERO is brilliant. Shame that I do not have access to either Horror HERO, Western HERO (nor GURPS Old West). I have hardcopies in boxes in Canada but do not have PDF (I believe they do not exist yet).

[Duke Bushido]

32 minutes ago, DreadDomain said:

Fantastic covers! Personally I would get rid of the black frame for Cyber HERO but your cover for Horror HERO is brilliant. Shame that I do not have access to either Horror HERO, Western HERO (nor GURPS Old West). I have hardcopies in boxes in Canada but do not have PDF (I believe they do not exist yet).

 

 

The Western HERO PDF is very close to existing.  

 

I'm finishing up a few annoyances on the scans before compiling the proof-reading PDF.

 

Just a little longer; I promise.

 

Then on to Horror HERO.

 

Well, on to the Adventurers Club (why is there no apostrophe there?!!) issue 1, loaned to me by rravenwood, then it's a toss-up between CyberHERO, StarHERO (for 3e), and more ACs.  Having a hard time deciding.

 

 

 

Toddbannister:

 

Stumbled across this when hunting for a book last night; thought it might be something you'd want: a "color" glossary of sorts:

 

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-slang/

 

It doesn't include a couple of my favorites, but no matter: it's extensive enough!

(it's also something of a shock how much of this is considered "old timey" when a huge chunk of it is still in use in these parts)

[toddbanister]

DreadDomain - I will play with the border frame for Cyber Hero and see if something works a bit better. If I find anything, I will post it here.

 

Duke - I really like the slang glossary - I will probably cut/paste the text into another format for the Omnibus- but it will be there. 

 

Thanks

TB

[Korgoth]

I'd suggest adding Killershrike's Cyberpunk stuff to your Cyber Ombnibus book. 

 

http://www.killershrike.com/MetaCyber/MetaCyberSetting.aspx

 

It would have to be copy/paste of his web content but it's really good stuff (as is all of Killershrike's content)

[toddbanister]

I also created custom back covers for each of the Omnibus editions and compiled all of the different articles/books together. My first editions were ordered early on Tuesday so I will post some pictures of them once they come in sometime next week.

 

Gwarh - I had already ordered them but I really like KillerShrike's Cyberpunk stuff! I will probably start compiling them into another format and get them ready for v2 of the CyberHero Omnibus edition.
 

I figure I will probably need to print them out a few times during this process before I will feel like they are "finally" complete. But at a cost of right around $10/book - it's not too bad of a throw-away if needed.

 

If anyone knows of other Hero items that would be great to include in any of these editions - please let me know.

 

Thanks everyone,

TB

 

[Duke Bushido]

If you're considering a second edition, and you're interested:   it's _not_ great stuff; it's something I did for myself after discovering GURPS Old West--  I pulled a lot of scenarios from Boot Hill and a couple other Western games and converted them to HERO 4e.

 

I can't say I can find the quickly, but I expect I can find them _eventually_.  Fair warning: it's not great stuff (the stuff in Western HERO was better), but I can send it to you if you're interested. 

[toddbanister]

Duke - I would absolutely love to see your Western Hero stuff! If you run across it - please send it my way and I will 100% make sure it goes into the next edition (with your credits listed on the back cover to boot).

 

Thanks,
TB

[Duke Bushido]

Thanks for the thought, TD, 

 

But I can't take credit for actually _writing_ any of those: I just converted them for my own amusement.  Though I am pretty sure I have a jackelope write-up somewhere (i kid: I _know_ I do.)  I believed in those stupid things until I was like twelve.   -- in fairness, though, I grew up in Circle, Alaska.  It's not like I had a lot of reason _not_ to believe in them.  I mean, a large portion of the mammals I saw regularly had horns or antlers of some kind or other.  I was absolutely _crushed_ when I learned they weren't real.

 

[Ninja-Bear]

With the right surgery you can still have one! ?

[Duke Bushido]