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This reminds me of the suggestion that Congresspersons be required to wear outfits like NASCAR drivers so that we can tell at a glance who's sponsoring them.

Derek Chauvin guilty of all charges. Good.

IIRC Diamond was also distributor for Hero Games. And the reason Darren couldn't pay me if full for Ultimate Mystic, Mystic World and Arcane Adversaries for several years was because Diamond wasn't paying him. While I wasn't pleased with Darren, really, what could he do? He was getting screwed, too! So I am pleased to hear about any trouble for Diamond. Dean Shomshak

I can't comment on the "Kane" series because I've never read it, but Opal reminds me of a discussion a friend of mine read on RPGNet: on the inverse relationship between literary merit and gameability. Like, Anna Karenina: the RPG? No. It would never work. But Knight Rider: the RPG? The game practically writes itself. The PCs all work for the mysterious Foundation, which equips them with an artificially-intelligent super-car. They fight crime! Dean Shomshak

I saw it put as “it’s not okay for the untrained civilian to panic, but it’s fine if the trained cop with the gun does”.

Not my words, but poingiant, and I cannot find the original source at the moment, but something to the effect of "why have we ever accepted that if you don't just automatically do what a police officer tells you, when he tells you, how he tells you, for as long as he tells you, that he has the right to murder you? Why are we accepting that any police encounter can become an impromptu game of Simon Says and if you don't play perfectly, you get shot? Again, not my words, but I approve of them heartily.

That's a great way of putting it. Superheroes exist not to fight crime, but to fight extraordinary dangers. True, Superman's first villains were all ordinary people and he was just the ultimate geek's wish fulfillment of going around dealing with problems with massive power to back you up. But in time the concept developed into something less unnerving and troubling, into one you describe above. Superheroes are moral agents of protection fighting evil in a chaotic world. Their job isn't to avenge or bring justice, their job is to handle what the regular forces cannot, so that t

The Shadow Queen was one of the major villains in my last Champions campaign. It worked quite well to have Black Paladin as her lieutenant. Because of the faerie tale nature of her realm, I used Disney-esque elements in the encounters with the villains and describing her kingdom. Because it amused the Shadow Queen, one of the heroes became involved in a singing contest with Black Paladin, which the fallen knight wasn’t going to do until she spelled him into it. It later became known in that campaign that Black Paladin has “a marvelous singing voice.”

RIP indeed. I'd also look at "Streets of Fire", an under rated but cult movie yhat has his finger prints all over it.

Apologies if anyone finds this too political, but the recently passed law is just so ludicrous.

My son's school has canceled evening classes a couple of times in recent weeks, due to curfews and other offshoots of our recent social unrest. I usually don't fear much for his safety, but this does bring home how serious the situation is. I would not want to be a juror, judge, or anyone else involved in the Chauvin case. Tensions are so high that no matter what the verdict is, someone on one side or another will be dissatisfied. I hope I'm wrong and that all this tension can somehow lead to honest debate, then peace and justice, rather than more anger, destruction, or worse, b

Opinions vary, but I think we should absolutely be shocked when a nonthreatening child with “no choice” gets killed by a cop. And I am interested in systemic changes to prevent incidents like this from happening again. I can’t settle for “well, that’s the situation”. Can somebody remind me again what heinous crime Toledo was suspected of that kicked off the pursuit in the first place?

Children do stupid things, much like I did when I was that age. One of the people here is a trained, armed, and armored cop. One is a child. As the owner of a thirteen-year-old, I feel like we can do better than expecting stupid children to somehow not be stupid.

Superheroes are shamans. They adopt a special role, often using a special name, maybe with an animal theme. Their purpose is to protect their communities from supernatural beings. In their mode of dress and behavior, they stand apart from ordinary people.

ADDENDUM: I just Googled "occult Canberra" and here's what I got on the first page. Indeed, someone has already found Masonic origins and an arcane street layout. Have fun! THE OCCULT HISTORY OF CANBERRA - YouTube www.youtube.com/watch?v=im_24NRylDU a comparison in symolism between australia and america Is There an Occult History of Canberra | Clowning Around ..

Needs more Farscape.

Snapdragon After spending 20 years in Stronghold's 'Hot Sleep,' this notorious late 70s, WITCH-associate supervillain retired to a commune in the Santa Cruz hills. Since her pyrokinetic powers can simply set enemies on fire with a snap of her fingers, as well as project bolts or cones of flame, it was hard to tell, at first, who she may have been inflicting damage on. Once the illusion dropped and her large wings and humanoid-reptilian features were visible she was identified, and it was clear that she had been fighting on the 'same side' as a demonic entity and the obscure Home

https://variety.com/2021/music/news/jim-steinman-dead-meat-loaf-celine-dion-1234955739/ Jim's songs were so recognizable. Once he was on my radar, it was pretty easy to know his songs regardless of Artist performing them. He is also the reason I got to know Lord Morham and share music with him. Rest in Peace, Sir. So, In his honor one of my favorite songs of his from Bonnie Tyler (no, not Total Eclipse of The Heart, but same album)

I've been giving this some thought, and if I may answer my own question I'd like to list some common elements I've observed. Foremost, fairy tale magic has to advance the story. For example, teleporting oneself to a christening to bestow a curse, but not to reposition oneself during combat. Spells are flashy one-off sort of things. Fairy tale magic is less of a toolkit and more a set of narrative devices; thus, a generalist spellcaster isn't going to be utilitarian with their repertoire. Anything permanent has a high price, fatal flaw, or escape clause. There could be socio

Brangomar, aka the Shadow Queen, most recently written up Champions Villains Volume One: Master Villains, is essentially Disney's Maleficent (the classic animated version from Sleeping Beauty, not live action); except that instead of being a dark faerie queen who can transform into a dragon, Brangomar is a dragon using magic to appear as a human-like woman. Her personality and style are very much like Maleficent, and like the evil Queen in Disney's Snow White. Brangomar rules a land called the Shadow Realm in the dimension of Faerie, that being the sum of all the lands, races, creatures, and g

IDK who that is. But, considering my audience, I'd say that "Fairy Tale" magic functions to teach a moral/in-group/role-affirming/conformity lesson. Don't stay on the path? Bad things happen. Do follow the elders' instructions even though they sound batshit crazy? You prevail. Unfailingly polite to even weird creatures? You make your way past them unmolested. Violate cultural norms? (unless, it's a batshit crazy thing an elder told you to do) Get transformed into something icky.

Well, over and above that, closed ranks is not unique to police or to Boston. And it isn't remotely new. Do we even need to go over the history? So, look, it's heinous, but it doesn't to me say anything about the police per se, or about Boston. It shows primarily that institutions cannot be relied upon to discipline themselves. In other news...while we love to hate Marjorie Taylor Greene, can we also muzzle Maxine Waters? Cripes, that asinine comment of hers could *readily* result in a retrial. Judge denied a motion for a mistrial, but conceded they could be ground

I like this idea. I'd suggest only putting the Talent descriptions and the critical "how this actually works in play" information in the main part of the book. The "under the hood" details of how the Talent was constructed from other Powers and such, I would put in an appendix at the back of the book (or maybe even put it in a free PDF download for folks who are interested, and don't put it in the book itself at all).

My father-in-law made his living selling Fuller Brush door to door for over 50 years. It was fairly easy in Kansas because he lived in a rural area and it was a real chore for most people to drive to a store. Door to door is quite a bit different when people are happy to see you show up. He became the model for "Delbert, The Fuller Brush Man" for hobbyists who build model towns with quarter inch tall residents. (Personally, I'd rather do Civil War or Napoleonic battles if I were into models but who am I to criticize other people's hobbies?)

My goal for 2021 was to lose 10 pounds. Only 14 to go!

Here an idea I’ll float out. Not sure how many people would buy this but, How about a PDF of legacy Characters with the original write ups through the editions? So say Starburst would have each of his listings as they were presented in each edition. His 1st edition would be shown as his first edition, no conversions. Pulsar would be shown from 1st (?) - 6th (I know he’s in Basic Rulebook). Niche? Yeah but I think it would be neat. Just an idea.

I remember when "generic" was a thing. Low-priced canned corn that had a black and white label that simply read "Corn" with no colors, pictures, etc. That kind of thing. There was a fast food restaurant near where I grew up that took up the concept as well. I think it was called The Original Hamburger Stand. They had a limited menu with low prices (hamburgers for 20 cents, cheeseburgers for 25 cents) and black and white wrappers. I remember when McDonalds used to serve their sandwiches in polystyrene containers. My nerves still cringe when I think of the sound of two s

One of the things I like about the Champions Universe is that, while the top-tier technology remains in the hands of superheroes and supervillains, quite a bit of "supertech" has filtered out into the wider world and made a substantive difference to that world compared to our real one. In particular, Champions Universe, Champions Beyond, and Millennium City detail those differences. I summarized that info for the Champions Online community, which the curious can read here.

I think the real issue with this sort of thing is that if Stark brand ARC Reactors put OPEC out of business there would be a LOT of knock-of effects and most comic book creators don't want to deal with that. They want Iron Man punching WhipLash and don't want to tell a story about how gas stations everywhere are out of business because everyone's StarkCar has infinite range now and what that is doing to small town America. Same with how Spiderman's webshooters aren't standard issue nonlethal side-arms for Police (and pay for Aunt May's healthcare), allowing them to web up low level supercrim

Needs the "Danger! Danger, Will Robinson!" robot in the background also. And one of the babes in the short Space 1999 uniforms and silver hair, arguing with Cat from Red Dwarf.

There is a scene in one of the Batman story lines where he and dead/alive Robin are talking over a beaten/not dead Joker about the futility of just arresting the criminals only to have them escape/get released instead of killing them and ending it permanently. Batman says that if he ever started down that path he would never be able to stop. He knows he can't become the judge, jury and executioner but he also realizes there is a real need (in his world) for someone with the means and commitment keep the fighting the good fight. He doesn't do it for his justice or his glory. He goes after peopl

"White Lives Matter" is an attempt to start a movement with nothing to justify it but hurt feelings. This demographic don't experience any oppression remotely close to what others in American society have faced for generations. They're finally starting to be treated like everyone else instead of the normative, privileged group everyone is supposed to act like. When a privileged group loses those privileges, to them it feels like oppression. But when you ask them why they're upset, all they can give you is vague platitudes, or outright lies they've been fed by those who want to exploit them. Th

When I was reading your post I thought of this: This actually goes on for a couple of pages like this, with each being astonished that the other is a good man. I think the thing of it is that we trust Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent to be on the side of the angels because they are written as good guys. I don't think a lot of us trust that our fellow man has as good a heart as either of these folks. I don't think I'd trust myself not to be corrupted by power. At the risk of bringing real events into a comic book discussion: Right now as I write this my urban area is Rioting. Aga

Government leaders, most leaders, really, are elites of one sort or another. They're not literal warrior elites in modern western society, though some may have military experience, but more often political, academic, scientific, media, economic, etc 'elites.' You can contrast soldier and warrior that way, though I doubt either word has quite so precise a dictionary meaning, I think it's potentially a fair contrast. But, by the same token Warriors tend to act as individuals, concerned with their own honor, prefer to intimidate enemies, protect allies, and follow a code or at

Hooray! A monopoly is dead! Now if only someone can bring back spinner racks and distribute comics to everyplace a book or magazine is sold rather then just to bookstores (of some type).