Spence

Having a great cast from a wide diversity and including a wide variety of views in miles, thousands of miles away from the toxic hate that is "woke". Though the woke try to say they are just being diverse and ry to say they are like old Trek and stuff. "Woke" is the deliberate arbitrary swapping based not on fit for a role but to just meet a check list while actively villifying and spreading hate against others. BSG changed Starbuck from male to female in a way that was completely believable and Sackoff carried off the role very well. The current crop of "woke" contaminated shows just swap things out arbitrarily and then haphazardly try to paste on some kind of story. But the big problem issue is from the toxic bigoted hypocrites of the world camouflaging themselves behind the regular non-hateful ones. For TV and movies spreading the casting net as wide as possible to find the best performer for the part is the object. To demand the selections be based on a predefined list of acceptable races/genders us plain evil regardless of who is on the list.

--snip--- And this is where my optimism comes from. I loved the original BSG for all of its 70s camp. I loved the first seasons of the BSG reboot before they went off the rails to mysticism. B5 is still one of my favorite series and I still watch it on disc. With the original on-board and with control I am very optimistic. If it is all true on the creative control front.

It was an abomination and a dark precursor to the utter depravity of modern Follywood where they have no concept of a property but push out ooze like a popped pimple. The only thing that gives me hope. From what I read it isn't a reboot, but a telling of Shadow War. The B5 story wasn't about the Shadow War, but it was influenced by it. I read a lot of the B5 novels, my favorite being the Passing of the Technomages trilogy, and what we saw in the B5 series barely scratched the surface of what was happening. B5 centered on the station and events on Earth, this could be the opportunity to see the rest of the story. But I fear the influence of Hollywood agendas and CW angst.

So I read several different articles. I don't know if this will qualify as a reboot. From what I can tell it will be a telling of the Shadow War. B5 was the story about the last few years of B5s story with some events of the Shadow War spilling over onto them. I read several B5 universe novels and there was a lot happening that never touched on B5 at all. My favorite was the Passing of the Technomages trilogy. But the B5 universe has a LOT of room for more stories. Seeing Straczynski directly involved plus original cast members makes me hopeful. The recent history of Hollywood just needing to "fix" everything they touch or turn it into a platform makes me very pessimistic.

Oh, absolutely. It is just easier for me when I already understand the baseline.

Loosely Tolkien'esk or such. Essentially Western European influenced. I am not saying that other settings/cultures are not cool or fun. I am saying that I have a firm grounding in the tropes and style and it is easy to run. There is nothing worse than trying to play a game based on a culture that no one in the group knows anything about except what they have seen on TV shows or the limited information in the rulebook. Even worse if you are the only person at the table that has done any research at all. It is hard enough to ask players to play the PCs in line with the character they made, let alone trying to play one that you have no idea about.

From the articles I've read J. Michael Straczynski is directly involved as well as many of the original cast. The big downside is that it is 2021 Hollywood and the CW.

On the Good/Evil and Lawful/Chaos question. I have always felt that people forget sometimes that Good/Evil is entirely dependent on the perspective of the protagonist. I also have come to the conclusion that it should be Order/Chaos and not Lawful/Chaos.

I try to name npc's and locations ahead of time if possible. Beyond that I just make it up as I go. I am constantly reading fantasy adventure stories/books so I have a lot of possible names running through my head. I have returned to traditional rpg style settings so I don't have to invent fake jawbreakers in an attempt to represent a completely foreign culture. Instead I just have to have fun.

That may have even been the intent. But the reality is that the inheritance tax doesn't really effect any of the truly wealthy since they have long since reclassified their wealth and will distribute it into the family under various methods long before their deaths. But the regular US farmer, rancher and so on that dies and wills the Family Farm to their sons and daughters usually results in the property being sold off. Since very few family working properties have actual cash flow anywhere near the governments calculated market value meaning the sudden inheritance tax bill will usually bankrupt them. So they sell.

Plus Hero's 5th Ed source book Pulp Hero. I still think it is one of the best RPG general references for the Pulp era written. While the center reference date is 1935, the referenced period is from January 1920 to December 1939. The detailed timeline and description of the world (with 1935 world and regional maps) plus sections covering topics like the depression, travel, 1935 wages and a general cost of items and services in 1935 make it invaluable for running a period game. I tend to use Pulp Hero as the source book for my games that run in the interwar period and Call of Cthulhu sources books for the 1890 through the 1920's, blending them when the time period falls from 1925 through 1935. Had to add another great reference series. The American Guide Series is a group of books and pamphlets published from 1937 to 1941 under the Federal Writers' Project program a depression federal project to give authors and related professions (editors, publishers etc.) employment. The WPA city guides and panorama guides are spectacular snapshots of the 1930's.

Absolutely. First he was a genius and then he was an evil idiot, all depending on which mob is crying. But there are many "regular" people that came up with a concept and turned it into a fortune, some even changing the world while they were at it. Gates and Jobs went from being the "little guy making good" to "mega-corporate evil guy using slave labor". Writers are just another grouping. Smart ones are flush with cash while the "not as smart" or "not as lucky" get little or no benefits from their original ideas. It isn't a matter of whether I agree with a case or not. They just are. Bob has a great idea but dies not have any ability to bring it to reality. So he approaches Sara who has the wealth and resources to bring the idea to life. Sara sinks millions of dollars, has the skills and knowledge to hire thousands of specialists required and the infrastructure to support them. After the thing takes off and the money rolls in, after all the moneys are re-paid, all the expenses are paid, the taxes and fees and licenses are paid. After all that the actual remaining profit is determined. Who gets what? Who gets the larger portion. Does Sara who bore all of the real world risk and put in the long hours and work wrangling the thousands of details needed to get something from concept to reality? Does Bob who had an idea and spent time advising and critiquing the process? I don't know and I definitely know I would not want to have to try and decide that. But one thing I do know is that the "public" is notorious for loving the cheering on the underdog. Right up till they become successful and they become that evil rich guy. It is even worse for small startup companies. Successful corporations are the modern equivalent of dark evil gods to be instantly hated by everyone.

For me I am amused how everyone "forgets" that a really successful "creator" usually morphs into that "corporate entity". Hurrah for Bob as he makes that awesome indy movie. ---years pass--- Boo, down with Bob the evil corporate studio shill !!!

I ran Champs at cons with the animated Teen Titans a few times. The game actually attracted more adults than kids and was actually pretty good, though there was no time for angsty stuff, it was straight up Teen Titans battling villainy.

Oh, it is the system. Definitely the system. Even 5thR was more flexible. Figureds rule

😁 Makes me think of a CoC game I ran a while ago. It was actually effort to explain why "Research" was a skill and why finding clues in old newspapers and records at the library and city hall took them a few days. "No, they didn't have wiki in 1928."

Depends on the show and year. Smallville Dawson's Creek many CW shows. Buffy The list can go forever since teenaged angst is a teen TV staple. For myself, from 7th to graduation I went to a school that averaged 19 or 20 graduates a year. My class was HUGE with 23 So I really didn't experience any of the school drama I hear people talk about.

What do my PCs actually do? Well they sit in a folder on the shelf until I get to play again.

No, but for some reason I am seeing all kinds of Bollywood related videos. I have an almost visceral hatred of musicals as a whole, why would I want to see Indian musicals.

kabillion New word for me there

There is an actual Hero games for this

Fair enough. I won't say I abhor minimalist rules anymore though. Because of the GUMSHOE system. Fear Itself is the most minimalist version while Nights Black Agents and Trail of Cthulhu arguable fight for most intricate version. At least until Sword of the Serpentine is fully released in hardcopy. That game divides things into two categories, Investigative Skills and General Abilities. Investigative Skills are things related to figuring out clues and identifying problems and do not require a die roll at all. While General Skills are everything from shooting to you health points and the die rolls use a single D6 alone with skill point spends. While mechanically simple it is my current go to game for pure role playing fun. Without the failed investigation type roles that plague most RPG's, a GUMSHOE game allows the players to be the great detectives that they are playing. If you get a chance I would recommend giving a read through of the basic core rules and maybe trying out a once shot at a con. I am in the process of adjusting how skills work in Hero to have a regular roll to succeed like normal, but also have a Investigative Skill component like GUMSHOE. I don't know if I can make it work, but I have hopes.

WtC adds on a "powers" structure that is resolved using the FATE system. Much like ICONS did. So it isn't a bad version of FATE. For me the FATE engine is too broad in its resolution system.

Sounds cool. I myself couldn't run it I think. I am a old cranky bachelor and lack the insight needed to create the right feel in that setting.

It is a great setting. I was underwhelmed by ICONS and FATE in general, far too rules light for me. When I heard that WtC was getting a RPG I was stoked until I discovered it was FATE driven. I had backed it and got the rulebook. It does a good job describing and setting up the WtC world and would be a good guide. The 12 "Types" of supers could be used to create adjusted archetypes such the Atlas-type is a Brick and so on. Using a rule set like Champions could make the setting shine. M&M would do an adequate job too I suppose