Spence

I don't collect comics and I really can't recite chapter and verse, but Bats has killed in the comics. One of those colored newspaper'ery books I got as a teen. It sticks because it caused a local uproar and I personally thought it fitting to reach back to the original source materials. It probably was expunged along with many other things along with all the other revisioning that we've seen over the years to the point no one can remember their own names. One thing I can clearly remember is the panel. My point, which is different. Is that superheros are not just super, but also heroes. When set in modern times a hero doesn't indiscriminately kill. And yet many of the characters that have been wrapped up into the term superhero do just that. You'd think they would notice that the movies that feature actual heroes are far out banking the ones that showcase non-heros. Having a non-hero in a movie with heroes still works out, but there is a very noticeable drop for non-hero movies. Heck I even remember "superhero" lists with movies like Last Airbender and Conan on them. I have always loved the original Conan stories, but he was never ever a hero. Just because comics went down a grim dark "woot everybody's a murderer/addict/enter evil of choice" doesn't mean that everything printed on paper in color is a superhero. I personally think that that trend is why superheroic RPGs are in the final stages of dying out. It is difficult for a genre to exist when current examples no longer exist. No amount of rhetoric or verbal tap dancing can change that. The Superhero has died as a concept and been replaced by People with Powers. Murders and horrific monsters to the front of the line please.

For me the word superhero is a compound word. In order to be a superhero you must a) have super (far greater that humanly possible) abilities and no less important b) be a hero as in good guy. Batman is a example of a skilled normal that operates outside the law and kills people. Even if you consider his abilities to be "super" he continues to not meet the "good guy" checkbook. But he isn't the primary example. Suicide Squad, Deadpool and Venom are all consistently referred to as superheroes. They are not. They are supervillains, supervillain and maneating monster. I really enjoy reading Batman, but easily follow that he is a vigilante and is perfectly willing to kill off a crook. He has even knocked out and bound police so he could kill off crooks. Physically he operates at the upper end of the humanly possible. But he rarely goes beyond that. When he does it is usually via a single use device specifically designed to meet the threat. To be clear, if Batman always used his tech to always operate at superhuman levels, then I would lean superhuman for him like Ironman. Super-vigilante not superhero. I guess my primary issue is the difference between Hero and Villain or Vigilante or outright Monster.

They are not "superheroes". Some are Pulp heroes, or just heroic adventurers. Just because people became lazy and started calling everything "superheroes" doesn't mean they are. Batman has always been a "masked avenger" Pulp style, not a SUPERhero. Green Hornet, The Spyder and The Shadow are all in this category. Though The Shadow did have his hypnotic powers. Even Batman used 45's. But at least they are kind of "good guys" even when being hunted by the police. But what really is insane is referring to outright villains and actual monsters as "superheroes". But I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Yep, really frustrating when trying to post via the phone. Tiny screen, tiny type and constantly being "helped".

Argument? Well nevermind. Have fun out there.

Secret ID assumes the PC doesn't just have a mask, but has expended resources to actively hide or obscure any possible connection between their normal self and their powered up self. Not having Secret ID doesn't just open you up to attacks by enemies, but paparazzi, fans, critics, lawyers and anyone else that feels the need to camp on your lawn once they notice you. An active superhero runs the risk of gaining Public Identity if they are not careful.

Because most of them are not Superheroes either. Batman was never a hero. He was a vigilante and in his original form killed off criminals. Batman is one of my favorite characters, but he was never a superhero. Flash Gordon is definitely on the same list as The Spirit and Phantom, but they were not superheros either......ever. They were Pulp vigilantes. Similar to Doc Savage, except Doc was an actual good guy hero that assisted within law and order rather than out side of it. It is just like the supervillains Venom and Deadpool, one casually eats people and the other casually kills people. BUt they are not superheroes. However Blazing Saddles and McClintock are both definitely westerns just like they are both movies. Of course westerns covers a far larger scope than Superheroes which are both possessing SUPER beyond the capability of the human form powers heroic and good guys. As opposed to regular normal human on a scifi adventure from the pulp age. I guess we should just call everything superhero films, Star Wars, Star Trek, Blue Bloods. Heck everything.

How? Also one of the reasons I hate posting from a phone.

Click bait is usually a link that take you to a completely other webpage that usually has nothing to do with the link title. Well this didn't divert me to another site, it was an article by TA on TA, and reading the article they were serious.

I remember a friend ran a game were the heroes 'powered up' using multiform. It was 3rd ed and IIRC the GM removed the multiform restriction on additional forms having more points than the base form. The other forms also ran on End Reserves and had a cool down period, though it has been far too long for me to remember the details. The long and short of it was a Hero could 'power up' but only had so much time before the 'power up' ended. And there was a delay before the PC could reactivate the power up. After a while a player could activate multiple levels of power up's that they could lose at a most inconvenient time if they took too long.

I was visiting Trailer Addict to see if there was anything new and I noticed a article written by the TA staff that makes me seriously wonder if people are really suffering from diminished mental abilities. The article was “How Does ‘Flash Gordon’ Stack Up To Other Classic Superhero Films?” Seriously? That is like asking ‘How does your Bayliner ski boat’s performance stack up to other bicycles?” 1980’s Flash Gordon was a campy adaptation of a Pulp Scifi adventure story/comic strip about a swashbuckling but normal human. while Superhero stories are about Heroes that have fantastic superhuman powers. The only thing that they even have in common, in this instance, is they are movies. This from a business that claims to report on the movie industry and yet apparently doesn’t even speak the language that the article is written in.

Horror as.... Scary? Bad acting? Badly made?

For myself we need more. We should make multiple time changes in a year.

Another interesting Podcast. Very well done!

Dropped my ballot last week and the ballot was "received" two day later. I have voted in every national election since 84. I didn't vote for the state/local offices until I retired out of the Navy and settled down. I couldn't see voting in a local election when I didn't actually live anywhere near. I am one of those people that believe voting is not a privilege, but a duty and responsibility. If you do not like the candidates on the ballot, write in one. Or heck don't mark a vote for that particular item, but vote for the other items on the ballet. But I believe that everyone should vote.

When the Hero switched to a new host and software a few years ago, some of us pulled material from the old site and uploaded it here so it wouldn't be lost. That is probably one of them. I can't remember what all was moved.

I don't think I ever saw any forms in 6th ed for anything but characters. 5thR had multiple forms in the resource kit, but we never got that for 6th.

Well to be fair, most of the list had nothing to do with superheroes, they basically slapped anything with an ability into the list.

There are as many OSR games out there as there are leaves on a tree. If the downloaded item has an imprint you can perform a search to see if the company still exists. Another way is to search for the title in the online sites such as DriveThruRPG and Amazon to see if there is a hit. You could also post the title here and one of the many gamers here may know something. But without a title there isn't much anyone can suggest.

Yes, but that is WEG not FFG. In FFG SW there is not a RAW mechanism for mixing the streams. Anything can be homebrewed to a persons hearts content of course.

Oh, I loved Beastmaster and saw it multiple times and when it came out on VHS it was on my shelf. But as much as I like it, I acknowledge that when compared to fantasy movies in the 2000's or even late 90's, it doesn't stand up to them. I actually enjoy older movies have no problem seeing the intent over the actual effects. There have been several anime/manga live actions that are actually pretty good. As good as a 100+ million dollar Hollywood blockbuster? No. Better than a 90's genre movie? Absolutely. I routinely watch a lot of K-Drama and some J-Drama. I can't keep count of how many K-Drama's are remakes of a US, Canadian, Australian, UK or European show that has been reworked for Korea. The number of US shows based on reworked shows from other countries is about as high as other countries reworking US shows for their audiences. This is not bad, it is not just good, it is fantastic as it brings great stories to a wider audience.

I am with you on comics. I pretty much stopped reading them in the late 80's(?) when comic writers effectively abandoned the concept of heroes. But Robert Downey pretty much nailed the Ironman I remember, but then the Ironman character was one of the reasons I stopped reading comics. I could get druggies and drunks in really life and on TV everyday. I read comics for fun superHERO stories and when that ended so did the comic.

I think it is because people have become spoiled by modern movies. They either never saw them or have chosen to ignore the stepping stone movies that allowed movie makers to experiment and develop the technology needed to make the modern movie we enjoy now. Each new attempt to bring a untried genre/type of movie was usually laughably bad. Before you get a movie with the effects and production value of Lord of the Rings, Hobbit or Game of Thrones (whether you like the shows themselves) you get a lot of Ator’s, Beastmaster's and the litany of other rough shows that proved that “movie goers will not pay to see a fantasy movie”. Before Star Wars made scifi movies acceptable, we have decades of B and D roll scifi shows that were relegated to children. Before you get a great and polished production, there will be dozens if not hundreds of bad or laughably bad attempts. There have been some really well-done anime-based movies in recent years. They are usually ruthlessly attacked and vilified by the intellectually stunted idiots that lack any understanding of the concept that you have to walk before you can run. The same people that rave and cheer when a 20+ anime series gets a 2 hour OAV, b*tch and moan when they take a 20+ episode anime series and make a 2 hour live action. The level of idiocy almost breaks the brain. Daredevil was actually a good show. Does it meet 2020+ production and writing standards? No. But is definitely was better than multiple earlier attempts at supers live action. I remember the first X-Men movie. Everyone was blown away and raved about it. You saw and actual super battle on the screen! And so on. Today there is no shortage of criticism. I have an idea. We should make the ability to comment on any film or show require a license. To get the license you will be locked in a room and forced to watch 1000 hours of scifi and fantasy films and TV shows from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Only after successfully surviving it are you allowed to comment on current films and TV shows.

Well that was disappointing. Looking for a list of superhero movies and got a list of movies that are at least distantly related to a comic, graphic novel or magazine character. Kind of like opening an article titled Best Performing Sports Cars and realizing it is actually discussing whether a Kenworth or Peterbilt is a better rig.

The 90 Cap movie is actually mentioned in the article. It and some others didn't get a minimum of 20 critic's reviews thereby not qualifying for the list.

Funny you should say that The put out additional silhouettes to cover a lot. Multiple angles for someone riding a horse, galloping a horse, a mule. Many dfferent angles for a person on foot, a person hiding behind a hostage, and even hunting silhouettes for bear, deer and many more. It was what made me ponder about it. But I can see how kludgy it could get if you had multiple opponents.