Spence

I got half way through. Fairly on point in letting STD and Picard scenes illustrate the train wreak.

I know I have a version, but I'll need to check my comp at home.

I've been looking for something too. All the suggestions I ever got on this required PHD's in techno-babble. I guess my definition of the word "easy" is not the same as others

And so... Everyone agrees "Balance of Terror" was the best TOS episode...

Interesting. What about MSE stood out for you as an improvement?

You are correct in CharGen being an initial stumbling block. And a intro that only contains a condensed "play book" for rules, uses pregens and has a small number of adventures that can be played individually or as a micro-campaign is very much a thing. There are several RPG's that have done exactly that to very good effect by allowing players to actually "play" the game before they try to create a viable PC. Making a viable PC can be a daunting task for a new player when the game uses limited or focused build routes like class/level style games like D&D, Pathfinder or C&C. Even games like Shadowrun or Star Wars channel players down archetypes. Hero on the other hand falters on having too much flexibility for the first time player. I've said it dozens of times. Character Generation and Adventure Building are not and never have been PLAYING an RPG. They are tools needed to get to the RPG. I was just thinking last night about creating a very basic set of intro-rules for Champions and one for Fantasy Hero. Game play rules, not build rules. All of the rulesets that Hero has put out are "complete" rulesets in that they cover everything in detail so the players can expand on them as a "tool kit". An introduction rule-set only needs to contain the specific parts needed in that introduction/demo. The pregen character sheets would have ZERO BUILD ANNOTATION. There is no need to print numbers on the sheet when they are not explained anywhere. Instead the sheets need to be annotated with needed information for just that sheet. For instance: Polaron Dude has a 8d6 energy blast, yes I am a 5th Ed person. ENERGY blast Normally you might write it on the sheet as "Polaron Beam 8d6 EB - 40 Pts - 4 END", but in a pre-built adventure with no build rules those numbers are meaningless. So instead we say "Polaron Beam - 1 to 8d6 - pay 1 END for every 2d6". The flavor text can describe the powers an what a Polaron Beam is. Each character sheet, PC or NPC, needs a short description of each skill/ability because there will be no mention of them in the "rules". A short blurb in the "rules" on skill die resolution, but no list of skills because they are not needed. Any skill would be on the character sheet. Many RPG's have a quick or intro ruleset that are not near complete, but are just enough to play a basic game. The idea is that once you play the "Starter Game" you will want to buy the main books. The RPG's D&D, Pathfinder, Shadowrun, Star Wars and Call of Cthulhu have all used them. Some games have repeated it over multiple editions as they enable new players to "test drive" a game and have nearly immediate enjoyment without the need of investing a large amount of time. Since success of this style of "starter" requires a set of minimalist rules, it would need Hero to be open to reviewing a quick-start ruleset and OK its use. Otherwise you are back to the same point of requiring potential players to buy the full rules at the start in order to use the adventure. The best way would be to have four sets of quick-start rules. Supers, Fantasy, Modern and Scfi that are no more than 5 pages long in total with the differences being not in content, but flavor. Bow instead of Rifle instead of Blaster and so on. They would be inserted into the intro games along with pregens. I would have sidebars that tie each item to the page in the full rulebook. For 5th ed the core Rulebook and Sidekick. For 6th ed it would be 6th Ed Vol 1&2, Basic Rulebook, Champions Complete or Fantasy Hero Complete. The idea being, we gave you a taste here is the meal. The important thing is that the quick-start have just enough pertinent information to play a pre-build session, but not enough to build a complete game from scratch. The document Hero In Two Pages is already a solid core for quick-start rules, only needing a few particulars aimed at specific genres. Something to ponder.

I'll have to remember this and try it once I am caught up on the books I have bought.

It was the second anime I ever saw after tapes. Or maybe third? It has been so long I can't really remember. But Macross and early Gundam were my first anime on tape. With the coming of the anime golden age, I have watched so many I cannot remember them all. My more recent like is the isekai stories, though some of them can be horrible. But that is normal, for every great show there is a least one stinker and a dozen average ones.

Still not an objection. Villains names are supposed to be intimidating. Plus if you use an assassin as an example of character type, well.... There have been many characters in comics and books with names that are darker in legend than the characters are in practice. Without more details of which actual option the character is, I stuck with something that could be tied back to mystical/wiccan. Which would be old pagan'ish religion. The only Wiccans I know follow a decidedly Celtic path. There are others but this is the one I have been exposed to. But, I out. I'm sure the OP will obey your commands.

This, right now I have no clue what Ravenna is.

And? Villain..... His original examples had an assassin, a theif and I don't remember Lady Blue in comics. All we know is a villain with mystical/wiccan flavor that could be an assassin or a theif or a who knows.

Since you are going with a Vixon/Catwoman type villain with a mystic/Wiccan flavor, how about Red Cap.

Maybe, but they don't evoke anything mystical or more importantly Wiccan.

How about some of the Celtic goddesses. Babd Cailleach Bheur Maeve Morrigan Cailleach Bheur Rhiannon

It's a great series, I have watched all the anime except the movies. My quick and definitely not all inclusive short list was just my most recent watch/reads that I had close to hand. MHA would be great if all, or a majority of the players were familiar with it so they could have a better idea of how to create their power concepts.

An short list For RPGLit or Lite novels I have been read (listened to) The Adventures on Brad series by Tao Wong. Eden’s Gate series by Edward Brody For Anime/Manga/Lite Novels the following series were decent: Is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon? by Fujino Omori and Kunieda (horrible title for a decent story) Goblin Slayer by Kumo Kagyu, Kousuke Kurose and Noboru Kannatuki Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash by Ao Jyumonji and Eiri Shirai. Slayers by Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. Record of Lodoss War by Ryo Mizuno and Akihiro Yamada The Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk/The Sword of Uruk by Koichi Chigira Not Anime/Manga related but great for RPG’s Supers fiction Wearing the Cape by Marion G. Harmon H.E.R.O. by Kevin Rau (great concept on the supers side, but needs work on writing interpersonal relationships/romance. I found myself skipping entire sections.) Monster Hunter genre: S-Squad series by William Meikle I have it. The biggest issue I found is that chargen is pretty much standard with suggestions. They do have a ton of pregens from the source material. But it is still tossing the entire kitchen at the players and saying "You go!"

👍 Nice short synopsis. I've actually been enjoying the manga/anime/RPGLit where the exist in a world where delving is an Adventurers actual job and the characters actually know they have levels and level up. To me it was a bizarre premise but oddly turned out to be fun to read. It is amazing how this line of thought repeats every so many years. But the best part is the idea isn't met with the hostility and outright anger it used to.

An understatement if I ever heard one about US Comics. It has been years since they have published any worth reading. I check every so often to see if they may be making a return, but they just get worse. I do actually read more manga these days as well as lite novels. RPGLit as well. Some are better superhero stories than anything current in comics, and there are several Fantasy ones that would be great in a RPG using Hero.

I hear that. I started with 1st, played through to 6th. From 1st to 5th the changes felt more like small adjustments rather than something actually changed. 5th to 6th was jarring and just felt off. I could never get comfortable with 6th and play. So it is back to 5th for me.

A big agreement with that Most of my adventures tended to stay within "The City" and surrounding area. Organizations and threats may exist on a larger scale but our Heroes protect this city. There may be the occasional trip outside for a specific task, but in the end it is all about "The City". Almost like Arrow but less soap opera and more powerful supers.

Following

My two cents is either one is good for me. You could easily release each individual item by part and then when everything is complete reformat them as a single PDF for later sales.

Absolutely. I have been arguing that point for what? 20 years or more? But while the official DOJ product has not shifted course, the new Hall of Champions gives us a path to add suitable content. I am currently working on two projects that I hope will help. One is a Superheroic starter mini-campaign vaguely set in the CU. By vaguely I mean the particulars around it will be extremely easy to shift to another world as required. The other is a D&D/C&C old school fantasy mini-campaign doing the same. The covid has really slowed me down since my ability to play test items has been effectively shut down, And before someone trots it out, I have never been able successfully run or play virtually or remotely.

If you use Hero for a fantasy RPG setting (akin to traditional D&D or C&C), once the players "grok" Hero and move away from simply replicating the reference system. Their spells, skills and such it becomes one of the best of that type of RPG I have ever played.

That might be doable for me. But I do have to wait till things settle down. Traveling into a "red" zone will put a isolation requirement for work. We are already down on staff as it is and while I'd be able to telework, we just don't have full access working remotely.