Spence

Yes, I backed the Kickstarter as well, so I know where you’re coming from. As it is, I use it as source material for a potential Hero campaign setting I would run.

That is a game that was completely false advertising.  They claimed it was a sea going adventure, but the sea part and the ship part was ludicrous.  Pure false flag. 
 
I haven't opened my Kickstarter book since the crushing disappointment of the lie.
 
it may be a fantastic Three Musketeers type political intrigue game, but a half dozen pages graced with a half a$$ed list of ship names is not even close to a seafaring swashbuckling RPG.
 
I hate being scammed.

I seem to remember something about that.  But I can clearly remember among the gamers in my area the big thing was the game was incomplete.
Physically. 
You actually could not play.  At all.
You could not actually make a character.  At all.
Take Champions Complete.  Cut the binding, remove pages 42 to 129.  Throw them away and rebind what is left. Sell. 
 
And there you have what happened with Fuzion. 
 
I can remember several games from board games to RPGs to wargames that were put out in the late 90's that were unplayable because they were simply incomplete. 
 
For Fuzion we would hear people talking as if they had played the game and we always thought they were lying because we could open the rulebook and there was no actual way to make a character.  
 
I personally believe that it would have had more of a chance if there had been a way to communicate directly with the publisher in real time.

I tried M&M too.  I tried hard.  And a lot of that effort was because it looked like a superhero game.  The other was the M&M playable setting. Not just a setting encyclopedia plus villain pre-gens.  But a thought out new player entrance to their setting adventure/campaign.  Multiple sequential adventures to allow players to be heroes and GMs to get a taste of what a superheroic campaign feels like. 
 
My M&M game never got off the ground.  I just never connected with that condition system.  Super battles were just meh in comparison with a Champions battle.  I didn't get anything that resembled the satisfaction you get when a good hit sends someone through the wall.
 
Just one "condition" replacing another.
 
But boy howdy that setting and those book just POP superheroes.
 
 
 
 
While I don't think I have ever made it halfway through one of the CR play throughs, I cannot deny the popularity.  But I do think the CR portion is in response to D&Ds popularity, not the driver.
 
We've beaten the idea to death.   But Champions needs to take their existing encyclopedia and Bestiary/Villainiary and use them to build a playable setting.  Meaning dust off the reference textbooks and write a campaign book. 
 
M&M includes a great introduction campaign in the rulebook that serves two purposes.  How to play and a method to introduce new PCs into a campaign. 
 
My own Fantasy Hero (5thR) project is intended to be a way to introduce players into a small digestible campaign where they can experience the system in play and how things work.  Some century I hope to finish it. 

I tried M&M too.  I tried hard.  And a lot of that effort was because it looked like a superhero game.  The other was the M&M playable setting. Not just a setting encyclopedia plus villain pre-gens.  But a thought out new player entrance to their setting adventure/campaign.  Multiple sequential adventures to allow players to be heroes and GMs to get a taste of what a superheroic campaign feels like. 
 
My M&M game never got off the ground.  I just never connected with that condition system.  Super battles were just meh in comparison with a Champions battle.  I didn't get anything that resembled the satisfaction you get when a good hit sends someone through the wall.
 
Just one "condition" replacing another.
 
But boy howdy that setting and those book just POP superheroes.
 
 
 
 
While I don't think I have ever made it halfway through one of the CR play throughs, I cannot deny the popularity.  But I do think the CR portion is in response to D&Ds popularity, not the driver.
 
We've beaten the idea to death.   But Champions needs to take their existing encyclopedia and Bestiary/Villainiary and use them to build a playable setting.  Meaning dust off the reference textbooks and write a campaign book. 
 
M&M includes a great introduction campaign in the rulebook that serves two purposes.  How to play and a method to introduce new PCs into a campaign. 
 
My own Fantasy Hero (5thR) project is intended to be a way to introduce players into a small digestible campaign where they can experience the system in play and how things work.  Some century I hope to finish it. 

I don't really even know how to respond to this. 
 
But I do agree that it would be great to get famous people to do podcast games of Hero stuff, its just a question of figuring how the heck to get them to do it.  I tried to find some contact, some way to get a group to run Western Hero and basically it comes down to "don't call us, we'll call you"

I agree that 4th edition had something special going for it. The rules weren't as heavy as they feel now, and there was some fun still left in the tank, even with the figured characteristics and such. As for the books, I've beat this dead horse a few times, but we just need a solid design structure for the books. Color books that have well laid out sheets and info. Support is also key, but the books need to stray from the text-book layout and come into a more modern graphic design. I ran Mutants & Masterminds for years partially because the books LOOK like a superhero game. 
 
 
I agree that we need more engaging settings and materials. But there are some "special sauces" that D&D has that few other games do: Critical Role. The idea that a bunch of voice celebrities come together weekly (for the most part) and run a game of D&D on screen for MILLIONS to view really has helped D&D out. A LOT. If Hero could tap into that kind of energy, it might see more people playing and getting excited about it. And not just with Champions, but with other settings as well. 
 

I tried M&M too.  I tried hard.  And a lot of that effort was because it looked like a superhero game.  The other was the M&M playable setting. Not just a setting encyclopedia plus villain pre-gens.  But a thought out new player entrance to their setting adventure/campaign.  Multiple sequential adventures to allow players to be heroes and GMs to get a taste of what a superheroic campaign feels like. 
 
My M&M game never got off the ground.  I just never connected with that condition system.  Super battles were just meh in comparison with a Champions battle.  I didn't get anything that resembled the satisfaction you get when a good hit sends someone through the wall.
 
Just one "condition" replacing another.
 
But boy howdy that setting and those book just POP superheroes.
 
 
 
 
While I don't think I have ever made it halfway through one of the CR play throughs, I cannot deny the popularity.  But I do think the CR portion is in response to D&Ds popularity, not the driver.
 
We've beaten the idea to death.   But Champions needs to take their existing encyclopedia and Bestiary/Villainiary and use them to build a playable setting.  Meaning dust off the reference textbooks and write a campaign book. 
 
M&M includes a great introduction campaign in the rulebook that serves two purposes.  How to play and a method to introduce new PCs into a campaign. 
 
My own Fantasy Hero (5thR) project is intended to be a way to introduce players into a small digestible campaign where they can experience the system in play and how things work.  Some century I hope to finish it. 

Oh, don't get me wrong, D&D was always a bad game - it's saved from being the worst TTRPG of all time by the existence of things like Spawn of Fshawn and FATAL - it's just that, out of that load of fetid dingos' kidneys, its 4th edition was the least fetid.
 
I'm never dismayed at the range of experiences people report having with RPGs, from treasured experiences playing terrible games like D&D, to hellish experiences playing good ones like Hero. 
A good enough GM can salvage anything, and a bad enough one (or a single malicious player, or even just a bad day) can ruin anything.

LOL
The gaming world never ceases to amaze me.  One persons treasure is anothers garbage.  For me 4e D&D was easily the worst experience in TTRPG I was ever exposed to since I played my first game in the late 70s. 
 
And yet for some it is their favored game. 
 
And the world turns 🤔

LOL
The gaming world never ceases to amaze me.  One persons treasure is anothers garbage.  For me 4e D&D was easily the worst experience in TTRPG I was ever exposed to since I played my first game in the late 70s. 
 
And yet for some it is their favored game. 
 
And the world turns 🤔

Assuming you're correct that they didn't use a test audience (don't want to take the time right now to research whether that's a fact), if you asked us why we might respond that a test audience wasn't necessary, since the film is good, albeit far from perfect (IMHO). Moreover, the way you phrased your question seemed to imply that you believe test-audience input would have made Eternals an objectively better movie. Test audiences have proven far from reliable at predicting what the wider audience reception to a film will be.

Emperors Choice owns all of Arduin now... and they are selling books again
www.empcho.com
 

I always went with the definition of Barbarian being "uncivilized" with civilized being defined as permanent settlements, cities and technology.
 
This of course makes the scale sliding. 

And, you could "sell back" all your figured from CON for a 1 point gain, so get all the points you wanted, limited only by shame (without breaking campaign limits like STR would). In the first ed.
 
After that, you couldn't "sell back" more than one figured stat, so the bug was fixed.
 
Figured stats became just another cost break, like Power Frameworks, and on basically the same scale.  
 
Honestly, they served a purpose. Having 60 points in several powers is just nothing like as OP as having 90 points in one.  They're discounts for being rounded out a bit rather than diving down the hyper-specialization rabbithole, a real problem in build systems that you rarely are addressed.

It's a meh issue for me. 
Hero is not an RPG. 
It is a system to build a custom RPG.
Every single incarnation from 1st through 6th has had "broken" or "incorrectly costed" something.  
Even the concept of "balanced" RPG is ludicrous. 
 
While some people looks at 6th as having "fixed" issues. 
Other people think that 6th just "broke" many of the central reasons that made Hero good in the first place.  
I'm one of the people that saw 6th as a revision that eliminated many of the core reasons that brought me to Champions (Hero) in the first place while hamfistedly "breaking" it.
 
But I am aware that 6th has it's cult following  
All hail the Great Sixth'thulhu

 
In the end Hero in all it's forms is a game that you do not let anyone "build a PC at home and show up to play".  At least if they are not someone that you have been gaming for years and understand intimately the parameters of the campaign.  
 
Hero cannot be "fixed" or "balanced" by the rules. 
That must be done by each GM as they build their world. 
I am positive that 99% of the posters on this board could build a character that will "break" any campaign if they have free access to the core rulebook and intent.  
 
IMO 6th Edition is every bit as "broken" as 5thR was.  It is just which flavor of "broken" do you prefer. 
 
 

It's a meh issue for me. 
Hero is not an RPG. 
It is a system to build a custom RPG.
Every single incarnation from 1st through 6th has had "broken" or "incorrectly costed" something.  
Even the concept of "balanced" RPG is ludicrous. 
 
While some people looks at 6th as having "fixed" issues. 
Other people think that 6th just "broke" many of the central reasons that made Hero good in the first place.  
I'm one of the people that saw 6th as a revision that eliminated many of the core reasons that brought me to Champions (Hero) in the first place while hamfistedly "breaking" it.
 
But I am aware that 6th has it's cult following  
All hail the Great Sixth'thulhu

 
In the end Hero in all it's forms is a game that you do not let anyone "build a PC at home and show up to play".  At least if they are not someone that you have been gaming for years and understand intimately the parameters of the campaign.  
 
Hero cannot be "fixed" or "balanced" by the rules. 
That must be done by each GM as they build their world. 
I am positive that 99% of the posters on this board could build a character that will "break" any campaign if they have free access to the core rulebook and intent.  
 
IMO 6th Edition is every bit as "broken" as 5thR was.  It is just which flavor of "broken" do you prefer. 
 
 

Ask what?  I'm confused.
 
Everything is to taste.  I mean I know an avid Bollywood fan.   So there are people for everything, but I am attempting to push through a horrendous movie where it has been almost physical labor to push a full 24 minutes into a 156 minute show.  I mean a high order being that is thousands of years old invents a technological device to help farming and when literally everyone in the room indicates that it is far beyond current human understanding says "can you do that think" referring to mind control like a modern teenage genius that is technologically smarter than his emotional age.  
 
So far the characters have not established any kind of connection with the audience except maybe Hayek's character is stupid since the scene with the big red guy clearly telegraphs "you're being lied to" with trumpeting shout of obviousness.   What few scenes there are that try to establish the characters are just long enough to utterly waste time while being too short to actually establish anything the audience can latch on to. 
 
I'll admit I have never read the Eternals and it has been a long time since I've read a comic.  I the US comics industry shuttered it's doors back in the late 80's so it has been a while.  
That means I am going in to the movie with no knowledge of the story so everything is dependent on the movie itself.  This movie is worse than the theatrical release of the 1984 Dune movie.  They were actually handing out a three page cheat sheet with definitions of terms in the lobby.  If you had read the book you could understand what they were trying to do, but with anyone that had never read the book it was a bomb at the box office.  
 
I am sure that there are people that liked it, but currently at 24:21 it is about as interesting as a monotone documentary about different shades of white paint drying. 
 
But I spent $5.99 on it and I will get my money out of it. 
 
If I can stay awake
 

Well, I got Eternals through a special promotional deal.
 
I've made it to the where Ajack talks to the big rock dude with red glowing flame pit eyes and is basically told not to think and just do her job.
 
But I tell you, it has been a slog.  I may try to endure a little more tonight if I can't find anything more interesting than paint drying.
 
I cannot understand how they put this out without a test audience.

It's a meh issue for me. 
Hero is not an RPG. 
It is a system to build a custom RPG.
Every single incarnation from 1st through 6th has had "broken" or "incorrectly costed" something.  
Even the concept of "balanced" RPG is ludicrous. 
 
While some people looks at 6th as having "fixed" issues. 
Other people think that 6th just "broke" many of the central reasons that made Hero good in the first place.  
I'm one of the people that saw 6th as a revision that eliminated many of the core reasons that brought me to Champions (Hero) in the first place while hamfistedly "breaking" it.
 
But I am aware that 6th has it's cult following  
All hail the Great Sixth'thulhu

 
In the end Hero in all it's forms is a game that you do not let anyone "build a PC at home and show up to play".  At least if they are not someone that you have been gaming for years and understand intimately the parameters of the campaign.  
 
Hero cannot be "fixed" or "balanced" by the rules. 
That must be done by each GM as they build their world. 
I am positive that 99% of the posters on this board could build a character that will "break" any campaign if they have free access to the core rulebook and intent.  
 
IMO 6th Edition is every bit as "broken" as 5thR was.  It is just which flavor of "broken" do you prefer. 
 
 

It's a meh issue for me. 
Hero is not an RPG. 
It is a system to build a custom RPG.
Every single incarnation from 1st through 6th has had "broken" or "incorrectly costed" something.  
Even the concept of "balanced" RPG is ludicrous. 
 
While some people looks at 6th as having "fixed" issues. 
Other people think that 6th just "broke" many of the central reasons that made Hero good in the first place.  
I'm one of the people that saw 6th as a revision that eliminated many of the core reasons that brought me to Champions (Hero) in the first place while hamfistedly "breaking" it.
 
But I am aware that 6th has it's cult following  
All hail the Great Sixth'thulhu

 
In the end Hero in all it's forms is a game that you do not let anyone "build a PC at home and show up to play".  At least if they are not someone that you have been gaming for years and understand intimately the parameters of the campaign.  
 
Hero cannot be "fixed" or "balanced" by the rules. 
That must be done by each GM as they build their world. 
I am positive that 99% of the posters on this board could build a character that will "break" any campaign if they have free access to the core rulebook and intent.  
 
IMO 6th Edition is every bit as "broken" as 5thR was.  It is just which flavor of "broken" do you prefer. 
 
 

It's a meh issue for me. 
Hero is not an RPG. 
It is a system to build a custom RPG.
Every single incarnation from 1st through 6th has had "broken" or "incorrectly costed" something.  
Even the concept of "balanced" RPG is ludicrous. 
 
While some people looks at 6th as having "fixed" issues. 
Other people think that 6th just "broke" many of the central reasons that made Hero good in the first place.  
I'm one of the people that saw 6th as a revision that eliminated many of the core reasons that brought me to Champions (Hero) in the first place while hamfistedly "breaking" it.
 
But I am aware that 6th has it's cult following  
All hail the Great Sixth'thulhu

 
In the end Hero in all it's forms is a game that you do not let anyone "build a PC at home and show up to play".  At least if they are not someone that you have been gaming for years and understand intimately the parameters of the campaign.  
 
Hero cannot be "fixed" or "balanced" by the rules. 
That must be done by each GM as they build their world. 
I am positive that 99% of the posters on this board could build a character that will "break" any campaign if they have free access to the core rulebook and intent.  
 
IMO 6th Edition is every bit as "broken" as 5thR was.  It is just which flavor of "broken" do you prefer. 
 
 

You can.  I have taken villains and such from various editions and used them in other edition games without taking time to "convert" them. 

I know a couple of HERO GMs have dropped because of the omicron variant and infection rates.  Here are the games I know are scheduled that are still so far going on.  If there is no game number, it hasn't been formally scheduled yet (reasons unknown probably due to website lack of update).  I hope I'll not be the only one running.
 
Opening Day
GM: Walter Manbeck
Type: RPG
System: Hero 6th Ed. (Champions)
Players: 6
Provided: Characters may be provided by GM
Power Level: 8 SPD, CV 14, power ? 80 pts, 25-35 def
Rules Knowledge: Useful
Game Content: Mainstream
The Society of the Seven and BASTION have invited you to the grand opening of their new orbital space station. Please RSVP with your coordinates for spatial displacement, orbital shuttle pickup, or expected arrival time at the docking bay.
 
P01 Atlantis Rising
Only available via On-line Pre-registration
Friday noon in 133 for 8 hours
GM: Jim Puder
Type: RPG
System: Hero pre-5th (Champions)
Edition: Some 4th
Players: 6
Provided: Players provide their own characters
Power Level: 12-14 DC, 5-7 Speed, 9-13 CV on sliding scale
Variations: Only 2 find weakness per target, no speed-affecting powers
Rules Knowledge: Useful
Game Content: Mainstream
As the tides rise inexorably, and the storms continue unabated, a dark omen is revealed. Atlantis is rising, and with it will come a flood of proportions not seen since the Old Testament. Will you answer the call to oppose this massive cataclysm? Can you resist the power of the Mad King of Atlantis and his minions?
 
4 Legacies
Saturday 6 PM in 133 for 6 hours
GM: Jim Puder
Type: RPG
System: Hero 5th Ed. (Champions)
Edition: 4th/5th blend
Players: 6
Provided: Players provide their own characters
Power Level: 12-14 DC, 5-7 speed, 9-13 CV sliding scale
Variations: Max 2 lvls find weakness; no speed affecting powers
Rules Knowledge: Useful
Game Content: Mainstream
Ursus, a long-time Superhero, has reached a point where he feels too old to stay in the game. But as he looks around, he realizes he has left no legacy for his children. Now, a rash of robberies in which the lead perpetrator appears to have his exact powers is plaguing San Francisco. Can you stop him before he destroys what's left of his good name?
 
Sentinels, Evil Mutants & X-Men!!
GM: Matthew Laycock
Type: RPG
System: Hero 5th Ed. (Champions)
Players: 5
Provided: All characters provided by GM
Power Level: 75 active 300-350
Variations: pre-generated characters
Rules Knowledge: Useful
Game Content: Family
In true 1970?s Chris Claremont style I present to you the Uncanny X-Men!! Have you ever wanted to play your childhood favorite characters? Now is the time! Ever dream of tanging with Juggernaught? Or seeing if you really had a better idea of how to challenge Magneto?!!!
 
The Black Glove Gambit
GM: David Rakonitz
Type: RPG
System: Hero pre-5th Ed. (Champions)
Edition: 4th w/some 5th
Players: 6
Provided: Characters may be provided by GM
Power Level: Max 60 point attacks, Max PD 33/ ED 33
Variations: minor
Rules Knowledge: Useful
Game Content: Mainstream
Storm the Knight of Freedom's secret base before the forces of villainy seize the prize. Meanwhile, the mysterious Black Glove makes her move in a deadly game.
 
210 Space Nazis Strike Back
Saturday 8 AM in 143 for 8 hours
GM: Don Satow
Type: RPG
System: Hero 6th Ed. (Champions)
Edition: some 5th
Players: 6
Provided: Characters may be provided by GM
Power Level: 12DC, 8CVs 5 Spd
Variations: No find weakness/lack of weakness
Rules Knowledge: Useful
Game Content: Mainstream
With their defeat in 2020 by a rag tag team of superheroes, one lone Space Nazi carrier ship carries on its mission to return to the motherland (Earth).
 
Trenchcoat Brigade: When memories outnumber dreams
Sunday 10 AM in for 8 hours
GM: Joe Di Lellio
Type: RPG
System: Hero 5th Ed. (Champions)
Players: 6
Provided: All characters provided by GM
Power Level: 8-12DC; Appropriate CVs & defenses
Variations: some 4th Ed mods
Rules Knowledge: Expected
Game Content: Mature Themes
You awaken and remember your success in hell. The memory has an odd, dreamlike quality... and now that you ponder, which was it?
 
 

The STR bug was the only way to easily bdimulate Silver Age, car tossing heroes and villains and still be unber 250 points. It also kept all the defenses in line. To me it’s not a big but a feature.