Spence

To me there are three things:
 
Secret ID [Superman, Spider-Man] - You go to great lengths to keep your IDs separate. It may be to protect yourself or a loved one. 
 
Public ID [MCU Cap. America, Wonder Woman] - Who doesn't know who you are? You're worst then a Kardashian.
 
Both of those are worth points for obvious reasons. They require some type of work on the characters part.
 
The third to me is you have neither. Just like Amanda Bearded it's an open secret. You don't toss it out in public, you don't keep it secret 100%. Hawkeye (comics), Wonder Girl (Donna Troy) to me are decent examples. 

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.

Ultraman R/B and the R/B movie. As a tokusatsu fan, the chance to see all the Ultra shows in the States in subtitled format is very exciting.

Someone say Addams Family? How about Ricci as Morticia?

Like, 15 minute time changes 8 times a year instead of 1-hour time changes twice a year?  Sounds fun!

Edit:  Ooo!  Better yet, 1 minute time changes every 3 days, except for every once in a while where it's every 4 days! 

I voted the other day, but the drop box didn't give me a sticker. I sat there for an hour waiting for my sticker, but finally had to leave because the people behind me were getting really irate.

Just in time for Hallowe'en, it's a spoopy new Explain This, Comics Guys!! In this muck-encrusted episode we explain the connections between various swamp monsters, and how they all owe a debt to a single sci-fi short story from 1940. Join us for, "The Children of It!!"  https://explainthis.podbean.com/

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.

So much wrong theology it hurts reading.

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. 

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 most of the regulars here can back me up when I say that I am the first person to admit that I know absolutely nothing about comic books.  However, I have read some Iron Man way, _way_ back when, and I have to say that condescending abusive Tony Stark seemed pretty much spot-on for the character I remember.
 
I don't know how accurate this was, but the buddy that was handing me these things to read (I was confused; my only other comic experience was Captain Marvel from _years_ before that; Captain Marvel seemed like what I expected a superhero to be.  Tony Stark was a horse's ass) kept insisting that Iron Man was a redemption story: the superhero alter ego was to atone for who he was as a person, the evil he did, etc.
 
Again: I have no idea how accurate that was, but I do know that the Tony Stark I am familiar with was very much condescending abusive Tony Stark.
 
 
The rest of the comments-- I'll totally take your word for it.  I know who Spiderman _is_, obviously, but all I know about him comes from the three Toby McGuire movies and the three Nicholas Hammond movies in the seventies.
 
I didn't like the last Toby McGuire movie:  it should have been _at least_ two movies, preferably three, or-- even better-- drop the whole gooey alien costume thing entirely.  I know that character (whose name escapes me at the moment) is as popular as coats in Alaska, but it's like the Punisher:  it starts nowhere and just stays there.
 
 

I never understood the hate for Daredevil. Sure, it has flaws, but it was one of the earliest superhero movies to be filmed in comic-book style and imagery. Some parts are very well done IMHO. The scene where Matt can visualize Elektra from the sound of rain falling on her is hauntingly beautiful.

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. 

Thanks for the bump, Spence. 
 
I had been interested to know that, too. 
 
Finally did get the porcelain dice a few weeks ago.  They're gorgeous!  The feel great, too.  Alas, they have the same flaw as the Champions and Monster Hunter dice: they are casino - sized, making a handful of them impossible, especially for the women they were bought for. 
 
I'll do a video on them when I get a minute. 

Just realized no one answered this. 
KS does have a process and generally you can get your money back.  You do not pay in until they project actually funds, and then you automatically get it back if the project does not actually get the pledged funds.  You would be surprised (or maybe not) how many people pledge and then do not actually pay. 
 
But once the KS is funded and underway many of them run long, especially if it is someones first time KS project.  There is more to creating and fulfilling a project than most people realize.   I have seen projects delayed months for veteran game makers due to circumstances they were unaware of or simple had no control of.  
 
For the main part I have backed 116 and have only seen eight fail to be delivered, with at least 20+ being late, sometimes very late.   Three of which they are trying to complete and deliver even if late, they have issued refunds to all that requested it, I have chosen to wait for the product.  Two I received a full refund for.  One where the author/maker passed away and two where the creators simply disappeared. 
 
I have found that for the most part KS creators are honest hardworking folks that want to bring their vision to life.  Unfortunately, the task is sometimes greater than they anticipated and it takes far more time that they thought it would to deliver it. 
 
I generally wait it out and have found some makers follow on projects become exceptional through the experience.
 
 

I ran a Justice Inc game where everyone was run of the mill pulp era types: Private Eyes, etc.  They started out hunting down a serial killer who stabbed people with an icepick through the neck and bled them out.  Well it led to an old castle on a hill (the old Ravenloft module castle) where a creepy old guy was apparently the killer.  It wasn't until he laughed off bullets that they finally figured out he was a vampire.
 
The reporter tried to stab him in the chest with a pencil.

True, but the GM saying "No" also works.   

This one!

I LOVE THIS ONE!!
 
Warning: I’m up a little late and when that happens I tend to ramble. So I’ve put my answer to your question up front, where it’s easy to see:
 
Answer 1: It actually doesn’t matter as long as you’re consistent. You’d be surprised how much punishment the HERO system can take and still put out a balanced game experience. To go back to @Ninja-Bear, it’s easiest to make all weapons free, because the cost was paid by the player when they invested in the Martial Art to use it. For example, Kusari-Gama. If I pick one of those up, I’m going to smash my own skull. Someone trained in it, however, is going to have the opposite experience. This is how I did it in Persona; you pay the points for what you want, you have the thing more as a manifestation of the point investment, rather than the other way around. If a bunch of points are paid for magic, great. Here’s your spell list based on the rules laid down for this system, etc.
 
Answer 2: There are a number of other things to consider before you can answer it. And based on the question, I’m making a couple of assumptions: That you’re doing some kind of high fantasy setting, that said setting involves the collection of gear and loot, and that said gear and loot is plentiful enough that it prompts the question. So if Kage, the Shadow Mage, doesn’t have 33 points available, he can’t pick up the enchanted hand crossbow? Or the bracers of archery? It’s downright skull breaking. So how else do you solve for it?
 
You can do this: Each character can soul-bind/befriend/attune (to use the 5th Ed D&D word) to X number of magical items. This is a campaign rule and costs zero points that the players can see, but you can see them. If you want to be hard and fast with it, you can give everyone their build cost in magical attunement. I build a 200 point Rogue, I can equip up to 200 points of magical gear. Or if you’re concerned, just, “gear.”  This can include spell books, spells as well as swords and shields. Going this route removes all of the messy player level book keeping from the equation, and leaves the GM free to run a game that plays like it should. 
 
Alternatively, each player may be limited to the Rule of 9; head, chest, arms, legs, two weapons, two rings and a necklace.
 
There’s no “canonical right way” to do it. In ... FH 5th Ed? Steve put forth the idea, as an option, gear is gold, magic is points. But that’s not always the case. And, more importantly, ignoring that is not necessarily going to create any kind of imbalance in your campaign. Your best bet, IMO, is to ignore this question entirely, and instead drill down to stat spread, skill selection, core powers/abilities, damage dealt, and damage that can be sustained, in addition to any other non-combat abilities that your casting classes are going to have. So let’s break down the reasoning:
 
In a traditional fantasy setting, there are three and a half core classes; Fighter, Rogue, and Wizard/Cleric. I say 3.5 because there’s a ton of campaigns and systems that just go with “magic” and that includes healing, there’s systems with all kinds of different ways to tap into other worldly... or natural but normally inaccessible... or... you get my point. The more critical question, in my mind, is not about point assignment or gold spent, but functionality and general balance. To that end, I would say that those three classes don’t really provide much framework. Whereas tank, blaster, scrapper, controller, etc., more traditional super heroic tropes, do the job much better.
 
The tank wears heavy armor, carries some variety of weaponry, has a shield. Do those cost points? Someone brought up: things paid with gold are fungible, things paid with points are not, however, there’s a counter to that, and that’s “everything has a point cost.” There’s a nasty rabbit hole you can fall down trying to reconcile the cost of a shield against gold against real cost in points to the character. Meanwhile, your casting classes have to spend points on their spells — unless you say they don’t. And you treat spells like equipment. Also an option. My late night rambling aside, here are my hard learned lessons from years of GMing Fantasy HERO:
 
1) Power level is, broadly, a lie. After a while it becomes nearly impossible to do a decent audit. I became much more interested in this question: Does everyone have roughly the same points invested in base stats and core skills? Do they all fall within the guidelines for CSLs, and are they utilizing the tools provided accordingly? Last, but not least, is their general DPR (damage per round) equivalent? A fighter who hits every round may not be as sexy as a Rogue with extra dice in Backstab, or a wizard who can throw chain lightning through an entire group, but that just means they’re doing their job. Standing up front, drawing fire, surviving, and dealing out punishment. The Rogue should be able to outpace the fighter in damage, because that’s the rogue’s job.
 
2) Damage output caps are critical. Decide early what your max number of KA dice is, AND your highest Active Point cost, and hold that line for a while as you continue to balance encounters and defenses. 
 
3) Remember: Defense wins championships. Unless you let someone buy an NND Killing Attack that’s disruptive, or the Wizard can call down oodles of Meteors every round. You don’t want that to happen, that gets gnarly.
 
4) This in a very looping way comes back to my point, and your question: when is it appropriate and how do you do it? My answer is “ignore the common application, and approach it differently.” We can math everything to death. Doesn’t mean we should.

Now I am bit out of date here, but in broad strokes this is fast overview of how things work.
 
In Basic training every sailor receives a very basic introduction to the overall Navy.  This includes basic structure as well as an intro to shipboard life and very basic critical skills such as general shipboard firefighting and damage control.
 
From basic most sailors will then go on to their Rating’s A School.  Ratings are how the Navy defines a person’s job.  The list of ratings has changed over time as technology has changed.  Some Ratings have been retired and some are “new”.  Over time some have even been combined.  But for our purposes think of the Rating as a person’s career field.
 
After A School a sailor will either go directly to their assignment or they will go to a C School.  A C School addresses a specific specialty.  A particular aircraft type, ship type or system depending.  DC (Damage Controlman) is a Rate as is HT (Hull Technician).  Both utilize welding as a skill, but with different emphasis. 
 
And then there are a laundry list of specialized training schools.  Shipboard Firefighting and Aircraft Firefighting are two specialized schools that concentrate on, well firefighting. 
 
I don’t see your templates as being for someone out of boot, but rather someone that has spent a few years in. 

No problem, feel free. 
I would change the term "metal working" to "Structures".   It's a little more accurate since they do more than just the metal parts and are responsible for the entire structure.
 
 

It's really a shocker when discussing supers. 
 
But I employ the trope in any genre as appropriate.  By appropriate I mean when it follows the story and serves a purpose in the story.  It's hard for heroes to stage a dramatic rescue or equally dramatic escape if the concept of capture is off the table.

Well I blame it on general lack of reading (and reading comprehension) plus the overwhelming contamination of RPG’s by computer gaming’s so called CRPG’s and their “cheat codes” and “walk throughs”. 
 
Game’dom is rife with “discussions” of how the purpose of a GM/DM is simply player fulfillment and to basically let them run wild with lots of don’ts.   As a DM/GM you can NEVER have the PC’s face capture or defeat.  You should never actually have a storyline or even imagine that the players stick to the game they agreed to play.  Basically GM/DMs are servant drudges for the munchkins of gaming and one I simply reject as idiocy.
 
It is really sad and a real blow to RPG’s. 
 
I only game with a small circle of players now and my demo/con games had really fallen off even before Covid.  I had planned to restart demo’s this year, but that kinda stalled….

I have years ago and we had a great time.  We had all read the books such as Howard Pyle's Men of Iron and Mary Stewart’s trilogy (The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills and The Last Enchantment) as well as the classics about King Arthur and the Round Table.
 
And most importantly we saw the movies like MGM’s 1952 Ivanhoe, Universals 1952 The Black Shield of Falworth and the Warner Brothers 1938 The Adventures of Robin Hood.  They may not have been “realistic” and portrayed a cinematic Hollywood adventure take on it, but they were a lot of fun clicked right into roleplaying adventure. 
 
Great times.
 
We tried again in the early 2000’s and it was a disaster.  No one had even heard of the source material and of course reading is just not done today, especially “novels”.   Everyone was all about “da loot’in” and “da a’kill’in”. 
 
Oh, well I can remember the good times….

I use the Marines in their traditional roles as specialized shipboard and amphibious (but from space) combat troops. Since firing normal weapons can be as deadly to themselves as the enemy, they are also proficient with blades suitable for confined spaces (Cutlass, Short Sword, etc.) and non-penetrating weapons such as shotguns and other firearms with frangible rounds.