Spence

I think another interpretation would be this: Thor, having lived 2000 years of war, struggles, broken hearts, loss of friends and family, treachery, and all the other things that someone in power or just living life normally would, in 20 life times worth.  He's been there, and done that, and seen it all, as one would expect.  He watched the black plague obliterate a third of his worshipers, then a new religion completely replace their faith.  He's seen everything, this is nothing new.  However, over the last 500+ years, live has been extremely easy; there are no responsibilities, no worshipers needing help, really nothing to do and he's gotten lazy and easy going, not worrying about anything. 
 
His recent experiences would not be new to him in any way, but they would serve to wake him up to his responsibilities, and remind him of lessons learned long ago.  An awakening took place in the first couple films, not some horrific unexpected trauma he has never considered before.

That is actually a great idea and one that would be useful, not only for experienced players but new ones as well.
 
While they achieved their objective in sanitizing everything down to the lowest possible building block, such as Secret ID being a social complication.  They forget that it is easier for players to just call it Secret ID. 
 
Not precisely the same thing as your thought, but close enough for this thread.
 
A book of "Talent" builds would be extremely useful for people who just want to play today and get into esoteric build theory later.
 

I never thought it was a case of adventures not selling well.  I always thought it was more of what kind of adventures and whether they were actually available.
 
By availability, I mean on the shelf of the FLGS.  You couldn't just go online and order back then.  I have literal STACKS of V&V and Superworld adventures that I would repopulate with Hero stat'd NPCs for Champions.  But beyond a very small handful, Hero adventures did not exist to be bought out in the wild.  And it was near impossible to hear any news about what was available. We played the heck out of the Viper intro adventure and I know my groups played Bloodfury, Demon's Rule and such a lot. Many of the 3rd and 4th ed adventures were not too hard to fit into existing campaigns.  The biggest problem (in my mind) was that most of the post 4th ed Supers adventures were tied too tightly to specific villains and heroes and could be very difficult to work into an existing campaigns.  But I think that is more a "me" issue than an "everybody" issue.
 
But the biggest most telling problem IMO, was once Hero products were actually easily accessible and the non-physical product was viable, they had already closed the door.  Once access was easy there was nothing to buy adventure'wise.  Villainy Amok was one of the most useful products to come out of 5th for a GM IMO.  But it, like Shades of Black arrived late and almost secretly for many of us. 
 

I never thought it was a case of adventures not selling well.  I always thought it was more of what kind of adventures and whether they were actually available.
 
By availability, I mean on the shelf of the FLGS.  You couldn't just go online and order back then.  I have literal STACKS of V&V and Superworld adventures that I would repopulate with Hero stat'd NPCs for Champions.  But beyond a very small handful, Hero adventures did not exist to be bought out in the wild.  And it was near impossible to hear any news about what was available. We played the heck out of the Viper intro adventure and I know my groups played Bloodfury, Demon's Rule and such a lot. Many of the 3rd and 4th ed adventures were not too hard to fit into existing campaigns.  The biggest problem (in my mind) was that most of the post 4th ed Supers adventures were tied too tightly to specific villains and heroes and could be very difficult to work into an existing campaigns.  But I think that is more a "me" issue than an "everybody" issue.
 
But the biggest most telling problem IMO, was once Hero products were actually easily accessible and the non-physical product was viable, they had already closed the door.  Once access was easy there was nothing to buy adventure'wise.  Villainy Amok was one of the most useful products to come out of 5th for a GM IMO.  But it, like Shades of Black arrived late and almost secretly for many of us. 
 

I do prefer paper over PDFs, because I don't like electronics at the (Face to face) gaming table.

We were big players of Traveller.  But unlike many people I have met, we stopped when the available adventures and source books shifted from "insert anywhere" to being tied to their setting. 
 
I look back and laugh because these days I am so used to modifying things to fit my own campaign I almost don't notice and back then we simply didn't consider doing it.

when it came to geting into Traveller I cheated I went to school about 3 blocks from the GDW office
 

We were big players of Traveller.  But unlike many people I have met, we stopped when the available adventures and source books shifted from "insert anywhere" to being tied to their setting. 
 
I look back and laugh because these days I am so used to modifying things to fit my own campaign I almost don't notice and back then we simply didn't consider doing it.

7
They had a good actor IMO. But the character as written was probably the worst implemented concept since TV went to color. 
 
Also my opinion....

Still has, IMO, the 2nd greatest point/counterpoint magic duel ever filmed (2nd only to Merlin vs Mad Madam Mim, which had to be animated to contain its amazement). I love the subtlety of the Price/Karloff duel.

We here at Hero Games are deeply saddened to announce that our long-time friend, and frequent Hero Games author, Scott Bennie passed away earlier this week from complications due to pneumonia. As many of you already know, Scott suffered from extensive health problems for most of his life, and unfortunately this was one last struggle he simply couldn't win.
 
I personally met Scott in the early Nineties -- probably at one of the first DunDraCons I attended -- after I began writing for Hero myself and hitting the con circuit. In addition to being a talented writer and game designer -- perhaps best known to Hero gamers for his superb work on Classic Enemies and two VIPER sourcebooks -- Scott was quite simply one of the kindest, gentlest people I've ever had the privilege to know. I'm so glad I had the chance to work with him on several projects, including the VIPER and Villainy Amok sourcebooks for HERO System 5th Edition.
 
The world is a darker place without Scott's light in it, and all of us here at Hero Games shall miss him terribly.

I never actually liked Wheel of Time so I really didn't care one way or another. 
I am mostly referring to the current trend of changing things that literally have no sense of value for the story or that work directly against the story for other reason than fake virtual signalling. 
 
Lord of the Rings is a specific series of stories written by a man that was painfully precise who very clearly described things in both his published works and correspondence.  The changes are in direct opposition of it all.
 
Halo's Master Chief never had a ethnicity defined.  You never saw his face.  It is the only actual fully "inclusive" property on planet Earth.  And now they are #1 assigning a ethnic group and #2 sidelining the main character to a support role for the a made up token.  
 
Snow White is based on folklore from a specific culture and the characters description is literary in the text, "skin as white as snow".  There are thousands of tales in folklore that represent every group on the planet and yet they are creatively bankrupt or deliberately spiteful to the point they make themselves look like 5 year olds in a tantrum.
 
I am waiting for the remake of the saga of Shaka Zulu, 1816 to 1828.  IN order to ensure diversity and token'ism I look forward to Nandi's casting as a wise White Woman with red hair.  After all, that is how the world looks now  
 
There is nothing wrong with changing a character if it is done with some degree of intelligence and is plausible.  
 
Nick Fury in the Marvel Movies is a brilliant example of how to do it.
 
Jarl Haakon in Vikings Valhalla may have been completely unnecessary and a major stretch.  But!  They put together a plausible reason and found an actress that could pull it off, which made it work.  
 
For Cowboy Bebop I didn't think the casting or costuming was bad at all.  Real life is different than animation.  If the story had stayed on track and not inserted gratuitous sex scenes (of any kind) and other garbage it could have succeeded.  The first Captain America made many changes but stayed true to the story and was a hit.
 
If a property doesn't do what you want it to, find another property.  Don't turn out half a$$ flops and then cry that the world is an 'ist when the actual customers reject it because it was poorly written.
 
Next they will be trying to say that Black Panther was a success despite all the 'ists, rather than the truth that it was a damn good movie and pretty much everyone enjoyed it.
 
 

This was my response a couple of months ago for a town that was protected by a wizard's tower and which was at the edge of a forest.
 
 
If the town is large enough, perhaps guildhalls for various guilds (comfortable meeting room, exclusive bar, maybe space for an out of town visitor, barkeep, guard, or storage for guild members who have inventory overflow).

It’s not exactly a business (Let’s not hear the dissenting opinions.) but a Temple or Church of some sort is generally a part of small town life.
  You’re also missing some sort of Healer or Doctor’s office.

I love this concept.  Not to derail the thread, but How does this work?
 
Also in answer to your question:
Potter
Glazier
Dye maker
Scribes
Map maker
Heraldry Specialist (Q: so what image do you want on your shield?  A: A bar code)
Brewer / Vintner
 

Bakers and candlestick makers.

So I have decided to sit down and map out the town my Fantasy Hero game will operate out of.
 
The adventure uses one of the standard Fantasy Anime tropes.  Smaller cities and towns are spotted throughout the Kingdom.  Each is an island of safety in a hostile wilderness.  Monsters abound and “Dungeons”, from small randomly spawning ones to large semi-permanent warrens dot the world.  The primary method to cull the threat is the Adventurers of the Guild.  The local lord (Baron, Duke, Count, etc) may maintain troops to protect the town itself and the near hamlets, but the true deterrence are the Adventurers.
 
Adventurers are the Fantasy equivalent of Superheroes and as such don’t mesh well with following orders and prefer to freelance, though some Nobles and Knights are powered as well.  There is no “King” just a lot of small independent “city-states”.
 
The town I am envisioning is on the frontier of “civilization” and as such has a large guild presence.
What I am looking for right now is a listing of businesses/services that would exist.
 
Here is my initial list:
Adventurers Guild
Armorer
Weaponsmith
Leatherworker
Blacksmith
Tanner
Weaver
Farmers Market
Butcher
Carpenter
Woodcutter
Bowyer
Fletcher
General Store
Apothecary
Inns
Taverns
Clothier
Cobbler
Fish market
 
I am looking for more ideas.  I am not planning on putting all of them in, but I am trying you get a good starting point.   
There will be more than one of each business, and the town/city has been in existence for several hundred years and will have one or two if it’s own “dungeons”.  The idea is for it to serve as a base from which the players party can adventure from. 

It's a fine line and the studios have been coming down on the side of inclusiveness to the detriment of the source material. The original authors targeted a certain audience and made material with enough appeal to get adapted. Don't change their works to appeal to a different audience, make quality works for that audience worthy of adaptation. Case in point:
 
I love the Wheel of Time books and have reread the series  at least 3 times. I watched the first three episodes and almost stopped. I have no problems with the diversification of the Two Rivers. That was treated as a matter of course and not a point of emphasis. But I got 15 minutes of Egwene's coming of age, that is completely original material, Mat's family suddenly being poor(when they are famous horse breeders) and Perrin being married instead of an apprentice.  The coming of age thing is especially egregious because it has no bearing on any part of Egwene's later character arcs and did little to make Nynaeve relatable. It was there just to give women a bigger role when that isn't necessary as they'll get plenty of star turn later. It's almost as if the writer's haven't read the books beyond a cliff notes version.
 
Sometimes I wish I was given oversight on these projects. My first operating principle would be " You can change the source material when you show me your stack of 14 bestsellers that outsold the author's. If you can't go back and write the script so it matches the book. Or present your personal magnum opus to us and we'll see if it gets green-lit (and then we'll change it because we can, these are improvements)." 
 

I never look at the recommends, The recommends even on YouTube are getting worse and worse, so Instead I look at my Subscribed list to see what's new from people I actually want to hear from in a timely fashion. For HBO, it's a case of just digging by subject.  Oddly though, the Amazon Recommendations are actually not terrible, which was a surprise.

It's on HBO Max.

As a GM, I think it's a *great* idea to give the heroes a base for free.  
 
Of course, what the GM giveth, the GM can taketh away...
 
- - - - - -
 
My players have built many bases over the course of many Champions campaigns.  They've had:
A building inside the city (known to the public) A building inside the city (kept secret from the public) A refurbished oil rig moved to a few miles offshore from New York City A remote volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean A secret base (under a high school) that belonged to an NPC superhero team who disappeared in the late 1940s. Some they paid points for, others which were given to them free of charge.**  I think most of them were attacked by villains at one point or another.  But mostly, they used them for training and lab work.  
 
The "volcano lair" (the heroes' name for it) actually put in an appearance in a different campaign, when those heroes went there to figure out why the other hero team had disappeared.  They found some vital clues there in their former team's labs, which helped them unravel the mystery.  
 
** I've done the same with team vehicles.  Two different hero teams captured vehicles (one a VIPER jet with a cloak, the other a small starship) and kept them for themselves, with the GM's blessing.  At some point each vehicle was temporarily stolen by someone else -- and boy, did the players gripe and complain!  I responded, "I'm sorry, how many points did you lose?  None?  Well, gee whiz..."

What power range is Batman in Batman Begins?
The Justice League?
X-Men in Days of Future Passed?
Guardians of the Galaxy?
That's the kind of stuff we have to answer, not just "vague range" stat, stat, stat
 
You buy a new Champions adventure from Hero Games.  It says "For Street Level Supers"
What does that mean?

OK there has been some discussion in the 5th edition renaissance thread about this but I think it needs its own post.
 
When you pick up, say, a D&D modue it says on the cover or back text something like "for an adventure group 4th to 6th level".  Because D&D is designed with Character Levels, this makes design and designation of overall power level (and rewards) easy to categorize.  I have put out several adventure modules and in them I try to approximate the rough level of points from all characters combined for maximum applicability.  But its rough and not very helpful for many specifics in Hero.  Hero has no "levels" as we all know, which is a big advantage, but does require some more thought when balancing an adventure against character power becomes involved.
 
So, what are the power levels for Hero?  How do you do a quick and dirty approximation so a GM can pick up a book and go "this is the book for my group!"?

The Hero rules have a very basic range of point values in these categories:
 
Normals
Standard Skilled Competent Heroic
Standard Powerful Very Powerful Superheroic
Low-Powered Standard High-Powered Very High-Powered Cosmically Powerful  
The problem is that its too simple and not very descriptive.  What exactly is a low-powered campaign?  What is a Very Powerful Heroic character beyond a set of points?  How do they compare to known, existing examples in literature, movie, comic books, etc?  What would the Avengers MCU be in this scheme?  What about Daredevil from the Netflix series?
 
Further, what is the active point cap for this range of points?  Defenses?  Speed?  Etc
 
So this is what I think  we need to hash out and finalize for ease of use and explanation in future products.  As I see it this is what we need:
 
Clear, specific, descriptive categories:
  -Street Level Supers
  -Starting Superhero Group
  -Experienced Super Group, etc
Point ranges
Complication ranges
Details in each category beyond CP allotments:
  -DEX Max
  -Movement max
  -SPD max
  -Active Point Cap
  -Defenses Cap, etc
 
Remember, this is not for individual character creation in your campaign, it is descriptive for the purposes of balancing a published product against a type of character group so that GMs can see it and know what they are getting.

Those things that spring immediately to mind are going to depend on what you mean by "good advice."
 
If you are looking for the rules, the 5th edition book "The Ultimate Base" has the most modern rules set (by default, the "current" rules) and loads of sidebar discussions and ideas on how the rules may be applied or tweaked to get what you're looking for.
 
If you have that book, and are looking for something more along a primer to what is a pretty word- and idea- dense tome, I would recommend the first incarnation of the base rules as presented in Champions II, available in PDF from the store on this site.
 
If you just want to build a base and are looking for ideas or need some help realizing something that is stuck in your head, the board is probably the highest-population player-to-player and GM-to-GM discussion density of any place on the web.  Feel free to post questions here, and so long as the don't require posting long excerpts of the copyrighted rules, well-- there seems to be nothing HERO fans like more than building stuff.    
 
 

That was the great thing about the 4e BBB: you could run the game with just that book. Some of us did that for many many sessions. The BBB had not only the rules, but how to run a superhero RPG, a multipart adventure, a goodly number of hero and villain pregens, and a good amount of info on Viper.