Polaris

Supreme Serpent, Wow! Thank you very much for the ideas! I printed out your posts, and will definitely include the ideas and questions in the planning of the overall story arc. Your help is most appreciated...:) Polaris

I think I remember someone mentioning that ProFantasy was coming out with a program that would do just what you are looking for. It was a Campaign Cartographer for space. Does anyone know if this program came out? If so, if anyone has it, how easy/hard is it to use? Polaris

In terms of Champions, I would say it is a tie between Strike Force and the Until Super Powers Database. In terms of Hero supplements, I would add Star Hero and Terran Empire for reading enjoyment. I have not had Viper for very long, but am quite pleased with what I have read so far. Polaris

The page count discrepancy is probably my fault... I used 64 pages as an example. I had gone to the online store to try to find out how many pages it was, but couldn't find the information. So, instead of printing at Kinkos being 4.48 or so, it would be 6.79 not counting the cover (the price of the cover would depend upon if it is color or B&W). Sorry about the confusion, it was actually meant to illustrate. Polaris

As for .pdfs, I buy a lot of pdfs. It is really quite easy to bring it to Kinkos and have it printed and bound (printing is 7 cents per page, and binding is about 2-3 dollars, depending upon if you want coil or spiral binding... I recommend coil, so that it is easier to flip the pages). I usually pay an extra dollar for the hard plastic covers, rather than cardstock.. but the advantage to cardstock would be that they will copy the cover of the book onto the cardstock for free. I would not pay 12 dollars for an adventure, have it printed (I am unsure how many pages the SoB has, but if it is 64, then that would be an additional 4.48... more if it has more pages, less if it has less). Binding for 3.50 (counting hard plastic cover, 2.50 without hard plastic)... so the cost is 19.98, plus the time and such to go to Kinkos, for an adventure that, if I used at all (again, not a big fan of Black Paladin), I would probably only use once. If the villain(s) used was a compelling one for our group (Dr. Destroyer or Eurostar), I would consider it... but, really I would only buy the book if it was good for source material (there are just too many good sourcebooks out there for that price that are paper products, or far cheaper for downloads). So, I think that pdfs are good (I buy a lot of them), but the price is not at all worth it when good setting books can be had for the same or lower price. Just my opinion... Polaris

Greetings, I got my copy of Viper yesterday. I have only skimmed the book, but for what I have seen I really like it. I am very happy with the section on Viper philosophy and goals. I will comment more later after I have had a chance to read through it more... Polaris

Thanks to both of you! Polaris

Greetings, When coming up with names of NPCs that the PCs meet in town or on their adventures, do you normally have a list of names for various races, or do you just come up with a name on the fly?? If you have a list for various races, would you be willing to share the list with us here on the message boards? Thanks! Polaris

Starcorp, I hope you are still following this thread. I was a bit surprised by your post. You mentioned that after looking at CB, you took Hero off your list at the FLGS. That reaction seemed a bit strong for not liking one book... May I ask if this was something building up, or was there something about CB that offended you THAT much? Being a loyal customer for 20 years like you have been, DOJ would probably like to know what it was about a single book that so turned you off (I would like to know too out of curiosity). Polaris

Greetings, My FLGS told me that they expect the Viper book to come in Monday or Tuesday. I am looking forward to getting this book... some of the people in my group have long liked to fight Viper, but I have not really known much more about them (other than what they have told me, and if all my info is based upon the players, then there isn't likely going to be a lot of suprises). I was thinking about running a story of a Viper global rebellion (I mean an active guerrilla war in open rebellion against 'civilization' or the 'powers that be'). It might start out somewhat secret... doing "normal" viper type activities... the players come to expect it is another viper storyline... then... BAM! The big rebellion begins! Perhaps it can cause some of the players to think that Viper isn't necessarily what they thought it was (that it would be in open rebellion). Is this a foolish idea?? Any other ideas for Viper, or how to modify the idea? Polaris

Agent X, I would agree that sometimes people have an overly "group think" view of crticism (or the "d20 is worse" defense... which, is not really a reason to not improve Hero, just because d20 is not better). People in General, I think Steve's post answering the criticism was very respectful and presented his reasoning for the decisions made. I don't expect anyone will agree with all the decisions he makes, but I do appreciate when he does explain so that we can know that he does listen, just doesn't always agree. I am with those that would pay quite a bit extra for a poster map. I would have bought TE for 10 dollars more if it had a poster map of the galaxy... and been glad to do it. I may be representative of a lot of customers, I may be one of a small handful. DOJ made their decision that it wasn't worth it to them to do it for the extra money (they clearly felt it would not make enough 'extra' money to pay for the map inserts). I share others' disappointment in that decision, but I look at the choice from the point of view of a customer/gamer, not from a business perspective (which is how Steve and Darren have to look at the choices). I don't know if this could even be considered, but would it be viable to offer poster maps in the online store (as a stand alone... not having to pay for it being an insert)?? Just a thought... Polaris

Championsguru, I think you raise a very good point, but it is a good idea to check the book to see if it says any other books are necessary. As a word of advice, you can always make up some characters to use in the place of the characters used in the adventures. I know it is not ideal, and some might think if they are going to make up the characters, they might as well make the adventure, but it is at least a fix so you can run the adventure ideas. Polaris

Hugh, Excellent points! As I generally would not use the adventure as designed and written, it would not really be a big issue to me. I like to glean setting and source information (such as locations, NPCs, etc) from adventures. Adventures can also be a help if they spark other ideas by simply reading the adventure. Polaris

DW, Thank you for this thread. It is neat that you come to the fans seeking feedback and input. As for me, I have not purchased SoB, and am unlikely to do so. Modules are nice for setting information and character information that can then be taken and applied to an ongoing story. The adventure is of less value to me (especially since my gaming group, like I suspect so many others, are unlikely to follow the story as written, and I will be doing more 'off the cuff' GMing anyway). Black Paladin has never been a character to play a significant part of our story (he has made one appearance... the first game I played Champions, he was a villain in the story). The more modules offer setting information that can carry over beyond the particular adventure, the better for me. I am not in the least opposed to pdfs (I kinda like them... Kinkos is fairly cheap to get printed and bound). Thanks again for asking us! :) Polaris

Thanks Steve and Allen... I am looking forward to the book for reading the story actually. I was quite impressed with the Terran Empire book (despite my early reluctance to purchase it, since my game is not really set in the setting specifically). Polaris

Will the Thorgans be in the book at all? Polaris

Geoff, You're right! I guess I need to read ALL the text before concluding it isn't there... lol. Thanks! Polaris

Geoff, I looked on page 84 and am not seeing it. I see "improved noncombat movement"... is "improved" and "rapid" the same? Polaris

Radefox, I am sorry, I did not explain the SFX as clear as I had intended. The SFX of the attack would be Eldritch (which is defined as an adjective descriptive "eldritch adj : suggesting the operation of supernatural influences"--from Dictionary.com). It is magical, or eldritch, sfx. Polaris

Greetings, I am building a starship that has FTL travel. One of the optional adders is "Rapid Non Combat Movement" does not have a description in FREd. Can someone shed some light on what this advantage means?? Thanks! Polaris

I am unsure of what power to call it. Damage Reduction vs. Magic sounds right. Perhaps a Force Field VS Magic. Some defense that is specified against magic I guess is what I mostly mean. Polaris

Geoff, So, to make sure I understand... I would buy it as something like "Magic Blast; AVLD, Does Body, defenses: Magic resistance and Power Defense against Magic attacks". Did I understand that right?? Polaris

Thank you Ben and Keith! Polaris

Thanks everyone! If the magic were "different" enough to avoid normal defenses, should it have to be purchased as an NND attack? If so, what kind of defenses do you think would be appropriate defenses. I was thinking "resistance to magic", but am unsure of any other ideas. Thanks again for your help! Polaris

Greetings all, One of the neat things about playing Star Hero is the wide variety of worlds that can be explored. In our game, some of the players are playing heads of their own governments (like Starfire). One of the empires is more of a fantasy flare (one of the worlds in that empire is Fearun). The player who plays the empire filled with mostly magic was going to send a probing task force into Thorgan space (why pick on a small empire when you can provoke one of the biggest bullies on the block). She contends that the Thorgans would not likely have much resistance to the magic weapons of her warships. Any thoughts?? I don't know if this would be overly unbalancing if it was the case, since as soon as the magic ships got into a fight against a Thorgon War cruiser, the magic ships (all of which are not super strong) would likely not withstand many salvos from the Thorgon laser systems. If anyone can shed any light, I would appreciate it. Would a starship need to specify that it has defense against Magic, similar to it specifying resistance to energy? Thanks! Polaris