Polaris

Copying to CD? Greetings, Are we allowed to save the character packs we buy to a CD (provided, of course, that we do not distribute them) so that we can have a backup? Polaris

Thank you Scott, and everyone else, for your very insightful and interesting comments. I hope this discussion thread has not veered too far off of what would belong in the Champions section (although much of it is 'non-gaming', it would seem to have at least some relevance to a gaming discussion). I do not know much about Warlord, so I could not really comment on whether he would be a better choice. I think that if he is more interested in conquering (ala Alexander or Napoleon), then I don't know that he would be as interested in this form of power grab. This scheme is really geared toward a notion that if anyone could organize the LDCs, then they could grab enormous power (according to the Dependency Theory of Power, they could actually seize enough power to take over the world). The point of the scheme, of course, is to test the PCs. I was very interested that some posters expressed the view that it would not be the hero thing to do to stop Destroyer if the lot of the people he ruled was better off. Another poster expressed the idea that Viper and Eurostar are NOT lesser evils than Dr. Destroyer, while another said Destroyer was evil itself (second, possibly, to only two other individuals, neither of which is Viper or Eurostar). Stories that lead to this type of thinking and consideration are the most fun for me as a GM. What is the 'right' thing to do is not always perfectly clear (I am not fond of the games that limit thinking to "which power should I use to blast my opponent"). I did run this game.. the results were interesting: 1. The team leader, an arrogant anti-hero was team leader largely because of his experience as a superhero and with the team, agreed to meet with Eurostar, but then backed out of the meeting and refused to so much as speak to them about joining forces. 2. One character, an innocent female hero with aspirations of always 'fighting for all that is good', took a leave from the team to JOIN EUROSTAR in the fight against Dr. Destroyer (she really did not like following the team leader, and his refusal to at least see what Eurostar had to say really peeved her off). 3. One character, an interdimensional traveller who did not have any strong allegiance to any particular nation, but believed in fighting for people that were unable to fight for themselves, ended up JOINING DESTROYER! Without going into complete detail about how this all came about (it would be quite a long story), basically she is played by a very good role player that does not let her personal knowlege of the world affect her character. She went out to learn about the lives of the people in these new world order countries, and found them to be improving (albeit slowly), and decided that the more just and good cause was to help these people, regardless of her teammates talk about how 'evil' Destroyer is. Obviously, she left the team. 4. One character, an Irishman imbued by the spirits of the old druids of Ireland to protect the Emerald Isle from the one known as 'Destroyer', obviously sought to fight against the threat from Destroyer. He began to work with number 5 below in that fight, but eventually stopped showing up to games (he hated that ANYONE could agree to work with either Eurostar/Viper OR Destroyer, and continued to lobby me as GM to "make them stop"). 5. Finally, our 'Superman' character. At first, he tried to compel people to stand up to Destroyer, then realizing that that would not work, developed a plan to seemingly accept Destroyer's plan, and then turn on him in the end. If anyone else has any similar campaign ideas (does not have to be overly grandiose, just something that challenges the players to have their characters make basic choices about what they believe, and what they are willing to do to fight for what they believe), I would love to hear about them...:) Thanks again everyone! :) Polaris

For both? Steve, Does that mean we get BOTH the Terran Empire AND Spacers Toolkit character pack for just 5.99, or did I misunderstand your post? Polaris

Dauntless, It could be that he has been working on this for the past 10 years, and the reason that some join immediately is that they have already agreed to work with him. I am unsure why you believe it does not fit him to be a patient planner/schemer. He worked for the Americans long enough to learn what he needed to learn about American military technology, then left. He spent the next 25 years building a criminal network and building technology. Realizing he needed money, he established several dummy corporations and used the technology he developed to begin building up a cash reserve. It wasn't until the mid-1970s that Destroyer felt prepared to begin his effort to conquer the world. It seems to me that he realized in 1938 that only he was fit to rule over all humankind... that he knew at that young age that he was going to rule the world. To work on developing his sciences, resources, etc until the mid 1970s, and then to strike, would indicate someone that is a bit of a patient planner. It also would seem that what he has been doing for the past 10 years would seem to be a patient planner (although I could be wrong on this second one). Polaris

Well put, Lupus. Scott: There was a study done back in the early 1990s (I have been trying to find the precise citation) that drew a link between warfare and economics. In short, the research studies wars that had 'clearly defined' purposes (religion, politics, etc). What it found is that war is nearly always about economics. However, I can see that that is something we will just have to disagree about. Who would win a war between the US and Dr. Destroyer? Good question... I would suspect that both Dr. D and the US would do their best to avoid finding out. The weapons Dr. Destroyer has ammassed would be far more capable of deterring the US from wanting a war. If the US goes after him, he has, among other things, the ability to create robot duplicates of himself (Send it to DC and take out the Congress, White House and Supreme Court... see if the heroes can get there in time... if they do, teleport to New York and blast there... if they show up there, go someplace else), or just use his orbital facitility "hidden by advanced stealth technology and equipped with weaponry even more powerful than the cannon with which he razed Detroit". What would make you think the US would be in the least bit interested in ever fighting a war against this? You mentioned that the US would just target Dr. Destroyer--how do you find him? If you are lucky enough to find him, is it him or is it a duplicate? If it is him, what stops him from simply teleporting away? We haven't been able to get bin Laden, and we knew where he was. We haven't been able to get Saddam, and we have 148,000 troops (including our most advanced), trying to get him. I would suggest that Dr. Destroyer would be far more difficult to kill than these two individuals have been. LOL... I am getting the feeling that this discussion has moved more into a thread fitting the non-roleplaying section. We will have to agree to disagree whether rulers of the third world are willing to be junior partners in their rule. The US has made a policy for decades now of buying the loyalty of these "puppet states". If a leader disappoints us enough, a new leader is found. It has worked, and I suspect that it will continue to work well into the future (whether we are the ones doing it, or others are). The US has earned the nickname at the United Nations of "New Rome". Former US Ambassador to the UN Stevenson, when confronted with evidence that a number of nation-states were led by CIA employees, he replied that the US should run those countries. I am not very familiar with Warlord... I chose Dr. Destroyer because of his vast resources, his reputation, the fact that Eurostar and Viper might be willing to work with the heroes, the heroes might be tempted to work with them, and that there would be an assumption by the heroes that Dr. Destroyer's New World Order would need to be stopped (without immediately thinking that people will be made better off under the Doctor's rule). That is the reason for choosing Dr. Destroyer. Given that one of your objections to this plot was that leaders of the LDCs would not surrender any power to Dr. Destroyer, why do you believe they would under Warlord? I am not sure why one would be acceptable and the other objectionable. Polaris

Deathdog, You got FH yesterday and already read half the book? WOW! Polaris

Tim, You certainly could use the Empress of a Billion dimensions. I would personally use Dr. D because of the characters' background and knowlege of him, and save the beyond awesome resources of Istal Vahn (sp?) for another story. Polaris

Deacon Blues, LOL!! :) Polaris

As to the destruction of Detroit, I do not have the Millenium City book.. this could be prior to that occurring, or it could be that he would not do it (given his present plan). Polaris

I just wanted to add that this is not really based upon my prediction of "this is what 192 diplomats at the United Nations WOULD do in this situation". I suggest that this is a plausible course of events that would present an interesting choice for the players. I tend to like to run stories that give the players choices that question/challenge their values or puts them into a decision ("do we work with Eurostar", for example). Polaris

Okay, GREAT comments! How about this, as the story goes on: The heroes, wanting to stop Dr. Destroyer move to try to "liberate" the people from the oppression of Dr. Destroyer. As they do so, they find a people that do not want "liberation". Their lives are being improved. Do they continue to fight Dr. Destroyer (at least one poster suggested that if Dr. Destroyer is improving the lives of these people, then the heroes should leave it alone)? Would any heroes seek to take political power upon themselves to save the people from the oppression of Destroyer, while still improving their lot? Since Destroyer's plan would likely include continuing to raise the prices of vitally needed natural resources and draining wealth from the economic north, at what point would the heroes intervene (or would they)? A lot of places you could go with this... I had actually thought it might be good to introduce some relatively new players to the world of Champions. If the heroes took the alliance to stop Dr. Destroyer, then at the end of the story arc, Eurostar would do some particularly nasty betrayal of the heroes (thus setting Eurostar up as the team's main arch nemesis... I like that). Thanks everyone for the comments!! :) Polaris

Sorry, I do not know how to break the quote up, so I will put my responses in brackets. Many of your points are very good, but there are a few things that I think you may be overlooking. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Originally posted by Scott Destroyer Hello, [Hi...] The man is wanted by UNTIL. He has destroyed a city, sunk warships of at least one UN member nation (and permanent Security Council member), and killed more superheroes than anyone else alive. He has not even the pretense of being a "spokesman for an oppressed people", or indeed any other expressed political agenda besides his own aggrandizement. He has ties to Hitler and the Third Reich. Menton, who probably has more than one of these people under his control, hates him. What makes you think anybody's "sponsorship" would make the slightest bit of difference in how Destroyer was handled, even assuming he could find someone willing to take the massive diplomatic and political risks of "sponsoring" him. [Yeah, the Destroyer is a bad man. Sponsorship by a country could earn him the right to speak. The principle reason for placing it in the UNGA is that all nations have the right to put forth their own spokespeople, and that no government can be silenced. I believe many governments would be more than willing to hear him. Please remember, as harsh as this may sound, the US has destroyed a whole lot more cities than Dr. Destroyer has... the US worked with some of the worse despots in modern history... and the US has killed a whole lot of people too. We would be more offended by Dr. Destroyer doing it because he did it to a city and to people we like.] Saddam Hussein, who destroyed no cities, was taken down despite being a recognized national leader with First World nations and long-time US allies running interference for him in the UN. And that's just governments. Superhuman vigilantes who have had friends murdered by Destroyer and his cronies will, I suspect, have much less concern for the diplomatic niceties than any foreign ministry. [such superhuman cronies, I would suggest, are free to attempt an attack on Destroyer... I would suggest that UNTIL and others would do their best to not allow an attack within the headquarters of the UN, perhaps especially against a member's spokesperson/representative. As to attacking him after he left, being the GM, I would have had him teleport out of the building]. Just which nations would these be? Nations sunk in chronic "economic plight" tend to be doctrinaire communist or socialist regimes, or lands torn with tribal or ethnic violence, or comprehensively corrupt dictatorships and oligarchies. [Nations that understand that economic stability is one of the main determinants of political stability, and political stability helps keep them in power. The nations that understand that economic power is the genesis of all power, and if they desire power--as most nations do--they will be inclined to look favorably upon increasing their economic power. Also, nations that do not want to be the ones left out. If you are the leader of Nigeria, for example, you are a power in your neighborhood. If one or more of your neighbors were to begin to get far more economic power, better training for their troops, the most advanced weapons technology in the world, and an 'enforcer' that you do not want to peeve off, and you don't get these things... guess what? Your power and national sovereignty is put at the mercy of your neighbors. Power is relative... if your neighbors increase in power, you need to increase in it as well. I wish I could write more about this... there is an author by the name of Hans Morgenthau... those of you interested in the study of power among nations know him well. I would highly recommend his writings.] Most rulers of such nations care little about "economic plight", except to the extent that it is a direct threat to their continued rule. [it is a direct threat to their continued rule. Regardless of a despot's wealth or power, they tend to want more. This is one of the reasons why many have sold themselves to bigger powers for military and economic aid and protection... perhaps they are not overly concerned about the plight of their people, but few such dictators would not understand how the economic shortcommings of their country do affect them greatly]. Such rulers, whatever other faults they may have, are generally cunning and ruthless veterans of vicious political infighting, often in places where the also-rans can count themselves lucky just to get something akin to the quick death Leon Trotsky got. [Well said... These "cunning and ruthless veterans of vicious political infighting" would likely be quite willing to keep themselves atop their societies, and atop their regions even if it means selling their souls to Dr. Destroyer]. And these are the guys who are going to roll over at the promise of some technological aid, or a few million more in the old Cayman Islands accounts, from a bombastic German octogenarian in a tin suit? [Just like they do it now to the US and other world powers. The idea of power hungry dictators that want absolute rule selling their allegiance and service to a bigger power is not a new concept. History is replete with examples of this happening. It truly is part of the 'game'. The 'economic south' is ruled by those best able to sell themselves to the north.] As to "intimidation", which regimes do you think believe they will get less intimidation from the US by sucking up to a guy like Destroyer? [Those, such as North Korea and Iran, that have observed that the US treats nations with things like WMD MUCH BETTER than the US treats nations that do not have such an ability to hurt the US. As a nation's ability to hurt the US increases, the US becomes more interested in "diplomacy", and is less willing to force its will on them.] So these hardened maximum-leaders-for-life are going to "protect" their power by, de facto, turning it over to Destroyer? All in return for a luxurious lifestyle, which most of them (unlike Rakshasa) have already? [see comments about already staying in power by selling their allegiance to a bigger power. This is certainly not new}. And the other half of Rakshasa's deal is, "or I'll kill you." Is Destroyer going to threaten all these Third World leaders with outright murder? [Dr. Destroyer commit "outright murder"? See your first paragraph... any leader that would not believe a threat that he would be willing to murder them probably should be removed from the gene pool before he/she breeds ]. What will THAT do to his diplomatic status? [i refer you to your earlier comments about his 'diplomatic status'... he is already viewed by many as a bad person, killer, etc. However, I would suggest that, just as the US is able to kill far more than a few leaders, attack population centers/cities, etc., that a willingness to use power in unfriendly ways does not preclude one from diplomatic power.] These nations apparently found such policies unacceptable even when ruled by one of their own. Why do you think they will suddenly become acceptable under rule from an outsider like Destroyer? Or will he force these policies on "his" people? [Lesser Developed Countries (or LDCs) have not tried to implement the conclusions from the OAU (Organization for African Unity). To do so would threaten military retribution from the US and/or others (ala Congo when they threatened our industrial diamond supply in the early 1960s). The situation would be changed when the US would face massive retalliation for attacking a member of the new world order]. He couldn't deter an attack on Destruga, which was packed to the brim with his vaunted technology. How is he going to defend an actual nation (or several, possibly non-contiguous), with borders the size of a real nation's? And Destroyer's army of 20,000 troops is chump change in the real war business. It's one division. Sufficient, under modern calculations, to defend perhaps ten kilometers of front line against a determined attack by a competent foe, if its flanks were secure - and that only for long enough to let reserves mount a counterattack. [The 20,000 you refer to are up to 300 points a piece! That is a bit more than just a division of standard grunt troops. I am unsure of your campaign, but in our campaign that would be EXTREMELY difficult to confront. You seem to be schooled in the military--I'm sure that you could probably come up with an impressive list of instances when QUALITY of troops meant more than the QUANTITY. I will throw in one example: In Gulf War One, we were outnumbered 16 divisions to 14. General Schwartzkopf made mention that military calculations that the attacker should outnumber the defender by a ratio of 3:1, and given the fortifications of the Iraqi defenders, the ratio should be closer to 5:1 (SEE "The Briefing" by the General, available on videotape at some libraries). The coalition won with superior firepower, discipline, and superior troops. I would suggest that our troops (as great as I think they are) are NOT 300 points supermen.] Destroyer could perhaps use the peasant conscript armies of the former rulers of his lands for static defensive work, and keep his own troops as a reserve. But Third World conscript armies barely rate as speed bumps before a large, modern, mobile combined-arms force. [Over half of our Army right now is in Iraq or Afghanistan fighting such peasant conscripts. The Army Chief of Staff told the Senate Armed Services committee that he believes the US needs to INCREASE it's presence from 148,000 to 'hundreds of thousands', and leave them there for 'several years'. The US could take any one, maybe two, of these 'peasant armies'... trying to attack too many more--while having to defend the US from the real threat that the US might be the real military target of Dr. Destroyer, or that VIPER or others may take advantage of the US being off fighting Dr. Destroyer cronie armies--would be outside of the capability of the US military for some time. Our ability to prepare for such a fight, ironically, would also depend upon such things as a steady supply of industrial diamonds, and other natural resources that we get from some of the very nations we would be threatening to invade]. There are small nations and cartels of nations with near-monopolies on certain exotic minerals with industrial uses. But the forces setting the prices of those items are economic forces, not military forces. [Access to natural resources has long been determined by political and military means. In the early 1960s, the Congo attempted to demand a higher price for their diamonds.. the US accused the government of being communists trying to destabilize the American economy, and invaded.] The Congo can demand any price for diamonds they want, and if their customers don't like it, then <> [they invade ] As for politics, could there be any idea LESS communist than exploiting your monopoly on a natural resource to raise prices obscenely? When communist regimes are attacked, from within or without, it is because the attackers loathe the ideas and methods, and frequently the personalities, of communism, not for specific price breaks on specific items. The idea of launching a war over a few percentage points difference in the price of diamonds is so absurd as to be laughable (which, admittedly, would probably get it approved as a major story arc in a Denny O'Neill book). [2 responses to this one: 1. This would seem to make Dr. Destroyer's plan more workable. If the US would not go to war over Dr. Destroyer raising the prices on these commodities, even if Dr. Destroyer has a monopoly and could therefore threaten the economic health of the US economy, then he would not need to worry so much about the military balance or calculations. 2. Yes, it is sad... and if it was not so tragic that such wars happen, it would also be 'laughable'. However, we have fought wars over the price of oil. Was that laughable? We have fought wars over the price of industrial diamonds. Was that laughable? Governments (even our own) have fought wars over things that probably shouldn't have justified a war.] "Virtual slavery"? Yeah, Mobutu, Kanunda, and Mugabe (to name just three) were living in conditions comparable to those of Mississippi field hands circa 1859 - NOT. [i would suggest that the people of many of the lesser developed world live in conditions no better, and often worse, than the Mississippi field hands you refer to. The 'Virtual slavery' is living as a servant to the economic north. The actual slavery suffered by the blacks in the old south is not the only standard of slavery.] And the fact that many of these peoples won't put up with "strong leadership" from outsiders, even ones of the same skin color, is the cause of much of the trouble in many of these nations today. [i am unsure what you mean by this section. Perhaps more explanation if you have a few moments... I would suggest that many people will follow leaders that can deliver a better life for them]. If intervening in such a Rwanda-like situation would have given the US an opportunity to grab an enemy who had done them as much harm as Destroyer has, I could about guarantee they'd have intervened. [if Rwanda was part of the new world order, and intervening would threaten massive retaliation against US cities, I could about guarantee they'd NOT intervene. The US didn't want to intervene when doing so was fighting some of those 'peasants' you referred to earlier, why would we intervene if we were confronted with a truly deterring threat? I'm afraid I don't understand this one either...] The entire scenario just seems thoroughly un-Destroyer-like. [i respect your opinion on that. Dr. Destroyer is a student of power, and brilliant beyond much comparison. He rarely likes to soil himself with the menial use of fighting to get what he wants. He is far more prone to use his mind than direct force to accomplish his desire of conquest (which is one of the things that makes him such a big threat). See page 9 of the CKC book for what I mean. A man of that brilliance would likely know that conquering the world, and then trying to hold it, would be a fool's game. He developed and built his suit because he knew that he had to account for the superheroes of the world, heroes that often respect the rule of law and the governments (even dictators). He could easily surmise that they would be less likely to act against him, as some in this thread have pointed out. The people have already grown accustomed to being oppressed by dictatorships--a well trained population would be a good target for Destroyer. The militaries of these nations have plenty of fodder to hold fire while his superior troops chooses the point of attack and moves against the enemy. This is similar to his tactical sense in a superpowered fight--he blasts and observes, then when the enemy has made their move, if necessary he adopts a superior tactic and uses it to defeat his foes (again, see p. 9 of CKC). These nations have an enormous untapped power source (natural resources) that the US and others are highly dependent upon. These nations would also be most likely to enter the new world order. I believe Dr. Destroyer would see these things, and seize the opportunity. I think it would be very much like him. Polaris PS: Very good post, btw..

I think comfortmd has a great idea. Is there a way to get this thread made sticky so that we don't lose it? Polaris

Please do post it Steve.. I am a visual person, and having the map in front of me helps me a lot. Polaris

Dauntless: I believe that Destroyer's ability to deter an attack by the United States would be sufficient to ensure he would not suffer the same fate as Saddam Hussein. I would suggest that the US (and other nations) is ultimately more concerned with self-preservation, than with saving a few nations from oppression from Destroyer. The difficulty is when Destroyer's new world order continues to grow. The US is dependent upon LDCs for much of our economic prosperity. Just by way of example, the US gets 70% of our industrial diamonds from Congo. Congo does not possess the ability to demand a higher price from the US and others because of fear of military retribution (we have invaded before when they had such 'communist' ideas). What would happen if we no longer had the ability to make such threats? I do not believe Destroyer would need to use such WMD... the mere threat is a weapon itself (and one that has proven quite effective in deterring war in the past). LL: I am unsure of how patient Destroyer would be either. Revolution against Destroyer's rule would be difficult at best, but not impossible. One possible solution for the Heroes would be to try to sabotage the development efforts and try to incite revolt? The idea behind the story is that the LDCs, if organized under a strong leadership and armed with the ability to defend themselves, could gain considerable power in the world (Dependency Theory of Power). Destroyer could offer them such strong leadership and defense, at a cost that may seem to many to be lower than continuing in their present hopeless state of virtual slavery to the established powers of the economic north. While his plan may not work, it certainly has a real potential of working, which gives the heroes a bit of desperation to do something big to stop him. Is that desperation big enough to work with an old nemesis like Eurostar?? Polaris

No I haven't... I just thought it would be an interesting story idea, and was wanting some thoughts from the Hero community on what they thought... Really, the inspiration came from my EC 551 (Economic Development in the Third World) class combined with WWII (where the Americans worked with the Bolsheviks to confront the Nazi threat), our group's propensity to hate all villains regardless of the cirumstance (would THIS be enough?), finally getting the new version of Dr. Destroyer, and probably some other places... Polaris

Upon getting a "sponsor" to allow him to speak, the Destroyer approached the podium and looked out at the stunned diplomats of the world. Representatives of the various nations of earth listened as the Destroyer announced a "new world order". Gone were the days of American hegemony and domination. No longer would the poorest nations be forced to sell their labor and their souls to serve the masters of the "economic north". To everyone's surprise (given the leader of the new world order), only those nations that wished to join would be included within this new world order. Several nations, seeking an end to their economic plight, and hoping for some protection from the intimidation of the world's only remaining superpower, joined immediately. Over the following several days, others followed suit. The Destroyer had succesfully seized an opportunity. The new found willingness of the US government to flex its awesome military power had sent many nations scurrying for protection. Destroyer would allow many of the leaders to live a life of extreme wealth, luxuries, power and security... in exchange, they had to serve HIM (see the deal Rakshasa realized at the bottom of page 15 in CKC). With rule over a growing number of nations, the Destroyer began to shift the economic policies of many of the Lesser Developed nations toward the policies recommended by the Oraganization of African Unity (they had a study not long ago that demonstrated that they could expedite their economic development dramatically if they focussed upon their strengths and increased traded more within their own nations and with one another, rather than focussing on the economic interests of the economic north). The nations that joined the new world order were protected by Destroyer and his nearly 20,000 special troops. In addition, Destroyer was able to place weapon platforms near the borders of some of the nations, and threatened the use of weapons technologically far superior to the nuclear weapons posessed by his adversaries. While the nations joining Destroyer were far from an immediate threat to the power of the north, it was becomming clear that given enough time, it could grow from "a thorn in the flesh, to become a dagger in the heart". The established powers began to worry. With each nation falling sway to Destroyer's promises, and the growing improvements in the lives of many of the people in the new world order (by improvements, I certainly do not mean they were living at America's standards, but far better than they had under their old masters), the established powers became more and more nervous. Someone had to do something! The Champions, back at their base, were meeting with a representative of the US government when they were contacted by... EUROSTAR! Eurostar contacted the Champions seeking an alliance to stop the Destroyer. They had already recruited another of Destroyer's nemesis: VIPER. Do the heroes join an alliance with Eurostar and Viper to stop their mutual enemy ("enemy of my enemy is my friend"), or do they gamble that they will find a solution more palatable to their taste? Polaris

Greetings, Is anyone running a SH game based upon a Starfire type game (empire building, or Civilization in space)? I am looking for any ideas on how to build empires. I was going to give each empire a certain number of points, and have each player build their empire like a character. Some of the areas they would need to spend points on is Technology, Population, Number of Planets, Trade, Economics. Technology would be broken down into investing into levels of technology in communications, engine power, weapons, minitiarization, industry. They could build items of technology that is one level above what their technology is but would require an ACTIVATION ROLL to simulate the unreliability of the new technology. Population would probably be bought based upon a simple table (this many points for this size population). I was going to require planets be built using points (for industry, agriculture, natural resources, etc). Each planet type could support a certain amount of population, and obviously they would have to purchase enough planets to support the population they purchased above. Trade: This would be their empire's skills at trading, and would affect economic trade and their diplomacy ability. Economics: I am having trouble with this one. I was thinking of trying to bring over the Starfire system, whereby the empire 'invests' in colonies which pay off at a certain rate of return. Another idea is to base it off of the quality and quantity of planets with a population effect thrown in. I know that economic power is determined by the four factors of production (Land, Labor, Capital and Entrepenural Talent), but am not certain how to apply Hero to determine this without having to teach the players a course in economics. Any ideas on this one would be particularly appreciated... how would you determine a planet's production? That is roughly what I have worked out so far. I am planning on using some of the empires from the TE book as Non Player Races, and can be a bit more arbitrary in setting up their ratings on these areas. Thanks in advance for any feedback and help! :) Polaris

To anyone that might be interested, I recently found a supplement that TSR made about 4-5 years ago that is a good help for SH. It is titled Alien Compendium, and is a supplement for their Stardrive RPG. The authors are Richard Baker and Bill Slavicsek. I know that there are numerous alien compendium books out there, but I liked this one for a few reasons: 1. It provides good information about the various species, including the planets they come from, their social organization, their level of intelligence, personality, and easily compatibible stats on each creature. It also provided good information about each of the planets. 2. Each race came with well done color art. 3. It is cheap...:) 4. There are A LOT of different alien races, and various nations/planets to use. Polaris

Clarification Sorry to interrupt the comments, but I have a quick question of clarification: What is a "cantrip"?? Polaris

Map Steve, Will the upcomming settings have a good map? Many gamers are visual people, and maps are very helpful. Would it be too expensive to have a 'poster map' like the Forgotten Realms book has?? Color printing and such is nice, but not a deal breaker for me. A good color map to hang on the wall would be well worth a few extra dollars. Polaris

I used to work at Fry's in Wilsonville, Oregon. I think our customer service actually was quite good (not that all employees were good at it, but as a store we had a good customer service policy that most of us followed quite well). Obviously, I couldn't say how well any other store did their customer service. Polaris

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone! I was going to just keep asking a string of questions, but thought if I just made one and got feedback it would answer a lot of my questions (it did, and some I wouldn't have thought to ask). Thanks! Polaris PS: "Back to the drawing board" as they say...:)

Steve, I couldn't agree with you more. A good game retailer is great to deal with. Here in Portland, we have a game store called Bridgetown Hobbies. Shortly before the arrival of FREd, some of us went in and began asking them to order it. The employees began regularly checking the Hero games site, and do an excellent job keeping up with what is happening with Hero Games (in addition to keeping informed about WoTC and others). When people have a question about a book or other product, they offer to call their distributor and find out for them on the spot. If they don't know something, they don't feel a need to make something up... they try to find out (usually within minutes, but when they needed to do some checking around, they promised to call me back... and actually did). They are a credit to the industry, and make the extra drive worth it. Wow.. this sounds like a commercial. lol... I have dealt with game stores that carried games as an afterthought, or were ran by people that thought it would be neat to have a store more than really learning the business side of things. It is good to find one that is ran like it should. Polaris

I would have to agree that setting material that is not overly unique can provide a lot of useful information. I am not playing in the TE setting, but have found good use for most of the material in the TE book. I would prefer that the online Spacers Toolkit not be required to be bound to the TE setting, but that is because I believe it excludes material that could be very useful... not that the material that is included is not useful. I find TE material useful for my non-TE campaign. Just my opinion.. Polaris