Steve Trustrum

Re: World Not Known Cover Mock Up Available for Preview Glad to see people enjoyed it. Eric did a great job, in my opinion. I've also had some people interested in playtesting speak up. so all in all a thread well spent

Re: World Not Known Cover Mock Up Available for Preview Stats will be provided for SAS Tri-Stat, M&M, and HERO. As for more information on the setting, basically it postulates what would our world actually be like if metahumans had been around as long as anyone else. What impact would they have on society, the founding of nations, wars, technology, social constructs such as racism, etc.? Sure, those are all old topics from comics (mutant hate in the X-Men, for instance), but they typically aren't handled realistically -- rather, the situation is portrayed as a plug-in issue or event to a world more like our own rather than a world that develops around such conditions. It's taking a while to write because there's a LOT of research going in to it -- we want you guys to read the book and think "wow, yeah, I could see how that would happen if the Confederate Army had been able to field an entire regiment of superbeings," for example. We want you to walk away feeling like you've actually read an alternate history that drags you in and lets you participate in it. It also means the book has grown well beyond the scope of what was initially planned (a good thing, in my opinion.) By the by, down the road I'll be looking for playtesters -- people who are very familiar with all, some, or just one of the systems involved. What better place to ask for people to double check my HERO numbers than here, right? Anyone interested should email me at trustrum@misfit-studios.com . I'll be playtesting in the typical manner, forum discussion, as well as in a PbP game for each system, one of which I'll be running.

Here is a rough mock-up to give you an idea of what it will look like once the logos and lettering have been added to Eric Lofgren's amazing cover. I put the rough together rather quickly so the logos are low-res and the lettering will definitely change.

Re: Help designing soul-sucking sword Thanks for the help, everyone. A lot of good advice and ideas.

Re: Help designing soul-sucking sword It would affect the victim. I was thinking the same thing about the time chart, as that's the best thing I've found so far, but I was hoping there was actually a way to make it permanent that I was missing that wouldn't involve spoofing.

Any suggestions on designing a sword that slowly drains away one's soul (represented by Ego) as it wounds, permanently sucking the soul out and leaving an empty husk of a body when the Ego reaches 0?

Re: creating "wild" powers

Question: what would you guys and gals suggest for creating a power that would work on a theme (such as, flames/heat) but would have random effects? NCC doesn't really work because I'm talking effect rather than when it turns on. I'm thinking of one version that is totally random while another that only goes wild if the skill roll fails. For example, a character with the ability to shoot fire from his hands must worry about it shooting off in random directions, setting himself on fire, etc. Suggestions?

I was sure there was a limitation for this, but I can't remember what it was/how it was built. Would you put a power that only works at full power or not at all under a Limited Power or partial NCC?

Re: Tax Cheats R Us... I'm no accountant, but that sounds like "cleaning" money for tax purposes to me. Do you WANT to turn DOJ into the mafia of the gaming world?

I doubt that, but hey, who am I to stop you from trying new things on your tax returns?

Ah. Well, keep in mind that Misfit Studios is going to be looking for such people to check out our WNK products sometime this year and we'd certainly welcome a playtester with experience, especially one familiar with the HERO system.

Ever ask your accountant if you can? If you're payed to do any gaming-related stuff, you'll likely be able to write off some of it, at least. I'm lucky in that my taxes are done by a friend who is a team manager at Revenue Canada (our version of the IRS), so he finds all this stuff out for me very easily.

The advantages of being in the industry. It makes all those instances of the girlfriend shouting "are you still at your computer writing those silly games" worth it.

Steve, I'm thinkin' you're not entirely without bias here ...

Hey, at least I get to write them off

Oh, I know they're great books. I love what I've read of them even just today. But it made my wallet look up at me, anger in its eyes, and say "dude, just what the hell do you think you're doing?" especially considering I bought some non-HERO books on top of it. The thing that made me go buy them all at once was reading Steve Long's latest update on the main page. I've heard nothing but good things about the books so I was not happy to hear that sales weren't doing well. Of course, that made me think "okay, no more putting it off -- off I go to the FLGS to buy me a Star Hero stockpile!"

While at the FLGS today, on a whim I picked up the following: Star Hero Spacers Toolkit Terran Empire Alien Wars and I KNOW I won't be able to run it anytime in the near future. I just picked them all up to read because they sounded so interesting. I need help. I know it (and now my wallet doesn't like me anymore.)

Would you belive this issue has never come up in any of the HERO games I've participated in? Wow, I've no idea how so many people failed to even ask "so, anything special when I roll three 1s?"

Storn, I can't believe you still have the old version of your web comic up! SHOW OFF MY LETTERING, MISTER!!!!

I've yet to see the book in any game stores up in TO, but Eric, your art is typical you: sweeeeeeeeeeeet.

Oh, one other thing I'll say at this point. Let's talk about the art. I did some recruiting and am bringing some indy comic artists on board for this project. It's turning out to be really fun so far because they know next to nothing about rpgs or the industry at large, so the rest of the Misfit team is enjoying giving them a crash course on the games and on how the industry operates. If their enjoyment of the process thus far is indicative of the passion they'll put into their work, TWNK will be a great looking book. Aside from these guys, we also have on board a number of veteran artists, some of which should be very familiar to you HERO junkies. I haven't finalized details with them yet, so I don't want to drop names, but HERO fans will be glad to see that an artist familiar name has been approached to do the cover. Ah, I'm like a kid in a candystore! On another front, Bill Coffin has come back to the rpg industry as a Misfit. Before anyone familiar with his work with Palladium Books blows a gasket, he's not going to be writing but rather taking on the role of lead editor. He and I have talked about him writing something down the road (well, mainly it involves me begging and whining like a school girl), but nothing is set at this point. Still, Bill has been extremely helpful and is one of the people who was pushing me to stop dragging my feet and get things moving with Misfit, so we'll all have to forgive him his reluctance ... for now. With the team we've assembled to work on this project, and now with the HERO system stirred into the mix, things are looking good.

Seismic vibrations are not sound vibrations in real life but rather are tactile in nature, and, as has been pointed out, it would be odd if you could flash the "hearing" of a seismic sensor with something intended to flash one's ears. Go with touch, but use an appropriate disadvantage

I certainly hope everyone will like it. The research I'm putting into it is taking more time than the actual writing! And all my ol' university buddies told me I'd never find a way of combining my English and sociology degrees ...

It's a superhero setting with a history containing superbeings for the entire stretch of human evolution. We're taking history and turning it on its head. Essentially, picture it as a "What If?" comic book, the story of which spans millions of years.