ShadowHawk

my 2 cents, FWIW I just posted the following on the RPGnet boards & thought I would share it here: "Unlike you (the previous poster said Hero didn't work for supers campaigns ) , I have found Hero to actually work BEST in a superhero setting. That is, in fact, what the system was originally designed for. It is, in my opinion, the best system for a "detailed" & rules-heavy style of play, as it has over its several incarnations, been expanded to fit any continguency. It does have some problems, especially the high learning curve in comparison to d20, for instance (but even D&D has gotten more complex over the 23+ years I've played it, lol). The most difficult genre to use hero in is probably High Fantasy. It's difficult to work up spells "on-the-fly" & in the past there really wasn't a good premade spellbook to use. The current owner(s) have tried to solve that by putting out the "Fantasy Hero Grimoure", which helps. That is a good example of the way they are trying to support the system & its fans. I salute that effort. Another thing that has been improved is the quality of the physical books themselves. Much improved over the past ;-) These are all good moves & I am happy I bought many of these books & plan to buy more of them. That said, I often don't need all those rules. I run games based far more on role-playing and developing intricate plots than rolling dice. But, when I DO want or need to have such detail, its nice to have a system that can take whatever I throw at it and handle it reasonably. For me, HERO is that system and I can live with what blemishes it has.If you are a really into the types of games that I am, you just need a system that you are comfortable with, because you will NOT find a perfect one -- It doesn't exist."

Re: Show me the money! Or Who's cashing in on the caped crusaders? Funny you should mentions this. I saw an episode of The Justice League recently where Flash has just such an agent, who sets him up with TV sponsors, then stops taking his call when he gets bad publicity. Its a pretty amusing concept, really, and no doubt supers would do exactly that if comics came true. Really, how else could you make a living unless you had some sort of sponsorship, worked for the government or were independently wealthy. Sales wouldn't really work unless the PC constantly changes jobs (they actually expect salesmen to sell, you know?).

The "Primus" concept has, I think, been the usual way to handle this. I never liked the idea of UNTIL operating freely in the USA. I just see that as too unrealistic, even for comics. Maybe as advisors or working on special ops with the US Law Enforcement. I would go with the Homeland Security idea. There is some relaxation in the "real world" on the use of Military (eg, jets escorting airliners; Missle batteries defending Wash.DC; National Guard troops in some Airports) and the US Coast Guard has operated in US waters since it was created. They are now part of the Dept. of Homeland Security & all officers are Deputy US Marshals (reserve) so that they can arrest drug smugglers & the like (a little known fact which may win me the big $ on a game show someday:D ) So, I had thought to use Primus as a arm of the Homeland Security Dept in a similar fashion in my own campaigns.

Its a minor piont, perhaps, but the stats would be more effective if you changed the Dex, Con & Pre from 20. The "Break Points" are 13, 18, 23, ect for stat rolls (ex: dex of 23/5+9=roll of 14- & Base OCV/DCV of 8; for only a Dex of 21, you would still have the OCV/DCV of 8, but a stat roll of 13-) This is obviously most important for Dex, but unless you are going to go above 20 on those stats, you might as well leave them at 18 & save the points. ( Gosh, I sound like a Powergamer :-o) seriously, its just a bit cleaner & more efficient that way. Absolutely great job on the Life History! You, Sir, are a true Highlander Fan. COOL!

WHOOPS :-o Sorry, I got the name of that pdf wrong. The corrent name is "Wild Spellcraft" by Ryan Nock. It was published by "Natural 20 Press", but I think thtey have since merged with another d20 company, so the nae is now different. If you do a search on "Wild Spellcraft" you'll find it though.

Well, it might be anathema, but I'll risk telling you that a small rpg co produced a product for the d20 system using such an effect with charts/ suggested effects, ect. Its cheap & has some ideas that you might use, so it might be worth picking up at http://www.rpgnow.com oh, I think the name of it is "Chaos Magic" Ideas can come from the strangest places, huh? <;-) hope that helps