Vondy

The simplest solution is to set a standard speed for your game and not charge points for it. For heroic games I'd go with Speed 4.

This is fairly close to how I do it on my games, too.

Both Pulp Hero and Dark Champions are loaded with professional packages. The Pulp Hero ones are more suited to four-color comics, IMO. But, that may not cover what you have in mind, either. Name some!

I think the Internet presents us with a distribution error by amplifying the signal to noise ratio of bad actors. Bad actors get more attention and, as a result, are treated as representative rather than aberrations. And, people tend to remember one unpleasant experience more then ten pleasant ones. I don't doubt that female (and male) gamers have dealt with some total sleaze-balls who have behaved in unacceptable ways. The ones they don't talk about are the normal ones who treated them like people. People don't remember the delicious soup when there is a fly floating in it. The bad apple spoils the barrel. It also gives the bad actors a broader reach. It used to be you found a good group and worked it. Once you found out who the jerks were, you could usually avoid them (and they tended to game together). And, harassment used to be harder. You might encounter a dirtbag, but he didn't flood your mailbox with hand-written hate mail unless you were a celebrity, let alone cajole his asshole email friends to do the same. Founding a hate so-and-so club and then getting people to write out letters, put them in an envelope, and then pay to put a stamp on it and send it would have been real commitment (and left a paper-trail). Today we have email. A lazy asshats best friend. The harassment this woman describes is unacceptable, and extreme, but I don't do collective guilt or assume it represents "the community." I don't even believe their is a cohesive "gaming community." This is an online internet gang. Its not inclusive, representative, or even dominant. Its just vocal and visible. All I, or any male gamer, can do is say "hey asshole, don't be a dick!" and welcome ladies at our own gaming tables. If she chooses not to remember that I behaved honorably and treated her like a person because other gamers took bastard to a whole new level? That's her loss. But, all of the women I know who gamed and had bad stories (and some were pretty bad) had a bigger pair of brass ovaries than that. They woman'd up, kept on with their passion, and didn't assume one asshole defined every gamer they met.

Firefighters wear masks, just like criminals and terrorists.

I'm using hyperbole to make a serious point. Raymond Chandler: “As to the emotional basis of the hard-boiled story... obviously it does not believe that murder will out and justice will be done — unless some very determined individual makes it his business to see that justice is done. These stories were about the men who made that happen.” The focus in on private and individual and justice. Not on public and institution and order. It was assumed, if the powers that be had their way, no justice would come to the common man. The hard-boiled hero was not cop, soldier, g-man, member of the elks, or lover of PTA women. He was a disruptor who did right despite - and in spite of - those in authority with official power. He represented purity in the face of institutional corruption and an oppression under color of law. He did not enforce bankrupt rules. He went out and fought for principles and righteousness. He was a modern day Jeremiah the Prophet. Jeremiah was God's prophet. He stood up for truth, and justice, and righteousness. He went against the corrupt system and called out the leaders. What happened? They tried to kill him, imprison him, and discredit him. He kept going - infused with courage and compassion for the people and a dogged desire to see justice win out. That is the emotional basis that drives the superhero, but our culture has changed. Today, we are regulation loving sheep who fetishize government, order, the status quo, institutions, and rules. We obediently accept censorship, thought police, intellectual boshevism, zero tolerance policies, TSA gropings, and pervasive invasive government surveillance. Extreme rendition? Water boarding? Extra-judicial killings? The loss of freedom? Insofar as its the other guy. Insofar as we are safe. Insofar as the government does for us instead of our doing for our neighbors and ourselves. When I said Zero Dark Thirty and Jack Bauer were now our national anthem and our national hero, I meant it. And, it shows in our comic book derived media, too. Who will protect us from the heroes? Well, the government of course. They'll make sure all is well. Those superheroes have to be registered and regulated! After all, they wear masks, just like criminals! The constant zombie-horde of cop shows and espionage thrillers and special forces movies have increasingly become bald-faced propaganda for statist power. Put your faith in the system, the institutions, and the powers that be. Don't question the rules. Don't question the outcomes, or the means to the outcomes, or the corruption and injustice inherent in our society. Don't rock the boat. And, especially, don't trust the goodness of the individual that marks the hallmark of the knight errant, the cowboy, the hard-boiled detective, and the superhero. Superheroes are disruptors, superheroes threaten to unmask the status quo, and superheroes are therefore dangerous. Tony Stark in Civil War represents the antithesis of the hard-boiled detective and his pajama wearing son. Captain America is Chandler's bygone hero tilting at windmills in a world that would rather he stand down. Cap is The Last of the Mohicans. Which, as a term, is probably violating someone's speech-code and zero tolerance policy. I guess what I'm saying is that the superhero hasn't realized society is looking the other way while the government unmasks him and puts him in a cell, to protect itself in the name of the people. That his mask was originally a totem intended to strike fear into evil-doers and to protect not himself, but his loved ones, from reprisals is lost on the sheeple who more deep down inside agree with Tony Stark. That the authors don't understand the emotional basis of the superhero is just a sign that the cultural rendition order has already been given. Rant Off!

That, in of itself, is worthy of analysis. What does that shift say about our view of our world? Though, I would argue The Dark Knight has been replaced by Zero Dark Thirty and Jack Bauer.

Well, in terms of literary history, the knight errant evolved into the cowboy who evolved into the hardboiled detective who evolved into the superhero. Each evolution has mirrored cultural, technological, and economic shifts in our culture. We have, since superheroes emerged, undergone a series of such shifts. We don't live in the 20th century anymore. And, artistically, mainstream acceptance generally marks the end rather than the beginning of an artistic form's golden era. Are we sure the superhero isn't already being replaced by something else? They'll always have a place, but the people who don't get superheroes may not be entirely at fault. The private superhero who wasn't a shill for the powers that be and fought for justice rather than order and the status quo may well be the 20th century's hero. We are, increasingly, fascistic sheep. It may be he's replaced by soldiers in jack boots. All hail our government ubermentschen!

We've upgraded two of the computers (laptops) in our office to Win-10. These are, mind you, laptops that are running CAD. To my surprise, they are running smoothly, the employee's who have it like it, and they don't get bogged down (much). They are laptops, after all. That said, my computers are still running Win-7.

Its one of my favorite books. But, I'm a skill money, so I'm biased. My groups have always been big on "flavorful background skills" so we use the option where you pay one price for X skills at X roll. So "Eclectic Interests 13-" would give you 6-8 knowledge skills at (INT Roll) for 12 points (there's a table to reference).

Steve loves showing away with fancy and fiddly power constructs. But, the Universal Skill is really just a variation on the Universal Translator Talent. And, there are some good skill-hacking options in TUS that don't use powers at all.

I use this and the combined background skill option (one price for X skills as X roll) a lot.

Yes. And, a lot of what I'm talking about already exists as tool-kitting options in The Ultimate Skill! Its really a matter of taking the time before putting pen to paper to think about: what tropes bring this genre to life, your game-mastering style, and what is really important. If you are running a highly cinematic space pulp with broadly competent heroes and fast and loose play (Flash Gordon!) then PS: Heroically Athletic! 15- makes total sense. If, however, you are running a more "down to earth" game with more verisimilitude, or in which breaking the competencies down into more discrete parts will help differentiate characters, then a single athletics skill would run counter to your desired aims. In that case, we might have PS: Rock Climber, which would give climbing and rappelling and rope use, but would not necessarily convey acrobatics, break-fall, or other feats of physical prowess. And, like I said, you could just drop the current skill list into the current background schema, which is extensible, and call it a day. Add or subtract or rename as desired.

In such games, you could: Require several narrowly defined skills (using default skills or well-armed professional skills) Or... Have "athletics" with several sub-categories. The latter is a bit fiddly, IMO, but has a precedents in navigation, survival, systems operation, etc. The idea is that the list should be tailored to the genre and play style in question.

One way of doing this would be to present the five "background" skills with the current skills from the skill list presented under each as illustrative examples. That would be enough to start play with, provide a default level of granularity for how to define the skills, and not offend Orthodox Heroites. All their favorites would remain in place (mostly) untouched.

I didn't say I didn't think there should be skill lists at all. I said I thought they should be tailored to the game and genre in question, and that they served as a conceptual touchstone for new players. I don't agree that they have to be bland, or broadly defined, either. That's entirely a property of the descriptive names assigned to them. In fact, how you name a professional skill may actually provide individual flavor, or serve to introduce granularity. Two skills I see as really problematic - and demonstrate you are raising a double edged sword - are streetwise and high society. They are both extremely broad and bland. Why would I ever purchase knowledge skills about those fields? And, as I noted before, a person with the standard Charm 14- is actually more broadly effective than PS: Ladies Man 14-. Yes, "Private Investigator" is very broad, but that's not the only way to define that. And I very clearly said it could be more granular. You could do PS: Surveillance (or just call it "Shadowing") to get the exact effect you are describing. If you aren't sure if you understand the label the same way the player does... talk to them. Make them discuss it with you. Communication is always king. Nor would there be any reason you couldn't redefine the existing skill list according to the background skill schema and leave it in the main rule book otherwise unchanged. Of course, that underscores the issue I'm getting at to start with: the we have a closed official list with open ended extension system that, due to how they work conceptually, can duplicate, overlap, or entirely replace the existing system. Its not going to change, though. As I myself noted, people didn't like it when I raised it the first time. The skill list isn't going anywhere. Also, I think you are overreacting and taking it to personally. I never said the skill system was driving people away from the system, and the fact that I prefer to use it differently than you means nothing. You aren't in my games, are you?

I don't restrict brainstorming, or even how I use the existing system, to what is "realistic" for future editions. In fact, Its not even change to the existing system to use only background skills. Its just a different "toolkit" approach. All it takes is a sidebar and some gumption.

Not a new brainstorm... I brought this up on the 6e development boards. I admit, most people didn't like it. I'm a skill fiend (and I love me some presence skills), but every so often I wonder "why does Hero have a skill list?" I say this primarily because of the background skill system. I have four different kinds of open-ended skills that I can define as loosely or finely as I want.These skills also, in many ways, overlap and/or are capable of duplicating the existing skill list. Do I really need Combat Driving and Transport Familiarity if I have PS: Ace Wheel Man 14-? Do I need Open Locks or Security Systems if I have PS: Expert Safe-Cracker 14-? Do I need charm, conversation, and persuasion if I have PS: Vamp or Ladies's Man 14-? True, a very broadly defined background skill like "PS: Cat Burglar 14-" might cover Climbing, Stealth, Open Locks, and Security Systems, but for many games or styles of play, that's a feature rather than a bug. And, as a bonus, the flavor text provides definition not only for the skill, but color for the character. Is a ladies man equally effective with men he's not trying to charm? Is a vamp, even if she has a lot of force of personality, going to be able to work straight women the same way she can men or women who prefer women? In most cases, probably not. If a GM thinks that's too cheap or not granular enough, or abusive, they can simply require the skills to be defined more narrowly! That said, a skill list does give a new player or GM a list of "pregenerated skills" to pick from, and does give some structure for the kinds of things skills do, but it really should vary genre to genre and game to game - and to a degree, does provide conceptual training wheels. But, overall, I find defining background skills much more satisfying (and character forming) than picking from the main skill list.

I think the batkini is an awesome idea. "Quick Robin, don the Bat-Speedo!"

I like Superman. I like Batman. I do not like Superman + Batman. I didn't like the team-ups or "versus" cross-overs in the comics. They were marketing ploys rather than working stories. That said, I did enjoy the old Justice League when Batman and Superman share the spotlight with other characters. But then, that's not a Batman + Superman dynamic. Its an ensemble with more going on. Especially JLI. Even the Bats + Wondy dynamic has more to make it compelling (though, honestly, Bats + Guy Gardner is the best...). ONE PUNCH. Nuff Said. And, Zack Snyder? For Superman? He's the absolute wrong man for this film. The films he's done well with had a cynical edge. That's not Big Blue.

Why go to Haiti? Toking Lich could also do it at the San Diego Comic Con without a hurricane. Marvel Zombies!

I keep telling people that I'm looking forward to Vashon becoming a tropical paradise.

I am not a moderator nor do I play one on television. I don't mean to be a smarty pants, but the whole "don't ever and I mean ever" raises the question "or what?" You'll get miffed? You'll put scary pixels on a screen? You don't know him. You don't know where he lives. And, even if you did, would you get out of your chair and go find him to do something about it? We all know that's not going to happen. Internet chest beating is empty and counter productive. Huffing and puffing doesn't impress or intimidate. Its hollow and, when the dust settles, looks silly. I had a board member threaten to "kick my ass" several years ago. I'll tell you what this non-moderator did: I sent him a private message with my address. Why? To call his bluff and demonstrate the emptiness of his posturing. I'd have loved a good throw down with him, but he was never really going to give me one. This ends one of three ways: you escalate and then implode under the moderators' iron guantlet, you ignore it and move on, or, if you're a one in the million who would get on a plane to commit assault over an Internet offense, you go to jail. If it bothers you a great deal, we have an ignore function on the boards. Or, you could express your offense without the chest-beating and tone of command with no authority behind it. "Are we clear?" About what? That he's got your number? Yeah, that's abundantly clear.

I sat down with my (largely unused) version of Champions Complete to convert our FFG Star Wars characters to Hero. I like it a lot, but I first played Hero in 1983 and made it my system of choice in 1990. For me, the system is second nature. My wife and youngest daughter are fairly green role-players and the bigger stat block was intimidating, so I ended up using 5e. I agree that character creation is "basically the same," but OCV/DCV are to hero as THAC0 was to AD&D, and acronyms don't help. I ended up renaming OCV "Attack" and DCV "Defend." Weirdly, PD and ED also gave pause. Again, acronyms don't help. Simple language is a must for newbies. Experienced gamers often forget that we are mathematically modelling abstract concepts. In other words, we sound like we're spouting out arcane gibberish. Acronyms smack of uber-geek jargon. I decided I'd rather explain CVs at run time as a practical exercise than having to go off on a tangent (rabbit hole) while introducing the characters. How OCV/DCV works is worthy of its own video, but traditionally, you introduce people to a game by building a character and just playing. Separate concepts come up as play proceeds. Having to explicitly make that decision before play begins raises the bar for beginners to get started. I like having OCV/DCV divorced from DEX, but I've been gaming since 1977. Playing with people who are "new," and having to explain it, and seeing where they run into problems, has been an eye opener.

Agreed, I think a good start would be a straight forward heroic character. You might, ahead of time, decide on a concept that could accommodate heroic talents or super-skills so that you can introduce the concept (which, of course, leverages the powers section of the book). I'd explain that we were going to start with a simple character build, build the character while explaining the essential pieces, and then say "In our next video, we'll show you how to..." and then add complexity to the character they've already seen built.