Nolgroth

I'm just surprised it took this long.

I fear that it is only going to get worse. Pessimism is strong in me today.

A campaign setting is not a series of adventures

No it is not. What adventures can do is tie all of that background material into a presentation that makes all of that information into something relevant to the player, especially the player who is not the kind to get absorbed into the lush background information provided elsewhere. I personally agree with you that a setting is more than any one of the components that comprise it. It is the whole enchilada and lacking one or more ingredients deprives the setting of the vital essence that makes it resonate.

What I'd like to see is a champions campaign like the FH one people are talking about here; a fully fleshed out world with lots of adventures and storylines etc.  We kinda have one with the Champions Universe and city settings but they're really not tied together like a campaign and there needs to be campaign "paths" available, premade campaigns and lots more adventures.

A Pathfinder-style Adventure Path (obviously named something else) is almost paramount for any genre or setting. Champions, being based on comic book heroes, absolutely lends itself to that sort of thing. We have them all the time in our comic books.  Flashpoint, Civil War, Fall of the Mutants, Secret Wars, and the list goes on and on. Each of those concepts would translate pretty damn well into a series of interlinked encounters and events. Of all the settings that Hero Games has, Champions is probably the most natural to use that style of adventure.

For smaller adventures, those two or three issue story arcs would also work out real well.

A setting developed with full support like Forgotten Realms or Golaron. Not just the monolithic setting product, but Gazetteers, Grimoires, Bestaries, Treasures, NPCs and, most of all, prefabricated adventures to tie it all together. If I am dreaming big, I want poster maps, high production quality and extras like miniatures and reusable map assets. Take a look at Paizo. Now rip out Pathfinder and stick Hero in there. Not necessarily the same setting, but certainly the same benchmark.

I'd just buy all the powers with Physical Manifestation to represent that the crows can be killed. If you wanted the clairvoyant crow to be self-willed, buy Summon and give the crow Mind Link and transmit on it's senses. If is just the FX of Clairvoyance, then probably just add Concentration to the build.

Messenger crow is images to sound.

Carrier crow is Summon.

No framework needed.

I don't watch any of the major news networks so they could be interviewing Ivan the Terrible for all I know. It's amazing to me. Putin orchestrates the invasion and effective conquest of a region within a sovereign nation and we are still treating with him as "just another politician." I suppose we should now annex British Columbia or Baja California. I mean, if its good for the Russians...

I'll never understand the world political stage. One of the reasons I should keep myself out of this thread. I just happen to pick up some news bits from time to time. 

It's one thing to have a "fan" base in the couple of 100k range. Quite another to get the message out to (tens of) millions of viewers. Just my opinion and not, in any way, supported by data or facts. 

I'm pretty much convinced that nutjobs should not get free publicity.

The major difference for me in Superman portrayals:

 

Superman II - he runs from the battle, appearing as a coward to all to get the fight out of the city and thereby saving countless lives.

 

Man of Steel - he couldn't give a rat's ass about the wanton destruction of the majority of Metropolis.

Superman II - Story and Character driven.

Man of Steel - CGI effects driven.

Several different promotional event videos from the E3 2017 convention. I have to actually say that I was underwhelmed for the most part. Usually I look forward to E3 so that I can see what exciting entertainment options are coming down the line. This time, there were only three games that I have any interest in at all. Even those are not much. I'll probably wait for a sale at some later date. One I will need really, really positive reviews for.

By contrast, I watched all of the development video blogs for Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice and I have to say that I am excited to see how that turns out. I know I'll be dumping $30 on it come August, which is more than I can say for anything I saw promoted at E3.

I liked it a lot. In the straight up comparison between it and Captain America: The First Avenger, I would easily call it a tie. I loved CA:TFA, so that is about as high praise as I can give it. For once, I didn't mind that Chris Pine was taking up screen real estate. He actually did a good job, as opposed to his portrayals of James T. Kirk or Jack Ryan. I'd like to see a little more of his acting chops outside of major franchises. Perhaps the roles intimidate him so he has to come off with that arrogance in order to compensate. Who knows.

I am up for watching any sequels.

We are getting into ideology a bit, but I have to disagree (or at least comment) on a few points. First, I agree with you that the Republican party is not the same as it used to be but then neither is the Democrat party. You see the Democrats as having moved Right, I see both parties as moving further into the direction that they are both known for (R-Right, D-Left). There always was a rift between policy makers from opposite sides of the aisle, but now that rift has become a seemingly unsurpassable gulf. It really isn't, but both sides have convinced themselves that the other is the "enemy." So the war of words, governed by poisoned ideology, continues on. Where both sides should be meeting to figure out what is truly best for the nation and its people and business, both sides believe that they alone have the magic formula for success. It is that institutional arrogance that is bringing us to the brink of disaster.

As to the power of the education loonies, that is power. They have the power to shape hearts and minds. Instead of using that power responsibly to teach, they have fostered a culture of hatred that is worse than just about anything I have ever seen before outside of totalitarian regimes. That hatred and contempt for opposing ideas and ideals will not magically disappear when those students graduate and move on. It is irresponsible to the point where I personally consider it a broken system. I totally admit that I, personally, have thought our education system broken from K-Graduate School for a very long time. In this day and age of growing tuition costs, book fees, and a self-protectionism among education staff, coupled with the fact that a college degree promises nothing and leaves the student to bear crushing debt for a mere "roll of the dice" chance at success, I am a proponent for gutting everything and starting over. I know that's not a popular opinion, but something, somewhere needs to be changed.

Too much hatred governs our nation and its competing ideologies. Somewhere, someway, we need to find common ground. It doesn't have to be sunshine and rainbows but it does have to be something more than the sepia toned crapfest that we find ourselves in now.

Wind blowing through leaves. It's kinda magical.

I just got word yesterday that I have to cut another position from my staff. Pretty soon, I won't have a staff and therefore there will be no need for me.

Did I mention the soul sucking?

I'm sorry. The consumer financial protection bureau. It's the agency that tracks financial malfeasance. They're the guys that caught Wells Fargo setting up all those fake accounts. Ever since, Repubs have tried to gut it. This vote for this new bill passed with all the repubs but one voting for it. it's on the senate to approve before it goes to Trump

CES

Yeah, but I doubt the Senate Republicans are going to be able to gin up the necessary Democrat votes to pass it. As I understand it, there seems to be an actual dialog (gasp!) between the Republicans and Democrats on creating a workable alternative to Dodd-Frank. The House bill was lacking too much foresight to ever make me comfortable. I personally like my bank not opening accounts in my name. Thank you very much.

I understand the concerns about international competition, but there has to be a better way than just scrapping Dodd-Frank and acting like 2008 and the Wells Fargo thing never happened.

Sadly I was at work an unable to watch the testimony live. All I have are talking heads from either side of the aisle giving their own spin on the proceedings. I'm about to go look for a transcript and hope to hell it hasn't been creatively quoted to further an ideological agenda.

Oh, I can fix that.

That's the Old Man we all know and (insert: 1. Love or 2. Hate).

Careful Old Man, you're almost sounding idealistic there. Your reputation as a cynic is in danger.

Another mysterious fade-out

That pesky Starkiller base is at it again.

I predict more rioting for the sake of rioting, no matter the outcome of the Comey testimony.

Work is successful at one thing and one thing only....sucking out the vital essence of my creativity and soul.

I still enjoy the show, but what is the point of training all these people if in the end you have to go get the former villains to help you defeat other villains.

Honestly I think they wanted to go for one of those "In this issue, EVERYBODY DIES!" sort of thing. So they pulled the old favorites in from the wings, brought everybody together on a big asplodie island, and had the Big Bad takes his own life (in a manner symbolic of Oliver's father's own suicide) to destroy everything Oliver cares about ('cept his son). The problem was that, aside from John Barrowman's tweet that he is out, I have about zero angst that any of the cast or guest stars are done for good. Maybe one of the al'Ghul kids gets axed. Probably the temporary team member turncoat girl, though she would make for an interesting long-term villain. One who blames Team Arrow for Whatshisnuts death. Slade may disappear from the show again, but I seriously doubt that it is curtain call for the character.

There's too much dramatic potential for the hockey mask dude and his child custody issues to let go. He's staying. Same with Thea and the angst over her newly found, but far too late, feelings for ol' Malcolm. The token gay character can stay or go. Coin toss on that one. I thought he was great as comic relief guy, especially as the teen drama heated up between Oliver and Felicity. I also liked the fact that, though he is an able crime fighter, he is just not in the league of the big boys and girls. The new Black Canary. She is awesome. Shame if they got rid of her. So they won't.

Hmmmn. Maybe Felicity. I mean, if you can get rid of Laurel, Felicity isn't too much of a stretch.

Just had a fan theory idea. Talia and Turncoat kidnap Felicity to brainwash her and train her to be part of some evil version of Birds of Prey. They're the main villains for next season. Of course at the end, Talia gets away, Turncoat gets impaled on some jagged pipe or similar unpleasant fate, and Felicity gets to be redeemed so that she emote all sorts of angst in the next season after that. I'd suggest Thea for that as well, but I say she stays and goes full on "embrace the dark side" in her vigilantism. The whole angsty daddy issues thing.

It all allows for Oliver to stay all Broody McBroodyface and stretches the bounds of suspension of disbelief further than the shark-jumping breaking point.

Oh wait, fast forward five years into the future so that the flashbacks can start all over again. I forgot about that key part of the show. What are they going to do now to contrast and compare Oliver's current situation with some gratuitous flashbackery?

Yeah, Arrow was once the most interesting show on TV for me. Not so much anymore. I have little hopes for next season, which is why I mentioned in the Flash thread that it has "earned" a five episode trial. First time since it has started. They better have some good stuff coming.

It was actually quite simple: because I didn't know anything about mystic kung fu.  

Huh. I guess I was exposed to martial arts pretty early and had some basic information. I knew what Bo Staff is, though honestly I did not know what a Jo Stick is. For that matter, I still don't. I'm guessing something more like an Escrima stick or billy club. The monk class was "cool" to me though I never did get around to playing one. Fighter/Magic-User was so much more fun. These days, I am much more picky than I was before. 

I just beat my kids to toughen them up.

Was that wrong?

Sadly, I have no idea what the rules from Space Gamer 75 look like.

I've always thought the rules for vehicle/base construction were always cumbersome. I just haven't contrived a better way yet. It will be a while before I can focus in that direction anyway, so if there are easy rules like this Space Gamer 75 thing, I say include them.