Nolgroth

Basic villains and/or a free scenario certainly count as something.

I think that a Star Hero Complete would end up looking like you described Cantriped. Anything further I can say would be summed up by referring to my posts in the Health of the Hero System thread.

I see we are back to starter kits. My big question there is, if it would be a reality and they become leader, what are they leading too? If there is a dearth of modules, the starter kit still won't answer that problem.

You have to start somewhere and potentially drawing in new blood is a good start. You are right in that it cannot stop there. A starter kit is no better than Yet Another Setting product, if there is no downroad support. In other words, I am advocating for both. Heck, I would even be happy with some sort of quarterly Dungeon-esque e-fanzine to keep up some sort of support. The most important thing is to stop talking about it and do something. I have decided that, in the short-term, I am not looking to make a pile of cash (not that I believe the market is big enough for that anyway). So I am totally "labor of loving" the project I am working on. I am aiming to have a prototype done by end of summer. Maybe earlier. I have been making good progress. I think it is entirely within the realm of possibility.

We'll see beyond that though. I have a couple of good adventure ideas constantly floating around. Maybe the follow-up will be something that I publish for profit here and on Drivethru or something.

You know, this thread is full of great ideas. So let's get to steppin'.

I'm only halfway joking. I have been personally working on something. I'm making progress. It will be awhile before I am done. While help and feedback will be welcome from time to time, I don't think that writing/design by committee is going to be beneficial.

I'll post more when I have more than the package deals done. Maybe at that time, some of you would be kind enough to provide feedback.

I kind of like the idea of this, but I'm not sure how to go about producing such a thing.  Using it for Fantasy Hero would be handy as I have a modular concept for character creation in the works:

 

race (base line)

profession (skills/abilities)

personality (complications)

background (stats)

 

Not sure how well it would work with cards though.  Plus, artwork, etc.

Wow. I have a similar one, though mine is Race > Cultural > Archetype/Class.

Well that would make you cranky so you should have something to post about.

What?

The first six episodes of Arrow on Netflix. The show was still raw. It hadn't developed and fallen into familiar patterns. Oliver narrated the first few episodes, almost like Dexter from the series of the same name. Somewhere they dropped the narration aspect and I think the show suffered for its lack. The rest I will save for the Arrow thread. I'm not going to keep going with it. I just wanted to re-watch and see if nostalgia had colored my perceptions of the first season. I can answer with some surety that the answer is "just the tiniest bit." Mostly, they were just better shows.

At roll call, I used to answer "Fire purifies all" instead of "Here" or "Present." Well until I got written up anyway.

I didn't know that.  I'm glad I've never given my cell to a campaign then.

My cell goes on campaigns. Wait! I mean...oh forget it. 

(It also raised average IQs, and lowered violent crime)

THAT explains why I'm so stupid! Leaded gas was still a thing when I was a kid. Now it all makes sense.

For myself, the question was never about relative power level. It was about flavor.

I seem to remember a 1st Edition Monk doing some pretty amazing things. I might be misremembering or there may have been other rules at play (the DM loved his off-the-wall magazine articles and such).

I have yet to play D&D 5. I was happy with 4 and saw no reason to upgrade. That said, I did download the basic rules and bought the Starter set. I love starter sets and that one was not terribly bad. 

This project, however, is using classes only as a springboard for quick character creation. I intend to use it (hopefully) to entice new blood into the Hero System by showing them that it is not all about number crunching and when it is, there is usually a vested interest in crunching those numbers. That takes the mystique and fear away, or at least I hope it will. From there, character customization is freeform.

I decided not to go with the mystical monk, but I did create an Operative class which is part spy and part assassin. I am kind of picturing a cross between a Mossad agent and a League of Shadows assassin. All the kick-ass with half the mysticism. This also gives me, or a potential player, the option of delving into a mystic side of their organization. I am nearly done with the whole Race, Culture, Class package part of the project. Almost ready to move on to the adventure plotting and mapping parts. 

I would definitely endorse cutting the crap out of the CW shows. I like(d?) them well enough, but there is way too much filler. I would rather see more shows rotated through the lineup so that the few episodes could (maybe) tell a more concise story. My current favorite is about 12 episodes, give or take one. Daredevil seems to be able to intertwine at least two major plots and a few subplots in those 12, hour-long episodes. Those stories were better than the CW ones.

Point of interest; rewind a year and my take was the exact opposite.

Ever wake up wanting to bite everything (And anyone)  that comes near you?

If by "ever" you mean "every" as in morning, yup. 

There is no amusement park on earth worth 1 hour wait, let alone 7.

I dunno, if there were to be significant monetary compensation, I could get on board. 

These are all really good responses folks. I appreciate you taking the time to respond and I need to consider all of your responses, both collectively and separately. 

Right now, I am tending towards "non-mystic" martial arts like the Blademaster from Wheel of Time. There are certainly some eastern influences there, especially in the Heron marked blade design, but the setting is pretty firmly Western European in feel. And that is but one example. Fencing, wrestling, boxing and staff fighting are all other examples of the martial arts I am leaning towards. I have a small inclination towards an unarmed Krav Maga style art, that dispenses with the fortune cookie wisdom and focuses on practical, utilitarian maneuvers. So the "Monk" is likely out but there will be some sort of systematic unarmed combat.

When I get back to Ulum, then there will be more mystical martial arts. But that's another post for another day.

So George R R Martin?

 

George R. R. Martin is actually a really competent writer. If he had a very strong editor that kept reminding him that Alex, Wynn, James, etc. couldn't get killed off each season, he might be able to pull off some good stories.

I've always felt that the DnD monk, being based on Far Eastern philosophy and traditions clashes with the Western European feel of D&D. So why is it so popular a class? Is it because of the powers associated with it? Does it fill a niche that the other classes don't? Is it because of the prevalence in martial arts action heroes in modern media?

The reason I ask these questions is because I am building what amounts to a class system for a game I am planning. I keep looking at the classes that I've built (which are really just archetypes that have Characteristics spreads in them) and I am debating on whether the Asian mystic martial artist has a place in there. I would love to get more opinions than my own internal, conflicting voices.

I'm betting Mon-El has gone to the future.

Where he teams up with Emo Flash?

Thank you Sinanju. Now I can just ignore the Supergirl finale. 

Would CW please consider hiring an actual comic book writer? Maybe just a little bit.

11-year-old forced to marry her rapist in third world country

Why does it not surprise me that our culture can prosecute some pedophiles and give others the opportunity to repeat their crimes with legal sanction.

There are days when I think I hate humanity. Today is one where I know I hate humanity.

Just rewatched season 1 & 2 of Daredevil on Netflix. I forgot how awesome that show is.

Now the wait for Defenders is going to be that much harder.

Normally, I automatically sign on for the continuing seasons of a show. When I say Flash earned my standard five episode provisional status, that is a bad thing. It means that I question whether or not I can continue watching and the first few episodes of the next season better wow me. Otherwise, I get an extra hour each week. The hours I've saved from Agents of Shield, Legends of Tomorrow, Blacklist, and Blindspot have sure been nice.

Arrow has, coincidentally enough, also earned that same provisional status. Once my favorite show on TV, I sort of vomited in my mouth at the season finale. If I care enough to find the Arrow thread, I might even summon up the reasons why. Nah. I got better things to focus on.

Because he is still Barry and thus not very bright?