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Joe Walsh

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  1. Thanks
    Joe Walsh got a reaction from Scott Ruggels in Is Hero still your "go-to" rpg system?   
    I wonder if anyone's tried using the polyhedral dice conversions in the back of Espionage! to work out a complete polyhedral damage dice system for HERO. The guidelines it gives are just for killing damage rolls and only for the various calibers of weapons in the book, but it would be possible to work from that to get a reasonable set of guidelines for using polyhedrals with HERO:
     
    POLYHEDRAL DICE DAMAGE CONVERSIONS
    Listed Damage
    Gun Caliber
    Polyhedral Damage
    1/2D6
    .25 Auto
    1D3
    1D6-1
    .22 LR
    1D4
    1D6
    .22 LR Russian, 7.65 mm, .32 Auto, .380 Auto, 9mm Russian
    1D6
    1D6+1
    .30 Luger, .32 Czech, .38 Special, 9mm, Crossbows
    1D8
    1D6+1
    .45 Auto, 13 mm Gyrojet
    2D4
    1 1/2D6
    .30 Carbine, .357 Magnum
    1D10
    1 1/2D6
    .41 Magnum
    1D4+1D6
    2D6-1
    .223
    1D12
    2D6
    7.62 Russian, .44 Magnum, .45 Auto Mag
    2D6
    2D6+1
    7.5 mm Swiss,.30-06, 7.62 Long, .308
    1D6+1D8
     
  2. Like
    Joe Walsh got a reaction from rravenwood in Homebrewing a HERO System 2e   
    Just taking a moment to celebrate that my Tables pass is complete up to page 48. Just 20 pages to go!
    (And then I can go back and start double-checking that what's in my text file matches what's in the book exactly...)
  3. Like
    Joe Walsh got a reaction from assault in Homebrewing a HERO System 2e   
    As I go through Espionage! line by line, word by word, maybe I'm missing something that's more big picture, but so far it seems like a really good implementation of heroic-level HERO System. Mostly I'm finding consistency of presentation issues where, for example, something is mentioned in the middle of a paragraph in the Combat chapter that should have also been mentioned back in the Characters chapter. What I've found so far is below. Let me know if you know of other such items.
     
    But like I said, at this point Espionage looks like a great core for heroic role-playing. I don't think it would be beneficial to integrate the superheroic stuff. Weird Talents and the Skills for Contact, Favor, Perks, etc? Sure. But in an Espionage II document that, like Champions II, offers additional material for when it's wanted. I like the idea of keeping the core simple and separate, with two cores (heroic and superheroic), each with its own slope for the decreasing effectiveness of additional similar Disadvantages taken, its own selection of Combat Maneuvers, etc. We'll see how things progress, though.
     
    Here's what I've spotted that needs a touch-up so far:
     
    Characteristics:
        Include basic Running (6") and Swimming (2") values and note that the Skills section explains how to improve them whle the Movement section explains how to use them.
        Also consider mentioning Presence Attack dice with a note that Presence Attacks are further explained in their own section.
     
    Skills:
        Add Conversation and Persuasion to the Anyone skills (place an asterisk after them both in the table and in their entries).
        Provide a list of the Anyone Skills (Familiarities with Climbing, Concealment, Conversation, Deduction, Disguise, Paramedic, Persuasion, Shadowing, and Stealth; plus Transport Skills (Personal Automobiles), Weapon Familiarity (Clubs), and Language (Character's Primary Language)). Discuss their use.
        In the Languages skill, alter the list of more difficult languages to be: Arabic, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, and Korean.
        Page 16, Paragraph 1: Under Transport Skills, change "a car" to "personal automobiles".
        In Weapon Familiarity, include the fact that everyone is assumed to have Weapons Familiarity with Clubs (as mentioned in Combat) given that the default ability to drive a car is mentioned under Transport Skills.
     
    Vehicle Combat:
        Page 50, Paragraph 1, sentence 2: Delete this sentence, then add a new one after the sentence on Combat Vehicle Operation: "Characters without Combat Vehicle Operation who have the appropriate Transport Skill have a Control Roll of 8-."
     
    And here's what might make sense for a theoretical Espionage II supplement that provides options for running different kinds of heroic campaigns:
       Although most heroic characters begin with 50 points, the GM can decide to begin them with any number of free points that will fit the campaign (most frequently in the 25 to 75 range).
        Add description of how to make new Package Deals.
        Anything relevant from the Covert Action articles from Adventurers Club.
        Add Brawling skill (from JI p 36).
        Add Weird Talents from JI.
        Contact, Favor, and/or Perquisites Skills from Super Agents and/or Danger International.
        Money purchasing system from Danger International (?).
        Add cinematic vehicle chase rules from DI?
        Add the chase rules from JI?
     
  4. Like
    Joe Walsh got a reaction from Marcus Heinous in Homebrewing a HERO System 2e   
    I'm trying to keep in mind what support was around for Espionage! at the time, what Champions was doing at the time, and the progression of the HERO System throughout the 1e to 3e era. Here's what I've put together after going through my HERO library last weekend (note that I'm not trying to include every HERO publication here; just everything related to Espionage! and then the key products for the rest of the HERO System):
     
    Key Publication Dates:
        - Daisy wheel layout era begins
        - Saddle-stitched core rules era begins
     
        Champions 1e: July 1981 (San Mateo, CA Origins Game Fair)
        Island of Dr. Destroyer: 1981 (This and the following three were produced because game distributors wouldn't take Hero Games seriously until they had more products.)
        Escape from Stronghold: 1981
        Enemies: 1981
        Champions GM Screen: 1981
        
        - Boxed game era begins (game distributors upped the ante and required core games to come in boxes)
        - 2e era begins
     
        Champions 2e: 1982
        Champions II: 1982
        Espionage: 1983
        Border Crossing (Espionage! and MSPE): 1983
        Adventurers Club #1: Fall 1983 (Covert Action column by Steve Peterson w/ Police Academy Package Deals)
        Adventurers Club #2: Winter 1983 (Covert Action column by Doug Garrett w/ advice, archetypes, surveillance skill, and a Military Package Deal)
        
        The Armory, Volume 1 (Firebird for Espionage! and MSPE): 1983
        The Adventure of the Jade Jaguar (Blade for MSPE and Espionage!) April 1983
        Stormhaven (Blade for MSPE and Espionage!): November 1983
        
        - 2e era ends
        - Daisy wheel layout era ends
        - Professional layout and typesetting era begins
        - 3e era begins
     
        Justice, Inc (Espionage! rules re-themed to pulp, with a couple of new Skills and separate Skills for different forms of transportation; Psychic Powers; Weird Talents; Monsters; Wild Animals): May 1984
        Champions III: 1984
        Adventurers Club #3: Spring 1984 (Covert Action column by Doug Garrett w/ advice, Reffing the Disadvantages 1, Private Investigator Package Deal)
        Adventurers Club #4: Summer 1984 (Covert Action column by Doug Garrett w/ mission security, Reffing the Disadvantages 2, rules for non-combat movement, END and weapons, lifting).
     
        Champions 3e: November 1984
        Adventurers Club #5: Fall 1984 (Covert Action column by Doug Garrett w/ how to infiltrate, Reffing the Disadvantages 3)
        Adventurers Club #6: Winter 1984 (Covert Action column by Doug Garrett w/ performing illegal acts, Reffing the Disadvantages 4)
        
        Lands of Mystery: May 1985
     
        -Saddle-stitched core rules era ends
        -Boxed rulebook era ends
     
        Fantasy Hero: June 1985
        Danger International: November 1985
        
        -ICE 10-year Contract Begins January 1986
     
        Here There Be Tigers (Firebird for Danger International and Espionage!): 1986
        
        Adventurers Club #7: Summer 1986 (Covert Action column by Doug Garrett; post-Danger International publication; covers obtaining equipment)
        Champions 3e (Perfect-Bound): August 1986
        Super Agents: August 1986
        Robot Warriors: October 1986
        Adventurers Club #8: Fall 1986
        Adventurers Club #9: Spring 1987 (Covert Action column by Doug Garrett provides his thoughts on Package Deals from a Danger International perspective)
        Adventurers Club #10: Summer 1987
        Adventurers Club #11: Fall 1987
        Adventurers Club #12: 1988
        Adventurers Club #13: 1989
        Star Hero: February 1989
     
        - 3e Era Ends
        - 4e Era Begins
     
        Champions 4e: 1989
        
        Mugshots 2: Taking Care of Business (Flying Buffalo for MSPE and Espionage!): 1992
     
  5. Haha
    Joe Walsh reacted to wcw43921 in Funny Pics II: The Revenge   
  6. Like
    Joe Walsh reacted to Dr.Device in Is Hero still your "go-to" rpg system?   
    Ages ago[1] I played in a game where the GM [2] had home-brewed a system heavily inspired by hero. You bought spells or abilities with points like hero, but instead of buying multiple dice for damage powers (or some other effects), the base power started at a d4 damage, and each level increased the damage die up to d12, and (I think) adding another d4 (or higher) if you went past a d12. The system overall was a lot lighter than Hero, but it felt like a complete system. I liked it and would like to have seen it published.
     
    [1] As in 25+ years, so my memories of the system may not be (read almost certainly aren't) totally accurate.
    [2] Nonie Rider (Quinlan at the time). She co-authored Champions in 3d, and had some other RPG writing credits.
  7. Thanks
    Joe Walsh got a reaction from tkdguy in Is Hero still your "go-to" rpg system?   
    I wonder if anyone's tried using the polyhedral dice conversions in the back of Espionage! to work out a complete polyhedral damage dice system for HERO. The guidelines it gives are just for killing damage rolls and only for the various calibers of weapons in the book, but it would be possible to work from that to get a reasonable set of guidelines for using polyhedrals with HERO:
     
    POLYHEDRAL DICE DAMAGE CONVERSIONS
    Listed Damage
    Gun Caliber
    Polyhedral Damage
    1/2D6
    .25 Auto
    1D3
    1D6-1
    .22 LR
    1D4
    1D6
    .22 LR Russian, 7.65 mm, .32 Auto, .380 Auto, 9mm Russian
    1D6
    1D6+1
    .30 Luger, .32 Czech, .38 Special, 9mm, Crossbows
    1D8
    1D6+1
    .45 Auto, 13 mm Gyrojet
    2D4
    1 1/2D6
    .30 Carbine, .357 Magnum
    1D10
    1 1/2D6
    .41 Magnum
    1D4+1D6
    2D6-1
    .223
    1D12
    2D6
    7.62 Russian, .44 Magnum, .45 Auto Mag
    2D6
    2D6+1
    7.5 mm Swiss,.30-06, 7.62 Long, .308
    1D6+1D8
     
  8. Haha
    Joe Walsh reacted to Duke Bushido in Homebrewing a HERO System 2e   
    I dont know how to answer that.  I have had many occasions to use it, and have it a few different ways, but never the way it was intended, as every time I bring it up, the players if the day are equally divided for and against, so all these years, and it has mostly been a map of swanky place when I needed one.   
     
     
    I should also add that I did not buy it for Espionage!  I bougt it to use with Daredevils, which we were all pretty big into at the time.  I had never owned or even heard of Espionage!  (At least, to know it was a Champions-related thing; obviously I could see it written on various things) until this century.
     
    And at one point, Stormhaven did service as a noble estate during a siege campaign.  Very nice place to be trapped for a few weeks.   
     
     
  9. Haha
    Joe Walsh reacted to Logan D. Hurricanes in Funny Pics II: The Revenge   
  10. Like
    Joe Walsh got a reaction from DentArthurDent in Is Hero still your "go-to" rpg system?   
    Looks like we're turning to our favorite subject, "What's wrong with HERO and how I'd fix it."
     
    This morning on the long drive to the office I was thinking about HERO (as one does) and the RPG industry in general (again, totally normal thing to do -- I don't know why you're looking at me funny) and I started to draw a hasty conclusion (something no one online ever does) and wondered if it was worth anything.
     
    Hypothesis: Tabletop RPGs with enduring popularity tend to be beautiful messes.
     
    White box D&D, Champions, Shadowrun, D6 System...all were games that did something new and neat with easily digestible basics -- but there were major flaws in design and/or presentation. All became popular enough to get several attempts by different designers and publishers at fixing their flaws, but those attempts don't seem to have boosted their popularity (aside from D&D, which is in many ways its own thing due not least to making it into the mainstream, with a mainstream budget for much of its life).
     
    Maybe, from a hobby perspective, what works are games a hobbyist can learn in an afternoon but which cry out for tinkering. As long as there's something neat about them that provides a compelling enough reason to tinker with them and want to share their tinkering with friends and family.
     
    Maybe that's why beautiful, orderly designs with great execution like EABA get lost in the waves.
     
    And maybe that's one reason why making HERO System more orderly and logical didn't yield more customers.
     
    Sure, there are many reasons for HERO's current situation; we're all familiar with them. But maybe this is part of it too?
  11. Like
    Joe Walsh got a reaction from Duke Bushido in Homebrewing a HERO System 2e   
    Yeah, the cross-pollination between Hero, Steve Jackson, The Chaosium, and Flying Buffalo rocked! And I love that Espionage! even has translation info in the back of the core rulebook.
     
    (On another subject, is Espionage! the only HERO product that includes rules for using polyhedral dice with HERO System? I'd bet Steve Long did that at some point, too, but I can't recall it.)
     
     
     
    Yup!
     
    I've never used it, but when I last flipped through it my impression was that it's enough material to build a decent campaign on.
     
    Have you ever had a chance to use it?
  12. Haha
    Joe Walsh got a reaction from Duke Bushido in Homebrewing a HERO System 2e   
    It wounds me that Mugshots 1 wasn't licensed for Espionage!. How can I have Mugshots 2 and not 1 on the shelf? But how can I have Mugshots 1 in the Espionage! lineup when it isn't for that system? Even worse, Mugshots 1 is saddle-stitched, while 2 is perfect bound. It's a nightmare no matter what I do! 🤣
     
  13. Like
    Joe Walsh got a reaction from BoloOfEarth in What Have You Watched Recently?   
    I think in the mid-80s about 20% of the time my friends and I opened our mouths out would pop a Johnny Dangerously quote.
  14. Like
    Joe Walsh got a reaction from slikmar in What Have You Watched Recently?   
    I think in the mid-80s about 20% of the time my friends and I opened our mouths out would pop a Johnny Dangerously quote.
  15. Haha
    Joe Walsh reacted to Ternaugh in What Have You Watched Recently?   
    My friend quoted Johnny Dangerously once. Once!
  16. Like
    Joe Walsh reacted to Ternaugh in What Have You Watched Recently?   
    Cinderella: Disney's version of the Charles Perrault version of the story. It's been recently released through the Disney Movie Club in an Ultimate Collector's Edition, featuring a new 4K Blu-ray, a standard Blu-ray, a DVD, and a digital copy. The transfers for the Blu-rays are new, and have corrected an issue with the last release, where the film grain was scrubbed a little too much, and colors were a bit off. This one looks and sounds great (4K UHD Blu-ray)
     
    Johnny Dangerously: Spoof of the gangster film genre, this film's become a kind of a cult film. It's a fun watch. (HBO Max)
  17. Like
    Joe Walsh got a reaction from Chris Goodwin in Homebrewing a HERO System 2e   
    As mentioned in this thread, I decided to try going back to the earliest non-Champions HERO System game, Espionage!, and work from there to find something that will work for how my group uses HERO System and which is easier for newbies to learn.
     
    To avoid derailing that Champions 3e thread, I'll post updates here for those interested.
     
    I'm just at the start of the process, but here's a basic overview of my plan so far:
    Get Espionage! into a usable text format, with a stopover at the complete text which I plan to send to Jason in case he ever has a use for it. Remove the flavor text, CIA info, and such that's specific to the spy genre, leaving behind a more generic RPG. (Espionage was clearly meant to be a generic modern heroic RPG that defaults to espionage, so that won't be too hard.) Determine what (if anything) needs to be added from contemporary HERO publications. Determine what (if anything) needs to be added from 3e publications. Determine what (if anything) needs to be added from later HERO publications. Integrate everything, editing and/or rewriting as needed. Add any illustrations that may be needed (grenade scatter diagram, etc.) Playtest.  
    My goal is to end up with a complete but minimalist RPG along the lines of Classic Traveller, B/X D&D, etc. I'll share my journey here for those interested.
     
    (For those not interested, I'm sorry for cluttering up the board. This seemed the best place to put this.)
     
  18. Like
    Joe Walsh got a reaction from rravenwood in The Rules Discarded Along the Way   
    You're right -- Who knows at this point what was going on with specific rules changes during 2e and 3e?
     
    We know up until Justice Inc, the game design and development as expressed in the core rulebooks was by MacDonald and Peterson, with MacDonald taking lead on design and development, Peterson taking lead on writing, but both doing some of each. So we can be pretty sure who was making decisions about rules and how they were expressed up through Espionage!
     
    But then we add Allston and Stackpole once we get to the very next game released (Justice Inc). It credits MacDonald and Peterson as well, and although it clearly uses their Espionage! rules as its basis, we don't know which of the four authors proposed each of the changes in that volume, which of them really thought deeply about each one before agreeing, etc.
     
    Still, in this specific instance, we have two games in a row (Espionage! and Justice Inc) with exactly the same wording for exactly the same set of Combat Maneuvers. Both refer to 'tripping' being covered by the existing Combat Maneuvers. But none of the Combat Maneuver descriptions mention tripping. So we're left to wonder how they were using those maneuvers and which one they felt covered tripping.
     
    But I'm guessing in whatever discussions they had, Peterson was less convinced, given that he added a specific Trip maneuver for FH 1e. And then when the reins were handed back to someone else, that went away, so I'm guessing it either didn't work out as expected or the change didn't convince the other principals of its necessity. But it's just a guess since that's about all we can do at this point.
     
     
     
    Interesting! Especially since Espionage's only Throw maneuver is Martial Throw. It would make sense if that's what they were referring to. I wish MacDonald and Peterson had been a bit more rigorous about things like that, but oh well! It's only interesting to us Hero grognards, who increasingly resemble medieval monks poring over ancient manuscripts.
     
  19. Like
    Joe Walsh got a reaction from Duke Bushido in The Rules Discarded Along the Way   
    You're right -- Who knows at this point what was going on with specific rules changes during 2e and 3e?
     
    We know up until Justice Inc, the game design and development as expressed in the core rulebooks was by MacDonald and Peterson, with MacDonald taking lead on design and development, Peterson taking lead on writing, but both doing some of each. So we can be pretty sure who was making decisions about rules and how they were expressed up through Espionage!
     
    But then we add Allston and Stackpole once we get to the very next game released (Justice Inc). It credits MacDonald and Peterson as well, and although it clearly uses their Espionage! rules as its basis, we don't know which of the four authors proposed each of the changes in that volume, which of them really thought deeply about each one before agreeing, etc.
     
    Still, in this specific instance, we have two games in a row (Espionage! and Justice Inc) with exactly the same wording for exactly the same set of Combat Maneuvers. Both refer to 'tripping' being covered by the existing Combat Maneuvers. But none of the Combat Maneuver descriptions mention tripping. So we're left to wonder how they were using those maneuvers and which one they felt covered tripping.
     
    But I'm guessing in whatever discussions they had, Peterson was less convinced, given that he added a specific Trip maneuver for FH 1e. And then when the reins were handed back to someone else, that went away, so I'm guessing it either didn't work out as expected or the change didn't convince the other principals of its necessity. But it's just a guess since that's about all we can do at this point.
     
     
     
    Interesting! Especially since Espionage's only Throw maneuver is Martial Throw. It would make sense if that's what they were referring to. I wish MacDonald and Peterson had been a bit more rigorous about things like that, but oh well! It's only interesting to us Hero grognards, who increasingly resemble medieval monks poring over ancient manuscripts.
     
  20. Haha
    Joe Walsh reacted to Duke Bushido in Homebrewing a HERO System 2e   
    I am very proud of you!
     
    Most people forget Mugshots 2.
     
     

     
     
  21. Like
    Joe Walsh reacted to Duke Bushido in The Rules Discarded Along the Way   
    Sure; I'll bite!
     
    This thread is now four pages long.  This is in large part because all od the active participants in this thread have very diggerenr opinions not just about how named, defined, official maneuvers are to be interpreted and which ones are  important and which are not.
     
    5e was the first edition of this game- from core rules to supplements and genre conventions to adventures to-    to whatever-  to be written _almost entirely_ by one man.  He isnt going to  have a lot of disagreement with himself.  (To rectify this, I have generously volunteered to do all the disagreeing with him: one on one just kind of simplifies this, and,having already spent a couple of decades really not liking the original Dark Champions, I was already practiced.  Path of Least Resistance amd all that.  It has been a thankless job, but you are all welcome anyway.   )
     
    The same,can be said of 6e, where an even larger percentage of the material was written by one guy (which made my job harder: do you have any idea how hard it is to maintain disagreement when you are in total awe at the volume of output?!  Wow!)
     
    Look at the earlier examples that you cite.  Sure, a,lot we're written by L Douglas G, but not all,of them.  And even of the ones that were, going through contributing names and, where available, editors, you will find each of these books had different creative teams
      We all know that persuasion qmd debate are an important part of deviding what goes into these books (unless you are just going to show off and write almost an entire product line by yourself.  Twice.  Like some kind of show off.  Or cyborg.      ), amd we,know that diggerent people are foinf to have different ideas, etc, etc.
     
    There is also the chance with a recurring author or lead writer of editorial team that after having spent time with his previous rules, he found something lacking or superfluous, and took this new opportunity to make what he felt to be a much-needed correction this time around.  Given a third opportunity, he may devise that it was better the first time.
     
     
    Now keep in mind that I have absolutely no facts to suggest that this was the case in the instances you  cite, but I am willing to bet that it has a large degree of accuracy.
     
     
     
     
  22. Like
    Joe Walsh reacted to Ninja-Bear in The Rules Discarded Along the Way   
    GM joe, I might be misremembering but when Trip was reintroduced (or to me introduced) and the argument was why do I need to upgrade to 6th, a point was made that you could already Trip, its just a renamed Throw.
  23. Like
    Joe Walsh got a reaction from assault in Exploring New Genres - Share Your Favorite Other Genres   
    A long time ago, I ran long-term, very popular campaigns that were essentially soap operas. One was set mostly in and around a pseudo-medieval tavern; the second was set mostly in and around a megacorp owner's mansion. While both campaigns were nominally based off of specific RPG rulesets (AD&D 1e for the first, Classic Traveller for the second), both evolved into rules-light story games because that's the direction the groups ended up going in. Sure, there were occasional story-driven missions that were very much like the usual adventures you'd expect in their respective games, but most of the playtime was consumed with pure soap opera stuff with dual loyalties, secret lives, evil twins, dramatic deaths, skullduggery, betrayals, and the like.
     
    I always wanted to pick up a copy of SPI's Dallas RPG and see how they decided to approach the genre.
     
     
  24. Like
    Joe Walsh got a reaction from Ninja-Bear in The Rules Discarded Along the Way   
    Continuing my Espionage! project, I noticed that under "Hand-to-Hand Combat" in Espionage (p 31) and Pulp Hero (p 58), the third paragraph reads:
     
     
    (Emphasis mine.)
     
    Unlike grabbing, unfortunately there is no further mention of tripping anywhere in either text.
     
    Given that the combat maneuvers are Punch, Killing Blow, Block, Dodge, Hold, Disarm, Grab, and Flying Tackle, my reading of the bolded sentence above is that the HERO crew used Grab for tripping, since they are saying that tripping is already covered by the existing combat maneuvers.
     
    Then they must have decided to revisit the idea in Fantasy HERO 1e when, despite still having the separate Hold and Grab maneuvers, they decided to add a Trip maneuver. And then decided against it for Danger International, published just 5 months later.
     
    And then we didn't see Trip again until 6e.
     
    I just found it interesting and thought I'd mention it in case anyone has any thoughts or insight to share.
     
  25. Thanks
    Joe Walsh reacted to Christopher R Taylor in Building With the BBB!   
    To me, that's what the Champions character sheet should look like.  That's the ideal.
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