Joe Walsh

True, HERO's not a good choice for people for whom pages of realistic weapons, each notably different than the rest, is a primary determinant of whether they will enjoy the game. Fortunately there are a lot of other things to like about HERO when used for heroic-level play, as any fan of Danger International or Justice, Inc. can attest.

Right! Having the bad guy keep getting back up again gets old. It's definitely something to be used in moderation, when it makes sense.

Looks like the correction was published on the 23rd: https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2019/10/18/us/politics/ap-us-election-2020-gabbard-clinton.html Here's a story about the source audio that resulted in the correction: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7605303/Hillary-Clinton-DIDNT-call-Tulsi-Gabbard-Russian-spy-claimed-Republicans-grooming-her.html Sometimes traditional media behave problematically, but more often I find it's social media that's untrustworthy.

Coincidentally, we just finished Killjoys last weekend. Throughout its five season run, I found it to always be fun, a quality I appreciate very much in a TV show. (Although it did get bogged down a bit for a short while there). I'm going to miss it. There were so many great, memorable characters! But I'll especially miss the friendship between Johnny and Dutch.

That is a big one. Balance defenses against attacks and don't let them get too out of whack in either direction. Regarding SPD, I agree that it can get out of hand easily. I tend to run lower-DEX, lower-SPD games when compared to the published materials. SPD is typically 1-2-3 for Normals, 2-3-4 for Heroes, and 3-4-5 for Supers. DEX is typically 11 +/- 3 for Normals, 17 +/- 3 for Heroes, and 20 +/- 3 for Supers. What ranges do you use?

For quick start of play in Heroic campaigns, I like using Templates. I provide Archetype Templates (Characteristics), Occupational Templates, and (if appropriate) Species Templates. Most offer some player choice as to the specific traits. Mix and match one Template of each type and make your choices within those Templates to make your unique hero. As far as random supers, there was that random chargen system offered in Champions III...

I'd love to hear from the insiders as to what happened from their perspective. My guess is, if they'd released something like Champions Complete instead of 6e, the game would be in a much better position right now. The massive, two-volume 6e came out when not a lot of gamers wanted that sort of game. (That it also had some changes that turned off a portion of the game's base didn't help.)

Yeah, 30 days isn't long. And given that I have a week of travel at the beginning of it, there's just far too little time to get something out by the program debut date, as much as I'd like to support the game in that way.

Project Update #39 from a couple of days ago had a link where backers can download the rough draft.

I'm about 50 pages in, and I like what I've read so far!

Sure, but only if they're good ones. In my experience, the danger is pretty much limited to my kitchen and maybe a couple of other places. 😁 Oatmeal cookies are safe, though, right?

Rob, I recommend expressing your interest to Jason via email. If I understand your concerns correctly, the program doesn't appear to be as you fear. There's a FAQ available to creators that goes into some detail, and Jason has been patient in answering my own questions along the same lines. Best, Joe

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003). Horror, humor, pathos...it had it all. Add in the good acting and excellent writing (although there was some decline as the years went on), and you get a very enjoyable show.

Best thing to happen to HERO System in a long, long time. Thank you, Jason! (It's funny. I was just looking over the events at Gen Con 2019, and noticed that HERO System was the eighth most popular game there, if you aggregate games run for Champions, HERO System, and Justice, Inc. It had more events than Savage Worlds. Far more than FATE. HERO's a good system that people enjoy. It just needs some love. Hopefully this new program will do it.)

An opinion piece in the NYT yesterday points out that, after the Trump tax cuts, the top 400 wealthiest people now pay a lower total tax rate than any other income group. I'll have to check out the book it's based on, "The Triumph of Injustice."

It is absolutely true that the Democratic party has begun moving somewhat leftward of late, after drifting rightward for decades along with the Republicans. I'm not sure how I feel about the old objectivity edifice crumbling. On the one hand, it was nice to believe that the reporters were just reporting the facts. But on the other hand, that system has been abused for decades by people with an axe to grind. "Scientists have for years said earth is an oblate spheroid. But these folks say it's flat. Let's give these two views equal time!" I must say I admire Fox News' news department for its adherence to the old ways. They provide small bubbles of reality in the nutspace that is the majority of the channel's schedule.

I think a lot of people do live in that bubble. They don't realize that Fox's bugaboos are typically centrist stuff, since that's not how it's portrayed by the Fox commentators. Heck, Obama turned into law the conservative Heritage Foundation's plan to save the profitability of the healthcare system from the rising tide of discontent, and was excoriated as a socialist for doing it. You're absolutely right that some of the commentary on MSNBC is well to the left of Fox commentary. That doesn't mean it's all that left-leaning. And Fox is actually not anywhere near as far right as we go, media-wise, as I'm sure you're aware. Nor is MSNBC as left as we go. But the right-wing is far better funded and far more prevalent, because there has been a concerted effort for decades on the part of some of the wealthiest to get themselves even more wealth and power by moving the country far to the right of where it was mid-century. They have been very successful in that. And that, in turn, is why anything that is not right-leaning seems "hard left" to many of us. But, Ruben Bolling makes the point better than I ever could.

It would appear so. And fundraising numbers show that there's a heck of a lot more support out there for proposals like Warren and Sanders are making than we've been led to believe. I keep hoping we'll somehow get a silver lining out of this Trump fiasco, and the media will stop portraying anything even mildly to the left of the Washington consensus as laughably insane liberal ravings while lending credibility to even the furthest of right-wing proposals. But I'm not holding my breath.

Truly. And, it can't be said enough: 25%-35% of voters think this is all fine.

That's probably true, for all practical purposes.

Stunning! The Republican Party is willing to trick people into paying their expenses. This should be a party-ending offense, with those involved ending up in prison. They're flat-out saying that it works to bring in the dough, so they're going to keep doing it, no matter how slimy it is.

I recall there being some call for moving to fewer Powers at one time, but with more modifiers. Powers would be Attack, Defend, Move, Sense, and (if I recall) Transform. Modifiers would be used to derive the rest. It'd be interesting to develop a HERO variant that way. I'm not sure it'd be an improvement, though.

I appreciate the offer. It would save me the trouble of making my own!

Nice collection! But, I have to say, Justice, Inc. is really worth opening up. They did a particularly great job on that one.

I just bought and downloaded it today. Was bummed about the lack of covers, but now I'm hoping they'll show up someday...