Joe Walsh

The HERO Plus (PDF-only) Kazei-5 is the only official one I'm aware of.

This is awesome on so many levels. I'm going to donate (https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/damsels-dice-and-everything-nice-episode-2#/).

Predictably, Trump is now saying that the reason the stock market's falling is because the Democrats have a majority in the House of Representatives.

I'm not so sure that it's fair to say few games have such a mechanic. Fate Points/Hero Points/Bennies seem to be pretty popular these days (and that mechanic dates back to 1983's James Bond 007; not quite as far as HERO, but pretty early on). And then there are the direct Disadvantage analogues, such as Hindrances in Savage Worlds. I believe the idea of behavior-modification mechanics is reasonably common these days.

Yeah, I don't do two-page character sheets. If you want to draw a pretty picture and write up a detailed history, fine: use extra sheets. But for the stats? Fit 'em on one page.

I missed out on playing in the 70s, but by the time I started in the hobby in the early 80s, I never heard anyone treat PCs like chess pieces. They were characters we cared about, and it was often painful when they died. That was even true for NPCs in many cases. To return to the original subject: HERO does enough things well that it's the first RPG I reach for when I start planning a campaign. But no game among the multitudes I've played and owned has done everything better than all other games. It's always a trade-off. And often, it comes down to what works best for each group.

Thanks to the holiday time off, we were able to finish Killjoys, S4. It's still a fun show, but the need to keep it going is stretching the main story arc out beyond all reason. I think series that rely too heavily on a series-long story arc tend to suffer because of it. Better to empasize season-long arcs, while keeping the series-long stuff in the background most of the time.

Daredevil, season 3. With the return of Wilson Fisk, and no need to set up Defenders or Punisher, the series became great again. Well worth watching, and quite a wonderful way to go out. Killjoys, season 4. We just started this, but so far it's as fun as it always has been. It was great to get a classic Johnny & Dutch story to kick off the season. Their relationship is the heart of the series, and like with most series, the writers feel the best way to drive the story forward is to drive a wedge into relationships that work. So we suffer a lot between views of the greatness that kept us watching in the early days. This series is a little better about that than most, and hopefully the setup for this season will follow through with the obvious, bringing them together quickly (if only mentally).

FWIW, the IMDB rating is usually a pretty accurate predictor of how much I'll enjoy a movie, and Aquaman's at 7.6 (out of 10) there. For me, that means it'll probably be worth watching if it shows up on one of the streaming services as a free view for subscribers. Which is more than you can say about Justice League, for example.

We just got back from Mary Poppins Returns. I enjoyed it very much! They did a great job of honoring the past while making something new. Very well done all around, particularly Emily Blunt, who performed the title role very well indeed.

It also has one of my favorite editing errors of all time, a couple of pages after those transposed pages: ? And then on the very next page, it has a paragraph talking about The Reverend's sidekick, Sampson. It says Sampson is loyal to The Reverend, but goes on to say, "At the first sign of trouble, though, it's every man for himself. The Reverend's not paying him to take bullets." And then at the end of the same section, we're told that both are armed and that neither will abandon the other. ? Seems like the editor may have been tuckered out by the end of the book or something.

C'mon, it's DC. You know it'll have to be a dark comedy.

We finished Iron Fist S2. Finally, Marvel has caught down with DC.

This wasn't unexpected, but the fact of it is still a shock.

While GURPS 4e is much better at, well, just about everything than GURPS 3e, it still struggles in some places where HERO soars (and vice versa). Playable realism comes naturally to GURPS. The further you get from that, the harder the system struggles.

Last night we finished El Ministerio del Tiempo, a series from Spain about a secret branch of the Spanish government called the Ministry of Time. It turns out Spain has for centuries had access to the past through a series of doors, each leading to a specific time and place. Thing is, time always moves forward, so if you go into a door today and spend a day there, you'll come back a day later. And vice versa; if you wait a day and then enter a door, a day will have passed there as well. Also, there is no way to travel beyond the present, only the past...which is, of course, always expanding as the present moves on. The mission of the Ministry of Time is to make sure that Spanish history doesn't change. There are always forces at work that can change history, and the difficult job they have is to make sure it doesn't...even when the change would be good for Spain, the main characters, or their loved ones. It's a nice take on time travel, and the series is a great adventure with wonderful characters, but it also gives a view of Spanish history and shows the world through Spanish eyes (from several different viewpoints). Overall, it's quite good. It took a bit to really find its legs, but once it did, it became a rollicking good show that lasted three wonderful seasons. Check it out on Netflix if it sounds like something you might enjoy.

They arrived! I received my three decks & three expansions yesterday. They look really nice, and a quick run through shows them to work nicely.

Good idea. I'll do that if they don't arrive today and I don't hear back through Kickstarter.

We finished S2 of Luke Cage last night. The season had its moments, but the writing was very uneven. I give it a C.

I'm surprised I still haven't gotten my decks, here in northern IL. I sent Jason a message about it through Kickstarter; hopefully he'll respond soon.

I liked GHWB and voted for him twice. As far as I can recall, he was the last Republican I voted for. Other than Clarence Thomas, I think his record is pretty darned good. Too bad Thomas will far outlive GHWB, and his decisions will far outlast just about anything else GHWB did.

He was shy and fond of being on his own?

Sure, he's got a comic book, right?

We finished season two of Imposters. It's such a well-written, fresh take on the heist category, and both seasons have been amazing. Too bad it got cancelled, but at least they were able to wrap up the story.

Two pages swapped is bad, but it's not European Enemies bad.