Chris Goodwin

My own personal preference is for worlds that seem "lived in".  Which I guess explains my preference for non-High Fantasy, non-Epic Fantasy.  (I don't want to say Low Fantasy because, like "bemused", it seems that the phrase has been misused enough that I'm not sure anyone is really using it to mean the same thing.)  

My own personal preference is for worlds that seem "lived in".  Which I guess explains my preference for non-High Fantasy, non-Epic Fantasy.  (I don't want to say Low Fantasy because, like "bemused", it seems that the phrase has been misused enough that I'm not sure anyone is really using it to mean the same thing.)  

It Depends.    For the most part, yes.  Although (a) if he intends to keep it, and (b) not necessarily limited to Focus; in fact, there could be a character whose concept is that they can grant powers to others (UBO, without a Focus), and sometimes those powers are permanent, though no one can really figure out why (at the meta level, it's because they spend points to keep them).  
 
 
As I'm rereading the description (FH 6e p. 320) it doesn't actually use the UBO With Differing Modifiers rules; it specifies that the item creation spell is Instant, so presumably it's like every other Instant Power with a lingering effect (Entangle, Drain, etc.).  So, it could be recast, yes, assuming the other conditions of creating the item are met (Extra Time, expensive Expendable Foci, etc.)  
 
If you were using UBO, you'd have to follow all of the UBO rules, so, no, it couldn't be re-created.  Although as with my example above, what happens if the receiving character spends XP to "keep" the Power?  (My answer: they gain their own "copy" of the Power, that's not tied to the original grantor, and the grantor's UBO instance ends.)
 
 

Usually, a Focus is an item, while a UBO is... I'll give an example.  You might have a Spell of the Flight of Birds, in which during the casting you can touch up to eight people, including yourself, and anyone you touched can fly for up to an hour.  You'd stat that out as a UBO with the appropriate sets of modifiers dialed in.  
 
I think the difference is really, who decides?  If you fall unconscious and someone can grab it and use it, then it's a Focus.  If you have to take some kind of action in order for someone to use it, it's (probably) UOO in some way.  
 
Here's an interesting bit of trivia, though.  Usable On Others with Differing Modifiers is almost entirely the original Create effect from Fantasy Hero 1e, that was used to create magic items.  And FH 5e and 6e have both suggested using that as one way to create magic items.  For me, conceptually, UBO/UOO with Differing Modifers can be sort of... the Power to create the Power, I guess.  I know that doesn't clarify it much.  (Create a power with the Focus Limitation, then create a UOO With Differing Modifiers Power that takes a "blank" of the Focus, Extra Time, RSR: Enchantment (or similar), whatever additional Limitations are required... then you activate the UOO, and suddenly you have a magic item.)

Usually, a Focus is an item, while a UBO is... I'll give an example.  You might have a Spell of the Flight of Birds, in which during the casting you can touch up to eight people, including yourself, and anyone you touched can fly for up to an hour.  You'd stat that out as a UBO with the appropriate sets of modifiers dialed in.  
 
I think the difference is really, who decides?  If you fall unconscious and someone can grab it and use it, then it's a Focus.  If you have to take some kind of action in order for someone to use it, it's (probably) UOO in some way.  
 
Here's an interesting bit of trivia, though.  Usable On Others with Differing Modifiers is almost entirely the original Create effect from Fantasy Hero 1e, that was used to create magic items.  And FH 5e and 6e have both suggested using that as one way to create magic items.  For me, conceptually, UBO/UOO with Differing Modifers can be sort of... the Power to create the Power, I guess.  I know that doesn't clarify it much.  (Create a power with the Focus Limitation, then create a UOO With Differing Modifiers Power that takes a "blank" of the Focus, Extra Time, RSR: Enchantment (or similar), whatever additional Limitations are required... then you activate the UOO, and suddenly you have a magic item.)

By the same token, you can normally shut off a UBO power - say, if Shirley ShapeShifter was impersonating your teammate.  But Shirley flies away with your ring...

Well seeing as how you're already the Lore Master here, it seems fitting. 
 
As far as adventures go, don't forget the ones pu lished way back when in Adventurers Club. (except Gilt Complex.  Do all you can to forget that one) 

I've found myself in the rather odd position of becoming "lore master" to the Champions Online player community.   Although I almost never play the MMO any more, in visiting the several forums devoted to it I've gotten in the habit of answering players' questions about the setting's background and history, both the Champions part and the larger past and future of the official Hero Universe (because that happens to be a hobby of mine). It's gotten to the point where players actually seek me out for info. In the course of answering I always specify which books I draw on for information and which contain more on the inquired-after subject. I've read responses indicating that's turned into a moderate number of book sales, and in at least a few cases trying out the tabletop game. I don't have any hard numbers, though.

Presumably at least one of those is that alternative "roll high" method so many people have supported as necessary and vital.
 
Personally, I don't care what method you use to roll, so long as it works for you.  I use the old reliable DIE ROLL<=((11+OCV)-DCV), and it still works fine.
 
 I would like to point that even though I started play sometime during the 81-82 winter and haven't stopped playing for any appreciably long period, and that I have never met anyone who couldn't grasp the to-hit roll  (which has always made me really question the "serious need" for alternate to-hit mechanics).  The most I have ever had to do-- and damned rarely (I think perhaps three times?  Ever?)-- is suggest that they write "+11" next to the OCV box on their sheet: in both cases, the problem stopped immediately.  The problem _wasn't_ 'the awkwardness of the math (well, using the "subtract what you roll" method did increase the awkwardness of the math by introducing negative numbers, which befuddle people in a "math on the fly" context because-- well, we all know them; we can all do them, but the majority of jobs out there don't use them on a day-to-day basis, making new players have to back up a bit and reset their thinking); the problem was remembering that 11 _existed_, and that there was an arbitrary (from the beginner's point of view) _third number_ involved in the 'me versus you' contest.
 
  Let's keep in mind that my play history involves four different campaigns peopled entirely with players who were children  (community youth groups: one from a local youth organization, two from a library "summer fun" club, and one from a sunday school program).  I seriously question the "inability of an appreciable amount of people" to grasp this and suspect it has more to do with folks who want all the rolls to be "unified" as roll-high.  Again, however, I don't give a rat's rolly red rump how you chose to do it; I just maintain that one is not inherently easier, better or faster than any other.
 
I have mentioned elsewhere that I use a shot clock, as so many others have mentioned.  In small groups, I tend to allow a bit more decision time than I do in larger ones.  The justification, of course, is that in larger groups they also have the time in which they are waiting for their own actions to pay attention to what's going on.  If they just can't make up their minds, they are "Holding their Action" until they are ready to do something and play continues.  If they couldn't state an action by the time limit because they decided to fritter away the shot clock by distracting themselves with a dozen non-sequitors or out-of-character chatter and gab, or-- unforgivable!-- distracting others away from the game, they lose their action, period.  They don't Hold; they opt out, and can wait for their next Phase.  If they continue to focus on anything else _other_ than the here-and-now of the game as they wait for their next action, they are considered to be "in character" and are so thoroughly distracted that their DCV suffers.  (Though I confess: the spray bottle has great appeal!).
 
 Players who _must_ get up from the table (restroom, check-in phone call, quick drink, what-have-you) at other than play breaks are, as others have suggested, are considered to Hold their actions should their phase come up while they are away from the table.  There is an agreement that no one wastes time should they get up for understandable reasons (again: bathroom, quick check-in, grab a drink).
 
As far as one-hit lower-eschellon opponents?
 
Well that depends _entirely_ on the group and their current mood.  If they're anxious to barrel on through an action scene and get back to doing something else (investigation, training, character development or other non-violent interactions), then yeah: I let the goons surrender or run away (Dude, I just don't have that many people playing superheroes who feel it's appropriate to beat goons unconscious every time you see them.  In the words of Kinnetica's players from my recently-concluded youth group "Doesn't that just make us bullies?"  Even in Heroic level, most of my players want to be _heroes_: they will happily accept the surrender of the minions as opposed to having to risk imposing brain damage upon them) in a couple of hits (players will still roll damage, just for appearances, and so that they aren't as likely to pick up on when I'm fudging).  If they are in one of those "I want to get some stress out!" kind of moods (the players, I mean), then we'll have a genuine back-and-forth, beating each pip out of the villains until they are subdued, captured, or running away.
 
Recapping:
 
to speed up the game, get everyone familiar with the various mechanics of their own powers and their defenses, even if you have to give them crib cards.  Get them familiar with the mechanics of "attack."  I say "attack," because let's face it: when we're talking about "speeding up the game," we're talking about speeding up the combat.  The rest of the game progresses at the speed you want, with time lapses as you see fit, cut scenes, etc.
 
Make sure everyone knows that you have X time to decide on your Phase, and what the penalties are for noncompliance.  Make sure there _are_ penalties, and that they are enforced.  Enforced equally to all offenders, of course, but do not fail to enforce them.  The more rigorous you are in this, the less often you will have to do it; I promise.
 
Announce prior to play when the first two breaks will be.  Even if you are in the middle of a combat, _take_ those breaks.  It sounds strange, but for me it has greatly cut down on the number of people getting up from the table: they have a reference, and think "Oh, we're taking a break in fifteen minutes.  I can wait fifteen minutes to get a drink / text my husband / whatever.  
 
 
 

If for some reason your players are having a hard time adding their OCV to 11 then subtracting what they roll, you can give them a straight number on their sheet (equal to OCV+11) and treat it as a skill: 11-. 
 
Roll.  Tell me how much you made it by.

Given that reality, I give Jason props for looking for inexpensive but innovative ways to build momentum for the Hero brand: Hall of Champions, Champions Now, Character Creation Cards, PDFing older materials... he definitely hasn't been sitting on his hands.

Is it?  
 
I play in a weekly D&D 5e game and it's anything but fast playing and easy to learn.  There are many, many rules, dice, and exceptions to rules just to make it appear to work.
 
Where D&D shines is the ease of making a level 1 character.  Once you get a few levels and archetypes, features, and spell slots come into play it frankly becomes a mess of horribly balanced spells, feats, and exercises in accounting.  I play a simple Fighter (Cavalier) without spells or flashy abilities and I'm super underpowered compared to everyone in the group.  My choice, but someone needs to take the hit.
 
HERO, in comparison, has a painful character creation process rife with math.  It's so time consuming and error prone that we've been using computer programs to do it for decades.  Once you're in game, things are pretty straightforward I would argue.  At the very least I would assert it's no worse than modern D&D.

Seriously.  I've found a couple of forged "new od stock" things over the years, but there is usually a really obvious give away. 
 
In this case, if it is a fake, they have gone far enough to use actual celo versus shrink wrap, which was impressive. 
 
The cover looks wrong: it's lacking a gloss, and the stock is thick. 
 
The stipling on the inside is pristine, without blur or overlap.  The ink on the cover art is "too crisp." Most damning is that it's in two pieces of readily-available size.  
 
Still, nothing is glaringly obvious (like my fake 2e box set that was printed with _toner_!  And the cellophane was dam Ed convincing. 
 
Can anyone shed any light on this? 
 
 
 
There is a part 2 as well; my camera crew got too exited and cut off the filming mid-way through. 
The

I have been studying this thing well beyond the time I should have been in bed, and have come to a conclusion:
 
I believe it is a counterfeit.  Fortunately, it was a damned cheap one, so no real harm.   The evidence against authenticity:
 
The refraction isn't right.   There is a thing in the printing industry referred to as "coated paper."  in modern printing, the coatings have advanced and the inks have advanced to the point where we actually print on top of pre-coated paper.  This is where you get that weird "the black is too shiny" and "some black floats on top of other black" look when you shine certain colors of light at angles to the item.  Not only that, but coated stock was gloss-only back then.  Today it's a satin or a matte by default, with gloss still being done primarily the old "on top of the ink" method that takes a real print shop, and a damned well-supplied one to boot.  In short, this whole thing, the colors are shinier (because they are ink!) than the stock, and in the old school, that just wasn't done.  Mostly because it wasn't possible.
 
The old stuff (specifically, the covers of the 1e and 2e rules books (I have _lots_ of those to examine!    ), the covers of the 3e books, and the 3e screen) not only do not possess this quality, but are clearly coated _over_ the final printed image.  So...  this one item exists using a methodology that was not used on anything before or after it was allegedly printed.
 
The ink is just too crisp!  I don't mean the color per se (though they are _vivid_, I assure you, suggesting bleeds weren't set too carefully.  And why would they be?  The pasteboard is _thick_!)  This is a two-fold problem.  First, it's more crisp and clear than anything else I have as old as this allegedly is, and that includes a couple of books I _know_ were real new-in-sealed-package when I opened them.  Ink _moves_.  Well, sort of.  It drinks in; it blurs, it ages, dries, and fades unevenly when examined very, very closely.  This specimen looks like it is fresh off the printer in every way, including the complete lack of smudging or blurring of the colors.  The second problem is that this board is thick enough to have made the _box_ out of; no other GM screen (Champions or otherwise) I have ever seen (as a cheap printed product) is this thick.  You could take two layers of your regular off-the-Wal-Mart shelf card stock, glue them together, and still not be quite this thick.
 
Also seriously damning is that the screen is in two pieces.  Inexpensive "professional office" printers are readily available that will handle tabloid-sized sheets  (this is the size that was used to print the old staple-bound rules books on up through third edition).  You could do this inexpensively if you were just wanting to have a laugh  (the price at which it was sold suggests the attempt was not profit-driven).  This is the _only_ GM screen I have ever seen from _any_ game that was four-panels and in two pieces.  Why?  Well you need a pretty substantial investment to print something of those dimensions.
 
Two minor quibbles before tackling the interior:
 
The font in which "2nd EDITION" is written appears nowhere else on _any_ HERO product from 1e through 3e  (I know: I spent the chunk of my time since the last post looking at every single one of the physical products from all three of the first editions).  Not only that, but the other examples of the 2e blurb all feature the same blurb (even in shape, and this one varies slightly) that reads "REVISED SECOND EDITION"  not "2nd EDITION".
 
What are the odds that this screen would still be product # HER005?  Seriously.  The revised core rules got a new number (HER001B; the "B" is new-- not sure if it was for "boxed" or to show revision.  I assume "Boxed" since the revised Enemies retained it's designation of "HER002" in spite of being revised.  However, everything else published during the second edition got catalogue numbers that were sequential and _subsequent_ to 1e.  Why would this screen retain the same designation?  Worse still, the font of that catalogue number is identical to the 1e screen.  This is the only instance of a 2e product (alleged, I should say) not getting a bolder, larger typeface for the back-cover catalogue number.
 
Now the inside:
 
It's too damned crisp; too damned clean, and there is _no_ misalignment between chart borders and colored shaded area, which would be next to miraculous in the days of two-stage printing (which something like the inside would have been done with).  The typeface is too delicate and far too clean.
 
There is little doubt in my mind that this screen is a counterfeit.   It's a beautifully done counterfeit, and ultimately, that's what's wrong with it.      
 
I even went so far as to examine the cellophane.  It _is_ cellophane: it's hard and thin and crunchy, but it's not yellowed (the cellulose caused yellowing with age), and it will deform just the tiniest bit-- "stretch," if you will-- before yielding those aggravating, run in every direction except straight tears us old folks remember.  So evidently it's pretty new cellophane, and possibly there has been a formula change to make it a bit more durable than it used to be.
 
 
At any rate, I heartily believe it to be a fake, but truthfully, the only reason I am bothered at all by this is because now I am back to wondering if there ever was a 2e GM screen.  I had concluded that there likely was not, else there would be some trace of it somewhere on the internet.  Then this thing showed up, and has started me to wondering all over again.
 
 
 
The bonus?  I get to do the ol' Contac Paper thing and make me a nice 2e GM screen.  
 
 

That was the SF author Charles Stross.  I'm reasonably certain that at the time, Games Workshop was a TSR licensee, and that White Dwarf was at least in part considered the house organ for TSR in the UK.  I think the githyanki submission was to a column in the magazine called Fiend Folio, from which TSR compiled the monster book of the same name.  
 
It was for sure Stross, and it was for sure from GRR Martin's work; Martin was apparently unaware of this use of his material, but apparently the Stross version bears no more than a passing resemblance to Martin's creature.  
 
The Wikipedia article on Githyanki has a bit more information. 

Dude, I have just sat here for two hours, typing, and eventually deleted it all.
 
The answer, I think, it "no; despite thinking I could, I clearly cannot."
 
In the telling, nothing came across as truly unique (though none of it came off as "kingdom" either).  The problem is that what makes a setting truly unique or compelling isn't the overview, as much as it is the details, and those are really hard to "sum up."  
 
Let me try one more time, keeping in mind that this time I'm not even going to bother trying details:
 
Nine Clans of the arid plains is just what it sounds like: it's a collection of 9 nomadic clans that used to fight constantly, and steal and raid from each other all the time-- little more than barbarians.  Eventually a "visionary" leader was born to one of the tribes and he spent his life creating peace between his own and two other clans through trade and, eventually, the sharing of certain secrets of craftsmanship, farming, and even raiding.  He stressed most of all that no one Clan should rule all three Clans, and implemented a system by which the three leaders were always under the protection of a troupe of guards composed of equal number of guards from all Clans but his own.  One guard was changed each day, so as to slow any possible plotting.  One leader made all decisions for Three Clans, and remained "In office" for a single season, then the leader of another Clan took over for a season, etc. To ensure fair treatment of the other Clans, the new leader's first decision is always a ceremony in which he judges the previous leader's decisions and treatment of the Clans other than his own as "worthy of the ruler of Three Clans."  If he judges yes, the old leader is returned to lead his Clan and there is a great celebration, etc.  If he judges "no," there is a public execution and great celebration, etc.  Theoretically, in this way and Clan leader can stop a potential alliance between any other two leaders.
 
Over the course of the next few generations, all nine of the arid plains Clans have been united into what is known as Nine Clans.  Honestly, the larger the alignment became, the easier it was to sway the remaining Clans.  The Clans are still nomadic and responsible for their own, and still travel their traditional Clan routes, though there is much more mingling between the Clans than before, and they still meet for seasonal celebrations and the transition of power.
 
 
There.  That's one, and it went on too long and told too little.
 
One more:
 
Sway (as opposed to rule) by sharing
 
A much more educated people, far smaller in number, and decentralized as student travelers, are defacto "rulers" of  a small forest continent.  Originally arriving here to study, they found native tribes of people similar to themselves and, out of compassion, helped to heal the sick.  They were first revered as god-like beings, which to a being they denied (though it may have stuck with them that they were somehow "better" than the natives, from person to person).  They never settled with the people, and continue to travel as "students of science ("science" in this case being magic, astronomy, astrology, alchemy, all practiced as aspects of botany or meteorology).  They will happily offer advice to natives (when asked, or even volunteer when a clear problem is evident: farming techniques, harvesting of animals, preparations of medicines, or even advanced warnings of great storms), but have never forced it on them.  Over the generations, the native villages noticed that those who accepted the advice of the "wood walkers" tended to fare much better than those who didn't, and eventually the "Storm Seers" became so influential as to be sought out for counsel on all manner of issues, even as villages grew into towns, cities, and eventually small city-states, independent of but peaceful with (on the advice of the Wood Walkers) each other. These mystics (as seen by the natives) do not try or even wish to rule, but they sort of do regardless
 
 
There is a small fortification known as the Peasant's Keep.
 
A castle, ostensibly, is a fortification in which the rulers and their closest confidants live, and in which the peasants and serfs may seek shelter in times of invasion.
 
These castles are "fed" by a feudal system, peasants working farms that ultimately provide food for the nobility and its army.  The larger the nobility and its army, the greater its need for material.  Spread out too far, and even the army is charged with spreading out and making sure that the peasants are performing their due diligence for the nobility  (when they should be drilling, or at least not skipping leg day).
 
When a kingdom gets so large that the peasants realize that during an invasion they have a seventeen mile sprint to the safety of the king's fortifications, problems arise.
 
One such kingdom once existed, and it's furthest-flung reaches were so far flung that the nobility dispatched to keep it governed ordered the construction of a walled fortification at this location, as it was ridiculous to think anyone could make it to the castle.  In this fortification, the army dispatched to enforce the king's law could drill and barrack, and the local nobility tasked with running the poor in this area could live in relative comfort.  The spoils of the poor could be stored here until proper transfer was arranged, and peasants could more readily reach the safety of these walls than those of the great castle beyond the hills.
 
The military quickly realized that this fortification would well-serve a warlord and his men, and upon the completion of the fortification the put on a great feast, at which they slaughtered the various dukes and governors and lay claim to the small castle and the peasants beyond.  Things were never great for peasants, but after two separate battles between the renegade mercenaries and the distant king, things were downright _bad_ for the peasants.  A daring raid had resulted in the food stores of the king's castle being poisoned  (largely though magic), and the king's men became desperate, laying absolute siege to the small keep to gain access to the stores within.  During the battle, the storehouses were burned.  No one had anything worth fighting for, and those were weren't dead or poor simply _left_.  The king's influence dropped considerably, back to a supportable level enjoyed by his ancestors.
 
The peasants slowly repaired the smaller castle, expanding and reinforcing it as time went on, and using it largely as a store house for their harvests.  They take turns training as an army, but today exist largely on trade with caravans and the king up on the hill.   To date, Peasant's Keep has never been taken: the owners fight with a ferocity not seen in any paid mercenary, and they have learned a great deal about repelling invasion (step one being "invade no one else.")
 
 
Meh.
 
Still not working.
 
 
In short:  the king and feudal system doesn't work unless you're willing to let it.   A world filled with kingdoms is a world filled with cowards.  I have no doubts about the reality of a world full of cowards; I really don't.  However, I adventure so that I may _leave_ it once in a while.
 
 
Duke
 

I haven't done a great deal working law in my Fantasy campaigns as plot points, but it's a good idea, I tend to pay more attention to government, though.
 
The D&D campaign I'm just starting, the setting is the Plenary Empire, a multi-species society loosely based on the Byzantine Empire (in that it's old, bureaucratic, and is clearly in decline as bits secede in civil wars or are conquered by its neighbors). The ruler is the Autocrat of the city of Pleroma. There is no hereditary aristocracy as such, though the super-rich oligarchic families often manage to pass Exarchies (provician governors) and bureaucratic ministries doewn to a son, daughter, niece or nephew. The population is more than half human, but with significant minorities of dwarves, elves, halflings and orcs, with smaller fractions of other races. All are nominally equal as citizens, as set forth in the ancient dictum" Whoever would live under Plenary law is allowed to live on Plenary land." Many nonhumans have autonomous homelands with their own traditional forms of government, such as small forest kingdoms of elves, monarchic dwarven city-states, halfling provinces with elected mayors, and the tribal council of the Bone Desert orcs. (The caravans of the gnomes are ruled by a "Gnomish Council" that doesn't actually exist, but the gnomes keep up the paperwork as a perpetual joke.) But everybody mixes in the cities.
 
The Autocrat is nominally all-powerful, but after centuries of delegation the ministries have most of the real power and are not going to give it back. The Autocrat can appoint anyone to a ministry or Exarchy as seems prudent. At the Autocrat's death, the ministers and Exarchs gather to select whoever they want as the new Autocrat. (Bribery is often involved.)
 
The campaign is starting in Thalassene, the City of the Sea, the Empire's biggest trading port. Thalassene is an Imperial Free City, subject directly to the Autocrat. It used to have a Lord Mayor elected by the top guildmasters and merchants, but a usurping Autocrat repaid a supportive Admiral by making him the ruler and abolishing the office of Mayor. This doesn't matter much for the aediles of the Imperial civil service. A smart Lord Admiral still pays attention to what the aediles and guildmasters want, though.
 
One of the top guilds is the Juridi, the guild of judges, lawyers and notaries. They have a gaudy marble guildhall, but smart people suggest their real center is the Pandect, a government building holding records of every law and court decision in the Empire's long history. (Or it's supposed to, anyway.) Every Imperial city above a certain size and administrative rank is supposed to hold a Pandect. Victory in court cases often depends on which side can assemble the largest and most impressive body of law and precedent from the Pandect's immense and contradictory supply. (Assuming the judge is honest.)
 
Two points of law that rarely come up:
 
The Empire limits contact between religious and secular authority. This is practicality, not a philosophical commitment to freedom of religion: The Autocrat and civil service don't want spiritual competition. Anyone registered by the Ministry of Cults as in holy orders cannot hold a government post, except on the staff of a city's Pantheon (temple to all gods -- again, a practical matter because you don't want to piss off a god by failing to honor them).
 
The druid college of Falcata Mons is millennia older than the Plenary Empire. Legend says its hilltop is where the elder god Doxomedon surrendered to his usurping son Adrigon, and gave the first legal defense as he pleaded for his life. Doxomedon warned that divine patricide would unmake all physical and moral law: Adrigon would rule so long as he was strongest, but would inevitably be overthrown in turn. It worked: Myth says Doxomedon is bound but was not slain. Plenary law still recognizes the authority of Falcata Mons as the court of final appeal: Its elders can overrule any mortal authority on grounds of natural law, including natural rights, and the good of the world as a whole. This authority has not been invoked in centuries, but it's still on the books.
 
I also wrote up a new background, Bureaucrat, for PCs inspired by China's Judge Dee or Japan's O-Oka. Nobody's used it yet, though.
 
The PCs are starting as a neighborhood watch in a district of Thalassene. There's also a regular City Guard, but it's so undermanned and corrupt as to be nearly useless.
 
Dean Shomshak
 
 
 
 

One of the more interesting elements of Hero's Turakian Age setting (to me, anyway) is that, while the majority of states have kings, emperors, and comparable figures as heads of state, there are some other variations in governing structures. For example, the large realm of Besruhan is ruled by an "Imperial Senate," essentially an hereditary oligarchy (although any Senator can give or sell their seat in the Senate to someone else if they so choose). The Senate is divided along, not really "parties" in the modern sense, but factions supporting particular causes or policies, most prominently: the Theocrats, who want to share power with the setting's dominant religion, the High Church; the Imperialists, who want to expand Besruhan's borders through conquest; the Militarists, who want to increase resources to the army, mainly to keep conquered territories in line; the Populists, who believe the citizens should elect their Senators; and the Crymythans (named for a notable conquered city) who want to withdraw the army from subject territories. But many other causes, or more selfish goals, are advocated by Senators, who constantly maneuver to build coalitions supporting the laws or policies they favor. (Bribery, blackmail, even assassination are also political tools in Besruhan.)
 
Another example is the Free City of Tavrosel, a sort of semi-democracy governed by a Triumvirate elected by different segments of the populace. The nobles can vote for the Lords' Man; guildsmen, merchants, shopkeepers, and traders vote for the Guildsmen's Man; everyone else votes for the Townsfolk's Man. (Despite the name, women can also be Triumvirs.) In principle the Triumvirs divide the duties of governance between them, but as they often don't get along most of the actual work of governing the city falls to its large bureaucracy.
 
The city-state of Tornath, a prominent maritime trading state, is governed by a body of the wealthiest merchant-captains in the city, known as the Captains' Council. The Captains vote on state policy, with the number of votes each Captain can cast based on their wealth relative to the others. Membership in the Council is informal; any captain can try to attend their assembly, but if the Council doesn't recognize them as having sufficient stature they're thrown out. Only merchant-captains who undertake their own voyages are accorded respect in Tornath; but by law they aren't allowed to choose a proxy to vote for them when they're away from Tornath, so the balancing act is tricky.
 
For my part, when using the Turakian Age for games I sometimes tweak given details for more granularity in government. Take the city of Aarn, largest in that known world. It's ruled by an hereditary King, but "If a king loses the support of the nobles, or of the people, the nobility usually deposes him for someone else." (TA p. 59) I gave that practice a little more formal definition, by creating a sort of bicameral parliament for the city: "the Hall of Nobility" composed of the heads of the leading noble families, and "the Hall of the People" made up of elected representatives for the rest of the populace. While the king makes decrees and formulates laws, a two-thirds majority of either Hall can veto any of the king's actions. The same majority in both Halls together can depose the sitting monarch. The members of the Halls also appoint some of their number to various administrative offices in the city. (As I indicated, the preceding is just my unofficial extrapolation.)

Historically, political parties as such were a late development. More or less 18th century. They didn't take their full modern form until somewhat later, and still exist in a relatively "primitive" form in the USA.
 
Of course there were political factions before that, but they weren't "parties".
 
The closest I can think of would have been the Optimates and Populares in the Roman Republic.
 
I can't think of any fantasy parliaments outside post-medieval settings. In general, though, they were historically usually fairly powerless.
 
I don't think there are enough republics (oligarchies) and democracies in fantasy literature and games either. (Parliaments have no necessary connection to either of these state forms, being generally subordinate to royal power).

It depends entirely on the feel that you want.  To me, it seems like it might take away some of the flavor of the game.  I've never known using hit locations to add very much in the way of handling time, and as a GM I can say "He hits you in location 11 for 7 BODY," and let the player work out how much damage they take from it based on their defenses, armor, etc.  
 
Some GMs use flat values but allow players to used called hit locations.  Be aware though that you're not letting in a character who has bought +8 CSLs vs. Hit Locations, and always calls head shots.  

Just finished a very short scenario with the family (you gotta marry right, then raise the kids right, see ;)....)
 
I realized there was something I've been doing so long I had forgotten it was a house rule:
 
You don't get a Post-12 recovery if you're using END greater than 1/2 your REC score.  
 
Originally it was "you don't get a Post-12 if you're using END, but that was modified quickly-- second session we tried it in-- when it was pointed out that 1) not using END was pretty much taking a recovery, since you had to stop doing anything else.
 
2) it's possible to rest while still exerting yourself by reducing the amount of your exertion.   Honestly, I should have seen that myself!  All those decades ago, my spine was still good and I hadn't been shot in the knee yet, and I used to run.  As weird as this sounds, I did it for _fun_.  Not for exercise (though I fully understand that it _is_ exercise.  I ain't _completely_ shot out in the head!     ).  No shorts or sweats; I'd just decide I wanted to run for a little bit-- in a field, down a dirt road, on a hunting trail-- wherever.  And when I started to get tired, I'd run a bit slower for a couple of minutes.  Still running, just not flat-out.  Kind of "sprint-jog-sprint-jog-sprint-jog---   that kind of rhythm.  
 
Anyway, it's been a house rule since...  Oh, maybe '83?  '84?  I don't even remember anymore.
 
Enjoy your bump!  I start my new part-time job tomorrow; turning n.
 
 
 

I'm thinking about the idea of publishing "editionless" stats.  Characters, at least, with point costs hidden, except for the total at the end.  I'm on my phone at the moment but I'll try to work up some examples later.

Constantly.
 
I've made no secret of the fact that I'm not a big fan of "yet another" type of "vaguely feudal Europe" fantasy.
 
I won't go into great detail, as each campaign is different, but I work like a madman to avoid feudalism in any but the most remote and rural places, and "kingdoms" are few and far between, with other forms of government-- ranging from church-derived "moral law" all the way to elected officials or bands of smaller tribes rotating rulership-- anything to not be yet another.
 
 

About 1/2 of the countries in my campaign world have a "Roman-culture" so for those countries they have a kind of Roman civil law.  I tried to read up as much as I could about how Roman's dealt with legal matters.  A couple of my players really are into stuff like that so I have some help there.
 
A couple of countries are kind of Nordic/Viking in nature so I tried to match what we know about them.
 
I have one country that is unique because that country is primarily made up of bipedal felines (think Vincent from the 80/90's Beauty & the Beast).  In that case the first two players who played characters from their helped with formulating the society/laws.  I had some basics.  Smallest societal unit was a pride (like a lion pride).  One alpha male and potentially multiple partners.  Seems patriarchal except the females in the society controlled all the wealth and really made most of the economic decisions.  The males made decisions about fighting/warfare/exploring.  There was a complex honor/vengeance/vendetta system. Females who didn't want to be tied to a pride would often pack up and leave for other lands to start out on there own.

I disagree with your first point, Duke. The Internet is full of data, but that isn't knowledge. True knowledge includes the ability to weigh data from divergent or conflicting sources, to draw parallels and connections,  to appreciate its implications and extrapolate new conclusions. That only comes with study and experience.
 
As to your second point, I lack the medical or pharmaceutical expertise to form an opinion. 😛