DreadDomain

Extinction Event is also pretty cool.

Have yet to read The Expanse RPG and how AGE is applied to it but aside from it, my choice would be GURPS. With Space, the Spaceships series, Ultra-Tech and Bio-Tech, GURPS has fantastic support for sci-fi game. Heck, to establish the technological baseline, you could start from Interstellar Wars, Vorkosigan or Transhuman Space and exclude FTL and/or transhumanism and/or aliens and you are probably 80-90% there, complete with write-ups for ships, space combat, travel time within the solar system, character templates and, in the case of Vor and TH, the GURPS rules.

It's right there on my bookshelf! Yes, a complete game (can't believe I forgot to mention it).

I see. I was intrigued because you also mentionned people badmouthing Larry C. as a preamble of the disappearance of the books. I wondered what was the link and what was the fuss about him all about.

I'll go back in my corner then 😉

Yes, for many people on the board, it is fun. There is nothing wrong with that.

Really? I never heard this conspiracy theory. I find that hard to believe HERO would forego the potential revenue off 660 copies. MHI wax very close to be that "complete game were the toolkit is hidden" (there were still equipment as powers and too many +1/2, -3/4). Personally, I did not know the series nor the author when it came out so I bought the first book of the series, read it and did not find anything really interresting about it. Bought the game anyway to support HERO.

Absolutely! Rulewise O much much prefer 4, 5, 5r and 6 to anything that came before it... ..but the toolkit approach does not have to exclude the complete game approach. Once you have given me the toolkit (you could never take 6E1 and 6E2 away from me), be bold. Use the toolkit and give me games. Give me a Fantasy Hero where the secondary characteristics are figured Reattach CVs. Drop characteristics you dont need. Change the way skills are calculated from characteristics. Change the skill list and give me new talents. Don't give me a power system, give me equipment, vehicles and magic! Stop writing everything as +1/2 and -3/4. Give me the writer's vision! You know what? If I dont like something I will use the toolkit and change it.

It was lost to us because HERO Games mostly decided to not showcase it. The greatest HERO paradox is that from 5e onwards they were establishing the system as the ultimate toolkit but mostly refused to use it themselves. We had lots of (good) books filled with suggestions (genre book) but very few games (à la Danger International and Justice Inc). Lucha Libre and MHI were the closest to it. The most notable failure in ths department of "let's use the toolkit to create a game" was Fantasy Hero Complete. In the end it was merely a rehash of the toolkit in a thin fantasy trappings.

I know your favorite edition is Champions 3e while mine is 6e but I read your post and pretty much agree with all of it. Having 6e as my preferred does not mean I agree with everything that was done (I dont).

These two comments plus the lack of complete pre-packaged games (DI, JI, etc...) for later editions sum where I think HERO went wrong. My favorite edition is 6e but some of the deconstructivism for the sake of point balance or for the sake of bundling similar powers together went to far. Adding complexity (sometimes only apparent complexity) for little gain. Also the anally retentive way to make character builds more complete/accurate/complex and write everything (in long form) and the wall of characteristics just make the character difficult to read. Again, I like 6e and I appreciate the completeness of the Basic Set but at the very least it should have been coupled with Danger International, Justice Inc and Fantasy Hero as complete games using the toolkit, not showing the toolkit.

Not sure what you mean by "early editions" but back in the days, our group startec with 4e. Out of 7 players I can confidently say that 4 of us got in in the first session and perhaps even up to 6. Playing HERO, any edition, is not hard but there certainly many moving parts.

Thanks for the detailed response Duke. You finally convinced me that the 4th edition is much better than any of the previous editions!

Extinction Event PDF has been delivered to backers!

So apparently nobody knows anything about Evermist...

I would even go further. Is the product appropriately written, edited and laid out? Does it offer an interesting hook? A reason for the chatacters to play in and interact with the setting? Does it include a connection to the rules? New templates or races? New talents? How magic works in that setting? Does the imagery (arts) offer a specific vision of the setting or is it generic or absent? Is the product playable out of the box?

Good point, I edited the first post for clarity.

I just saw in the HERO News on this site a new fantasy setting for Fantasy Hero, Evermist, but I haven't heard anything about it. Someone wants to comments on contents? Does the book contain art or is it mainly text? What is the big hook?

Ditto here. Affleck had to work with was he was given (including gunning down people) but he did a good job and personally thought he was the better choice for the chatacter physically. I never cared about Bat-Keaton and while I liked Bat-Bale, he never had the jaw for the role. In the end Batfleck is closer to the source material.

Yes, it is inevitable. Wonder Woman was leaps and bounds better than Captain Marvel. I cared for Gadot while Larson was just in the movie. Danvers could have been an interesting character but was merely a cardboard figure in the movie and the supporting cast in CM, Fury leading the pack, was annoying at best. However, I tend to agree that the final action scene is better and that the vilains are more interesting (the visuals for that part of WW was not the greatest). WW had a better story, better character development and thank God, no flerkin As they say, to each his own (is this what they say?)!

I am not as definitive than RDU Neil, I get where he is coming from. The movie was entertaining with an execution similar to an 80s or 90s action movie: predictable plot driving action sequences, cliche dialogue, cheap humour, good sountrack. I personally thought Larson was wooden. I really did not care about the character and for that matter did not find anything to conect to emotionally. I found the Skrulls faily pathetic as oppressed refugees and their situation was further cheapened by the somewhat light-hearted demeanor of their leader (forgot the name). The general "let's try to be funny" approach of the whole movie was distracting and the flerkin simply became an annoyance. Nick Fury, cracking jokes and generally useless, was the low point of the whole movie. I heard people complain about Batman being to humourous in JL, let's try having Nick Fury as comic relief in CM instead (including the was he lost his eye). At the end of the movie, my 10 yo daughter told me she "liked the movie because it was funny and tha cat and Fury were hilarious." Was it entertaining? Yes. Was it a good movie, not really no.

This. For some reasons I loved the Ultimates as an enemy/rival group. To this list I would also add Leech and Grond.

Totally missed that.

Not as written but this is why I was suggesting Works on liquids as an advantage. From an effect perspective (ignoring gravity) Clinging is an adequate starting point. I dislike when Running is built Flight or Teleport and feel that Super-Running is so common that it should be built with, you know, Running. My simple solution is two adders to Running; Clings to Surface 5 points and Works on Liquids 5 points.

Another option is to link Clinging with Running (only while Running, doesn't help against KB, works on liquid). It becomes more or less an adder to Running and preserve the turn mode advantage. Depending on campaign, I suppose works on liquids could be anywhere between +1/2 and +1.