steriaca

The duck is sure to attract the attention of Foxbat.

Reminds me of PenPen from Neon Genesis Evangelion. The mascot of the series and hot weather penguin (relatively speaking...he has a sleeping quarters inside a for him walk in freezer).

Agreed. Edition 6+needs...
1) To be supported with adventures, setting stuff, enemies books/monster books.
2) To be presented in a fun and intresting way.
3) To be easy to find the rules needed and the rules be easy to understand.
4) Needs both digital and physical editions. I kinda find it hard to read a digital copy, but then again I'm 51 years old, going on 52.
 
Can HERO be saved? I honestly don't know. 

That is precisely "it".   Separate things back out into separate games (but keep the base mechanics nearly identical).  Using figured characteristics keeps things in the same bands of capabilities within the "game", and keeping the amount of points down so as not to aggravate math anxiety, or necessitate the need and use of Hero Designer.  Before budget necessities  had Hero adopt the square (perfect) bound spines for game books, they were saddle bound and came in a book with accessory materials, and a set of tiny blue dice.  I am not sure books are the way to go in the current market, but if so, having the rules and two adventures, and a paper map, inside might be the way to go.  Like this?

 
3rd was well supported back then:
 

 
The problems I see that are an anathema to young gamers is the tool kit approach, the amount of reading, and the lack of  Adventures.  have to keep things simple, even pencil and paper simple. So, low page counts and Adventure Path style adventures.

One might also classify this as "6.5", much like D&D 3.5.  I note 3e was released in 2000, 3.5 in 2003, 4e announced in 2007 and released in 2008, and 5e announced in 2012, and released in 2014. 2021 saw an announcement of a 2024  "evolution".  That doesn't suggest Hero has historically rolled out new editions at breakneck speed.  A "new edition" aimed totally at presentation, with support in the form of real games, would be a decent strategy but, as has been noted, would require considerable financial support.
 
 
Why do we need a stripped-down "Hero System"?  3e was also the last edition to focus on games, rather than system.
 
Maintaining 6e as "the full game design system", but publishing stripped-down versions with Hero Games makes perfect sense to me.  Set the dials (only publish the base or optional rules that are used), leave out items not relevant to the genre, provide pre-built abilities (Fantasy or Alien races, equipment, spells, mutant powers, superpowers, whatever).
 
Where I would disagree is putting Figured back.  Keeping the system consistent should be a priority - not the sole priority, but if we find a need for some change of substance, that should typically end up in a "Full System" optional rule a la APG.  As I consider, maybe higher-priced characteristics with Figureds also becomes an Optional Rule.  6e did not proceed that way based on the simple conclusion that having higher-priced characteristics that provide Figured, and limitations if they lack Figured, was an added complexity that was not needed if the prices were already balanced.
 
For some genres, you could eliminate some Figureds.  Maybe this game does not use END.  Perhaps we set BOD recovery the same for everyone (relying on Healing spells) and STUN recovers only between combats or by abilities used in combat.  They need not all be presented as "characteristics" that you can purchase independently. Some could have an automatic PC baseline, and be enhanced only through ability purchases.  "Fast reactions" might be +1 SPD, while "shrugs off damage" might be +3 PD and +3 ED.  "Tough" might be +1 BOD and +4 STUN, and a "Crack Shot" gets +2 OCV.  That PC baseline might differ from mooks (maybe our Fantasy game gives the masses 2 SPD, but PCs get 4 SPD automatically, while some minions have 3 SPD).  You could do this with a lot of characteristics - maybe PRE or EGO are not all that crucial to the game in question, or perhaps CON gets relegated to "toughness" abilities, and the default is taking 10+ stun means you are STUNNED (maybe that is varied for normals, minions and PCs - behind the scenes, some of their points are spent on CON).  The option of weaknesses (e.g. "Slow - reduce SPD by 1" or "fragile - damage to be Stunned reduced by 5") would also exist.

A low level "psionic vs hi-tech normal" world (like GURPS Psionics) could work.
 
Western Champions (low level old west superhero campaign).
 
A mecha campaign much in the vein of Mobile Suit Gundam. No aliens, no outrageous space empires. Just corporations, mecha, pirates, and asteroid miners.
 
Horror Hero. Power limited to NPC monsters.

Sketchpad has a point. It is time we stop saying "don't do it this way" and say "ok...it's your game".
 
Take two ACTIVE Hero players, give them the same half build character and challenge them to complete the character, and you'll get an entire different build. As you should, because people are different.  They are going to create each character differently. Run each game differently. 
 
I would like to think I'm not one of these stick in the mud people who gets mad and says "no...do it this way", but I probably fall into that trap myself. 

You say you want adventures. Look in the mirror. Are you writing adventures? No. Your complaining that HERO isn't giving you what you need. Why are you not writing any adventures?
 
I don't mean any hate, butbwhen you see the lack of something, some people view problems, others view opportunities. 

You say you want adventures. Look in the mirror. Are you writing adventures? No. Your complaining that HERO isn't giving you what you need. Why are you not writing any adventures?
 
I don't mean any hate, butbwhen you see the lack of something, some people view problems, others view opportunities. 

Hero needs to publish again.  Not just relying on 3rd party publishers like Tiger Paw Press or Subrooks own publishing thing, but honest to goodness physical books published in a quality way and often enough that people looking at it won't ask "HERO Games? Whose that?"
 
HERO has to care about bringing new people into the hobby. Do a "second edition" of Champions Complete written in such a way as to not assume that the reader actually knows what a roleplaying game is and they can't or don't want to do everything themselves.
 
They don't have to actually care. They can just sit back, offer digital only everything and let Tiger and others do their work for them. Honestly I think they do care a little. But they don't have funds to put themselves back on their feet again. And I don't have a solution except physical publishing, which they don't have money for in the first place.

Agreed. Edition 6+needs...
1) To be supported with adventures, setting stuff, enemies books/monster books.
2) To be presented in a fun and intresting way.
3) To be easy to find the rules needed and the rules be easy to understand.
4) Needs both digital and physical editions. I kinda find it hard to read a digital copy, but then again I'm 51 years old, going on 52.
 
Can HERO be saved? I honestly don't know. 

Hero needs to publish again.  Not just relying on 3rd party publishers like Tiger Paw Press or Subrooks own publishing thing, but honest to goodness physical books published in a quality way and often enough that people looking at it won't ask "HERO Games? Whose that?"
 
HERO has to care about bringing new people into the hobby. Do a "second edition" of Champions Complete written in such a way as to not assume that the reader actually knows what a roleplaying game is and they can't or don't want to do everything themselves.
 
They don't have to actually care. They can just sit back, offer digital only everything and let Tiger and others do their work for them. Honestly I think they do care a little. But they don't have funds to put themselves back on their feet again. And I don't have a solution except physical publishing, which they don't have money for in the first place.

He is the Rocketrider (honestly a kinda hidden Karmen Rider character). He rides around The World using his hi-tech motorcycle, armored suit, and martial arts skills to solve someone's problems as he searches for enlightenment. Sometimes he takes an odd job here or there, but he rairly sticks around in one place for more than three months. He is more attracted to the concept of Justice as opposed to Law, and is willing to disobey the law if it gets in the way of Justice. 
 
It should be noted that thoes "guns" are thrusters, actually allowing Rocketrider a lot of mobility in combat, and can act like powerful kinetic cannons using his opponents as missiles against other opponents. 

Quackhell, you got the next pic.
 
In case you want to know: this is Archduck Gorgon from the anime/manga Mazinger Z. He is the third pseudo cyborg henchman of Dr. Hell (the others are Circus crossdresser Baron Ashura and almost headless nazi cyborg guy Count Broken).

Ty-Gor
 
He is the tyrannical ruler of the kingdom of  Organia having dethroned the benevolent King Ly-On. He commands his legion of henchman which include Spy-dor, Ry-No, Drag-On, and Pan-Tha.
 
He is opposed by Princess Pegasus(actually Gwendolyn Ramsey who travelled to this world from our earth via a magic mirror that transformed her to the same animal human hybrid state as everyone in Organia). She has allies in the former members of Ly-On's royal court in Battle Bear, Sir Swift Steed, Lady Peacock and Roo the Jester.

As far as I know, Fusion is jointly owned by Hero Games and R. Tasorian Games. Both companies are doing nothing with it right now, but that doesn't mean it is free and proper to print.

Talking about the headless... here is Count Broken from Tranzor Z.

It should be noted that Hero wasn't the first point buy system. That would be Steve Jackson's The Fantasy Trip, which eventually morphed into GURPS. So they might still be point buy character creation systems if Champions didn't exist. 
 
But it would be a bland world without Marksman and the other Guardians, and Defender, Seeker, Doctor Silverback, etc. 

Squidra
 
A homeless man "living" in an abandoned fish canary, the man known now as Squidra was abducted and modified by The Great Beast as a test to see if a normal human could survive his modification process (so at one day he could use it himself). The man lost all hair, grew ten tentacles out of his body (four from his back, three from his chest, two attached to each thigh, and one from the back of his head), and a huge beak like mouth in his stomach area and an extra digestive pathway. He also gained limited "camouflage" invisibility and the ability to squirt an organic ink like liquid from his tentacles. For a while, he worked as The Great Beast's only human agent till he created the others in his preparation to achieve "godhood".
 
Squidra has reservations following The Great Beast, but stays with him because he ultimately has no where else to go. Forcently The Great Beast hasn't gotten so insane as to not treat his 'pets' well, and in the Great Beast's mind that includes Squidra. The Great Beast eventually plans on turning Squidra into a kaiju size behemoth...but that would involve tons of the wonder substance The Great Beast uses to create the modifications he uses.

Piecemeal 
 
Jennifer Rodriguez, VIPER agent Devlin Dare, and PRIMUS agent David Lee Jones were at the wrong place at the wrong time. All three got blown to bits during a VIPER bank heist when an explosion misfired. Somehow the Great Beast got a hold of the parts and fashioned a new body with psuedo-matter and pieces of each body. Piecemeal is a hulking man-shape with three heads, and the Great Beast uses it's body as a test bed for various animal type powers he might use on himself one day. All three personality fight for control, and all are bugging for their own body.
 
The Great Beast is pondering about elimination of Piecemeal and replacing it with another test bed creation. He loves all his pets, but some a little bit more.

Ok. It is still up to Death Trible, but I just got to do a number 6. So here comes...
 
Disgust.
 
Disgust was once an overweight gourmet restaurant critic named Arnold Denver. An upset restaurant owner had Arnold abducted and plotted to kill him over a bad review. The Great Beast bargained to have Arnold as a test subject and got his way. Arnold was given multiple stomachs, resistance to damage, and the ability to regurgitate a strong acid out of his mouth. Oh, and multiple mouths (more like food intake openings with long lamprey style teeth) all over his body. And a tounge which now acts like a tentacle in his head.
 
Arnold when not eating everything in sight (including stuff poisonous to others), he crys about his lack of being able to smell or taste anymore. Arnold also angers at fat jokes, othoe it is questionable if he even remembers what his shape use to be before being transformed. 

Squidra
 
A homeless man "living" in an abandoned fish canary, the man known now as Squidra was abducted and modified by The Great Beast as a test to see if a normal human could survive his modification process (so at one day he could use it himself). The man lost all hair, grew ten tentacles out of his body (four from his back, three from his chest, two attached to each thigh, and one from the back of his head), and a huge beak like mouth in his stomach area and an extra digestive pathway. He also gained limited "camouflage" invisibility and the ability to squirt an organic ink like liquid from his tentacles. For a while, he worked as The Great Beast's only human agent till he created the others in his preparation to achieve "godhood".
 
Squidra has reservations following The Great Beast, but stays with him because he ultimately has no where else to go. Forcently The Great Beast hasn't gotten so insane as to not treat his 'pets' well, and in the Great Beast's mind that includes Squidra. The Great Beast eventually plans on turning Squidra into a kaiju size behemoth...but that would involve tons of the wonder substance The Great Beast uses to create the modifications he uses.

Vanish
 
Mike "Mickey" Huter was an ok-looking, slightly intelligent,  moderately athletic young man of good family who should have easily made something of himself.  But little Mickey was a sensitive boy, always picked on, never aplying himself, and his life spiraled into depression and misery.
He sought out the Great Beast thinking he could at least make a tasty snack for some monster rather than killing himself to no purpose at all.
Instead of being put out if his misery, he was subjected to psuedo-matter. 
Vanish is still basically humanoid, though everything about him looks subtly off, like an uncanny valley effect.  A third eye (on an extensible stalk) allows him to see through solid objects, and where he can see, he can go, without bothering about the points between.  His new flesh reacts to intense emotion by fading from view, then, in extreme cases, reality, becoming insubstantial.  He has no offensive powers - he can't teleport or re-solidify in someone to shock their system or anything, and his physical abnormalities don't include claws/fangs/tentacles/poison.
 
He's still miserable, of course.
 

Skitter
 
Russell Tovey has six arms and the hands of each have a maw of razor sharp teeth in the palm. The teeth produce a poison that causes paralysis and thins the blood. He also has extra eyes grafted around his head giving him 360 degree vision. His favorite tactic is to use his hand mouths to cling to walls and then climb to a ceiling so he can drop on a victim. He then engulfs them in his powerful arms while poisoning and tearing them apart with his mouths. To go along with his disturbing appearance he has a creepy predatory personality and the unnerving habit of gnashing all of his teeth as he stares unblinking at you.

Baphomet
 
A subject of mad geneticist Tobias Hall's Animal Farm, Stu O'Dell had bovine DNA mixed with his at birth. The result was that he grew into a massive ten foot tall man bull. He broke free from the Farm at fourteen and realizing he couldn't fit into society turned to crime. Originally he went by the name Stampede and worked as muscle-for-hire to various gangs. He was recruited into the Demon Lords to give them a powerhouse tank in battle. He serves the role well, but aspires to be a bit more than just brute force used by the group.