BigJackBrass

Print on demand copy of Victorian Hero arrived this morning, so I've been flicking through on my teabreak. Looks good so far, no printing errors I've noticed and the physical quality is higher than I was expecting. Nice large print, too.

Print on demand copy of Victorian Hero arrived this morning, so I've been flicking through on my teabreak. Looks good so far, no printing errors I've noticed and the physical quality is higher than I was expecting. Nice large print, too.

Digital Hero #39 includes a mini-setting, War of the Worlds: Champions, set in the same era as H.G. Wells' novel, the end of the 19th Century. The difference in concept is that the toxic "black smoke" weapon used by the Martians, while lethal to the vast majority of humans, in very rare cases induces super-powers, giving humanity something of an equalizer against the Martian technology. Those powers can include super intelligence, so you also get steampunk vehicles and other weapons.

There are always mistakes. I used to be a newspaper editor, so I'm very familiar with the concept and responsible for more than a few. This particular introduced error just struck me as amusing, that's all.

Couldn't resist for long, especially since I'd seen part of the book when I was a Hero Patreon subscriber. It's looking very good so far, although I have a sneaking suspicion that when the name was changed from Gaslight to Victorian Hero someone might have rather carelessly run a find and replace through the text…
 

I do love a good bit of overwrought fictional drama 😁
 

 
As for Victorian Hero, I'm thoroughly enjoying it. My favourite Hero book since Western Hero, I'd say.

It's done. ~136,451 total words.

But as detective is a subgenre of Victorian Hero and I have the original manuscript, your deduction is correct. If you followed on Patreon and then bought it, I can appreciate that you like the material. Thanks.

There are always mistakes. I used to be a newspaper editor, so I'm very familiar with the concept and responsible for more than a few. This particular introduced error just struck me as amusing, that's all.

https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/469869/victorian-hero-heroic-roleplaying-in-the-victorian-era

I had no idea this existed.  None.

I think it was Allen Varney who said something like "all the rest of us delve deep into the mine to dredge up a handful of gems, and Aaron just dipped his bucket in the well and it came up full every time."
 

Aaron Allston Martial Arts Styles is complete and will go up on DTRPG tonight and will be sent to Jason as well.

Okay, so here is the latest Strike Force Organizations update.
 
It's done.
 
Okay, maybe not totally done, but ALR, Blood, and Circle are done. Total count is 72,982 words. I have taken the contents of the two Org books, added in what I could from Aaron's digital files, updated everything to 6e, and added new content and characters. I have sent an email to Jason outlining what i have done and what we may want to do next.
 
I have asked about adding the Cult of the Beast, Carousel/the Reapers, and the Wanderers. I have also mentioned the Wanderers as a stand-alone product. I have also asked about releasing Aaron's suite of martial arts styles as a Surbrook Press PDF-only product.

MONSTERS ARE REAL…
 …AND THEY LOOK LIKE PEOPLE.  Monsters are among us, and they might be standing right next to you.  Muggers, Maniacs, and Murderers is a new series developed to expand your Cinematic Action RPG campaign.  Pit your PCs against the worst that humanity has to offer.  Volume One expands on Hero Games’ Hudson City campaign book and includes several new villains to challenge your PCs.  Are you going to let Evil win?  Included in this package is a 94-page PDF with 21 new adversaries for your Hero System Campaign, 26 Hero Designer Files for all included Characters and Equipment, Full Color Front Cover, 22 Full Color Counters, and 4 quality PNG Maps suitable for use in your Virtual Tabletop games.  This bundle gives you everything you need to incorporate the villains into your campaign.  Find out if your PCs are up to the challenge.
 
Author/Company: Haymaker and EZ Hero alumni, Deadman, is, after many years, breaking his public silence by starting Deadman Press.  His first release is Muggers, Maniacs, and Murderers Volume 1, an Enemies tome for your Cinematic Action and/or Dark Champions campaign.  Deadman Press hopes to follow this book with several other releases for the Cinematic Action genre.  Deadman has been involved with the Hero System nearly since its inception and hopes to provide new, high-quality books for the Cinematic Action genre.  Will other genres follow?  Anything is possible.
 
Available Now in the Hero Games store.

Despite being a long-term Hero turbonerd, I found out today about The Clobberin' Times, a Champions zine put out by a group of players from Sacramento, California from September, 1988, to January, 2000, finishing its run after 67 issues. There was a revival of sorts in the form of The Clobberin' Times Online, an online-only form of zine which lasted from April, 2005, to February, 2010, for a total of 30 "issues." The Online form can still be found (in a form) on the Wayback Machine here: https://web.archive.org/web/20150405000329/http://forteuniverse.com/cto/30main.htm
 
I'd never heard of any of it. And I'm a guy who religiously read every issue of EZ Hero and Digital Hero, and the old Adventurers Club (when it was around), and even has a copy or two of Haymaker around (I was never a prolific-enough writer to contribute before deadlines, so my participation in an APAzine is always intermittent). But I've at least heard of Haymaker -- until today I'd never even heard of The Clobberin' Times. Does anybody know a contact who sells copies of the old physical zine? As both a Hero fan, and a fan of the old zines, this ticks all of my boxes and I'd love to check it out!

GA, I don't think you broke any laws...but ChatGPT probably is.  The rules are copyrighted.  HD is copyrighted.  I doubt ChatGPT has permission.
 
Also, in at leas the skills...it's moronic and, I think in several cases, WRONG.  There's also no consideration whatsoever for END, and some of these will *burn through* END.  Others...how does 15m Teleport with just x4 Mass come out to 75 points?  Several others look wrong...and I think the entire package is wrong.  This:
 
Illusion (Sight, Hearing, Touch) 8d6 (40 points), Area Effect (2m Radius; +1/4) (10 points), Constant (+1/2) (20 points), Selective (+1/4) (10 points), Uncontrolled (+1/2) (20 points), No Range (-1/2) (-10 points). Total: 90 points.
 
No Range is completely mis-applied;  I'm not even sure WHAT it's being applied to.
 
I think getting the ideas for powers...that's interesting.  But its use of copyrighted material is not, and its *gross* mistakes render it useless.
 
Note that there's already some major players suing the AI companies for using copyrighted material to train their AI models without permission.
 

Black Water, Green Death is an extended adventure seed in the same vein as Robert E Howard’s story Queen of the Black Coast and the “Sailing to the Past” segment of Michael Moorcock’s The Sailor on the Seas of Fate. Other influences include numerous tales of European explorers attempting to navigate the Amazon, Congo, Nile, and other great rivers. It features a detailed outline of events, as well as numerous optional encounters, rumors, and possible end game scenarios.
 
 

I occasionally consider Clairsentience for a character.  One thing I noticed...in 5E, I couldn't see 2 significant adders...multiple perception points, and mobile perception points.  Argh.
 
Finally decided to check the 5E template.  Yes...the adders are there, under Clairsentience.  So...why are they not showing?
 
 
Ohhhhhhhhhh......
The Source for those 2 adders is the UNTIL Database...and only that source.  Even tho the descriptions cite the page references for Revised 5E...they're not listed as sources.  If you go to Files -> Preferences -> Template, there's a page for 
 
Allowed Source Books (5th Edition Rules only)
 
And...yes indeed, there's the UNTIL Superpowers Database.  Click that to include it.  I didn't try that per se, I went the other way.  Edit the template.  Simply copy the <SOURCE> line that's for 5th Ed Revised and paste it over the UNTIL source line.  That got those 2 to show up...but I have no idea of any other situations like this.  
 
So...if you have a head scratcher like this..."why is this not showing up, it's in the 5E revised book!"  It may be a source issue in the template, and you may just need to tweak your preferences, if you don't feel like editing the template.

Time to ketchup on the latest from space:
 

I just pushed an update to address the way BODY was being counted in the app.  It should be available on your device in the next 24-48 hours.

I can join the chorus of appreciating simpler sheets for play, divorced from build sheets or hero designer files.
 
Watch your players, if they can't find numbers they are not obvious enough.  One place the game mechanics drive a bit of confusion is conflating ability stats with game stats.  By that I mean things like STR, DEX, INT etc sitting beside SPD, REC, END and STUN. 
 
I would have a combat box where all these useful numbers sit together.
 
In the Supergirl sheet, I would probably remove the detail from the Enhanced physiology, just note that asterisked features are enhanced, then add some asterisks through the sheet. The GM needs the detail, the player's playing sheet just needs to know what is linked in this way.
 
I might also push it out to two sides.  I would put the picture, the background and the complications on one side, possibly bulking them out with some strategy hints and tips.  I would then add a bit of text "colour" to the powers to encourage players to play the power and not the numbers.
 
 
Yeah, when I was younger that was no problem, today it is becoming more of a challenge. 🙂
 
Doc

I'll probably be going as this dapper fellow.
 

Notes for the 2.1.8 release.
The home screen has been redesigned Added animated dice to the dice rollers Redid the look and feel of the cards in the character viewer Animations can be disabled on the Settings screen Added icons to the drawer menu Removed the main subheading on the view character screen The characters screen now prints by character name, not file name Added a hex-grid to the app background Improved the display of partial dice on the Result screen Changed the chart on the statistics screen Fixed Mental Defense totals in 5th edition Fixed Elemental Control costs in 5th edition Added support for No Figured Characteristics in 5th edition Fixed a bug with HKAs and adders Stylized the gutters on switches so they are more visible

A new build is incoming to address some lingering issues with the UI.
 
What you can expect.
The home screen has been redesigned Added icons to the drawer menu Added dice to the dice rollers Removed the main subheading on the view character screen Fixed a bug on the hit screen w/rolling multiple hits The characters screen now prints by character name, not file name Fixed an issue with the notes screen  
See the attached screens for the look and feel updates.