Duke Bushido

Well that's disturbing.....

STD? The inobvious, I mean.

My apologies; what with my split attentions today, I _did_ miss that. And the Skull Helmet works well with that. Yep; that's the plan: the exoskeleton (which should be white, and vaguely bone-themed, in keeping with the helmet, I think ) is powered (and spare powered) by two of the four or so batteries that he was caring as samples while the others were stolen. However, like the other NPCs presented, I think we need to present him in three (at least two) power levels to increase the odds that he will be usable out of the box for new gamers not yet familiar with the ins and outs of the system. We can always fluff him up a bit in the next adventure, should he get away. (and honestly, this first time, I think he should, but not the next time he shows up. Let the players destroy his organization and his plot and arrest his minions and even make his identity known, but let him "slip away" somehow, at least this once. Though, as before, I will defer to your own conception of your plot.) Given the Force Field and Missle Deflect combo and 33 DEX, I don't think I'd go too high with his Speed. We want him to be able to wade through mooks (which was why he built it in the first place-- possibly a _small_ HKA with the SFX of really sharp distal phalanges? That might be how he wrecked the syndicate prior to the creation of the helmet...), and we want him to be able to stand up easily against at least two heroes at once, but the idea here (I think) is to teach the new players teamwork and coordinated attacks as opposed to teaching them that their characters are.... lacking.... Oh-ho! There we go. That's the McGuffin from the first encounter with the Skulls: the Skulls are stealing a rare and precious alloy that the Skull needs to make more of the original-style batteries. As he has a spare, and as his men have sufficient "ammo" for the siege of Hepzibah, it's a low priority for him, but the opportunity presented itself to both acquire it and deal a massive financial blow to one of the "thieves" who were given a battery prototype by the philanthropist who bought them from the syndicate. How's that work? Variable SFX to represent the different ways the energy can be discharged? Or no? I can understand no, at least at this point, as it does call for a bit of mid-combat power design every time they turn the dial, and even offering a "list of presets" is going to add a layer of complexity to what we _hope_ will be brand new players.... I'm good either way. Of course, I'm also cool with going all Foxbat on them and putting Activation Rolls on their equipment (which might be why the boss wants to make more batteries). I really don't know why, but I am _always_ cool with the insane super scientist. I suspect that it's _partly_ an appreciation of the trope, partly the fact that I (like so many others) periodically like to fancy that I understand why being super intelligent amongst "normals" _would_ drive you to the brink (I know: Such hubris.... ), and partly because, well I enjoy the trope, and I respect just how much more dangerous an opponent you can't predict or reason with actually is. So yeah: Totally cool with The Skull being a little light on touch with reality. Hmm... would possible side effects include slowly going insane? Is it addictive at all? That does a couple of things for us, if that is in fact a side effect. It ties his habits back to who he is if it's a side effect. If it's addictive, it gives us another disadplication, and-- and I think this is the most important part, really: it keeps the player characters from being in a real hurry to score a few for their personal use.

Quick question: Does the fire actually _do_ anything, or is it just cool as Hell?

When I was here some years ago, I put a post up that I favored a 5 and 3 system (or even a 6 and 2 system). Tiered Skills. This leaves the option in the hands of the play group. If you want "Forensics," that's a 5 pt skill and it covers most everything related to forensics. This is the way I'd go with casual games and probably with Supers. If you want to split and split and split until you get all the bits and pieces of Forensics as individual skills, then make them 3 pts each, or about what they are now. The only problem here (before anyone starts crying about "ten sub skills is 30 points!," please keep in mind that you would not use _both_ of these methods in the same game. Duh. I mean, "Duke."

Oh yes! Megalomaniacal super villains do _hate_ to use failsafe devices, don't they?

Good enough. Tell me what you think of this, then: Pollutant X, which is ultimately responsible for ninja bear's MuckMan and the start of the investigation for the Raven, is in fact a byproduct of the creation of the super-battery that the Skull is using to power the Dome. Let's move back ten years. Leonard, who will become The Skull, becomes the owner of a great idea: a revolutionary new super-battery technology. --- Break-- How does he get it? Does he design it? Does he find it? Does he steal it? Is it the result of genius inspiration, or is the an alien artifact he stumbled across while living in the old mines, on the run from the mob some years before? Even if it is not his design, I believe we are in agreement that he is smart enough to understand the principles behind it and recognize its value and its potential. So he has come here, to Hepzibah, drawn by its reputation as an up-and-coming center for technological advancement, the city's then-new focus on supplementing and eventually replacing their traditional power production with as much "green energy" as possible. If he can't find backers here, then he won't find them _anywhere_. He couldn't find the backers he'd hoped for. He was actually quite shocked to discover that none of the tech firms he approached, including up-and-coming high-profile pioneers Company 3 (think Elon Musk's outfit: stay in the public eye, and be as flashy as possible) turned him down cold. Plans were one thing; anyone could show up with indecipherable plans and claim they yielded a whole new angle on energy storage and retrieval. Show us something we can _use_. Explain the science. Fearful of having the idea taken from him, he refused to explain it, and promised instead to return with a working pro type for testing. Unable to find backing from a populace already used to being taken by "high tech con men," he turned toward the criminal element, and found his funding. The things he had to agree to do, though.... But this is not that story. This is Leonard's story. Upon completion of the first batch of super-batteries, he took them around again to potential users and investors, all of whom were impressed. Safe to produce and handle (thus far), and capable of storing upwards a thousand amp hours in something the size of a deck of cards with a weight of mere ounces.... Retrieval of the power was equally impressive: the battery would handle any draw up to full and nearly instantaneous discharge, much like a capacitor, with none of the downfalls of that particular device. There was little doubt that overnight, the electric vehicle industry could be revolutionized! Unfortunately for Leonard, that's just what happened. But it happened without him. While he haggled for a partnership deal, the syndicate from whom he had borrowed the money simply seized the remaining batteries and sold them for millions. Then they sold the plans to an automobile manufacturer for millions more. The buyer of the batteries, philanthropist by nature, simply divided them up and gave them to each of the interested tech firms in Hepzibah, and a few months later, they were available commercially. To date, sales are slow, as there is no solid infrastructure yet for any field in which they would be superior to currently-avaliable technology. A couple of upstart electric car companies are using them, but the price is extremely high, making them novelty items at best. The Raven's electric motorcycle is powered by one, and carries three others as spares, "just in case." Upon confronting the syndicate, Leonard was met with a thorough beating, and the reminder that he should appreciate having his "debt" paid all at once. Then he was reminded that "brains is a real good thing to have, Doc. But brains... well, brains ain't as good as smarts; you know what I mean?" And that's when he lost it. That's when he vowed that everyone here-- the syndicate, the tech firms-- the city! Everyone who stood in his way, who stopped him from demonstrating his genius would be _forced_ to acknowledge it; the stupid and inferior were destined to bow before the genius, and he would move Hell and high water to make sure that the genius to which they bowed would be his. He would be a king, or he would be dead. There would be nothing in between. During his work with his prototypes, Leonard realized that the batteries would store not just electricity, but almost any energy-- thermal, kinetic, radiation-- anything. And they could be configured to release it in any of a wide variety of forms. He had in his hands a way to store and release, for lack of a better term, "Tabletop Plasma," and with just a little work, he could control and mould it completely. (it is these changes to the design that result in the toxic byproduct of the batteries he is currently producing. This byproduct is responsible for his hair loss and gaunt appearance). Fearing the syndicate would return demanding more batteries (foolish, since they had gone so far as to sell the plans), he fled town and set up a shop in one of the abandoned mines in the foothills. Realizing his need for operating capital, and learning the lessons of the criminal element, he began to manufacture drugs and recruit small time gangs as distributors. His gaunt face and bald head highlighted by the grime of living in an old mine, combined with his obvious intelligence, the gangs took to calling him "The Skull." Within no time at all, he had a small empire started, and began to shape his business as work in earnest on his batteries and his plan to break every living person in this city, then the country, then the world. First, though, he had to finish he exoskeleton. He wasn't as strong or as fast as those in the syndicate. Those who had beaten him, humiliated him. Those who had stolen his rightful recognition as a genius, and possible savior to the modern world. He wasn't strong enough. Not yet. But in just a few more days.... okay, that seems like more than enough for our villain. Any thoughts? And does anybody want to write him up? Remember that he is the "master villain" of this arc, and with his exoskeleton should be at least a match for two player characters at once; possibly three. I don't see a reason to do a "lowball" version of him.

Fair enough. How do you feel about "first real supers in Hepzibah," though supers are known throughout the world? (there's a reason I'm asking, but as I told Hugh, I am perfectly content to follow your lead. Also, whether or not they are the first, I don't think it's necessary to delete everything up to "the dome is up." First off, once the dome is up, we expect at least preliminary investigation to begin. I can speak only for myself and the group I was in, but when I made my first "superhero" character, the first thing I wanted to do was _be super_. I couldn't wait to get into at least one scrap just to see how I stacked up next to Joe Thug and his cowardly associates. Certainly we may have been an unusual case, but I'm betting we weren't. I suspect that new players-- the people we're actually looking to draw-- would prefer that as well. Then they can get all "here's how my skills contribute to the group" and fall into the story. I agree completely. I hope we can pull it off. However, I would like to point out that the characters being the first supers in the city doesn't really detract from that. In fact, it might even put some pressure on them to "set the bar" for whoever comes along behind them. The description was a rough "action outline;" nothing more. We're filling in the details now, albeit very slowly. And do feel free to contribute some details; the more the merrier. So next time we'll use longer sentences. Agreed, but let's get the thing hashed out before reviewing it for cautions, lest concern for cautions stifle creativity. Editing isn't easy, and it's even more isn't easy when you're carrying a barrel of red flags along for the trip (it's kind of like dating, in that regard ) Odd you should mention him. I had an inspiration.. well, not an inspiration. Not by any means. Hell, I'd go so far as to use that most detestable of words (thanks, internet!) and call it a Trope. So let's say I've had an idea for the "We are stuck" character. Granted, I was working on the assumption that the Player Characters would be the first supers in the city (if not the world) when I had the thought, and I was a bit distracted by the work I've been doing today, but this character-- likely one of the "sample six" I suggested at the outset of this discussion (was that in the other thread?). Meet The Raven: Stanton Wills was a well-respected investigative journalist working the big cases. His byline was gaining national recognition, and more than once his work and his stories were weeks ahead of the police investigations into the same crimes. Maybe he was just more driven than most; maybe he had a personal stake in what he was doing; maybe he was just looking for that same adrenaline high he got when he was deployed and his men were drawing fire. No one asked, just so long as he kept delivering the sensational results. Four years ago he began investing the "sickness" that was killing livestock on one of the west slope farms a few miles from town. That led to an investigation of recent activity on the organized crime front, and Wills knew that somehow they were related. The last anyone heard from him was a voice mail he left for his editor: "Look, Mark; I'm on to something really big here; world-shaking kind of big. I'm going to have to stay on it for a few days. Don't expect to see me for at least a week, maybe two." Four days later, the HFD put out the remains of a smoldering car on a lonely stretch of two lane. Inside were three bodies: Wills, his wife, and their son. To this day, the case remains unsolved. The car had been forced off the road by three larger vehicles. As soon as it stopped, men armed with flamethrowers leapt from the other vehicles and attacked. Wills put up one Hell of a fight, and suffered greatly for it. He was unable to save his family. In the end, he managed to take one assailant with him. It is the ashen bones of that man who occupied the driver's seat of the burned hulk. Wills is driven for revenge. He continues his investigation as best he can, but with the burn scars and damage to his face and lungs, it's difficult to follow his traditional methods. He has decided it's best to stay dead. From his career, he has made several contacts, some in the underworld, some on the police department, and some in the various tech firms and research labs around the city. It was through these contacts-- some of whom owed their livelihoods to Wills' expose stories, that he was able to procure specialized equipment to help him in his investigation, not the least important of which are the armored and fireproof great coat and the special respirator through which he breathes (in addition to temperature-regulating the air entering his lungs, it mists that same air with the vital surfactants his lungs can no longer produce in sufficient quantity to allow any exertion without mechanical assistance), and the pair of drum-fed handguns (mostly non-lethal) and other small tools he uses to further his search for the crime syndicate-- and leader of that syndicate-- that ordered the hit on his life that claimed his family. Taking in his appearance in his goggles (flash protection, recording, and night-vision as well as zoom-in capability as well as to correct the vision of his heat-damged corneas) and the oddly-pointed respirator, he took and inspiration from the old Lamont Cranston stories and donned a wide-brimmed hat to conceal himself even more. Then, mostly as a flair, he painted the respirator bright yellow, with a few red "blood smears" for effect. He hunts the streets looking for leads and beating his way through criminals on his quest. Using the skills he learned in the military and his natural investigative talents, he has built a reputation for himself, and there are few shady characters on the street who, when traveling alone or in pairs, don't look over their shoulders, checking for the Raven. I haven't stated him up yet, mostly because I am not familiar enough with 6e to feel comfortable making three different levels of him for 300 points or so. However, Hugh, I _heartily_ encourage you or anyone else to do so. I see this character as someone who, if the PCs have too much trouble with their investigations, will get wind that the PCs are investigating the same thing that he is, or that their investigation may be related, and come hunting them to drop a hint or suggestion. Not a GMPC! Just a "Captain Cluebat" kind of guy for "emergency use only." You know: after hunting them up: "You've been investigating The Dome. What have you learned?" blah-blah-blah don't know. "Endless Energy on 53rd, near the big fountain. Talk to Dusqie. He's got some ideas." Then "poof." Gone. Like I said: emergency use only. This is also why I envision him as not being a good fit for a team: to prevent him from becoming a GMPC. He should be a skilled HTH and gun combatant, a couple of smoke bombs for when things go sour, and a couple of gas bombs for controlling a large rush of mooks. Other than that, at _no_ power level should be outshine the PCs, _ever_. Dude, let us get an actual story worked up first. Then we'll see which parts of it are "up front crucial." I appreciate the cart, but we don't have a horse yet. That's the hope. Let's see how long the hope holds out.

Hmmm.... I'll have to take a quick thum ING through the books when I get done. It may well be that my own list simply duplicated them as separate skills when the names changed. (as noted before, we crib some new things from subsequent editions. Rather than thumb through every book, we just keep a running list tucked into a folder.)

All valid points, as usual, (especially with the original MSH and the terrible 'build your own character' system it included) and I wish I had the time to address them (back to work on the ceiling), and if I have time later, I will (except for the MSH one; I'm trying to stay on task). The idea I half-floated (and would sort of like to see) is that the Skull is the first _at least in this city_, and his gift is brains enough to eventually develop super-science. I would like to see that his dabblings with the early stages of the energy field are what caused the creation of other supers in this area, including the Pcs. I think this lends itself more easily to a world with no ties to anyone else's properties and also to a world in which even simple, unrefined "starter characters" feel special; a wold in which they are uncomparibly super because no one with three decades of experience is designing super-efficient, heavily-tweaked opponents or competitors for them. Remember the simple builds of the first enemies that were packed in the back of the 1 and 2e books? I'm not saying shoot for that, per se, but I am saying if that's the grasp of the rules the new player manages the first time around, then that should still feel pretty damned special to the new player, and the simplest way to portray that is to have very few other supers, at least at first. _however_, I am _not_ married to the idea, and as Steriaca contributed the plot, I'm perfectly content to follow his lead. Gotta run. It's rather too warm up here to stop for long.

Right. This has been the rule since at least 3e. We've always played it that way (well, in supers, anyway; it's a 6 or less in Heroic for us: character advancement reasons, and to demonstrate that a familiarity is _not_ the same as a skill; the 6 or less demonstrates a real knowledge gap and makes it nigh-impossible (nigh; not totally) to get a "complimentary" bonus off of a familiarity. Gah- digression! In 3e, I can't off the top of my head think of an instance where it's spelled out specifically that Familiarity = 8 or less, but I can think of at least two instances (Star HERO and Fantasy HERO) where a bit of deduction following through the Skills section strings together the idea that a familiarity is an 8 or less. Start with Everyman skills and read through the whole section a couple of times and it presents itself. It's something along the lines of "everyman skills are 8 or less;" Everyman Skills are Familiarities;" another statement or two along those lines, and when you put them all together, you end up with" familiarities are 8 or less. " Don't have time to look it up, but I think 4e codified that more solidly, as well as cosifting that Everyman skills are, in fact, familiarities. Though I have always had issues with" must buy Familiarity with blades to use a sword. ". Suppose my character trained for years to lean how to use his sword? He didn't study axes, or daggers, or greats words, or bastard swords, or cutlasses-- he just practiced extensively with this one particular category of sword. Why can he not buy" sword, 11 or less" without first being familiar with the whole category? No; don't answer that! I've done enough damage to this thread already with wandering focus.

If the defining difference between Driving and Combat Driving is the ability to stay cool under mortal pressure and avoid getting shot, then the groundwork is laid for combat first aid, combat speed reading, and combat everything else. Luck, for Pete's sake. A complete intangible and poorly defined thing--so bereft of a mechanic that we have X-hundred threads discussing ways to actually pin it down, now has a combat-specific version. The root of the problem is that HERO leaves the specificity of the individual skill up to the GM, where the final result depends entirely on how anal retentive he is. Some of the official writeups almost suggest that anal retention is far more important than ease of play, which doesn't really help the problem.

Aw, Hell; I got so tied up in the above that I didn't try to dovetail NB's ideas in. Real rough pass, as I've got to get back to work on the ceiling; wish I had a bit more time to place the bits at certain points, but anyone who wants to is certainly welcome. Anyway, here are the points I was hoping to work in. During the early investigation, PCs discover that there is "pollutant x" in a certain area off in farm country. If this line is pursued, characters will find a pond on an empty farm that is highly toxic with pollutant x, and it's starting to leach into the ground, threatening the river (currently the largest source of water for agriculture and a secondary source of water for Hepzibah) and possibly the ground water (the primary source of water for Hepzibah), and "pollutant x" seems to be appearing in proximity to various points around the perimeter of the dome. Pollutant X is really unusual, and in the past has been most closely linked with a particular kind of device-- let's say, at least for now, as super-battery of some sort. Only two, perhaps three, places in Hepzibah doing any research on that front, though two of them maintain that everything they are doing there is theoretical stuff-- just the math, at this point, and are nowhere near ready to start testing live product. Company 3 (Ooh! I like that name! Make that the official name! ) Company 3 has begun some live testing, but only on very small in-lab scale owing to the potential environmental impact. Yes, Pollutant x is a _potential_ side-effect of large-scale manufacture of super-batteries, which is why we ain't doin' it yet. Company 3 has also come under attack from an as-yet unidentified super. See the original thread that inspired this one for NB's original idea, and tuck them in here and there to flesh the world and the adventure out a bit. This also leads to the idea that Skull works for one of these companies, and has been doing some research on his own. The unnamed super (MuckMan) seems to think Company 3 is up to something. Is that where the pollutant x is coming from? Does Skull work there? (not that MuckMan cares about that at this point) Is Company 3 innocent and Skull himself has stolen the research for himself and has he been large-scale producing super-batteries to power his Dome? Gotta run. Someone else have fun working that into the skeleton story line.

Agreed. Ninja-Bear just offered something that I think would dovetail nicely into the skills side of things. I'll revisit that in a minute (it's why I jumped off the phone and onto the computer; I do not like thumb typing at all.) Agreed again, and again, I think Ninja-Bear's suggestion can be laced in here as well, as a bit of story that can be used to make the character-generation tweaking "part of the story" as opposed to an interruption of it. (still; it needs to happen _after_ the play session has closed) Not true. They will have learned that it's inviolable, deadly, and the power source and/or machinery are well hidden. If you don't want to make observations or use skills, then they could draw straws to see who tries to walk through it, but the Skills and observations prevent them from having to bring in the understudy. They will also learn that they don't know what the power source is (yet). If they're familiar with electrical engineering, they known it ain't that. If they're familiar with harnessing radiation this way or that, well they know it ain't that. Hydraulics? Nope. Ain't that either. A quick comparison of notes shows a very specific list of what they don't know, and would suggest getting some aid from somewhere. High-tech industries are par for the course here, and we have a high-tech villain. Could be fun, depending on the direction the investigation goes. Access to a lab and a bit of time provides both additional knowledge and bonuses to the Skills. You said yourself you wanted to offer players a chance to learn how to use their skills. Stopping to re-work a character was a completely obvious thing to you (and isn't to me, but we've had that discussion years ago), but "additional research for bonuses on Skills" wasn't? And of course, meeting new people and making new contacts comes into play here as well. Who knows? Depending on where we go with this, they may end up chatting with the Skull himself (which _probably_ won't get them a lot of help, really, but it might be an interesting encounter for a telepath or some other such character....) Remember that this is intended not just as an adventure -- hopefully a _first_ adventure in a series-- but also an introduction to the series for people who new to HERO. Yes; it may require a bit of nudging just a bit, but the same way that "here's a chance to dither with your build a bit" is, apparently, an important part of Champions, so, to, is the Skills system (awkward though it may be). Part of that system is just like the combat that seems to drive so many of the conversations here: there are things you can do to improve your results. Here's a chance to learn about that, and to go do it. That's all. It's not a stone wall. It might take a nudge, but it's not a stone wall. It's an opportunity to teach a tactic. Granted, I know that a large number of players "play for the combat," and non-combat "tactics" are a non-thing for them, but we'd like to see at least the first adventure offer a small something for everyone. I don't know if you've been following along the initial thread, but some of those shadowing and concealment and stealth skills might, at this early point, reveal that certain Skulls seem to be able to move freely through the barrier. Now we study up on how that might be done. We might also learn of trace elements leached into the ground, etc. Things that are helpful potential shortcuts but aren't "roll 13- to break the scenario." Besides, I think NB's idea will dovetail in here, too. "There are things you can do to make them even more useful, and interacting with your world just a little bit ca really pay off."? Yes, it's one of those "totally unimportant non-combat messages" for a number of people, but not for everyone. Postulating an rough capsuled area of 500 square miles, there's still a good deal of use for any of these powers short of breaking the game, of course, but yes: this is a bit of exercise for the GM: For our first characters, we're not going to use Teleport characters (or the adders and modifiers for it) or telepathic powers (or based on ECV or various other modifiers). We want to teach the basics, and ruling out a couple of "first time" builds isn't going to affect that: the basics of _everything_ isn't the basics of the system, after all. Though depending on where this ends up, telepathy of a sort may enhance the fun. Teleporters may be able to get in and out, but take damage doing so. Who knows? This is just a rough sketch. Feel free to throw in some details. For what it's worth, I believe the idea is to cut off communication, leaving the Skull in charge of all relations through the Dome, but I also like the idea of some sort of telepathy-- possibly with a hard strain to keep it from becoming too problematic in terms of the story-- as a secret tool in the hands of the heroes. I also admit, however, that this may not fly for everyone. Who says they can't? particularly in light of the fact that among these people will likely be listed the people they sought out after the "investigate the dome" sequence in the hopes of learning more or getting access to labs-- the bonuses to their skill rolls. That was what I read the set up here as, anyway: after a cursory investigation of the dome, finding qualified scientists is the next logical step. Thus, the heroes may actually have a head-start (thanks to their earlier skill rolls) on figuring out who (at least some of ) the targets are. The threat made was "if the heroes are in time" not "too bad they aren't in time." My take away from that was that one or more of these scientists was involved, knowingly or not, in some part of the Dome, and that one or more others, knowingly or not, had a pretty good chance of figuring out how to undo it. However, it wasn't until now that the Skull no longer had a need for them. Perhaps he now has enough route-trained me to operate the equipment without knowledge of the science, or his own scientists have just now finished proofing the portable, super-strong version with which he will size control of the 100 most financially-influential cities in the world. Whatever the reason, in classic bad guy tope, it isn't until now that these people have made the transition for "tapped resource" to simply "loose ends." Likely he would start with those who are not aligned with him in some way, then work his way toward his confidants. (Not you, Jim. You and your team are vital! But you _must_ be the only ones who know the secret of the Skull Dome energy field..... *BANG!* ) That goes two ways, though. If he traps them in here with him, they can't get out and share the secret with those who might stop him, and it's much easier to hunt them down and off them in here than it is out there. Light and air are assumed, or there's no one in the dome to save. Water has been taken care of by placing the city where it is abundant and providing two self-sufficient power sources to keep the municipal and dual systems up and running. Don't know. Haven't nailed it down for a couple of reasons: first, say it's in the top 100 big cities in the US, but it's pretty low on the list. Call it #98. If that sounds too big, then drop it some more. Let's say there are between 18 and 36 super guys, with the players being up to six of them, and call it good. same thing I suggest doing to this: The demographics fit into a 60-or-less page adventure, including characters, maps, GM notes, etc. Why? Because every damned thing in this system needing a 340-page sourcebook is precisely the turn off we're trying to fight. And because it's serialized. The setting and the details will grow, hopefully faster than they are needed, but certainly no slower.

I like it: it's simple, clear, and still has potential to showcase some skills and get in some combat training. Steriaca (which, ironically, I may have just misspelled) has started a Dome City thread to flesh out his ideas. The nature of a forum precludes direct conversation, so I will ask for a bit of forgiveness right away: I am going to take a moment to see if we can piece you ideas into the Hepzibah, Colorado ideas being bandied about on the Dome City thread. Forgive me the liberty, and if you don't approve, then by all means say so and I'll redact immediately.

You're welcome. Had I more time, I would have fleshed it out a bit more. Not too much, mind you: intro adventure is more important than history, after all. It's neither. It's something I pulled out of my teeth this morning as I read your post. I got to wondering just where we could find an environment large enough and urban enough to support the expectations of the genre _and_ not starve to death after ten days of isolation (the required farming you mentioned). The Colorado western slope was the only place I could imagine such a city possible. More importantly, it favors the Skull's plans, as while the region will support even dense farming (for a while), a walled-off area could not support a metropolis indefinitely. Thus, the people _need_ the Skull's cooperation-- i.e., they are motivated to surrender. The farming potential, even at maximum, simply means that they will starve to death _slowly_ as opposed to riots and death matches before the week is out. Most importantly, water is abundant and easy to access, both surface water and ground water, and even the surface water in that area is remarkably clean (agriculturally speaking). I opted for "cleaner" industry to prevent the city from choking to death under the dome, and the admittedly-insufficient solar and wind power (both of which should work wonderfully in this area: the location and geography is highly conducive to both constant breezes and clear skies) so that being cut off doesn't deny the story of elements that could make interesting scenes: it's possible-- Skull willing-- that hospitals could remain open, as could other vital things such as the water infrastructure and possibly even a police force (which is obviously not allowed to interfere with The Skull in any way ). The history was built to allow the city to have had multiple "surges" in growth, allowing for distinct and colorful "regions" should the GM desire them, and the name-- well, I just like the sound of "Hepzibah, Colorado." Hepzibah is also a name of Biblical origin (Kings, but I can't remember if it's First Kings of Second Kings-- anyway, she is the wife of Hezekiah, one of the BC kings of Judah), which would be fitting to the era and method I present for the city's founding. That, and I like the hope and aspiration of the name: "Hepzibah" is also the name intended for Zion (Jerusalem) once that city is restored to the favor of God. So the name is at once unique, beautiful, meaningful, historic, hopeful, and just sounds a bit quirky enough to suggest that Hepzibah, Colorado might be both a memorable place, and a place homey enough to settle down. Please, please, please, please do not take this as being prideful or braggardly: I know a lot of stuff. It comes from both research related to writing and editing, reading voraciously (I'm a pretty boring guy: most of my "pleasure reading" is non-fiction), and paying a hell of a lot of attention. I also like to draw connections. So yeah, I know a lot of oddball, useless, and fun stuff. None of it is advanced math, for which I am very, _very_ happy, as that knowledge gap has allowed me to enjoy Champions far, far more than it seems I am supposed to have ) At any rate, if you will have it, the city is yours, and can be put to work hosting the dome. If you find it suitable (the plot is _yours_, after all), I will see if I can find time this weekend (I'm tearing out and re-installing some damaged ceilings after an air conditioner disaster), I will see about a rough map or two of at least the area. Duke EDIT: almost forgot: I threw in the Canadian reference because I've never been to a Canadian city that wasn't clean, remarkably quiet (compare to our own, at least) , and just generally "felt happier" than any major metropolis I've been to in the US. I _like_ that, and I wanted to include it. This was true even in Quebec, and as great as mostCanadians are to get along with, the Quebecois I've met are damned hard to like (even by American standards), but still seem happier than the typical US city dweller.

This promotes a puzzle. The closest we can get to large-scale (i.e., give a walled-off city a fighting chance) self-sufficient farming (in the US, anyway) is the western slope of Colorado. An interesting growing season suited to various kinds of crops in all but actual snow season as well as little need to irrigate (some irrigation required for fruit trees and other crops) most crops and there is constant growth of indigenous grasses considered to be "low intake; high yield" feed for stock (essentially "super food" for grazing animals: they don't need a lot of it to thrive). That's all well and good. But it's also one of the least-densely populated regions of the country. :/ While I have no doubt that super powered individuals can come from any area, they seem to thrive in dense urban environments, at least far better than I ever could. So, pending your approval, I present to you (in uncharacteristic brevity-- you're welcome for that ) the odd city of Hepzibah, Colorado: Founded during early westward expansion when a largish wagon train, beset from the outset with problems, ended up on the wester slope of Colorado, and decided "good enough." Farming was easy, though winters were hard. Hepzibah became a watering hole and supply stop for travelers from north coastal states heading west. Some folks stayed. The California gold rush brought much traffic (some of which stayed) through and during this period the city grew considerably. Just as California went bust, gold was discovered on the western slope. Hepzibah exploded. In a few years, the gold played out (though there may remain large veins that were simply inaccessible at that time), but the miners did unearth an out-of-place deposit of coal. Hepzibah could fuel industry. Eventually that, too, played out, but by then, Hepzibah was an established (if minor, politically-speaking) metropolis. Today, Hepzibah sits near the foothills of the western slope, surrounded by farm land and beautiful scenery. Much the hillier area is home to solar farming and wind farming while the expanses of the lower slope are covered in farms. It's primary industries today are technology, tourism, and agricultural trade, all of which seems to sit well with the farmers. While Hepzibah today just barely qualifies as a major metropolis, it is invariably the city that Canadians point to as what an ideal American city should be: clean and relatively quite. Make it as big as you need it to be. Add supers and government agencies as you like. Or throw the whole thing away. I'll use it for something else.

Agreed on all counts, Sir. Even if that Western one hurt a little.

Two adventures prior to the raising of the dome? Something to sort of introduce the characters to their environment and then to the long-running cast of villains. In the background should be hints of "things to come," such as a notable recent increase in "super crimes" or supers in general. Hmm.... Wonder what could be causing that? The Skull.... Someone far more intelligent that one would expect. A noted but-not-quite-big-league crime boss who has somehow remained just elusive enough-- blame his intelligence for that-- to not be caught. Looking at that idea: (sorry; this is how I think. Ask Chris G; he's seen other samples of it ) I like the Skull as an intelligent man who got through life assuming his intelligence would assure his success. Give some some science tech skills and background with which he had expected to make his fortune. Needing funding for something important to him, and failing to secure it through normal channels (the shock of his first failure!), he turned to other outlets for cash, only to find that when his research paid off big, it paid off for the crooks from whom he had secured the money. Intrigued by possibilities of success through organized crime, and burning with arrogant rage at having been "swindled" by intellectual inferiors (who _did_ understand business, of a sort), he vowed to not only build an empire, but to demonstrate to the world that they are nothing before him; they are mere pawns for his greatness. A decade later, he has a strange dual-identity as tech science research guy _and_ "the Skull," rising star of crime set to become a power player. He has taken the name figuring that it inspires fear (and maybe it used to, but that's a half-century or so ago), and played it up big. Shaves his head and draws "tattoos" on his face to make himself look more skull-like. His organization is still fairly simple: primarily a two-stage operation with two or three loosely-organized street gangs reporting to a level of suits, who do the bulk of the organization and the white-collar stuff. Knowing the importance of quick cash, he has used his expertise to create portable "chem labs" to manufacture designer drugs: he can be up and running in an hour, and strike set even faster. The drug money fuels his day-to-day operation. His goal, ultimately, is to do something with his scientific genius to showcase his intelligence, but he's not stupid: he knows he needs money. Then X. X being his discovery of "the device." Did he build it? Did his research lead him to it? Did he discover it completely on accident? Perhaps something kept interfering in his other research. Tracking down the -- crap. How's this as a starter idea? His idea to highjack the world's communication satellites and hold them for ransom-- or perhaps simply use them as a spy and blackmail device, never letting on that they were under his control; season to taste) failed because of constant signal interference on what his research told him should be the perfect band / wavelength / whatever; ask a tech guy-- for taking over the sat system. Tracking down the source of his interference, he finds a hidden trove of super-tech. From here, it's a matter of what direction you'd prefer to go in later, as it doesn't matter now. The tech could be alien. It could be left here by Norsemen (if you want to screw with history a bit). It could be a long-abandoned station from which Dr. Destroyer himself had once, many years ago, had planned to lay siege to this very city. It could be one of Mechanon's many reincarnation stations. These last two are more if your ultimate goal is to coax new players into the established "official" universe. They do come with the problems that-- well, you're playing with someone else's stuff. As he begins researching and playing with the equipment (which he will eventually figure out, because he really is quite intelligent and quite skilled with tech), the fields and signals it produces begin to strengthen and interfere with the world around him-- not quite perceptibly, but enough to trigger "changes" in sensitive people: our newly-hatched super villains, and perhaps, if they are lacking for a backstory of their own, our new heroes as well. (obviously, this is the equipment that will ultimately result in The Dome, which may or may not have been on purpose, though our wily villain will use its existence to further brag of his brilliance, and will find a way to make use of the Dome itself, be it ransoming everyone in the city or threatening various wealthy nations to do the same to their capitals or even their various armies.) Just a few thoughts; nothing concrete. Next?

The funny thing about Jaguar: He's the one I never remember as even existing until someone reminds me he existed. Seriously, I wasn't keen on many of them, in particular Solitaire, but I would find myself staring at the back cover of BBB and thinking "who the heck is that?!"

Once upon a time, _we_ learned how to do it. We opened a box or a book and read and played and figured it out. I don't think the best way to attract a new audience is to insult their ability to do precisely the same. We learned it; they will learn it, so long as we can make it attractive enough to get them started. My first 250-pt (well, 230-something; I was "done" at that point) was not particularly efficient, at least not at first. As I learned, my builds reflected my learning. That 250-pt character is still the one I played for twenty years (ugh). I got better; he got better. Everyone at the table got better. Anyone who is interested _will_ get better. Or maybe they won't. Maybe they'll be like me and they'll find a personal "sweet spot" and stick right around there. They _will_ do it, but they will do it _only_ if they're interested. Hell, I've been playing since 1e, and _I_ don't use power frameworks efficiently. I _barely_ use them, period. So what? Is there a mandate? No; of course there isn't, because what we are shooting for is something _fresh_: a new start in a new world where _they_ define the power levels; _they_ define the action. Trying to shoehorn new players into a detailed 40-year-old setting and telling them their builds should immediately reflect a firm grasp of calculus and a deep and possibly romantic love of spreadsheets so that they can measure up to 40-years-established villains with all the latest cheese bells and cheese whistles is _why_ no one is interested anymore. As someone else noted, it's more common to get the "what's HERO?" or "Wow! They're still in business?" reaction than it is to get a "Yeah; I'd like to try that!" response. Also more common than "I'd like to try that" is "God, no! I don't solve differential equations for fun!" So for beginners, we _get rid of that crap_. Get rid of the pressure to be "points effective." Get rid of the idea that they have to measure up to characters written by complete strangers who _do_ solve differential equations for fun. Out of curiosity, how damned many other games out there have software for building characters? Serious "track-the-math" type software, as opposed to something that does a couple of light calculations and prints out in an attractive format? How many other games damned-near _need_ that software? The idea here is demonstrating that this is a _game_, not a math class. This game is _easy_ to learn. This game is _fun_ to play. Throwing in a bunch of completely unnecessary yardsticks and build expectations is completely counter to that goal. Dump them. Present Villains in three clear power levels. Let the GM pick the one he thinks is most appropriate for his and his player's comfort level. Done. Make up your mind, Amigo! Can a 300 point character be efficient and useful and "powerful" or not? Personally, I would think that we should follow the path of other serialized adventures: There are still D&D serials that start at Level 1, aren't there? Why should this be somehow different? Worried about learning points efficiency? Then let them face some 8 or 12 DC Energy Blasts before throwing 24DC attacks at them. This is the learning curve, after all. And if the players start out all super-good at wringing points into powers? Well, villains in three different levels. Woah-- there's an inspiration: Villains in 3 different power levels using the same total build points! Boom-- tailor-made to a learning curve. I know where you're coming from, my friend. The "opening adventure" should probably feature.. say, six new heroes built at the points total (whatever that may be) for which the adventure is tailored. No less than 4, and no no more than six. Even if we get six, then they should (and this'll be difficult) be designed in such a fashion that any _four_ of them will form a reasonably-balanced team (you might only find four players; why leave them handicapped, or stick the GM having to be a player as well?). Villains should be stated out for the adventure in which they will (may) appear, of course. Subsequent adventures in a given series may even introduce an additional hero or two in each one, to both allow the group to build a repertoire and to have more examples of "how to" as well as just fill in the world a little bit: these can be background characters the players see on the news; they can be swapped if players find these characters more interesting. Whatever. Maybe just one super and one "normal of note" for the campaign? What the Hell is Twitch? Same question, only this time it's CT. Ultimately we'd like them to, of course, but we don't want to hit them with it at first. Why would anyone want to learn the basics if the basics are already intimidating? Too many choices without the guidance of practice and experience is _always_ a bad thing. Always. It causes either confusion or lag, and no matter what else, it's an immediate "bad experience" memory associated with the first time they try the game. Avoid it. Save it for later. Whatever. Skills has _always_ been a horrible, horrible weak spot in HERO, and that is specifically _because_ of the open-endedness of the skills. When you get right down to it-- when you really study it up right, it becomes clear that the book doesn't offer _any_ skills, really, but instead very, very narrow _categories_ of skills, as it's up to the individual group to determine just what the actual skill _is_. I hate to say it, as I loved the idea behind it, but 4e was the beginning of the end for the "Skill System" in HERO, particularly with the introduction of "Combat X." No no matter what the skill was, it didn't cover the combat version of it, or there wouldn't be a combat version of it, would there? GMs scrambled to see just how far apart they could tear each individual sub-skill, and it just went nuts. Yes; we can all agree how a skill works _within our group_, but will never agree as a whole simply because different people will find different aspects of the skill to be more or less important (and thus needing or not needing their own listings). Honestly, I think for a beginning group, it's better to keep skills nice and fat and liberal: if it seems like you _should_ know something about it, then probably you do. You know: "Paramedic." Do you know first aid? Do you know triage? Do you know how to determine and administer dosages of various pharmaceuticals? Can you drive the truck? (Yes, but can you do it in _combat_?!). Is "Pilot" broken down by type of engine, type of plane, size of aircraft, and do you need a separate skill to fly an attack drone? Screw all that: if you think the skill you have is appropriate, then let it ride. Introduce fracturing gradually.

Hmmm.. The Dome City "event" might even play into origin stories for a couple of villains along the way: the day the Done went up, the energies unleashed, etc, etc; you're super now. A tiny bit of depth that ties one thing to another, but to nothing outside the setting....

I would think so; yes. It's not that I simply want to "dismiss" what has gone before. It is simply that the constant updating builds on mythos and techniques of which the new user has _no_ prior knowledge does nothing more than demonstrate a ludicrous power level and complexity he doesn't really need to see just yet: why turn him off when you're trying turn him on? And honestly, unless you folks are already in the habit of resetting your worlds with each new addition, I can't imagine that Dr. Destroyer is still a big deal after 40 years. I mean, he might be, I suppose, but in 40 years, you think someone would have just enlisted all the supers in the country to deal with him once and for all. For us, I think we revived Mechanon _one final time_ when we saw the 4e version (who can say "no" to such a sweet Jack Kirby hat?!), but after three or four resurfacings of the 2e version, it lost its charm even faster than Ultron the Undying did (and it didn't take long for that, either. I _detest_ the idea of a foe you can _never_ vanquish. Why even make characters? Just have your players line up once a month, bitch slap each one with your ring hand, and remind them to come back in four weeks to get slapped all over again.) At any rate, what I think we need is "start kind of simple.". Do NOT confuse this with "dumbed down." We need simple villains with simple(ish) motives and easy-to-digest builds: we need a learning tool. Yeah, there are two hundred AMGs on this board, and frankly they likely represent the core of HERO's vanishing fan club. They flat get their rocks off on number crunch and complication, and each edition caters more and more to that. And each edition has less and less public awareness. At the risk of offending anyone (which is not my goal here), the surface evidence suggests that catering to this niche is _not_ a winning strategy for the company. To be clear, I'm not suggesting replacing that, either. I am suggesting an into-level "fresh start" that can be picked up, digested, and ready to play in under a week by almost anyone. Something to put the taste in the mouths of potential new players. If they want to move on and dive into all forty-six pounds of blue-backed books afterwards, then _great_! It'll be new to them anyway., right? If they don't, also great, because adventures will keep rolling out for them. In video games, the fans complain mightily about "filthy casuals." We would all be wise to notice that it is these "casuals" who represent the bulk of purchases. I have little doubt that RPGs are much the same. Give them something they can digest in the time they have available, and an adventure they can break into two-to-four two-hour sessions. Give them rules they can read and learn in a week. Give them a box full of playable game and get them looking in this direction. Good Lord, yes. No new rules! Given that all the arguments still exist, and the balance complaints still exist, and you still can't build a power mimic or the Taskmaster without a VPP that turns every use of their powers into a game-halting "character generation revisited" session, I can't one-hundred-percent say that the new rules are nearly as helpful as they were meant to be anyway. Peel of some of the more exotic options, if we must. Give them something they can use _right now_.