Duke Bushido

Looking back, _I_ think you're right! My fullest appologies. I loved it. When I have time to play with it, I may "formalize" it into something I can list in a package, something akin to +2 skill levels with DEX or something like that. Again, Mallet: well done!

How the hell did you change your birthday?! (and congratulations! That's wonderful!)

The new Aquaman movie, with the kids, earlier this evening. The LEGO one, I mean. Can't recommend it, but at least I knew it was a cartoon going in.

NCM didn't do that. The GM did it when he said "no." Without the GM, there is nothing inherent in the NCM rules to prevent exceeding NCM. Quite the opposite: there are rules that tell you precisely _how_ to exceed it.

Not entirely accurate: Hugh pointed out earlier a problem that I and many others have noticed when NCM and "Package Deals" (done by the rules of the edition that introduced NCM, anyway) are included in a campaign: Players who have already "prepaid" half of what they need to exceed NCM on a characteristic have a tendency to not just exceed it, but to max it. In my own experience-- and evidence suggests in Hugh's as well-- that NCM _does_ affect character build, unfortunately, not quite in the way I expect the designer(s) of the NCM concept had envisioned. But yes: Hugh has earlier put forward the idea that NCM does affect character build, at least under certain circumstances. Mallet: I am _stunned_ be the simplicity and efficiency of your solution! That's absolute _genius_! It allows a particular race or character type to exhibit the traits that make him a typical example of that race / type without having to _first_ exceed some power level. That is positively _brilliant_, and with your blessing, I'd like to start stealing it right away. Duke

totally get what you're saying; really I do: I've been dealing with it-- on and off-- for some years with regards to weapons and equipment for Heroic-level games, and Westerns in particular. But there _are_ some things that players care about: damage vs cost is probably the most common, followed closely by conceal ability vs accuracy (I nice long barrel and a heavy frame tend to add accuracy, but make it a lot harder to slip into a coat pocket). The other things-- breaking, jamming, etc-- players aren't so concerned as long as those numbers are a low as they can afford to buy. Then you come up with a list of twenty-four pistols are staggeringly-varied sizes, weights, etc--- but they all do the exact same damage. I mean, at that level in HERO terms, pretty much everything from a .28 to a .60 does identical damage. It's kind of disappointing. Do you _need_ a historically-accurate list of weapons and when they became available, etc, to enjoy the game? No; of course you don't. But then you end up with a bit less "color" for your character: "I remember that feller; yeah. Had a Henry. Thought it was a carbine, at first, but then I seent he'd sawed it down a bit. Fair nice job, too. He loved that thing. Whole time he was in the corner, whay I reckon he spent 40 minutes going over it, tightening and cleaning it. Reckon he knows who delicate those things are out here in the scrub. He was packing' a Navy, too. .38, it looked like. He cleant on that'n a while, too-- 'nuff fer me ta notice it were a brass strap. Figured he was maybe a 'Reb, and when the the dust settled maybe he ha'int no home to get ta. Weren't though. He got done eatin, swallered his drink, wrapped that Henry back up like it were his own papoose. Dropped that brass strap Navy low on his hip and skittered on out. Come by my good eye, too-- right close like. Young feller. Real young. Less'n he could ride and shoot in pinned britches, he weren't never no Reb! Why, he'd'a been twenty years older to see any a' that...." Or, since in HERO terms, there's no reason to be particularly specific with your iron: "Hmm. Feller with two guns. Yessir, I seen plenty' them come by...." Yeah, okay, you can add the flavor, certainly. But there's no real _drive_ to differentiate your equipment built-in to the system. Thing is there _should_ be. If you really pay attention to the base-model character sheet (4e and prior. Well, 5e had base Characteristics, too, and they didn't really change their starting values), then the damage listed on the "real world weapons" charts all seem a bit low (assuming you're _not_ using hit locations, that is). Re-working _that_ list does allow for a _small_ bit of variety where it should be, but again: it's a _small_ bit. Don't get me wrong: I don't want to make a gun-centric story. It is simply that weapons are a great place to highlight the loss of granularity at lower power levels.

Man, you can almost _feel_ the slipstream coming off of him....

And that's why we hate you. I kid, of course. And bless him, he did it to himself.....

You know, I never thought about it before, but I actually think I like that a lot better myself: Lucha Champions; Western Champions, etc-- Though "Hero" does come more easily to mind. "Champions" implies some really lofty ideals that might not work so good in a heroic-level campaign universe, particularly a more-or-less realistic one. Still, I _do_ like the reference to the Champions roots. And honestly, that is in itself likely why "Champions" wasn't used: 4e was marketing itself as a universal system. What better way to promote your actual system than to name the games after it. The only problem is the super-hero roots. There's not much diversity and heroic levels. I've wrestled with that for a long time. No secret that Western HERO was my favorite sourcebook, and it inspired a _lot_ of various campaigns over the years. I even mentioned once wanting to create a supplemental book for it, but upon reading GURPS: Old West, well.... there was no way to top that! I never quite let it go, though. As I got older and didn't have as much time and resources to devote to raw research, I've picked up other well-done sourcebooks with the intention of formally adapting them to HERO (4e, obviously, as that seems to be where Western HERO was born and died). It kills me how much detail goes into weapons and equipment in other games, the subtle nuances and differences between similar-but-not-identical items. Even the odds of jamming or failure based on (depending on flavor) historically-accurate data, or movie-screen-derived data for high-adventure campaigns. And at the bottom end of the HERO system-- the Heroic campaign-- almost none of that is possible. it's like the difference between pixels and Triscuits. Still, I don't give up hope. One day I will have the personal sourcebook I want, even if I never play another Western genre game (the younger folks aren't really interested, and my older folks are happy with other genres (and I may have burnt a couple of them out on the Old West ). And when it's done-- well, I'll still have toddbannister's "Omnibus Edition" cover to wrap it in. I can't thank you enough for that, toddbannister! Duke

Not in english; no. In spanish, or -- and I think it would be great for pushing the theme-- then yes. But it screws up the general format "Adjective HERO"

GAH! it's done. Well, it's done, but it's not done. If I may: While cutting file size in preparation for making the proofing copy PDFs, I kept finding "this one thing" or "that other thing," etc, etc. Technically it's done, but having found these minor bits to tweak, it just made sense to tweak them before sending them out. Kept me up all last night, and I've been at it more than I should have been today. Bear with me folks; you'll have it shortly. Duke

In this case, "Bless their hearts," else you're directing it to Starlord. While it might not seem so to outsiders, there's a fairly complex set of rules that go with that.

Real ones aren't too terribly difficult to pull off. Unless, of course, you get player characters involved. Seriously though: if you want to include Pcs as part of the myth, make sure that your prophecy isn't too intricate, has a couple of vague areas, and that the players intend to play together for several years.

No; forgive me. As I mentioned, I'd been awake way too long. I was confusing Lucha HERO with the Western HERO book I'd been working ONN for umpteen hours. Lucha is indeed a complete game. Sorry about that.

Ah, yes: The one where they encountered the c'thuloid and the look-tater.....

I've picked up MHI,and I've smoked over Narosia pretty hard, but I'm undecided: would someone who has it be kind enough to tell me if it is actually a complete game, or is it just another fantasy setting book? And your Jolhros: is it to be essentially a full game? I broke down and bought Lucha HERO (loved it, but I'm also a Lucha fan). It's wonderful, with lots of information, pleasant reading, power builds, etc, UT it's got no running gear: it is essentially a highly detailed genre book: you will need a rules book or books to play. I almost picked up PS 238, UT I am afraid it might not be self-contained, either. I was up all night, trying to finalize my Western HERO project for proofing. I just wanted to check in here before going to bed. I freely admit that thinking at the moment can barely qualify to be called thinking at all. That said, I straight-up don't understand how you arrived at this conclusion. Can I ask you to break it down a bit?

Funny you should say that. The _only_ CCG I ever got into was based on the Tomb Raider games. The whole reason I got into it was because the cards were simply terrain, corridor, obstacle, trap, and monster cards. You were building the map as you played, both trying to get yourself to the goal and stymie your opponents. It didn't last long (most people seem to prefer "Pokei-o" type card games, which I detest for personal reasons), and I never did manage to get a full set of cards, but we had a lot of fun on game breaks using what we had. Dammit, I think Nostalgia is is going to raid my wallet again.... Huge, isn't it?! Duke

Which is probably closer to reality anyway. As a bit of age disclosure: I was too old to be the target audience for either product, but I had a couple of "kid siblings" that were totally into them. As a lifelong gearhead, though, some of the details and accuracy of the car mode on the larger, more complex ones were rather impressive for toys of the time. At least, for a while. Once they caught on and the toys started really selling, they just stated throwing wheels on anything. Wierd thing is I think kids could tell. Seems like the weirder the vehicle version got, the less often they were requested for Christmas, birthdays, or any other reason. Though I remember having to track down some that hadn't been available in years of the early ones (glad I don't have to do that anymore, since Kay-Bee toys isn't a thing anymore) I will preface this with a heartfelt comment: I completely understand and respect that you don't seem to care for those movies. That aside: I totally loved them (the first three). I thought they were absolutely amazing; so much so that the kids and I will occasionally re-watch them. I don't know how many times we have rewatched them (and Lord no; not more than one at a sitting), but it wouldn't be stretching it to say around a dozen times. The last two had high production values, awesome stunts, exceptional cinetography, but the stories.... Well, when the robots could fall apart into a billion pieces, fly around like a swarm, and reassemble somewhere else, unharmed-- but we could still shoot them.... And the look and "personalities" of the selected Transformers.... I don't know.... The fifth one came across as something of an apology for the fourth one. I know: I have heard all kinds of discussions as to why the movies weren't good and why I am "wrong" for liking the, but you know, none of that changes anything: some folks like them; some folks don't. It's true of pretty much everything. Except maybe Ishtar. Everyone loves that. (HA!) Duke

Other way around. Tonka had been pushing out Go-Bots two years or so before Transformers existed. Now if you had said "completely mis-managed inspiration of Transformers," I'd have been cool with it. It would also be hyphenated, as it's being used as an adjective. Holy crap I have got to get some sleep....... Sorry folks: been up too long.....

I don't want to throw this thread off-track; I would just like to point out that this particular inversion isn't really uncommon at all. In fact, one of my favorite uses of this plot point makes it blatant immediately, and beats you over the head with just how blatant it is: "and all this is true, because it rhymes." Duke

While I won't deny that this has become an amusing surprise (and I really mean it's a surprise) for me, given the length of time it's been up, I don't think we're going to get a significant enough sample size to get any meaningful data here...

Is that in the HERO store? Because the one I picked up elsewhere is a book scan. A good one, but a book scan nonetheless. Brian: you've alread got a leg-up on attitude. Anyone that likes Mr. T has the right attitude already.

I see. Good to know, and thanks.

Still have it, actually. It's my truck: 02 Chevy one ton SRW, crew cab with a long box. I bought at a point in my life where I needed a larger work truck (worked out of an Isuzu Pup shortbox for years) and a car for family outings, but I couldn't afford both. Thus, the Leviathan. From the winch to the trailer ball, it's 21 feet of wallet-cleansing appetite. Kind of sad for a guy with six bikes. But the kids are at that age where if I go, they _both_ want to go, so I don't get to ride much more than to work and back these days. :(.

I never said it was sad, Sir. The vast majority of conversations on this very board demonstrates that there are those for whom the act of creating is its own joy. Nothing wrong with that, at least not from where I'm sitting. You know: me. The nearly full-time GM who has a stack of over four hundred "player characters" that will never see the light of day unless I'm in a pinch for a new villain.....