薔薇語

One idea that comes up frequently in other threads is that you may want to hide as much of the game jargon as possible. It also helps to have a stock set of spells to start with.
 
For instance, have a "session 0" where everyone gets together and organizes their party, and decides what their characters will be. You can start working with them on the character generation, perhaps let them do much of the work themselves. Do the finishing work for each of their characters, do all the number crunching for them, etc., before then next session.
 
Then you can create two character sheets: one with all the detailed builds and all the minutiae that may be confusing to them, and one that is as simple as possible, with very basic descriptions for the things that need explanation (fireball, 8d6 blast). They can use the simple sheets for beginning play, and then use the detailed sheet to see how things like a fireball spell are actually built (with all the advantages & limitations, active points and real cost, etc.). 

I use MP's for some types of abilities. I just keep it easy and stick to all ultra slots for new players and use lockout if needed to keep it to 1 at a time (if a couple are high power and a couple are very low power).  With those restrictions, it's just: "Okay, you can only use one of these at a time, just like if they were individual weapons".
 
VPP's I allow for players who really need it (generally this turns out to be mages) but do not allow new power design except between adventures and they must be approved ahead of the session. Slots can only be swapped if they have a long rest period (generally a full night in a reasonably safe place).
 
- E

Group Identities:
 
A ragtag bunch of people who have all been wronged in some way by the same person / group / force. 
 
Prophesied - a witch / wizard / sage / mystic / holy warrior / spirit has reached out to each of the players because they are needed to fulfill the prophesy.
 
Secret society by proxy. The people who raised each of the players (parent, uncle, grandparent, foster parent, etc) were all part of a secret society. Their parents may or may not still be alive, but someone or something is now seeking to: wipe out all traces of the group or gather their offspring to fight a new threat to the land.
 
The slave / gladiator pits. Each of the players is involved with the gladiator / slave trade in some way, generally as victims of it. They might fight in the pits or heal the survivors or serve the master of the pit or merely have been recently caught and waiting to be sold at auction. Maybe there is even a slave bounty hunter seeking to right the wrongs he has caused or a slave merchant who has fallen from grace and seeks to hide their past. They stage an escape and ....
 
United by fire - Huge wildfires are raging the lands and driving many people to the areas that are unaffected (valleys with lakes, etc). As the survivors gather, groups of like minded individuals join forces to find a new home and hopefully what the cause of the fires is.
 
Pirates! There are only so many good travel routes from X to Y and when the players were travelling the are attacked by pirates and forced to defend the ship. Some are paying passengers, some might be working for their birth, others might be crew or even a stowaway.
 
Should get you started! ?
 
- E

Years ago, I started a campaign for RPG noobs -- my kids and sister-in-law were three players, the fourth was my wife -- in HERO system.  I ended up melding into a combination of two familiar-to-my-kids flavors: anthropomorphic juvenile animals (different species), and faux mystical martial arts.  They were all initiates in the same order of monks.  Very limited and well-defined magic, lowish point totals, and I had considerable communication with all the players ahead of time so they all had "their" characters already created before the first table session, and some ideas about what those characters could do when the fights came.
 
I already had the game-world well developed (I was re-using a world I'd concocted long long before, even before I met my wife, and I knew none of them had any knowledge of it), which allowed me to reel off lots of bits of consistent world backstory without hesitation when they asked questions ... which kids and true RPG noobs *will* do.  The ability to bring in what feels like rich and consistent history was a strong positive for that group of players.

My advice on the magic:
 
I have instituted a "mana pool" for all spellcasters (i.e. END Reserve.) How the END recovers does not have to be the same for all casters; some might need to meditate or to spend time in a suitable environment or perform certain kinds of actions etc. So a necromancer might get power back faster in a graveyard, or a pyromancer may need to light and tend a fire for a time.
 
I like the idea of using Requires a Skill Roll, but that involves a mandatory penalty based on Active Points. This has a few problems. For one you tell the player "You roll your Magic Skill to cast spells" but the actual number on the sheet by the Magic Skill is not the number to roll for ANY of the spells, and in fact, different spells have different numbers to roll based on that penalty. Further, I found the penalty to be crippling with many spells, meaning supposedly powerful wizards would frequently fizzle out when trying to use their awesome powers.
 
I put Requires a Skill Roll, NOT on the individual spells, but on the END itself. This means the actual Magic Skill is what is rolled in almost every case (unless a spell has a HUGE END cost) and if all spells require "mana" from that pool, you still have to make a Skill Roll for each casting.
 
Lucius Alexander
 
Summon Palindromedary

For bringing a group together, if they’re wanting to play younger people, they could be cousins coming of age at roughly the same time. Or perhaps the offspring of a group of former adventurers.
 
 They could be coming together for an anniversary service commemorating some great victory or defeat, a funeral, or some family event. Their travels on the road could be the first adventure and their shared background would provide plot hooks for the future.
 
Perhaps inherenting personal rivalries, enmity from some organizations and gratitude from others. People could show up looking for help from the original heroes and have to settle for the kids.

If they are truly new to Hero, and new to RPGs, character creation can be tough.
 
1) Ask them if they could describe the kind of fantasy character they want to play... you can build it for them... and show them how their character concepts are represented in the rules.
2) This helps them jump right in and see how their ideas are able to be translated into characters.
3) You get to shape their interpretations of Hero, so they inevitably build to your biases... always important for a GM to have players who fit a style.
4) You can teach them by saying, "After a couple sessions, we can talk about what you like, and don't about the characters, and we can tweak them so you learn how to make characters.
5) Or they can make a new character after they've seen how the game plays, from the ground up.
6) I think it would be a good idea to allow the players ideas about their characters to shape the world. If one of them wants to be all Avatar: Last Airbender... then now your world has elemental clans in it, or some such. If another wants to play a noble house, second daughter who loves to duel, then now a certain part of society is heavily shaped by dueling culture. Make their interests part of the game, and they'll be happy to learn the system.
 
Just my opinion, but game play and character dynamics first... system and process second.

Ideas for a Group:
A group that finished a multi-year stint in some country's military (army, King's/Queen's highway guard, etc) .  They are like a foreign legion which would allow for different races/builds.  The reason for the military gig was to get them the first level of citizen rights in the country.  Something like 'Latin Rights' in the Roman Empire.  See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_Rights
 
What Christopher and RDU Neil said above.  Espeically RDU Neil's numbers 4 and 5.  I did that when bringing new people to fantasy hero.  Only one or two people really want to drastically change their character on me.  I still let it happen and they kept all of their current experience points.
 
We kept the spells/powers to already published things (Fantasy Hero, HERO System Grimoire, etc) in the beginning to make things easier.  As above, if they wanted to tweak things later, it was easier to do it after they had some game sessions to see how things worked.
 
Not sure if it really helped, but I manually created sections in their character sheets that listed weapons (with STR bonuses), sectional armor, spells, etc to make things easier for them.  It was some work for me.  But once set up, was easily maintained.  I also ripped out all point values.  I did not want to worry them about all of the points.  They seemed to like the character sheets.  I attached some examples.
 
 
 
Glaive.HTML
Ghoral.HTML
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I am gearing up to run a fantasy hero game in the next month. I was looking through my copy of Fantasy HERO and trying to think of how I want to run things and have thus come up with some questions I was hoping to get insight into. 

First, lets start with describing me and the situation. I have been playing with HERO for a very long time. Every time I have played, I have generally done so with fellow HEROphiles or at minimum a majority Herophile group. This will be my first time running for complete HERO newbies and two of whom are relatively RPG newbies. So i want start off with by making things as easy and intuitive as possible. So among the things that I want to streamline regard building up spells and unique character abilities, heavy tracking of END, and particular complexities regarding variations in weapons, etc. To that end, the following are some of my basic ideas:

--The Pitch-- 
While they are all relatively new (minus 1 DnD player), they are all familiar with DnD and such generic high-fantasy. So I am going to be pitching this as a High-Fantasy Game in a setting with familiar ties to DnD. A world full of thieves, priests, soldiers, sorcerers, druids and mages. Anything they can think of from DnD and so much more will be a possibility. That their general guideline should be to think of "low level" characters they wish they could play in DnD or characters they wish they could have play but for whom the rules of DnD were too restrictive to allow. I will even pitch a few "group" ideas to help get creative juices going and hopefully avoid the issue of Option-Paralyzation wherein given a blank page, folks struggle to think of ideas. 

--How to Help--

I am looking for some pitch ideas I can throw out there to help. Not ideas for individual characters per se but more for a group identity in which they could form a group identity. The one system the relative newbies have played with uses this "group identity" method to help form characters so it should be familiar to them. 

My ideas are: 
A coalition of [insert class] seeking vengeance for a lost master. Could be a group of monks, clerics, or mages, etc. 
The Freed Undead. A group of otherwise undead characters (or a linked monstrous group) that were once under the thrall of a necromancer or such but for some reason are now free and in search of a way to rid themselves of this curse / repent for their previous thralled deeds. 
The Anti-Magic Cult of warriors. A relatively secretive group that seeks to undo the deeds of (evil) mages. A group who specializes in a type of anti-magic style of combat and action or who otherwise only use magic for good. 
Circus Performers. A band of traveling circus performers who live by the creed, "leave every place a bit better than the way you found it". 
Mercs for Hire. Obvious. 
Any more? 

-------------
--Magic--

One of the things that can get hard for any new player is the variety of options for powers. I feel competent enough to build anything they want and hopefully the pitch and character brainstorming session should be enough to get us to a well rounded character. It is the issue of magic / character abilities that I worry about. One idea to help keep things simple on the page and achievable for the players that I got from Fantasy HERO was the idea of "Spells as Skills" wherein one buys the POWER SKILL as "Magic X-". This is their roll to use any of the magical spells they have bough. And the spells are listed like Martial Art Skills. A fireblast [RKA 1d6; 15active] would be cost/3 to get as a skill. Thus FireBlast would be 5 points. The second step in this would be to have PCs buy a "magic reserve" which would be an ENDurance Reserve an a Recovery rate based on some particular trigger (sleeping, meditating, etc). This would help PC spell users not drastically outpace their fellows and help keep the casters tracking of ENDurance simple-ish. 

--How to Help--

I have never tried anything like this before. So any feedback from folks who have tried the spells as skills or used End Reserves for magic essence pools would be appreciated. Has this help players maintain roughly balanced characters? If there is an issue, what has it been centered around and did you and your group generate any particular solutions. An example would be "the fraction rate of x/3 was too low and casters always had far more versatility. Make it x/5" or perhaps the reverse of that, or "Because all that was required was a few points for the Power Skill and Spell, absolutely everyone dipped a bit into caster and so niche protection was lost. Make all casting like Martial arts and require 10, 15, or 20 points to buy in at all". 

-------------
---Weapons--
It seems that as DnD has gone on, weapons have gotten more and more streemlined. Long gone are the 3.5 weapon catalogs where every possible variant of a real world weapon needed a mechanical change in game. I can appreciate this quite a bit. I think I am going to just create a super generic chart of Big, Medium, Small Weapons that each have a set damage value unless the Players spend points to get a much higher quality one. Has anyone tried this? Do you and your fellows enjoy the simplification? Given that one can still spend character points to get specialized mechanics. 

-------------

--Generic Advice--

Any Generic advice for bringing Fantasy HERO to life for a new group? 

La Rose. 
 

I advise using a small group of familiar spells pre-built for casters so they don't have to try to figure out their own powers and spells.  I'd also create blank template "classes" and races so players can start with them, then have x points to spend from a list of abilities for each (as in; this character can have ability A but not B).

I think folks have brought up a number of interesting ideas regarding this possible location setting. Allow me to add a few thoughts:

Let's assume for a moment that there are many types of undead in the kingdom ranging from traditional zombies and skeletons, to Ghouls and Apparitions, to Vampires and Litches. The former being devoid of independent consciousness, the middle being driven by basic / animalistic desires, and the latter being fairly comparable to humans. If we don't want to make this kingdom comic-booky evil, then they have to see in themselves and this state of affairs some positive merits. So, what if the positive merit is that "A good life leads to a good Unlife"? 

Folks who come back to life as the former two categories are somehow impure and thus, in a butchered Buddhist sense, must be cleaned through #eternal labor. By doing so they honor their ancestors and provide for their progeny. In this way, the (un)dead are a sacredlized member of a family. It is the family unit, in a Confusion sense, that owns the body. It is the role of the head of the house to maintain the (un)dead and to bring prosperity to their family and honor to their name. Destroying an undead worker isn't merely an issue akin to breaking someone's TV, it is as if you have killed their father and perhaps eternally doomed that person / family. An act so heinous that forced 'incorporation' of the offender / offender's family, might be the only reasonable recourse. This could also be a great plot hook idea (PCs break this sacred law / one family is trying to expand their control by 'incorporating' another). 

This would help one build in very strong familial ties and power bases and help prevent a monopolistic Emperor Litch from just having a kingdom of pure undead. This bond making and value also explains why families don't just send out their undead members off to war for greater aquisition. They know who these folks are and share some kind of bond with them. And risking their eternal servitude and honor risks one's own post-death chances. Obviously it will happen just as fathers have sent sons into battle, but it is generally for some greater cause that could bring honor.

This society, one in which struggle, hard work, and familiar devotion are paramount might see incarnations of the second kind (Ghouls) as expressions of a life lived in greed, gluttony, lust, or any other deadly sin. This eternal hell might instill a work ethic hardly seen in any other population. Why don't they merely go on vacation forever and leave all the hard labor to their dead family? Because doing so risks your eternal soul. You may become one of the outcasted dead. Perhaps the presence of such an undead creature in a family line is equivalent to a mark of Kane on the whole family. If the wider public finds out, they risk ostracism or perhaps incorporation into the imperial line. Only there, when-in they can serve the whole of the glorious kingdom can the tar of sin be washed away eventually and their souls allowed to move on. This is why the Emperor is so important: only he can wash clean the befouled. Only he can keep the kingdom safe from the deadly sins. Thus he serves not as an all powerful figure to be feared but as an eternally nurturing healer and protector of his kingdom. 

It is, of course, the conscious sinners (Vampires and other fully sentient undead that embrace some baser urge like hungry) that occupy the greatest attention by all. Their ascension isn't just a deep smear on the family line but an eternal curse. An infection of flesh and society that must be purged with the holiest of lights. No one abides the vampire kin. So great is their blemish that the kingdom has gone to war with its neighbors under the explicit banner to eradicate this scourge thought to be ruling or being protected by the rulers of that kingdom. Destruction of such a foe is of such great honor that whole familial lines can be lifted to great heights by one member's heroic deed. 

The last group would be the litch (or litch like character). Someone not bound to some baser urge/sin and fully conscious. These souls do NOT become the eternal rulers of their family. These are the chosen of the kingdom. The only one's whose life could truly justify presence before the Eternal Emperor. These are his children. The Eternal Emperor can bear no children of his own but is blessed with abundance in his line. Should an emperor ever fall, it is from these select few that the new emperor is chosen. Perhaps it is like the system of Cardinals picking the next pope, perhaps it is whomever can seize power the fastest, perhaps it is a person chosen by the previous emperor. Indeed, while we call the Emperor Eternal, his lifespan is short (maybe only one additional lifespan). But the role is Eternal and thus the title. Having one's family member in the Eternal Court brings great honor in society and the Emperor's family is given extreme privilege. 

You could layer onto this lots of other ideas, too. What is the role of women in the society? Perhaps maternal and fetal death in pregnancy is a great shame/curse and as such women are given special protections to aid them. Slave birthing might have a stigma as it risks death from the woman and child and not all deaths are equally good. If menial labor is relatively plentiful and reliable, there might not even be much need to birth many children - indeed doing so might limit the work options for the child and thus risk his eternity. Or it could be the opposite. 

What is the war strategy like? Someone mentioned above that they might try to find way to preserve the opponent so as to not damage potential new legions. Maybe the Emperor sees conquest as his only reasonable way to increase his forces since he can not institute drafts in the same way real world nations have. And of course he needs to be seen as a strong enough figure as to maintain the order lest citizens question his right to rule. Of course the Eternal Court helps build in some popular support and give aspirational goals to the common folks who, though a life of hard work, could get into the court and maybe even become Emperor in their undeath. 

Their religion could actual revolve around the Sun and Sand. The Sun's holy might is what holds back the worst of the undead filth (vampires). The streets could shine with eternal flames meant to ward away such creatures. The hearth of a home could always be ablaze to ward off such fiends. They may even look down with repugnant scorn on human slavers. They defile the good names of their slaves and risk everyone's safety; indulging in their greed and wrath they risk their souls and denying socially beneficial labor to their slaves dishonor their family and perhaps risk other spawned horrors. In this way, they could actually be a force for some good in their neck of the woods. 

Those are, of course, just my thoughts. 

La Rose. 
 

I think folks have brought up a number of interesting ideas regarding this possible location setting. Allow me to add a few thoughts:

Let's assume for a moment that there are many types of undead in the kingdom ranging from traditional zombies and skeletons, to Ghouls and Apparitions, to Vampires and Litches. The former being devoid of independent consciousness, the middle being driven by basic / animalistic desires, and the latter being fairly comparable to humans. If we don't want to make this kingdom comic-booky evil, then they have to see in themselves and this state of affairs some positive merits. So, what if the positive merit is that "A good life leads to a good Unlife"? 

Folks who come back to life as the former two categories are somehow impure and thus, in a butchered Buddhist sense, must be cleaned through #eternal labor. By doing so they honor their ancestors and provide for their progeny. In this way, the (un)dead are a sacredlized member of a family. It is the family unit, in a Confusion sense, that owns the body. It is the role of the head of the house to maintain the (un)dead and to bring prosperity to their family and honor to their name. Destroying an undead worker isn't merely an issue akin to breaking someone's TV, it is as if you have killed their father and perhaps eternally doomed that person / family. An act so heinous that forced 'incorporation' of the offender / offender's family, might be the only reasonable recourse. This could also be a great plot hook idea (PCs break this sacred law / one family is trying to expand their control by 'incorporating' another). 

This would help one build in very strong familial ties and power bases and help prevent a monopolistic Emperor Litch from just having a kingdom of pure undead. This bond making and value also explains why families don't just send out their undead members off to war for greater aquisition. They know who these folks are and share some kind of bond with them. And risking their eternal servitude and honor risks one's own post-death chances. Obviously it will happen just as fathers have sent sons into battle, but it is generally for some greater cause that could bring honor.

This society, one in which struggle, hard work, and familiar devotion are paramount might see incarnations of the second kind (Ghouls) as expressions of a life lived in greed, gluttony, lust, or any other deadly sin. This eternal hell might instill a work ethic hardly seen in any other population. Why don't they merely go on vacation forever and leave all the hard labor to their dead family? Because doing so risks your eternal soul. You may become one of the outcasted dead. Perhaps the presence of such an undead creature in a family line is equivalent to a mark of Kane on the whole family. If the wider public finds out, they risk ostracism or perhaps incorporation into the imperial line. Only there, when-in they can serve the whole of the glorious kingdom can the tar of sin be washed away eventually and their souls allowed to move on. This is why the Emperor is so important: only he can wash clean the befouled. Only he can keep the kingdom safe from the deadly sins. Thus he serves not as an all powerful figure to be feared but as an eternally nurturing healer and protector of his kingdom. 

It is, of course, the conscious sinners (Vampires and other fully sentient undead that embrace some baser urge like hungry) that occupy the greatest attention by all. Their ascension isn't just a deep smear on the family line but an eternal curse. An infection of flesh and society that must be purged with the holiest of lights. No one abides the vampire kin. So great is their blemish that the kingdom has gone to war with its neighbors under the explicit banner to eradicate this scourge thought to be ruling or being protected by the rulers of that kingdom. Destruction of such a foe is of such great honor that whole familial lines can be lifted to great heights by one member's heroic deed. 

The last group would be the litch (or litch like character). Someone not bound to some baser urge/sin and fully conscious. These souls do NOT become the eternal rulers of their family. These are the chosen of the kingdom. The only one's whose life could truly justify presence before the Eternal Emperor. These are his children. The Eternal Emperor can bear no children of his own but is blessed with abundance in his line. Should an emperor ever fall, it is from these select few that the new emperor is chosen. Perhaps it is like the system of Cardinals picking the next pope, perhaps it is whomever can seize power the fastest, perhaps it is a person chosen by the previous emperor. Indeed, while we call the Emperor Eternal, his lifespan is short (maybe only one additional lifespan). But the role is Eternal and thus the title. Having one's family member in the Eternal Court brings great honor in society and the Emperor's family is given extreme privilege. 

You could layer onto this lots of other ideas, too. What is the role of women in the society? Perhaps maternal and fetal death in pregnancy is a great shame/curse and as such women are given special protections to aid them. Slave birthing might have a stigma as it risks death from the woman and child and not all deaths are equally good. If menial labor is relatively plentiful and reliable, there might not even be much need to birth many children - indeed doing so might limit the work options for the child and thus risk his eternity. Or it could be the opposite. 

What is the war strategy like? Someone mentioned above that they might try to find way to preserve the opponent so as to not damage potential new legions. Maybe the Emperor sees conquest as his only reasonable way to increase his forces since he can not institute drafts in the same way real world nations have. And of course he needs to be seen as a strong enough figure as to maintain the order lest citizens question his right to rule. Of course the Eternal Court helps build in some popular support and give aspirational goals to the common folks who, though a life of hard work, could get into the court and maybe even become Emperor in their undeath. 

Their religion could actual revolve around the Sun and Sand. The Sun's holy might is what holds back the worst of the undead filth (vampires). The streets could shine with eternal flames meant to ward away such creatures. The hearth of a home could always be ablaze to ward off such fiends. They may even look down with repugnant scorn on human slavers. They defile the good names of their slaves and risk everyone's safety; indulging in their greed and wrath they risk their souls and denying socially beneficial labor to their slaves dishonor their family and perhaps risk other spawned horrors. In this way, they could actually be a force for some good in their neck of the woods. 

Those are, of course, just my thoughts. 

La Rose. 
 

I think folks have brought up a number of interesting ideas regarding this possible location setting. Allow me to add a few thoughts:

Let's assume for a moment that there are many types of undead in the kingdom ranging from traditional zombies and skeletons, to Ghouls and Apparitions, to Vampires and Litches. The former being devoid of independent consciousness, the middle being driven by basic / animalistic desires, and the latter being fairly comparable to humans. If we don't want to make this kingdom comic-booky evil, then they have to see in themselves and this state of affairs some positive merits. So, what if the positive merit is that "A good life leads to a good Unlife"? 

Folks who come back to life as the former two categories are somehow impure and thus, in a butchered Buddhist sense, must be cleaned through #eternal labor. By doing so they honor their ancestors and provide for their progeny. In this way, the (un)dead are a sacredlized member of a family. It is the family unit, in a Confusion sense, that owns the body. It is the role of the head of the house to maintain the (un)dead and to bring prosperity to their family and honor to their name. Destroying an undead worker isn't merely an issue akin to breaking someone's TV, it is as if you have killed their father and perhaps eternally doomed that person / family. An act so heinous that forced 'incorporation' of the offender / offender's family, might be the only reasonable recourse. This could also be a great plot hook idea (PCs break this sacred law / one family is trying to expand their control by 'incorporating' another). 

This would help one build in very strong familial ties and power bases and help prevent a monopolistic Emperor Litch from just having a kingdom of pure undead. This bond making and value also explains why families don't just send out their undead members off to war for greater aquisition. They know who these folks are and share some kind of bond with them. And risking their eternal servitude and honor risks one's own post-death chances. Obviously it will happen just as fathers have sent sons into battle, but it is generally for some greater cause that could bring honor.

This society, one in which struggle, hard work, and familiar devotion are paramount might see incarnations of the second kind (Ghouls) as expressions of a life lived in greed, gluttony, lust, or any other deadly sin. This eternal hell might instill a work ethic hardly seen in any other population. Why don't they merely go on vacation forever and leave all the hard labor to their dead family? Because doing so risks your eternal soul. You may become one of the outcasted dead. Perhaps the presence of such an undead creature in a family line is equivalent to a mark of Kane on the whole family. If the wider public finds out, they risk ostracism or perhaps incorporation into the imperial line. Only there, when-in they can serve the whole of the glorious kingdom can the tar of sin be washed away eventually and their souls allowed to move on. This is why the Emperor is so important: only he can wash clean the befouled. Only he can keep the kingdom safe from the deadly sins. Thus he serves not as an all powerful figure to be feared but as an eternally nurturing healer and protector of his kingdom. 

It is, of course, the conscious sinners (Vampires and other fully sentient undead that embrace some baser urge like hungry) that occupy the greatest attention by all. Their ascension isn't just a deep smear on the family line but an eternal curse. An infection of flesh and society that must be purged with the holiest of lights. No one abides the vampire kin. So great is their blemish that the kingdom has gone to war with its neighbors under the explicit banner to eradicate this scourge thought to be ruling or being protected by the rulers of that kingdom. Destruction of such a foe is of such great honor that whole familial lines can be lifted to great heights by one member's heroic deed. 

The last group would be the litch (or litch like character). Someone not bound to some baser urge/sin and fully conscious. These souls do NOT become the eternal rulers of their family. These are the chosen of the kingdom. The only one's whose life could truly justify presence before the Eternal Emperor. These are his children. The Eternal Emperor can bear no children of his own but is blessed with abundance in his line. Should an emperor ever fall, it is from these select few that the new emperor is chosen. Perhaps it is like the system of Cardinals picking the next pope, perhaps it is whomever can seize power the fastest, perhaps it is a person chosen by the previous emperor. Indeed, while we call the Emperor Eternal, his lifespan is short (maybe only one additional lifespan). But the role is Eternal and thus the title. Having one's family member in the Eternal Court brings great honor in society and the Emperor's family is given extreme privilege. 

You could layer onto this lots of other ideas, too. What is the role of women in the society? Perhaps maternal and fetal death in pregnancy is a great shame/curse and as such women are given special protections to aid them. Slave birthing might have a stigma as it risks death from the woman and child and not all deaths are equally good. If menial labor is relatively plentiful and reliable, there might not even be much need to birth many children - indeed doing so might limit the work options for the child and thus risk his eternity. Or it could be the opposite. 

What is the war strategy like? Someone mentioned above that they might try to find way to preserve the opponent so as to not damage potential new legions. Maybe the Emperor sees conquest as his only reasonable way to increase his forces since he can not institute drafts in the same way real world nations have. And of course he needs to be seen as a strong enough figure as to maintain the order lest citizens question his right to rule. Of course the Eternal Court helps build in some popular support and give aspirational goals to the common folks who, though a life of hard work, could get into the court and maybe even become Emperor in their undeath. 

Their religion could actual revolve around the Sun and Sand. The Sun's holy might is what holds back the worst of the undead filth (vampires). The streets could shine with eternal flames meant to ward away such creatures. The hearth of a home could always be ablaze to ward off such fiends. They may even look down with repugnant scorn on human slavers. They defile the good names of their slaves and risk everyone's safety; indulging in their greed and wrath they risk their souls and denying socially beneficial labor to their slaves dishonor their family and perhaps risk other spawned horrors. In this way, they could actually be a force for some good in their neck of the woods. 

Those are, of course, just my thoughts. 

La Rose. 
 

This suggests that cremation is an empire-threatening felony, unless the low-level undead are far more durable than is commonly attributed to them.  Otherwise anything that reduces the undead cohort becomes a direct threat to the realm.  Environmental susceptibilities could matter, also; if e.g. running water dissolves them, then work on and around the river is riskier for those with an investment in dead labor gangs. Also, I think an important hanging question is how long the undead do last, what it takes to maintain them, as well as what they do when uncontrolled.
 
Another issue is whether a maximum age is laid down for the living.  I could very easily see mandatory "recruitment into the labor pool" at, oh, age 50 or so, with people being allowed to literally buy another year each time their birthday comes up.  A more predatory ruling caste might push it down to 35.

Yo mama's so fat that she looks like the accretion disc to the Earth's black hole! 

Soar. 

Complaining that a candidate who won the popular vote didn't win the election is a little like complaining that the football team that amassed the most yards of offense didn't win the game.
 
"Yards of offense" is an important stat, but it's not what decides the outcome of the game. What decides the outcome of the game is "Points scored". Similar and linked, yes, but not the same.
 
Similarly, we do not now nor, to my knowledge, have we ever determined the Presidency of the United States in terms of the popular vote. It's the Electoral College vote that really matters. Always has been.

So, of course the above raises the question: "What was in that message?"
 
Well, the message was on a post-it-note and is as follows:
 
"Suck it up, pussies. :p"
 
Yep. College educated people think that is a hate crime. Remember how I pointed out that the image that springs to my mind when I hear hate crime and what people are actually using it for are drastically different? This is that.
 
Also, remember how people who were against hate-crime legislation were worried about "thought police" telling people how to think and feel? Such silly folks they were... oh, well, maybe not as silly anymore.
 
It is this kind of BS that I find infuriating. People hyping up every unpleasant interaction as a hate crime. Now, let's not throw out the baby with the bath water, but perhaps it is time to start draining the tub.
 
http://reason.com/blog/2016/11/23/students-reaction-to-trump-win-suck-it-u
 
Soar.

People who believe that President Elect Trump is supporting these Neo-Nazi's can see him denounce harassment and condemn the group. But no amount of evidence will convince people otherwise. 

Ultimately, we have to recognize that large swaths of people are willfully ignorant. People who believe Pres. Bush brought down the towers, people who believe we never went to the moon, people who believe any number of things that they feel they have "evidence" for and refuse to find counter-evidence for. Well, we have it. On TV and in a NYTimes article both with the same conclusion. Whether people choose to accept that message is up to them. But alas, the goal posts will always move. 

Soar. 

Yeah, and nothing but upside for President Obama to release his birth certificate. 

Don't get me wrong, Mega. I get your position. I was on here 8 years ago wanting the birther BS to go away thinking, just like you in this case, that President Obama could only win from just showing his birth certificate. Guess what! He didn't win. There was no upside. People who want to see bad will see bad. The goal posts will continue to move. 

We have his statement of condemnation. This is in conjunction with his 60 minutes point of not harassing people. It will never be enough. So rather than placate people who won't be satisfied, move on. 
 
Soar. 

And if he did it tomorrow, you and other would still accuse him of the same things and beat on the same same dead horse. 

Soar. 

Soar.

Mega, which of the two party do you thinks represents my ideals even remotely?

The Democratic Party and Republican party are far too wrapped up in issues I can't stomach. Why vote for someone who is going to send young americans to fight, die, and kill young and innocent Syrians? I don't think that is a trade off I can look at myself the next morning having made. Others feel differently and they are welcome to their views. Thus the reason it becomes incumbent upon me and everyone else in the Lib. party to make a case for our ideals being better than the other two parties. 

There is of course room to accept that not everyone is going to match my views on particular issues even inside my party. My candidate this time around was most certainly not the representation of my personal views. I had to trade off some things to rally behind Gov. Johnson. I am surprised that you don't recognize that even Libertarians deal with coalitions. We just refuse to deal with your coalitions because you say we must. 

Soar. 

Trump won the electoral college. The fact that he didn't win the popular vote is entirely irrelevant, because the goal was not to win the popular vote. Saying otherwise is like saying you can win a game of baseball by making the most touchdowns. 
 
Had the election been a straight popular vote, who would have won? It's impossible to say without actually running a popular vote election.