Gary Miles

I take the opposite approach, I think all the other products should be called x Champions.  Star Champions.  Western Champions.  Fantasy Champions.

I think there's still room for vigilante games and Dark Champions type genre but yeah making it a broader setting and genre would be great.  I mean some of Schwarzenegger's films he was basically superheroic in

Definitely the example I will use to explain the difference between a vigilante and a superhero: "Vigilantes are basically like Arrow, and superheros are more like Flash..."

And I would be on the Harbinger of Justice's side and with him.  There are no excuses for rioting and looting, nor with sedition and subversion against the police.

No excuses? For looting, maybe not. For the others, though? Don't forget you're living in a country whose founding was inspired by sedition, which was born out of armed uprising against its lawful government. The line between lawless and justified, hero and traitor, depends on who's doing the drawing.

The similarity is not surprising, given that they're both pretty clearly derived from the NASA logo.
 
Although if the Space Force is going to be run under the auspices of the United States Air Force, they should at least have the decency to put the seven chevrons in the logo.

Rollerball. The first one.

Chinese dragons often had fur

Dragons are endothermic Saurians. So breathing fire is like nothing a Cold blooded Reptile could do. 

Says who?

I think a dragon that looks like a cat would be a pretty cool change-of-pace.
 

 
I would hesitate to call that the work of a "lazy" artist.

WellI subscribe to the Dinosaurs are large birds  theory.  So avian traits for dragons, minus feathers, for me works. Drogon was my favorite.

Godzilla.
 
See that wasn't hard.
 

While I certainly understand why someone could have issues with the unified timeline, for both personal and practical reasons, I find that it adds great depth to the setting; depth which can also be mined for plot lines and character concepts.
 
As I've mentioned elsewhere on the forums, the Hero Universe being a hobby of mine has led to me becoming kind of a "lore master" to the Champions Online MMORPG role-playing community, frequently answering questions about the official Champions Universe and helping people develop PCs derived from it. One brainstorming session I had with a player named Jon Sils -- himself a veteran Hero gamer -- led to a PC directly relevant to this thread.
 
As Jon explains it: "At his height, during the Turakian Age, Kilbern Skyfather was the chief of the gods, but bound most of his power into his sword Auralia in order to seal the tomb of Takofanes the Undying. He'd retired to a quiet corner of Elysium, slowly losing power as his worshipers died out... Then, in 1987, the Tomb was opened. Kilbern could feel the disturbance as Auralia was removed and the Lich-King's tomb opened. He spent most of his remaining power crossing the Elysian fields against the wishes of the other gods there, leaving him weak enough to evade the Ban. He manifested directly on Earth, but with only the power of a beginning superhero. Now he strives to become famous enough (the modern equivalent of worship) to gain the power to defeat Takofanes permanently."
 

I am so glad to see another version of San Angelo hit the street.  I have four of the books and the two short products and am really stoked to see another version being  made.
 
But to the point.
Detail is very important.  But for me one of the most important features is a usable map of the city and good area map of the areas around the city.
 
The one RPG city that I religiously use for any modern game.  And by modern I mean the 1940's to near future.  That city is Hudson City.  And the biggest reason is the big map.  The county map frankly sucks as a resource, but that city map is awesome. 
 
Why?  It has all the streets with names.  I say again it has a complete usable street map with names.  The blocks are there and major points of interest are marked like a modern physical street map.  This gives the GM solid and easily accessible locations while leaving all of the actual buildings/structures undefined and open for them to put their own spin in without having to worry about needing the players to ignore something.
 
And one of the biggest points is the map (color) is of a high enough resolution you can zoom into any part of it, grab a screen shot and print it without it losing resolution when printed out.    I have a poster sized version I put in a poster sleeve that I lay on the table and people can write on it with dry erase without damaging the map. 
 
I can really use the HC map in game by zooming in and grabbing locations for the scenario. 
 
Trying to come up with logical street names over a campaign is not as easy as one would think, and having a map that actually has them really makes a city seem real.  When players look at the big map of HC on the table they see a city map, not a map of an RPG city,
 
OK, the preaching is over
 
 
 

I didn't actually build any of this stuff in the rules, although it would be simple enough to do.  I just list the effects and how to use them, details on where they are found, etc. 
 
I know, Hero heresy but the focus in this book is details for running a game rather than how to make things.

Got this at half price books in Appleton Wisconsin

swords are less likely to puncture thin starship hulls?

Why do you need more than swords being cool?  Any idea anyone has for reintroducing the sword to warfare will be a blatant excuse that doesn't hold up under serious scrutiny anyways, why bother?  Swords are cool, that's why the setting has them.  No more explanation needed. 

I have no idea where to put this, and "other genres" seems appropriate.
 
No; I'm not looking to tear it apart or ask questions about it.  I just wanted to say that I spent this afternoon reading it.  Yeah; I'm probably the last guy to buy it (that's just the way it tends to go for me    ), but I read it today-- the PDF, anyway.  I intend to read it again when the printed book shows up.
 
First: it took me far to long to make the connection between the Bill Keyes listed on the cover and our own Bill Keyes.   That was humorously embarrassing.  
 
Second:  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was well-written, with an easy, comfortable writing style that read quickly and lightly.  I want more!      I have to say that overall, it's not my thing-- well, Steampunk is something I've enjoyed for quite some time, but the over-all tone built into the offered setting is a bit 'dark' for my tastes, or rather, to be more accurate-- a bit dark for what I like in Steampunk.  I suppose I'm a Verne at heart.
 
Still, I can't say enough good things about this book, over all.  Even though it tends to be a bit dark by default, it's not overtly depressing or dehumanizing, and is filled, particularly near the end, where the suggestions start coming hard and fast-- with suggestions on lightening things up.  I wasn't too keen on the baked-in presence of magic, but again-- lots of suggestions on ignoring that, and they worked well.  Oddly, I didn't mind magic as it relates to the talents of Savants.  It seemed almost appropriate there.
 
One thing I would liked to have seen was a bit more information on the "ancient evil beasties."  No; I don't need write-ups for a piece of background, particularly one that is expressly described as not taking direct action in the setting, ever.  But I would like to know just _why_ they are interested in humans and technology-- at least, more than the vague mentions that they are in fact interested-- and why this interest waxes and wanes across generations.  To a lesser extent, I would like to know the effects on humans of this waxing and waning.  I suppose to sum it up: is this something unique to the setting?  Is it important to the history or the future adventures of the game?  Or was this an afterthought to bring this wordbook in line with the much-unloved universal timeline dropped on us in 5e and not yet abandoned?
 
Still, that's rather minor, as if I chose to run with this book, I could always invent what I needed and ignore what I didn't.  And I confess that it _is_ helpful that the provided introductory adventure leaps directly to the machinations of these great evil beings and their attempt to use Savants to open a dimensional gateway.  But that also seems pretty close to direct intervention.  Still, it does provide an idea of the motives the evil and how they influence the world.  I'd just like something a bit more concrete.
 
 
However, if you haven't checked it out, I can't recommend it enough, if only for pleasure reading.  It's just really well-done, and should be considered a high-water mark for third-party products.  
 
(What I really wish, though, was that the HERO version got the same cover as the Savage Worlds version.     )
 
 
 
 

Dozens of free PDF's of West End Games RPG version of Star Wars. Rule books, Sourcebooks, adventures, guides, even a couple of "choose your own adventure" solo books. Also some conversions of WotC's d20 Star Wars into the West End Games d6 system.
 
Had no idea all of this existed until a few minutes ago but it looks like most everything Star Wars that WEG published.
 
The setting is the pre-Disney Star Wars Expanded Universe.
 
http://www.starwarstimeline.net/Westendgames.htm

Ok. Here's one...
Speed Racer  (2008, 40% on RT)
I think folks saw the name Wachowski  attached to it and figured it would be some uber serious Matrix movie but with the IP layered on thin like make up. Instead, it was true to the source material, kid friendly, and fun. A visual treat , not just with bright lights, but scene swaps that harkened to the old japanimation (IIIRC).
 
And with elements of the classic hero's journey. In the end, Speed Racer's innocence is tested, but he makes it through with his integrity intact thanks to support from friends and family and a never say die attitude.
 
Racer X  was played beautifully by Matthew Fox and I swear the guy screamed superhero material in all the right ways.
 
And the state of ninja quality decay is mentioned in movie!
 
I'm going to say this... this movie achieved what it was trying to, it stayed close to the source material, and it looked great doing it. It is a GOOD movie!
 
There, that's probably unpopular with some
 
 

Half the time I think firearms enthusiasts start from the proposition that they like guns, and work backwards from this conclusion to reverse engineer justifications for ownership of whatever flavor of gun they like.