chrisbrico

I like the points everyone makes, but I have to admit I remain a Terran Empire/Marissa III junkie, even after all these years. I liked ALIEN WARS too, but 90% of that setting is built strictly for Military Sci-Fi campaigns, where TERRAN EMPIRE offers that and more besides. I'll allow a good chunk of EMPIRE is derived from the best (and worst) of STAR WARS and STAR TREK, but a good GM can take the building blocks provided by EMPIRE and create something fresh and original. I must respectfully disagree with Lawnmower Boy about the whole of EMPIRE not being greater than the sum of its parts. Between the various alien races, histories, political intrigues, technologies, religions/philosophies, criminal institutions, and the shadows of the recent past (ALIEN WARS) affecting the "present," I've no doubt I could've kept an EMPIRE campaign going for a long time--assuming I'd ever found anyone who wanted to play, that is! It seems I'm alone on the island when it comes to TERRAN EMPIRE, but for my money it was one of the high points of HERO 5E, and it inspired at least one 50,000 word first draft novel out of me (not to mention a few dusty old modules), so I'll always love it. Long live the Empress Marissa III!

I'm glad to see the Terran Empire has its fans! I always loved it, and I'm sorry I was never able to put a group together to explore it. I'm also sorry DOJ decided to abandon it so quickly before it got a chance to develop. When I read Steven Long's post that DOJ was not going to support the STAR HERO line anymore due to poor sales, it broke my heart. Had I been able to get my own TE campaign off the ground, I'd meant to set it in 2636 CE, not long after Marissa III's reign began. The sourcebook is terrific, with enough aliens, political intrigue, plot threads, and all else that I'm sure I could've kept a campaign going for a while. I agree with the idea the setting would've benefited from having some "official" modules devoted to it from DOJ. If they'd pushed the setting more, it might've developed more of a fan following, and it might've grown large enough to keep around, much as CHAMPIONS has survived down through the years. Certainly TE can be converted to Sixth Edition HERO with just a little work; it would've made a great complement to the revised STAR HERO. Back when Steven Long wrote the Writers Guidelines for the Fifth Edition (has it really been so long ago?), he mentioned DOJ might also be interested in fiction collections set in the HERO Universe. To anyone's knowledge, has there ever been any fan fiction written for the Terran Empire setting? I was intrigued by the idea of TE fiction, so much so I actually sat down and wrote a first draft out for the 2018 National Novel Writers' Month contest. The story was weak, but it was fun to write and helped me realize a full TE fiction series could be possible, in the hands of a writer more gifted than myself! I doubt a TE fiction series is gong to happen at this late date, but if someone were to attempt it, do any of you think there's be an audience for it?