Christopher R Taylor

I do think that Hero could do with more multimedia grade school flavored stuff to appeal to modern players. Cards, dice, chips, tiles, stuff that is part merchandising and part goodies for players to handle like crayons and construction paper to help their apparently stunted imagination. The advantage of kickstarter is that if you don't get the sales you hoped for, the real expense is taken care of: the up front cost (and publicity, in part). Like they say about medicine, the second pill costs a penny, the problem is that first pill cost hundreds of millions.

Not really sure even what that means.

Probably 2d6 works even better, really, I just like how a d12 looks Randomizing speed takes some of the predictability and pattern of combat away, but that's usually only a problem in a really long campaign or one with lots of fights. If you take a week or two off in between each game, its not going to be terribly repetitive.

I really like Cloak and Dagger, but I fear for what they'll do to the story. Its a great movie concept, not so great for a comic book series

It makes for really depressing storytelling but a superhero that finds out he's in a society where these days feels trump freedom would be a pretty effective sci fi type cautionary tale.

For most combats, I roll a d12 to see what phase we start at, so its unpredictable.

Not the leadership we need, but probably the leadership we deserve

Wouldn't make things any easier. All it does is delete a useful stat without any increase in ease or play

I would love to see a Russian Federation sourcebook for Champions; Champions of the North Star or something. I think a bronze age-themed 1980s Champions campaign setting would be pretty cool too. It really is its own age of comics and history set apart from the rest. When it was perfectly fine to be outrageously patriotic and chest beating, and the commies made such good bad guys.

You could just buy your fear-based effects to target presence rather than Ego (maybe a -1/4 limitation, depending on the campaign).

However, it is worth considering that for a lot of heroic games, almost everything will be speed 3 or 4 anyway, so there won't be a huge difference. I did consider a system in which people had as many phases as their speed, then rolled 3d6 each segment they wanted to act. If it was under their DEX, they got to move, but each successive segment of action was a penalty to the roll so it was harder and harder to act sequentially.

I'm fine with GMs using willpower to resist things that their personal character and force of personality will not. Every game I've run, I have always allowed people to use whichever is higher.

A couple ways. The easiest is invisibility, not invisible to friends (maybe a +1/4 advantage). You're still there, still can take damage, just not perceptible for bad guys to attack. Other, more expensive builds are out there, probably mind control is the most effective but very expensive version.

OK here's the first PC offering with background, Ace! Each of these characters has been designed to be as flexible as possible in terms of gender and ethnicity, so the player can tailor the result to their wishes. My idea is to have a double-sided card for each character, the male version on one side, the female on the other (with illustrations). Ace is the Hawkeye/Gambit type, with shades of Bullseye. Ace can pick up and throw anything, charging it up for a variety of effects and powers when it hits. He can even charge up his fists to hit very hard or generate a kinetic field to protect and move more swiftly across the ground. Ace is a baseball-themed character. Ace Val Char Cost 10 STR 0 19 DEX 18 15 CON 5 10 INT 0 11 EGO 1 13 PRE 3 5 OCV 10 6 DCV 15 3 OMCV 0 3 DMCV 0 8 PD 6 With Kinetic Field: 23 PD; 15 rPD 6 ED 4 With Kinetic Field: 16 PD; 10 rED 5 SPD 30 10 REC 6 45 END 5 10 BOD 0 24 STN 2 15m RUN 3 (with Kinetic Slide: 30m) 4m SWIM 0 4m LEAP 0 Characteristics Cost: 98 Cost Power 35 Thrown Objects: Multipower, 52-point reserve, (52 Active Points); all slots IIF (Object of opportunity; -1/4), Range Based On Strength (-1/4) 3f 1) Change Up: Blast 10d6 (50 Active Points); IIF (Object of opportunity; -1/4), Range Based On Strength (-1/4) 3f 2) Knuckleball: Blast 7d6, Area Of Effect (8m Radius; +1/2) (52 Active Points); IIF (Object of opportunity; -1/4), Range Based On Strength (-1/4) 3f 3) Heater: Blast 7d6, Double Knockback (+1/2) (52 Active Points); IIF (Object of opportunity; -1/4), Range Based On Strength (-1/4) 3f 4) Chin Music: Blast 8d6, Armor Piercing (+1/4) (50 Active Points); IIF (Object of opportunity; -1/4), Range Based On Strength (-1/4) 3f 5) Inside Pitch: Blast 3d6, Damage Over Time, Target's defenses only apply once, Lock out (cannot be applied multiple times) (4 damage increments, damage occurs every three Segments, +2 1/2) (52 Active Points); IIF (Object of opportunity; -1/4), Range Based On Strength (-1/4) 3f 6) Slider: Killing Attack - Ranged 3d6+1 (50 Active Points); IIF (Object of opportunity; -1/4), Range Based On Strength (-1/4) 3f 7) Beanball: Blast 5d6, Attack Versus Alternate Defense (Life Support (Self-Contained Breathing); target holds his breath; All Or Nothing; +1) (50 Active Points); IIF (Object of opportunity; -1/4), Range Based On Strength (-1/4) 3f 8) Curve: Entangle 5d6, 5 PD/5 ED (50 Active Points); IIF (Object of opportunity; -1/4), Range Based On Strength (-1/4) 9) Time Out: Darkness to Sight Group 6m radius, Alterable Size, Uncontrolled (+1/2) (52 Active Points); IIF (Object of opportunity; -1/4), Range Based On Strength (-1/4) 3f 10) Splitter: Sight Group Flash 10d6 (50 Active Points); IIF (Object of opportunity; -1/4), Range Based On Strength (-1/4) 3f 11) Closer: Sight Group Flash 8d6, Area Of Effect (14m Radius Explosion; +1/4) (50 Active Points); IIF (Object of opportunity; -1/4), Range Based On Strength (-1/4) 42 Pinch Hit: Hand-To-Hand Attack +6d6, Reduced Endurance (1/2 END; +1/4), Double Knockback (+1/2) (52 Active Points); Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/4) 39 Kinetic Field: Resistant Protection (15 PD/10 ED) (Protect Carried Items) (49 Active Points); Costs Half Endurance (-1/4) 15 Kinetic Slide: Running +15m (15m/30m total) Powers Cost: 164 Cost Skill 12 +4 with Multipower 3 PS: Baseball player 12- 2 KS: MLB 11- 2 PS: Stage Magician 11- 3 Sleight Of Hand 13- 5 Fast Draw: Throwing items 14- Skills Cost: 27 Cost Perk 5 Money: Well Off Perks Cost: 5 Cost Talent 3 Absolute Range Sense 3 Ambidexterity (no Off Hand penalty) Talents Cost: 6 Total Character Cost: 300 Pts. Disadvantage 20 Dependent NPC: Current date Frequently (Normal; Unaware of character's adventuring career/Secret ID) 20 Hunted: VIPER Frequently (Mo Pow; Harshly Punish) 10 Psychological Complication: Hatred of VIPER (Common; Moderate) 15 Psychological Complication: Something to prove (Common; Strong) 15 Psychological Complication: Cannot resist a challenge (Common; Strong) 15 Social Complication: Secret Identity Frequently, Major 5 Vulnerability: 1 1/2 x effect Ego Drains (Uncommon) Disadvantage Points: 100 Base Points: 300 Both versions: Ace was captured in a sweep by VIPER of those down on their luck for experimental genetic and chemical tests, but unlike most of the test subjects, Ace survived, partly through grit and partly through a unique physiology. Waiting for dissection, Ace discovered the power to charge up items and throw them to explode. Managing to escape the holding cell, Ace discovered those powerful abilities were able to do much more than simply blow things up. Ace's fortunes have turned, but the VIPER experiments and attempts to control their subjects have made Ace vulnerable to effects that weaken willpower. Now VIPER hunts Ace to recapture one of their few successful experiments, as Ace fights evil and injustice wherever it is found. Male version: Ace was a wash in minor leagues because he didn't have anything besides a great arm - no fielding ability, no team spirit. Determined to make it as a pitcher, he ended up living in a flophouse staying alive with his childhood hobby of stage magic, and was caught up by a VIPER team. Now, Ace combines his pitching skill and powers to fight against the kind of criminals that captured him and to prove his skill to the world. Female Version: Ace was a skilled softball pitcher and a rising National Pro Fastpitch pitcher who tried to break into Major League Baseball after a few games where she shut out several AA Franchise teams in the 5-inning exhibition games. But she was turned away flat by every major league team and refused to go back to NPF a failure. finally on her own and surviving on her childhood hobby of stage magic, she was at a shelter when grabbed by VIPER. Now, Ace combines her pitching skill and powers to fight against the kind of criminals that captured her, and to prove she's good enough for the big show. Ace.hdc

For me, the speed chart was one of the big draws for Hero. Everyone moving like clockwork taking turns just doesn't feel right, plus the stat gives some very interesting effects in combat.

Ships and submarines, also some stations in planes that require quick coverage and movement.

That's there so that the skill monkeys who want lots of skills don't get spanked so hard by the cost. I used to use Elemental Control for that, but its the same basic effect; I like your solution. You build a character like Batman and he ends up costing the same as Superman just to know a buncha stuff.

Yeah Lucius that's the kind of thing I was thinking of. Other things like some luck, or a few extra defense on an item so it doesn't break, or a minor illusion to make the hostile creature less hostile to you, that kind of thing. Cheap, small effects that are invisible and that have a side effect, so if you do it wrong, things get worse. And only the magi really know which ones work and which ones are just coincidence or luck.

My Fantasy Hero setting has both racial and professional packages, I find them a good idea, and I liked how 4th edition did it. Forcing players to sacrifice creativity and flexibility for a set block of abilities worth a small reduction in cost seems reasonable to me.

If superheroes are being replaced, its probably by zombie fighters, as pathetic as that may be.

Pants should have 1 ED to protect from hot leather seats.

I do like to abstract things a bit more so as to not penalize players whose imagination or personal fighting experience is less than others. So: if you put your levels into OCV, you feinted or were clever, or powered through their defenses, or any of any of a dozen other options, but it worked. That said, using a sleight of hand or presence attack to gain a one-phase advantage is a nice trick though.

Batman in the cinematic universe (and, for decades, in the comics) has not been the world's greatest detective. He's just the man with the plan. Detective work is hard to write and boring, better to write huge disasters and have Batman being the only guy that can figure out how to get out of them! Its worked for Dr Who and Sherlock Holmes on the BBC, why not Batman, too!

I love the concept, and it not only makes magic less dominant, it makes real dangerous magic that much more terrifying when an NPC can use it, always at some horrific personal cost. I just love the idea of a fighter learning a charm to protect himself from snakes after he got bit. And the "magician' being the guy who has the good spells which he refuses to share or let people know because it reduces his status.

Another interesting aspect of bronze age fantasy is how the magic worked. We think of magic in terms of blasting things with fireballs and summoning monsters, but for the average bronze age type, magic was a matter of how the world just.... worked. You said little charms to get your wheel out of the mud, to protect you from crocodiles, to get a good crop. Magic was just the way you interacted with the world when it was outside your immediate control. When your spell didn't work, well it was a bad spell and that magician has a better one that maybe you can buy.