Christopher R Taylor

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.

I think that a serious look at skills to decide if they should cost what they do would be in order, too. Some of them are kind of questionable in utility for their cost, like Ambidexterity was slashed by about 10th of its cost from 5th to 6th.

Seems like you'd just have to break him down to his abilities at a core list: flying machine, various grenades, body armor, personal blasting weapon in gloves, etc. His origin, his schtick etc all are up to the design. you could make a variant of him that nobody would even know was the Green Goblin. Put him on a broom with potions - the Alchemist! Put him on a flying carpet with summoned imps that explode - the Arabian Knight! OK that one is a bit Golden Age but you get the point.

Perhaps better would be to have the larger skill list in the core rules and then for the other games, fewer as befits the genre. Does fantasy Hero need Forensic Medicine and Computer Programming? Does a gritty cop game need High Society, or Ventiloquism? So the genre books don't need all of those skills listed. They can refer to a larger list in the core rules to show what else is optionally possible but don't need the whole skill list.

Here's how I handle it. Take a 1d6 HKA Up to double the base damage Classes (2d6) its straight 5 strength per DC Up to double that again, (4d6) its 10 strength per DC Up to double that again, (8d6) its 15 STR per DC and so on. Otherwise, I agree, the increases get absurd. Grond could take a dagger and cut down the Empire State Building.

Remember, a sword isn't enough. It has to have two blades or be gigantic, preferably some kind of katana type. Add some axe heads and chains to it to make it more radical, dude.

Well, people really like Youtube vids, particularly for learning things. If you can be at least somewhat entertaining and know how to edit (to cut out all the Uhhh.. and "i'm looking for" parts) people do look up videos any time they want to know how to

Yeah its a business option, you earn money. I don't donate my work, I sell my work and Hero gets a bit for the licensing.

Yeah you pay for gear, but you pay for non-standard, combat gear. Nobody has to buy LS: cold for their clothes, for example. These days the cell phone, despite its immense utility, is pretty much standard equipment. Think of it like a car: you don't pay extra for wheels, but you do for that nice stereo.

Gotta be in good shape to be a warrior. You won't see those guys at the artillery battery carrying around all that crap!

You might be able to look over what people have written or rough drafts and suggest upgrades!

Nope. I think its worth using a "computer link" perk to represent someone who always has a phone or can, say, through their power armor, act like a phone, but its pretty much like a wristwatch now. Do I need to buy absolute time sense with an OIF and continuing charge to represent that?

That's something people without some age and perspective don't get. Hero was putting NOTHING out in the mid 90s and then started work on another entirely different game so, yeah. This is not what I'd prefer (lots of new official product attracting customers) but its not as bad as its been.

I don't think he even really cares.

I agree, its a violation of the very core principles of super hero comics, one that demonstrates almost painfully how completely the guys in charge of Marvel right now do not get what they are doing and the legacy they've taken over.

I get what you're saying. Maybe just a straight up Super Cops or Agents of U.N.T.I.L. campaign book then? Then notes on how you could use this for other similar concept campaigns. I think there's a market out there for such a book, especially if its presented in an easy-to-load style and approach. I'm moving more toward that with my Jolrhos Fantasy Hero project. Once all the foundation sourcebooks are done, the "Player's Handbook" and "DM Guide" will be presented as a stand-alone fantasy game using the Hero system rather than a supplement for how to use Hero as fantasy in this setting. Stripped down mechanics in the player book for combat and building stuff and then people can use the Hero books for the more detailed stuff.

If I lived in Metropolis or NYC and had half my city flattened by super "heroes" I'd probably be all in favor of some sort of government oversight.

I think an overall reboot of Super Agents could be a good idea, its a very dated product and there's probably value in putting out a simple "here's how to get into super agents" as well as lots of references to variations (super cops, agents of S.H.E.E.S.H. Supernatural Monster fighters, etc) that could be examined. Then adventure ideas, at least ten short ideas and one or two adventures.

Yeah I missed the window but I'll hold out til the product launches. I can't honestly remember what I donated or what the reward was, I don't have a lot of money but it was some at least. I plan on getting a print copy when I can anyway.

Most of the hype around wireless is from people who don't know very much about electronics or computing, like middle managers and city planners.

That might have more to do with shield wall tactics than anything, though.

5th edition kind of gutted the cantrips from what I understand

They were pretty evenly matched in the comics and the Avengers animated series, partly because he was Captain America-trained. But I don't know how they'd match up in the cinematic universe; she did kick his mind-controlled hind end, but that might not have been him at his best.

For some, the chance to complain and sit hoping things come to them trumps ambition and making things happen. Its a sort of societal divide that's getting bigger and bigger in the modern west.

Alternate or fantastical mounts bring up interesting ideas. Does that intelligent super warhorse run better and longer, because it can think through what its doing, or will it be too smart to run its self too far, and not go as far? Does the unicorn's healing ability make it able to run forever?