Christopher R Taylor

Constantine was the show that I thought was quite good that was dumped unceremoniously and without just cause. It had the makings of a great cult hit but they refused to give it a chance.

That's worth considering. The main reason I put it on there is that it sounded fun to me and it would emphasize the young and inexpert nature of the character, but if it violates the magic girl/Harry Potter feel too much its probably not appropriate for the character.

Yeah the only real objective data I can offer is the statements of gaming store owners (their sales are down over the last couple decades) and the collapse of gaming stores in the area. At least around here, definitely less RPG playin' going on. But there are signs its coming back, so who knows?

I like the suggestions, especially the baseball stuff. Be easy to come up with other names. Behemoth is built without growth because 6th edition you use growth for people that get that way temporarily, not someone that's just huge. But Public ID is a natural complication, I agree. I lined up a guy to GM the set when we have a rough to playtest, he's played some hero but never ran, which is a good test bed. Then I want to playtest running it at the friendly neighborhood gaming store with random jobus. Oh, and the "linked to combat running" was a kludge; I couldn't get it to link to just plain old running the stat. I should just buy it as a custom limitation so it reads right. The side effects on Spellbinder's powers I figure would be in the notes for the GM, I was thinking comical and goofy stuff like turns him/her entirely orange, or into a cat, or teleports them into a nearby high area, some basic manga stuff that's played for humor and embarrassment to the character but is basically harmless. Nothing like an explosion or pain, just things they would not want to happen (turn them into the opposite sex, or the opposite sex's clothing, or all bald, stuff like that). With the wand's dispel magic power, they can fix themselves but it could be pretty fun in the process. The problem is Spellbinder originally had a magic skill roll for all the powers (the wand made it better) but it was so cheap and efficient I was struggling to spend enough points to reach 300 without getting too powerful or adding too many weird options. So that's something to talk over and hash out since the side effect only really works if you blow the magic roll, which isn't there any longer....

Well they all made money, including the ghastly Catwoman (they play tricks with accounting, and later stuff like rentals, sales, and streaming make more later). But from the perspective of the studios, movies like Captain America are losers so only the long-term plan of Marvel keeps properties like that alive. I suspect Civil War is going to be challenged to make money. but that could just be me hating the story.

I admit it is hard to tell the two brunette girls apart, but yeah Skye is the one I was talking about.

They lost me a while back. It never lived up to the promise, the show wasn't really ever about Marvel comics or SHIELD except incidentally to tell Whedon's stories, and the tone has never felt right. They either wiped out or turned evil all the characters I liked, had the extremely annoying cliche super waif character Whedon is fixated on, and the seasons built up to a semi-satisfying climax but never were worth watching through. Its really too bad because with a better writer and concept, it could have been quite fun. They needed to read the old Agents of SHIELD comics to figure out how to do the story.

Its going to be tough to act before someone thinks, but sure! And it would be kind of funny, because a lot of mentalists are built as frail little things.

Right, you don't want to establish a brutal, destructive campaign then betray your players with something shocking like that. Ideally they knock the guy out with one shot and he crumples into a Beetle Bailey heap with birds tweeting around, not a pile of blood and jagged bone.

I like that idea, it could be in the sidebar as tips for GMing or in the "keeping it in the comics" section about enforcing genre through encouragement and reward.

Its probably a combo of the two: dark movies sell (look at Man of Steel!) and Green Lantern bombed, so that's the way they want to go. DC is trying to differentiate themselves from Marvel by being more "grown up" and angsty. So there's zero fun in the movies, and chinless Superman scowls constantly.

Ninja-Bear I don't insist on the inclusion of that bit, I just think its useful to help teach players in basic Superhero themes and genre. I'm not the one that's going to be writing the scenario anyway. I should be able to make it tomorrow at 4 PST.

Seems some pretty bad reviews hitting the themes I was concerned about: Superman is constantly grim and angry, everything is at night, its about grandstanding and epic statements, not story, etc. If you liked Man of Steel you'll probably like chinless Superman again. If not... looks like more of the same.

I think you misunderstand the scenario. He's got a lot of presence but is just an agent. If a player goes full wolverine on him with big attacks, the guy will fold up and go to a hospital - its a useful lesson in "don't open up with your most powerful attack"

If we're going to do the Viper's Nest scenario, we need the villains. Now, some in the old 3rd edition scenario are out there in the Enemies books (Pulsar, Armadillo, Cheshire Cat, Howler, Bluejay, Dragonfly, Green Dragon, Ogre) but some I could not find: Icicle, Brick, Shrinker. And in the 4th edition VIPER book they mention Hammerhead and some others that may be in a new Viper edition or not, I don't know. Which brings us to VIPER: do we use the straight up VIPER out of the latest edition? Because we'll have to do some reprints of characters. We cannot expect people to have all the books just to run this intro. I really like the 4th edition version but know nothing about later editions.

I can say for a fact that around here, RPG gaming took a plunge starting in the mid 90s and is sort of making a comeback. With he excitement and interest in board gaming, there is growing interest in RPGs now as well. But as you say, its extremely hard to find hard data on sales because companies either aren't saying or have disappeared. D&D definitely isn't as big as it was in the 80s, though. The thing you have to keep in mind is that straight numbers don't tell the tale. If a population doubles but the numbers stay the same, that means you've lost a huge amount of market share.

Well I think of it this way: everyone only has so much time in which to do things each day while they are awake. RPGs take up a large chunk of that time when they are played, so they compete with other actions that people are drawn by. But a lot of what people found enticing about RPGs, video games will help sate to a lesser, but significantly more readily available degree - the imagery, the alternate world, the chance to be someone more capable and powerful, the opportunity to play out scenarios and situations you cannot in real life, etc. There is even a social aspect to the game which RPGs filled. So of the time people spend doing things, video games have taken a chunk of players away - but so has just the internet, phone games, texting, browsing, etc. Book sales have taken a pretty brutal hit over the last 20 years. If it weren't for the young adult market, I think a lot of big publishers would have toppled by now; some already have been swallowed up by rivals. That doesn't mean people aren't reading books, it just means they aren't reading as much as they used to. And that's a reality that RPG writers and hobbyists have to realize and deal with.

There's kind of one in there, not a brick but a character that transforms (dramatically, with a huge lightshow and lots of sound -- a -1/4 limitation) into Spellbinder. I was trying to stick close to very popular and famous characters for this at least. It might not be the best approach. My idea is we get a rough out there, run several different playtests around the world with GMs from here, and see how it goes. Maybe people won't care for the hero analogues and will want something else. Maybe some characters they wanted were not there and we should shift them around. Of all the elements of this project, the PCs are the most easily changed.

Ultimately, when people find the limitations of these beautifully appearing but ultimately shallow games, they can be lured to try RPGs, but its a tough competition either way. In time things will turn again, but right now, we're in a tough place. Thankfully there are gamer parents out there teaching kids to play and use their imaginations instead of paying to use other peoples'

You could easily do it with a multippower, I agree. In essence, almost all your weapons fall within some very small categories: blast, killing attack, drain, maybe mental attack. So build some basic categories and buy the whole multipower with variable special effect and bingo, you have your powers. Want a sword or a mace or a dagger or an axe? HKA, variable special effect. Stacking "variable advantage" on it of +1/2 would give you pretty much whatever you want more specifically. Swords can be armor piercing, maces +1 stun multiple, etc. Armor can be just resistant protection and you can say whatever it happens to look like. The special effect is "energy ring construct" or whatever your power is.

What we're up against isn't just "math is hard!" its a general move away from role playing games at all. There's a core of die-hards and their kids and whatever new recruits we might find who play RPGs, but for the most part, its a very diminished hobby. Its too much trouble to meet up once a week or so. Its too much work to build those adventures and run a game. Its too much trouble to make a character. Its not visually stimulating enough to sit around a table and imagine. I have 102812057 distractions, this is dull and lame. Hero isn't a particular example of this, the whole industry and hobby is suffering from modern culture. That's not likely to change any time soon no matter what clever books we put out. We can come out with better ways to present Hero to the gaming community, but as for growing it? We're up against it pretty hard, folks.

See, that's something I think needs to be considered. Even in The fellowship of the Rings, they sent away the ponies. At the same time, there should be something other than "they get eaten" going on, too. What if someone stole them? Or they ran off and joined a herd of horses? Or a strange creature is tending them and needs to be convinced to let them go? Or they're just sitting out there waiting and the bones of various predators are lying strewn all around... what happened?? I created a spell for the Fantasy Codex that summons a stable for the horses to stay in

I don't know why its doing that, but all you have to do is delete the ".xml" at the end and it should open. Have you tried to fire up Hero Designer and open them in that?

Toxxyn (Spiderman) fast, agile, climb walls, 360 vision, has a "venom" punch Vulcan (Thor) turns into powerful god figure with hammer that can fix things and blast with flame. I think 12 should be enough and this gives an unusual variety of options that still should be useful in a group. Spellbinder can even heal. Toxxyn.hdc Vulcan.hdc

Well for this at least I want to stick to recognizable or at least semi-recognizable characters for the sample freebie characters. Here's the roster: Ace (Hawkeye, Gambit) former pitcher, can power up thrown objects for a variety of effects. Ambassador (Superman/Wonder Woman etc) super polite strong, flies, tough Behemoth (Hulk) huge, only has one form of gigantic and strong, tough Honey Bader (Wolverine, etc) very hard to hurt, can hit hard, good senses Ironmonger (Iron Man) armored, but armor made by wheel chair bound genius, former bodyguard of genius, wears armor Lightning (Flash, Quicksilver) Basic speedster, can hit just under speed of sound Patriot (Captain America) veteran of all US conflicts from the very first colony on, immortal super soldier Specter (Black Widow) spy with invisibility and desolidification Spellbinder (Magic Girl, Harry Potter) transform into magic user with a wand that enhances abilities, pretty basic fly, blast, and shield energy protector Street Knight (Batman, Daredevil) body armor and combat with staff, detective Attached files are mostly complete. They're built at 300 points (100 in disads), with the assumption that they get 100 points of experience in blocks over the course of the introductory adventure. Please if you can, take a look, and we can hone them down. Keep in mind that their builds might look a bit complicated, but when stripped down for a simplified sheet won't be that bad, at least I tried to build them that way. 2 more on the way... Ace.hdc Ambassador.hdc Behemoth.hdc Honey Badger.hdc Ironmonger.hdc Lightning.hdc Patriot.hdc Specter.hdc Spellbinder.hdc Street Knight.hdc