Christopher R Taylor

I have heard Good things about Shang Chi, particularly the fight scenes (although everyone seems to agree the main actor is not especially charismatic or interesting). Its struggling though, the film is said to have cost $150 million to make (plus 50-100 million in publicity and distribution; the rule of thumb is equal to production costs, but I don't think they pushed this movie as much) and its only recently exceeded 150 mil. It was a bit of a gamble on Marvel's part to release in theaters exclusively, but right now everyone is experimenting. It started pretty well with a 75 million opening day, but has tailed off steadily, sometimes significantly, ever since then. As I noted earlier it was a bit of a gamble to release a martial arts movie, because those are pretty common, but its doing well for a martial arts film. The main complaint seems to be that the ending CGI fest is both not up to previous Marvel film par, and the weakest part of the movie. It appears to be setting up possibly a Galactus storyline, maybe? There seems to be a Kang tie-in as well with Mandarin. And, unfortunately, Ben Kinglsey's wretched faux Mandarin shows up in it and is not murdered horrifically.

OK I'm hoping I can wrap up the Champions Begins project in a month or two, and I want to please ask something of everyone: Those of you who are artists, or who know artists, even if its goofy fun sketches, whatever, please if you have any old Superhero art that didn't sell or something you just did for fun, or something that you aren't going to use, consider donating it to the project. I need incidental illustrations and filler art, particularly for the Player Guide. I can't pay you anything and the project is going to be given away for free, so there's no money in it, but hey if its just sitting around anyway...

The Fury is one of those great early 80s supernatural films that came out, like Scanners, better than you expect. I've been watching a lot of Road & Track channel stuff like Wheeler Dealers, Dirt Every Day, and Roadkill. Just solid fun

Technically yeah but I think in a heroic game the STR MIN is based on base cost, because armor piercing is ignored as well.

Yeah that's why I wouldn't give it as an everyman skill; its like combat driving vs transport familiarity. Combat Driving takes specific training or unusual talent. Transport familiarity, pretty much anyone can get into a car and drive it, more or less, if they can reach the pedals.

Yeah, that's why I left it up to interpretation. Is writing a batch file and personalizing your computer with options programming? Yeah, at a really super minimal level. You're not hacking or writing your own programs, but you're digging far deeper into the use of what exists than the average person. Personally I would allow an 8- shot at doing that kind of thing on a computer. Like the annoying little girl in Jurassic Park bizarrely identifying a strange GUI as "Unix"

OK, an update: I've begun working on the maps for the various adventures. Mostly its an updated version of the existing maps from the original adventure with some small changes. I'm trying to keep them fairly simple and uncluttered, with some color but not very much.

Yeah I've done some computer programming back in the early days, and almost nobody really knows how to do it today but... quite a few know enough to tweak and get the best out of their devices, which a GM might be willing to allow someone to use to get something done on a computer system: "hey this looks like Apple OS, I know a way to get the door open."

Regarding skills, every character basically has any skill that the average person would know something about, as an 8- roll. For example, the average person knows how converse or persuade, so they get an 8-. You might decide an average person knows enough about computer programming to get an 8- but I'm skeptical that's true about regular folks.

Well as LoneWolf pointed out, there are two kinds of "Characteristic Maxima" in play here. Two definitions: 1) A maximum level of characteristics at which point it costs double points to buy any higher 2) A maximum level of characteristics at which point you need permission from the GM to exceed. The first is an optional rule, the second is just a campaign rule like "you're starting with level 8 characters AND NO TIEFLINGS!"

The best way to visualize a phase was when someone commented once that a character's phase is basically one panel of a comic book. You can do as much as one comic book panel is able to show, as a very rough analogy or reference. There might be a film equivalent, but since film is uneven and different styles do things differently, its hard to give an example. Like, in a Taken movie, there are like 8 cuts for a single punch. In a movie like Meals on Wheels, Jackie Chan does like 28 things in a long continuous shot.

Yeah it helps to know some terms: Speed: How often a character acts in a turn Turn: A time period of 12 seconds. A character's speed is divided into this turn as equally as possible. That means there are 5 turns in a minute, should the topic arise. Phase: When characters act in a turn, equal to their speed. If you have a 4 speed, then you get 4 phases to act on in a turn Segment: each second in the turn is called as "segment" as in one segment of a turn. When a character acts on a segment, that is their Phase. As much as possible, the turn is divided as evenly with phases. That's part of the reason 12 was used rather than 10, it divides up evenly in more ways. So: 1 Speed: act only on segment 6 2 Speed: act only on segments 6 and 12 3 Speed: act only on segments 4, 8, and 12 So you can see how it breaks down. The first 4 speeds break down perfectly (the standards for most humans) and while 5 is odd, 6 again is perfect (every other phase). Its really neat how it breaks down.

I apologize for the length of the previous post, but this board likes to merge posts; it was supposed to be 2 separate ones to spare eyeballs. There are some non-characteristic but basic abilities all characters share as well: -Running: 12m per phase is base. The fastest recorded human being on earth (Usain Bolt) ran about 24m per phase as a guesstimate, so 25 should probably be the most you'd expect a normal human to move. -Swimming: 4m per phase is base. The fastest recorded human being swimming (Tom Jager) without special equipment hit around 9m, so 10 should probably be around the max possible for a normal human being. -Leaping: This starts at 4m with a run. The longest recorded human jump is just under 9m (Juan Miguel Echevarria) so 10m is probably the most its reasonable to believe a normal human being could manage (with wind assistance). That gives you some real-world benchmarks to consider. Obvious all this is subject to some interpretation and GM decision, but this is what is generally used in Hero over the years.

Its going to depend a lot on what kind of game you run (will it be super realistic, or James Bond, or even Bollywood?) what characteristics you expect from a character or what the campaign might limit. I'll give you some basic information on characteristics here from my experience as a GM and the game as it is played over 40 years: First off, the first six or "primary" characteristics. -Strength (STR) is what you think it is: raw muscle power, lifting capacity, how much damage you’ll do to something when you strike it, and so on. The average normal person has around 8 STR, the starting level for heroes is 10. 23 is realistic human maximum, the most anyone in history has achieved. This pattern is the same for every one of the "primary" Characteristics. -Dexterity (DEX) is also what you think it is: quickness, agility, and balance. -Constitution (CON) is a measure of a character’s general health and resilience. -Intelligence (INT) is what you think it is: reasoning ability, recall, and general brainpower. It also affects Perception; how likely your character is to notice something important. -Ego (EGO) is strength of will and mental toughness. It also represents how your character responds when attacked by a Mental Power like Telepathy or Mind Control. -Presence (PRE) is a character’s ability to keep their cool when the people around them begin to panic. It also represents how well your character can impress, inspire, and even intimidate other characters. For these stats, consider 5 to be feeble, 13 to be athletic or talented (high school athlete), 18 to be very athletic and talented (olympic level ability), and anything 20 or higher to be incredibly remarkable in a normal human. Now for the other 11 "secondary" characteristics. These get even more subjective because of their nature. The "secondary" characteristics each vary in their values: -OCV, DCV, OMCV, DMCV start at base 3. These represent how well a character attacks or defends from attack, avoiding a hit. MCV is mental combat (mind control, telepathy), CV is just regular fighting (guns, fists). This starts at base 3 and while humans can achieve remarkable levels of OCV, most of that is represented by reducing range levels and special maneuvers. Base CV shouldn't be higher than 6 in most normal person, so that a regular person has a reasonable chance to hit the PCs, even if small. Because of the bell curve and the way CVs work with a 3d6 roll anything higher than that moves into the nearly automatic hit or miss category on normals. -Physical Defense (PD) and Energy Defense (ED) represent how resistant your character is to taking damage from physical and energy attacks, respectively. In Hero, a successful attack is applied to the character’s defenses before determining how much damage is taken. The higher the PD or ED, the less damage the character takes. Base 2 is normal for all characters for PD and ED, and a normal human probably won't get past 8 in either. -Speed (SPD) is a measure of how often a character acts in combat. Each combat Turn is divided into twelve Segments; the SPD score determines how many (and which) of those Segments a character acts on. Speed is really expensive. Again, the base is 2 and normal humans with extreme skill and agility won't get past 4 very often, and probably never exceed 5. -Recovery (REC) represents how quickly a character recovers when they are knocked out or exhausted. The REC score is added to the character’s STUN and END whenever the character takes a Segment to recover. This is base 4, and its hard to quantify in the real world but 8 is probably a good guide for what normal humans won't ever exceed -Endurance (END) is a measure of how long a character can continue to act before becoming exhausted. Whenever a character uses Strength or a ability such as running, they expend END. When a character runs out of END, they must rest (recover) to get back into the fight. Everyone starts at 20 END, and again this is tough to quantify, but probably 50 is the most a normal human will reach. -Body (BODY) is one of the two kinds of ‘hit points’ in Hero. It represents serious, long-term damage--how much punishment a character can take before they (begin to) die. Normal humans start at a base 10, and since Body is determined by physical structure and willpower its easier to quantify, but 23 is probably normal human maximum -Stun (STUN) is the other type of ‘hit points’ in Hero; it represents how much damage a character can take before being knocked unconscious. In many games, characters will rarely take BODY damage after defenses are applied, but characters will take STUN damage all the time. Like END, the base is 20 and probably 50 is the maximum a normal human might reach.

I still use hexes for the reasons Shrike pointed out and because it feels better. Having to whip out rulers and such just breaks the immersion more, to me.

Well, you can make leather armor out of something other than cattle, of course, and while herds were generally smaller than the vast American ones in medieval Europe, it was rare for someone with lands to have just one or a couple of cattle. The key here is expense: armor was very expensive, and only wealthier people could afford one. However - and this is a big aside - medieval economics bore very little resemblance to what we now know. I mean, aside from the largely barter economy at the lower end, there was a huge divergence between the poor and the rich. It was like first world and third world living next door; for the bulk of the population shoes were a once-a-year or longer specialty and for the others, they were dripping in jewels. It was a vast gulf far, far greater than anything people are used to or experience today. Today you're poor if you can't afford the latest Nike when it first comes out or your smart phone has only one camera. So what was a major expense for some was a minor quibble for others. Armor was completely beyond the peasants and serfs, even if they poached a cow and cured the leather themselves (somehow). Its not that this stuff was necessarily denied the rabble (although often it was), it was that they simply couldn't come up with it even if they'd been allowed. And the big reason for standard medieval things like no standing professional armies, knightly tournaments, and even wars or crusades was that it was expensive to keep men at arms around. Especially when your big expense is awesome parties and clothes, sumptuous feasts, furnishings, and castles. You pillaged your lands with taxes, fees, and so on to raise money to pay the men, and then pillaged your enemies (hopefully) so that the men get paid by looting.

Well I think all rules should be treated the same: follow these but allow for exceptions with good reason. I used to complain about the rules and patterns and everything in music to my mom and she frustratingly, but wisely, taught me that we have to learn and follow the rules until we learn enough to start breaking them.

I agree, you can use the "only standard power" bit as a guideline for simplicity or as a new GM but as you get used to the rules and play, it should be disregarded and instead GMs should decide in a case-by-case basis.

Done with Bard Songs for now, I'll likely come up with some more. There are three types of Bardsongs for now: Shouts (you know, like Skyrim, although my primary inspiration is a bard trilogy I read in the 90s) Melodies (songs that have effects, usually involving instruments) Recitals (Songs that are voice, but can be enhanced with an instrument for slightly greater effect or area, lesser END Cost, etc) Bards use mana and END for spells 50/50, with the greater amount going to mana if its an odd number. Now I'm working on priest rituals. The challenge, I think, is to try to make all forms of magic and spells feel different. So a Shaman is not a Priest is not an Elemental Mage is not a bard, etc.

I think part of the balancing trick is to make sure casters are controlled and have weaknesses. If you let them just be a walking cosmic power pool with followers and magic gear, yeah they are going to tend to overshadow the mundane types.

Seems like redefining or tweaking amicability works better than just dumping big sections of it. For example, instead of automatic success and limited tasks, lower the Battle of Wills penalty, for example. Or make the stunned phase go away.

Yeah the analogy isn't exact but I think its a good starting point for crunching numbers and working on builds. Of course, as I noted a while back, Mind Control has its issues, primarily being the "its nearly impossible to get people to forget you did this" aspect, so much so that its pretty much only usable by villains who do't have to worry about point totals and active cost caps. Sure, that's the kind of stuff you do when you build a character around one power concept. LIke how a speedster buys teleport and flying (to run on walls) etc. But they still buy running really fast and high Speed. The fact that you can simulate aspects of buying duplicates doesn't negate the idea of using duplicates and trying to represent what you see in the source material.

Some people, like the Greeks, used to build layered cloth armor that was waxed, so it was hard and rigid, protecting better against some kinds of attacks. I don't know how well it would be but I bet its as good as leather.

I've toyed with the idea of a summons based superhero, the special effects would be easy enough to come up with, but the problem is that initial lag before you get anything to take action. The whole "OK now don't hit me for a phase" bit is a problem

Check out the Champions Begins tutorial for a beginner scenario you can use with players, its in "beta" still as people playtest and the illustration work is finished but its pretty much done otherwise. It will walk you through the basics of how to play, fight, and run a game with sample characters, etc.