Christopher R Taylor

Been watching a Brit show called "The Repair Shop" in which patrons bring in broken or old family treasures for a museum repair shop to fix up for them.  Its very low key and prosaic and has a nice cozy feel, plus you get to see craftsmen working on amazing things and how they are repaired and renewed.

Charlie Chan in Honolulu
Charlie Chan in Reno
Charlie Chan at Treasure Island
Charlie Chan in City in Darkness

Grimoire Arcanium is now available at DriveThruRPG and soon to the Hero Games webstore. Available in PDF format, PDF with Hero Designer files and Print On Demand. Hope you find it useful and enjoyable.

Since starfleet is only military in the most vague, least significant sense of the term, I don't know as civilian is all that different than enlisted on a starship.

I agree, my philosophy of agents is that they are supposed to be cannon fodder, I want my heroes to mow through them, I want them to do that Captain America thing where he gets buried in a pile of them then throws them all away.  Agent power creep has been big time in later Hero stuff, more than I like.  But that's just my opinion.

Another option for the faux Iron Man is to ignore that he's ever out of the suit; the scenario could be simple enough that there's no down time or non-hero moments.

I see the simple campaign in three stages:
 
1) an intro packet, super simple, with pre-made characters and enemies, with a tutorial that gives a step by step method of learning how to play the system
2) a simple campaign packet with everything minimal a player and GM needs to play Champions or what have you but with all the core information and options, but stripped down as simply as possible, plus an adventure, and a method of stringing printed adventures together into a storyline/campaign
3) the full printed information with all the rules, dials, bells, whistles, etc so that people can get that if they want to have all the best info and options at their fingertips.
 
And yes, more adventures, more modules, more stuff to do with the system instead of just the system.  I know that they do not sell all that well, but I also know that game systems and rulesets don't sell that well without something to do with them, which means adventures.  I'm doing my little part to create all this, but we need others to do the same.
 
If it takes the fan base dragging the carcass of Hero over the line so that the company can get the cash, motivation, and focus to do more, I say that's what we do.

Another option for the faux Iron Man is to ignore that he's ever out of the suit; the scenario could be simple enough that there's no down time or non-hero moments.

Yeah, if all you wanted was "how to play the game" rather than "how to build a character or know what these things on a character sheet mean" (powers, stats, skills) then you can get it to a few dozen pages.

Well shoot, too bad because that's a sweet name but Marvel is notoriously litigious even if they don't have a legal leg to stand on.  Hero has already been sued by them in the past, I don't want to hand them any more troubles.  Kind of pathetic for them to make a clone of X-23 to begin with, let alone use that name, but that's modern Marvel Comics for you.
 
How about... Red Raptor?  A savate/kick boxer with a foot claw instead.  Marvel has made just about every lame variant of hand claws there is now.

OK as I get a first draft down to sections of this I'm going to post them as pdfs here for people to look over and comment on.
 
My goals are these:
To create a package that has a book for GMs and a book for Players For each book to be fun, easy to read, and teach the system The scenario is in tutorial format (familiar to gamers) introducing concepts one bloc at a time, until they know enough to play the game without the tutorial I'm using the old Viper's Nest/Microfilm Madness scenario updated for modern times (so, no microfilm) Each chapter has an intro to the rules used in this section, then the episode of the scenario Players will have pre-made PCs to choose from in very familiar and well-loved archetypes with fun and colorful names and costumes Each entire book should be slender and filled with images for all ages The end result is intended as a free product for players to download and use Ideally, eventually, I'd love to see this packaged as a box set with dice, a map, a GM screen, that kind of thing.  
Please be constructive and positive, any nit picking or troublemaking comments will be cheerfully ignored.

I’d suggest to just not use any gadget using Supers. That way you’re not dealing with Foci at all, well the agents you are but still they’re agents. Also no Multiform or OIADs.

I'm actually amazed at this entire thread.
 
The real question can only be based on type of game.  If the RPG you are playing is a straight forward hackfest, there is little need for secrecy.  On the other hand if the game is investigative or a mystery, secrecy is vital.
 
But all that is actually irrelevant.
The true issue here is that some players have had a bad experience in the past and have painted everyone because of that.
 
For me personally, if I decide a game I am running needs secrecy because it revolves around the unknown, then I will make rolls in secret.  What player that has issues with it is really saying is "you are an untrustworthy liar" based on an event I have nothingto do with.  That is their problem not mine and they should seek out another GM.
 
I love to run and I have yet to disappoint anyone as far as I know.  I am upfront with my games and find it far better to walk away from false expectations. A GM is not there to cater to people with unresolved trust issues, and I for one don't appreciate being called a liar at my table. 

Odd how I started this post and now I have no idea what it's on about.🤔

Yeah a skill or INT roll for data is a simple, logical way of doing it.   Just give them KS: (appropriate data) and then bonuses for stuff you figure they ought to know.

I never used the robots for Genocide, because it violates the concept of the group in my campaign setting.  They're human supremacists, they wouldn't want robots, AI or otherwise, doing their work.

Does--
 
No; seriously-- Why does the big robot have a beard, a turtleneck, and watchcap?  Is it cold?  Disguised as a longshoreman?
 
 

Without the powers and modifiers info I was able to squeeze Hero down to about 150 pages, including combat etc in Western Hero.  Powers and mods, frameworks etc take up a ton of space.

I certainly have my senior moments....

Generally in game play you know when something is going badly. When you blow your stealth roll you can hear the leaves crunching underfoot or your shoes squeak in the hallway. Screwing the pooch on your lockpick roll?  You can feel the tumblers sticking. 
  But when rolling against the players about things like “Did the guards hear that?” the character should have no out of game info until the stuff either hits the fan or doesn’t. And he shouldn’t be able to look over at the GM’s dice and know in advance what’s about to happen.

One of my favorite TV shows of all time, and my favorite currently on is Forged In Fire.  For those who haven't watched this show, its about blacksmiths, making weapons and having them tested by a panel of experts, including historians, martial artists, and expert blacksmiths.  They make knives primarily, but really any non-black powder weapon can show up, from bows to broadswords.
 
Watching that show has taught me a lot about the relative strengths and weaknesses, as well as the things that can go wrong with weapons and how easily they can be ruined.  Its been enlightening for a Fantasy Hero writer to see the differences, sometimes subtle, in weapon designs.  For example, a show involving a claymore had two go up against each other: one was light and flexible, the other strong and heavy.  Each had its strengths in various testing, being better in some situations and worse in others.
 
What kind of stuff have you learned for use in gaming from various sources?
 
PS: Sabers are terrifying weapons.

There is something to that, the more players, the more sales of other products, in the end.  Its like paying for advertising; its a net loss but hopefully brings in more customers so it ends up a gain.  Hopefully.  And it is a fact of life with gaming materials: once everyone who wants that product has bought it... nobody will buy any more of them.  I mean, that's true with everything, but gaming has  a much smaller, if more fanatical, pool.  So the more people we bring into the fold, the more sales overall.
 
So yeah, its an investment and that's worth doing.

One of my favorite TV shows of all time, and my favorite currently on is Forged In Fire.  For those who haven't watched this show, its about blacksmiths, making weapons and having them tested by a panel of experts, including historians, martial artists, and expert blacksmiths.  They make knives primarily, but really any non-black powder weapon can show up, from bows to broadswords.
 
Watching that show has taught me a lot about the relative strengths and weaknesses, as well as the things that can go wrong with weapons and how easily they can be ruined.  Its been enlightening for a Fantasy Hero writer to see the differences, sometimes subtle, in weapon designs.  For example, a show involving a claymore had two go up against each other: one was light and flexible, the other strong and heavy.  Each had its strengths in various testing, being better in some situations and worse in others.
 
What kind of stuff have you learned for use in gaming from various sources?
 
PS: Sabers are terrifying weapons.

Just to note.
 
My stand has zero to do with one player who already knows Hero teaching others.  I have never found that to be any harder than any other RPG.
 
I am trying to come up with what I think we need.   A way to allow a group where no one knows anything about Hero can be introduced to it. 
 
 
 
 
 

OK Here are some proposed PCs for the players to pick from when they play the game.
Blurred Lion: cat girl/boy with super speed Dr Nope: Spider-man clone with poison attack instead of webbing Honey Badger: Wolverine/X-23 ripoff Patriot: Captain America ripoff Princess: strong little girl who looks like an anime character Spellbinder: mentalist disguised as a Dr Strange type Street Knight: Batman ripoff Supernova: energy projector Tank: big, strong, and tough; has a big blast that is inaccurate and can only be used once per turn Trooper: Iron Man ripoff Vulcan: Thor variant (with a hammer, but it fixes or makes things, like Fix-it Felix from the Wreck-it Ralph movie) All but Princess are designed to be either male or female, and we'll have to have images for either variant.  I want enough to cover the bases but not so many its ridiculous.  We need to cover all the "I wanna play Superman!" possibilities, plus highlight some cool things Hero can do.  I have ideas for some others but I don't want to get carried away (a shrinker, a shapeshifter, etc).
 
The idea I have in mind is for there to be multiple versions of each character, starting at lower and super simple power (you can punch and run around first chapter, next chapter you get skills, next one you get another power, etc).  Each chapter, more powers and abilities are introduced in roughly equivalent point values, although all the costs etc are behind the scenes. The final epic confrontation is with all powers and abilities, and all the rules in place.
 
What I need from you is input on the names and concepts, suggestions on whether or not a character should be included, things I missed, and input on making the characters feel new, fresh, and engaging to younger players. For example, is Blurred Lines too old a reference?  Do kids know about the Honey Badger now?