Christopher R Taylor

Well whether or not that concept made it to 6th edition, its... wrong.  In any campaign I run, that rule doesn't exist.
 
By definition, area effect powers apply equally to all creatures in the area. Drain, Flash, Blast, it doesn't matter.  Just because "this will be hella effective!" doesn't mean you ignore that basic Hero rule.  If you feel too uncomfortable with that, you could treat the AE as a "special" attack like the way autofire works, so it takes an extra +1 advantage but "we're gonna break the rules because some dude in my campaign bought this and I didn't like it" does not wash.

I don't think it would be justified to say that Granny personally "remembered" the American Civil War. Like many folk from Tennessee, the events of the "War Between the States" -- from a Southern perspective -- were probably part of her cultural background. I'd probably peg her age at late sixties when the show started, given the average life span during that era; and the fact the show ran for eight seasons.
 
The Clampett clan's exceptional vigor was implicitly due to their rugged mountain backwoods heritage and upbringing, compared to "city folk." Rather like how Robert E. Howard distinguished between "barbarian" and "civilized" men.

Jed would be 8-10.  Jethro varies a _lot_ depending on if you're talking about TV black-and-white; TV color, or movie.
 
The early black-and-white, fifteen to twenty, easy.  Color: twelve.  _maybe_ 15.  Movie?  Couldn't tell you.  While I believe that Dietrich Bader did a wonderful job of portraying "generic ignorant hick," I don't think the movie itself really got any of the characters right, and felt more like it was deconstructing and insulting the entire premise more than making an homage to it.  Further, it's hard to see Bader believably being "Jethro strong" just based on the physical differences between Bader and Max Baer.  Max was, in his youth, a damned big man.

Odd.  Its such a staple of fantasy and sci fi to have a Leach or Transfer power that splitting them seems more like dividing chicken noodle soup into ingredients and calling it a simplification.   I do get the desire to break everything into basic building blocks yet some things are better left whole.  Like Time Travel broken into:
 
Time Travel Power
A -Make a Time Door using Time Mastery power.
B- Link Time Door to Open Door power
C-Link to Movement-Walk power
 
If you want carrots or peas in your chicken noodle soup you can use an Advantage and if you don't want noodles then use a Limitation. 😉
Everyone has an idea of what should be the basic power molecule and Steve is the author so ultimately I have to respect his decision.  Yet being the GM I would suppose its totally fine for me to add new basic molecules if I choose.  But I'm not sure if that is necessary or even what is best without trying it so basically I'm just blowing gas at this juncture. 😝

You aren't wrong.  Back in Fourth there was a "Transfer" power that worked the way you describe.  It was removed because it was basically Drain and Aid mushed together and Steve Long felt it was cleaner just to have the two powers each do their thing rather than have a 3rd one to worry about.
 
I miss the simplicity of Transfer, but the new way works fine.

Please be patient, Western Hero is still on its way, its just being edited and cleaned up to make sure its as good as we can make it.  I hoped it could be out before Christmas but it looks like it will be next year.  I hope to have a cover reveal soon.

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.

Firefist sounds like something from one of the Challenges for Champions or another adventure

OK here's the intro to the GM book, I have some placeholder art I did of Viper agents a while back I'll stick into these, but they are dated (VIPER doesn't look like that any more).  This gives a sense of the basic layout and look I have in mind, and how I tried to bring GMs into the ideas of the game and playing RPGs at all.  The player book I intend to be simpler, less wordy, and more image-y
 
Champions Begins Intro.pdf

Firefist sounds like something from one of the Challenges for Champions or another adventure

Yeah inconsistency destroys drama and suspense.  What's going to happen next?  Who knows??  Can she get out of this?  Maybe, depending on how the writer decides to make things work this time.  There has to be a base level of consistency to control expectations and understanding of the character's limitations and the world they are in. 
 
If Spider-Man can now fly in one scene because that's super cool, suddenly there's no danger of him falling.  Or maybe there will be, just because it would be cooler next time.  The audience has disconnected emotionally from the entire thing at this point.

Personal theory: Cap's shield is endowed with Plot Device powers. Which would be fine if it only appeared in a single plot line and then was gone, like most Plot Device powers/objects. But it is a persistent object, used in story after story, and so the Rule of Internal Consistency becomes an overriding concern, or at least it should be if the writer(s) want to be respected and regarded as competent. The Rule of Cool only goes so far before it becomes a tool for farce. For instance, I'm sure there are lots of people out there who think it would be "cool" to see Chewbacca pick up a lightsaber and fire blaster bolts from it, but that would make me cringe so hard it would break my face.

Ah, thanks for the pm.
 
Apparently, I'm the comic relief.
 
As long as I'm not the Comic Sans relief....

OK here's the intro to the GM book, I have some placeholder art I did of Viper agents a while back I'll stick into these, but they are dated (VIPER doesn't look like that any more).  This gives a sense of the basic layout and look I have in mind, and how I tried to bring GMs into the ideas of the game and playing RPGs at all.  The player book I intend to be simpler, less wordy, and more image-y
 
Champions Begins Intro.pdf

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.

Instead of Micro film how about a thumb drive?

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.

Well, Cap's shield and a holo generator was how Reed Richards depowered Guardian enough to stop him.

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.

For me, the Rule of Cool needs to be tempered with internal consistency at the very least. Realistic physics aren't necessarily to be expected in a superhero movie in any case, but if they establish rules for how things work, they should stick to them. Otherwise they fail to earn the drama they're trying to generate in their action scenes. This principle is just basic Writing/World-building 101, something any screenwriter worth their salt should know and practice in all their writing.

Yeah how the shield reacted to being impacted was completely random and based on what would the director decided would look good in a combat scene rather than logic or any established rules.

Just as a GM tip, when I am going to run a combat with someone complicated, I work out a strategy in advance: he does this, then this she responds to that with this power, etc. That way I have a playlist to work from instead of trying to work it up on the fly.  As a player I can wing it because I have not just time between each phase to consider my actions, but only have to worry about one character.  When I'm GM I don't have down time to work on the next cool thing to do but usually am running like 5 characters at once.
 
Obviously it never, ever works out the way I planned, but at least I have a head start and with experience I've gotten pretty good at working out basic likely shifts or events in combat that I can set up a reaction to.

Yeah to me powergaming is an attitude and approach more than gritty numbers and definitions.  They're out to break the system and dominate, not to have fun or build an efficient character.  I know a guy who without meaning to always found the most efficient and best way to build something in a game.  He just had the knack for it even with games he just learned about.  It wasn't an attempt to pwn the game, he just managed to do well building characters.  If he played Skyrim, he'd build a stealth bow sniper.  He's not a powergamer, because he doesn't build to dominate or break the game, or "win" he just likes to build characters well.

*high five*
 
There is a middle ground though, and the pendulum has really swung the opposite way

By the time of the events of Infinity War, Starlord had been through the dramatic arcs of two GoG movies, more than sufficient to evolve as a character. I'd argue that he should have learned how to be a hero by then, at least by comic book standards, even if his methods were often somewhat juvenile. But he didn't display the kind of heroism the leader of a group that thinks of themselves as guardians of the entire galaxy should have, and the way I see it that's the fault of the writers, not my expectations.