Christopher R Taylor

I don't want to be "that guy," but I do want it noted:
 
There are a lot of suggestions on what to leave out, what to work up to, etc,
 
I have taught this game to a group of kids, spendibg about 3 sessions (including character generation), all of whom can play without problems or confusion, and I have done none of those things.  We started out tracking END, STUN, BODY, figuring range modifiers, assessing skill roll penalties and bonuses, countong damage, figuring DEF (to include Resistan vs non), etc.   I didnt leave anything out, and they got it quickly, the same way we did when we learned to play.
 
These kids range from 7th to 10 (11th?) Grade, and frankly, they have had more problems letting go of the "he's an underclassmen so I shouldn't be seen with him" than they had learning to play.
 
I suspect that a lot of the "hard to teach" aspect centers on how sold they are on wanting do learn it in the first place.
 
We have all noted at some point that there is no difficult math ib this game.  There is more math than there is with other games, but again: it's not difficult, and it becomes rote in a session or two.
 
 

If true, then that explains the dissonance succinctly. You can't take a tragic Norse figure and transform him into a tragic Greek figure without (negative) consequences.

Well, for starters, I'm pretty sure that Hydra trooper Cap threw out of the Red Skull's bomber didn't land lightly. Or the people in the Hydra tank when he threw grenades into it. I would think the Chitauri whose arm Cap cut off didn't have the best survival chances. The goons joining Winter Soldier's ambush likely didn't get up after he reflected the minigun barrage back onto them. And of the mercenaries serving Crossbones, Cap landed on one after at least a forty-foot drop, another Cap kicked a car into, while a third he kicked twenty feet into a concrete wall. We're talking broken bones and internal bleeding minimum.
 
MCU Captain America doesn't kill if he doesn't have to, and with his strength and skill he often doesn't. But if he has to he won't hesitate. He was a soldier.

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.

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.

Yes I would.  I'd run Hero for almost anything for anyone.  But if you're going with complete beginners, I'd dial back all the options to minimum and introduce things slowly, like Endurance, etc. At its core, Hero is very simple and easy to learn.  Then you can add the options to get to where you want in terms of complexity and completeness of simulation.
 
 
I guess I should focus on that once Western Hero is on the shelf.  Its a lower priority for me because its not going to be an earner but its definitely needed and in demand.

Another thing I notice about Mechanon (for example) is that he has several multipower slots where he buys a big attack, then the next slot is that same attack at fewer dice but 0End.  Dr. Destroyer does the same thing.
I can totally understand how these are useful, but are they useful enough to actually keep track of?  If he really needs all these options, you could still cut about half his multipower out by giving him Blast, variable advantage.

Once again, these are examples from a Master villain, but I think it's a thing

I will quote a very old post from the Red October BBS: Silly wabbit, points are for players!
 
Nobody is going to care if you "pay" for that villain lair with a Villain Bonus representing villain XP or if you don't even bother with that unnecessary formality.

He's right, though, both him and Dr Destroyer became books when they didn't need to be that complicated and written up.  Dr Destroyer is a great scientist, just give him the basic branches of science at a high level and then assume he's also good at molecular and experimental and all the other versions of each.  Give him x points of followers, not x points each of a-z different types.  Its not really that necessary to give each and every single possible ability on paper to bad guys, especially mega villains.  He's got a lot of followers and bases, good enough.
 
I mean seriously as a GM if the bad guy doesn't have enough points to buy that base do you just say "well shoot I guess he doesn't get it!" or just give him the base anyway?

He's right, though, both him and Dr Destroyer became books when they didn't need to be that complicated and written up.  Dr Destroyer is a great scientist, just give him the basic branches of science at a high level and then assume he's also good at molecular and experimental and all the other versions of each.  Give him x points of followers, not x points each of a-z different types.  Its not really that necessary to give each and every single possible ability on paper to bad guys, especially mega villains.  He's got a lot of followers and bases, good enough.
 
I mean seriously as a GM if the bad guy doesn't have enough points to buy that base do you just say "well shoot I guess he doesn't get it!" or just give him the base anyway?

Mechanon is a good example in that he went from consuming 3/4 of a page in 1st and 2nd edition to several pages in 6th edition. He was always intended to be an Ultron clone, even in 1st edition, but in my experience it was never remotely necessary to define and describe him with the degree of bloat found in 6e.

You do you, man. I'm glad you found a route that works for you.
 
I play using any system that fits best with the genre/style/story of what I want to play. The flexibility inherent in Hero is why I always come back to it. There's always more than one way to do things and none of those answers are wrong.

Legal shemgal.  Take a page from the politicians and do whatever you want safe in the knowledge you will not be prosecuted. Prostituted most definitely. But never prosecuted. 🤐

That and I believe the writer’s guidelines too. If you look at say a Multipower each slot will repeat all the same limitations. (I have a buddy that complains about that). I’ll note that in HSMA, Surbrook will list extra slots modifiers as “same as listed”. It cuts down on space.
 
Certain things have gotten more complex in 6th. Hand Attack, Indirect and Trigger are three that come to mind.

The way Perez drew Wanda changed through the years. Same as he did with Raven. They both started out with rounder, softer faces that became longer and more angular as Perez got older. With Raven they just worked it into the character's arc, changing as she slipped into Trigon's control.

I ended up going with Transform. It's much easier to figure the math using area of effect, I didn't have to play with Opaque or Configurable (for rougher terrain), and I don't have to worry about people arguing whether they could turn it sideways and use it as defenses. There is another spell for that already. 😃
 
I will likely design another one with Tunneling for use in creating tunnels, still have to figure some things as I don't want matter to be destroyed as part of the process.
 
- E

I've written and published over a half dozen books in several genres for Hero now, and have more on the way.  That's not wishing or talking.  And its something anyone who plays this game is capable of, if they truly want to have an impact.  The more attractive product on the "shelf" online, the more the game prospers and we all benefit.

History shows nothing of the sort, but certainly its even less likely if everyone throws up their hands and claims that its to haaarrrrd.  Its easier to complain online than to do something about a problem you see.  After a while one tends to draw the conclusion that what is desired is less a solution than just something to complain about.

Yeah the key is a totally different form, not personality.  Its a way of handling certain builds, but like Hero always is, its just one of many possible ways.

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.

For me "Drunk Hiding in His Cup" Thor wasn't a bad storyline especially after all that had happened.
The added "Fat" portion was meh.  

Finally watched the first two episodes of WandaVison and it was..........  underwhelming? 
 
I really hope they are not planning to continue along the same line.

Ok warning this may come off as a rant. I’ve noticed Duke Bushido echo sentiments in OSRs that is, older games are better because there are less rules and more GM rulings and we had fun. This isn’t wrong per se. Glad if you had fun and were able to make fair rulings. But know one yet has looked at the other side (and perhaps that’s why they’re on OSR because of good experiences.) Namely why was there an increase of rules? I think the two main reasons were 1) GM could be pricks.  If you had to rely on a GM who let the game be a “god” well, I know I’d be tempted! Seriously if I was given certain super powers, I might be a super villain.  Anyways with rules in print (even if you don’t like the rule) everyone is on the same page. 2) GM confidence (I’ve routinely pointed this out that I’m in this category). Hey game company what do you mean I have to make a decision? That’s what I paid for the rules for. More importantly  how do I know I’ll make a fair and reasonable decision? Let’s face it some of the guidelines in the older books on how to make a ruling is very vague. Anyways now that I got that off the chest, the rant not about OSR or what edition you enjoy but rather I don’t ever see someone pause and say hmmmm.....this worked for us but what is the down side? How could this fail? Could we be in the minority with this?  Iow, just because you (OSR) didn’t have a problem doesn’t mean that there wasn’t potential problems with it. 

Modules don't sell gangbusters, but the fact is without content to actually play a game with... people are less likely to buy a game.  So its a package deal.  Game companies have to look at this differently than just a corporate spreadsheet.  You are in the business of building relationships with gamers, not maximizing profit.

So publish a small setting book featuring angsty pouch-riddled gun nuts and call _that_ Dark Champions.
 
Or ditch the name completely.  Given the last couple of decades of both and emo culture and sparkling vampires and the increasing occurrence of actual gun nuts...
 
Dark this and Dark that...
 
The name is more _embarrassing_ than it is enticing at this point.  Anymore, I pull my hat down low and look away from the cashier just to buy "Dark" chocolate....