zslane

I'm still burned out on your standard swords and sorcery, "medieval" fantasy genre, particularly when it comes to gaming. I prefer science fiction (i.e., science and technology instead of spellcasting and magic items).

I think the creators of superhero comics, many of whom were Jewish immigrants, would be shocked to learn they were really indulging in fascist fantasy all that time.

For learning the system, I would get Champions Complete. Then, get the entire 6th edition Core Library for after you've absorbed the fundamentals (from Champions Complete) and know for sure you like the system enough to want to devote your life to it like we have.

For some, most certainly.

I agree, Matt. This first go-around for Black Panther (in his own movie) really has been lightning in a bottle, so to speak, and I wouldn't expect even Marvel to be able to replicate its success. As they say, you can only have a "first time experience" once. That's why WB is doomed in any attempt to replicate BP's success by fast-tracking a black superhero of their own in a solo film; that bubble of pent-up demand has been burst, and it is unlikely to ever inflate to that frenzied degree again.

Wonder Woman only pulled in half of what Black Panther did. Being a good movie that "breaks ground" by tapping some previously untapped demographic is not enough to replicate the kind of success Marvel movies enjoy. There is this fallacy in Hollywood that you can identify the one thing that made a movie a huge hit and then use that to "replicate" its success. Continued belief in this fallacy will lead to more Justice Leagues in the future as studios like WB attempt to make their own version of something another studio did better because of a long list of critical factors which they disregard as irrelevant.

Right, IOW, change the costume (the hammer is sort of part of the costume in this sense).

Two headlines on io9 today: Wonder Woman and Black Panther's Success Has Theater Owners Asking for More Diverse Blockbusters I consider this fake news. I don't believe that "theater owners" are clamoring for more diverse blockbusters. I'm pretty sure they are just clamoring for more successful blockbusters, whether they have diversity as a primary feature or not. Theater owners--which are a cabal of corporations, not individuals--only care about making money, not satisfying some oblique social agenda. But, of course, io9 has to spin this as a referendum on representation in film. What Warner Bros. Needs to Do to Replicate Black Panther's Success Here the article frames this as a question over which black superhero DC should put on film in order to "replicate" the success of Black Panther. But to my mind this focuses on the wrong thing. The answer is to simply make a damn good movie. You do that and you'll replicate the movie's success, regardless of the race or gender of the lead character. But, of course, io9 has to make this all about race politics and the notion that Black Panther is successful primarily because it is all black, rather than because it is simply a superb film in all its other aspects. Incidentally, trying to replicate the success of Black Panther's marketing campaign--which was as much about characterizing the film as an historic moment in cinema as it was about showing the film's amazing action and visuals--would also be a futile endeavor since that would only reek of desperate copycat maneuvering. But I just don't know if WB has the dexterity to avoid that particular minefield.

How would a court determine that your superhero Thor isn't infringing on Marvel's superhero Thor? Is it enough to just change the costume? Or would a court decide that nobody but Marvel can use the Norse pantheon as the basis for superheroes and supervillains? That would take something that was always public domain (mythology) and make it proprietary.

Oh I wouldn't put it past WB to try and use Flashpoint to do some sort of soft reboot since the one thing they have demonstrated they are really, really good at is spending lots of time and money putting really bad ideas up on the screen.

A full reboot with the same actors (e.g., Gadot, Cavill) would be extremely awkward (structurally, narratively). I don't think they have the storytelling chops to pull something like that off in a way that would reverse the public's sour opinion of the DCU. IMO, their best bet going forward is to just make solid, standalone superhero movies that have no visible ties to each other or to a larger story arc. They should just let Marvel have the shared universe space and stop trying to compete there all together.

I think that list needs 100% more Wilson Fisk and 200% more Kilgrave.

Sadly, I think you're right Matt. I don't think WB particularly wants or cares about a Batgirl movie. They have Wonder Woman serving as their hallmark female superhero and I'm sure they don't see a need for another female superhero franchise. Without (a scandal-free) Whedon attached, this project probably has zero momentum within corporate WB.

Translation: "I'm (still) burnt out from working on big-budget tentpole movies for soulless corporate overlords like WB and Disney, and would much rather go back to writing little indie projects like Much Ado About Nothing and Cabin in the Woods."

That's not exactly a high bar to clear. If Black Panther is as good as Winter Solider, I will be very pleased (with it) indeed.

Well, for anyone who wants to see Black Panther before Infinity War hits, they won't have any choice but to see it (now) during its theatrical run, regardless of the hype. It won't be available anywhere else until later in the year.

A flash bang grenade basically has two main effects: a Flash that affects both Sight and Hearing, and a Stunning effect. One could also argue that it delivers a small explosive EB since physical injuries can occur very near the point of detonation. SFX might also allow for the igniting of flammable materials at the detonation site. I would probably write it up as something along the lines of: Flashbang Grenade 2D6 Flash (Sight and Hearing) + 4D6 NND blast (defense having protective ear cover, e.g., Flash Defense for Hearing) + 3D6 EB (exploding). SFX allows for igniting flammable materials in the detonation hex. The 3D6 EB provides for the possibility of knockdown (knockback is unlikely though).

Yeah, the biggest weakness of Babylon 5's first season, apart from the low fx budget and some of the acting, was that it had to spend that entire season just setting up everything that was to be paid off in the coming seasons. But I think you will be pleased if you stick with it, and especially impressed when you watch the two-part S3 episode War Without End (because of how it ties to a very particular episode in S1).

I agree with you completely. I would also offer up the following rules of thumb when it comes to power builds (or inventing new powers): 1. Simpler is better than complicated. 2. Utilizing existing mechanics is better than inventing entirely new mechanics. 3. SFX are your best friend; allow them to cover the incidental details that won't have a significant game effect but will help you abide by rule of thumb #1.

I'm not deeply knowledgeable of the physiological effects of a flash-bang grenade, but I could easily believe that the impact on the body is not really any different than any other attack that delivers STUN damage. Sure, sustaining STUN damage greater than CON means you are that much closer to being knocked out, but the stresses the body goes through when coping with a flash-bang grenade attack are probably not much different than being clocked on the jaw (minus the bruising, i.e., BODY damage).

There's a puzzling tendency for HERO players to believe that the existing power set is always the best way to build any and all things. However, there are cases where the mechanics you are after aren't really covered by the existing skills/talents/powers/etc. without a lot of torturous, highly indirect application of what's available in the RAW. This situation is hardly unusual; new powers have been added to virtually every edition of the game in order to cover various concepts more directly/elegantly, and there's no reason you can't as well. You'll have to decide if obtuse builds based around Entangle, Mind Control, Flash, or Change Environment are better fits for what you're after than a simple Stun Target power that you come up with yourself.

Invent a new power: 10 pts - Stun Target Upon a successful to-hit roll, target must make a successful EGO Roll (or CON Roll at GM's discretion) or be Stunned. Adder: for +5 pts target takes a -1 penalty to their EGO Roll score. Adjust point costs as you see fit for your campaign.

Not without digging into optional rules and house rules. HERO is designed for cinematic action, and it eschews many of the more mundane complications of Real Life® that compromise functioning as a cinematic action hero.

Um, doesn't "long-term", by definition, require time to pass before something can be assessed for long-term impact? If not, when did long-term change to mean immediate-term? And for those who use the word "historic" to refer to superficial achievements (like movie box office performance) in the corpus of human events, I would strongly urge them to choose a different word. Otherwise it begins to lose its linguistic gravitas, and eventually, its actual meaning all together (ala "literally").

I agree, LL, but you just know that everyone who has a seat on the Black Panther superhype bandwagon is just waiting for it to break opening weekend records so they can say (in effect, if not in word), "See! This truly is an historic moment in the long, celebrated history of human achievement!"