Brian Stanfield

I have completed and sent Western Hero to Hero Games to look over and build a cover for.  Its a complete book with all you need to build characters and play the game (minus powers and modifiers etc, as not applicable in a heroic game) with a full campaign setting adapted from the original Western Hero 4th edition, plus tons of adventure ideas, campaign tips, background, maps, etc.
 
Also, I have uploaded a file of The Greatest Guns Who Never Were, a file containing almost 50 fictional characters of western and western-inspired background from books, comics, movies, television, and radio, from Hopalong Cassidy to Mal Reynolds and all points in between.  Its free in the Downloads section and includes full Hero Designer write ups as well as a pdf containing them all and some notes on how they were made.

I should also note, this is one of the reasons why I have issues with Hero books. I've found them to be getting less like game books and more like text books. Look at the competition and see their layout, the color images, and the fancy structure of the book. 

Ugh! I HATE subscription models! It's a scam. I don't want to keep paying to use the program that I payed for to use. 

Nope. No subscriptions. It's nothing but a money grab.
 
If I buy Software 1.0, and it serves my purposes, I don't need or want anything more. IF and when I find it lacking, I can *choose* to pay for an upgrade (Software 1.1 now with flavor!) or a whole new iteration (Software 2.0). But I'm NOT going to pay a monthly or annual subscription just to maintain access to a product I bought.

To be fair, subscription model software is often both product and service.  Your initial purchase is paying for the product, the software.  Every dollar after that is paying for the service, the steady flow of updates and patches. 
The alternatives are rolling versions that require repurchases "FIFA 2020 is out!  FIFA 2019 is obsolete!  Buy FIFA!  Again!", donation funding "Please please please have you considered donating to Wikipedia?", in-software advertisements "Your game will start shortly, after this two minute message from our sponsors.", or discontinued support "Yes, we know the program crashes when you make the right pane blue.  We can't do anything about that.  We have no money.".  Or worse, there's actually some nastier alternatives that I refuse to mention in polite company. 
Or FOSS.  FOSS is pretty great. 

Ugh! I HATE subscription models! It's a scam. I don't want to keep paying to use the program that I payed for to use. 

Okay, let's put this up again:
  
 
If you have reason to suspect that "Champions Universe" in this context excludes the published characters, I would suggest contacting Jason for clarification.
 
EDIT: I decided to pose the question to Jason myself. I'll transcribe his response here when he gets back to me.
 

Ah; I see.
 
Got off early, so you should see a PM in a few minutes.  Follow the link and you'll get the covers.

I think it was Quark Xpress?
 

Yes, one of the biggest problems I've always had with the books, even the older 3e games, was the layout order! The problem is exacerbated when the character creation stuff is spread over different chapters. For example, the standard charges stuff always leads the book, but then the templates and setting details are always somewhere near the back of the book. So new players picking up Fantasy HERO Complete have no idea as they start reading that there is anything like "character classes," equipment, and the other stuff they're used to finding up front in a D&D book. There are many ways to skin a cat, but the HERO layout has always seemed backwards to me. 
 
I like your arrangement. I also like your micro-campaign idea. Aaron Allston put a "choose your own adventure" type of game example in the Campaign Book for Justice Inc. It's admittedly very brief, but not too far off what every game should offer. It's a guided tour through the game mechanics, not simply an example of combat. He guides you through some choices, and they lead to different resolutions (skills, combat, etc.). A more developed version of this to lead new players and GMs would be a most excellent idea. 
 
I'm in total agreement here. As I've said before, I'm not interested in rewriting the rules. But I think they need a serious overhaul in how they're presented. It was easy and efficient when the books were virtually pamphlets compared to what we have now. But that same format was used as the books ballooned in size with each edition. They really needed to be reorganized at some point, although one major problem is that the 6e1/6e2 rules, for example, would make a mini-campaign virtually impossible because they are universal, so no assumptions are made about anything that could be played. The problems with being universal is that, while anything can be made with the rules, nothing has been decided on for how to demonstrate the rules. 
 
I think DOJ could really benefit from a remodeling of how they present their games. This should also include an online presence, like through the Tabletop Simulator mod that @Brennall has been working on. That's of course way beyond this particular thread, but it's time to come into the 21st Century! So many games now can be played in one night. There's no reason a game "Powered by HERO" can't live up to modern expectations, if it's laid out correctly. 

@smoelf and @Shoug 
I'm right there with you. Consider using HERO System Basic for a gaming group, and get some people together to run a few simple activities. Either use pre-gen characters you build, or have them all take a whack at making simple characters. Then just run them through a battle. No backstory, no reason, just a McGuffin battle so they can all try out the system. Maybe start off first with a Skills adventure (break into the McGuffin-storage), which then leads to the battle in a second adventurelet. Nobody will care that there's no story--everyone will be more interested in kicking the tires on the system and will be happy enough to just run through some stuff. Not even "Session 0," more like "Session alpha."
 
I'd also recommend, if you haven't already, getting HERO Designer. It's immensely helpful for whipping up characters quickly. Or if you are interested in a supers game, try the Character Creation Cards. They allow you to whip up characters in minutes, and then you can go right into playing. My recommendation, though, would be to start with simple heroic-level characters and very simple challenges. The Powers in a supers game can quickly get overwhelming for new players and especially new GMs, though not impossible if you're all ok with just winging it!
 
I think if most of us look back on when we first started gaming, most of us just jumped right in to try stuff out without knowing many rules at all. Just do that. Have fun, don't look for too much accuracy, and just get them used to figuring out when to roll dice, and how many. I'm actually just now GMing my first HERO campaign ever. I have a group of entirely new players, and an entirely new GM (me), but we've met 4 or 5 times now and they have enough fun to keep coming back. I'm doing Pulp HERO in 6e, so the characters are heroic skill-based players. It makes the game so much simpler! I've been letting different characters have the spotlight (time for your detective to detect, time for your fixer to check his mob contact, and your silent film star to unload a ferocious PRE attack on the mook, etc.) and then making sure I take time out with each activity to explain the what and the why of the dice resolution. They all get to watch as well as participate, and then learn as they go. AND it helps reinforce some of the things for me as the GM as well. 
 
Just another 2¢ nugget. I hope it helps you get over the first hurdle of trying to get through that first game. Let me know what you think, or how it goes, and what you think would help for the first time players. I have all sorts of pages from the PDFs printed off and laminated for their reference, but I never know what they really need (and neither do they, since they don't know what they don't know . . . know what I mean?). 

It was helped by the fact that girls in Nashville were FASCINATED by my accent.  I was exotic and I got WAY more attention than I ever did back home.  Gives a place a kind of shine in the memory.  🙂

It included adventures? I need to go back and read it again.  I remember it including adventure seeds, but not fully developed adventures.
 
 

Hi pbemguy! Welcome. 
 
 
I'll put a pitch in for a discussion I started recently about "Complete" games. Lots of history and things packed in there, and it'll take you a while to grind through it, but I think you'll get a good feel for many of the issues that we all feel passionately about. 
 
Whatever you do, though, don't start a "which edition is better" war! Please, for the love of God! You'll just have to do your own research on those debates. People have pretty firm ideas on their favorite editions (2e through 6e), and people aren't likely to change their opinions. But I can guarantee, without feeling too patronizing about it, that DOJ will never, ever, rewind the ruleset to anything pre-6th, and there probably won't be a 7e either. They are fully invested in 6th now, and the new "Complete" books are derived from 6th. There is just as much support for 5th as there is for 6th at this point (in other words, very little except for lively forums). Nobody really judges about which edition you prefer. Just go with what makes you happy. Just don't expect DOJ to reboot anything at this point. 
 
Ron Edwards's Champions Now project is his own return to 2e/3e days, but he's rewritten the rules so much that it's not the same game anymore. It's now Ron's own spin on Champions. And it is not the DOJ version of the game. It's his own project. He wasn't selected to do it as a resuscitation of the game; he approached DOJ about doing his own thing, and they let him run with it. Don't get me wrong, I talked with him for a good while about the project, and even did a video with him. But it just can't be a replacement for the "Complete" books. It shouldn't be considered a new standard. It's just a thought experiment more than anything, perhaps a fun one. I like his ideas about character creation and setting development. But he's created his own game. I'm not even really sure why DOJ is promoting it, since it's pretty unlike their own version of Champions, and seems to be at cross purposes to their own success. And it certainly is not "Champions Basic" except in the most vague way. It's not an introduction to Champions because it is its own game. He's changed the names of too many things, changed the rules, and changed too many assumptions about things to even be considered related to the current Champions. And we definitely don't want him in charge of an "Advanced" project, because he doesn't believe enough in the existing rules, and much of the existing DOJ intellectual property, to do it justice. We don't need an Advanced version of Champions. It already exists! As for "Basic" projects, there are already plenty of threads for you to read about that as well. Here's another one I started a long time ago, which actually led to someone doing a Fantasy HERO Primer document you can get in the downloads section. There are many others as well. Anyway, short story long, Ron's not the guy to lead a reboot of HERO System.
 
Everyone agrees with you about the artwork. That's one of the biggest problems with the books being produced. That's another one of those recurring themes that you'll find in the forums, so I won't rehash it. Yup: we need better artwork for a comics-based game system!
 
So, to get to your original proposition: how do we save HERO System? We don't. We can't save an organization that's not very interested in saving itself. It's probably best described as being in a holding pattern, at best, right now. The economy has rebounded, so that's not an excuse anymore. But what has happened is that the RPG industry has totally changed around DOJ while they've been in a holding pattern. 
 
Anyway, don't let me kill your desire to explore this issue. That's just my 2¢ for now. You have decades of experience and knowledge to draw from here. Enjoy!

You know, HERO had a kind of thing for a while, adventures did not just give something for the GM to run but added something to the system, like Scourge of the Deep gave rules and hints about adventuring under water.
 
It would be a great thing if we published adventures which had two purposes.  One would be something to run.  The other would be advice on setting the game up for a particular game style.
 
So instead of a 24 page adventure book, you get a 48 page supplement.  These could build into a library of guidance on games to play using HERO.
 
This is something short of complete games, or games in a book but might meet Shoug's type of need.  A helping hand on setting the game up to play the adventure if that is the style of game you want.
 
I SO want to do something Hall of Champions related.  I need to get my group on this....we must have the skills between us to get something workable (including typesetting, design, ideas and artwork).
 
Doc

You know, I could probably tolerate a party full of Keebler Elves..... 

Our early game that had the Society of Ternaugh* also had Queblar Elves, who were known for their uncommonly good magical baked goods. One of the more useful combat spells expanded a special cookie into a decoy to draw fire.
 
 
*Ternaugh was a wizard who gained his inspiration for spells by scrying nearby dimensions. Spells usually had box somewhere in the title**, and they also had really odd Side Effects for when the Magic Skill roll was flubbed. It's probably everything that people in this thread feel breaks fantasy immersion, but we had a lot of fun with it, and that's all that really matters.
 
**Examples include:
Ternaugh's Box of Puffed Grain and Nuts with a Secret Magical Surprise, which was an Aid spell with a requirement that the target must use the Secret Magical Surprise found within in order to gain the benefits. Eating the Cracker Jack was optional.
Ternaugh's Box of Slightly Questionable Liquid Refreshment summoned either a case of Sprite soda, or a really angry sprite if the wizard failed the magic skill roll.
Ternaugh's Box of Summoning created a phantom telephone booth that pulled a creature into it. The wizard needed to pick up the ghostly receiver, drop a coin into the slot, and dial the number of the creature so desired. Failures would result in "wrong numbers", which would summon a different creature.

I think we may have a solution!
 
 
 

Hi pbemguy! Welcome. 
 
 
I'll put a pitch in for a discussion I started recently about "Complete" games. Lots of history and things packed in there, and it'll take you a while to grind through it, but I think you'll get a good feel for many of the issues that we all feel passionately about. 
 
Whatever you do, though, don't start a "which edition is better" war! Please, for the love of God! You'll just have to do your own research on those debates. People have pretty firm ideas on their favorite editions (2e through 6e), and people aren't likely to change their opinions. But I can guarantee, without feeling too patronizing about it, that DOJ will never, ever, rewind the ruleset to anything pre-6th, and there probably won't be a 7e either. They are fully invested in 6th now, and the new "Complete" books are derived from 6th. There is just as much support for 5th as there is for 6th at this point (in other words, very little except for lively forums). Nobody really judges about which edition you prefer. Just go with what makes you happy. Just don't expect DOJ to reboot anything at this point. 
 
Ron Edwards's Champions Now project is his own return to 2e/3e days, but he's rewritten the rules so much that it's not the same game anymore. It's now Ron's own spin on Champions. And it is not the DOJ version of the game. It's his own project. He wasn't selected to do it as a resuscitation of the game; he approached DOJ about doing his own thing, and they let him run with it. Don't get me wrong, I talked with him for a good while about the project, and even did a video with him. But it just can't be a replacement for the "Complete" books. It shouldn't be considered a new standard. It's just a thought experiment more than anything, perhaps a fun one. I like his ideas about character creation and setting development. But he's created his own game. I'm not even really sure why DOJ is promoting it, since it's pretty unlike their own version of Champions, and seems to be at cross purposes to their own success. And it certainly is not "Champions Basic" except in the most vague way. It's not an introduction to Champions because it is its own game. He's changed the names of too many things, changed the rules, and changed too many assumptions about things to even be considered related to the current Champions. And we definitely don't want him in charge of an "Advanced" project, because he doesn't believe enough in the existing rules, and much of the existing DOJ intellectual property, to do it justice. We don't need an Advanced version of Champions. It already exists! As for "Basic" projects, there are already plenty of threads for you to read about that as well. Here's another one I started a long time ago, which actually led to someone doing a Fantasy HERO Primer document you can get in the downloads section. There are many others as well. Anyway, short story long, Ron's not the guy to lead a reboot of HERO System.
 
Everyone agrees with you about the artwork. That's one of the biggest problems with the books being produced. That's another one of those recurring themes that you'll find in the forums, so I won't rehash it. Yup: we need better artwork for a comics-based game system!
 
So, to get to your original proposition: how do we save HERO System? We don't. We can't save an organization that's not very interested in saving itself. It's probably best described as being in a holding pattern, at best, right now. The economy has rebounded, so that's not an excuse anymore. But what has happened is that the RPG industry has totally changed around DOJ while they've been in a holding pattern. 
 
Anyway, don't let me kill your desire to explore this issue. That's just my 2¢ for now. You have decades of experience and knowledge to draw from here. Enjoy!

Like thick, straight hair that stacks and insulates against heat loss from generations of living in colder climes?  Of blue eyes that let in more light through the iris itself?  Or darker skin to protect against the damage sun does?
 
All the differences between ethnotypes of humans are the result of genetic drift and viability in an environment that was not the same as the one from which the base type sprang.
 
 
 
 
 
I am equally annoyed by such.  I mean, I don't think I have ever _once_ said "the orientals of Korea"  or "the crackers of France."  
 
The Elves of Shularahaleen are the Shularahaleen, or the Shularahaleenites, or the Shuharans, because if I ever use TA, Shularahalareen is getting whacked in half for communicative reasons.  Welcome to Shulara.  Enjoy our elfishness,  for the Shularans are elves.
 
 

You know, maybe it's just me, but I never considered High Elves, Hill Dwarves, etc. to be separate "races," any more than Caucasians are a separate race from Orientals. I just treated them as various ethnicities of Elves, Dwarves, and whatnot, with somewhat differing physical features, and sometimes distinctive cultural habits.
 
Now, if you have something like a Dark Elf that's developed significant physical differences from other Elves, such as enhanced senses to cope with perpetual darkness, and inherent photophobia, I'd argue they've branched off to become a distinct species.
 
I think part of the problem stems from the creatures in D&D-inspired fantasy settings being called "Elf" and "Dwarf" with some adjective preceding the name to distinguish specific groups, implying that they're a unique "breed" of their kind. "Humans" in most fantasy settings aren't categorized that way; when humans are distinguished at all, it's by some ethno-national label such as "Hyborians" or "Rohirrim." But Tolkien at least gave us a general name for the human species, "Men," wherever they were from. OTOH he had good in-setting reasons to divide his Elves into Noldor and Sindar, and to distinguish Caliquendi from Moriquendi.
 
Hero Games' Turakian Age setting always annoys me by following a similar pattern as other D&D-esque fantasy games, clumsily referring to "the Elves of Shularahaleen," or "the Dwarves of Algarhaime," or "the Gnomes of the Drachenloch Hills." Yet TA never refers to "the Men of Mezendria," for example -- they're Mezendrians. For my own use of TA I always tried to make names for each of the established nationalities of non-humans in that world, usually derived from the name of their country.

6e2 7 will answer some of your questions. There are no specific rules about movement while blinded, but some suggestions are made such as moving 2m per phase to slowly feel one's way out of the darkness without hitting anything. A couple other problems present themselves: while the person at the center of the Darkness is at 1/2 DCV and cannot see out of the Darkness, you can't actually see into (or through) the Darkness either, and so can't really target that person. He could do a full move to get out of the Darkness (without really knowing how big the area really is), but the GM will have to make several judgments all at once, as @Hugh Neilson suggests. Perhaps randomize the person's move (a Perception check is impossible in Darkness) with an INT roll; also, consider not revealing the radius of the darkness to the victim, so they can't metagame a strategy to get out of the darkness; in other words, since they can't see out of or through the Darkness they are stricken with, they can't determine whether the Darkness targets only their own sense group, or if it's an AOE, or any other factor because they just can't see; this may have to be honestly roleplayed by the character to prevent these meta gaming problems. 

One more random question RE: disguising oneself through Transform/Shapeshift/Multiform: isn’t it assumed that Powers by default are visible when they are used? The source of all Powers is presumed to be detectable unless an Advantage is taken. I’m too lazy to look he rules up right now, but are they only perceivable while the change happens, or the entire time the Power is . . . I guess “empowered”? Like, would the floppity sparrow have a little penumbral glow around it?
 
I apologize ahead of time for the perhaps obvious question.