Scott Ruggels

This is key.  I know that adventures don't sell quite as well; About 1 "Taming Tascora" module has sold for every 10 Western Hero books.  I get that.  But without the support stuff like characters and adventures and campaign settings you don't have a game.  GMs need something they can PLAY immediately, not just the setting and the rules.  There's been 2-3 Champions adventures put out on Drive Thru and they are great stuff, but only one official adventure from Hero Games.  We need more: like ten times that many more.  We need to flood the store with adventures so people have lots of options and stuff to DO with Hero games.
 
In putting out my Jolrhos Fantasy Hero setting I've been trying to space out one adventure in between each big book, to build up a body of things a GM can do.  We need more of that.  I mean... until I put out the Lost Castle there were absolute no adventures put out for Fantasy Hero since fourth edition, and even then only one book of adventures.   That's ridiculous for a game company.

The Hero System will not survive a 2020's revision. Either that or it won't be The Hero System.

The problem of 2020s is the lack of patience to the screen addicted audience. The usual response to this is mechanical minimalism, usually accompanied with a more shared narrative control systems.  Putting these in, will break the backwards compatibility of the system, due to differences in the mechanics, and the assumptions. Focusing the next edition to the younger audience means making things more performative, due to the outsized influence of Matt Mercer.

For many of us, these high Narrative, minimal mechanical systems, aren't "games", they are "shared storytelling" which, again, for some of us are highly unattractive, and bear no relationship to classic Hero. The 6th Edition may be too far into the crunch, but it's still The Hero System, and backwards compatible mostly.  Even a modest push in the "modern" direction, like Champions Now, broke backwards compatibility, especially with it's narrative emphasis, and taking the game off the boards and moving combat into "Theater of The Mind". 
 
The Problem also with a 7th Edition, is "Who is going to write it?"  We would need someone to keep the system fun. Fun to read, and fun to play (like 4th Edition).

Yeah I think the tone is key, and I think that's why, say  Aaron Allston's Strike Force took off well (fun to read, fascinating, informative) and other more recent stuff is less popular: its too dry, too GM-centric, and too focused on data rather than play.  You can make "killing attacks do 2d6 damage" dry and mechanical or informative and fun.  I've written a bunch of stuff and lately I realized that you gotta be player-centric, because EVERYONE plays, but only a few GM.  Its not that you don't need info for the GM, but you gotta reach the players where they are.
 
Plus 7th edition is a big argument over mechanics and rules and build stuff, and that often ends up being pretty contentious.

The Hero System will not survive a 2020's revision. Either that or it won't be The Hero System.

The problem of 2020s is the lack of patience to the screen addicted audience. The usual response to this is mechanical minimalism, usually accompanied with a more shared narrative control systems.  Putting these in, will break the backwards compatibility of the system, due to differences in the mechanics, and the assumptions. Focusing the next edition to the younger audience means making things more performative, due to the outsized influence of Matt Mercer.

For many of us, these high Narrative, minimal mechanical systems, aren't "games", they are "shared storytelling" which, again, for some of us are highly unattractive, and bear no relationship to classic Hero. The 6th Edition may be too far into the crunch, but it's still The Hero System, and backwards compatible mostly.  Even a modest push in the "modern" direction, like Champions Now, broke backwards compatibility, especially with it's narrative emphasis, and taking the game off the boards and moving combat into "Theater of The Mind". 
 
The Problem also with a 7th Edition, is "Who is going to write it?"  We would need someone to keep the system fun. Fun to read, and fun to play (like 4th Edition).

And, you could "sell back" all your figured from CON for a 1 point gain, so get all the points you wanted, limited only by shame (without breaking campaign limits like STR would). In the first ed.
 
After that, you couldn't "sell back" more than one figured stat, so the bug was fixed.
 
Figured stats became just another cost break, like Power Frameworks, and on basically the same scale.  
 
Honestly, they served a purpose. Having 60 points in several powers is just nothing like as OP as having 90 points in one.  They're discounts for being rounded out a bit rather than diving down the hyper-specialization rabbithole, a real problem in build systems that you rarely are addressed.

I played BYOB (Bring Your Own Brick) run by Dave Mattingly at GenCon a number of years ago.  We were told to bring 2 characters, and he would choose which one you played.  Was great fun.  But I couldn't vote here, because my character didn't get rejected or nicknamed.  And None doesn't work as a valid option.

It's a meh issue for me. 
Hero is not an RPG. 
It is a system to build a custom RPG.
Every single incarnation from 1st through 6th has had "broken" or "incorrectly costed" something.  
Even the concept of "balanced" RPG is ludicrous. 
 
While some people looks at 6th as having "fixed" issues. 
Other people think that 6th just "broke" many of the central reasons that made Hero good in the first place.  
I'm one of the people that saw 6th as a revision that eliminated many of the core reasons that brought me to Champions (Hero) in the first place while hamfistedly "breaking" it.
 
But I am aware that 6th has it's cult following  
All hail the Great Sixth'thulhu

 
In the end Hero in all it's forms is a game that you do not let anyone "build a PC at home and show up to play".  At least if they are not someone that you have been gaming for years and understand intimately the parameters of the campaign.  
 
Hero cannot be "fixed" or "balanced" by the rules. 
That must be done by each GM as they build their world. 
I am positive that 99% of the posters on this board could build a character that will "break" any campaign if they have free access to the core rulebook and intent.  
 
IMO 6th Edition is every bit as "broken" as 5thR was.  It is just which flavor of "broken" do you prefer. 
 
 

My aunt, (Dad’s. Sister) has the opposite problem. She and my mother trade mystery paperbacks, mostly by English authors, but my Aunt cannot understand spoken English accents at all no matter what region, so she can’t understand the BBC productions of the various Anne Cleves mysteries that they show on television.  (Cable and PBS). 

My aunt, (Dad’s. Sister) has the opposite problem. She and my mother trade mystery paperbacks, mostly by English authors, but my Aunt cannot understand spoken English accents at all no matter what region, so she can’t understand the BBC productions of the various Anne Cleves mysteries that they show on television.  (Cable and PBS). 

If we can revisit the minis / tokens thing for just a moment, I would love to share this absolutely delightful thing I stumbled across this evening:
 
 
 

Oh, we can blame those. However they do fit for D.I. and F.H. I think it was the Amalgamation into Champions that was possibly the problem. Too much Realism into the Superhero Genre? Maybe?
 

Almost all, if not all, of the Skills that are in 4th, 5th and 6th editions existed in 3rd edition.  I know this for a fact because I compiled a spreadsheet about it.  Granted, they existed across multiple books, but in the games I was in back then, we assumed that any skills that were appropriate to the setting would be available in whichever game we were playing.  One major exception to that was Martial Arts in Fantasy Hero; we didn't seem to want to go there except in the Bushido Hero game.  

It's an imbalance in the system that did simulate a trope of the superhero genre. That being that high STR characters are inherently tougher than those who rely on other powers.
 
10 Points spent on STR(or CON) gave back 11 Points  in value spread across PD, REC and STUN(or ED, REC, END and STUN in the case of CON) so rather than directly purchasing these characteristics, you'd buy enough STR or Con to reach your target value.. Everyone needed CON but concepts with high STR tended to have much more STUN and REC.
 
As as Ninja-Bear states this worked fine in the context of Supers. But there are issues when we are speaking of Heroic genre games. The system is universal but there should be slight adjustments to better fit some games.  These adjustments are best done on the campaign level so that everyone knows all the differences from RAW for that campaign at character creation. House rules are fine, but they need to be known from the start and special one-offs that come up are easier to deal with.

The STR bug was the only way to easily bdimulate Silver Age, car tossing heroes and villains and still be unber 250 points. It also kept all the defenses in line. To me it’s not a big but a feature. 

The STR bug was the only way to easily bdimulate Silver Age, car tossing heroes and villains and still be unber 250 points. It also kept all the defenses in line. To me it’s not a big but a feature. 

The STR bug was the only way to easily bdimulate Silver Age, car tossing heroes and villains and still be unber 250 points. It also kept all the defenses in line. To me it’s not a big but a feature. 

Felt kind of blah last night, and caught "Never Surrender" on Amazon, last night, which was a documentary on the making of "Galaxy Quest'.  Now I want to watch "Galaxy Quest" again.
 
 After that I watched "The Grand Budapest Hotel".  I enjoyed the film, due to the clever and quick editing, and the peculiar take on the Remnants of the Austro Hungarian Empire, visually.  Great, if stylized performances, and it a nice story within a story. However, watching it on Amazon, "with commercials",  was an unfortunately unpleasant  experience, and reminded me why I ditched broadcast Television, and regular cable, and never bothered to subscribe to Hulu.  The movie I would reccomend, but "with Commercials", I would most definitely, not. ( I would rather pay for the movies, than watch commercials).

The STR bug was the only way to easily bdimulate Silver Age, car tossing heroes and villains and still be unber 250 points. It also kept all the defenses in line. To me it’s not a big but a feature. 

I would say that this is accurate, as at the time Champions was  a large percentage of the games being run at Gencon through the 90's. It was ubiquitous at the time. BBBs were in tall stacks at the Hero booth that sold out over those weekends, and there was "The Hero Auxiliary", running the organized convention games at Gencon.  Those were the days.

I know a couple of HERO GMs have dropped because of the omicron variant and infection rates.  Here are the games I know are scheduled that are still so far going on.  If there is no game number, it hasn't been formally scheduled yet (reasons unknown probably due to website lack of update).  I hope I'll not be the only one running.
 
Opening Day
GM: Walter Manbeck
Type: RPG
System: Hero 6th Ed. (Champions)
Players: 6
Provided: Characters may be provided by GM
Power Level: 8 SPD, CV 14, power ? 80 pts, 25-35 def
Rules Knowledge: Useful
Game Content: Mainstream
The Society of the Seven and BASTION have invited you to the grand opening of their new orbital space station. Please RSVP with your coordinates for spatial displacement, orbital shuttle pickup, or expected arrival time at the docking bay.
 
P01 Atlantis Rising
Only available via On-line Pre-registration
Friday noon in 133 for 8 hours
GM: Jim Puder
Type: RPG
System: Hero pre-5th (Champions)
Edition: Some 4th
Players: 6
Provided: Players provide their own characters
Power Level: 12-14 DC, 5-7 Speed, 9-13 CV on sliding scale
Variations: Only 2 find weakness per target, no speed-affecting powers
Rules Knowledge: Useful
Game Content: Mainstream
As the tides rise inexorably, and the storms continue unabated, a dark omen is revealed. Atlantis is rising, and with it will come a flood of proportions not seen since the Old Testament. Will you answer the call to oppose this massive cataclysm? Can you resist the power of the Mad King of Atlantis and his minions?
 
4 Legacies
Saturday 6 PM in 133 for 6 hours
GM: Jim Puder
Type: RPG
System: Hero 5th Ed. (Champions)
Edition: 4th/5th blend
Players: 6
Provided: Players provide their own characters
Power Level: 12-14 DC, 5-7 speed, 9-13 CV sliding scale
Variations: Max 2 lvls find weakness; no speed affecting powers
Rules Knowledge: Useful
Game Content: Mainstream
Ursus, a long-time Superhero, has reached a point where he feels too old to stay in the game. But as he looks around, he realizes he has left no legacy for his children. Now, a rash of robberies in which the lead perpetrator appears to have his exact powers is plaguing San Francisco. Can you stop him before he destroys what's left of his good name?
 
Sentinels, Evil Mutants & X-Men!!
GM: Matthew Laycock
Type: RPG
System: Hero 5th Ed. (Champions)
Players: 5
Provided: All characters provided by GM
Power Level: 75 active 300-350
Variations: pre-generated characters
Rules Knowledge: Useful
Game Content: Family
In true 1970?s Chris Claremont style I present to you the Uncanny X-Men!! Have you ever wanted to play your childhood favorite characters? Now is the time! Ever dream of tanging with Juggernaught? Or seeing if you really had a better idea of how to challenge Magneto?!!!
 
The Black Glove Gambit
GM: David Rakonitz
Type: RPG
System: Hero pre-5th Ed. (Champions)
Edition: 4th w/some 5th
Players: 6
Provided: Characters may be provided by GM
Power Level: Max 60 point attacks, Max PD 33/ ED 33
Variations: minor
Rules Knowledge: Useful
Game Content: Mainstream
Storm the Knight of Freedom's secret base before the forces of villainy seize the prize. Meanwhile, the mysterious Black Glove makes her move in a deadly game.
 
210 Space Nazis Strike Back
Saturday 8 AM in 143 for 8 hours
GM: Don Satow
Type: RPG
System: Hero 6th Ed. (Champions)
Edition: some 5th
Players: 6
Provided: Characters may be provided by GM
Power Level: 12DC, 8CVs 5 Spd
Variations: No find weakness/lack of weakness
Rules Knowledge: Useful
Game Content: Mainstream
With their defeat in 2020 by a rag tag team of superheroes, one lone Space Nazi carrier ship carries on its mission to return to the motherland (Earth).
 
Trenchcoat Brigade: When memories outnumber dreams
Sunday 10 AM in for 8 hours
GM: Joe Di Lellio
Type: RPG
System: Hero 5th Ed. (Champions)
Players: 6
Provided: All characters provided by GM
Power Level: 8-12DC; Appropriate CVs & defenses
Variations: some 4th Ed mods
Rules Knowledge: Expected
Game Content: Mature Themes
You awaken and remember your success in hell. The memory has an odd, dreamlike quality... and now that you ponder, which was it?
 
 

My wife is currently sitting behind me charting (she's a home healthcare nurse).  When she works (I have recently discovered, as she didn't used to work from home) she has the unbelievably irritating habit of _loudly_ playing books on tape  (Yea; I like them, too, but not at death metal concert volumes, and our taste in books is criminally polar).
 
Making it far, far worse is that, for whatever reason, she prefers books that are read by a speaker with a british accent.  I know that like any other nation, there is more than one accent.  I don't know how many british accents there are, but I know it's more than two simply because I am aware of the one that "sounds rather pleasant" and the one that is "get this man to a speech therapist and seriously, check his teeth and upper pallet for horrible deformities" severe speech impediment, and I have heard several other speakers sound "british, but neither  especially pleasant nor obviously impaired" (John Cleese is a great example of this: it's not the 'well that sounds cultured' or the 'those noises are an absolute war crime;' it is not unpleasant, and is still distinctly british), so I figure the total is "more than two."  They probably have names for the accents; I don't know, and it's not the point.
 
The point is that my wife seems to be completely incapable of knowing that there are differences in these accents, and while one is pleasant and the other (or others) are inoffensive, there is one that, for humanitarian reasons, absolutely demands a mercy killing.  (it's the one with all the "oi" sounds and where "th" is pronounced "f."  Actually, damned near _everything_ is pronounced 'f' on the rare occasion that it isn't just omitted from the word completely).
 
It boggles my mind that she really cannot hear the difference in these accents.
 
At any rate, she's currently listening to a murder mystery (scratch that: she is damned near _always_ listening to a murder mystery.  I have tried to explain to here that other genres exist, but.... ).  The reader is clearly extremely comfortable switching accents to represent different character (and, unfortunately, is also completely comfortable with multiple voice-cracking falsettos for female characters).
 
The short version is that I have never before heard anyone with the "bad accent" say "Madame Tousard's" before (forgive the highly-likely spelling errors) before.
 
I am now trying to work up a likely reason that the fantasy campaign-- if corona ever ends-- needs an injection of the NPC "Madame Two-Swords."
 
 
 

The Grand Budapest Hotel was a great movie. I would love to run a game in that type of setting, but my players wouldn't be too interested. I have the DVD; I should watch it again soon.

I have had a lot of characters like this.  The secret is to give them enough intelligence, and skills to make a roll or two when not fighting. But I have also underspent on characters just to reduce the number of disadvantages I would have to take. In fact my most favoritest character started at 241 points for a 250 point game.  Thanks again for the write up.
 

That People Magazine cover was inspired. Well done!