Korren9

Hello everyone! Hero Games publisher Jason Walters here with an update. But before I being telling you what we are up to at Hero Games this quarter, I thought I would take a moment to share my thoughts on where we are, what we are doing, and where we may go in the future. And, of course, to hear your thoughts as well. Because an RPG publishing company is at its core its fans. With them, it can accomplish a great many things. Without them, it can’t accomplish anything at all.
 
As many of you know Hero Games is owned by a parent company called DOJ Inc, which also owns the small press RPG distributor and promoter Indie Press Revolution (or IPR). While serving as general manager of IPR takes up most of my work time each day, it has also given me a lot of new ways to think about RPG publishing. Among these is the conviction that in the world of RPGs the line between fan, creator, and publisher should remain as blurry as possible. We are all fans and, in playing these games with one another, also creators. And that is really only a few short steps away from becoming designers and publishers as well.
 
If you’re like me, you’ve probably spent a measurable amount of your life using the Hero System to create just the sort of characters you’ve imagined, then shared them with your friends. I remember doing that a lot in my youth and, looking back on it, wasn’t that basically a kind of publishing? (Though admittedly, one with an extremely select audience!) Then years later in the late 90’s I discovered that there was an online community of people doing exactly the same thing, which renewed my interest in locating people to play Champions with once again. This in turn led to an odd and extremely unlikely series of events that involved befriending a nearly seven-foot-tall bouncer at a seedy San Francisco bar, making an entirely new circle of interesting friends, and eventually attending a business meeting with one of the suspects in actual case behind Tom Hank’s 1982 made-for-television film Mazes and Monsters that, eventually, ended in my writing the words you are reading today.
 
So that’s who I am, and probably who you are too: a fan. And it was in that spirit that I launched our DriveThruRPG community content program Hall of Champions a year or two back, which hummed along nicely for a while for a while before quieting down. Now I have a new idea in the same vein. I’m planning on launching a Hero Games Patreon (https://www.patreon.com) account that will serve a platform for new manuscripts to be seen and reviewed by serious fans before moving on to physical and electronic publication and distribution, with the goal moving forward to release a new book or project each quarter. You’ll be able to see and comment upon raw, unedited work before it travels the road to publication, and get an early peek into upcoming products while also contributing to their development. And you’ll get credit in the pages of that work for doing so.
 
My plan is for there to be a single level at $5.00 per month. We’ll release individual 3 to 5 page sections of manuscripts sequentially each week, possibly several manuscripts at a time, entering patron’s suggestions and edits into a spreadsheet for that manuscript as we go. Then, after those patrons have had a good hard look at the content, we’ll integrate the input into the product during the later stages of production.
 
Right now I’ve got several complete or almost complete manuscripts ready to go plus the beginnings of several others. The first is Gaslight by Christopher Hackler, author of Hero System Book of Templates 1 & 2. It’s a setting for competent normals set in London in the 1890’s. Think League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Call of Cthulhu, and Sherlock Holmes mashed together with all sorts of period characters like Spring-Heeled Jack, Dracula, and the Invisible Man.
 
The second is Imperial Throne, a Champions organization book about a deadly conspiracy whose goal is to transform the world into villainous parody of classical Chinese heaven. Our friend and fellow fan Michael Satran, author of such works as Imaginary Friends and Foxbat For President, was writing it when he was suddenly and tragically struck down by brain cancer in 2017. It’s 99% complete, and packed with hundreds of pages of characters, locations, and source material.
 
Though it isn’t a Hero Games product, I’m in possession of the final unreleased novel of our recently deceased friend and veteran Hero Games author Scott Bennie. Entitled The Last Orc, it's quite a lovely, classical sort of fantasy novel - the sort of thing we all grew up on, but one seldom sees these days. I’ve touched base with Scott’s family and they would like for it to be released, so we will use the upcoming Patreon account to do that, then most likely pass it on to my own High Rock Press imprint for actual publication.
 
Additionally, I have some projects of my own I would like to release using this method. I’ve begun getting chapters of my Star Hero supplement The Melancholy Seas of Space ready. It’s a sort of homage to Nishizaki’s Space Battleship Yamato, informed by simple setting creation elements I’ve taken from Powered By The Apocalypse games. Finally – and probably of the most interest to you – Hero Games legend Steve Long will be contributing material to this project as well, most likely beginning with chapters of The Martial World and Advanced Players Guide III. Though like the titans of old his ways are mysterious, and He Shall Create those books which He Shall Create.
 
If you have a manuscript of your own you would like to submit, contact me at jason@herogames.com and we can talk about it.
 
Now onto other Hero Games matters!
 
1) A lot of people have downloaded our free introductory product Champions Begins since we introduced it earlier this year and made it available on DriveThru, Indie Press Revolution, Itch.io, and our own website. Than you once again to the mysterious “Hero Fans” for their hard work.
 
2) We’ve been making various edits to Thomas Stadley’s IHA: Pride & Prejudice, and are basically ready to publish it. Steve wants to check over the manuscript and make sure the information in it lines up with the Champions Universe; then we’ll take it to press. We have an excellent cover and interior artwork all ready to go.
 
3) Veteran Hero System fan Carlos Castaneda has come to us with a proposal to create a Champions Complete package for Roll20. We’ve already signed a contract and he will be getting to work shortly with a proposed release date of October 2022. He’ll be keeping you updated about his progress here on the forums.
 
4) As many you already already know, Steve and I have already written six chapters of Champions International and he’s working on a seventh. So we should have that ready to go by Q3 2022 as promised. After that we’ll focus on running new material through Patreon before publication, with the exception of the Gemini System project, which is mostly complete down to a final layout.
 
 

I think N-B is likely on the nose.  Given the nature of HERO, equipment books are kind of boring, since ultimately, each entry is a cluster of powers and limitations, and that is about it, they are not nearly as enticing as such books for other games where that equipment isn't simply built like it was just another character.
 
 

Fellow Hero System Fans-


I’d like to take a moment to talk about our plans for Hero Games in 2022. I believe they’re both modest and realistic, in that they can be accomplished on time and using our limited resources. At the same time they are also ambitious, as I intend to release four projects in 2022; one each quarter of the year. They will be the following:


(Quarter One) HERO2023 Champions Begins Created by a group who wish only to be known as “Hero Fans.” This high-quality free electronic product provides everything you need to play your first game of Champions! It’s designed to teach people new to Champions how to play the game, but isn’t a complete presentation of the rules set; it provides you with just enough to play for the first time. The zip file contains a 52 page GM book, a 20 page Player book, a villain book, hero book, paper figurines, and Hero Designer files.


(Quarter Two) HERO2017 IHA: Pride & Prejudice Created by Thomas Stadley. To most people the Institute For Human Advancement is best known for its boring spokespeople who appear on talk shows that only their parents watch. But the Earth’s superheroes know better: the IHA is an insidious, genocidal threat to the planet’s mutants – and anyone else who gets in the way of their plans! Packed with agents, villains, weapons, and equipment, IHA: Pride & Prejudice contains everything you need to introduce the IHA into your campaign.


(Quarter Three) HERO2018 Champions International Created by Steve Long and Jason Walters. There are a variety of imaginary and unusual locations that have been mentioned in Champions Universe books over the years, but have never been fully explored or detailed. Champions International does exactly that, providing an in depth look at locations such as Awad, Lugendu, Larisagrad, and Costa Azul. It also includes some new locations like Transnistria and Prosperidad. Previously released individually in 2021 and 2022, these articles will be further edited and reworked to become chapters in the final version of the book.


(Quarter Four) HERO2024 The Chimera System Created by Philip J. Guinchard. The Chimera System is a hybrid of the Hero and OpenD6 systems in which elements from both have been combined together by the author to create a unique, new game system. Like the recently published Champions Now, it’s a joint undertaking by ourselves and a creator to publish a variation of the Hero System fans will find interesting and useful.


Additionally, if things go well with Champions International, Steve and I are considering creating a Patreon account to fund the creation of the HERO System Advanced Player’s Guide III, Champions Martial World, and other projects starting in 2023. But we’ll see how this year goes before we commit to a long-term project like that!


If you have a manuscript you would like to submit to Hero Games, contact me at jason@herogames.com with a one to three paragraph description of your work. If it sounds like something we would be interested in, you can then send me the full manuscript for review. And, of course, feel free to post any comments or questions on this thread.
 
- Jason Walters, Publisher
 

The last paragraph in the description of Costs Endurance on 6E1 p374 is an accidental holdover from 5E, when Powers that cost END were perceivable by three sense groups by default (see 5ER, p98 and p289). Disregard that paragraph.
 
In 6E, as stated on 6E1 p124, whether a Power is perceivable does not depend on whether it costs END. If you want an otherwise-invisible or inobvious Power to both cost END and be more perceivable, take both the Costs Endurance and Perceivable Limitations.

Everyone - I'm cool. We're cool. I might have been annoyed, but I am not remotely angry with anyone. I apologize if I've ruffled any feathers with my statements.
 
I've made it a policy that I tell people up front what they can expect from me at my table (whether virtual or not) and one of the things is I don't want to play with certain types of people. I don't wish them any ill, but the vast majority of the Right-Wing and so-called Libertarians, apocalyptic Evangelicals and anti-LGBTQ+ types hold views very contrary to mine and work against my well-being and that of many others. I don't really want to discuss it at length in public, hence why I asked what I did.
 
Tjack - Thank you for the welcome. I am however not particularly new. I've been a member since 2009. I've just not communicated much over the years. Past social anxiety issues mostly.
 
Opal - I'll refrain from further RL political comment in public. I will send you a PM instead to address your points.
 
The third party in-game politics however are fair game. I happen to remember Ross Perot Jr sort-of Presidential run in 1992 and it definitely had an impact, even if he fizzled out. Third party candidates were getting elected elsewhere, like Jesse Ventura in Minnesota. So in a world of superheroes, and different outcomes, I could very well see a third party IF it was run well and consistently having an opportunity in 1992 when both the Republicans and Democratic candidates were weak and suffering from missteps As parties go, the Patriot party is a center-right with a very "Greatest Generation" vibe to it especially at first. Russel G. Warding was young (early 40s), charismatic, very successful both in business and family without any whiff of scandal. He had connections that served him well and unlike Perot, spent time building his political movement and message well advance of the election and stood firm on his messaging throughout the election. He appealed to allot of the voter base and was shockingly elected. He only lasted a term however because the Patriot party held neither the House or Senate and had to fight every inch to get anything done, so he was voted out then the next four years sucked and he got elected again, this time with a much bigger margin in the House, and about the same as before in the senate and he got allot more done. Sadly his successors weren't as talented, and the party steadily lost ground afterwards but I haven't gotten to the more modern political climate.
 
There is quite allot I haven't gotten to yet and the Rhodesia/South Africa history blurbs and specifics are part of those. There's an couple of alien invasion/incursions that hit in the 70s, and Rhodesia/South Africa lucked out and retrieved alien salvage from one which gives them a technological edge against their neighbors. Rhodesia in particular also have a significant RAVEN presence.  I've told others elsewhere on the forum I am a fan of old school VIPER and RAVEN. The dynamics of 4E's war between them that led to RAVEN falling to VIPER then being milked for cash, then freeing and reinventing itself was one of the best long term plot threads that spanned the original setting. My twist is that yes RAVEN loses the war, is taken over by VIPER and milked for cash then frees a *portion* of itself. The freed RAVEN in the 90s becomes the reinvented Raven as what occured in the 4Es An Eye For An Eye book. However, there's a portion that sticks together under VIPER, who ultimately "sheds" it as franchise to one of it's most reliable Nest Leaders and it becomes RAVEN 3.0, which serves closer to the original RAVEN in design rather than the criminal conspiracy that Raven develops into. Three orgs, two with the same name and all very confusing to outsiders if they don't pay attention/know the backstory. South Africa is an entirely different matter and is basically old Apartheid Africa given a new lease on life thanks to alien technology.  They're heavily dependent on robotic drones which allow them to cope with numbers it's opposition possess. Africa of this world is much more in strife torn than our world.
 
As to North Korea, it's easier to answer this backwards. I'm a huge fan of the Uber comic and really have wanted to do something with it in game form and this someplace I think I can use the ideas behind Uber without it being an alt-WW2 universe. North Korea is basically a nazi state in all but name and conveniently they had this one time when they could have been pushed off the map had the Chinese not stepped in to save them. So instead of the Chinese stepping in, what if the North Koreans had an army of super men that they finally commit to action? That's my hook. As to what the whole process is, that's one of the secret plots I'm not going to reveal outside of it getting revealed in-game. Every North Korean has blood taken and tested, to determine their viability as a candidate. They get a mark on their personal papers and when they serve their obligatory service, candidates get pulled based on said mark and the national need for particular subtype of super man, go to the deep underground (yet unpenetrated by outsiders) bunker complex in the North of the country and... go through the process and return to duty as part of the North Korea Special Forces branch. Back during the war, the process was a bit cruder and they made only the basic light brick initially but against normal soldiers, that's still more than enough. Over the years since, they've refined and broadened their capabilities and it wasn't until after the armistice that the developed their equivalent to the "battleships" of Uber. As for China, they basically have the same view of North Korea after they got the bomb... contain contain contain.
 
As to why other countries haven't figured out North Korea's secret sauce? Or duplicated on their own? They just plain don't have the secret ingredient(s) or the secret recipe/formulation to make it and the North Koreans who know either are number less than twenty and perhaps as many as three know both and none of them have been above ground since they were read in. Attempts have been made to procure it and failed. As to good old Doctor Destroyer, he's dismissive of whatever they're doing because he knows his technology is better. He's certainly grabbed a few "samples" over the years and tried to figure it out and... it's secret has always eluded him. That should tell you something. Malachite... err, I mean Teleios has the same thought process.
 
Most of the world's super soldier programs follow the traditional paths - genetic manipulation, biological and chemical augmentation or cybernetics. Cybernetics are by far the most reliable method but not cost effective. Genetic manipulation is a crap shoot - mutates are tend to be as random as mutants are (and yes, I follow the Marvel conventions of Mutates vs Mutants) but hybrids... well there's been some success there just hasn't worked out to the point where nations would trust the results or tolerate the bad publicity. VIPER on the other hand... Biological and chemical augmentation can be fairly reliable and comparatively cheap but they usually go only so far and have side effects. Other technologies have just worked out better. Power suits and Mecha for instance. Not any cheaper, but normal people can use them and that ultimately makes them more comfortable to most governments.
 
 Long winded but I hope that answers your questions.

Man!  That means I can't use my favorite Predator line from Jesse, after he offers everyone in the chopper some chew; without some Snowflake getting their feelings hurt.  Oh well, I can still use "I ain't got time to bleed..."  or "If it bleeds, we can kill it..."
 
I am a registered Independent, with serious Libertarian leanings - but, that usually means "socially liberal", at least to me...
 
Looking forward to the rest.
 

Korren9 you are on waiting list if you want, we play Saturday nights.

Sadly I have sorta sidelined this project for now, having found myself in a few other games. There are other options however.
 
There is a Wildcards campaign  (variant supers) I am involved in that could use a couple more players. That one is PbP (Play by Post) for pretty much daily out of combat role play interaction and gets together every Saturday evening at 8PM EST on Roll20 for the 'fight of the week'. 
 
Additionally I am invested in a Fantasy Hero game a friend is putting together. That will likely be a once a week affair, and will be played using Tabletop Simulator with the Hero mod. There is currently no URL I could point you to for that, but if interested, message me and I'll put you in touch with the GM. There are a few spots available.

The pedantic programmer in me says "Well that's just configuration data, the program was probably totally gone.  He probably just missed a tickbox.".  He is then immediately shouted down by the security security guy in me going "WHY THE EXPLETIVE WOULD THEY LEAVE LOGIN DATA AFTER AN UNINSTALL!  EXPLETIVE THAT'S BAD!" and the tinkerer in me going "Well I just tried it and there wasn't any tickbox he could have missed.". 
I only put up with the blasted thing because my entire social circle recoiled at the mention of IRC like vampires exposed to a cross. 

I support the idea of a Discord for Hero System/Champions players to chat in real-time. These forums are invaluable for long-form discussions where you want the content to be searchable and to endure for years. A Discord is good for casual conversation where anything said doesn't need to last any longer than the few minutes it will remain on screen before getting scrolled off by newer comments.

Discord is super popular!
 
When I went to look for a Discord server for HERO I found a small server focused on a superhero setting that discussed a bunch of RPGs. Not exactly HERO-related. Having a Twitter account doesn't mean I hate Facebook. I use a bunch of different social media platforms. I feel like the goal here is to meet people where they are at. It doesn't hurt to have a presence on every platform. Did you know there is a /r/Champions and /r/herosystem Reddit forums? A Facebook fangroup?
 
To wit: when I upload something to the downloads here, I link to it in other places - to encourage people to come look here! The goal is to generate buzz, find people where they are at and then share stuff with those interested. One of the big issues with non-current-D&D RPGs is keeping the presence up to those looking for something else. I believe having a Discord server could help on that front. Think of it as screaming into the room from under the 800lb gorilla...

I have stood up a new Discord Server called Hero-Champions-RPG.
 
You can join with this (permanent) link -->  Hero-Champions-RPG
 
Goals:
A discord server focused on the HERO RPG and genre books; past, present and future. A place where folks can schedule and run online discord games. A place where HERO can announce new releases. A place where 3rd Party Publishers can announce new releases. A place where people can share or announce Kickstarter projects relevant to HERO gamers. A discord server that comes up in searches, focused on this awesome RPG!  
Let me know if you want to be a Mod! I'm happy to add any HERO games peeps as Admins as well (obviously).

Hi All

We are starting a new champions game on discord next week using 5th edition rules. We have thrown around a few ideas and come up with the following:-
 
The game will be based in just the one location called 'The City' Meta's only appeared within the last 12 months Meta's have only appeared in Capital Cities. The approximate ratio of 1 Meta per million population (so NYC has approx 18 Meta's) 3 times as many Meta's in the capital cities of third world countries Meta's have a massive diversity in power levels running from Rank 1 (barely above baseline human) to Rank 10 (Godlike) It will soon be discovered that if a Meta kills another Meta they become stronger. Even more so if the death is voluntary... If a baseline human uses Meta blood (eg blood transfusion) they will gain powers for a short duration Advanced technology created by a Meta cannot be duplicated but other Meta's or Baseliners can use it No hero or villain teams yet. Lots of solo operatives working for themselves / organized crime / corporate sponsors Very few costume wearers outside of those being sponsored? Social media will be a big part of the impact Meta's will have on the world  
I’m looking for ideas and suggestions. There is a thread on RPGnet that I’ve started about this -  https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/new-champions-game-looking-for-ideas.865905/

Wow! That whole process was almost as complicated as making a Champions character by hand . . . 

Maybe it's the typical notation that's throwing you off, BamBam - here's how I think about it:
Advantages are listed as +x : the positive sign reminds you it is a real-cost increasing effect
Limitations are listed as -x : the negative sing reminds you it is a real-cost decreasing effect.
 
However, in their respective formulas, they're both treated as using their absolute value. (Look at many examples in the books to see this in action.)
 
Yes, the formula is stated as Active Cost / (1 + total value of limitations).  And all the individual limitations are listed with negative values like -¼, -½, -1, etc.
 
However when you put them in that "total value of the limitations" use their absolute value: ¼, ½, 1,  etc.   The literal wording of the text in the rules doesn't say absolute value; but it does say "total the Limitations as positive values, even though they’re listed as 'negative' numbers" in the paragraph above the formula.  (6E V1 page 365) 
 
So a power with two -¼ limitations winds up in the formula as "Active Cost / (1 + ½)",  Thus a 60 active point power comes out to a 40 real cost.  Or with a -1 limitation, a 60 active point power comes out to a 30 real cost.   (It has to work this way, or a power with limitations literally totaled as negative values that totaled to less than -1, such as an OAF (-1) with 4 charges (-1), and thus a literal total of -2, would actually cause a power to have a negative real-cost total.)
 
The use of absolute value and structure of the formulae effectively makes limitations have the same proportional effect as advantages with the same value: for example, a +1 advantage doubles the active cost of a power, 20 active points become 40 real; while a -1 limitation halves the cost of a power, 40 active points becomes 20 real.   A  +½ advantage adds "half-again" to the cost of a power, 20 active points becomes 30 real; while a  -½ limitation cuts it by a third, 30 active points become 20 real.  Proportionally, it works. 
 
 
 

That would be 125 for free and can spend 175 points.
 
This is still moving very slowly. Plenty of time to mull over.

Yeah...you don't have Java properly installed.
 
I'd remove the JDK that you attempted to install (google is your friend as that is going to be well outside of the purview of this site).  Once that's done, go to java.com and install the current JRE -- it's the big red button that says "Java Download"

A couple of things:

1. You need the JRE, not the JDK.  The JDK is for developers.  It will include the runtime environment that you need for HD, but also has a LOT of stuff that you won't need.  The JRE is the runtime environment only.

2. Most likely, your system is prompting you to approve opening a downloaded application.  If you missed the popup, you'll likely see it in the Security & Privacy section of your System Preferences panel.

Also note that you need to have HD in a directory that you have full read-write permissions to.

If I recall correctly, I had the same problem on my Mac. I think I deleted every bit of the installed HD files, restarted and reinstalled and it ran fine. 

Yup...though I would strongly recommend updating in that case (even if you still have it to make the transfer) -- you'll find a LOT more functionality in the current version.

"Taking a full 100 points in powers changes that to 'Wizard' and is worth a whopping -2 limitation."
 
That is not 'active' points, that is character points (same thing as XP). Being a Wizard requires a large investment. Full blown Wizards would be rare in the game world. I'd be a bit disappointed if we didn't have one as a player though. Every troupe of adventurers needs a Gandalf.
 
I should probably append as well a caution to any and all. While I would have no rule stating someone 'must' spend character points in skills, knowledges and the like, it likely will have a deleterious impact in the XP growth of your character if you neglect that side of things too much. PbP is HIGHLY weighted towards role playing and I would be heavily abstracting any combat with player tactics and results simply narrated. XP rewards would be massively skewed towards the quality of the role play interaction rather than beating up bad guys. Skills and such will likely play a far greater role in one's ability to not just progress, but also have fun.
 
Real world has distracted me lately, so this is going slower than I anticipated originally.

Also note: if you still have the HD installation from your windows system, it will run just fine under MacOS as well -- the joys of Java.

No, since prior to 2013 (when we moved the site to new software and changed the sales model for HD), HD was sold under a 2 year support contract.  You would have needed to renew your support contract in order to download updates/new versions/etc.  We did continue to honor existing support contracts after the move, but those all ran out by 2015.

The good news is that the cost to purchase HD was (intentionally) kept the same as the cost to renew your support contract ($25)...so you're not out anything.