rjcurrie

I didn't have to join the CBS pay channel to view the episodes, so that shows that in some places it can be viewed without that.  That might only be in Canada though, in which case it's not helpful to you.

Yes, in Canada, it is available on Space and the Crave TV streaming service. Outside of Canada and the United States, it is available on Netflix. 

To be fair he had to do it to recycle the original pilot.

 Well, the way they chose to recycle the original pilot involved Spock committing mutiny. They could have chosen a different framing story.

Yeah, that's what some folks are telling me

 

"What did I miss?"

 

"oh, our heroine, after 7 years of loyal service..."

"Commits Mutiny in the pilot"

 

 

And I'm thinking

 

and I'm supposed to root for this person ?

Well, to be honest.

Just a warning for anyone planning on recording the first Discovery episode on CBS this Sunday. You may want to record an extra hour or so just in case football runs late.

Yeah. I was righteously p***ed off that some stupid football game ran long and I missed over half the episode on my recording.

Yeah. I was righteously p***ed off that some stupid football game ran long and I missed over half the episode on my recording.

If you're recording anything on CBS or FOX on Sunday evenings during football season, you should probably add an extra hour to account for potential football overruns. In fact, it's not a bad idea anytime for CBS Sundays as the network has a number of sports properties that can run late.

I think making people pay for Star Trek Discovery is a tacit admission that the show is a disaster.  If it was worth showing they would make it free and take the rating.  Even if the critics hated it a show that seemed worth while would have been broadcast and they could have relied on word of mouth to make it a hit.

 

CBS - We've alienated a ready made base of Star Trek Fans, and want them to pay for it.

That's nonsense. The decision to use a Star Trek show to launch CBS All Access was made before the specific show was developed.

Star Trek: Discovery was specifically created and developed to air on the streaming service after an initial episode on CBS itself. Now, that's not to say that it will be good, but that's a risk with any TV series. The series has had its growing pains, it seems, and as a result ended up being postponed -- making The Good Fight (The Good Wife sequel) the first original scripted series to air on CBS All Access -- and frankly, in my opinion, that series was the equal of its predecessor. Thus, I'm pretty sure that CBS is not using All Access as a dumping ground.

Part 1 of the pilot will air on CBS in the US, and Part 2 of the pilot will be available immediately after on CBS All Access. So, really, you're only getting half a pilot unless you subscribe.

 

Edit: It also looks like the limited edition Thinkgeek pin and $25 CBS All Access credit combo is still available. So, they weren't able to get 1000 folks to buy yet.

Are we absolutely sure that the first two episodes go together as one story?

IIRC the pilot will air on network TV and subsequent eps will be behind the paywall.

Yes. That is correct. For Americans, anyway. In Canada, all episodes will air on Space, our science fiction channel.

The funny thing is there is another Trek series being developed.

So maybe they're planning on having two series. DS9 ran concurrently with TNG and later with VOY.

And it might make sense, since streaming series like this typically have only 10-13 episodes in a season. You run one in the fall and the other in the winter/spring. 

I think the reason that Cyborg has been chosen as the "black" Justice League member in both comics and movies is that he is an original black character as opposed to a spinoff of a white character like Steel (spun off from Superman and, at least last time I looked, wears the "S") or the John Stewart Green Lantern.

I'm not sure why, but it appears that an old trace.log file (from 2012) in my Hero Designer folder was keeping this feature from working. Once I deleted that file, the feature worked as expected.

Yay!

Is there a minimum screen size that this feature works with?

I am running the most recent version of HD on a 3440 x 1440 screen under Windows 10 with Java 8 installed and I cannot get it to work.

Do you have Aaron Allston's Strike Force? If not I recommend it highly.

Strike Force is less of a Campaign Setting book (although is can be used as one), and more of a How To Campaign book which just happens to present enough examples of how he composed his campaign and just enough information regarding how it developed to use his setting if you wanted. The section detailing the "Strike Force Method" alone was worth the cover price.

 

Also almost any of the Genre Books, Champions, ​Fantasy Hero, Star Hero​, etc. Steve Long's research and advice on Genre Simulation is priceless.

I own pretty much everything that has been published by Hero Games over the past 36 years.

Personally, what I don't want to see:

* Licensed settings -- no interest at all -- unless someone knows the licensed world as well as those who officially write for it, I really don't want them creating material for it. Plus I have never been the type to imagine myself in a TV or book setting. 

* Detailed settings -- far easier to come up with something of my own rather than reading and absorbing a big book

What I'd like to see:

* Books of adventures seeds and ideas with thoughts on where to take them

* Books of setting ideas with maybe a page or two on each setting

* In general, books that are more about teaching a GM to fish as opposed to giving him fish.

Just a note. I spoke to Jason Walters at Origins and this is still planned. He hopes to have a revised publication schedule for High Rock Press up soon.

For those wondering about the High Rock Press schedule, I spoke to Jason Walters about it at Origins and essentially, he is currently redoing the schedule. A new version will be up when he is done.

Yeah, I'm actually this method more often than Aid/Boost these days, just for simplicity and to eliminate a dice roll. YMMV.

I often use a Standard Effect Roll for Aid to eliminate the dice roll.

I like the last of Hugh's suggestions. In my mind, the ground shakes, and everybody makes a DEX roll to remain stable. Then, if anyone misses, they get an Acrobatics Roll to get out of their possibly dangerous situation. 

The other option is that a player with Acrobatics can use it not just to remain stable but to acrobatically move themselves to a desired position.

I simply cannot imagine playing a GMPC that was part of the players' team. Unless the game does not involve any decision making at all and is simply "Villain shows up. Heroes beat up villain. End of story." In which case, I don't want to play in or run that game. If there is any kind of decision-making, can a GMPC really contribute without players thinking that the GM is trying to tell the players what to do next?

As for gaps in abilities, those either call for a bit of help from an NPC or they're an opportunity for the players to have to get creative. I would think that only facing situations that suited the team's abilities would be boring.

Essentially the first Hero System genre book -- ground-breaking for its day. Aaron Allston and Michael Stackpole... it doesn't get any better.

 

Congratulations!

 

P.S. I bought it decades ago.

Espionage came before Justice Inc.

 

To that, I would just refer you to p. 72 of The Mystic World, the source book describing the occult side of the CU. Although the sidebar from that page is probably worth transcribing here:

 

"Mystical power is not impersonal or ethically neutral. A gun does not care who pulls the trigger. The gods and spirits who dominate the supernatural world, however, care a great deal who uses their power. Those who attempt sorcery without proper training and discipline become unwitting puppets -- controlled by forces with their own passions and goals, that do not care about human life, happiness, or freedom.

 

I would sooner hand out loaded pistols on a playground than publish the true secrets of magic. The results would be less bloody."

 

 -- Alajos Veszprem, Trismegistus Council member

To be honest, this is the opinion of one council member. We do not know if that is truly how the magic of the Hero Universe works or not. It might be true. It might be a useful fiction that magicians maintain to keep dabblers out. And it might matter with one type of magic and not another. I also suspect that some aspects of some magicians' spell-casting are psychological crutches that let them focus their abilities. 

In the end, the OP should just do whatever works for them. Their version of the Champions/Hero Universe is never going to be the same as anyone else's anyways.

No you are espousing a misconception from the term normal charactrrisica maxima. That limitation only determines when.a.character has to pay double points if he takes such limitation.

Agreed. I also think that the word "normal" in the phrase may not mean "non-super" but rather "standard".  That is, for standard characters, this is the maximum.  Unusual characters can surpass this by paying double.

But Snyder also wrote Sucker Punch and, um, 300: Rise of an Empire, ...

 

...and he's listed as the writer for next year's WW.

Snyder has a "Story By" credit and no "Screenplay By" credit.  

The credits are essentially:

Story By:  Zack Snyder and Allan Heinberg

Screenplay By: Allan Heinberg and Geoff Johns

First a note on "and" and "&" in writer credits.  "And" means that two or more writers wrote versions of a script individually and not as a team.  "&" means that the writers worked together as a team. IMDB does not explicitly state "and" in many (or maybe all) cases, but does seem to explicitly state "&" when it applies. So, the above is my interpretation of the credits from IMDB which state:

Story credit without screenplay credit often means that a writer or writers wrote a version of the script that was then completely rewritten. From what I have read, it seems to often go to the first writer on the project -- even if nothing of theirs is used.

Given that there has been talk of other writers doing versions of the script, my guess is that it played out like this:

* Snyder wrote a screenplay for the Wonder Woman movie.  It was not used but he gets a "Story By" credit for being the first.

* Other writers wrote screenplays. They were also not used.

* Allan Heinerg wrote a screenplay that forms the basis for what they shot.

* Geoff Johns did a rewrite of Heinberg's script that is not substantially different enough to be considered a whole new screenplay.

So, my guess is that despite receiving a "Story by" credit, Snyder may not have actually contributed anything that is being used.

Beat Me To It.No word on casting yet--my own choice would be Brandon Routh,  Unfortunately I don't get to make that call.

Given that he's currently playing the Atom in the same multiverse, Routh is unlikely.