rjcurrie

And those Nazi telemarketers are the worst. I can't tell you how many calls I have gotten promising me a free gift if I come to a lecture on "Aryan supremacy". Rod

Well, of course, you're never going to get a definitive version of Cap's shield. Cap has appeared in what is likely over 1000 comics over the years written and drawn by hundreds of writers and artists. Unless you have sat down and analyzed every single appearance of Cap, you're going to miss something. And that something that is missed has a chance of being something that is important to someone else's interpretation of the shield. Not to mention, you're likely to include some aspect that is important to you but is not important to someone else. I am on the complete opposite side of the "IDIC" issue from you. I love the fact that two characters may both be "nigh invulnerable" but have implemented that "nigh invulnerableness" in two different manners, leading to slight differences in how the powers work in game. That is why I have somewhat mixed feelings about books like USPD and G&G. While I will admit that they are handy tools, I am a bit worried that they will lead to cut and paste character creation and we will lose the subtle differences created by each player creating his abilities in his own way. Rod

Steve took one approach in Gadgets and Gear -- that does not mean that all other approaches are invalid. Rod

I think the point Keneton is trying to make (and I'm not sure I agree with him) is that saying that the 5th Edition book contains no setting implies that there is no setting information in that particular book, while saying that it is settingless implies that no setting exists for the game at all. Rod

Reviewing old products is not at all unusual for rpg.net.

I think if RPG.net starts removing reviews because some people don't like them, it's a slippery slope that can only lead to no one bothering to review anything for them. Also, remember that there is the comment section which allows for dissenting opinions. Without the comment section, I would agree that RPG.net should look at possibly removing the review. And if, for some reason, RPG.net decided to get rid of the comment section, they had better have a fully articulated policy on what was and was not acceptible in a review or that action too would result in making their reviews next to useless. Rod

My best friend and roommate at the University of Waterloo in the fall of 1982, Charles, was a real superhero fan and was always on the lookout for a superhero RPG. He had run both the first and second editions of V&V as well as the original Superworld (from the Chaosium boxed set Worlds of Wonder). Then one day, he discovered and purchased a copy of the second edition boxed set of Champions at the local games store. However, being busy with school and other activities, he set it aside and didn't really look at it. A few weeks later, as he headed out to do something on a Saturday night with a different group of friends, I asked him if I could look at his copy of Champions. Well, that evening, I read the whole thing cover to cover (not hard -- it was only 80 pages) and I just got it. Unlkie any role-playing system, I had read before, pretty much the whole thing just made sense to me. I started immediately making a few characters (that I never really used) and learning more about the game in general. And first thing Monday morning, I headed out to the game store to pick up my own copy -- along with the original Island of Dr. Destroyer and Enemies I and II. But I didn't really want to run it -- I had very little experience as a GM (I had run about a half dozen Traveller adventures). However, I did talk up the game among friends and a few months later, we actually did try out the rules with a few mock battles between Tachyon (Charles' character), a flying energy blaster and Endpoint (the character of another friend, Ronald), a Wolverine clone. But of course, I still didn't have the confidence to run a campaign. Around that same time, another friend of mine but not part of my regular gaming group, Jim, borrowed my Champions rules and liking it, put together a campaign. While not a regular part of that campaign, I made a few appearances as Professor Plasma, a version of an old V&V character I had played. Finally, in the fall of 1983, Charles, I, and several other gaming friends rented a large house together. Living in a house full of gamers (with several other gaming visitors) was too good of an oppurtunity to pass up. I finally decided that it was time to take a crack at running a Champions campaign. And lo, and behold, it acually worked. In fact, within a few months, I was running two Champions campaigns and Charles and another friend in the house were also running their own Champions campaign. In addition, there was my friend Jim's campaign which was now alternating with yet another Champions campaign run his by friend John. Eventually, several other people in those campaigns also ran their own Champions or other Hero System campaigns. So, to make a long story short (too late!), that's how I got started as a Champions player and GM.

I'm just saying Almafeta may be interpretting this post as a flame. Or there may be some other exchange that Almafeta is referring to.

Almafeta may be referring to this post by Darren Watts (remember Steve Long is not the only owner of Hero Games) from rpg.net:

Click here to see a page of HeroMachine 1.0 designs for the original 1960s SuperSquad America.

The first character that I played in a Champions campaign was Professor Plasma, your basic energy projector -- nuclear physicist in his normal identity. While not true, it was rumored that the somewhat absent-minded Dr. Matthews gained his powers by accidentally wandering into the experimental cyclotron instead of the men's room. Rod

Well, one reason that they would not combine the two books is that that approach would not save Hero much in the way of resources. It would take just as much writing, editing, developing, and artwork to produce the book. There might be a small saving on printing (I think one large book might be slilghtly cheaper to print than two smaller ones) and there would be a small saving on artwork as only one cover would need be to commissioned. But all in all, I don't think it would amount to enough of a savings to justify doing it.

You sound surprised.

Thanks, Blue, for choosing the optin that means the most work for the GM . For all approaches other than #1, they would get their gadgets after the briefing. For further clarification, I should mention that the Team From H.E.R.O. missions will be of the type where they're assigned a general goal and it's up to them as how to approach it. Such as "infiltrate Middle East country and get proof of weapons of mass destruction" as opposed to the more specific "Middle East country has the plans for a new weapon on a particular computer in its capital city. Go to that computer and download those plans." Also, because the approach to be taken by the players is pretty much up to them, it's hard to determine exactly what gadgets might be handy for them. Which is why #4 is the one that appeals to me most. #1 appeals to me the least.

Hi Folks: I am currently putting together a larger than life spy action game for convention play called The Team From H.E.R.O, and have been trying to decide how to handle gadgets. One piece of equipment that I think the team should have are very sophisticated short range radios that are hard to detect. This allows players to share information without a whole lot of risk. As for other gadgets, I can see four ways of handling it: 1) Assign each character specific gadgets on their character sheets. 2) Offer the characters a list of specific gadgets they can choose from. 3) Let each character loosely describe the one or two gadgets their character has chosen for the mention. For example, I want a pen that fires sleep darts. 4) Let each character choose 2 mundane items that have special abilities but they do not actually state what the ability is until they use it. This would simulate the fact that agents in these types of stories often have exactly what they need when they get into a tight jam. What do people think might be the best approach? Rod

Personally, I think it's just a Physical Limitation. I cannot really see any benefit to it, so I see no need to charge a character points for it. Rod

My avatar is Rick Davies, The Resilient Rubber-Man from SuperSqaud America, my convention event. The background provided to whoever is playing Rick and his character sheet can be found here. Rod

To quote Steve Long's oft-used answer to questions like these, "it depends on common and dramatic sense." You really need to consider each item individually. This is not really an area where you can have hard and fast rules, because foci can represent so many different things. Basically, when a GM allows a focus in his campaign, he should sit down and discuss with the player how the focus was created in the first place, so he can determine how easily the character can replace it. For example, if it took 2 years and several million dollars to build the powered armor suit in the first place, replacing it may be somewhat cheaper and take less time but it will still not be as simple as going down to the hardware store, buying a few parts and putting it together in an hour.

Reality Storm is not out yet. I believe it is still in layout at Guardians of Order.

Hey, Steve: While you say that you don't want to go into space vehicles, I don't believe that you have yet covered modern day space vehicles. For example, it might be nice to have write-ups of the Space Shuttle, or Apollo era space vehicles. It might also be nice to see slightly futuristic takes on these things. Other than that, I would like to see write-ups for the following: city bus intercity coach passenger train freight train subway trains various sizes of modern passenger aircraft a selection of aircraft from different eras a selection of cars from different eras executive aircraft When I mention different eras, I would think that the emphasis should be on eras that are popular in Hero games. For example, the 20s and 30s for Pulp and Horror Hero, the 40s for Golden Age Champions and other WWII-related games, and the 60s for Silver Age Champions and Cold War spy games. I would also like to see references to existing write-ups in other books, so people can find them quickly when they don't find them in this book. Just a few thoughts on the matter, Rod

I've always used Teleportation for this effect. The problem with using FTL Travel is that by the rules, FTL Travel can only be used in space, not in an atmosphere. As for the speed of travel not being at close to c, I just assumed that the little bit of time (1/2 or 1 phase) used for the Teleportation simply was the time it took for the character to enter and exit the electrical grid. Rod

Read the original post again. It is not asking a question. It is making a statement that the design of the example is wrong. If the person had asked what the -1/4 Limitation was referring to, I suspect Steve might have answered the question. Rod

As for Scott Bennie's comments about me working on a Canadian supplement for the new Champions Universe, it is true that I did submit an initial proposal to Steve and he asked for an advanced proposal on the book. Unfortunately, other projects have caused me to not yet submit this proposal. I will try to get it done in the next couple of months and where it goes from there is up to Steve. As for the national team having had 3 different incarnations, I believe this was more of a reference to the different incarnations of Alpha Flight in the Marvel Universe, but I could be wrong. Personally I can see several reasons for a national team breaking up: 1) The members or the government officials in charge of the team decide that is impractical for one team to cover all of Canada. Later teams might think they have solved this problem but find out they are wrong. 2) Funding cuts. 3) Any of the standard reasons that cause a team to break up. As for Windsor, specifically, I'm not sure that it would have any more than a single hero or two -- I suspect that the Champions and other Millennium City heroes handle a lot of the overflow crime. Unless there are specific reasons, I see it as being "in genre" for the Canadian government to allow U.S. superheroes to act in Canada. Rod Currie

As a result of building the character this way, did you end up buying any powers that you feel may be out of conception for the character? If you didn't, then I see no problem with it.

Re: Idea And we have an early leader.