Grymlynn

Those books just sound soooo cool! I am really glad you're looking foreward to writting these books, 'cause I gotta tell ya, I am really looking forward to buying them when they arrive! I have allways wanted something that contained some ideas for this genre, and I have never found anything. So, just you keep working, and I'll keep buying!

Okay, I understand. Well, I didn't realize the scale of Worlds of Empire, or I would've asked regarding Interstellar and Solar Hero instead. I think it would be very cool for those books to follow known stellar cartography (as it is when they're published, anyway..). Just wanna make sure Steve gets his money's worth out of the Astrogator's Handbok...

I was wondering how much (if any) real, placed stars were going to play in this book. I know Steve recently got himself a copy of the Astrogator's Handbook, and I was wondering if there was going to be an effort to place some (or all) of those Worlds around stars that have been reasonably well located? What I'm trying to ask is: will the author be using actual stellar data to place worlds around, or will he be making it up? Finally, how much grief is the author going to go through putting together star charts? I realize that it's probably early, but that's kinda the point, I wnat to get folks thinking about it while they have some room to move...

It depends on what your current situation is... Are you running a Star Hero game, or a Champions game? If not either right now, I'd get the Ultimate Vehicle, because all those cool crunchy bits will probably be just the thing to get the ol' brain back in gear... And once you have it, it will apply to probably whichever game you end up in next.

Champsguy, you da bomb! That was precisely what I was talking about, but I couldn't find it... So, I believe I'll be using the ol' cut&paste...

Guidelines yes, decisions no. Just basic averaged travel times would be a good starting point, but you can go overboard with this, too. How long does it take a fully loaded trade zepplin to get from Arcadia to Aquilonia? I don't care, unless I have zepplins in game... Granted, you're more likely to travel by camel than zepplin, but if I've decided to keep my game in Europe, camels don't enter into it, either.

Mark! Do it do it do it!! Immediately, of not sooner, please!!!

Darnit, there was a couple guys on the previous boards whose names escape me, who did really good work building Juicers and Crazies on the old boards. I saved those write-ups, lemme see if I can find them...

I've been seeing a lot of "How much do things cost" and "travel time" stuff. I think that the economics should be presented as: "Here is how much a shirt costs in a world that models the middle ages closely... Here is how much a shirt costs where technology/magic/whatever has changed shirt-making from a one person, skilled job (which it was) to a mass produced item." The economic decisions, as the magic levels and effects of religion, will be made on a game by game basis, so the coverage in Fantasy Hero should be some examples on how shirt cost will change per the other decisions. I am completely uninterested in a list of costs, because it will take up room much needed for more necessary things. And, what if I decide that I don't want the economics in my world to work the way they're presented? Much better idea to discuss the underpinnings of shirt cost, rather than just a straight cost based on things that might not apply. Travel time will vary dramatically also, depending on the availability of magical/technological means. Not just standard magical gates, but what about magical horseshoes that turn a horse's running to 0 END? I would prefer thoughtful discussion of ramifications of various magic levels over straight lists of proces/things any day. I can see the piecemeal armor stuff, and the mass/weight of standard things would be cool, but costs and times are too variable to make a list.

Count your blessings. I am going to have to play Rifts if I want a game. At least until the guy who wants to run a Champs game stops working 80 hour weeks...

This is exactly what I think you should be after. If you manage this, you've done right.