I note that the original Fantasy Hero was 160 pages long and didn't feel cut down or abbreviated in any way. It even includes conversion notes and sample adventures. I still consider it the best version of FH in many ways.
Unpopular opinion: Rules length is important, but not nearly as important as predefining powers. Three months ago I had a Star Hero campaign end before it started, because it took literally weeks to stat out all the gear our characters were carrying. And I've been playing Hero for over three decades--a new player doesn't stand a chance. The rules for powers still need to be there, obviously, to explain what effects magic and tech have. But more critical is to have predefined equipment and spell lists so players can start playing.
You do realize that the whole opening a session with the old "so you are all gathered in your bases situation room when......" is one of my favorite lazy GM reasons to have everyone have a base in the first place? Right?
Keep this up and before we know it players will actually want actual adventures with actual plots.
There's really nothing quite like being a part of a team of superheroes breaking through someone's ceiling in a cascade of shards and bits to gain the element of surprise on a bad guy and his henchmen at the heart of his lair. If you can do it, and survive it, I highly recommend the experience. Admittedly, the fact a lot of credit went to kudzu (empowered kudzu but still kudzu) might have taken some of the shine off of it, but still; it's a hell of a thing.
No one was more surprised than Ophiotaurus. He had arranged a protective maze of death (or perhaps he would have termed it a labyrinth of doom? I don't know, villains are kind of extra) full of more soldiers and traps to harry or even kill us, and we'd simply bypassed it. Of course, I suppose I could be guessing at the nature of his shock, the goggles and gas mask combo, each a bit retro in style, hid his expression very well indeed. But his body language conveyed startlement, as did his words.
"How did you know where to... this is intolerable!" He slammed his fist on a console before him.
That part, I hadn't wanted. The last place you want the enemy mastermind to be when you manage to close in on him is near a bunch buttons, switches, and levers. And, while we had bypassed a lot of threats, he hadn't been alone in here! Roughly twenty members of 'the talent' were by his side, and they looked better armed and equipped than their peers. I had to wonder if that was because they were the elite of all those working for him, the fact they were his last line of defense, or both.
Both, I decided, definitely both.
Ophiotaurus had been surprised, slamming a fist when he should have been pressing a button. His staff, however, while also caught off guard, responded much more quickly. As soon as they saw me, they reached for what I first took as grenades and lobbed them at me.
"Remember the plan!" One yelled as they threw.
"Scatter" I ordered! Then I realized, the only one who needed to scatter was ME. Everyone of of them had targeted me, a move that reminded me of older than sliced bread jokes about everyone one on one side of the army choosing the same target by accident.
Fire at Will! Yeah, that Will guy has it coming! Wills a Jerk!
That kind of humor.
Only, I realized it wasn't a punchline. They were all on me and meant to be!
Valerosa had another order "Sky shield Eel!"
The order wasn't to me, the order was about me, to blast incoming attacks on one member before they could hit. The orders shouldn't have conflicted too much. Newer orders were supposed to supersede older ones to allow for fast shifting battle conditions, but while the rookies had trained well, it was understandable that some scattered, and others defended. Of course, only so many of us have ranged attacks in the first place.
So Trailblazer raced to the side, heard the other order, and fired a burst catching only one of the odd projectiles. Viewpoint? A wide spread of energy from his gaze took out out several more! Burned and smashed open, a kind of green powder swirled in the air about me. But others hit me square on despite my own back peddling attempts.
It wasn't what I expected. I was expecting fire, a kind of napalm or something else with intense heat. Both Arctic Fox and I had long lamented that if you had ice powers or were seen as a creature of the sea, there were always those who figured burning you out was the best way to go. Worst thing? It actually was. Of course, all is relative, just because I'm less resistant to flame doesn't mean I fold over like an square jawed alien facing radioactive green rocks. In fact, I've been burned several times, and weather it better than your average nonpowered person.
Being able to regenerate burned flesh with a nice bath helps.
But this wasn't fire, and in fact I didn't know what it was. The ones that hit me directly were still powdery bursts, but there was a dampness to each particle and they stuck to me. No, not stuck, they were sinking in.
This, I thought, this couldn't be good. But whatever it was, it had hit me It was done.
And my team was already adjusting. The Talent had decided to attack just me? Fine. That meant they'd committed their first volley on one. And, well, we were going to take advantage of that.
Aspirant seemed furious, the telepath closed on one agent and went hand to hand with him. Honestly the mercenary had the edge in muscle and experience, so odds should have favored, but the telepath had been training hard with Valerosa and myself, and he could read every thought in his foe's brain. This didn't always help him as much as it should, muscle memory and practice took a lot less thought than battle strategy, but in this case? It worked like a charm.
Aspirant weaved to avoid the Talent's blows like he'd being told how this fight would go down by a hollywood director, then countered with a legsweep that took the guy off his feet. If he had time to get up, the talent would have done so, his body armor taking the worst of Aspirant's impact.
But Aspirant wasn't alone. Pogo had already slammed into the ground, shot into the air to careen off another goon's head only to arc up high again then come down with a lot of force from a twenty foot drop down onto Apirant's enemy, taking that one completely out of the fight even as she moved on.
"We're such a good team," She told Aspirant delightedly, "Don't forget after this you're totally taking me to the movies. Is a rom com okay? My life is an action movie so those can be a little redundant. Though if it's a good one all's forgiven and I was hoping maybe for a dinner but I'll go dutch..."
"Pogo," Valerosa fussed as she smashed the chest piece of another of Ophiotaurus' agents with a single blow, "use other means of communication before plotting your private live around the bad guys, please?" Another of the talent drew a blaster and shot her.
Valerosa didn't even blink from the surge. She was at her most resilient now. On her own without the enhancer, she could get as strong as concrete. With it, she was more durable than steel. She grabbed the foe she had just broken the arm of, swung him around and smashed him into the shooter all in one smooth motion.
Then there was Hussar, who had stolen one of my moves with a twist, slamming onto the ground from above adding the force of his super strength to send out a veritable shockwave! Five of the goons fell over as if they'd been caught flat footed in an Earthquake.
Frankly I was stunned. Not that he pulled it off, but that he'd clearly been paying more attention in class than I thought he had. It's an odd feeling of pride when one of your problem children shows you actually do have his attention. Though seriously, what red blooded action movie loving guy wouldn't want to do that move if he could?
Speaking of movie preferences, as Trailblazer and Viewpoint were ready to take on new targets, Aspirant thought 'I like Rom Coms fine, but we'll have to talk dinner later. Eel, you've been depowered! Their thoughts were positively screaming it! Get out of the way before ...'
A bullet, not a blast, a bullet from a gun, shot right through my once nigh invulnerable flesh. If I hadn't have been warned, it would have gotten me in the heart. Instead, It caught me in the shoulder. Maybe my defenses hadn't completely faded yet because I don't think it broke through the bone. Still, blood had sprayed out, and more was now leaking down my left arm. It was the most extraordinary thing.
This wasn't some magic bullet, no space age metal, just.. your average 9 mm round.
"Holy crap!" Hussar cursed!
"Boss?!" Trailblazer exclaimed, and it surprised me because she was using the term I equated with Lady Obsidian. She had hit another guy sending him smoking and skittering along the floor.
"Eel, are you okay?" Valerosa called out, her eyes wide as she forgot the use the telepath rule in her worry, though a true pro, she used my codename.
Well, no I wasn't okay. I had a bullet lodged in my shoulder, but I wasn't going to answer that way, "Fine," I lied through gritted teeth, "Remind me to recycle this later. Take them out before he tries a stage two."
"Stage two?" Viewpoint said as he blasted another talent, only four were upright now.
"There is always a stage two," Ophiotaurus agreed from the console. Damn it, we should have gone for him first, "I do a lot with a genetic sample of a bleeding hero, and if you recall, a certain hero bled a lot during the fumian event two years ago. Your powers are temporarily neutralized, Eel! Welcome to being a mere mortal, now watch as your own powers are used against your team, sadly, it's temporary too. Brace yourselves, my friends!"
There was a switch, and for a moment, all the Talent made soft gasps or sharp intakes of breath, as if they'd just had a syringe plunged into their ass. For all I knew, somewhere they had!
But it passed quickly, and one of them almost experimentally backhanded Viewpoint and sent him rolling across the floor as if he had been hit by a wrecking ball.
"It worked! We're as strong as Eel!" He said "You're a genius!"
"About 3/4ths as strong I fear, RNA infusion has it's limits, both time and potency, take them down quickly" Ophiotaurus ordered, "You have roughly five minutes!" genius or no, Ophiotaurus forgot about communication secrecy on his side too.
Unfortunately, with the Talent now empowered, and some we thought down reviving with their newly enhanced recovery time; five minutes might be more than enough. I leaped at Ophiotaurus over the console, or I tried to. I had been used to leaping like an Olympic long jumper on steroids, now ? Now i wouldn't even qualify for the event. I landed on top of it instead, my blood drops splattering across the keys, and Ophiotaurus amused and triumphant, out of reach. He pointed a glove at me, "How the mighty have fallen!" His glove flared, and a blast of energy came out.
If a bullet had nearly killed me, I was certain that this wasn't going to be pretty.
One thing to do is allow the co-opting of a native tribe, that started as labourers, but now after 2000 years have interbred with the original Romans to the point that the people are effectively Native American. This also eliminates the colony of white people who have kept themselves PURE AND the great white tribe trope.
I will say I LOVE THIS IDEA. A Wikanda of South America. Will we get a Black Jaguar?
“Right. Greetings, ladies, gentlemen, and everyone else! I come to you today at the doorway to dark times. The walls between worlds are crumbling, and interlopers are coming to our Earth like drunken party crashers at a Bat Mitzvah. The center cannot hold, and mere anarchy is unleashed upon a frail and unsuspecting world! But do not despair! For there is one supervillain who can … wait a minute, ‘supervillain’? That can’t be right! ‘Hero’ is what it should say! Leroy, make a note!”
“Got it, boss.”
“Excellent. ‘Hero’ … yeah, that’s obviously what I meant to say. Hero! There’s only one HERO who can guide the world through such maddened and maddening times. And that hero is I, the one, the only, the genuine original…
“FOXBAT!”
He took a moment to pose dramatically against his green-screen background, ping-pong gun held proudly before him … not realizing that Leroy hadn’t actually turned on a background image to pose against. Oops.
“Yes, that’s right! The Fantastic, Freedom-loving, Frabjuous Foxbat is here to save the day! Let evil-doers and invaders beware my Master Plan™ to save to Earth! And to those who would despoil our fine world, I say thee nay! Go back to the rocks from whence you crawled out from under! This world is under to protection of Foxbat! Don’t say you weren’t warned!”
He stood there for a moment and then muttered, “…and, cut!”
“The red light on the camera went off. “All done, boss.”
“Thank you, Leroy. You’ve been a great help, as always. Did it go out okay?”
“Everything went according to plan. But….”
“But what? Speak up, Leroy! What’s on your mind?”
“Well, I was just wondering … do you really think MySpace was really the best platform for your message?”
“Well, what would you have me use, Parler? Even I’m not that crazy!”
Lawnmower Boy reacted to Hermit in Superhero Bases