RDU Neil

It is important to have clear priorities.

I think I can say I'm now more comfortable with my decision not to bother with LoT, nor to miss Arrow or Flash. If Season 3 of Supergirl ever gets to Netflix, I'll at least try that (I got through the first half, but have missed it since.) Otherwise, I'll wait for Season 2 of Black Lightning. I mean, I just read that Agents of SHIELD somehow got renewed again... so there will never be a dearth of bad TV.

Yes... that's right... it is in Grace's pocket, not Anissa's. I was remembering it wrong.

Well, it can be a dual pop culture reference... the DC heroine reference and a CW reference... all in one? Who knows? The only reason it felt "pop culturish" was the clear use of a DC comic in the show, so, heck, they could have made a Halo reference if they wanted! Personally I think they are just playing with the viewers... "Yes, we'll clearly imply there are other supers... no, we won't specifically say who... yes, we'll make reference to other CW properties... no, we won't clarify what kind of references." Now... somebody here actually said that Legends of Tomorrow got good? I mean, I can NOT get through season one... and the couple of crossover episodes I watched, Dominators and the Nazi-Supergirl one were pretty awful as well... so... really? (I watched a lot of Arrow, and it is horrible... and stopped after season 3 or so of Flash, 'cause I got sick of the stupidity of the plots.) Supergirl (for the charm and chemistry of its characters) and Black Lightning are the only ones that have really held up.

Agreed, especially as they showed an actual Outsiders (I think) comic in Anissa's back pocket. I was wondering whether the comments about Vixen and Supergirl were more "pop culture" references rather than actual continuity references. Fandom is so obsessed with crossover continuity that they take everything literally, and lack the ability to just accept some casual, fun references for fun's sake.

Just read the 5th Ed Dark Champs blowthrough... 1/2 Damage exceeds both defense and body... blowthrough. Easy enough, but pretty restricting. Would require a 14 damage roll to blow through a 3def 3body interior wall. That seems extreme, but likely balanced for most games. My rule would make that much more easy to blow through, and I'm ok with that.

Yeah... I've done away with the stun lotto years ago. Made it a flat x3 for supers and bought powers, flat x2 for real weapons in a supers campaign. That worked well. My current campaign uses hit locations, so that is multiplier applied... which again is usually fine, until a weapon with +1 Stun Multiplier shows up. I'm just thinking that should be more rare, and, as Pattern Ghost indicated, a good way to differentiate rifle rounds. (Though I think rifle rounds also have better penetration, there are just exponentially better than pistols in most cases.)

Sounds fun... and familiar. Back in the day, in my long running campaign, one of the spin-off campaigns (run by long term player and artist Storn Cook) did something similar. It jumped ahead a decade or so, using the Millennium City concept as an "alternative future" to the main campaign. We played supers trying to re-establish a tradition that had been gutted by the events that destroyed New York (not Detroit in this case) and most supers, etc. Lots of cyberpunk, mecha, corporate rule, concepts, with metas trying to re-establish the idea of "hero's who were descendents of characters in our main game. Good times... so good luck with your game. And kid gloves aren't as necessary as truth... let players know that initial threats and challenges are simple and they are expected to win... and let the players know when the stakes increase and the chance for failure is real. Metagaming is not a bad thing. There are specific times when I say, "Ok... all die rolls are in the open, and if they go against you... them's the breaks. It is bad-things-happen time!" and everyone is good to go.

"Hi, I'm Chris Hemsworth. It is widely accepted that I do an exceptional job of bringing to life a character who is an actual GOD!" What's not to enjoy?

Would like to hear more! Is there a thread in Champions about this?

This show impressed throughout. Well written family, crime drama with quality superheroics layered on top. Great actors, excellent chemistry between all the characters, and Thunder is pretty much the best classic "brick" interpretation on TV, with here "breathing limitation" that was taken advantage of by the assassin/gun-bunny appropriately, and had the best moment (in an earlier episode when a disarmed soldier type tried to tackle her and just crumpled upon hitting her and she didn't even move.) I read somewhere that they stated this was NOT in the same world as Arrow/Flash... but seeing as they jump between Earths all the time, they can cross over if they want. The show also clearly implied there were other supers in the world. The idea of "powers" was wild and crazy, but not unheard of or considered impossible. I'm just really glad others watched it, liked it, and that it got a second season. Certainly the best CW supers show so far (though I haven't seen all of Season 3 of Supergirl, 'cause it isn't on Netflix, yet.)

Really, really, REALLY appreciate your thoughts on this. Great replies all along, and much of it matches what I've been thinking. The pic of the ATF guys was very helpful. The PCs in my scenario were "best-of-the-best" US Marshall assault unit, fully equipped with the best load-out armor and weapons to take a house full of bad guys down. (This game is also a bit of X-Files/weird science, so assuming these guys had the very best, fitted Type II-A Spectra, with ceramic plates, etc. I overdid it on having extremeties armored, etc. This mattered, because one shot from a standard 9mm was stopped by 4rpd shin guards, which may or may not be realistic, and at least two major hits to the "9" shoulder, I'm not sure if armor covers that as well, but gave it to them.) Still, that pic shows no forearm armor, no leg armor, etc. We do play Hit Locations and definitely use them as written, which can lead to some very high Stun rolls, as Stomach and Vital shots (12 and 13) come up a LOT on 3d6. I consider the 3-5 to be 3 = Face, 4 = noggin, 5 = throat... so those can be armored separately. (I love Hero for its hit location/damage resolution because of the ability to get really cool descriptions out of it (type of weapon, amount of damage, where it hit, etc.) Best moment in this particular scenario. The big bad was a psycho special, better with knives than guns. He'd emptied his pistol, and pulled his wicked, nasty combat knife and leapt on a PC, stabbing him and hitting in the 5. I have a house rule "luck chits" that PCs have, and they can spend them for various defensive actions... in this case, the PC spent it to move the hit location one spot... 5 to 6... basically he threw his hand up at the last second. Hand was unarmored, and full strength psycho knife attack was 2.5d6K... rolled 10 body. Basically ruled the blade stabbed right through his palm, and then tore the blade upward, basically slicing his hand in two (5 body, 20 Stun with +1 stun multiple... PC collapsed screaming, hand ruined and nearly severed, bleeding rules kicked in... he spent several rounds groping the dark for a roll of duct tape to hold the pieces of his hand together as his partners continued the fight... gruesome but very cool scene.) Just glancing at 5th Ed Dark Champs, your gun write-ups are generally 1 DC lower than what is in the books. Plus, the books give +1 Stun Multiplier to many handguns in the Magnun and .45 and up range. That, coupled with Hit Locations, makes for a lot of Con Stunned, nearly out cold hits, so I'm wondering if removing the increased Stun Multiplier is a good idea, as you stated. Your description of a 7.62 round above, were the stats I used for a .357 with frangible rounds (the big bad in the house)... so basically 2d6+1 damage was completely soaked with above average rolls by this armor. That was where I was kinda head-scratching, as those are the same damage as a rifle, but this armor shouldn't be proof against rifle rounds... should it? The difference in velocity is tremendous between pistols and rifles and thus penetration is greatly increased. Does this mean we should consider rifles as "light AP" which I interpret as "AP vs. soft armor and non-armor defenses (things like walls, car doors, etc.) but not vs. anything that would be considered "hard armor" (which is not "hardened" as per the rules, but just of a substance that is harder/denser than lead bullets). Then there is actual "Hardened" armor, which would be like ceramic plates and vehicle armor, etc., that is designed to specifically stop high velocity, steel core, penetrating rounds, etc. Again, it just starts to get really "crunchy" and often requires split second judgement, based on roll, hit, which I'm fine with... really good at, actually... but I want to have some general guidelines in place so players don't feel like I'm just making stuff up every time.) I do have a Blow Through house rule. If the attack hits a non-armored object with defense (like an home interior wall, or car door), and the attack is a logically penetrating kind of attack (bullet vs. a baseball bat), then I look at the amount of damage done, and if it doubles the defense it bypasses the defense, and if then it would do more than the Body, it passes through with full velocity. If an unarmored object is hit with a penetrating attack and does more than the full body, it continues on. Example: Interior wall, 3 def/4 body... a 6 damage pistol shot will pass right through it, unhindered, but a 5 damage shot or less would get stopped. Also, the wall is still standing, just with a little hole in it. (Breaking things in Hero is kinda wonky, in that the default is "beat defense and body you've created a human size hole in the object" which makes no sense with guns and knives and even sledge hammers against walls, car doors, etc.) Anyway... this general guideline is cool, and works well in some house to house fights we've had where automatic weapons are punching through walls and cubicles and those things don't provide defense, and it is lots of fun. I even rule that guns vs. a human body... if the single shot does 1 more body than the person had (11 Body vs. unarmored 10 body person) then it does full damage to the target AND what it hits next. Had a great moment in a raging gunfight on a large cargo ship, where a PC with a 7.62x51 assault rifle got the drop on two Tong soldiers running past him on a narrow walkway. He came out behind them and fired twice. One round rolled 12 Body, punching through one guys chest and blowing a hole in the guy in front of him as well. Again, cool scene created by the combination of scene, PC action, weapons, hit location, body damage done, etc., Anyway... this is all great stuff you've put out here, so it helps me adjust what level of normal vs. cutting edge amazing... body armor should be. I think in most cases, body armor just doesn't cover as many hit locations. (like only the heaviest most complete stuff covers 9 shoulder... mostly it is 10-12, with 13 only if added pieces... 9 only if added pieces, etc.) Fun stuff, and thanks, seriously, for your time on all this.

And just to emphasize... what does "defeat" mean? Is this "Kevlar made getting shot with a .357 like getting hit with a marshmallow!" or "Kevlar stopped the bullet from penetrating, but there was still intense pain, bruising, welts, cracked ribs, etc."

Thanks for the thoughtful response... and for the most part I agree... bullets get "stopped" and unlikely so much stun gets through when they are stopped. Question though... the way body armor is laid out in the game... plus the way you are describing it here... and the way hits and locations play out in Hero... it essentially makes even normal agents darn near invulnerable (not exactly, of course) to guns. From another perspective... while yes, a second chance plate can completely stop a bullet, you don't see soldiers and cops with them in the real world just wading into gunfire without a care, "Hey... second chance plate! I'm good!" So we are caught between one version of "simulating reality" which makes body armor look amazing... vs. another simulation of reality in that people get killed or shot up badly while wearing body armor all the time. So where is the disconnect? If 7-10 rPD is realistic for Kevlar plus plate in terms of theoretical armor stopping bullet... what is missing to balance out the fact that clearly body armor hasn't made guns useless in the real world. Some thoughts: Taking the plate out of the equation, while Kevlar can "stop a .357" does that mean stop it from penetrating, but damage is still done (welts, bruises, broken ribs, etc.)... or does it literally just "poof" like it never hit you? Seems the former to me, but... 7rp basically makes almost every pistol shot (except max damage) a marshmallow. Really? What about reliability? While a pistol or rifle shot hitting the armor directly is stopped, it seems that there is a clear level of unreliability, where the round hits off-center, from an angle, etc., and the armor simply doesn't fully apply. What about blow-through? It also seems, reading up on officer related shooting deaths, that when body armor is penetrated, it might as well have not been there... like the round was too much for it, so full damage went on to the body underneath. Hero by the RAW doesn't account well for the second and third points above... and the first one, well max damage is less likely in Hero than in real life... so you need to assume "average damage" and it seems that armor is a bit high vs. average damage. Now... say we kept body armor as written in Dark Champs, but added an activation to ever hit location. This complicates the die rolls, but it comes down to 1) did you hit? 2) what section did you hit? 3) was that section armored? 4) did the armor activate? So... fire on agent, hit, roll 10 hit location. Agent has armor there, high quality 7rpdKevlar plus 4rpdPlate... he rolls an activation of 14- for the Kevlar and 12- for the plate, to see if it actually applies. That is a lot of rolls to just resolve a single shot. Is that what is necessary? Also, what about arms, and legs. I've been looking up a lot of body armor, and I see very little that seems to actually cover forearms, upper arms, thighs and shins, an much of it leaves the groin area open... plus there are lots of gaps and creases, and the plates only cover part of the chest and back, not the whole things, etc. So again... would be interested in your opinion on balancing the two realities... that Kevlar and Plate and pretty good at stopping bullets... but they hardly make people casually invulnerable to guns, which is what happens when applied as written in the books.

Funny... I considered them breeding grounds for time flies... kinda like these boards...

Bring a bucket of biting and stinging insects and a pocketful of radioactive isotopes and you are well on the way to super powers!

Seriously. If Marvel manages to do this... to bring Kamala Khan to the big screen, with a script by G. Willow Wilson, please... I'll be very excited.

That is a big time throwback. I remember watching that when it came out... I was in what, middle school? Was there more than one season?

Currently I got caught up in a new Danish series on Netflix "The Rain" It is a typically Danish, bleak, post-apocalyptic series that involves a sister and her younger brother who grow up for six years in a bunker, and they get out, searching for their father who may or may not have been the cause of the apocalypse in the first place. It isn't as amazing/compelling as the German show "Dark" but it is well acted and the main lead, Alba August, is excellent as the older sibling who is both strong, but naïve about the dangerous world that now exists. I'll certainly continue after the first couple episodes.

I'd like to think I just missed it... but this is the kind of thing I only seem to read about in foreign press. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/11/rakem-balogun-interview-black-identity-extremists-fbi-surveillance?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+USA+-+Collections+2017&utm_term=274515&subid=24646434&CMP=GT_US_collection Gee, I wonder why.

If and when you get the chance to play Hero, I'd be fascinated to hear tell of how it works for you, what you/your group does with it, etc. Especially as your other comments make you seem to enjoy very character driven/world building type of games, and how you use Hero to make that happen. Examples of newbies playing, compared to all of us old farts that have been doing Hero since it was Champions in 1980 or so... I'd really like to hear your stories.

I just watched "The Tunnel" which was the exact same thing... but between England and France... and the US did a remake of The Bridge between "merica and Mexico. Which one was first? The Tunnel was WAY better than the 'merican show.

I know how that feels. Thanks for posting, and for an honest reaction. While this article doesn't describe me personally, that feeling described is something I think I lot of people carry with them, myself included. We have a close friend who is likely in this place in his life, and have no idea how, or if we should, broach the subject. It hurts to see him hurt, and to know how good he is at hiding it. This bit, "I developed a deep feeling that it might be wrong to approach women and that it might be an imposition on them. I was certainly never going to be that guy who "used" women. I felt women had the right to go about everyday life and enjoy a night out without having anyone approach them." This really resonates. It is unfortunate how easy it is for polite courtesy can be synonymous with "invisible." I had no idea about the "incel" culture, but I'm not surprised. The internet has shown itself to be a perfect catalyst for taking desperate/asocial/anti-social tendencies that were moslty isolated in the past, and forging a focused, brutal and often violent expression of them by connecting and allowing for unmitigated rage. It is so good at finding the hurt and pushing all the wrong buttons.

Best... review... ever.

???? Like... worst... tragedy... everrrrrrr...