BobGreenwade

I'll be second. (Okay folks, the queue lines up behind Buzz....)

Can you wait a couple of weeks? The UNTIL Superpowers Database covers this question better than any seven fellow Herophiles. (I happen to know that because as a DH subscriber I was able to preview and testread the manuscript.)

Other than the new edition of Champions (which has a lot of new and significantly useful stuff) and the UNTIL Superpowers Database when it comes out, I'll simply agree with others' comments that anything else you buy should depend on your needs. Buy TUV for Vehicles (cars, planes, mecha, starships, flying carpets, whatever), TUMA for martial arts, HSB for animals, Star Hero if you plan on having a lot of space adventures, and so on.

I don't know that The Ultimate GM would be the right title for it, but I have been wondering why HERO has never really addressed this in a published book. Matters like world building, campaign tone and feel, broader notes on meta-genres (comedy, romance, and so forth), and other issues that have been left to the genre books would be included. There could also be tips on things like blue-booking, use of props, and other "extras" that can enhance a game, along with system-generic issues such as play-by-email, dealing with problem players, and such. A better title... The GM's Vault, perhaps?

Arguing for the elimination of COM will be about as fruitful as arguing for the doubling of the cost of STR. It may seem logical, but there's so much precedent for leaving it in place that it's just not going to happen. It's much easier to change something with Powers or Skills, which would affect only a select number of characters already in publication (and in play), than to change something with Characteristics, which would affect virtually every single character using the system. Regarding some of the "nebulous COM" situations Yamo brought up, these should be addressed in print somewhere. Star Hero didn't do much on this score, but maybe Fantasy Hero or an upcoming HEROglyphs article can manage it. The idea of letting COM give bonuses to PRE Rolls for appropriate circumstances isn't especially new, but this is the first time I've seen it spelled out in a clear manner like this. I also like the suggestion of making a COM Roll be complementary to not only Seduction but also certain other Interaction Skills (Conversation, Oratory, and Persuasion for starters) when circumstances warrant. And while good looks has been cited in this thread as being a significant matter in comics, it's not just in superherodom that it's played an important role. For that matter, to be honest it's really been little more than a "Special Effect" of heroic presence in comics simply because just about everyone (especially the heroes) is either very good looking or very ugly. In what I've seen, good looks have played a more significant role in success or failure in action, espionage, and similar genres (that is, settings for Dark Champions as it's now been redefined) than in what we've generally associated with the HERO System.

1. Add my voice to the chorus of thanks. 2. Will this be including the old Playtest/Review forum?

Maybe INT could be Linked to BODY? Another way of handling it might be with a variation on Vulnerability -- 1 1/2 BODY versus everything, except that the extra 1/2 is translated to INT (if you apply the same number of character points to the loss as with Adjustment Powers, you lose 1 INT per 1 BODY).

Perhaps it can eventually become the ultimate multi-universe crossover (Hero, Gestalt, San Angelo, M&M, V&V, Traveller, Forgotten Realms, World of Darkness, et al... or at least for all the companies interested in participating).

I think a VPP with the "Only Change At Lab" Limitation would be appropriate in this case. If you tell the player that he has to come up with and design his weapons between game sessions and can only use those that you've pre-approved, it will save both of you a lot of the headaches that VPPs traditionally bring.

At the aforementioned GameStorm get-together I learned that I'm not the only person who refers to him as "Harby."

Maybe it has, but we're just not aware of it (at least, the versions of us that we are).

What I find crazy about this (assuming that the theory is indeed accurate) is that it means that, essentially, everything being published by Hero Games, and everything that happens in all of our campaigns, is essentially true -- in the infinite expanse of four different types of parallel universes, everything in the books and in the games actually happens. We could even eventually be visited by someone from one of those other universes. Really.

It started ridiculous, and has since descended (or perhaps ascended) into the gleefully ridiculous. It should die down about the time it starts to enter into the realm of the inane.

No such charity was assumed. (Nor would it be appreciated -- if something I do sucks, I darn well want to hear about it! Especially if the criticism is accompanied by helpful suggestions for future endeavors.)

Unofficial Cheap Shot (This actually dates back a few years.)

Minimalism totally rocks! Seriously, thanks for the good words. I like approaching most things with the ever-lovin' KISS approach (Keep It Simple Stupid). If you want to add things after that, then by all means do so....

At the GameStorm Hero System fan get-together, I heard Steve say something about there being an "official Champions comic book" that Nighthawk wanted no part of. Since the team needed a martial artist, the writers came up with this Australian fellow who is well loved, though much derided for his hackneyed origin, stupid costume, and tendency to get beat the crap out of about every other issue.

Two thoughts: 1. Wood chucking probably should be included in the Wood And Plant Powers section of the USPD. 2. Is it just me, or has this entire thread descended very quickly into the realm of the gleefully ridiculous? (Not that there's anything wrong with that....)

Y'know, Steve, I'm starting to wonder if this could be put into FAQ. I think everyone's pretty much uninterested in whether any part of the Western Shores (Fantasy Hero) or The Alliance (Star Hero) will continue to be a part of the new Hero Universe, or at least is assuming that they won't, but the new Champions Universe draws so closely from the old that it may be helpful to list all the old popular standbys that got cut out. Oh, and altamaros: there is a Secret Crisis event in the CU history, in 1985 (CU page 25).

That's my understanding as well; I'm just looking for a confirmation. I wouldn't hold my breath. The island of Destruga, which originally had become the new location for Sanctuary, is given in CU as having been destroyed. OTOH Steve may relent and "re-create" it if there's enough demand....

I've never owned C:NM, but I've read parts of it. In that setting Dr Destroyer was completely remade into an ancient mystical horror with little resemblence to Zerstoiten.

And while we're at it, how about VOICE? Does that organization, and all that is part of it, go into the "never existed" column (as I've come to understand)?

Personally I'd be thrilled with just having a PDF or FCW (Campaign Cartographer) file available for download -- or, perhaps, as a Hero Plus product.

Brick was in Scott Bennie's VIPER sourcebook for 4th Ed Champs (page 118). I imagine he'll be back in the new version of VIPER later this year; he's a well-loved old standby in the Champions Universe. (Of course, that's just an assumption.) By Cobra, do you mean King Cobra? There's been no official word on him that I'm aware of. I've seen and heard some vague hints that a few favorites from the old Champions Universe may have their origins in the new one yet to come, so he may end up forming COIL as a splinter group from VIPER or some such. I think we'll have to wait and see.

Personally, if I were to run a game based on a TV program, it would probably be Get Smart.