Darren Watts

Western Hero remains on the "would be cool someday" list, and has not been moved from there to the "actually planned" list. Personally, i liked the book, and would eventually like to see another. But there's a lot of stuff ahead of it in line. dw

I'll add a vote for GURPS Time Travel. My own "time-cop" campaign used the mechanics from that book to avoid/control paradoxes. Written by John Ford with Steve Jackson, it won the '91 Origins award for Best Supplement, and deserved it. dw

Well, in RL Ionia (a small city in central Michigan) has half-a-dozen prisons of various sorts, including the state's only maximum-security facility (Ionia Maximum) and the largest facility for the criminally insane (Riverside). Or you could just make one up. It's highly unlikely the state would build a new facility very close to Millennium City, I think. dw

Actually, the Defenders of Justice was my home group, not Steve's. The players included Jason "You Gotta Have Character" Walters, Mightydan, Riley McLaughlin, and most of the playtesters listed in the 5th Ed credits. Since we took over Hero, the roster has shifted a little, but many of those guys are still in Hero West's official playtest group, the Masonic Avenue Irregulars. dw

Cabal does rock. So do Atomic Horror, Black Ops, Horror (the Ken Hite edition, though the others are pretty good too), Fantasy II (Madlands, by Robin Laws- I can't recommend this setting enough to fans looking for alternative types of fantasy storytelling), Camelot, Robin Hood, Illuminati and several of the historicals (China and Russia come to mind.) dw

TUV and TE had the same print run. CU's was bigger, but has been out longer. Checking current stock levels, we are closer to running out of CU, but really we have plenty of all three to last us a few months unless something really takes off. So go with the one you like best. I mean, you shouldn't pick up a book just because it has my name on the cover, right? dw

The Empyreans will eventually be featured in a proposed Champions setting book, tentatively called "Lost Worlds" or something like that, which isn't on the pub schedule yet. I'd like to see it in '05, but we haven't got a firm schedule that far out. However, there are plans afoot to use some of the characters and setting before that, so keep watching the skies. (Also, another Lemurian villain, Leviathan, appeared in an issue of Digital Hero, and more Empyreans may show up there eventually because I'm awful fond of them.) dw

As the great philosopher Ambush Bug pointed out, there are only two types of villains: those that say "Bah!" and those that don't say "Bah!" dw

Just a note to remind everybody after a brief hiatus the regular Monday Chat resumes tonight, 6 pm PST in the main Chat Room. Hope to see you there! dw

Just a quick note to let everyone know "Terran Empire" is safely in and will ship from the printers to distribution on Monday. The advance printers copies are in the office and look swell. We've never had a Star Hero setting book before and we're very excited. It should start showing up on shelves in about a week to ten days, so do check it out! dw

DDC was fab, as it is every year (this is my eighth or ninth, I've lost count.) For those who missed the festivities and can't wait til next year, there are two other cons in the Bay Area we attend and generally have piles of fun at: Kubla Con (May) and ConQuest (September.) Neither has quite the size or drawing power (and fewer of our out-of-town pals make the trip) of DDC, but both are plenty of fun in their own right and are great opportunities to hang with the Hero crowd. Otherwise, we hope to see you at DDC 28 next February! dw

I've alerted Ben. Steve Long HERO System Line Developer

This is Steve, reporting from Darren's computer. There's some discussion of this on 5E 197 that you might want to take a look at. Generally speaking, though, taking both often tends to amount to "double dipping," so it's something that should only be allowed with GM's approval. Steve Long HERO System Line Developer

This is Steve, posting from Darren's computer. No. Steve Long HERO System Line Developer

This is Steve, answering from Darren's computer. That's really a design issue, not a rules issue. Some people do use OIHID for things like powered armor suits; some people prefer other approaches. As long as your GM's OK with it, you're probably all right. Steve Long HERO System Line Developer

This is Steve, posting from Darren's computer. If a power must have a particular Limitation, typically it should take that Limitation separately. However, it's not specifically illegal to take Variable Limitations and always assign part of the VarLim to that Limitation. Whether any particular Limitation, particularly non-standard ones, are allowed is up to the GM. Limitations that alter the number of dice rolled are tricky; it would make more sense to buy a Partially-Limited Power, as described in 5E. Steve Long HERO System Line Developer