GhostDancer

Jack Kirby was born on this day in 1917.
 

Hail To The King.
 
 

May 27th
Henry Kissinger is 100
Siouxsie Sioux is 66
1199 King John of England is crowned
1703 Peter the Great founds St Petersburg
1905 Battle of Tsushima begins
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tsushima
1923 first edition of the Le Mans 24 hour race
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1923_24_Hours_of_Le_Mans
1937 Golden Gate Bridge opens
1940 The Le Parasis massacre takes place. The S murder 97 British soldiers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Paradis_massacre
1941. The Bismarck is sunk with the loss of around 2,100 men
1942. Reinhard Heydrich is fatally wounded in Prague. He dies 8 days later
 
Christopher Lee was also born this day in 1922
Also Neil Finn of Split Enz and Crowded House

Today is National Superman Day--mainly because DC said so.

 
Nevertheless, if any fictional character deserves a day, it's Superman--without whom we would all be pretending to skulk around in dank dungeons, killing them all and taking their stuff*  Instead, we pretend to wear really great costumes and fight the forces of evil.










*Well, some of us do that anyway, but still.  .  .

Any plans for the Jubilee?

Not that I'm aware, but I'm not that interested. I see the institution of the monarchy as a historical curiosity, and the royals as nothing but padding for the tabloids. I did my stint in the Royal Guards back in '95 as detachment chief out at the king's private residence on Drottningholm, but that was probably because I wasn't photogenic enough for the Royal Palace. That's it between me and the royals. I lean slightly towards republicanism -- just split the king's few remaining duties between the speaker of the riksdag and the prime minister -- but even that is a bit more hassle than it is worth.
 
And a quick search dive yielded no plans. For the 40 year jubilee, there was a bit extra touring of the Eriksgata ...

Game Masters should only call for a Player dice roll if the outcome of it provides an interesting result to the game.
 
Example 1: our heroes are leisurely Climbing a building, with tools, out of combat. All else being equal: automatic success.
 
In the above example, there is no time specified. Remember, certain tasks take more than a Phase to complete unless a penalty is included.
 
Example 2: Gone in 60 Seconds, car theft; no penalty to Security Systems roll if a minute or more is allotted to this task. If there is no car alarm, surveillance, time constraint, etc, automatic success for taking a minute plus to steal the car.
 

Give the Players what they paid for.
 
Example 1: I played Captain America, with a positive Reputation: WW II hero, strives for the American dream.
 
Another Player chose Super Patriot, aka John Walker, an additional character from Marvel Comics. Super Patriot has superhuman strength and stamina. He mocks Captain America, saying Cap is an tired old warhorse who should be put out to pasture. Super Patriot makes such snide remarks every game session.
 
Our Game Master privately expressed concern about these slurs. "Hey, that's on you, GM," I replied. "You knew what personality Super Patriot has before you allowed him in our game. There's some slack on your part, in not having Non Player Characters express their admiration of Cap - ever. You should do so at least once every game session- large amounts of daily fan mail, a cop directing traffic sees Cap and says thank you for helping his grandfather who served in Europe with the Big Red One, etc.

Give the Players what they paid for.
 
Example 1: I played Captain America, with a positive Reputation: WW II hero, strives for the American dream.
 
Another Player chose Super Patriot, aka John Walker, an additional character from Marvel Comics. Super Patriot has superhuman strength and stamina. He mocks Captain America, saying Cap is an tired old warhorse who should be put out to pasture. Super Patriot makes such snide remarks every game session.
 
Our Game Master privately expressed concern about these slurs. "Hey, that's on you, GM," I replied. "You knew what personality Super Patriot has before you allowed him in our game. There's some slack on your part, in not having Non Player Characters express their admiration of Cap - ever. You should do so at least once every game session- large amounts of daily fan mail, a cop directing traffic sees Cap and says thank you for helping his grandfather who served in Europe with the Big Red One, etc.

Game Masters should only call for a Player dice roll if the outcome of it provides an interesting result to the game.
 
Example 1: our heroes are leisurely Climbing a building, with tools, out of combat. All else being equal: automatic success.
 
In the above example, there is no time specified. Remember, certain tasks take more than a Phase to complete unless a penalty is included.
 
Example 2: Gone in 60 Seconds, car theft; no penalty to Security Systems roll if a minute or more is allotted to this task. If there is no car alarm, surveillance, time constraint, etc, automatic success for taking a minute plus to steal the car.
 

Give the Players what they paid for.
 
Example 1: I played Captain America, with a positive Reputation: WW II hero, strives for the American dream.
 
Another Player chose Super Patriot, aka John Walker, an additional character from Marvel Comics. Super Patriot has superhuman strength and stamina. He mocks Captain America, saying Cap is an tired old warhorse who should be put out to pasture. Super Patriot makes such snide remarks every game session.
 
Our Game Master privately expressed concern about these slurs. "Hey, that's on you, GM," I replied. "You knew what personality Super Patriot has before you allowed him in our game. There's some slack on your part, in not having Non Player Characters express their admiration of Cap - ever. You should do so at least once every game session- large amounts of daily fan mail, a cop directing traffic sees Cap and says thank you for helping his grandfather who served in Europe with the Big Red One, etc.

Game Masters should only call for a Player dice roll if the outcome of it provides an interesting result to the game.
 
Example 1: our heroes are leisurely Climbing a building, with tools, out of combat. All else being equal: automatic success.
 
In the above example, there is no time specified. Remember, certain tasks take more than a Phase to complete unless a penalty is included.
 
Example 2: Gone in 60 Seconds, car theft; no penalty to Security Systems roll if a minute or more is allotted to this task. If there is no car alarm, surveillance, time constraint, etc, automatic success for taking a minute plus to steal the car.
 

I’ve just finished book one of the Condor Hero series and my wife got me book 2! Its cool reading about all those tropes from the original.

If the players are not following genre tropes you want them to follow, this is often because you are penalizing, rather than rewarding, them.  Design the game around how you want it to play out.
 
Examples: 
 
"My players always try to kill the villains". When they don't, the villains escape and make their lives miserable.
 
"My players distrust everything to the point of paranoia."  Everyone they trusted has betrayed them.
 
"My players never show restraint."  If they do, the villains take the opportunity to crush them into the dirt.
 
Ensuring you and the players are on the same page about the game is important in any game, but even more in Hero where the game can be varied so markedly.

This is gold for long campaigns.  If the players are reliable then you can, at the time of the pointless death, have the player make a roll.  It is meaningless but it allows you the opportunity to pass a note. Tell the player that they are, by the dice, dead.  They can decide to die right here, ignominiously, and roll up/design another character, or they can use that roll to spot a magical mushroom that heals them, on the agreement that there will be a dramatic moment in this or the next session where they will achieve something huge but die in the achievement.  That moment will be down to the GM but the player can, if they spot an opportunity, suggest a heroic action to the GM, knowing that this will be their last moment in the campaign.
 
Eventually your players will know this is something you do and there will be no need for subterfuge, but this allows a few WOW moments before it becomes a feature of the campaign.
 
Doc

17th January 1983
40th anniversary of BBC Breakfast Time which was the first breakfast time tv service in Britain.
Also 40th anniversary of BBC Radio Devon 

18th January 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Ghetto_Uprising
 
18th January 1983 The International Olympic Committee restores Jim Thorpe's Olympic medals to his family
 
18th January 1993 Martin Luthor King Jnr day is officially observed in all 50 states for the first time. 
 
18th January 1977 scientists identify a previous unknown bacterium as the cause of Legionnaires Disease

George Lucas was born seventy-nine years ago this day. Thank You Always, SIr, for Star Wars, one of my favorite stories ever.  (And America Graffiti was really good, too.)

May 13th 1612 a sword duel between Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojiro on Ganryu Island
 
May 13th 1909 The first edition of the Giro d'Italia begins
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1909_Giro_d'Italia
 
May 13th 1912 The Royal Flying Corps is established
 
May 13th 1950 the inaugural Formula 1 championship begins at Silverstone
 
 

10 May 1983: forty years ago tonight, my apartment started burning (the fire department arrived about 1AM on the 11th, but conversations with neighbors indicate the fire got started in the evening of the 10th.

In honor of National Superhero Day, here are some of my Superhero Favorites--
 
From DC--Superman.
From Marvel--Spider-Man.
From American Animation--Space Ghost.
From Japanese Animation--Tie between Astro Boy and Eighth Man.
From Japanese Live Action--Ultraman.
From American Live Action--The Green Hornet.
From Mexican Live Action--El Santo
From Champions--Starburst.

1835; the first installment of Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales Told For Children is published by C. A. Reitzel in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Trivia Time: When martial artist turned actor Jean-Claude van Damme first came to Hollywood with the dream of becoming an actor, one of the first roles he was cast in was as the monster in the Arnold Schwarzenegger-helmed sci-fi/action movie "Predator." According to the man himself, at first he was excited about the role because he figured he'd be fighting Schwarzenegger as the monster, and didn't realize that he would be unrecognizable once the makeup and the costume was applied. 
In addition, the suit was heavy and difficult for van Damme to move in.  The actor has called the costume "an impossibility."
In his own words, "The costume took about half an hour to put on, and the makeup was another four hours.  It was all thick rubber and I couldn't see anything, there was just a small tube to breathe through. I needed cables to move my jaw and head, and it was hard to keep my balance. At one point, they wanted me to make a big jump off of a rock, and I told them, ‘It’s impossible from that height. I know my limitations, and I’ll break my legs.'”
Actor Bill Duke, who co-starred in the film, added that Van Damme had twice passed out during stunts due to dehydration during his first two weeks of filming.  According to Duke, "The producer said, ‘If you pass out again I’m gonna fire you!’ Two weeks go by and the guy passes out and the producer goes over and fires him."
A stuntman was brought in to wear the Predator suit and do the jump that van Damme refused.  Lo and behold, Van Damme was correct -- the jump was dangerous and the stuntman broke his leg.
In the end, van Damme was replaced with the late Kevin Peter Hall, who stood at 7' 2" (a foot taller than Arnold Schwarzenegger and 16" taller than van Damme).  Hall was a trained mime and a brilliant physical actor, and his talents turned the Predator into more than just a muscle-bound fighter in a suit.  Hall was fresh off playing Harry in "Harry and the Hendersons" when cast in Predator.
In addition, Hall also makes a very brief appearance out of costume as the helicopter pilot who rescues Arnold at the end of the movie. - Jack V. Butler Jr.
 

The Blind Man: It's hard to kill a horse with a flute. 
 
Yes, I saw and enjoyed this movie decades ago.

Hey, remember that zircher dude who drew some of Ninja Hero in the day...wonder what happened to him .....oh, yeah....