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Post by CRTaylor on May 4, 2014 0:40:57 GMT
It probably doesn't carry the weight it used to, that's certain. But then, Hero doesn't either, and Champions has some history behind it.
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Post by tikiman on May 4, 2014 3:59:47 GMT
It probably doesn't carry the weight it used to, that's certain. But then, Hero doesn't either, and Champions has some history behind it. Kind of a shame for an extant game of such quality to be sort of forgotten or ignored. When I think of super hero RPGs it's certainly at or near the top of any list I'd draw up of the best ones, and I have geez I don't even know how many super hero RPGs. At least a dozen, maybe twenty. |
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gojira
Double Digit Master
in a rubber monster suit.
Posts: 85 
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Post by gojira on May 5, 2014 18:06:05 GMT
Apropos of not much, I was doing some thinking a while back about story driven modern genres that might also appeal to grognards who like military stories. I came up with an idea for a war correspondent game. Think Cooper Anderson in some of his crazier deployments, or Syria when the civil war there was just starting, or Baghdad after GWII, during the American occupation. Dangerous, some military stories, but also stories for folks who don't just want to play guys shooting at other guys. The tone would be different but a lot of game play would be similar to an espinage game. Small groups of people with various specialties (reporter, media technician, guards/ex-military, driver) would all participate. There's even some graphic novels about it. Just my 2 cents but I think it could work. If you think about other "trouble spots" around the world and how folks deal with them, there might be other ideas out there for small groups of people dealing with a dangerous situation. Again basically like the old Danger International. |
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Post by tikiman on May 5, 2014 22:06:38 GMT
That war correspondent game would be cool. Would need a good sourcebook about the job and maybe some trouble spots around the globe.
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Post by CRTaylor on May 6, 2014 5:32:23 GMT
I think a War Champions sourcebook for how to run a Hero game set in a war would be a very useful addition to the library. Supplements for different eras would follow, of course, but you could start with, say WW2 (to pull in the Call of Duty guys) and put out Napoleonic, Peloponnesian, WWI, Vietnam, Hundred Years' War, etc. All you'd need is basic rules for different types of soldiers and how they interact with the battlefield, morale, courage under fire, etc. Then each war's source book would have the different forces, the time line, the equipment, the tactics, and locations.
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Post by tikiman on May 6, 2014 14:28:49 GMT
Sounds good but I'd be leery of the title "War Champions." Sounds a bit like glorification of war/warriors. And we all know what Yoda said.
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Post by Tasha on May 7, 2014 9:23:12 GMT
Champions wasn't abandoned after 5e. It got a great genrebook treatment for 6e, which was better than the 5e Champions despite being written by Aaron Allston.
From anecdotal evidence from posting to Facebook RPG groups. When I say "Hero System" in a post people don't know what I am talking about. If I say Champions or Hero System/Champions I get more of a reaction from people who actually played one version of Champions.
As for the Rules + Genrebook in one volume treatment. We currently have Champions Complete which has the full 6e rules and a truncated version of the 6e Champions Genre book. Enough to play a superhero game. Similar to 4e's BBB Champions with the Perez Cover.
We are in the early days of the Fantasy Hero Complete Kickstarter.
The book is halfway funded after a few days.
The reason that Hero stopped doing the all in one books was that Us the fans wanted more Genre book goodness and were sick of paying for the core system over and over again, and not being able to get that page count in genre info.
I would love to see something like the "Hero System Explorer Edition" an inexpensive book that is just the core rules from Champions Complete, but as cheap as possible. One thing that Savage Worlds has going for it is the $10 rule book. I wish that Hero had a rulebook that was like $20. Keeping the Larger in depth genre book as an Advanced guide that one could get as a Print on Demand book. It would be a great way to keep 6e Genre books and supplements in print.
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Post by CRTaylor on May 7, 2014 15:38:04 GMT
I dunno, War Champions doesn't sound any more war-glorifying than War Hero to me. And what's wrong with wanting to play glorious heroes in a game of any setting?
As for the cheap stripped down rules, I agree; they kind of did that for 6th edition, but they changed some of the rules and that was very annoying. I wonder how well the Sidekick book sold, because that was a very good example of what I'd like to see more of.
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Post by Chris Goodwin on May 7, 2014 17:21:31 GMT
I think what would help more would be reverting the name of the overall system to Champions, but keeping the other names. Fantasy Hero, a supplement for Champions. Et cetera.
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Post by CRTaylor on May 7, 2014 19:14:56 GMT
I still like the idea of making them all x-champions. I mean it fits, anywhere "Hero" can be used, "Champion" will almost always do as a synonym. And it would give that name recognition. Hero is so generic, Champion is more specific to the game system in my opinion. The only reason everything was x-Hero in the first place was because ICE wanted to make sure the product line was all tied together and had a consistent name system when they owned it for 4th edition.
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Post by Tasha on May 8, 2014 8:15:10 GMT
1e Fantasy Hero Predates ICE taking over. I remember the Hero Seminars from that time period. They were looking at the Success that GURPS was having with the Core Rules + Supplement model. They wanted to emulate that and also get fans off their backs about how annoying it was to pay for page count of System in product after product, and how actual genre/Campaign info seemed to be sparse because of that 'wasted' page count. I Guess I just assumed that they kept up the Genre Hero style of naming stuff out of a desire to make the system a brand.
Now that I am buying other systems beside hero and D20. I am seeing that companies are having a LOT of success with releasing product with titles that make sense for the product. They then place a small logo on the cover and spine to denote what system the product is written for. I am wondering if folk should just make product and place a Champions or Fantasy Hero logo on the product, like Savage Worlds product or even Fate products.
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Post by CRTaylor on May 8, 2014 15:25:25 GMT
Sure, but ICE was the one that insisted it be Ninja Hero, Pulp Hero, etc; at least that's what Rob Bell told me on the phone.
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gojira
Double Digit Master
in a rubber monster suit.
Posts: 85
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Post by gojira on May 8, 2014 17:43:14 GMT
I am seeing that companies are having a LOT of success with releasing product with titles that make sense for the product. They then place a small logo on the cover and spine to denote what system the product is written for. "Product with titles that make sense" Yes absolutely. "Small logo .. to denote [branding]" Yup, that's what I see almost everyone doing, in many industries. I've got to agree 100% with these ideas. |
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Post by CRTaylor on May 8, 2014 20:44:14 GMT
I should stick a Fantasy Hero logo on The Fantasy Codex if I can get an OK from Hero and a good, clean copy of it. I have the 5th edition Fantasy Hero logo, which I like a lot, but not the new one.
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Post by tikiman on Feb 19, 2015 18:50:32 GMT
Pretty much any title will do as long as the book says "for use with Hero System" or "compatible with Hero," etc. Although I'd refer to the system as Champions if it were my call as I has the name/brand recognition.
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