There's been a lot of pain and difficulty front-and-center in recent days. In the midst of the challenges and the tragedy, there've been plenty of tales of real-life heroes to inspire us. When the darkness falls and hope falters, that's when heroes step up. That's the inspiration for this week's theme. I've been clinging to the need for heroes in a world so troubled, and I feel that gaming will always give us that chance to embrace the heroic ideal and indulge in the dream that we, too, can step up and do what needs to be done.
DARREN WATTS' GOLDEN AGE CHAMPIONS
For so many reasons, I am declaring this Heroes Will Rise Week. So many tragedies, disasters… and remembrances, especially today.
Opening with my buddy Darren Watts‘ revision of this classic Champions product seems pretty much perfect. We could all hope for such strong and noble heroes facing the problems of our world, so why not embody them and indulge in the goodness and honesty of the Golden Age.
SMASH THE AXIS!
The Golden Age of Superheroes began in 1938, when a new kind of hero emerged from the pages of comicbooks in full color for a dime! Now you can experience high-flying adventure set in the days before, during, and after the Second World War, fighting for justice and freedom while armies march and cities burn!
Darren Watts’s Golden Age Champions 6th Edition expands the Champions Universe back to the earliest days of the Modern Age of Heroes, and includes:
• a thorough examination of the Golden Age as a genre, with discussions of the types of stories, themes and characters appropriate to the period (and how and why to break those rules when you need to!)
• a detailed history and description of the world of the Golden Age, including a monthly timeline spanning from 1938 to 1949 covering Politics & War, Science & Technology, Arts & Entertainment, Life & Times, Crime & Weirdness, and the history of the Champions Universe!
• an extensive section on creating Golden Age characters, including a thorough discussion of archetypes, seventeen character templates, and information on Skills, Talents and Perks for the era.
• twenty-seven heroes and thirty-seven villains, from all sides of the war and every corner of the world (and a few other worlds besides!), along with information about the activities of characters from the modern Champions Universe during the period.
• the guns, vehicles and gear of the Golden Age, both real-world and madly scientific!
• advice on how to run long-term campaigns set in the Golden Age, from a GM who has run several that lasted for years!
So buy some war bonds, plant your Victory Gardens, and Keep ‘Em Flying, Heroes!
(Note: Electronic version also contains character sheets for Savage Worlds and Mutants & Masterminds in a single Zip file!)
CHILL 3RD EDITION
Most who know me at all know I don’t do horror. Not movies, TV, and especially not gaming.
Chill was always the exception for me.
Why? Because Chill is predicated heavily upon the idea of heroes gathering together to do whatever they can to help innocents and save the world from evil. The “adventuring paradigm” of the setting says it all – an organization named SAVE. The motto is why I can play this game, and why I’ve always enjoyed it over all other horror games –
This makes it a perfect Pick for Heroes Will Rise Week.
A Horror Roleplaying Game
Every one of us is weak: mere ants against the stalking giants that have brought us to our knees. Even when we work together, the Unknown is bigger than us, better armed, and better prepared for what’s to come. We have no real advantage, and our greatest victories have been nothing but the monsters toying with us before they descend to feast. Our fight is hopeless.
This is how we’re going to win.
—Hayat Nejem, “How to SAVE the World”
The uneasy feeling that creeps up your spine as you walk down a darkened hallway. The way your footsteps echo oddly on a deserted street at night, as though there was someone walking somewhere behind you. The shape you see out of the corner of your eye when you’re home alone.
The Unknown lurks in the dark.
We all know it. Luckily, some of us use that knowledge to fight. The odds may be against us, but we can win.
Investigate the Unknown.
Rescue the Innocent.
Kill the Monsters.
Will you stand with us? Remember — SAVE is on your side.
Chill 3rd Edition is an investigative horror roleplaying game about people who stand up against monsters, hunting down supernatural threats and protecting the world from the Unknown. You don’t have to be a superhero to be a member of SAVE; you just have to stand up and join us.
HERO KIDS SPACE ADVENTURE BUNDLE
The Week of Heroes Will Rise continues with a focus on the heroes we need to nurture and encourage. The Hero Kids line is a fantastic gateway to bring the youngest players into RPGs, and this bundle expands the fantasy adventure into space. It’s a great price, too – $10 for the whole set!
(From the Space Expansion – Hero Cards Set 1):
This expansion for Hero Kids includes ten space heroes for use with space adventures (although these heroes are 100% compatible with all other Hero Kids adventures):
RIFTS DIMENSION BOOK: SKRAYPERS
Today’s Heroes Will Rise Week choice is from the wild-and-crazy anything-goes setting that is Rifts, and it’s one of the most popular dimension books Palladium ever published. Epic superheroes fighting to save their world from an alien invasion, and it all spills over onto Rifts Earth! Calling all heroes! Bring Boom Guns and big magic!
Epic super-hero adventure on an alien planet, as alien heroes fight to liberate their world from the tyranny of the world-conquering space aliens known as the Tarlok.
SHAINTAR: LEGENDS ARISE
I’m closing out Heroes Will Rise Week with something I’ve not talked about for a while. Shaintar is the fantasy world I started building many, many years ago (beginning in 1977) as a place for heroes. I didn’t like the idea of things being “open-ended,” where you could play mercenaries, murder hobos, and outright bad guys as readily as you could play good guys. I get that games should be about whatever folks want to be, overall, but I wanted to craft a place where being heroes – determined, capable, and ultimately legendary heroes – was the entire point.
It took a very long time to finally pull everything together, and discovering the Savage Worlds was the final piece to lock it down. A system designed to recreate the pulp/cinema action style I craved for the world.
Life transpired in a way that it became important for me to pass the torch and let others carry on the legacy of Shaintar (“It’s like Die Hard meets Lord of the Rings“), and it’s now in the hands of Savage Mojo and guided by the passionate talents of Darren Pearce and others. This book, however, remains one of the things I will always be most proud of – a gateway into an expansive world where the choice to be a hero is meaningful and fulfilling; where the concepts of good and evil, Light and Darkness, Life and Flame are tangible and impactful; and where the words “legendary” and “epic” are truly understood.
This is the full book, complete with all Player and Game Master information for Novice to Veteran play!
Sean Patrick Fannon’s vision of Epic High Fantasy comes to life for Savage Worlds in this all new iteration brought to you by Evil Beagle Games.
“The heart of any lasting and memorable roleplaying campaign is the setting. Is it vivid? Alluring? Full of mysteries, as well as straight-ahead challenges?
If the answer is “Yes” to all of these, you are in good hands.
SHAINTAR is deep in “good hands” territory.
Just paging through the Players Guide makes you want to play, and it’s genuinely hard to create a boring character using this book; everything works together to make your Hero interesting. And that’s even before you get to the four detailed Major Enemies lurking in Shaintar. Or the rules for alchemy, or the tantalizing glimpses we get of the Black Lantern and Grayson’s Grey Rangers . . .
A winner. Get this book.” — Ed Greenwood, creator of The Forgotten Realms®
Savage Worlds fans will find a lot to love about Shaintar: Legends Arise:
Anyone seeking Epic High Fantasy adventure will enjoy this book, as will anyone wishing to add lots of great new material to their Savage games!
----
I am always thrilled when our community steps up. This proven time and time again, whenever a major event hits or someone who crafted gaming products is shown to be in need. Tens of thousands of dollars were recently donated via a Harvey-relief bundle, once again affirming my faith in my tribe, and I am thankful.
(I hope we can do it again, when the inevitable second bundle for Irma victims comes around.)
It's another superhero-heavy weekend for me, as I run Prowlers & Paragons: Ultimate Edition for my Storm Wardens crew tonight and again for the Storm Knights crew on Sunday. Saturday is a day spent with loved ones celebrating their faith in ceremony and social gathering.
I hope you have some fun stuff planned.
The Adventure Continues!
Note that I use affiliate links in all my posts as a way to generate additional revenue for my efforts; I make my Picks and other article choices, however, based on the desire to share a wide variety of things with you. Thank you for your support.
Sean Patrick Fannon
Writer & Game Designer: Shaintar, Star Wars, Savage Rifts, much more
Please check out my Patreon and get involved directly with my next projects!
DARREN WATTS' GOLDEN AGE CHAMPIONS
For so many reasons, I am declaring this Heroes Will Rise Week. So many tragedies, disasters… and remembrances, especially today.
Opening with my buddy Darren Watts‘ revision of this classic Champions product seems pretty much perfect. We could all hope for such strong and noble heroes facing the problems of our world, so why not embody them and indulge in the goodness and honesty of the Golden Age.
SMASH THE AXIS!
The Golden Age of Superheroes began in 1938, when a new kind of hero emerged from the pages of comicbooks in full color for a dime! Now you can experience high-flying adventure set in the days before, during, and after the Second World War, fighting for justice and freedom while armies march and cities burn!
Darren Watts’s Golden Age Champions 6th Edition expands the Champions Universe back to the earliest days of the Modern Age of Heroes, and includes:
• a thorough examination of the Golden Age as a genre, with discussions of the types of stories, themes and characters appropriate to the period (and how and why to break those rules when you need to!)
• a detailed history and description of the world of the Golden Age, including a monthly timeline spanning from 1938 to 1949 covering Politics & War, Science & Technology, Arts & Entertainment, Life & Times, Crime & Weirdness, and the history of the Champions Universe!
• an extensive section on creating Golden Age characters, including a thorough discussion of archetypes, seventeen character templates, and information on Skills, Talents and Perks for the era.
• twenty-seven heroes and thirty-seven villains, from all sides of the war and every corner of the world (and a few other worlds besides!), along with information about the activities of characters from the modern Champions Universe during the period.
• the guns, vehicles and gear of the Golden Age, both real-world and madly scientific!
• advice on how to run long-term campaigns set in the Golden Age, from a GM who has run several that lasted for years!
So buy some war bonds, plant your Victory Gardens, and Keep ‘Em Flying, Heroes!
(Note: Electronic version also contains character sheets for Savage Worlds and Mutants & Masterminds in a single Zip file!)
CHILL 3RD EDITION
Most who know me at all know I don’t do horror. Not movies, TV, and especially not gaming.
Chill was always the exception for me.
Why? Because Chill is predicated heavily upon the idea of heroes gathering together to do whatever they can to help innocents and save the world from evil. The “adventuring paradigm” of the setting says it all – an organization named SAVE. The motto is why I can play this game, and why I’ve always enjoyed it over all other horror games –
Investigate the Unknown.
Rescue the Innocent.
Kill the Monsters.
Rescue the Innocent.
Kill the Monsters.
This makes it a perfect Pick for Heroes Will Rise Week.
A Horror Roleplaying Game
Every one of us is weak: mere ants against the stalking giants that have brought us to our knees. Even when we work together, the Unknown is bigger than us, better armed, and better prepared for what’s to come. We have no real advantage, and our greatest victories have been nothing but the monsters toying with us before they descend to feast. Our fight is hopeless.
This is how we’re going to win.
—Hayat Nejem, “How to SAVE the World”
The uneasy feeling that creeps up your spine as you walk down a darkened hallway. The way your footsteps echo oddly on a deserted street at night, as though there was someone walking somewhere behind you. The shape you see out of the corner of your eye when you’re home alone.
The Unknown lurks in the dark.
We all know it. Luckily, some of us use that knowledge to fight. The odds may be against us, but we can win.
Investigate the Unknown.
Rescue the Innocent.
Kill the Monsters.
Will you stand with us? Remember — SAVE is on your side.
Chill 3rd Edition is an investigative horror roleplaying game about people who stand up against monsters, hunting down supernatural threats and protecting the world from the Unknown. You don’t have to be a superhero to be a member of SAVE; you just have to stand up and join us.
HERO KIDS SPACE ADVENTURE BUNDLE
The Week of Heroes Will Rise continues with a focus on the heroes we need to nurture and encourage. The Hero Kids line is a fantastic gateway to bring the youngest players into RPGs, and this bundle expands the fantasy adventure into space. It’s a great price, too – $10 for the whole set!
(From the Space Expansion – Hero Cards Set 1):
This expansion for Hero Kids includes ten space heroes for use with space adventures (although these heroes are 100% compatible with all other Hero Kids adventures):
- Brute – The pandian’s strength and size makes him formidable in melee combat
- Force-Binder – This alien Nadi can push enemies with his powerful magic
- Merc – The merc’s armor protects her from all but the most powerful attacks
- Nadic Healer – This Nadic binds the weave to heal her allies
- Scoundrel (Female) – Trained in gunnery, the scoundel is a cunning combatant
- Scoundrel (Male) – And expert pilot, this scoundrel is as slippery as they come
- Sharpshooter – This alien’s ultra-spectral visor enhances his aim
- Trooper – The trooper’s armor protects him while he lines up his enemies
- Warrior (Female) – The alien warrior’s ion sword and quick feet get her in and out of trouble
- Warrior (Male) – Years of training has honed the warrior’s skill with his blade
RIFTS DIMENSION BOOK: SKRAYPERS
Today’s Heroes Will Rise Week choice is from the wild-and-crazy anything-goes setting that is Rifts, and it’s one of the most popular dimension books Palladium ever published. Epic superheroes fighting to save their world from an alien invasion, and it all spills over onto Rifts Earth! Calling all heroes! Bring Boom Guns and big magic!
Epic super-hero adventure on an alien planet, as alien heroes fight to liberate their world from the tyranny of the world-conquering space aliens known as the Tarlok.
- Invading Tarlok aliens, heroes and world information.
- 20 new O.C.C.s and R.C.C.s for player characters.
- 25 new weapons and vehicles.
- New superpowers, aliens, equipment and villains.
- For use with Rifts® and Heroes Unlimited™, 2nd Ed.
SHAINTAR: LEGENDS ARISE
I’m closing out Heroes Will Rise Week with something I’ve not talked about for a while. Shaintar is the fantasy world I started building many, many years ago (beginning in 1977) as a place for heroes. I didn’t like the idea of things being “open-ended,” where you could play mercenaries, murder hobos, and outright bad guys as readily as you could play good guys. I get that games should be about whatever folks want to be, overall, but I wanted to craft a place where being heroes – determined, capable, and ultimately legendary heroes – was the entire point.
It took a very long time to finally pull everything together, and discovering the Savage Worlds was the final piece to lock it down. A system designed to recreate the pulp/cinema action style I craved for the world.
Life transpired in a way that it became important for me to pass the torch and let others carry on the legacy of Shaintar (“It’s like Die Hard meets Lord of the Rings“), and it’s now in the hands of Savage Mojo and guided by the passionate talents of Darren Pearce and others. This book, however, remains one of the things I will always be most proud of – a gateway into an expansive world where the choice to be a hero is meaningful and fulfilling; where the concepts of good and evil, Light and Darkness, Life and Flame are tangible and impactful; and where the words “legendary” and “epic” are truly understood.
This is the full book, complete with all Player and Game Master information for Novice to Veteran play!
Sean Patrick Fannon’s vision of Epic High Fantasy comes to life for Savage Worlds in this all new iteration brought to you by Evil Beagle Games.
“The heart of any lasting and memorable roleplaying campaign is the setting. Is it vivid? Alluring? Full of mysteries, as well as straight-ahead challenges?
If the answer is “Yes” to all of these, you are in good hands.
SHAINTAR is deep in “good hands” territory.
Just paging through the Players Guide makes you want to play, and it’s genuinely hard to create a boring character using this book; everything works together to make your Hero interesting. And that’s even before you get to the four detailed Major Enemies lurking in Shaintar. Or the rules for alchemy, or the tantalizing glimpses we get of the Black Lantern and Grayson’s Grey Rangers . . .
A winner. Get this book.” — Ed Greenwood, creator of The Forgotten Realms®
Savage Worlds fans will find a lot to love about Shaintar: Legends Arise:
- Eleven distinctive Races with many specialized Racial Edges for each.
- Over 60 new Edges, including Professional, Combat, and Power Edges.
- Expanded options for magic, including Applications for Sorcery, Extended Casting, and more.
- New and expanded rules for Alchemists and Artificers, as well as personalized magic items.
- Setting rules like All Out Move, the Deep Magic, and Lead from the Front.
- Information about the many nations and factions that drive the stories of Shaintar.
- A complete Timeline featuring thousands of years of Shaintar’s history.
- A Denizens section with many dozens of characters and monsters, as well as five new Monstrous Templates and templates for changing almost any Denizen to any of the eleven Races.
- An expanded Weapons, Armor, and Gear list for epic fantasy gaming, as well as a Resource system to replace “counting coins” for wealth management.
- Extensive advice about Game Mastering an Epic High Fantasy setting.
- Three Legendary Tales, “Countering the Terror,” “Red Store Rising,” and “Return to Honor, Return to Glory.”
Anyone seeking Epic High Fantasy adventure will enjoy this book, as will anyone wishing to add lots of great new material to their Savage games!
----
I am always thrilled when our community steps up. This proven time and time again, whenever a major event hits or someone who crafted gaming products is shown to be in need. Tens of thousands of dollars were recently donated via a Harvey-relief bundle, once again affirming my faith in my tribe, and I am thankful.
(I hope we can do it again, when the inevitable second bundle for Irma victims comes around.)
It's another superhero-heavy weekend for me, as I run Prowlers & Paragons: Ultimate Edition for my Storm Wardens crew tonight and again for the Storm Knights crew on Sunday. Saturday is a day spent with loved ones celebrating their faith in ceremony and social gathering.
I hope you have some fun stuff planned.
The Adventure Continues!
Note that I use affiliate links in all my posts as a way to generate additional revenue for my efforts; I make my Picks and other article choices, however, based on the desire to share a wide variety of things with you. Thank you for your support.
Sean Patrick Fannon
Writer & Game Designer: Shaintar, Star Wars, Savage Rifts, much more
Please check out my Patreon and get involved directly with my next projects!
