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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Killer Shrike" data-source="post: 2011664" data-attributes="member: 1829">SHORT ATTENTION SPAN VERSION: Big book, jam packed with modern action-adventure content. ******************************************** ****** Dark Champions256 pages, Trade Paperback, Perfect Bound, Black & White Retail: $31.99Author: Steven S. LongArtists: Storn Cook (cover), various (interior)************************************************** First off, this supplement is for the Hero System and does not include any d20 material. However, there is a lot of general info material suitable for many types of modern, action-adventure style games run with different mechanics. ************************************************** Dark Champions is just shy of an inch across the spine. The purpose of this book is to provide genre support for running modern oriented action-adventure based games with the HERO System. What this book isn't: * Not a Rulebook * Not a Setting * Not a How-to for Character design * Not a replacement for the Anarchists Cookbook! What this book is: * A collection of ideas and methods for designing and running gritty guns and grenades oriented games with elements of "cinematic realism". * A sporadically illustrated array of black type on white paper.General Use: This book is most useful to HERO System GM's that want to run campaigns similar to past games like Danger International, Top Secret/SI, and Ninjas & Superspies, or movies like Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, Boondock Saints, Blade, Mission Impossible, James Bond, Hard Boiled (or just about any John Woo movie for that matter), or TV series like X-Files and Alias, or action-adventure novels. It's of less use to players, though the package deals and copious gun charts are useful from time to time even to them. Cover Art: A some-what comic-booky cover depicting Harbinger of Justice, the author's hoary much-xp laden Player Character from days of yore and reportedly the springboard for the original Dark Champions book back in the day. It is dark, both literally and stylistically, showing the Harbinger (whom we'll call HoJ for short) in full on two-gun mode, apparently after wiping out the inhabitants of a business office after crashing thru the window. HoJ is geared up with an array of weapons and body armor.I'm a little ambivalent about the cover. On the downside some of the details don't gel for me. Also, it's so dark and cluttered that it' doesn't look good from afar, lowering its shelf image. On the plus side it's very evocative and is so different that it is recognizable and interesting once it's caught your eye. It makes you want to pick up the book and read the back to see what the hell it's all about. Beyond the actual artwork, the dark red and black color scheme is strong and aggressive; very bold. I also like the "Dark Champions" logo itself. So overall I think it's successful cover, as it is appropriate to the theme and content of the book, is well executed, and holds up well with repeated viewings.Interior Art: Mixed is the best word to describe the interior art. Some pieces are pretty good, but many are extremely cartoony, and some are just bad. Unfortunately there isn't a lot of exceptional work to balance it out. There are some good pieces here and there, but only a few really grab my eye. As an interesting aside, some of the interior art is done by Dan Smith who did art for Steve Jackson Games in the past -- I recognized his style from misspent days of playing the Illuminati New World Order card game. Worthy of special notice, there are several illustrations of weapons and ammunition and they are well done.Name: I'm going to gripe a bit on this one, so feel free to skip ahead a bit.This book covers the modern day Action-Adventure genre for the HERO System. It doesn't really have anything to do with Champions or superheroes in general by default. There are subgenres of Action-Adventure revolving around that to be sure, but that's just a fraction of the kinds of campaigns that the sourcebook can be used to assist.Personally it really aggravates me that this product was called "Dark Champions". I understand the nostalgia factor involved, since the original product, which was much narrower in scope, was based kind-of-sorta in the Champions Universe and was marketed as a Champions supplement. That was then, this is now.I think it would have been much smarter from a brand management and general marketing position to title the book in a fashion that accurately describes it's general application as a full spectrum Genre book. Something like Action HERO or Adventure HERO, or Modern HERO (though that would likely be too similar to d20 Modern). Something broad and non-specific. A smaller supplement could have been released for Dark Champions specifically, in the same vein as "Champions Universe", detailing the SETTING of the "Dark Champions Universe", including how to integrate it (or not) with the vanilla Champions Universe. Sticking the label on the Genre book itself in a nod to the past was a mistake in my opinion. "Dark Champions" is not a recognizable genre -- it is a specific implementation in the Action-Adventure genre.*********************************************** Introduction: The book starts off with a serviceable ToC, followed by a typically perfunctory intro giving a one page heads-up summarizing the book's contents.Then we are treated to a personal note from the author describing some of the background of how the original Dark Champions came to be. Basically the original DC was the author's first RPG book, and launched his career in the industry at the expense of his previous life as a lawyer. Today he is one of the most respected and prolific author's in the industry and further has partial ownership of the HERO System property. Kind of a living Cinderella story for gaming geeks so to speak. It's a cool little bit.*********************************************** Chapter 1: Action and AdventureAn all-business chapter deconstructing the Genre, calling out specific subgenres, mixing genres, and listing some classic genre bits. A short chapter, this solidly covers the subject, though I think it could have been a little longer. Good examples and sidebars are provided. As a side note, the author managed to talk about combining the "Dark Champions" and "Ninja HERO" genres for a Ninjas & Superspies type game without actually mentioning the Ninjas & Superspies, a product in the same general category published by the litigious Palladium. Those years the author spent in law school paid off <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />   *********************************************** Chapter 2: Vigilantes, Spies, & SoldiersThe character creation section. This section includes copious Package Deals, background & personality archetypes, and coverage of how to use the HERO System categories of Characteristics, Skills, Perks, Talents, Powers, and Disadvantages in a fashion suitable to the genre.A characteristically solid and by the numbers coverage is provided. Of particular note in this section is the information laced throughout the Package Deals section regarding real-world organizations with an Espionage or Government Agency appeal. It's solid data, a good place to start at any rate and sufficient for most RPG purposes, and is good value added content. However, I really think it would have been better to put that info together into a single section along with any other real-world organization data and then referred to it in the Package Deal section rather than scattering the info throughout the Package Deal section.The Perks section is excellent, The Talent section is adequate, reprinting some relevant Talents from Fantasy HERO. The Powers section is short and not terribly exciting, though it does introduce a new Advantage for Flash which is very strong, and retreads the "Piercing" concept of old Champions. Piercing is likely to become a popular mechanic, so Ill describe it a little. It's called a Power but it behaves like an Adder for the Power it's bought for. It's purpose is to directly subtract from the defense of the target. I haven't had a chance to see this in play or run numbers on it, but off hand I'm not real clear why one wouldn't just do more damage instead for the same net effect. Time will tell...The Power Advantages section introduces a variant of Armor Piercing called Semi-Armor Piercing which seems kind of questionable, particularly with the addition of Piercing. Otherwise nothing particularly noteworthy. Power Limitations has a Min Range Limitation for attacks that must move a minimum distance to arm. It also has an Increased Loading Time adjustment for Charges and a chart for Crew-served weapons that has appeared previously. The Disadvantage section is pretty comprehensive, particularly the Psychological Limitation exposition. The real gem of the basic category coverage here is the Skills section however. An extremely diverse collection of expanded options for using the HERO System skills in a way appropriate to the genre are given. Page upon page of expanded modifiers, more finely grained subcategories for things like Computer Programming and Systems Operation, lots of data on Bugging, an expanded Demolitions chart, Lockpicking and Disguise modifiers, expanded Streetwise and Shadowing, and much more. A new Skill Enhancer is also introduced called "Expert" which is something some GM's have allowed at home for some time now, but is now incorporated into the game. Just a fantastic section all around.Later, at the end of the section we are treated to two new sections, the first of which is called "Super-Skills". However, this section is really just a collection of Power Constructs suitable for some DC campaigns. It's very cool to include such, but realistically I think this would have been better handled as Talents, since Talents are designed to handle Power-like effects and "Super-skills" that aren't really Powers. That's what the mechanic exists for, so I don't understand why it wasn't used to cover this. Kudo's for content, raspberry for organization.The last part of this section is Resource Points, which essentially is just a way to allow a somewhat more fluid allocation of Equipment and other trappings such as Vehicles and Bases, Contacts, and so forth. I'll withhold judgement until I've actually used them a bit in a campaign, but a superficial skimming looks solid.*********************************************** Chapter 3: Traces of CrimeA section on Forensics, this section was unexpected but very cool. Not quite 20 pages, this section is sure to be very handy to many many GM's that want to inject a competent law enforcement aspect to a game, and also to motivated players that want to be able to talk the talk when playing their Forensics trained Vigilante, FBI Agent, or whatever. Counter-thinking can also be gained by reading the section, suggesting ways to beat the forensics by both PC's and NPC's alike. Excellent inclusion.Well done, Mr. Steven S. Long; well done indeed!*********************************************** Chapter 4: Combat & AdventuringAnother not-quite-20-pages Chapter, this one covers some of the common "issues" which might need to be resolved in a given combat, with a focus on firearms as appropriate to the genre. A lot of this section seems like regurgitation of previous material to me, but then I've probably read more HERO books than most folks, so I'll withhold comment on it's usefulness. The Gunfighting section on the other hand is useful and includes rules for Alterming the Range Mod, "Blowthrough", using firearms in close combat, and some interesting "Grace under fire" rules that look pretty spiffy for some campaigns to my eye. Recoil, REloading, Slow Firearms, "Storm of Lead" (which discusses various ways to achieve a high rate of fire in the HERO System, including a new option called "Multifire") are also covered, and the section wraps up with some common cinematic tricks like aiming from a reflection and such. Good section.*********************************************** Chapter 5: The ArsenalAs a preface, I'm not one of those people that obsesses over "realistically" modeling guns and other weapons down to the last jule of force for purposes of RPGs. For me, weapons are just vehicles to inflict damage and their ability to do so should be balanced against similar weapons, using a combination of dice of effect, bonuses to hit, range levels, Advantages, and any applicable Limitations as well. that's good enough for me.This chapter covers Firearms in game terms, and even sidebars a note that where cinematic coolness and realistic minutiae differ, cinematic coolness is give the nod herein. It also cover Ammo in very respectable and copious detail, complete with a full page chart listing damage by Caliber. How cool is that?  As if the provided mini-encyclopedia of ammo were not enough, also provided is a sidebar of "fictional" ammo, like Vampire-busters. Page 209 also bears my favorite piece of artwork from the book, a neat forced perspective of an "urban female" with a Gloch. Nicely done.Next is the Standard Firearms Tables, which have to be seen to be appreciated. From 216 to 231, chart after chart of ammo type, by gauge/caliber, across various Charge increments, with AP/RC for each. Pretty impressive, really. I also like the no-nonsense easy to reference format. I wish more of the mechanicy bits in HERO System books (like the Package Deals) were presented in a similarly clear and austere format. Next we get Firearms accessories, from Brass Catchers to Slide Stops, and even a few for the Shotgun crowd. There is also a section on mods and custom jobs like Barrel Fluting and Hair Triggers. And rules to disguise Weapons.Next is the Firearms Tables themselves, which is coverage of "real world" weapons. Whether you want a Ruger or  Czech Skorpion, you'll find it here. Other weapons like Explosives and Tasers round out the chapter.*********************************************** Chapter 6: Field KitThis is basically an extended gear list, with subsections and mechanical write ups as needed. On a skim it looks handy; but the true test of a gear list is actual play so I'll withhold judgement for now. It looks like it covers the basics however, ranging from Body Armor to spy toys. *********************************************** Chapter 7: The EnemyBasically a sourcebook for bad guys, this chapter gives high level passes on the Mafia, Chinese, Hispanic, Japanese, and Russian Organized Crime, Street Gangs, and some ex miscellanea groups like Jamaicans, Vietnamese, and Bike Gangs. A separate section covers the "Cinematic Mastermind", Costumed Criminals, Robbery Crews, and Serial Killers. A third section covers Terrorism pretty well.All in all I'm impressed with this chapter; it gives enough information to get by on (and provide a base point to fuel further research for interested parties), but succinct enough that it can be absorbed and incorporated as background info, to satisfy a Knowledge Skill roll, provide a seed for writing a character's background, fueling a campaign premise, and other game-oriented purposes.We like it!*********************************************** Chapter 8: Running the GauntletCreating a Campaign, mixing in super powers and magic, tone, theme, adventure and NPC design, and actually running the game are all covered here. Handy for novice GM's.*********************************************** Chapter 9: LibraA sample group of Vigilantes, with 5 members. A Punisher like former military guy, a blade guy who prefers non-lethal solutions (might want to try clubs then, genius), a big heavy to tote the big gun, a former model woman Vigilante, and the slightly unhinged hard liner.Five villains are also included, representing various archetypical baddies.Ill leave it to individual GM's to judge the characters themselves. They work ok and are reusable for a lot of different purposes so they serve their purpose.*********************************************** ReferencesA long list of refs are included, ranging from Crime to Game Products. Source Material rounds out the section, and I'm surprised to say that I've seen almost all of the many movies listed (and owned most of them as well at one point or another). Guess that makes me part of the target audience.Finally we have the trademark DOJ-era detailed Index.*********************************************** In summary, Dark Champions is a very well done product. My gripes are easily stated: less than stellar interior art, some opportunities for tighter organization in a couple of places, and the mislabeling of the book "Dark Champions". There are also more typos in this book than I've noticed in any DOJ-era HERO System product previously, but I had the opportunity to beta-test and proofread and was too busy at the time to do it, so in a way it's partially my fault and I'll let that one slide <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />All of the content gets top marks. Not only is it a good game supplement to read, it's interesting in it's own right. Personally I'm looking forward to running a "Dark Champions" game sometime in the future; I haven't had a good fix of modern action-adventure with the HERO System firsthand since 1999, and this book has whetted my appetite for the genre again.I highly recommend it to all GM's interested in running a action-adventure game, particularly in the modern day. Despite the name on the cover, the book has a very broad scope and is very informative. It's also very useful for old action-adventure game junkies that want to play in the genre but want to do it with the HERO System. I still have a pile of Top Secret/SI books including the FREE Lancers books, Ninja & Superspies, and Beyond the Supernatural on my game shelves for example, and could use this book to transition campaigns in those settings into HEROs.Excellent product. I'd say it's about a 4.5 overall, so I'll round up to 5. 9/10 basically.</blockquote>

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