Silver Age Sentinels (Tri-Stat) -- and Streamlining Hero

[mmadsen]

Instead of having a large pool of Stun points, they could have a much smaller pool, say, one fifth as big. Each multiple of that Stun pool they use up gives them -1 to all rolls (or something similar), with -5 meaning unconsciousness. If something rouses their passions though, characters can get a free recovery (or multiple free recoveries).

Or perhaps that adds a bit too much complexity and doesn't quite fit the genre. Maybe no penalties at all until near the end? The slow and steady death spiral isn't very heroic -- but a second wind to pop out of the spiral sure is!

 

[mmadsen]

I don't see the speed chart as that big of deal. It mostly just seems to combine the staggered attacks by fighters in 2e with the delaying and ready stuff now. I'd really hate rolling under SPD to handle actions.

I guess we just disagree on the speed chart. Why would you "really hate rolling"?

 

[mmadsen]

Kurt does endorse Gold Rush Game's San Angelo book as very close to the spirit and ideas of Astro City. Out of print presently, though there's always hope Hero Games will start publishing it again.

So I find out San Angelo is "very close to the spirit and ideas of Astro City" after it's out of print. Sigh. I wonder if Hero's upcoming Millennium City will have the same feel. From their site:

Millennium City: Built over the ruins of the old city of Detroit, Millennium City is truly the city of the future. Filled with the latest high-tech advances, and home to America's premiere superteam the Champions, it's a paradise for many - but a prison or a target for others. Millennium City details this part of the new Champions Universe, providing a campaign setting and options for Champions GMs.

Authors: Darren Watts, Steven S. Long
Tentative Release Date: Early 2003

 

[mmadsen]

By the way, for anyone interested in a Silver Age campaign using the Hero System, their site lists these tentatively-planned products (among others):

Galactic Champions (subgenre book)
Golden Age Champions (subgenre book)
Silver Age Champions (subgenre book)

 

[hong]

By the way, for anyone interested in a Silver Age campaign using the Hero System, ...

So I find out San Angelo is "very close to the spirit and ideas of Astro City" ...

I guess we just disagree on the speed chart ...

Or perhaps that adds a bit too much complexity ...

Agreed. As I said above, ...

Wow, and I thought I was bad in loving the sound of my own voice. Perhaps the trick is to let one's multiple personalities have simultaneous access to the keyboard. This is something I must suggest to the hivemind.

 

[buzzard]

Re: Two games

Aside from that I think these two games will fill the need for fast SUpers games. I think the DCU game was pretty fast as was the old Marvel Game (Saga left a bad taste in my mouth) but I think SAS and M&M (especially) will beat them hands down. I think I am one of the 20 people who liked DCU. LOL

Jason

I also liked DCU. I thought it was well designed and had a very good base mechanic.

buzzard

 

[mmadsen]

The first slow-down comes from the Speed Table. At its core, the speed system gives a Spd-N character N actions per 12-second turn. Keeping track, segment by segment, of who can act according to the chart though is a pain, especially if different characters have different Spd stats and players want to optimize their choices based on who can or cannot act before their next phase. Why not just roll a d12 to see if you can act? Or a d6 for Spd stats under 6, and a guaranteed action plus an extra action (depending on a d6 roll) for Spd stats over 6?

This topic has come up over on the Hero messageboards, in the Suggestions for Alternate Speed Chart thread.

 

[Eosin the Red]

Wow, and I thought I was bad in loving the sound of my own voice. Perhaps the trick is to let one's multiple personalities have simultaneous access to the keyboard. This is something I must suggest to the hivemind.

LOL - I thought this was one big long thread of MMaddsen quoting himself to drown out others.

PS - MMaddsen, You are making Hero too complex. It is fairly simple and unless you are building the perfect uberbrick/martial artist/metalist/energy projector character creation takes about as long as building a 8-10th D&D character. Which is approx the power that a base champions character starts with.

Hero aint perfect (no game is) but it is a dang fine game for what it is supposed to do.

 

[mmadsen]

You are making Hero too complex.

How?

It is fairly simple...

Please. I used to revel in the complexity, but there's no getting around the fact that it is a complex system. More importantly, some of that complexity is justified -- it takes some complexity to provide all that flexibility -- but much of it is not.

Hero aint perfect (no game is) but it is a dang fine game for what it is supposed to do.

Does that mean there's no way to improve it? At all?

 

[Sebastian]

I'm holding out for Mutants and MAsterminds. the Demo I played at Gen Con was great

I was going to pick up Silver Age Sentinels, but the intro turned me off enough that I decided against it.

See, I like having angst-filled psychos in my game (or at least the option of them), and when an introduction goes on about how the system is "all things to all people", then in the next paragraph goes on to say "except this big part of the genre", I lose interest.

And, for the record, I think Champions was maybe my favorite game ever but it's combat played slow. M&M played nice and fast and seemed to have room for a Angsty Psycho

My thoughts exactly. The SAS-demo at Gen Con was relatively slow and cumbersome and did not seem to be a big advantage over Champions. M&M on the other hand included an elegant inclusion of d20 concepts and also enough system design to improve on shortcomings of other systems.
M&M will catch a lot of flack for not being fully compatible with D&D, though. But if I get a fun & fast Superhero game, I don't care.