Susano Posted June 19, 2015 Report Share Posted June 19, 2015 Yes, you read that correctly, the development process for the 6E version of Aaron Allston's influential Champions supplement, Strike Force, has begun. Right now we're in the requirements gathering phase, where we look over the old book, the accumulated campaign histories, and other documents, and decide how to present it all to readers old and new. With this in mind, I wanted to ask a few questions of Champions and Hero System fans: What do you remember most about the Strike Force book? The art? The characters? The advice? The house rules? How did you use the book in your campaigns? Did you simply borrow characters and concepts? Did you adopt the house rules? What did you personally find useful in the book? Please reply to this thread and/or email me at susano@guisarme.net with your answers. Also, I will keep everyone up to date with details on project progress. I may not be able to say a whole lot, but I'll try and say something. Thanks! PS: Could an admin sticky this please? If possible? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted June 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2015 Thank you, admins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan D. Hurricanes Posted June 20, 2015 Report Share Posted June 20, 2015 It's a worthy cause. I'll put it on your tab. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted June 20, 2015 Report Share Posted June 20, 2015 Wow. I admit, since Aaron's death I had almost given up hope of seeing this. For my part, what I remember most powerfully about Strike Force was how Aaron paralleled the events in the campaign world with what was happening in his game group in the real world. Every lesson he and they learned, every bit of advice he offered, was emphasized and illuminated by the context of his evolution as GM and his players as role-players. As a corollary to that, the Strike Force world characters, PC and NPC, weren't static. They changed and evolved over time, as the experiences of the campaign shaped them. That made their world seem organic and alive, and the characters deep and rich. On a practical level, much of what I found most useful from the book was its illustration of how to build and run a superhero team. Not just the designs of bases and vehicles; but organizing the members into sub-teams with similar powers and skills for specific missions; optimized battle tactics and code-words; a corps of specially-equipped support agents; interactions and relations with other heroes and groups. Some of these I'd never even seen in the source comics before, but once presented they made so much sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assault Posted June 20, 2015 Report Share Posted June 20, 2015 Honestly, what I most appreciated about Strike Force was that it was a good story. And yes, my characters to this day are influenced by those in Aaron's book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba smith Posted June 20, 2015 Report Share Posted June 20, 2015 thanks for the heads up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steriaca Posted June 20, 2015 Report Share Posted June 20, 2015 The only things I remember from Strike Force was the stuff brought into the BBB (and yes, it was helpful). I think some of the characters in the original Ninja Hero book were from the Strike Force campaign. And I love Yoosoo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheQuestionMan Posted June 20, 2015 Report Share Posted June 20, 2015 I cannot articulate intelligently why I loved Strike Force. It isn't nostalgia or supporting a Hero Project for me. Strike Force did more than introduce a Superhero Sourcebook. It introduced Character, Team, Adventure, and Campaign stories that I found really engaging. The GM section really changed how I GM'ed told those stories. What I want from Strike Force for 6E is; Conversion to 6E rules, but maintaining character continuity. Expanded character and campaign continuity (History). Expansion on character background. (The Blood, the Martial Arts Temple) Its Strike Force universe not Champions Universe. Game Master Tips and Hints to running a game in the Strike Force Universe. The next Generation of Strike Force members. (Descendants of the Founding Members, Partners and Sidekicks, and aspiring or inspired by Strike Force .) Adventures are so important and so often overlooked. Cheers QM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted June 20, 2015 Report Share Posted June 20, 2015 One of my big takeaways from Strike Force was the advice it gave on how to keep a campaign fresh and alive for years, and showing the changes as characters evolved and changed within it. It wasn't just running a few combats, but it was a world that lived, grew and developed over the years of its existence. I think Gestalt was the only other superhero campaign world that gave me a similar feeling of being "alive" in that way. I'll have more later after I have some time to think about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted June 21, 2015 Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 Let's see, I remember the art. I like Glen's work a lot. I remember the campaign history and excellent storytelling (as well as how the players real lives affected the stories and what made some very major shifts. I took a lot of the rules changes and campaign suggestions to heart. It was well written and something I enjoyed just reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rravenwood Posted June 21, 2015 Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 For my part, what I remember most powerfully about Strike Force was how Aaron paralleled the events in the campaign world with what was happening in his game group in the real world. Every lesson he and they learned, every bit of advice he offered, was emphasized and illuminated by the context of his evolution as GM and his players as role-players. As a corollary to that, the Strike Force world characters, PC and NPC, weren't static. They changed and evolved over time, as the experiences of the campaign shaped them. That made their world seem organic and alive, and the characters deep and rich. On a practical level, much of what I found most useful from the book was its illustration of how to build and run a superhero team. Not just the designs of bases and vehicles; but organizing the members into sub-teams with similar powers and skills for specific missions; optimized battle tactics and code-words; a corps of specially-equipped support agents; interactions and relations with other heroes and groups. Some of these I'd never even seen in the source comics before, but once presented they made so much sense. Lord Liaden expresses my thoughts on Strike Force better than anything I could have said myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunatic Fringer Posted June 22, 2015 Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 This needs to be in print again, simply for those of us (guilty as charged) who missed the previous version(s). I have heard nothing but glowing reviews about it and would really love to see it. It would also be a wonderful way of keeping Aaron's legacy to this game alive and well for yet another generation of gamers to enjoy! LF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucius Posted June 23, 2015 Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 What I want from Strike Force for 6E is; Conversion to 6E rules, but maintaining character continuity. Expanded character and campaign continuity (History). Expansion on character background. (The Blood, the Martial Arts Temple) It's Strike Force universe not Champions Universe. Game Master Tips and Hints to running a game in the Strike Force Universe. The next Generation of Strike Force members. (Descendants of the Founding Members, Partners and Sidekicks, and aspiring or inspired by Strike Force .) Adventures are so important and so often overlooked. Cheers QM Emphasis added Lucius Alexander Palindromedary tagline added Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted June 24, 2015 Report Share Posted June 24, 2015 I have the book. I remember and liked the art and the teams. So I want to see them again particularly as one was a small team and the other was a large one. Both teams had different agendas. And did things I had not seen or thought about like the woman with the high comliness/presence and how that could be translated. Then there is the relationship with the hunteds. In the Champions rulebooks one of the things mentioned came from the Strike Force campaign. One of Swashbuckler's enemies kidnapped a whole group of people and made them believe that they were Swashbuckler and then set them on him and his team. It followed the fact that first this was a large group, then a smaller group with more experience competant agent level and then almost at Swashbuckler's level. So I want to see that and how the hunteds change with time. I want to see La Panthere above all of the others. I look forward to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted June 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 In case anyone is wondering, I am currently working my way through 800 MB of Aaron's files, plucking out the "good stuff" and reading hundreds of pages of campaign history. It is rather awe-inspiring the extent of the Aaron Allston multiverse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheQuestionMan Posted June 25, 2015 Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 Tease! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted June 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 Tease! Sorry, can't really say any more a this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greywind Posted June 25, 2015 Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 Shouldn't you be reading? Or writing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheQuestionMan Posted June 25, 2015 Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 Any inpirational quotes or advice for how to write a campaign journal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted June 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 Shouldn't you be reading? Or writing? Hey, don't rush me. (The current document I'm reading is 800 pages long. Another, that I'm NOT reading, is 3,200 pages long.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted June 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 Any inpirational quotes or advice for how to write a campaign journal? Aaron created a standard template for such things. It includes title, issue # (session #), PCs playing, major NPCs, guest stars, and then a brief (or not so brief) synopsis of the session events. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted June 25, 2015 Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 In case anyone is wondering, I am currently working my way through 800 MB of Aaron's files, plucking out the "good stuff" and reading hundreds of pages of campaign history. It is rather awe-inspiring the extent of the Aaron Allston multiverse. I always heard that Aaron's campaign continued on and off for many years after the publication of Strike Force. Just the hints at the end of that book as to where it was headed sounded very exciting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted June 25, 2015 Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 Aaron created a standard template for such things. It includes title, issue # (session #), PCs playing, major NPCs, guest stars, and then a brief (or not so brief) synopsis of the session events. Brand-new insights and techniques from a master Game Master may have an impact on the hobby. The original certainly did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greywind Posted June 25, 2015 Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 As I recall, Aaron had a hand in the form that appeared in Champions III, I think it was, of the adventure record form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan D. Hurricanes Posted June 25, 2015 Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 Hey, don't rush me. (The current document I'm reading is 800 pages long. Another, that I'm NOT reading, is 3,200 pages long.) Slacker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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