Steve Long

Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter No. However, we are discussing ways to let people who've already pledged at the $200 or higher level pay a little extra and get the $150 "help Steve create a character" benefit. Hero can't just give that away for free (since it has to pay me to create the characters, pay someone to lay them out, etc.), but since some people have already pledged generously Hero wants to find a way to let them take advantage of this for not too much more money. However, there are logistical difficulties. We indicated a limit of 10, and that limit may be one thing inspiring someone to pledge at that level. As far as I can tell there's no way for us to "artificially" indicate that one of the ten slots was taken up by a "higher level pledger getting the $150 benefit." OTOH, if we don't count those higher level pledgers, then the people who pledge at $150 expecting to get one of the limited number of benefits may be upset. We're discussing the best way to approach this and will hopefully find a solution that will satisfy everyone. I'll report back on that as soon as I have more info, hopefully later today.

Re: Possible HERO System Supplement Kickstarters From Steve -- What Interests You? That's possible. One thing Kickstarter does is make feasible creative projects that otherwise would never fly because a small, dedicated group of fans is willing to pay a premium to support them. But I think there's actually some argument that they're cheaper, at least in the case of Hero Games products. Look at the BotE Kickstarter. For $50 you get the book, the PDF, and the Hero Designer Character Pack. If you just want the hardcopy book, then yeah, the Kickstarter is a little more expensive (though it may be the only way to get the book). If you want even two of those three things, the Kickstarter will be a significant savings over how they'll be priced in the Hero Games Online Store.

Re: Possible HERO System Supplement Kickstarters From Steve -- What Interests You? That'd be a Hero Games project.

Re: Possible HERO System Supplement Kickstarters From Steve -- What Interests You? One of the things that Hero Games, myself, and Darren are doing is trying to coordinate our efforts to prevent "Kickstarter overlap." Since we're all appealling to the same core audience, having two projects running simultaneously isn't a good idea -- a given fan only has so much money to pledge at any one time. So unless something unusual happens, this shouldn't ever be a problem. Thus, when the BotE Kickstarter ends, I'll launch one for Mythic Hero. Hero wouldn't want to do another one right away anyhow; it needs to get the money from the BotE one, take care of all the details of handling the rewards and printing the book, etc., etc. So that leaves a window for me.

Re: Possible HERO System Supplement Kickstarters From Steve -- What Interests You? If the MH Kickstarter succeeds, my next Kickstarter will be for Legendary Hero (with the usual caveat of "barring unforeseen circumstances" ).

Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter I discuss the possibility of "working for the Empire" campaigns in the book (not at great length, but it's in there). That whole concept ties in to the thing that makes the Empress such an intriguing villain (at least to me) -- the fact that she is (for the most part) well-intentioned and genuinely helps so many of her subjects by improving their lives in a broad, meaningful way. It's easy to oppose Dr. Destroyer or Mechanon; there's nothing likeable or beneficial about them. The Empress? Well, she raises some interesting moral and political dilemmas.

Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter As Istvatha V'han, her police force, and most of her subjects perceive them, absolutely. From the V'hanian perspective they're pretty much terrorists. (And to be fair to the Empress -- while some of them are very, very much heroic in the Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo sorta sense, more than one of them's an outright criminal or sociopath just mouthing slogans he doesn't give a damn for.) As PCs fighting against her perceive them, probably not. To PCs they're potential welcome allies, freedom fighters, whatever you wanna call 'em. (And to be fair to the heroes -- many of them are just that. )

Re: Costing Naked Adders Given the phrasing I think this is a "how to" rather than a rules question, so I've moved it to the Discussion board where anyone can offer advice, suggestions, information, or frosty beverages. If an actual rules question arises, you're welcome to bring it back here for dissection.

Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter Unfortunately there's no capacity for that sort of billing, either on Hero's part or on Kickstarter's (AFAIK). You'll need to increase your pledge to $80 now.

Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter 1/12/2012 NEW GOAL AND REWARD TIER! The BotE Kickstarter has been a success so far, and we want to thank all of our supporters for their help. Now it’s time to try to make the project an even bigger success, and to do that we’re announcing two additions. First, we’re setting a new goal of $14,000. If we reach that amount, author Steven S. Long will create a PDF to be given away free only to backers of the Kickstarter. It will provide more details on the Crusaders of the Infinite Realities, an organization of mystics who fight against Empress Istvatha. This PDF will include character sheets for at least five members of the Crusaders as well as other information about the group. Second, we’re establishing a new reward tier. $150. For a $150 pledge you not only get a copy of the book with signed bookplate (plus of course a PDF and Character Pack), you get to help Steve create a new villain or hero! These characters will appear in a special PDF that we’ll distribute to all backers of the BotE project. You can choose whether to have Steve create a member of the Imperial Battalion (one of the Empress’s superhuman soldiers) or a member of the Crusaders of the Infinite Realities (mystic anti-V’hanian rebels). You tell Steve what sort of powers you want the character to have and provide some other background details, and he’ll create the character. And of course you’ll get credit for inspiring the character in the PDF. It’s an opportunity to contribute directly to the Champions Universe!

Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter 1/12/2012 NEW GOAL AND REWARD TIER! The BotE Kickstarter has been a success so far, and we want to thank all of our supporters for their help. Now it’s time to try to make the project an even bigger success, and to do that we’re announcing two additions. First, we’re setting a new goal of $14,000. If we reach that amount, author Steven S. Long will create a PDF to be given away free only to backers of the Kickstarter. It will provide more details on the Crusaders of the Infinite Realities, an organization of mystics who fight against Empress Istvatha. This PDF will include character sheets for at least five members of the Crusaders as well as other information about the group. Second, we’re establishing a new reward tier. $150. For a $150 pledge you not only get a copy of the book with signed bookplate (plus of course a PDF and Character Pack), you get to help Steve create a new villain or hero! These characters will appear in a special PDF that we’ll distribute to all backers of the BotE project. You can choose whether to have Steve create a member of the Imperial Battalion (one of the Empress’s superhuman soldiers) or a member of the Crusaders of the Infinite Realities (mystic anti-V’hanian rebels). You tell Steve what sort of powers you want the character to have and provide some other background details, and he’ll create the character. And of course you’ll get credit for inspiring the character in the PDF. It’s an opportunity to contribute directly to the Champions Universe!

Re: Possible HERO System Supplement Kickstarters From Steve -- What Interests You? As I mentioned in one of the other threads I think (should've locked all but one of them, dagnabit! ), right now my estimate is that for around $15,000 I could produce MH with no art. For b&w art I'd need more along the lines of $22-25K (accounting not only for the cost of the art but Kickstarter/Amazon's 10% cut). And all that assumes softcover. To make it a color hardcover I'd probably need $30,000 minimum. I would dearly, dearly love to make MH a full-color hardcover book. But I expect it's going to be difficult enough just to raise the money to do it as a b&w softcover, so I'm not even planning for that. If it becomes possible, hey, happy surprise!

Re: Odd little technical question The rule regarding Vehicles and Bases is in the Perks section of the rulebook. There is no such rule regarding weapons; unless the GM rules otherwise, characters are expected to pay the full Real Cost for weapons they use (at least in Superheroic campaigns).

Re: The Mapparium LOL. Unfortunately, I think that trying to successfully Kickstarter the PH supplement I have in mind (working title: The Pulp Adventurer's Guide to the World) is going to make successfully Kickstartering Mythic Hero look like child's play. For that matter, writing PAGtW would make writing MH seem like child's play.

Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter That would be much appreciated. And as a glimpse into how Kickstarters tend to work, this is why it tends to be better to end them (a) on a weekend day, and ( toward the end of the month. People are more likely to have been paid then, and to have covered their bills and have some disposable income. (OTOH, some people argue that ending *early* in the month is best, before people incur a lot of expenses... but so far I have to side with the end-of-monthers.)

Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter Don't forget folx -- just because the BotE Kickstarter has already succeeded doesn't mean you can't get in on the fun! There's still time to pledge your support of the project and get the book and other cool rewards.

Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter Don't forget folx -- just because the BotE Kickstarter has already succeeded doesn't mean you can't get in on the fun! There's still time to pledge your support of the project and get the book and other cool rewards.

Re: Possible HERO System Supplement Kickstarters From Steve -- What Interests You? I certainly understand your thinking in saying this, but please keep in mind: 1. The book will only be written if the Kickstarter succeeds. Therefore there's no way to know in advance how large it will be (which also affects shipping costs). 2. The book will only be printed if the Kickstarter succeeds. Therefore there's no way to know in advance what the "production quality" will be -- particularly if pledges are high enough that I could offer to convert it to something better than initially planned. So in answering the initial question, by and large I'd appreciate it if you ignored those factors, or included them in your answer. Suppose you saw the book on a store shelf -- what would you be willing to pay? It's OK to say, "I'd pay $60 if it were at least 300 pages long" or something like that. That at least provides me with *some* data to make my decision -- and all data's helpful!

Re: Invisibility and Cover Maneuver If a character who is Invisible uses an attack or weapon to Cover a target, the attack or weapon becomes peceivable as soon as he starts to perform the Maneuver and remains so until either (a) the Attack Roll for Cover fails, or ( he executes on a successfully-performed Cover. (Of course, if the attack or weapon has Invisible Power Effects at the appropriate level, it will not become perceivable in this situation.) As always, the GM can alter this rule based on common sense, dramatic sense, special effects, game balance, and similar considerations.

Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter "And that's when Empress Istvatha sentenced kjandreano to 40 years' hard labor in the dice mines of Che'ssex...."

Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter I don't recall discussing her hair color in any detail. Obviously given the technology at her command she can pretty much change it at will. Her natural hair color is white, but if an artist thinks she looks better in a given illustration with darker hair, fine by me.

Re: Possible HERO System Supplement Kickstarters From Steve -- What Interests You? Narf, if you want to register a complaint you should post it in some thread pertaining to the company's own Kickstarters. This is one about possible future Kickstarters I might try personally, and I've said nothing about shipping. That's putting the cart waaaaay ahead of the horse.

Re: Possible HERO System Supplement Kickstarters From Steve -- What Interests You? By and large it's not something I'm in favor of -- and it's certainly not something that I would do as an independent Kickstarter. That's a project for the company to undertake officially, if it wants to.

Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter

Re: The Mapparium I was thinking that if I were to ever Kickstarter a major Pulp Hero supplement, the top-tier prize would be something like "we all fly to Boston, rent the Mapparium, and run a game inside."