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Not too long ago, one of the threads here (http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?t=32582) asked for advice on a "medium crunch" superhero game and at least one person mentioned Heroes Unlimited.  I found this choice a bit odd.  This review is an attempt to explain why.  
Heroes Unlimited is much like other Palladium games: It has several good or even neat elements, which I will get to, and others that don't quite work, which I will have to explain in more detail.
First off, the book opens with one really good element: The Second Edition version has a front cover by none other than famous 1960's Marvel Comics artist Jim Steranko, "visualizing his upcoming techno-hero USA1 (TM)".  (The second edition was first printed in 1998.)  If nothing else, Siembieda could always get some good artists for his work, sometimes including himself.
This book also has a very well-written and moving dedication from the author to "Florence.  Her secret identity, Mom!"

After the obligatory "what is a role-playing game?" section, the author goes over some particular game concepts, some of which are very particular indeed.  For instance, like D&D and all of the other Palladium games, Heroes Unlimited uses different polyhedral dice.  However this book specifies exactly which ones: "2 four-sided, 4 dix-sided, 2 eight-sided, 2 ten-sided and 2 twenty-sided."  HU is part of Palladium's "Megaverse" and thus it is possible for characters from other Palladium game worlds to be used in the HU world, or vice versa.  Likewise there are certain common game concepts, namely the use of I.S.P. (Inner Strength Points) for psionics and P.P.E. (Potential Psychic Energy) for wizards and other mystics.  On this score, Heroes Unlimited, like other Palladium game books, is at pains to point out to the reader that magic is NOT real.  Apparently some people were still under the impression that you could summon Demogorgon with the first edition Monster Manual or something.  

But this is all simple enough.  Then you get to the Character Creation section.  This is outlined in six broad steps: 1. the Eight Attributes (and bonuses) 2. Hit Points and S.D.C. 3. Determining Super Abilities 4. Determining Skills and Education 5. Picking an Alignment 6. Rounding out One's Character ('optional stuff').  On step one, the eight attributes are I.Q. (which at a score of 16 or higher adds a percentile bonus to all skill rolls), Mental Endurance or M.E. (high scores give bonus to psionic attack saving throws), Mental Affinity or M.A. (a 'charisma' trait which at high ratings creates a percentile score to induce trust or intimidate others), Physical Strength or P.S. (high PS gives a damage bonus in hand-to-hand combat), Physical Prowess or P.P. (a 'dexterity' score which at high levels creates a bonus to dodge, parry AND strike), Physical Endurance or P.E. (aka Constitution; directly affects Hit Points and at high levels gives a bonus to saves vs. 'coma/death' and separate bonus vs. magic and poison), Physical Beauty (P.B., a measure of attractiveness that at high levels allows a percentile roll to charm or impress) and Speed (which is not measured on the other scales but simply reflects a character's ground movement rate, at a scale of Speed times 20 being the yards/meters a character can move in one minute).  Stats are generated on a base 3d6 (like good ol' D&D) with the proviso that if the 3d6 roll is 16 to 18, you get to roll another 1d6 and add that to the attribute (up to twice if that roll is a 6) creating a potential for a truly exceptional attribute even before superpowers are applied.

Step 2 is the character's Hit Points and "Structural Damage Points" (SDC).  The difference between the two is what the D20 Star Wars game defined as wound points (lasting injury that may end up killing a character) versus vitality points ('it's just a scratch' scuff damage that will usually come off before HP).  Of course this is where the inevitable Palladium vagueness and confusion comes in, given that most damage is written in terms of SDC, including inanimate objects, which by this standard technically should be measured in Hit Points.  But be that as it may: A character's initial HP is his Physical Endurance score plus 1d6 at 1st level and +1d6 every level beyond that.  SDC is first determined by a hero's "category" (see below) as modified by any of several means, including picking up certain physical training skills in the Skills section.  Otherwise SDC usually does not go up by level.  This section also brings up the concept of how armor works – in pre-RIFTS Palladium, each armor type has an Armor Rating (A.R.) of less than 20, reflecting how easy it is to penetrate the armor (e.g. a plate mail suit of A.R. 17 requires a d20 attack roll of 17 or better).  However, this means that the armor is hit and takes a certain level of damage to its own SDC, meaning that armor can be battered down to uselessness.
In this system damage point recovery works on a scale of 2 Hit Points per day for "non-professional treatment" or 4 SDC per day, or with professional treatment, 6 SDC per day, 2 Hit Points on the first day then 4 each additional day.  Certain powers, of course, can speed healing.
Death occurs when a character exceeds negative P.E. Rating (e.g. -9 for a 9 P.E.) and a character taken to 0 HP also has to save versus coma on a percentile roll that depends on how good his medical care is.  There are also a whole punch of traumatic injury % tables that are thankfully listed as optional.

Step 3, of course, is core to a superhero game, but the actual super-ability descriptions are listed separately from the main rules.  What's important at this point is that this is where you determine your character's Power Category- that is, what makes him a superhero, or what his origin is.  The Power Categories are briefly gone over here (including a random chart, though they do recommend picking the category instead of rolling) and are specifically detailed in their own section.  Basically the Power Category is what d20 games would call a "class" or Palladium would otherwise call an "O.C.C." (Occupational Character Class) - it determines the PC's starting abilities and to some extent what powers he can choose.

Step 4 is only one paragraph here.  The reader is directed to the Education and Skills section to determine what his skills are.  It is worth mentioning at this point that HU doesn't use the same skill system as other Palladium games, since the Power Category isn't quite the same as an O.C.C..  Rather, a character gets a certain number of "Skill Programs" based on how well he rolls on an Educational Level Table.

Step 5 describes the alignments available to Heroes Unlimited characters.  It is the same rules set as alignments in other Palladium games.  Notably, there is no such thing as a "neutral" alignment, insofar as every person is always going to have some motivation towards something, and therefore neutrality is "humanly impossible".  The game recommends players have the Good alignments, or possibly the "anti-heroes" alignment of Unprincipled (will break the law, but has a certain internal morality).  The anarchist/evil alignments are also detailed, mainly in terms of how villain NPCs can be expected to act.  

Step 6 details finishing touches.  For example, the PC's cash on hand is 4d6 x10 dollars in the character's pocket.  Again, this book was written in 1989, and much like federal minimum wage, this figure is not adjusted for inflation.  However, certain Categories, like the super-agent/operative categories get extra equipment and funds.  There are also a few tables for stuff like the character's birth order, height, weight, country of origin, etc.  

Before getting to the other stuff, Siembieda brings up some miscellany.  Specifically the fact that characters have experience levels and experience points much like D&D.  Each Power Category has its own experience table (tables on page 352).  Then the book gives the insanity rules, although again, thankfully this is listed as optional, and the author points out that insanities "should not be handed out like candy at a party."  The only reason these are in any way necessary is for the use of the (also optional) Crazy Hero power category, which is directly analogous to the RIFTS Crazy O.C.C., although it does have some precedent in comic books (like Steve Ditko's The Creeper).  

Next there is a Tradition & History section, which could be generically applied but establishes the premise of the Heroes Unlimited universe.  Said premise being that super-beings of one form or another have been around since the beginning of recorded time, although they used to be more localized phenomena compared to the modern age, when "the late 1960's saw a subtle increase of superbeings in the United States, and a somewhat startling appreciation and acceptance of them." It is mentioned that the presence of supers in a given area is frequently not proportionate to the population, with the US and Canada having many more known supers than China with its billion-plus population.  Part of what this means is that there is a tradition of superheroism, especially in America, which presents the option of playing a "legacy" character- someone who carries on the name and costume of an earlier hero.  This section goes over the options and consequences of playing a character with a legacy, such as a legacy of patriotism, and also the consequences of having a more negative legacy such as a "Legacy of Tyranny."  ('Ok, well Wolfgang used to call himself Captain Nazi, but he's turned over a new leaf.')

Then the book gets to the aforementioned Education and Skills section.  Again, the book specifies that Heroes Unlimited is unlike other Palladium games in that there are no O.C.C.s and most character packages are organized in terms of Power Category.  Part of this is the logical reason that since most traditional superheroes do not get paid for their benevolent acts, they need real-world jobs to make a living.  The other logical but unspoken reason is that this is a game about people in something close to the real world, as opposed to RIFTS or Palladium Fantasy, and thus taking the usual Palladium route of having an O.C.C. for every single character concept you could come up with will reach the diminishing returns of packages like Call Center Agent O.C.C. or Game Designer O.C.C.  In any case, most heroes (except for the super-agent categories of Special Training and Physical Training) roll on an Educational Level Table, which is a percentile roll.   As you might expect, the better you roll on %, the better your Skill package.  Rolling 1-10% is "Street Schooled" and barely literate, although you do get "Street Skills" like Streetwise and familiarity with a knife or pistol.  Rolling higher not only gives you more developed Skill Programs (one or more packages of three or more skills grouped by occupational or educational background) but percentile bonuses in using those skills, along with Secondary Skills (which as in other Palladium games are simply more skills without any special bonus).  
One of the problems with this approach is that whereas the book allows you to select some factors like Power Category, you need to actually roll high (over 90%) to have a Masters or Ph.D equivalent to be a medical doctor.  If you didn't roll that high, well, you can only certify as a paramedic or in holistic medicine.  What if being a doctor is your secret ID or character concept?  Well... one of the bits they have is a Q&A section which addresses, among other things, the concept of going back to school to improve effective Education Level.  Of course this takes a lot of time and money in the real world and is that much more difficult when you fight crime on the side.  Even so, the Skills Program concept is one of the best things about this game, since it does go against the Palladium mold for the sake of simulating something close to the modern world.
Skills themselves are as they are in other Palladium games; most of them are on a percentile scale (which is another reason rolling bad on the Education Level table hoses you) but some of them, like Combat and Physical skills, add directly to your attributes or combat stats, so since Secondary Skills never get background percentile bonuses, you want to concentrate your Secondary Skills on those non-rolled options.

At this point the book goes on to the Combat section.  Initiative and combat maneuvers (including not only attacks but dodges and parries) use a d20 roll.  Step 1, roll initiative, rerolling ties.  (It isn't mentioned whether everyone rolls individually or once per side)  The result of initiative stands for one melee round, which is 15 seconds.  
Step 2, roll to attack.  There are two unusual things about the Palladium combat system: One, any roll above 4 will hit the opponent.  Two, most defenders have active options against the attack.  
Step 3 – If the attacker rolls a successful hit, the defender can opt to entangle, disarm, parry or dodge.  It says a parry can be performed without wasting an attack action, but it also says: "Characters with no hand to hand combat training will lose their next melee attack every time they parry."  So perhaps that would be better phrased as "Characters with the Hand to Hand Combat Skill do not lose an attack action when they choose to parry."  Dodge means that you are trying to duck the attack, which is required to defend against most ranged attacks.  However, this uses an attack action, unless you have special super-speed type powers (and in this section, they go over how special powers work when trying to dodge high-speed projectiles, parry gunshots and energy blasts, etc.).  Disarm is an attempt to knock a weapon out of the attacker's hand, while "entangle" means trying to entangle the attacker's weapon hand or other limb.  Any of these defense maneuvers succeed if they tie or exceed the d20 attack roll.
Step 4 – roll damage.
Step 5 – the defender/targeted character has the option to "roll with the punch" which means he takes half damage.  However, this means the defender must use an attack action, and, as with the defensive actions, has to match or exceed the attacker's d20 roll.

In and of itself, this is a pretty straightforward, even innovative combat system.  Of course, it gets MUCH more detailed than that.  How detailed is the focus of the pages between 66 and 74, not counting the separate rules for firearms, robots and missiles.  After that, you have a vehicle control and combat system (credited to Erick Wujcik), including the penalties each maneuver creates to your vehicle skill, and what happens when vehicles either accidentally or deliberately collide.  

Next they get to the power categories.  Although it just goes to "Aliens" right after the Vehicle Combat rules; the table of contents just says "Power Categories Begin" on page 91.  Aliens in this system have about a 20% chance (on a random table, of course) of passing for human.  More "mutated" physiques can result in bonuses to SDC or attributes due to the alien's race.  It is also possible for the character to roll an additional Power Category, including Robot.  There are also random tables for why/how the character got to Earth and what equipment from home he still has.  At this point you just have to figure out if a guy who looks like a humanoid tree can pay the bills by working at the neighborhood Wendy's.

A Bionic character is a cyborg- an integration of man and machine, as opposed to an advanced Robot or Android (Robotics, of course, is another Power Category).  It is noted that the inclusion of non-organic components in the human body (beyond four systems) will interfere with the body's natural energies and reduce the ISP/PPE of mystical characters; even natural superbeings have their powers severely reduced by bionics.  The book says that the player who chooses the Bionic archetype literally builds his character- that is, with a budget.  Fortunately no matter how badly you roll on the Bionic Construction Budget table, you always get more than six million dollars.

The next category is Experiments.  As in, people who were experimented on by scientists.  Captain America would be one example.  Thus there is a "supersoldier" option in this section.  However most of the rules here are for random generation, including a table for side effects of the transformation (such as losing all body hair and/or having no facial features except slits).

The Hardware category refers to someone who has no innate powers except for a special knack for building and using high-tech.  When this character is created, the player must choose or randomly roll one of four areas of expertise: Electrical Genius, Mechanical Genius, Weapons Genius or Analytical Genius. Each of these four gets a specialized Skills Program (thus a Hardware character uses the Educational Level table as usual but subtracts one of the programs and substitutes the one from his category) as well as specialized skill-type abilities that can only be used by that sub-category of Hardware character.  Of these, the most combat-efficient and "superheroic" of the four is the Weapons Genius, who gets a lot of Weapon Familiarities in addition to the special W.P. Sharpshooting.  Whereas the other characters get to make "trick" gadgets in vehicles and personal gear, the Weapons Genius gets to make trick ammo for guns or bows, making him the Hawkeye/Green Arrow equivalent character.  

The Magic category includes four power origins: An enchanted weapon (or possibly, enchanted object, such as an amulet) that gives the character his powers, mystic study (the character is an actual wizard) or a character whose powers are "mystically bestowed" (somewhat like Shazam/Captain Marvel).  The mystic study character is basically analogous to a "Man of Magic" O.C.C. and is the only sub-type that can learn more spells with new experience levels; the other three types get either a limited spell list or a selection of powers.

The Mutant category in Palladium refers to someone whose genetic structure has permanently changed, whether or not he was born with a mutation.  The mutation is about 70% likely to produce a noticeable change in appearance (roll on percentile, 1-30% no unusual traits) which may result in a minor power by itself.  Other abilities are equally random, and the main table for generating the character's powers includes a 91-100% chance of "unstable powers" that can change under stress or even with experience level.  Notably, this section includes rules for making mutant animals, adapted from the classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game.

In discussing the Mega-Hero category, Siembieda states specifically that he had not included the (for lack of a better term) "Superman" type on the grounds that a character with invulnerability and half a dozen other powers was something that could get boring very quickly and was a pitfall he had hoped to avoid.  He mentions, with apparent reluctance, that he included the power category in 2nd Edition as a response to the "surprising number of gamers who asked for it".  In mechanical terms, the Mega-Hero adds onto another one of the existing templates but is in RIFTS terms a supernatural or Mega-Damage (TM) being, meaning his P.S., at whatever level, is automatically Supernatural Strength, and his total S.D.C. is boosted by 50%.  In an actual Mega-Damage environment that SDC is added onto his Hit Points to determine his MDC.  The character also randomly rolls a special ability which could include either immortality/regeneration or vampiric immortality.  However, all Mega-Heroes, immortal or not, also have an Achilles' Heel, again similar to Superman.  In and of itself, though, being a Mega-Hero doesn't make you that much tougher (in some cases, less tough) than a RIFTS character who either starts with MDC or needs MD armor just to survive a firefight.  The fact that the author is at such pains to stress potential abuse of the Mega-Hero category selection makes it pretty clear that Siembieda has completely different expectations of the two games.  

The Physical Training character is the super-athlete or "living weapon" similar to an Eastern monk, although in this game the character category is assumed to train in a unique combat style which combines elements of either a "hard" or "soft" martial style and takes the place of both Boxing and Hand-to-hand Combat Skills.  

The Psionic category is for the "true" or "natural" psionic, given that some other power categories, including Mutant, can roll psionic powers that use ISP.  The benefit of the Psionic category is that the character is a "specialist" who can choose from among all the psionic power lists (including Super) along with the ability to choose new powers as he levels up, and better saving throws than other characters vs. psionic attack.  

The Robotics category, as already mentioned, refers to a fully artificial life form or automaton.  Like with Bionics, the Robot/Android character is built with a dollar budget.  In some cases rather than being a true artificial intelligence, the robot may be a robot vehicle (a 'mech', or Iron Man-type powered armor) or a "transferred intelligence" operated on remote by a human whose consciousness is electronically transferred temporarily.  There are extensive rules for robot design, including various non-human types used for construction or other purposes.

The Special Training character is either non-powered or has very minor powers due to training.  The category includes five distinct sub-categories: The Ancient Master (which to me seems to be a more 'traditional' Physical Training character), the Hunter/Vigilante (could also refer to a bounty hunter), the Secret Operative (or 'super-spy'), the Stage Magician (no real magic powers, but great with concealment and gimmicks) and the Super Sleuth (a couple of specialized abilities for information gathering).  Of these, only the Ancient Master and the Operative are on anything like the power level of the other categories, with the Hunter, Stage Magician and Sleuth being basically normal guys with specialized skill sets.

Next and probably most important, we have the section for Super Abilities.  
The first part of this section goes over the miscellaneous rules for actually using superpowers.  As in many D20 games, the powers usually have their effects defined by a character's level (e.g. damage 1d6 SDC per level of experience).  Certain abilities allow for saving throws, the difficulty number for which will be listed with the ability.  The book does allow players to pick a PC's powers, with GM permission, although they say it's more fun to roll randomly, especially if the result gives a player a power he might not otherwise have considered.  Thus, page 226 has a random super ability selection table, even though the Experiment and Mutant categories both have random power tables of their own.  
In Heroes Unlimited, super abilities (as distinguished from Magic spells and Psionic powers, which are described afterward and are basically as they are in other Palladium games) come in two types: Minor and Major.  Major abilities, in addition to being generally more powerful than Minor ones, are usually broader in scope, and depending on what is rolled (or chosen) a Major ability might be a suite of powers in itself.  
Some of these abilities get remarkably fiddly.  For example, the minor power of Body Weapons allows you to turn your extremities into weapons. They say that blade-arms cannot exceed the normal arm length by more than 50%, for a maximum arm length of 96 cm.  A single finger with a blade will do 1d4 damage, with blades on all fingers doing up to 4d4.  The finger blades cannot be turned into scissors but one can be turned into a pick, allowing lockpicking attempts at -10%.  After 3rd level you can grow spikes or other protrusions on your head, "one per level of experience" so you can add damage to head-butts.  And so on.  The next power on the list is Clock Manipulation, which allows the character to adjust the time on a watch or other timepiece.  Not actual time.  Just the timepiece.  Now, one side effect of this is that the character has an absolute sense of time, but suddenly "I can talk to fish" doesn't seem such a stupid power after all.

In fact one of the issues with this power system is that however extensive and imaginative it is, its scale is not very "super."  As with a lot of games, this is most easily measured in terms of character strength (or Physical Strength).  For example, if you got exceptionally lucky, you might roll a PS of 30 before even getting powers.  Most powers that increase attributes (including mental attributes) are Minor Abilities.  In this case Exceptional Physical Strength is specifically listed as "within the realm of human capability (although) this character does not need the hours of daily exercise to maintain it."  In addition to boosting the attribute by 2d6+6, the character's carrying capacity is 100 times PS in pounds with a lift of double that.  So if your 30 PS character got this power and continued to roll improbably well, he'd have PS 48, for a capacity of 4800 pounds and a deadlift of 9600... or, about 4.8 short tons.  In Marvel Comics, the Peter Parker Spider-Man can lift at least 10 tons, and he's hardly the strongest guy in that setting.
There's also a "Superhuman Strength" Minor Ability which is "a notch below supernatural."  In game terms, it adds 20 +2d4 to PS and makes lift capacity 300 times PS.  Even Supernatural Strength (a Major Ability and a feature of the Mega-Hero) is only 300 times PS in carrying capacity and 500 times PS in lift.   So if your Mega-character has a 70 PS (the maximum they measure in terms of damage capacity) his maximum lift is 3500 pounds, or 17.5 tons.    It is a superhuman scale, but barely even within the capacity of RIFTS, let alone most of the other supers games.

The next sections detail the use of Psionics and Magic respectively.  These are separate because the mechanics for these effects work differently than the miscellaneous powers in HU, and that is because, again, these are the same rules that Palladium uses for other games with magic/supernatural elements.  One feature that's always been part of this system, although not usually pointed out, is that animals are considered to have certain psychic "sensitive" abilities to reflect their instinct in detecting and avoiding supernatural things.  Psionics use Inner Strength Points (I.S.P.) while magicians use Potential Psychic Energy points (P.P.E.) - yes, even though magic isn't "psychic."  Both of these power pools recover very slowly – ISP recovers 6 points an hour WITH meditation, and PPE at the rate of 10 per hour.  They do mention that a magician can transfer PPE from blood sacrifices (not an option for heroic characters) or from ley lines (which are not nearly as common as they are in the RIFTS setting).  

After that you've got the stats for standard equipment, namely weapons, armor, and vehicles.  This is on a scale where a .22 handgun is 2d4 damage and a .44 magnum is 6d6.  It's actually a pretty extensive list, with things like firearms accessories, polygraph machines, and even nerve gas (although they describe that as causing only paralysis, not death, and they don't say how long the paralysis lasts).  They also have a list of ancient weapons (printed in the same old-timey font as with the Palladium Fantasy books).  The book concludes with the experience table for the various power categories.  There is no index, although this being Palladium, it probably wouldn't make a difference if there was.  

   

SUMMARY

Having reviewed RIFTS a while ago, one of the things that struck me about that book was how Siembieda deliberately threw out things like realism and play balance to create the most implausible and unbalanced character concepts possible, just because they seemed cool.  Whereas if anything, Heroes Unlimited, contrary to its name, seems all about hemming the heroes (i.e., players) in for the sake of a more suspenseful and challenging game, not to mention avoiding "game imbalance".   Given that Siembieda doesn't edit or revise his previous material much (or at all) the difference between Heroes Unlimited and RIFTS may simply reflect a change in philosophy over time, but it's that much more apparent given that the characters of Palladium Fantasy and Ninjas & Superspies are supposed to be on an exceptional-human level, while superheroes are supposed to be... well, actually superhuman.  That being the case, Heroes Unlimited doesn't really reflect a generically "universal" superhero system so much as Kevin Siembieda's concept of what a superhero universe should look like.  Which is fine if you're on board with that, but if you're not, you should be looking at something else.

Books have this ability, to strike. If a book did not strike you, it was not a problem of a book. It was just not your book. Not your type of book. The are many people in this world just like there are many books and there is a choice. Everyone is able to find a book (-s) to his/her liking. I am glad you were stricken by that book and I was stricken by Alain de Botton Essay on love lately. I found one more book written by him. It is about traveling and I am very interested to read it. I can give two reasons why. the first reason is that, as you already got it, I enjoyed reading this author very much. The second reason is that I do not travel much and I like traveling, which is why I enjoy watching movies and shows on traveling let alone reading books on the topic.

Quote from: James Gillen;841328That being the case, Heroes Unlimited doesn't really reflect a generically "universal" superhero system so much as Kevin Siembieda's concept of what a superhero universe should look like.  Which is fine if you're on board with that, but if you're not, you should be looking at something else.

I wouldn't have put it better myself. HU is a magnificent, flawed gem of a game.

It's probably the best attempt at hemming in a superhero game into a class/level structure (Palladium was the OSR before the OSR, hacking D&D and keeping the gonzo alive into the post-Hickman world) and it's unabashedly Bronze Age (maybe early Iron Age) in its sensibilities.

Having distinct systems for psionics, magic, super-tech, mystic martial arts, mutant animals and "regular" super powers in unintuitive as fuck and would probably give anyone who started gaming after 1995 into seizures, but it adds a mechanical dimension to the in-game distinctions between these power sources. It's clunky, all right, but has a quaint charm of its own.

Back when I had been more into Champions and V&V so I rarely played much HU, but I knew lots of gamers who absolutely loved HU and they never had a problem filling a table with fellow HU fans.

Though for me, Nightbane is Palladium's better superhero game. Warts and all, I'll play NB in a hot second any day.

Quote from: Spinachcat;931809Back when I had been more into Champions and V&V so I rarely played much HU, but I knew lots of gamers who absolutely loved HU and they never had a problem filling a table with fellow HU fans.

Though for me, Nightbane is Palladium's better superhero game. Warts and all, I'll play NB in a hot second any day.

Definitely less restrictive on power scope.

JG

Quote from: The Butcher;930915Having distinct systems for psionics, magic, super-tech, mystic martial arts, mutant animals and "regular" super powers in unintuitive as fuck and would probably give anyone who started gaming after 1995 into seizures, but it adds a mechanical dimension to the in-game distinctions between these power sources. It's clunky, all right, but has a quaint charm of its own.

One thing I've noticed over the last few years is increasingly games are coming with very streamlined and unified mechanics... which I know the Pundit likes to say is due to D&D.  

More importantly, inevitably with more complex 'worlds', this unification of power system rules inevitably creates a problem in that one or more systems becomes utterly redundant. Then, on top of that, all the games quickly bore me.  I don't need a massively crunchy system, but if shooting someone in the face, magicking someone in the face and psychicing someone in the face all use the same mechanical system as 'alien genetic powering someone in the face', I have very little desire to explore all those options.

I've had HU for... two decades now?... and I still like to take the book out and play around with character concepts and creation every now and again... though I've only ever USED it in conjunction with RIFTS games, and that rarely.  


OF course, I can make a very interesting comparison of my point with an older game like Champions... but that's not entirely relevant to the review...

Century Station is one of my favorite RPG settings, and an excellent city book.

I just wish HU was a better game. I'm a Palladium fan from way back, but HU (either addition) has always been too clunky, needlessly complicated, unnecessarily limiting, and just not much fun to play.

If you can find it. Check out Scraypers for Rifts. Its a sort of nearly self contained mini Heroes Unlimited campaign set on an alien world during an alien invasion.

I like the opposed combat rolls for super hero and martial arts fights. Palladium works well enough for me for that. I don't find it any clunkier than various D&D rules.

Dumarest, which Palladium RPGs do you play?

I run an on/off campaign of Rifts / Mechanoids using the original Mechanoids rules (Book 3 Homeworld) via houserules.

Quote from: Spinachcat;958458Dumarest, which Palladium RPGs do you play?

I run an on/off campaign of Rifts / Mechanoids using the original Mechanoids rules (Book 3 Homeworld) via houserules.

I have never played Rifts or Mechanoids. I'm only vaguely aware of what they're even about. I've never seen a copy of Mechanoids. I've seen tons of Rifts books on the shelf in the used section of the game store I get to about once a year these days. If you have the time, I'd enjoy knowing more about either of those games.  My understanding is they use the usual Palladium rules but add in "mega damage" or something like that.

I have Ninjas and Superspies and the Mystic China supplement, Heroes Unlimited (not sure which edition), Teenage Turtle Ninja Mutants, and I used to have Robotech. Not playing them currently but I would be more than happy to play Ninjas and Superspies  or Teenage Ninja  Turtle Mutants again. I thought the Palladium combat system was pretty fun for that sort of game. In fact, writing this now really makes me want to play a martial arts game set in that vague old-time China of Hong Kong movies of the '60s and '70s. The kind where an old man with a scraggly grey beard can beat the stuffing out of a gang of toughs using only his skills and a hot wet towel.