Hero System / Champions Universe

Why Hero System?

I was introduced to Champions while on Summer Break from Purdue in the early 1980's, and even eventually GM'ed in a shared universe for a few years when I would come home for Christmas from Air Force duty. Reality eventually intruded, I got married, had kids, and lost my gaming materials ages ago. I stumbled across a copy of 5th edition Champions in a bookstore in 2012, at a point in my life where my time was my own again. I decided to re-learn the system by revisiting my characters from the 1980's in a "Where Are They Now" manner.

Do you have any house rules you used in the creation and gaming of your characters and stories?

See here.

Why the Champions Universe?

I needed a starting point once I realized I was getting more than a little carried away with re-learning Champions. Also, universe-building is SO much easier when someone else has done most of the work for you. :)

Why have you deviated from the official timeline in places?

Two reasons. First, Steve Long flat out *tells* prospective GMs to use what they like and either change or discard the rest in every version of the Hero System rulebooks or Champions Universe supplements I've ever read -- by extension, I assume this also applies to writers. Second, there is only so much disbelief I am willing to suspend in certain places. Blame my degrees in Physics :)

So the TASK FORCE continuity is non-canonical with respect to the Champions Universe continuity?

Correct. In my mind, however, the TASK FORCE continuity doesn't completely jump the rails w/r/t the Champions Universe until the story 'Leap Day' in 2012.

You wouldn't happen to have a list of your deviations from Champions Universe continuity, would you?

I'm glad you asked that...

Why did you write these stories as fan fiction?

Because the TASK FORCE continuity starts out based on the Champions Universe continuity (and continues to use the same characters, organizations, and aliens even after diverging from the CU), any attempt to publish these stories for profit would require the permission of the current license holder for that setting, which currently is Steve Long and Hero Games. I was able to speak briefly with Mr. Long at GenCon in 2015, and (to make a complicated explanation simpler) for-profit publishing was not an option until October 2019.

Are you aware of HERO Games' Hall of Champions Community Content area on DriveThru RPG?

Oh, yes I am! I am currently working on novelizations of the existing fan fictions, rewriting them as more conventional prose fiction.

Why the rewrite?

It is entirely possible most people find the pseudo-script format I used for the fanfics jarring and difficult to read. Rewriting them in a more conventional format would solve this problem. Also, I am now revisiting stories I wrote years ago, and am indulging myself in the opportunity to change wording in a few places to make them flow better.

What's going to happen with the Story Archive, then?

Nothing, until and unless Hero Games asks me otherwise.