Heroes Unlimited

When I started getting into having game nights again I was surprised at how often people would get weirded out when they were invited. Of those who have a strange reaction they always say “you don’t mean role playing games do you?” Role playing games have received a negative image. Pasty nerdy pimple faced virgins hunkered in a basement worshipping evil and rolling unholy shaped dice. Well my introduction to roll playing did not involve worshipping evil and the dice are just different geometric shapes. In fact my first games involved superheroes.

The first role playing game I really got into was Heroes Unlimited by Palladium books way back in junior high. The game allows you to create your own superhero from an array of archetypes. All you need to play are some books, pencils, paper, dice and imagination.

For those of you who have never played a role playing game this is a great one to start with. The rising popularity of superheroes on film and TV makes this game accessible and the genre understandable. One player is the Game Master or GM. This player is responsible for moving the plot of the story ahead. He writes up the adventure for the night, sets up the non-player characters, or NPCs, who are everyone from Villains or victims, to bartenders or beat cops. Think of this person as your head writer and director for the night. The rest of the players are just that, Players. They each create a character to play in the game. Think of them as the writers for that specific character and the improv actors for the game. Play works by players making decisions on what action their character would do then rolling specified dice to determine success or failure.

The game does have an issue with balance as some character types have significantly more power than others. Personally I find this more closely represents comic books, think of your favourite team ups: Avengers, Super-friends, Watchmen. In these team ups you have your Superman, Dr. Manhattan and Hulk next to your Aquaman, Rorschach, or Hawkeye. This also allows you to create a game in whatever genre you would like. A super-powered brawl or a dark detective narrative, etc.

One of the things that really makes character creation interesting is the various random tables for choosing character abilities. While the game does allow for players to design characters they want to, these tables should be considered as attempting to create a back story based on an unexpected mix of powers can be a lot of fun.

Heroes Unlimited holds a special place on my game shelf as I spent many an adolescent weekend fighting the forces of evil with my friends. We collared criminals, trounced terrorists, captured cultists, battled mega-villains on mega-skyscrapers, defeated demons, dove into deep underwater lairs, intercepted invasions of aliens, rescued kittens and saved the world many times over. All from the comfort of a kitchen table surrounded by junk food and good friends.

Follow up books for Heroes Unlimited are few but some of them are very exciting.

The core book- A must have to play the game. It’s mostly filled with all that is necessary to create characters. There is a strong focus on mutant types; aliens or those with special powers. However there are other character types from bionics and robotics (needs more parts!) to hardware and special training types (think Batman or the Shadow) to magicians and psychics.

Heroes Unlimited GM guide is a useful book for anyone wanting to be a game master. The book contains a large section on advice for a GM. There are some quick roll tables for minor bad guys, some more equipment and spells. There are also a few fully fleshed out adventures and some characters to use as villains or antagonists.

Villains Unlimited is one of my favourite books. It includes a host of villains, sinister organizations and teams of bad guys. This book also includes some rules for creating organizations, something very helpful if your group wants to make their own super-team.

The Powers Unlimited source book line comes in three books so far. Book 1 has over 120 minor powers, 45 major powers and 22 psionic powers. Book 2 is filled with 11 more character types, my personal favourites are the minor hero, the immortal, the natural genius and the weapons training types. Book 3 returns focus on more mutant powers, 46 minor ones and 77 major ones as well as new random tables for determining powers.

Aliens Unlimited and Aliens unlimited Galaxy Guide. Both are great books for incorporating space travel and aliens into your game. The books include numerous races to choose from as well as space ships, intergalactic empires and organizations.

Mutant Underground is a small but interesting book. This one centres in a world where mutants are considered outsiders. A great book of you plan on playing with the mutant rights idea.

Armageddon Unlimited is the latest book to come out. This ties in to the companies Minion War story line which spreads across their different genre books. I really like the whole Hades/Dyval War spilling out across the Megaverse idea. Demons and devils come to the world of superheroes who must help stop the infernal minions and their evil war. The book includes some new powers and character types with angelic, demonic, or dimensional powers. I really like the demon hunter and reformed demon character types. There is also a fully fleshed out adventure included.

Century station is the first setting book for the series. I am a huge fan of the Bill Coffin books in palladium’s line up but this one missed the mark a little. I really like the setting but I found too much of the book is dedicated to the heroes of the city. This is what the players are for. The hero characters could have been re-written as villains. Still a great book if you want to have an imaginary city as your setting as the city is well designed.

Gramercy Island is the super-prison for the city of Century Station. The book is full of some really great villains. My big problem is the prison is super awesome and well constructed and all the villains are already inside. How many prison breakouts do I have to concoct in order to get some good villains on the outside?

The Rifter is a series of books that include fan submission rules and information for use with all of the Palladium systems. Some really cool adventures and ideas included. I've been working on submissions for a long time now and should really finish at least one of them.

Ninjas and Superspies is a different line for Palladium books but all titles are compatible within the Palladium Books System. This book is very outdated but includes a huge amount of information on martial arts and spies. Get this one if you want to incorporate 80’s style ninjas and old school spies in your campaign. Also a great game to play after watching the old James Bond movies.

After the Bomb or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are both series to get if you want to use mutant animals. The TMNT license was dropped by Palladium right before the new movie was announced. I’m sure everyone involved in that is kicking themselves as these books were awesome. If you can find these books pick them up. The After the Bomb series is a similar mutant animal concept set in an apocalyptic future where nuclear radiation has mutated animals.

Skraypers is a dimensional book for the Palladium system. It covers an alternate reality where superheroes are fighting to defend a world from it's evil alien conquerors. Pick this up if you want to dip your players toes into the interdimensional travel idea.

If you want to get into role playing just check out your local game or comic stores there should be people there willing to accept new players. Ask friends who have strong imaginations and time to play. To purchase the books go to the Palladium book store or support your local game store.