The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Century Station is the new book by Bill Coffin for the Heroes Unlimited setting. Its a setting book that gives the game a fully detailed city for GM to have fun running players around in.

Part One Here you get the history of Century Station and its current state of the affairs. The next section on the varies levels of criminal activity will easily allow GM to fit the book to the power level of their players. Century Station is a city with a very high crime rate and is just know starting to recover from a major economic slump. It ends with a summary of using varies hero types in the city and the important info for a new player character breaking into the local scene.

Here we get to the fun part for you who like the background material. Century City is described at a nice level by that I mean enough info to help you but not so much as to restrict you either. I was very happy to see a number of maps to go with the city descriptions. The city background has some nice adventure hooks scattered all over it.

Part Two This is the biggest section of the book as it covers the varies people and factions that make up Century City.

The first group is the people who run the city such as the mayor and the heads of the Council of Industry who have hold most of the power. It also has some info on the council members varies business.

The city police department is covered in a very nice level of detail. The city police are currently gearing up for a major war on crime. In this case they really mean war on crime and its expected to get rather ugly before its over. The section has stats for the quick NPC officer and the special equipment used by the SWAT team.

The next place is the staple of many a Superhero story and that is the media. Where would the heroes be without someone to talk about them and to clamor for interviews. It's a small section but you get an overview of one TV station and several newspapers.

The Political Groups section has some really nasty people in it. This covers groups like the Century Station Renewal Committee that is working to rebuild the city. On the other side are a number of terrorist groups like People First who hate all superheroes.

Here is the core of the book and that is the info on the Heroes who live in the city. They are split into two groups. The Cavaliers are made up of the ones who are authorized to work in Century Station. The most known are the Centurions who are the oldest group in the city. They handle the majority of the official hero work. There is also the Sector Squad who works on the federal level and protects the city.

The rest of the heroes have been labeled the Legionnaires by the media. They have been labeled outlaws and vigilantes by the city there work is much harder. The heroes in this group run the gambit from the all women Valkyries team to the Kincave the mutant Parrot.

No city full of heroes would be fun without the super villains and there is plenty to go around. If the players are low level you can start out with the mob. When that is too easy you can move up to borgs and even Zombies. Don't worry that powerful players will be bored as there is plenty for them. If you need more then in the book there is a high level prison in the harbor to place your own creations and then give them an early parole.

Part Three Need an idea for a game? Well, this section should help as it has a whopping 101 adventure hooks for you to work with. This combined with the hooks in the background should be enough to keep any GM busy.

I have never had a chance to GM a game of Heroes Unlimited but this book makes me want to.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Century Station
Author: Bill Coffin Category: game Company/Publisher: Palladium Books Line: Heroes Unlimited Cost: $20.95 Page count: 224 ISBN: 1-57457-040-4 SKU: 517 Capsule Review by Shawn Merrow on 03/15/00. Genre tags: Science_fiction Modern_day Conspiracy Superhero	Century Station is the new book by Bill Coffin for the Heroes Unlimited setting. Its a setting book that gives the game a fully detailed city for GM to have fun running players around in. Part One Here you get the history of Century Station and its current state of the affairs. The next section on the varies levels of criminal activity will easily allow GM to fit the book to the power level of their players. Century Station is a city with a very high crime rate and is just know starting to recover from a major economic slump. It ends with a summary of using varies hero types in the city and the important info for a new player character breaking into the local scene. Here we get to the fun part for you who like the background material. Century City is described at a nice level by that I mean enough info to help you but not so much as to restrict you either. I was very happy to see a number of maps to go with the city descriptions. The city background has some nice adventure hooks scattered all over it. Part Two This is the biggest section of the book as it covers the varies people and factions that make up Century City. The first group is the people who run the city such as the mayor and the heads of the Council of Industry who have hold most of the power. It also has some info on the council members varies business. The city police department is covered in a very nice level of detail. The city police are currently gearing up for a major war on crime. In this case they really mean war on crime and its expected to get rather ugly before its over. The section has stats for the quick NPC officer and the special equipment used by the SWAT team. The next place is the staple of many a Superhero story and that is the media. Where would the heroes be without someone to talk about them and to clamor for interviews. It's a small section but you get an overview of one TV station and several newspapers. The Political Groups section has some really nasty people in it. This covers groups like the Century Station Renewal Committee that is working to rebuild the city. On the other side are a number of terrorist groups like People First who hate all superheroes. Here is the core of the book and that is the info on the Heroes who live in the city. They are split into two groups. The Cavaliers are made up of the ones who are authorized to work in Century Station. The most known are the Centurions who are the oldest group in the city. They handle the majority of the official hero work. There is also the Sector Squad who works on the federal level and protects the city. The rest of the heroes have been labeled the Legionnaires by the media. They have been labeled outlaws and vigilantes by the city there work is much harder. The heroes in this group run the gambit from the all women Valkyries team to the Kincave the mutant Parrot. No city full of heroes would be fun without the super villains and there is plenty to go around. If the players are low level you can start out with the mob. When that is too easy you can move up to borgs and even Zombies. Don't worry that powerful players will be bored as there is plenty for them. If you need more then in the book there is a high level prison in the harbor to place your own creations and then give them an early parole. Part Three Need an idea for a game? Well, this section should help as it has a whopping 101 adventure hooks for you to work with. This combined with the hooks in the background should be enough to keep any GM busy. I have never had a chance to GM a game of Heroes Unlimited but this book makes me want to. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)