The Inside Scoop on Gaming

I've been meaning to write this review for a while now, and finally decided to write it. This is my first review, so please don't flame me too bad.

First some history

My first encounter with BoH was thinking that the first edition had an ugly cover. I still think that, but that's beside the point. One of my friends was trying to get me to buy it because HE wanted to read it. I told him that if he wanted to read it he should buy it.

I've been kicking myself ever scince.

Shortly after that I went on a Superhero RPG buying spree, getting the Big Blue cockroach (called a cockroach for it's long live beyond the companies that publish it) that is Champions, Aberrant, Marvel, even something from Australia called Super Squadron and ending with Underground. But everywhere I looked on the net I saw references to what was the most elegant system for an RPG ever was the MEGS from DC Heroes. After further digging I found out that DCH was being rereleased in the form of Blood of Heroes. The name reminded me of something, but I couldn't think where.

Until I saw the ugly cover.
I immediatly placed an order for the book at the web site only to find out that it was Out Of Print. My second least favorite 3 words in the english language, right behind To Be Continued. The good news is for the same price I could get the second edition which had all the stuff from the sidekicks book as well. I got it 2 weeks after the copy of DCH3 I won on ebay.

Reactions

As Blood of Heroes is a major revamp of the MEGS a compareson is somewhat unavoidable. DCH3 gave me info about many of my favorite DC super heroes and vilians, but the page layout was so busy it was tough for me to follow. Most of the art was recycled from comics, and at a page count of around 175, I was somewhat disapointed.
Blood of Heroes: Special Edition on the other hand has a crisp, clean layout, with very little to destract the eye from the text, some of the art I found lacking but that's my opinion. And the deeper I looked the more I liked it. Gagetery rules that actuly WORK, a magic system that is more then just "pick a power and call it magic," ditto for cybernetics. A few cute pop culture references (page 161 specifically) and you have a very cool book.

The downside

The art is not the greatest, and is not all at the same level of quality. The given setting isn't my cup of tea, but I can work around it, or if given more background information with it. 130 pages of characters was something I wasn't really wild about, but I'd rather not have to go out and buy a whole other book to get them.

all in all

Good system to work with, very flexible. Not so great art. Lots of NPCs who have fully fleshed out personalities and motivations for $30. And 2 more books to give a more solid backstory to the world being released soon. (Worlds End and Golden Age)

I look forward to running a session at the upcomeing Con in a month with this system.

final comment

one super hero game I bought and was somewhat reluctant to mention is Dragonball Z. The system for BoH I feel works better then fusion and may have to give it a try.

Blood of Heroes: Special Edition
Blood of Heroes: Special Edition Capsule Review by ron beck on 19/04/01 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!) Review of a funky Super Hero game. Based off of the MEGS Mailing list and DCH3. Product: Blood of Heroes: Special Edition Author: Many Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Pulsar Games Inc. Line: Cost: 30.00 Page count: 330 Year published: 2000 ISBN: SKU: Capsule Review by ron beck on 19/04/01 Genre tags: Superhero	I've been meaning to write this review for a while now, and finally decided to write it. This is my first review, so please don't flame me too bad. First some history My first encounter with BoH was thinking that the first edition had an ugly cover. I still think that, but that's beside the point. One of my friends was trying to get me to buy it because HE wanted to read it. I told him that if he wanted to read it he should buy it. I've been kicking myself ever scince. Shortly after that I went on a Superhero RPG buying spree, getting the Big Blue cockroach (called a cockroach for it's long live beyond the companies that publish it) that is Champions, Aberrant, Marvel, even something from Australia called Super Squadron and ending with Underground. But everywhere I looked on the net I saw references to what was the most elegant system for an RPG ever was the MEGS from DC Heroes. After further digging I found out that DCH was being rereleased in the form of Blood of Heroes. The name reminded me of something, but I couldn't think where. Until I saw the ugly cover. I immediatly placed an order for the book at the web site only to find out that it was Out Of Print. My second least favorite 3 words in the english language, right behind To Be Continued. The good news is for the same price I could get the second edition which had all the stuff from the sidekicks book as well. I got it 2 weeks after the copy of DCH3 I won on ebay. Reactions As Blood of Heroes is a major revamp of the MEGS a compareson is somewhat unavoidable. DCH3 gave me info about many of my favorite DC super heroes and vilians, but the page layout was so busy it was tough for me to follow. Most of the art was recycled from comics, and at a page count of around 175, I was somewhat disapointed. Blood of Heroes: Special Edition on the other hand has a crisp, clean layout, with very little to destract the eye from the text, some of the art I found lacking but that's my opinion. And the deeper I looked the more I liked it. Gagetery rules that actuly WORK, a magic system that is more then just "pick a power and call it magic," ditto for cybernetics. A few cute pop culture references (page 161 specifically) and you have a very cool book. The downside The art is not the greatest, and is not all at the same level of quality. The given setting isn't my cup of tea, but I can work around it, or if given more background information with it. 130 pages of characters was something I wasn't really wild about, but I'd rather not have to go out and buy a whole other book to get them. all in all Good system to work with, very flexible. Not so great art. Lots of NPCs who have fully fleshed out personalities and motivations for $30. And 2 more books to give a more solid backstory to the world being released soon. (Worlds End and Golden Age) I look forward to running a session at the upcomeing Con in a month with this system. final comment one super hero game I bought and was somewhat reluctant to mention is Dragonball Z. The system for BoH I feel works better then fusion and may have to give it a try.