Newly Update File!

I finally received the production files for Action-Heroes, which means that I have started the process of stripping any of the names and branding belonging to the previous publisher, Outland Entertainment, and updating the files to show my being the owner/publisher. I have included a couple of pieces of errata in the file, but outside of that, this is exactly the same game as published. If you are wondering what this errata was, you can also find it here:

Pg. 79: Put this in-between the paragraphs in the second column that start “Characters can acquire any Abilities…” and “An Invocation normally involves…” 

As long as your character has not used their Magic Ability during a session you can reorganize their Magic Points for different Abilities. This gives your Magic-using character some flexibility if one session is highly combat-oriented, and the next one requires more stealth-based powers. You cannot reassign your character’s Magic Points more than once during a game session.

Pg. 152: Insert this text after the first paragraph of the section entitled “Actions” in the first column.

One round elapses when all characters (both those run by the players and those run by the GM) in a scene have each take their Turn. A Scene can be any length, but it is considered to be a series of actions taken by characters in the same location. When a location changes during play, that is considered to be a new Scene.

This will also be in the upcoming Action-Heroes: Unearthed supplement. That supplement will have the errata, new rules and changes to Abilities that will update the game. I don't have a timeline for it yet, but my plans are to update Action-Heroes to a new edition that incorporates all of the changes I've made. All of these changes came through running the game for a couple of years and seeing the rough patches that were missed in development. Playtesting and developing a game from the ground up has a lot of moving parts to it, and when you're developing a new system you tend to look at it in pieces, and you check out each piece to make sure that it works like it is supposed to work before you move on. This does not mean that Action-Heroes, as it exists now, does not work. It works very well, and supports the style of play that I was looking to support with the game. Most of the changes that were made were to individual Abilities (the building blocks for powers, abilities and talents for characters in the game) in the rules. Some of these Abilities had a finer granularity applied to them, while others were explained better. None of this will dramatically change existing characters, and I think it will allow for future characters that are closer to the ideas players have for them.

Look for the Action-Heroes: Unearthed supplement (hopefully) before the end of the year. After that I will start putting together the revised edition of the game. I haven't come up with a name for it yet, but I am leaning towards Action-Heroes: Forever Edition. However that's a lot of words. But, it has only been a couple of years since Action-Heroes first came out, so I don't think that it needs any dramatic changes. The mechanics work fine as they are, and the game succeeds at what I wanted. Since Action-Heroes was released under the OGL, and features content from systems other than D20 that were released under the GOL, my concern for this game has always been that one day the OGL would go away. Because of that, my goal has always been to get an edition of Action-Heroes that is closest to my vision of the game and let it live out there among you. I don't think that games need to be revised every so often if the foundations of the game works. I think that Action-Heroes is a great game, and I enjoy it more in the years since it was first published than I did as I was creating it.

If you haven't bought and played Action-Heroes, please give it a try. I think you'll like it, too!