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The name "RC Universe" comes from two basic sources. The obvious one is reminiscent of the term a major comic book publisher uses to refer to the universe where its stories take place. The other part comes from where most of my original players and I were matriculating twenty-five years ago. It was Rockford College, in Rockford, Illinois. It was cute, it fit, my game-mastering mentor did the same thing when he was at Augustana College, and it was more group-oriented than "Earth-K". It may not be so meaningful now, but it is good to hold onto your roots. At least that's what the players who didn't go to Rockford tell me. |
| The RC Universe is set in the present; give or take a few weeks. However, time passes slower here than in the real world. We have adopted a policy of using "comic book time". Characters age slowly, and major in-story events are referred to as being a number of years ago, rather than a specific date. Refrences to real world events are eschewed. And the world of the RC Universe has gotten further from reality as time has gone on. The face of politics has changed. Technology has changed. Monorails run across the landscape next to superhighways carrying solar powered cars. But, of course, the major difference is that parahumans and trained paranormals choose to wear gaudy costumes and try to change the world. |
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Many people have run several RCU campaigns over the years. My own is the "anchor" - the Champions of Justice, which is run both face-to-face and PbEM. My friend Jim Caswell has run quite a few RCU campaigns over the past decade, and for the RCU pretty much is my right hand. Our friends, Doug Zeitlin, Neil Lindgren, Andy Fox, and Jason Hobbs have all been major contributors as well. This website is an over view of that world and, eventually, to all of the campaigns. I'm proud of the work that we've done. I've had a lot of fun, and I feel safe in saying that the others have too. So come on in, the water is fine. |
| That said, however, as of the summer of 2011, the RC Universe is undergoing a major change. When we first started what would become the RCU, we were using a home cooked system we called "Heroes and Hellrazers". It was clumbsy beyond belief. By the Winter of '87/'88 we were looking at other systems, and we selected 'Champions' now known better as the Hero System. And it served us well for a couple of decades. But honestly, with each new edition, the write-ups kept getting longer and longer but with no real improvement in play. The other thing is that both Neil and myself have never stopped looking at other role-playing systems, particularly super-hero role playing systems. My storage unit has books from nearly a dozen other super-hero RPG systems in it. Not long ago, Neil picked a copy of "DC Adventures", the "Mutants & Masterminds, 3rd Edition" book which has the license to my favourite published comic heroes (recent events not withstanding.) He showed it to me, and I was blown away. Doug, who'd only just come back to gaming, was likewise bowled over. And Neil and Jim both have become converts as well. And we're more excited than we've been in years about the RC Universe. Which brings me to the biggest change you'll see on the site. |
In a lot of places you'll be seeing buttons that look like  and/or  or  next to the names of characters. The button will be the link to the character's "Hero System" mostly (save a few bits we didn't change) 5th Edition page. The is the link to the character's write-up in "DC Adventures". We use for the character's who are still in 4th Edition "Champions". (There was no way in Heck we were going to the 6th edition of Champions.) Obviously, if the character only has one of the buttons, then the write-up is only in that system. And if there aren't any links, then the character has been played but the character sheet has never been converted for the web. |
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For those of you interested in the conversion process for characters, we have found that 16 points per Power Level (as oppossed to the DCA recommended 15 per PL) and 2 Power Points for every 5 Hero System Experience Points works pretty well. We have also created our own set of addendums to fill in the very few gaps we've found in the sourcebook. The process takes time. And I again want to thank Neil, Doug and Jim for their help and support with the change, and the rest of our players for their patience. |
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And another big thank you to Matt, my brother and a fine role player, whose technical expertise, willingness to teach, and overall gererosity have made this website possible. This is a huge co-operative effort. Every person who has played in any of the campaigns detailed here has added significantly to the RC Universe. It is appreciated.
Please excuse the mess as we are in a constant state of updating. If you have any questions or comments, please contact either Jim at Jim@RCUhero.net or me at Kenn@RCUhero.net. Welcome, we're glad to see you. |
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Ken Hallaron
a.k.a. Kenn, the Continuity Cop
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