Heroes Unlimited

by Kevin Siembieda

HEROES BOOK.

Genres: Role Playing Games, Gaming, Games, Superheroes, Fiction, Fantasy

248 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1994

About the author

Kevin Siembieda (born April 2, 1956) is an American artist, writer, designer, and publisher of role-playing games, as well as being the founder and president of Palladium Books.

Palladium Books, founded in southeast Michigan, claims to be the first to implement a role-playing system intended to work for all genres and to introduce the perfect-bound trade paperback format to the RPG industry.

Some of the role-playing games Siembieda helped produce include Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness (1985), Robotech RPG (1986), After The Bomb (1986), and Rifts (1990).

Siembieda is also an artist, best known for occasionally illustrating Palladium Books' products. In 1978, he started the now-defunct Megaton Publications in Detroit, publishing a digest style title called A+ Plus and several other titles. He also contributed art and cartography to several early Judges Guild products (for both their Traveller and Dungeons & Dragons lines).

Reviews

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

This seems like a pretty fun game, for all that it's burdened with Palladium's AD&D rip-off house system. It has the advantage of not using Mega Damage, which means that characters are on a relatively even footing - at least far more so than they are in Rifts. Selecting the right superpowers could give somebody hundreds of hit points, but they don't become truly immune to damage in the way that, say, a Glitter Boy does. The heroes and powers here pretty much run the gamut of superheroes, from mutants to magicians to cyborgs. Not everyone is created equal, but there's definitely some gonzo fun to be had in rolling up random characters. There are a ton of interesting tables, including stuff like making up aliens. The rules suffer occasionally from Palladium's habit of cutting and pasting stuff from rulebook to rulebook, leaving in references to nonexistent Veritech fighters or magic equipment. On a related note, the sorcerer magic option is pretty underwhelming due to a stunted spell list, but the other options, which allow you to replicate Marvel's Thor or DC's Captain Marvel, are pretty cool. This book does also suffer from the fact that it's really just a player's handbook, devoted to character creation and nothing else. There are no sample villains or adventure ideas - those are saved for other books in the game line. There are, however, five pages of stats for ants and bees to supplement the insect control power. As with all Palladium books, it's kind of a mess, and I'm not sure how much I'd want to seriously run it, but there's a lot of enthusiasm radiating off of every page, and I can't help but enjoy reading it. All in all, this book was a blast, and I'm seriously considering checking out the rest of the Heroes Unlimited line when I get the chance.

[Jim Street · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review is for Heroes Unlimited Second Edition.
The depth and diversity of character creation is perhaps the crowning achievement of Heroes Unlimited. It was the 'kitchen-sink' of RPGs before there was an kitchen-sink genre of RPGs. And that's largely because that's exactly what comic stories were. I recently dove back into the Palladium Megaverse when the nostalgia bug bit me and was surprised to find recent printing STILL had typos from over 30 years ago. The company is still very small when compared to other mainstays in the industry and still has a underdog/punk feel, because they are doing their own thing - which I respect. The systems are still the same, so it was relatively easy to pick back up. However after running a session of HU and After the Bomb, I've observed that my preferences in game systems have changed; the dedication & available time adult players have is very different; and the game-time crunch & accountancy required to run the system prohibits it from being a regular at my table. If someone is looking for "old-school" style TTRPGs, look no further than the Palladium system. It is basically the same system from 40 years ago.

For my own gaming purposes, I will likely use the Palladium character creation and setting information to kickstart various games. And then convert things to a more palatable system du jour.

[Jeff Clarke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly the best roll a random character system that Ive found. Great for Worldbuilding.

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though the Palladium role-playing system is not the one I use in my games the source books are fantastic. Tons of great ideas and characters are scattered throughout the books. Very recommended for any gamer.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gotten plenty of use from this book. I may draw some of Veldane's powers from here. Mystic hero. =)

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

It has helped me in many adventures.

[Eric · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are much better superhero RPGs out there. Try HERO System or Mutants and Masterminds instead.