Harbinger of Justice
Encyclopedia
The Harbinger of Justice is a signature character used as a prominent example in the roleplaying game Dark Champions
.
The Harbinger, aka "The Blue Moon Killer", is a vigilante
who stalks the streets of Hudson City. In his original version, he had the power to summon any real-world firearm at will in addition to extremely formidable combat and detective skills. The Harbinger waged a personal crusade against crime of all sorts, and had a distinct preference for killing criminals as opposed to turning them in to the authorities, who he viewed as corrupt. He is wanted by the police for something on the order of 2000 counts of murder.
When Dark Champions was originally released, the Harbinger was considered excessive by many critics, both in terms of his behavior and in terms of his abilities. The extreme efficiency with which the character was constructed is considered by many a prime example of min-maxing
taken too far. He had been a former player-character of Dark Champions author Steve Long
, who responded to critics by saying "he earned every point". Nonetheless, he became the character who represented the setting in the public eye, much as Foxbat
has come to epitomize the traditional flavor of Champions.
Adventurer's Club, the Hero Games
house publication, published a series of cartoons by Chris Avellone
satirizing the Harbinger.
Dark Champions
Dark Champions is a game published by Hero Games using its Hero System rules to simulate the action-adventure genre.When the original Dark Champions book was published in the early 1990s, its focus was on dark vigilantes in a superhero or almost-superhero setting, focusing on adventures similar to...
.
The Harbinger, aka "The Blue Moon Killer", is a vigilante
Vigilante
A vigilante is a private individual who legally or illegally punishes an alleged lawbreaker, or participates in a group which metes out extralegal punishment to an alleged lawbreaker....
who stalks the streets of Hudson City. In his original version, he had the power to summon any real-world firearm at will in addition to extremely formidable combat and detective skills. The Harbinger waged a personal crusade against crime of all sorts, and had a distinct preference for killing criminals as opposed to turning them in to the authorities, who he viewed as corrupt. He is wanted by the police for something on the order of 2000 counts of murder.
When Dark Champions was originally released, the Harbinger was considered excessive by many critics, both in terms of his behavior and in terms of his abilities. The extreme efficiency with which the character was constructed is considered by many a prime example of min-maxing
Min-maxing
Min-maxing is the practice of playing a role-playing game, wargame or video game with the intent of creating the "best" character by means of minimizing undesired or unimportant traits and maximizing desired ones. This is usually accomplished by improving one specific trait or ability by...
taken too far. He had been a former player-character of Dark Champions author Steve Long
Steve Long (Hero Games)
Steven S. Long is a role-playing game author and one of the owners of Hero Games.Long started playing Champions in 1982, and began writing for the game 10 years later, starting with articles in the Hero Games house magazine, Adventurer's Club. His writing expanded into collaborations, and full...
, who responded to critics by saying "he earned every point". Nonetheless, he became the character who represented the setting in the public eye, much as Foxbat
Foxbat (RPG Character)
Foxbat is a supervillain associated with the role playing game Champions. A lunatic who believes that he is living in a comic book, Foxbat is notorious for convoluted and absurd "master plans" that make sense only to himself...
has come to epitomize the traditional flavor of Champions.
Adventurer's Club, the Hero Games
Hero Games
Hero Games is the publisher of the Hero System, a generic roleplaying rules set that can be used to simulate many different genres, and was the co-developer of the Fuzion system.-History:...
house publication, published a series of cartoons by Chris Avellone
Chris Avellone
Chris Avellone is an American video game designer and comic book writer who worked for Interplay and currently works in Obsidian Entertainment.-Early life and education:...
satirizing the Harbinger.