I beefed-up Mass Combat, detailed some Kingdoms, added a Maneuver or five, and a lot more. I did not go much into Bases, as this whole project is predicated on the material from The Ultimate Base (which you need to use this book), which covers that subject exhaustively.
Some other cool things: You can play it solo, you can play without a GM (solo or with a group), you can play cooperatively or competitively, and your PC can establish their own Kingdom while remaining an active PC. There are also new Characteristics, Maneuvers, rules for Kingdoms and Mass Combat, and a whole lot more (I keep saying that because I'm lazy and bad at marketing).
I did my best to include the information I personally need for Locations and Factions when playing - things like Structural Integrity of buildings, the Tech Level of the place/group, levels of Crime, their progress toward their chosen Goals, et al. But I did not just stack my own factions subsystem on top of it and call it a day - I already had that, and released it to everyone for free a few years back (it's no longer available for free, sorry, and this is not entirely the same system) - I spent a good deal of time on this one. Future releases will depend on this book; you will need it to fully utilize the Kingdoms line of releases I have planned.
While entirely optional, I've used this book just like I do any other HERO Games book for months now. I find myself constantly opening it to check this or that, as I'm making Kingdoms for everything. I'm on a bit of a Kingdoms kick, sure, but my point is that it was a really worthwhile endeavor, and I hope everyone who buys it thinks the same.
I did the cover in pencil and scanned it without inking, then colored it on the computer using GIMP and Krita - which is how I usually work (although I'm inking more now - still learning, of course). I realize that AI is copying it without paying me, but there's not much I can do about that.
Anyway, I think it turned out really well. That's a dramatized stance, but the grip on that sword is very real. And exactly 0 AI was used in the production of this supplement.
I should note that although I lean on the Fantasy genre pretty hard in this book (it's arguably going to be used for that genre more than others), Kingdoms is for use with any genre and edition of Champions/HERO. It's a location and faction system as much as it is a Mass Combat system, so it's useful for any scenario featuring a location or group. In fact, several of the upcoming Kingdoms supplements I'm working on are for non-traditional or non-Fantasy genres, including my own HERO campaign setting, The Flats. Which is already out and available for you to purchase. You should buy it!
For those who got the book early, I am aware that the Table of Contents was screwed-up but I don't know why. I have fixed it, but if you got a copy that has the messed-up one, please re-download the new version (v2). I'm so sorry, but I've looked at this book for so long that I completely missed that before releasing it. (I knew there had to be at least one big mistake I missed!) Some other edits were necessary but I'll update it in a few days, after I've had another chance to go over everything.
But yeah, this is what I've been doing while I've been away. And I don't expect to return to regular posting anytime soon, as I've already moved on to other projects. However, I do intend to keep posting sporadically. And thanks for reading, youse geese!
© The Weirding, 2026