I just picked this up today at lunch.
Has anyone played it.
circa 1984.
any fond memories?

I didn't know GW ever did a superhero game.  This is really really old.  Apparently was published by amateur game designers in '82 before the ol' GW picked her up and published the version you have.

GW at one time distributed and focused on RPG's including D&D.

This same game is now known as Squadron UK which is free.

You can peruse that here.

What I most remember about Golden Heroes was that it had the most unfortunate abbreviation for its Game Master: the SS, for Script Supervisor.

Well the site with the free rules seems to not have anything up to download anymore.  Guess they lost the rpgnow access when they got bought out by drivethrurpg.

I remember it fondly. It is not terribly fiddly (compared to other games of its time) and it had a good comic book feel. They have updated the rules to a new addition which is why you can't find the old one for free anymore.

http://squadronuk.co.uk/

I think I still have a copy knocking about in the garage somewhere.

As a kid I loved the idea of combat being divided into 'frames,' which divided actions into panels like one would see in a comic book. It's a nice bit of genre emulation that I still have a soft spot for.

The British sensibility (that GW used to do so well) was intact, and helped me believe that a UK-based superhero team was not only viable, but preferable. For someone who grew up with the inspired madness of Alan Moore's Captain Britain it was a godsend.

It's a really sweet game that was well designed and played well (even if it LOVED the randomness) but could allow some interesting solutions to rolling the same power twice, as well as the panel timing and the "backgrounds"

It had a lot of charm.

I'm not sure how Squadron UK holds up, as I've not read it all the way through (its not in print, and I admit to preferring to read game books off line, I spend a lot of time online writing games myself, so off the computer reading is good. )

Its a luvverly game and I'm still running it, and playing in a campaign that has lasted three years.

Quote from: SilverlionI'm not sure how Squadron UK holds up, as I've not read it all the way through (its not in print, and I admit to preferring to read game books off line, I spend a lot of time online writing games myself, so off the computer reading is good. )

Squadron UK is pretty much the same set of rules with the name changed to avoid confrontation with Games Wankshop. There are a few minor changes in some powers and rules. I like the changes as they add to playability.

Quote from: James MaliszewskiWhat I most remember about Golden Heroes was that it had the most unfortunate abbreviation for its Game Master: the SS, for Script Supervisor.

Simon Burley, one of the authors says he deliberately coined the name, and hence the abbreviation. He must have had a bastard of a GM somewhere along the line.

GOLDEN HEROES IS BACK
Well almost, the Scenarios have been turned into a surcebook. which includes the unpublished "LANCELOT CAPER"


https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1426158885/legacy-superhero-role-playing-in-the-united-kingdo

A Superhero sourcebook for the United Kingdom. Based on the scenarios of THE British Superhero game of the mid 80's.

Back in the day, there was a superhero RPG published in the UK. It was originally an A5 printed booklet, then a box set with two supplements, a couple of boxes of lead figures, some articles and scenarios in a certain gaming magazines. Its name is own by a third party so cannot be mentioned, let's just say some of the Heroes were Golden

Well that was 30 years ago, and we still have a soft spot for the original game. Which is where Legacy comes in. [Redacted]* was a superhero game set in the UK, what Legacy does is, to take those original scenarios and articles, update and expand on them and create a coherent universe, where the UK is the predominated place for superheroes.

These are the old scenarios used to create a universe for British Heroes.

Crossfire (an Alien Exchange) Legacy of Eagles
Queen Victoria and the Holy Grail
The Lancelot Caper (unpublished)
STRIKEBACK
American Dream
Reunion
Peking Duck
Pilcomayo Project
Contagion, Coincidence & Confusion

The goal for this project is get enough money to pay for proofreading and editing. Nothing too ambitious. Nice and simple.

This is Legacy, a sourcebook for roleplaying superheroes on the streets on the streets of the UK. The book which currently stands at 140 pages will have background material on why some people are superpowered and other aren't, it will have details of various Villains old and new, there is an origin scenario which is an update of the Pilcomayo Project.

The book will also contain: stuff on Time Travel, parallel dimensions, the source of both magic and superpowers, there is a chapter America, the EAGLES (from Legacy of EAGLES), a vast array of background information , The book also includes a century of Heroes, a year by year almanac of heroes since 1900. And details of the Official British superhero teams since 1899. Including the Queens own Shadow V.
All in all, it is everything you might need to run a superhero adventure in the United Kingdom.

This Sceptered Isle has called. Its time to talc up the spandex and get pledging:

One of my favourite games, possibly the best GW game. Loved the (mostly) random power rolls, and the way you were encouraged to write an short origin story explaining how you got those powers.

Golden Heroes was always one of my favourite supers games too. So much so that when Squadron UK was pulled from sale at Games Workshop's request I wrote my own retro-clone of it called Codemane: Spandex.

I've had lots of fun in campaigns of both the original and my clone, but of all the parts of the game the character generation is the finest.

I've never known any other game like it. Creating characters in Golden Heroes is just so much fun, even if those characters will never be played!

If anyone's interested in my clone of the game, I don't promote it much, because I don't want to compete with the new edition of Squadron UK - but it's available for free download on my website (linked in my sig).

Quote from: Blacky the Blackball;804783Golden Heroes was always one of my favourite supers games too. So much so that when Squadron UK was pulled from sale at Games Workshop's request I wrote my own retro-clone of it called Codemane: Spandex.

I've had lots of fun in campaigns of both the original and my clone, but of all the parts of the game the character generation is the finest.

I've never known any other game like it. Creating characters in Golden Heroes is just so much fun, even if those characters will never be played!

If anyone's interested in my clone of the game, I don't promote it much, because I don't want to compete with the new edition of Squadron UK - but it's available for free download on my website (linked in my sig).

I picked this game up on a lark about 8 years or so ago.  Never got to play it, but had a blast making characters for it.

Quote from: kevinrolfe;804740These are the old scenarios used to create a universe for British Heroes.

Crossfire (an Alien Exchange) Legacy of Eagles
Queen Victoria and the Holy Grail
The Lancelot Caper (unpublished)
STRIKEBACK
American Dream
Reunion
Peking Duck
Pilcomayo Project
Contagion, Coincidence & Confusion

These scenarios are fantastic! The only ones I haven't run are The Lancelot Caper and Contagion, Coincidence & Confusion.

Will any of these scenarios (other than the updated Pilcomayo Project) be included in the sourcebook? Or will they be receiving a separate publication?

Queen Victoria and the Holy Grail and STRIKEBACK are two of Marcus L Rowland's finest scenarios for any game, and I say that as a BIG fan of his work.