What is the best fantasy hero sourcebook?

[LordSolovar]

I am pretty new to Fantasy Hero and the Hero system and I want to grab some of my fellow nerd friends to play a campaign. Since Im the most experienced of the group and would be the one inviting them to try a new rpg I would need to be the GM. What fantasy hero sourcebook is the best and which is the worst? Please give reason if you can.

[ghost-angel]

Each is a completely different flavor of Fantasy ... so it's not really a question of which is best but How Do You Like Your Fantasy Served?

Tuala Morn is my favorite, but to really get the full flavor you need complete buy in from the Players; this is not generi-fantasy. It has a specific feel that can be easily ruined by someone not buying into the setting. It's Celtic-Fantasy.

Valdorian Age is pretty cool, but not for those that want fast, easy magic and magic items. It's Low-Fantasy.

Turakian Age is similar to the common idea of Fantasy Gaming, a generi-fantasy world with all the trappings you'd expect from flashy magic, powerful items, monsters and dragons, warring armies, big bad evil... It's High-Fantasy.

Full Reviews:
Tuala Morn (http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54120) (post #2)
Turakian Age (http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59963)
Valdorian Age (http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60817)

[Thia Halmades]

I keep wondering, "What can I contribute here?" and then I remember "Oh, right. I write all my own material." However, to muddy the waters for the sake of clarity, while you might not agree with GA's "other side" section, he does play it safe and walk you chapter by chapter through the entirety of the text. Not always the best reading, but it'll certainly help you pick out which book you want for the kind of campaign you're going to run.

[Lord Mhoram]

Well I can't stand swords and sorcerery and I not a huge fan of Celtic stuff, so my answer is obvious. But I do all homebrew in my game anyway, so it really is just academic. :)

[Killer Shrike]

I do my own settings. That's the challenge HERO Games faces -- so many HERO GM's use the HERO System largely because it lets them define their own settings. Makes us a hard target market to make supplements for ;)

That said, each of the three published settings is aimed at a different sub-genre, so the better question would be do you prefer high fantasy, sword & sorcery, or celtic fantasy?

[Thia Halmades]

I do my own settings. That's the challenge HERO Games faces -- so many HERO GM's use the HERO System largely because it lets them define their own settings. Makes us a hard target market to make supplements for ;)

That said, each of the three published settings is aimed at a different sub-genre, so the better question would be do you prefer high fantasy, sword & sorcery, or celtic fantasy?

Ironically, I just posted almost this exact same phrasing in another thread dedicated to a similar question. :think:

[CrosshairCollie]

Yeah, it's more a matter of flavor preference.

Which is why I say 'Turakian Age' by nine lengths. :)

[Lord Fyre]

I love Tuala Morn but Ghost-Angel is completely right, it is easy for a player, who doesn't buy into the setting at least partially, to spoil the feel. :(

The Valdorian Age is a great Sword & Sorcery setting, but I find myself going the complete opposite with the assumptions it makes about character creation. Conan, Red Sonja, & Belit are more powerful/smart/charismatic then standard heroes, not less. (You will understand my complaint that if you have read the character creation rules for that setting.) None the less, it is my preferred setting if I can't get buy-in from my players on Tuala Morn. ;)

[LordSolovar]

thanks for the quick response everyone. I chose Hero for its customization. I used to play a hybird RPG that was a mix of AD&D and Paladium Fantasy/Rifts. That got old so I moved to Hero. The friends I play with are a great bunch of guys and I have freeform roleplayed with them for years. I want to get them into Hero so ill have more people to play with. I've never GMEd before so IM looking for a partially made campaign so it doesn't all have to come from my head. We just got done roleplaying a long epic-high Fantasy campaign so a change would be nice. Ive narrowed it down to Tuala Morn or The Valdorian Age.

[Captain Obvious]

I'd say either one of those would be a winner.

And while it would be easy to spoil the Celtic feel of Tuala Morn, it's really more in the hands of the GM than that of players. If the GM makes sure the characters are constructed right (with the appropriate Disadvantages for a player who might not be inclined to follow the Celtic social rules), and runs Celtic-appropriate adventures, it should turn out okay.

[Markdoc]

If you are looking for a cmpaign and a quick start, my suggestion would be Valdorian (tho' I really like TM) because it'll be easy to get buy-in from players with the Conan and Fafhrd/grey Mouser angles and because it starts you with a detailed city, while the rest of the world is sketchily drawn: ideal for the GM, who can set initial adventures in the city but still have room to set his own adventures, cultures, etc.

Essentially, it's a quick-n-easy start for the GM and gives him time t build up an idea of how he wants the world to be. Heck, you easily could lift Elweir into Hyboria, call it Tortage http://www.ageofconan.com/conan/frontend/files/CONTENT/concept2.jpg and start your adventure by intoning "Know, oh prince, that between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and ..."

cheers, Mark