Advice for creating a custom setting

[SylvanSnake]

I was interested in playing a mainstream Champions setting, but I was also considering adapting 1 or 2 other settings with Hero system rules. Not really a big fan of the Palladium game system, but I like their game settings. Their fantasy RPG setting is actually pretty good. In many ways better than D&D imo.

Anyway back to the topic, instead of running the Paladium version of Robotech, I wanted to adapt the setting for Hero system rules. So if anyone has some advice which Hero sourcebooks would be most useful for a setting such as this or has any other general tips for getting started, I'd love to hear it.

[Nolgroth]

Robot Warriors. It is written for an earlier edition of HERO, but Chris Goodwin has some notes on updating it for HERO 5th. While I personally haven't read the rules myself, I hear they are well suited to the big mecha genre.

Well that and HERO 5th or Sidekick. :)

[Lord Liaden]

Well, you could start with these HERO conversions of Robotech elements:



Writeups for several Robotech mecha:
http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14174

Numerous other mecha writeups (in downloadable HTML and HDC files), plus mecha Hit Locations, and character rank Perks:
http://www.starherofandom.com/h_robotech/index.php

Converting several specific setting elements, including Skill packages (posts #48 and 50):
http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23404
[Note: the mecha writeups on this thread are reproduced under the previous link above.]

HERO stats for the Gallant H-90 multi-weapon system:
http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32232

Website for a Robotech HERO campaign (must be member of or join Yahoo! to view most areas):
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/champians_Robotech/



There's also a great deal of online HERO material for Palladium's RIFTS setting, if you'd be interested.

[gojira]

I got nothing, sorry. But let us know how it turns out, SylvanSnake. I've never played any Palladium stuff so I'd like to know how it works in a Hero game.

Good luck! :thumbup:

[Chris Goodwin]

Most of the writeups you see for sample mecha, etc., will be for Hero System vehicles rules. If you're comfortable working from a PDF, converting from out of date rules, and doing most of the writeups yourself, you could do worse than to pick up Robot Warriors on PDF and then going here (http://www.afeather.net/~archer/rw2hero.html).

[SylvanSnake]

I'll check into Robot Warriors, I have all the Robotech RPG books from Palladium so that will give me enough setting info, I guess then it's just a matter of adapting character creation and mecha to Hero rules. Thanks for the help

[Opal]

So if anyone has some advice which Hero sourcebooks would be most useful for a setting such as this or has any other general tips for getting started, I'd love to hear it.I did that many years ago. Must've been '87. Well, it wasn't /exactly/ Robotech, there were elements of cynical parody to it - like the backstory included a plague that killed people over 30, because I thought virtually everyone on Robotech looked and sounded overly young.

The sarcasm of myself at 20 aside, it's entirely doable. Vehicle rules do alow you to create destroids and veritechs and larger vehicles pretty well. I used the Robot Warriors rules that were out at the time.

One thing I did to make my life easier was to make them somewhat modular, I designed the basic vehicles, and the 'weapon pods' and 'sensor modules' and whatnot that could go onto them - the players could then customize thier mecha based on the point value.

Making the characters important is key, too. I used the critical system at the time, which was full damage if you made your attack roll by half. It proved to make the pilots with many levels frightening. I also created an advantage for 'seeker' type missles that ouija-board thier way to the target like the ones in Robotech. They proved less than useful compared to just ripping the target with your GU-11 for multiple critical hits because you bought way too many levels.