Core Components of the Hero System

[Half Baked]

In the discussions about the 6th Edition I have seen a lot of sentences starting something like:

XYZ is a core part of the Hero System.

I thought it might be useful to have a separate discussion about what people consider the core component to the Hero System and why. In the interests of really getting the core of the core components it would probably be useful if contributors focused on just one each.

I'll start

My core component of the Hero System are the Powers. I first discovered the system in the late 80's and was bowled over by a system where you could construct your own powers with wonderful detail. I had already experienced a non-level based system with GURPS that introduced advantages and disadvantages. However, I had found the spell system based on skills limiting and gave magic the GURPS flavour. The Hero System seemed awesome and I had finally discovered a system where it could be used to give magic, or any other power, the flavour I wanted.

Hero System powers were both elegant and flexible and I loved it.

The rest of the Hero System I could take or leave as it offered very little that were not available with other role playing games on the market.

[Thia Halmades]

The core of the system to me is "power design." Sure, I'd love to see new canon editions of things like pistols and long bows, yeah. But the "core" of, say, a Holy Ice Cream Cone of Smiting, shouldn't change. It's a compound power with advantages & limitations. The core of that language should really not be changed.

[Opal]

The core of the Hero system is the idea of an effects-based, point build system, in which you pay points for a generic mechanical effect to model the 'special effect' concept you have in mind for any ability that makes your character better, and recieve or save points for modeling anything that makes your ability or character less effective.

+5 pts generally aproximately doubles the 'special effect power' of something, but only increments the mechanical power in a linear fashion. For +5 pts, your Energy Blast is twice as many volts or newton or rads or whatever - but does +1d.

Defenses are generally half as expensive as attacks.

The resolution mechanic is 3d6, roll low.

Incrementing your ability to pass a resolution check costs between 1 and 10 points depending on how broadly the increment aplies.

The core of the combat system is the SPD Chart.

Normal human abilities start at 10. +5 'doubles' in the f/x sense.

Abilities that don't start at 10 are figured from abilities that do.

Anything you can't or won't do that a default character in the campaign could is a disadvantage that you get points for.
Anything you can do that a default character couldn't costs points.



Skills feel very much 'just stuck on' to the system. I'd say the skill system could be scrapped and replaced without touching the 'core' of the game. But, if we wanted to consider it:

Skills generally cost 3 points for an INT or EGO roll, and increment for +2 pts. There are a large, somewhat overlapping, but supposedly finite number of such skills.
Narrower or less important skills cost 1 pt for 8-, 2 for 11-, or 3 for a stat roll, and increment for +1 pt. There is an undefined number of such skills. How narrowly or broadly such a skill is defined affects the results of a successful resolution check, not the cost of the skill.

[nexus]

The Power Design System

The Speed Chart

Hex maps

[Tonio]

I'd say the core of the HERO System lies not in the minutiae (roll low vs roll high, Figureds vs no Figureds, etc.), but rather in the concept of building "stuff" (be they characters, objects, or effects) from basic, atomic building blocks which describe only the mechanical aspects, while leaving the aesthetic aspects to be defined, free-form, by the player. Yeah, sort of like what Thia said, only exapanded to cover just about everything, not just power creation.

This is what I find so attractive in the HERO System. Sure, I love the SPD Chart, or more specifically, how HERO handles characters who act more often than others. (I absotively hated how in D&D if you got extra attacks, you just rolled the lot when it was your turn... what, they happened to fast that nothing happened between them?!) But while I would hate seeing it gone, I would probably drop the game wholesale if the mechanics-building-block concept were abandoned.

[McCoy]

STUN & BODY
the Speed chart

[Chris Goodwin]

There's not a line somewhere, beyond which point this is not Hero System. Hero System is a lot of things, all working together. You can take out one or two of them and still have Hero System, but it's possible to take out too many.

For instance:

The stat block
The SPD chart
OCV vs. DCV
Killing vs. Normal damage
"Count the BODY"
BODY vs. STUN
Physical vs. Energy
5 points per d6
Advantages and Limitations denominated in 1/4s
9 + CHA/5
8-, 11-, 14-
Buildable Disadvantages denominated in multiples of 5

To me, all of these things together make the Hero System. You could take out two, maybe three, and it would still be Hero. There's not any one of these you couldn't lose and have it not still be Hero.

[Toadmaster]

What chris Said minus the you can take out any 2 of them.

HERO is a nice balance between stats, powers and skills, I like the fact that you can effectively build a character by focusing on one of these areas. You can build your brick or speedster with innate stats, (lots of str, or dex / speed as appropriate) or you could do it through powers, autofire attacks and tons of movement for the speedster, power armor for the brick. Similarly you can build the uber scientist through the purchase of lots of Int and skill levels or you can use skill modifiers to make high levels cheaper, or you can build a brain in a jar helmet full of skills in a multipower.

There is no right or wrong way, there might be a few best point efficient ways to do it, but any concept can be effectively built.

[CleverName]

The core?

5 pts = 1d6

[Lord Mhoram]

Core components to me:

Reasoning from Effect
Speed Chart
Universality
5pt = 1d6
Def is always cheaper than offense
Large number of characteristics
3d6 roll low for combat and skill checks.
Advantages/Lims to modifiy base abilities.

[McCoy]

Def is always cheaper than offense

That was largely kneecapped by not allowing most defenses into elemental controls.

[Derek Hiemforth]

Core axioms to me (if one of these went away, I would no longer consider the resulting game to be HERO):

Reasoning From Effect
The concept of SPD
BODY vs. STUN
Killing Damage vs. Normal Damage
OCV vs. DCV
Combat Maneuvers that modify CVs and effects
Character abilities purchased with points

[Hopscotch]

There has been great discussion over what elements are the "essence of Hero." I think that we could all agree that the one, overarching principal is that it is MODULAR. We all take or leave whatever rules we want and the game is still recognizable as Hero. THAT is the heart and soul of the game we love.

By mixing and matching the different rules and systems, a gaming group can brew up whatever genre and feel they want.

Sure, the basic 3d6 skill/combat check mechanic is likely the heart of the system, and the idea of paying points based on effectiveness is likely its soul, but beyond that almost anything goes. What is more, just about any of us would recognize and even accept, anyone else's game as Hero, even if there is disagreement over the choices that have been made. Many other role-playing games do not have that modular nature built into the core of the system.

It is that nature that makes hero different from most other games. And those games that do have that mix and match built in, IMHO, borrowed it from here.

[Lord Mhoram]

That was largely kneecapped by not allowing most defenses into elemental controls.

Yeah, well, I run 3rd edition style for what I allow in ECs.

[GamePhil]

Well, I'm a bit of an aberation, here, but the only thing to me that is core to Hero is reasoning from effect. To me pretty much anything else is optional.

That's not to say I don't like other elements of the system, I surely do. That's just the only single thing that the removal of would automatically drive me off, and the only thing that would make it truly unrecognizable to me if it were to be changed.