Is this goign to be a "tweak" or a complete overhaul?

[Bathawk1]

I wouldn't mind a "tweak" such as when Champions 2 and three came out way back when. But I really hope this dosen't totally reboot the series. I mean I really don't need another two or three books showing me how to Dr.Destroyer and Eurostar are now done with the new rules/system

[Lord Liaden]

Bathawk1, for an idea of what magnitude of changes Steve Long is considering for Sixth Edition, I would recommend reading the first post in each of the "___ Issues" threads he started in this particular forum. Each one lays out his own ideas about what elements should be addressed for 6E. Steve has left all the topics wide open for discussion, and is willing to consider any fan proposals, but hasn't obligated himself to adopt any of them.

[Bathawk1]

Well I geuss what I was asking is if the book series is going to be restarted. I have gotten by just fine with 4th edition. As the characters in the current edition don't seem much different

I just relly don't want to buy another copy of Killers, conquerors & crooks/Classic Enemies or yet another copy of VIPER or Champions Universe

[Vulcan]

At risk of being a bit cynical, I think that the hope of selling you the 6E versions of those books are a (small) part of why 6E is being done in the first place!

Personally, I'm hoping that 6E is close enough to 5E (and by extension, 4E) that you will be able to keep on using your 4E sourcebooks with only a reasonable amount of updating. That means that 6E stayed close enough to the existing system to still be recognizable as HEROS!

[Hugh Neilson]

Read Steve's Guiding Philosophies for 6e. It's closed, but sets out the issue well enough.

1. Everything is up for consideration.

There are no sacred cows here, no forbidden ground, no boundaries limiting where I’m going to go in my quest to make the HERO System rules even better — and therefore no restrictions on what you can suggest to me.

No potential change, no matter how radical, is going to be ignored if I think it could make the rules better. No rule, no matter how fundamental, is going to escape scrutiny. Literally everything — the type of dice used, the various scales in the game, point costs, how Skill and Attack rolls are made, everything — is up for discussion and consideration.

So don’t feel you have to hold back! If you have an idea for an improvement you think is solid, go right ahead and post it. All you’re risking is the ridicule of your fellow fans. I might say “No,” but I’m still going to consider what you said and appreciate that you said it.


2. The HERO System as it currently exists is a pretty solid rules system and doesn’t need a lot of significant changes.

Guiding Philosophy #1 notwithstanding, I am no fan of change for change’s sake. I’m not going to start changing things just because I have the opportunity and means to do so. I think the HERO System in its current incarnation is the best roleplaying game ever created — all I want to do is make it even better. I am contemplating some changes that are pretty significant, but for the most part I think the HERO System’s doing pretty damn well as it is.


3. We have to change the HERO System enough to make 6E worth doing.

Guiding Philosophy #2 notwithstanding, there’s no point in jumping through all the hoops to create 6E if all we do is tighten a nut here and polish a rivet there. If we’re going to go to all this effort there should be some substantive changes involved — not for the sake of change, but because those changes are solid improvements to the game. At this stage I don’t think the 6E rules changes are going to be so extreme as to “invalidate” old books, but as a practical matter they’re going to have to improve things enough to make you notice. As we said back when we launched 5E, “It’s not that you’ll have to upgrade — it’s that the new rules are so cool you’ll want to.”

And I agree with Vulcan to a great extent. If they aren't going to sell books, doing 6e is pretty pointless.

[Klaus Mogensen]

And I agree with Vulcan to a great extent. If they aren't going to sell books, doing 6e is pretty pointless.

And I, for one, am not going to buy any new books unless the rules get a complete overhaul rather than just a sloppy paint job. But then, YMMV.

- Klaus

[Vulcan]

And I won't be buying any books if it is no longer recognizable as the HERO System that I know and love.

Changes are welcome in areas where there are problems to be fixed - and believe me, there are some doosies! But changes for the sake of changes are not going to make me want to buy the new edition.

[Hugh Neilson]

And I, for one, am not going to buy any new books unless the rules get a complete overhaul rather than just a sloppy paint job. But then, YMMV.

And I won't be buying any books if it is no longer recognizable as the HERO System that I know and love.

Changes are welcome in areas where there are problems to be fixed - and believe me, there are some doosies! But changes for the sake of changes are not going to make me want to buy the new edition.

This summarizes the fine line Hero has to draw (or not - if they're confident sales to new buyers will offset all existing fans plus, a new game system is a more lucrative alternative - but that's a pretty extreme approach and some gamble). Good luck to Steve/DoJ in sorting it all out.

[ghost-angel]

Well I geuss what I was asking is if the book series is going to be restarted. I have gotten by just fine with 4th edition. As the characters in the current edition don't seem much different

I just relly don't want to buy another copy of Killers, conquerors & crooks/Classic Enemies or yet another copy of VIPER or Champions Universe

If you're asking if there will be reprints of things like Champions Universe, Vibora Bay, the Fantasy Settings, etc...

I asked Steve about this a while back. He said that a number of setting books probably won't get reprints, and some definitely will. But, as usual, he didn't commit to any side when stating if a book won't get a reprint.

In his words when I talked to him, "I don't see the changes being so sweeping I would feel the need to reprint something like Millennium City just for rules updates. If we come up with other reasons we might revisit it for 6E."

From that conversation I gathered things like Power Books (UNTIL Superpowers Database, Fantasy Grimoires) will eventually get a 6E workover since the main purpose of those books is rules constructs. But things like DEMON or VIPER probably won't.

As for Enemies Books (like CKC) I would imagine eventually they would get a makeover, but I wouldn't imagine 6E would change so much you couldn't get by with your own conversions from the 5E book (or even 4E).

[Steve Long]

This isn't an appropriate topic for this forum. If and when we want input on 6E line planning, we'll start a thread or forum for that.