Hey Herophiles!

As I’ve mentioned several times in weekly news posts and chats, I’d like to set up a playtest group to give the Kingdom creation and combat rules slated for The Ultimate Base a once-over. These are the new rules that will let you design nations, kingdoms, cities, planets, organizations, neighborhoods, etc. as “characters” and play them with/against other such entities in a broad-scale geopolitical sort of campaigning. It’s sort of like wargaming, sort of like an empire-builder computer game, and sort of like roleplaying with veeerrry unusual characters.

This is the first significant new body of rules for the HERO System in years, so I’d like to run what I’ve got through the wringer and see how it comes out. I’ve already been doing some playtesting with my local gaming group that’s proven very helpful, so it’s time to expand beyond that to more groups, with different playstyles and priorities. And that’s where you come in!

I’d like to recruit some groups of playtesters here on the Hero boards. If you’d like to get involved, here’s what you need to do and what you should be aware of:

1. I only want playtesters. I do not want testreaders. If you are not able to run games or a mini-campaign using these rules, please do not sign up. I can read over things just fine on my own. What I want is feedback based on actual play experience.

2. Since I expect to start writing UBA no later than, say, mid-November, you have to be able to run playtest games/mini-campaigns over the next 6-10 weeks or so. In other words, you need to be in a position to start pretty soon, and/or to play frequently once you do start.

3. These rules are in draft form. Don’t expect them to be as polished, or as cleanly presented, as something you’d see in a book. Also, don’t expect them to cover as much. They’re in shape to be playtested, have no fear of that, but there are some gaps (primarily an extended review of how various elements of personal character creation dovetail with these rules, and a discussion of how many Character Points you get to build a Kingdom on).

4. While we’re not going to go to the hassle of making anyone who participates sign a formal nondisclosure agreement (NDA), we expect you to behave as if you were under one. You can reveal the rules to your gaming group of course, and you can talk about them here on this forum, but please do not distribute them in any other way, post them anywhere, or anything like that. As always, any comments or suggestions posted as part of the playtest are the property of Hero Games. I’m going to make every effort to include a list of playtesters’ names in the credits, but I can’t make any guarantees, and I’m definitely not going to try to attribute specific ideas to specific persons. If this bothers you, please don’t participate.

5. If you’re interested in playtesting, here’s what you’ve got to do:
a. Send me a PM here on the website, with the title “Ultimate Base Kingdom Playtesting”.
b. In the PM, include (1) your real name, (2) the e-mail address you want me to send your copy of the playtest rules to, and (3) a list of the real names of the gamers you plan to playtest the rules with. If you think there’s some problem with (3), please get your gamers’ permission before sending me their names.
c. In the event I get deluged with applicants, I may have to limit the number of participants, so if you want to include a pitch in your PM as to why you’d be better for this than everyone else, feel free. Bribes are acceptable.

Inability to follow these instructions will be regarded as evidence that you’re not suited for playtesting.

6. As a playtest participant, you’ll be expected to provide feedback. At a minimum this should include at least a brief description of your playtest sessions, along with what you like/don’t like about the rules, what worked/didn’t work, what you’d like to see added, etc. If all I get from you is generic comments, without playtest experience to back them up, the odds are I’ll ignore you and leave you out of the credits for not actually playtesting.

When you post comments, please create a new thread for each campaign you run (or each game session, if they’re distinct). Give it a title that’s easy to recognize, such as “Campaign Reports: Westerlands Kingdom Campaign” or the like.


So, what are you waiting for? Send in your application now! I plan to gather applications for a few days and then mail out a PDF of the current draft of the rules in bulk sometime next week probably.