Question about "classic" Star Hero.

[Mathew]

Did the original Star Hero (3rd edition) have any supporting material other than the main book? I haven't seen any Star Hero articles in anything (magazines, modules, etc) from before the 5th edition.

[clsage]

Did the original Star Hero (3rd edition) have any supporting material other than the main book? I haven't seen any Star Hero articles in anything (magazines, modules, etc) from before the 5th edition.

I have a very vague recollection of at least one article in the old "Adventurer's Club" magazine. Also, there might have been some items on the old Red October website....But I can't seem to recall any details in either case.....sorry.

-Carl-

[Lord Liaden]

I'm afraid I can't recall anything outside of the main book that used any setting material or optional rules from it.

Speaking of the old Red October BBS, David Berge, Albert Deschesne, and Shawn Wilson submitted a manuscript for a Star HERO sourcebook for Fourth Edition to Red October for members to review and playtest. It was very much broader and more generic than the previous version, and not tied to any particular setting. Unfortunately this was in the waning days of Iron Crown Enterprises when they still had the rights to Hero Games, and they never got around to publishing it. However, the manuscript is still in the Red October archives maintained by Shelley Chrystal Mactyre on her website: http://www.mactyre.net/october/HEROTEST/Files.html

[shadowcat1313]

some of the old manuscript stuff was more useful than others, but theres a couple of things in there that I still use to this day

the damage conversion chart is the one I use most often.

[John Desmarais]

Did the original Star Hero (3rd edition) have any supporting material other than the main book? I haven't seen any Star Hero articles in anything (magazines, modules, etc) from before the 5th edition.

Bright Future

[Lord Liaden]

Bright Future

Really? I was under the impression the Bright Future sourcebook used Fourth Edition HERO System, not the pre-4E rules from the first Star Hero genre book. Never owned BF, though, so I could be wrong.

[Mathew]

If it uses 4th edition rules, it's still an add on to the 3rd addition module, since 5th edition Star Hero didn't exist yet. So that's cool. Thanks!

Was Star Hero one of the last things released before 4th edition hit? Seems like it was and it would have been seen as almost instantly obsolete because of it.

[Lord Liaden]

If it uses 4th edition rules, it's still an add on to the 3rd addition module, since 5th edition Star Hero didn't exist yet. So that's cool. Thanks!

To be clear, if you're referring to Bright Future, that was a complete sci-fi campaign setting which had nothing to do with the universe outlined in pre-4E Star Hero.

Was Star Hero one of the last things released before 4th edition hit? Seems like it was and it would have been seen as almost instantly obsolete because of it.

That's the way I remember it. Star Hero may even have come out the same year as the BBB, 1989. I no longer own that SH book, so I can't check.

I feel like I should also clarify the use of "Third Edition" to refer to any non-Champions version of the HERO System. There have now been six iterations of HERO used to run Champions, which was the first thing published by Hero Games. Previous to Fourth Edition, each genre of HERO game used its own distinct subset of the system tailored to a particular genre. Although all of them were more or less compatible, each had its own fundamental differences. There were default rules for pulp, fantasy, sci-fi, modern-day adventure, and mecha -- one edition for each. Fourth Edition HERO unified elements from all of them into the toolkit we know today. Hence there is no "Third Edition" Star HERO, Fantasy HERO, etc. I suppose properly speaking, one should refer to the First Edition of each of those games when discussing pre-4E HERO stuff other than Champions.

[Mathew]

Yes, I understand.

The original Star Hero book was the 1st edition of Star Hero, and it was more or less compatable with Champions III.

That manuscript from the Red October BBS calls it's self Star Hero 2nd edition, and it's compatable with Hero/Champions 4th edition.

The most recent Star Hero book is compatable with Hero/Champions 5th. It's technically 2nd edition of Star Hero printed, but iy Just calls itself "Star Hero" again.

Bright Future, made in 1997, says the following in it's text: Thanks to Hero Games, we have put together notes and outlines for the Bright Future world. With these notes, a gamemaster can run an adventure in the Bright Future setting, or take parts of the Bright Future world and drop them into an existing game of Star Hero."

So I'd say it qualifies as an add-on (possibly the ONLY add-on) to the original Star Hero.

[Old Man]

That's the way I remember it. Star Hero may even have come out the same year as the BBB, 1989. I no longer own that SH book, so I can't check.

Yeah, either that year or the year before. I remember scratching my head wondering why they would instantly obsolete SH like that.

[clsage]

Yeah, either that year or the year before. I remember scratching my head wondering why they would instantly obsolete SH like that.

It was all a plot by the Rehri...or maybe the Phychii.

I recall my local GM (and his wife) working up various house rule extensions for "Espionage" to allow for his SF concepts. And I got to name our ship: The Starnoise. Sigh. Good times......

-Carl-

[Tasha]

Did the original Star Hero (3rd edition) have any supporting material other than the main book? I haven't seen any Star Hero articles in anything (magazines, modules, etc) from before the 5th edition.

Nothing was published to support StarHero. I don't really think that it sold that well. You could use CyberHero as a supplement if you like. Though if you are going that route you would be better served picking up Kazei-5 first edition PDF. Susano has a much better grasp of how to write up cyberware than old Monte Cook(or who ever it was that foisted CyberHero on herodom). The current version of k5 shouldn't be that hard to regress to 4e writeups. Most of the powers were in 4e and the Computer rules haven't really changed that much.

You might find some usable stuff here: http://www.starherofandom.com/ it's a good site for StarHero stuff

[Tasha]

Yeah, either that year or the year before. I remember scratching my head wondering why they would instantly obsolete SH like that.

A beta version of the StarHero rules/campaign floated around the bay area for years before it was finally published. It might have been the last thing that ICE published for Hero before losing/unloading? the licence for hero. I am sure that it was just finding the money to publish the darned thing and also worries that it might not sell very well.

[shadowcat1313]

theres a fair bit of my older stuff over at starhero fandom for that matter, including some beta ideas for traveller hero

[John Desmarais]

Yeah, either that year or the year before. I remember scratching my head wondering why they would instantly obsolete SH like that.

My guess would be that Star Hero took longer to get to press than expected and should have been out at least a year before the BBB - rather than just a few months.

Although, I remember at the time thinking that the writers might have - probably at some point late in their process - been given a very preliminary copy of the 4th edition rules as there were some oddly almost 4th-ish looking stuff in it.