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HERO System Skills


Jason S.Walters

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

I'll definitely buy it when the cover has been updated to 6e trade dress. I wonder why of all the 6e books this is the only one without the blue cover...?

There are a lot of 6E books without blue covers (notably every genre and setting book).  It looks like they kept the "The Ultimate Skill" (or whatever the name was) cover from 5E.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Note: This review is on the copy I got.

 

Review:

 

1) Hero System Skills POD has a new blue cover, probably to fit in with the rest of the line.

2) It "feels" slightly flimsy. However...

3) ...It does not actually seem flimsy when tested. I held it up by a single page and it seemed to bear up well.

4) I could find no flaws in the art or text print when flipping flipping through the book.

 

Style: 4/5 (one point off for feeling flimsy)

Substance: 5/5 (actual textual contents of book not tested; I haven't done more than flip through the book yet)

 

Edit: Christougher and I talked about "why it feels flimsy", and it's due to the lightweight paper and cover used in the book. So feel free to ignore that part as personal preference.

 

Edit2: And just to make it clear, that's a solid "Would recommend" at this point; I have no real worry of that changing.

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Hey that's interesting about the cover, Narf. So it was updated to fit in with the rest of the line! Is it possible for you to upload an image of the new cover? Just a simple phone snap would be fine.

 

As for the "flimsiness" it's good to know too. I do make allowances for POD, those books never feel quite the same as a traditional offset-printed book, but that's a worthwhile price to pay for having titles perpetually in-print, and it's not due to anything Hero Games can control. 

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2) It "feels" slightly flimsy. However...

 

Just wondering if you had any of the other paperback, blue cover 6E books to compare against. I picked up a couple of the POD versions (Bestiary and Martial Arts) and did not notice a significant difference from the APG that Hero Games had printed and sold directly in the store.

 

Since you mentioned the difference, I just went back and compared again. The POD versions (at least the covers), don't feel significantly thinner than the APG I have. However they seem more flexible, which I'm attributing to whatever "coating" is on the non-POD book cover.

 

I still agree with you and gave a "Recommended" for both books I bought.

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Just wondering if you had any of the other paperback, blue cover 6E books to compare against. I picked up a couple of the POD versions (Bestiary and Martial Arts) and did not notice a significant difference from the APG that Hero Games had printed and sold directly in the store.

 

Since you mentioned the difference, I just went back and compared again. The POD versions (at least the covers), don't feel significantly thinner than the APG I have. However they seem more flexible, which I'm attributing to whatever "coating" is on the non-POD book cover.

 

I still agree with you and gave a "Recommended" for both books I bought.

I compared it versus Champions Complete; Hero System Skills flexes much more easily, which seems to translate to "flimsy" to my mind. Comparing the "feel" of the cover widths, the CC cover "feels" thicker. Putting the covers edge to edge, the CC cover still seems thicker.

 

But ultimately, this is most likely just personal preference, and won't impact the actual quality of the book. Paper "thinness" and paper "quality" are not the same thing, after all.

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  • 3 months later...

Note: This review is on the copy I got.

 

1) Hero System Skills POD has a new blue cover, probably to fit in with the rest of the line.

 

If this is true, I will definitely need to pick it up!

 

I'm surprised the two core volumes never made it to POD (in softcover form, of course). I guess CC replaced 6E1/6E2 as the official ruleset before the latter could make it to POD. Bummer. #lostOpportunity

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  • 3 weeks later...

If this is true, I will definitely need to pick it up!

 

I'm surprised the two core volumes never made it to POD (in softcover form, of course). I guess CC replaced 6E1/6E2 as the official ruleset before the latter could make it to POD. Bummer. #lostOpportunity

 

I don't see why the two core volumes couldn't be put up as POD. It's simply a choice for Hero Games and as I understand would involve only a small amount of work to format them as softcover black-and-white. 

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I'm assuming they don't want to create marketplace confusion as to what constitutes the official rules. CC completely supplants the 6E1/6E2 books and represents the current state of the rules. For those who already own the hardcover books, Champions Complete is not exactly complete. However, anything in 6E1/6E2 that isn't in CC is considered deprecated and, ostensibly, "unofficial" now. And yet, the logo on all the covers say "Sixth Edition," so you can imagine how confusing that would be to someone who doesn't know the convoluted history of the system. Imagine how upset a new buyer would be if they spent money on softcover versions of 6E1/6E2 only to find that those rules aren't the current rules anymore.

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  • 4 years later...

I just ordered HERO System Skills POD + PDF from RPGNow. It was the only "blue" HERO System book I was missing.

 

Update (edit): I received my hardcopy Print-On-Demand (POD) HERO System Skills in the mail today. I have to say that the DriveThruRPG / RPGNow quality has improved immensely. The binding seems stronger than before, and the text is clear, not fuzzy (seemingly out of focus) like I've experienced with prior POD books from DriveThruRPG.

 

I'm still not satisfied by the POD quality of DriveThruRPG / RPGNow hardcovers. I think the binding leaves lots of be desired for books that are handled and used very frequently. However, I don't believe that any of the current HERO titles available for POD are offered in hardcover editions.

 

I'm happy to have a copy of HERO System Skills in softcover (and accompanying PDF). It was the last 6th edition HERO System book that I needed to complete my library of 6th edition titles.

Edited by borbetomagnus
Update after receiving printed book
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  • 3 years later...

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