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Post-Apocalyptic Hero: worth picking up if you use CC?


Altair

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So, I have a deep and enduring love of Post-Apocalyptic settings. The Fallout series, Mad Max in all of its gonzo absurd glory, Wasteland (which IMO, kind of splits the conceptual difference between those first two), the weirdness of Nier, and so on. 

 

I've got a setting that I've been working on for 5 or so years -- when I remember it exists -- that I've never run anything with. Partially because endless tinkering is a thing, and partially because I never really found a system that really clicked for me. One of the types of games I wanted to run was a scrappy, survival-based game with lots of cover-based combat, drawing heavily on the excellent Jagged Alliance 2 in terms of what I wanted combat gameplay to be like. 

 

GURPS was recommended, and it's one of those relationships that just didn't work out. I'd been hacking Shadowrun 4th, then 5th into a shape that I liked, but not too seriously. Enter my recent discovery of/infatuation with Champions Complete. 

 

So! I've heard a lot of great stuff about PAH, but it's been mostly of the generic "it is so goooooood" variety. What makes it awesome? How much of it is 5th edition-specific mechanical bits? I've heard it's useful as a general campaign/genre guide - if I went the opposite direction of Hero and ran something in Apocalypse World, would it still be useful from a setting/world-building perspective?

 

Related tangent: Heroic-level games: what's different? Advice? Maybe an existing thread that addressed that question thoroughly long ago?

 

Danke!

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More info can be found here:

http://rpggeek.com/rpg/11090/post-apocalyptic-hero-hero-system-5

http://rpggeek.com/rpgitem/52337/post-apocalyptic-hero

http://rpggeek.com/thread/437154/everything-you-could-want-end-world-and-more

 

re:  Heroic vs. Superheroic

 

In a Heroic game characters do NOT pay character points for mundane equipment like a sword or a gun.

*Found equipment works just like it does in D&D.

 

In a Superheroic game characters PAY for every ability they want to consistently use even if it is built as a 'focus' that can potentially be taken away or destroyed temporarily.  If a character 'finds' a super-weapon at a villains base and wants to use it during the adventure that is usually ok (in fact it might be necessary depending on the adventure).  If they want to add it to their personal arsenal that they carry with them AFTER that adventure they will need to spend XP to 'purchase' the abilities of the item.

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Thanks! The links are pretty much in-line with what I've found online; very few people talking about PAH, and those who have something to say praising it to the heavens. The sole review on Amazon is pretty sterling, from someone who isn't using it to play Hero.

 

Thanks for the clarification; I think I have a pretty good grasp on the mechanical differences between Super/Heroic (Heroic also trends toward much smaller numbers across the board if I'm not mistaken) now; I'm actually more curious about qualitative differences. Also, balance from a GM perspective. 

 

I'll dig around the forums, I'm sure this has been discussed ad nauseam

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PAH is one of my favorite 5ed books! One of the criticisms that has been leveled at many of the Hero genre books is that by trying to cover all the bases, they wind up being vague to the point of uselessness. I don't quite agree with that assessment myself, but I can see how others might feel that way. Conversely, many of the setting books haven't sold well because (I think) Hero appeals so strongly to Do-It-Youselfers; if you want to play in, say, Terran Empire as written, great - but if that's not the exact game you want to play, most of the "crunch" in the setting book will be of limited use to you.*

 

But PA is such a diverse genre that advice on how to run a Mad Max game would be of little use if you want to run a Thundarr game. By offering several mini campaign settings, Steve was able to highlight the differences and similarities between different possible settings. So even if you don't want to use any of the mini-settings as-written, seeing so many different ones side-by-side really helps highlight which "settings" you'll want to use for your game.

 

In summary: PAH is invaluable if you want to run Post-Apoc in Hero, and has some great ideas if you want to run PA in something else.

 

* That's a gross over-simplification of a much longer topic, of course.

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Thanks for the clarification; I think I have a pretty good grasp on the mechanical differences between Super/Heroic (Heroic also trends toward much smaller numbers across the board if I'm not mistaken) now; I'm actually more curious about qualitative differences. Also, balance from a GM perspective.

To me, heroic-vs-superheroic is about how do you want the game to feel. Superheroic games are much more "comic book" or "cartoon" in feel, and tend to emphasize what looks/sounds cool over what makes any kind of rational sense. Heroic games may have their outlandish/fantastical elements, but they generally at least attempt to give a nod towards some version of reality.

 

Also: in heroic games, character may have powers, but they don't tend to be defined by those powers the same way superheroes are. So if Urban Fantasy Guy wants to also carry a pistol, no big deal; but Champions Wizard Guy would never dream of it, because the gun is not part of Who He Is.

 

Despite the names, it's possible to play superhero games using "heroic" rules, or vice-versa. But the superheroic conventions are most common in the superhero genre, no surprise. Hope that helps.

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Very cool. 

 

One of the things that I definitely identify with PA is that "grounded" feel. Even when it makes no gorram sense, yeah? Like Mad Max. Any "Road Warrior" type game completely ignores that fuel is going to be worthless in 6 months; about a year for Diesel. But whatevs, it's science fiction - that's one of the things that you accept as a conceit of the setting. 

 

But one of the things that Hero does exceptionally well, is granularity; specifics. A gritty PA game feels like a good fit for heroic level play as described. 

 

Thanks!

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I distinctly remember loving Post Apocalypse Hero, but at the time I was such a Hero fanboy that it might have been because "it was Hero."  Now I just have to remember if I have a hard copy or PDF and go find it. Might help with the anticipation of waiting for Fallout 4.

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think that Champions Powers has all of the powers from all of the 5th edition Ultimate books, updated for 6th.  Off the top of my head I'm not aware of any others, though.

 

Ah, OK. I was hoping someone had gone through and systematically updated the templates/powers/etc. in 5e books that weren't themselves updated for 6e.

 

After a quick search, I did find a template update for Dark Champions. I couldn't find any for Pulp Hero or the vehicles books, though.

http://www.herogames.com/forums/store/product/527-dark-champions-6th-edition-templates-pdf/

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