pming Posted February 26, 2018 Report Share Posted February 26, 2018 Hiya! Question: If money was no object, what books would everyone recommend for an experienced RPG'er looking to get the "Full Delux Experience" of the system? Thanks! PS: I'm a very experienced RPG'er with 38+ years under my belt (and about 38+ pounds above it!... ), mostly as DM. I'm just a newb with the HERO system is all... Paul L. Ming NateH415 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyper-Man Posted February 26, 2018 Report Share Posted February 26, 2018 You might want to look at this thread. http://www.herogames.com/forums/topic/92945-need-more-hero/ Welcome to HERO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Democracy Posted February 26, 2018 Report Share Posted February 26, 2018 Deluxe experience? It depends on what you want... i would want want the full sixth edition, both blue books. That is the key starting point. I would then decide if I wanted to learn by playing superheroes, fantasy, sci-fi, or pulp. I would get the relevant book for that, Champions, Pulp Hero, Star Hero etc. I would then buy a campaign book. I would go superheroes and get the Book of the Machine to give you a core for a campaign. That is all you “need”. All kinds of stuff you might “want”. I would get the 5th edition ultimate books (brick, speedster, etc) to get the feel for different archetypes and how to model them in the system. I would also get a villains book - you learn a lot by seeing how other people build stuff. Finally I would buy Villainy Amok. That is a treatise on building a superhero adventure. Lots of folk will recommend Hero Designer. I would wait until I had learned the system, really internalised how the system works. After that I think HD is a great tool that takes effort out of GMing. Doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsatow Posted February 26, 2018 Report Share Posted February 26, 2018 I would suggesting, for a bare minimum a Complete book and one of the martial arts books. My suggestion for a supers game would be Champions Complete and the Ultimate Martial Artist. I suggest the Ultimate Martial Artist because it has several maneuvers not in the Completes/6e1/6e2 and a lot of real world styles that players gravitate to. For a deluxe list, BUY EVERYTHING! Muahahahahahaha! Seriously, beyond the two, buy what you think you might benefit from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beast Posted February 26, 2018 Report Share Posted February 26, 2018 5 minutes ago, Doc Democracy said: Deluxe experience? It depends on what you want... i would want want the full sixth edition, both blue books. That is the key starting point. I would then decide if I wanted to learn by playing superheroes, fantasy, sci-fi, or pulp. I would get the relevant book for that, Champions, Pulp Hero, Star Hero etc. I would then buy a campaign book. I would go superheroes and get the Book of the Machine to give you a core for a campaign. That is all you “need”. All kinds of stuff you might “want”. I would get the 5th edition ultimate books (brick, speedster, etc) to get the feel for different archetypes and how to model them in the system. I would also get a villains book - you learn a lot by seeing how other people build stuff. Finally I would buy Villainy Amok. That is a treatise on building a superhero adventure. Lots of folk will recommend Hero Designer. I would wait until I had learned the system, really internalised how the system works. After that I think HD is a great tool that takes effort out of GMing. Doc I would add the following Strike Force (for more campaign goodness) Hero System Martial Arts (pretty much every genre has some kind of hand to hand fighting) now depending on what genres you want to play I would recommend the following Hero system Equipment Guide(works for just about any genre) Grimmore(spells for fantasy) Super powers(for a supers game Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost-angel Posted February 26, 2018 Report Share Posted February 26, 2018 My 'Get All The Important Stuff' list of Hero Books: 6E1 and 6E2 - main core books with all the options, explanations, and concepts. Advanced Players Guide 1 & 2 - lots of extra pieces to help with some of the more esoteric and/or complex ideas. Martial Arts - expanding and adding onto the combat aspect, creating even more variety. Equipment Guide, Grimoire, and Bestiary - these are just time savers, really. Find the following Genre Books as they are some of the best guides to tropes, archetypes, and story telling you can find: Fantasy & Star Hero (either 5th or 6th Edition, it's not the builds that matter, but the advice) Pulp Hero - this is just too comprehensive a guide not to have it. (5E Book, advice still goes, builds still work) Post-Apocalyptic Hero - just an all around good guide on how to run a game after the world ends. Teem Champions (5E book, but still some good stuff in here) Some books I just really enjoyed as resources: Worlds Of Empire (time saver on planets) Lucha Libre Hero Ultimate Base (for when you really need more information on buildings and Very Large Vehicles) Tuala Morn (great setting) Book Of The Empress (I just think she's the best villain Hero Games has created) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Walsh Posted February 26, 2018 Report Share Posted February 26, 2018 The thing about HERO System is, it’s all there in the core book, or it’s stuff made using the core book, or it’s someone’s extrapolations from the core book, or it’s generic info you can get from multiple sources (like a treatise on a given genre). All you need is the core book. The current core book is Champions Complete (or you can get Fantasy HERO Complete if you’re more likely to start with the fantasy genre than the supers genre). If you want official rulings on the various questions that inevitably come up about any system, get 6e1 and 6e2. If you want more extrapolations, get the Advanced Player’s Guides. If you want an exploration of the martial arts system, with more edge case stuff covered, get Martial Arts. If you want prebuilt powers and equipment, get the Powers and Equipment books. And so on. Me? I’d just get Champions Complete and start there. You’ll know what you need next (if anything) once you’ve read and used that for a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost-angel Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 Why Champions Complete? Why not Fantasy Complete? Why choose that one over the other? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja-Bear Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 Well if money was no object, then I’d buy all 6th ed. books ? Hyper-Man 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsatow Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 18 hours ago, ghost-angel said: Why Champions Complete? Why not Fantasy Complete? Why choose that one over the other? Most of everything that is in Fantasy Complete can be calculated with Champions Complete. Originally, the game was not a tool box of genres but the original game was Champions, a super hero game system. IIRC, in the 90s, it became a generic role playing game. So by default, a lot of us will say Champions Complete or the 2 big volumes 6e1/6e2 either because it is the basis for everything and everything can derive from those rules or from just plain favoritism. But really, if you are just using the HERO system only for fantasy, by all means just get Fantasy Hero Complete. I will still suggest Ultimate Martial Artists just for the expanded martial arts package. (Side note: If you do just do Fantasy, I would also suggest the HS Beastiary to save you some work. Not necessary but time saving.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher R Taylor Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 I recommend Champions Complete, unless you want a Fantasy game then start with Fantasy Hero Complete. WHen you're comfortable and at ease with the system, tracking down the big books for Hero 6th will answer a lot of questions and offer lots of interesting options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesguy Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 I would also recommend getting Hero Designer and the associated additional packages for the above books. This will make creating characters much easier. Shameless_plug ON I would recommend Hero Combat Manager to help run the combat. Shameless_plug OFF Christopher R Taylor 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zslane Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 For learning the system, I would get Champions Complete. Then, get the entire 6th edition Core Library for after you've absorbed the fundamentals (from Champions Complete) and know for sure you like the system enough to want to devote your life to it like we have. Hyper-Man 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pming Posted March 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2018 Hiya! Thanks guys! I think I got myself a nice, fat Check Out Cart from RPGNow.com of...well... a lot of things (about $615 worth; multiple copies of a few, all in Print). I figure that should do it for now. Thanks again! Paul L. Ming Hyper-Man, Christopher R Taylor and Joe Walsh 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted March 7, 2018 Report Share Posted March 7, 2018 On 2/26/2018 at 12:24 PM, pming said: Hiya! Question: If money was no object, what books would everyone recommend for an experienced RPG'er looking to get the "Full Delux Experience" of the system? Thanks! PS: I'm a very experienced RPG'er with 38+ years under my belt (and about 38+ pounds above it!... ), mostly as DM. I'm just a newb with the HERO system is all... Paul L. Ming 23 minutes ago, pming said: Hiya! Thanks guys! I think I got myself a nice, fat Check Out Cart from RPGNow.com of...well... a lot of things (about $615 worth; multiple copies of a few, all in Print). I figure that should do it for now. Thanks again! Paul L. Ming ... I guess "money's no object" wasn't hyperbole. Congratulations! I hope you find your Hero gaming experience to be everything you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja-Bear Posted March 7, 2018 Report Share Posted March 7, 2018 Let me add that I just got Champions Powers. Worth the money! Btw feel free to ask any questions about the system but be prepared for about a dozen different answers ? Hyper-Man 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steriaca Posted March 8, 2018 Report Share Posted March 8, 2018 16 hours ago, Ninja-Bear said: Let me add that I just got Champions Powers. Worth the money! Btw feel free to ask any questions about the system but be prepared for about a dozen different answers ? Yes. Hero System is the home of "there is a million ways to do special effect x". dsatow 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja-Bear Posted March 8, 2018 Report Share Posted March 8, 2018 1 hour ago, steriaca said: Yes. Hero System is the home of "there is a million ways to do special effect x". Except my way is the best/right/only. ? dsatow 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Democracy Posted March 8, 2018 Report Share Posted March 8, 2018 He has bought a LOT of words guys, not sure he will be in a position to read more for quite some time.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steriaca Posted March 8, 2018 Report Share Posted March 8, 2018 9 hours ago, Ninja-Bear said: Except my way is the best/right/only. ? Everyone believes there way is the best way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted March 8, 2018 Report Share Posted March 8, 2018 I always try to throw more than one build suggestion. Because "best" is so subjective, I want to distinguish between what's best for me, and what's best for someone else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsatow Posted March 8, 2018 Report Share Posted March 8, 2018 10 hours ago, Doc Democracy said: He has bought a LOT of words guys, not sure he will be in a position to read more for quite some time.... He just needs to buy speed reading. At 4 points for x10 and 2 pts for each x10 multiple, its a steal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja-Bear Posted March 9, 2018 Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 9 hours ago, steriaca said: Everyone believes there way is the best way. So we’re in agreement then, my ways the best! ? I do enjoy seeing a seeing a build I did myself and then see someone like Steve Long do the same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zslane Posted March 9, 2018 Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 I take a different approach. I think to myself WWAAD: What would Aaron Allston do? (if he were alive) and then I build that. Ninja-Bear and Brian Stanfield 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyper-Man Posted March 10, 2018 Report Share Posted March 10, 2018 On 3/7/2018 at 3:14 AM, pming said: Hiya! Thanks guys! I think I got myself a nice, fat Check Out Cart from RPGNow.com of...well... a lot of things (about $615 worth; multiple copies of a few, all in Print). I figure that should do it for now. Thanks again! Paul L. Ming We would love to see pics of what you got. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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