Why the restrictions on house rules in Hall of Champions?

[mhd]

I've been a bit out of the loop regarding HERO, so it's only recently that I came across the Hall of Champions program. And I have to say that I really liked the concept, as I thought it was a neat way to get some content out there, reviving interest in HERO etc.

 

But I have to say that I don't quite get the reason for some of the guidelines. As this might interest others, I thought I'll post this here and not just do it privately by email. If that's not appropriate, feel free to delete this (and hopefully respond via PM then )

 

So, if I'm reading the "Rules Variants" clause the right way, I'm not allowed at all to publish variant rules for the official settings, and if I make my own world, the relevant section has to be the first thing in the book, completely? So no short "this product highly encourages the house rules given in the Appendix section" notice?

 

This means that I can't do e.g. "Iron Age Guns & Gunplay for Champions" at all, and if I have my own "Claws & Katanas" world, such content would have to be first, with the obligatory bad prose intro and setting description being pushed way back.

 

Is it assumed that bad house rules would "dilute the brand" more than bad adventures/settings?

[eepjr24]

On 3/3/2022 at 11:53 AM, mhd said:

I've been a bit out of the loop regarding HERO, so it's only recently that I came across the Hall of Champions program. And I have to say that I really liked the concept, as I thought it was a neat way to get some content out there, reviving interest in HERO etc.

 

But I have to say that I don't quite get the reason for some of the guidelines. As this might interest others, I thought I'll post this here and not just do it privately by email. If that's not appropriate, feel free to delete this (and hopefully respond via PM then )

 

So, if I'm reading the "Rules Variants" clause the right way, I'm not allowed at all to publish variant rules for the official settings, and if I make my own world, the relevant section has to be the first thing in the book, completely? So no short "this product highly encourages the house rules given in the Appendix section" notice?

 

This means that I can't do e.g. "Iron Age Guns & Gunplay for Champions" at all, and if I have my own "Claws & Katanas" world, such content would have to be first, with the obligatory bad prose intro and setting description being pushed way back.

 

Is it assumed that bad house rules would "dilute the brand" more than bad adventures/settings?

Caveat: If you are looking for an official answer, you might want to try a private message and ask permission to publish the answer. 

 

For me, personally, I am very hesitant of other people's "house rules" as I find them to be generally untested and rife with potential conflicts and unconsidered implications to existing official rules. I also don't like the idea of having published "house rules" because then people use it as a justification to move those same rules into campaigns or settings where it has received even LESS testing than it did in the intended campaign or setting.

 

So I am all in favor of spelling it out very clearly (and early in the book) that these are house rules only, intended for use in this setting only and the reasons for having them in the first place. I don't really see how it is going to detract from a product for people to know up front that the content is not part of the official universe since you are publishing your own setting in the Hero System.

 

- E