Is 6e worth buying if my last Fantasy Hero was 1e?

[Gilifron]

Hi folks

 

First post so be gentle!

 

After many years (like 35+) I have found all my RPGs in the loft, retrieved them and sorted them. One of them is FH 1e rules with the Bestiary. Doing my research I have found the 6e version is/was a 482 page tome. I always liked FH for the total freedom it gave you and am keen to write up my fantasy world without elves and halflings (although I like dwarves so they're in!)

 

My question is - is the 6e 482 page tome worth buying?

 

Thank you for your thoughts

 

John

 

[Alcamtar]

[For the TL;DR skip to the bullet points at the end of this post]

 

 

If you like 6E, then yes. Personally I have almost fully abandoned it and have been thinking of running a 1e campaign as-is, because the flavor and tone and even the rules are quite different. I liked FH 4e a lot too.

 

I bought the 6e books and 10 years later I still haven't read them. It's just too much text, too much weight to cart to a game store or someone's house to use as a reference, and the books are so heavy they are falling out of their binding. So they stay on the shelf and rarely get pulled out to look up a rule, though honestly it's a lot quicker to just pull up a PDF and use the search function. And as little as I have used the 6E core books, I don't think I've used the 6e Fantasy Hero at all. I flipped through once after I bought it and looked at the pretty pictures, then put it on the shelf and it stayed there. There's nothing inside that I need. Hero is a do-it-yourself system, and I can already do all I need in 1e or 4e. 5e and 6e may be interesting commentary and house rules on the basic system, but are not anything I need or find any value in.

 

1e is just the right length and tone for me. I know the book and can find things easily. I have read it cover to cover many times, but only used 5e and 6e as reference books to look up specific things that had changed. After a while I asked myself: why? Why go to the trouble to swap the rules when 1e already does what I want. There are some rules in 4e I like to pull in, like VPPs; 5e added no real value, but at least it was compatible and therefore painless to use. 6e requires me to cross-reference every second rule to see if it changed, but the changes strike me as merely cosmetic, change-for-the-sake-of-selling-an-update with no real benefit to game play.

 

I think the 4e rules are the ones I remember best, I have them practically memorized; but 1e is my mental blueprint for how the game works and plays, and is the first place I go when I need to look something up. It's the book I turn to for inspiration. It set the pattern that every edition of Fantasy Hero followed and reprinted. In terms of Fantasy Hero I think the first edition was the best and most focused, and each edition after that has been less useful to me than the one preceding it.

 

One major (and frustrating) difference is that things get renamed and reclassified with each edition. Recently I went through all FH editions (1e, 4d, 5e, 6e, FHC) and compared them. From 1e to 4e a ton of powers and skills changed their names, and more than a few rules changed. The basic 14 attributes are the same, but everything else changes randomly. And then every edition after that, things move around; skill become powers and then become skills again; other things change from skills to perks to talents to powers; some things disappear, only to skip and edition and reappear again under a different name.

 

Examples (not exhaustive):

• SKILLS. Charioteering and Sailing were separate skills that became Transport Familiarity; Courtier skill became High Society; Artisan skill became PS; Brawling became the Hand Attack power; Propecy skill was removed in 4E, then added back in 5E under the name Divination, then removed again in 6E; Spell Research became Inventor; the Luck skill because a Talent in 4E and then a Power in 5E.
• POWERS. Shield because Armor in 4E/5E and then Resistant Protection in 6E. Shadow and Silence became Darkness. Noncorporeal became Desolidification. Blast became Energy Blast in 4E/5E and then Blast again in 6E. Mind Attack became Ego Attack in 4E/5E and then Mental Blast in 6E. Perceive became Enhanced Senses, Bind became Entangle, Dazzle became Flash, Ward became Force Wall and then Barrier; Sounds became Images; Cloak became Invisibility; Adapt became Life Support. Haste became Running. Heal got folded into Aid and then separated back out into Healing.
• Some powers like Destroy and Create and Analyze were removed altogether.
• MODIFIERS. Aura became Damage Shield. Constant became Continuous and then became Duration Advantage and then became Constant again.
• Some modifiers like Fast and Easy and Permanence and No Magic Roll were removed because the rules changed to be more generic.
• LIMITATIONS: Burnout became Activation and then Activation Roll and then Requires a Roll.
• FRAMEWORKS: Magic Pool (1E) was renamed to Variable Power Pool in 4E.
• DISDADVANTAGES: Friend became Dependent NPC.

Personally I find the older names shorter, more intuitive, and they make for shorter stat blocks. As I said this list is not exhaustive, though I have a doc (also probably not exhaustive) if you are interested. There were rules changes; for example in 1E the standard spell requires a magic roll and takes a full phase, and these changed in 4E. The whole thing with "Create" spells disappeared in 4E.

 

The only pattern I can discern to all this randomness is increasingly generic-ness and decreasing balance. More options mean more ways to get around rules limitations, especially with 6E which has ways to circumvent nearly any limitation in the system. You can't just say make a character with X points like you could in 1e, the GM need to review every line of the character sheet and consider if it might break something in the campaign. 1e was specifically designed and balanced for Heroic Fantasy; the fantasy flavor was baked right into the names of skills and powers, and the rules were tightly focused on the needs of fantasy. Workarounds were rare and expensive. In 4e it was all genericized so it doesn't feel like fantasy anymore, it feels bland and generic; the rules were genericized to be more universal. 6E doubled down on this and is far more generic than 4E was. Jack of all trades but master of none. That trend continues with each edition, so that 6e is the blandest, least focused, and least balanced version yet. It has more options, yes; but also effectively fewer options, because now instead of using your imagination, you look up the official options and rules in the exhaustive list of "anything anyone might ever want to do with Hero." It's already been done, no need to invent anything or use judgment, just look it up or ask for an official ruling. IMO that sucks the heart and soul right out of Hero, and takes away all my desire and a joy in playing.

 

Honestly, when I ran 6E Fantasy Hero, I mostly used FH 1e as a reference and sourcebook at the table; I even converted the items and monsters from 1e to 6e because I found them more evocative and inspiring. When I had a 6e-specific rules question I looked it up in Fantasy Hero Complete, or searched a 6E pdf. And I finally realized that if what I really want to play is 1e (and it is) then why am I swapping the rules from a different and incompatible game system? (Especially one that is similar enough to be confusing, but different enough to be incompatible. It's the worst-case scenario.)

 

Ah well, so much for my thoughts and experiences. I'm just an aging gamer unhappy to see his favorite neighborhood park bulldozed and turned into a parking garage.

 

So, not trying to start an edition war, or just complain. Okay, maybe complain a little. But you asked 1e vs 6e and I can't answer that without relating my experiences and feelings, so you can decide if your thoughts are similar, or if your needs are different than mine.

 

If you like 1E FH and really want to play that, then play that. If you like the flavor of 1E, none of the other editions are going to even come close to delivering that IMO, they are all generic and mix supers and modern and sci-fi in with your fantasy, while removing nearly all the fantasy flavor. Then trying to add it back in with separate FH that recommend you rename the skills and powers back to the old 1E names... but who actually does that? It would just be confusing. But the newer editions are great if you want to use the same rules to play multiple campaigns in multiple genres. (All I ever used Hero for was fantasy.)

My advice:

• If you loved the 1E setting and rules, then play 1E.
  • I switched to 4E when it came out because I wanted the VPP rules and some other stuff; but then I later learned that in the 1E Spellbook and 1E Magic items books, a lot of that stuff (such as variable power pools) was added to 1e anyway. And you can also pull stuff from Champions 3E.
  • if you do play 1E, then I recommend the PDFs of Magic Items and the Spell Book: some of my favorite fantasy supplements for any game ever. The Magic items book in particular has some wonderfully creative stuff in it. And they have rules corrections and additions for 1E.
• If you loved the 1E setting but want to update to "standard" rules, play 4E and convert the stuff over. The rules are still small and pretty compatible, and conversion will be painless.
  • If you try 4E, you'll probably want the 4E Core Rules and the Fantasy Hero book. I liked the 4E FH book, it was readable and full of good content. Also check out the FH Companion I and Companion II.

If you disliked the 1E setting, or don't care, or have your own unique snowflake setting, use 4E/5E/6E because they are generic. 1E is strongly flavored like chocolate. But it is easier to add your own subtle unique flavor to vanilla (4E+). Use...

• 4E if you want rules familiarity, and small rules that get out of the way and leave room for you to be creative.
• 5E if you want rules familiarity, but very complete rules that don't leave any questions or things for the GM to have to adjudicate.
  • I didn't particularly like the 5E Fantasy Hero supplement, it was too long and dry and packed with stuff I didn't care about. But it may be useful.
  • The 5E bestiary is good. There were a boatload of userul sourcebooks published for 5E. If you want off-the-shelf material 5E is your best bet, by a long shot.
  • 5E is the GURPS of Hero editions: a freezer full of TV dinners, just heat and serve.
• 6E if you don't care about familiarity (or barely remember 1E), and want a very complete rules set similar to 5E. My main dislike of 6E is that I am very familiar with the older edition and the changes seem arbitrary and pointless; and it is overly generic and long-winded. But if you've mostly forgotten and your rules knowledge is rusty, 6E won't be any more difficult to  learn than any other edition.
  • Work mentioning that the 6E FH supplement is beautiful and full color. IMO you don't need the core rules in physical form, they are more useful in PDF, but the FH printed book is pretty nice. And hardback so it should be fairly durable.
• Fantasy Hero Complete if you want 6E rules but a smaller "focused" rulebook like 1E. It is still generic, but it omits all the non-fantasy genre stuff like Computer Programming, so it's at least a step in the right direction.
  • Use this with the 6E bestiary and other sourcebooks, though you will eventually want the full 6E PDFs because this is still missing a few things.

Now that you are thoroughly confused, I bid you adieu! 😇

 

[Christopher R Taylor]

The game plays basically the same, although more options have been made available and character creation is slightly different.  The various editions have added many more powers and skills letting you create even more interesting and impressive spells and fleshed out characters.  Cost structures have changed as well, making powers like Transform much more flexible.  I'd advise at least taking a look and picking out what you like to adapt to Fantasy Hero 1 even if you don't care for some of the new changes.

[Chris Goodwin]

14 hours ago, Gilifron said:

My question is - is the 6e 482 page tome worth buying?

 

It should be noted that the 482 page Fantasy Hero 6e book is not the complete game; you'd need one of the core rulesets (6e1/6e2, Basic, Champions Complete, or Fantasy Hero Complete). 

[GDShore]

My new campaign will be mostly, FH1e, but I am adding some 6e stuff, some D&D and some C&S (Chivalry & Sorcery). Use what fits your soul best and run long with it. Remember also that we now have 50 years of RPG history to draw on. I once tried to collect all of the RPG systems published, I stopped when I passed 30. I could not afford it. 

[Doc Democracy]

If you enjoyed Fantasy HERO in first edition, you can continue to play it.  HERO has been on a journey, going from a bunch of related games (Champions, Fantasy HERO, Justice Inc, Danger International) to a generic underlying system HERO System.

 

The big books like 6E Fantasy HERO do not give you a playable game but instead guidance on how to build a variety of fantasy games with different flavours.  One of which might indeed be first edition Fantasy HERO!

 

Unless you are desperate to build the game you want to play (or have an interest in reading round the tropes of various fantasy genres) stick to the books you own.  You will quickly be gaming.

 

I found the Fantasy HERO book useful as I tried to decide how I will package the HERO System for my players to play in Greyhawk.

 

Doc

3 hours ago, Alcamtar said:

If you like 6E, then yes. Personally I have almost fully abandoned it and have been thinking of running a 1e campaign as-is, because the flavor and tone and even the rules are quite different. I liked FH 4e a lot too.

 

I quoted just the beginning.  OMG, what a huge post!  🙂

 

@Duke Bushidohas a post size rival!  😁😇

[Gilifron]

6 hours ago, Alcamtar said:

My advice:

• If you loved the 1E setting and rules, then play 1E.
  • I switched to 4E when it came out because I wanted the VPP rules and some other stuff; but then I later learned that in the 1E Spellbook and 1E Magic items books, a lot of that stuff (such as variable power pools) was added to 1e anyway. And you can also pull stuff from Champions 3E.
  • if you do play 1E, then I recommend the PDFs of Magic Items and the Spell Book: some of my favorite fantasy supplements for any game ever. The Magic items book in particular has some wonderfully creative stuff in it. And they have rules corrections and additions for 1E.
•  

 

 

Alcamtar

 

Thank you for a very informative and detailed reply. I think I will stick with 1e and add the two PDFs above. Although I might buy the 6e just to have a reading resource - as you can never have too much of that!

Sincerely, thank you for the effort you put into your reply.

 

John

[Gilifron]

4 hours ago, GDShore said:

My new campaign will be mostly, FH1e, but I am adding some 6e stuff, some D&D and some C&S (Chivalry & Sorcery). Use what fits your soul best and run long with it. Remember also that we now have 50 years of RPG history to draw on. I once tried to collect all of the RPG systems published, I stopped when I passed 30. I could not afford it. 

 

Thanks. After finding all the RPG stuff in the loft I went searching for a local club to join. Which I found and now have DM'd four sessions of D&D 5e which I'm not keen on - it just creates such powerful starting PCs who expect to go up a level after every encounter (well one of mu 2 PCs does!). I can't explain to them the fun of protecting and nurturing weak starting characters and working with your friends to stay alive and the joy of just surviving 😄

 

That's probably why I've gravitated back to FH to design my idea of a humanocentric fantasy world ala Lankhmar or Thieves World.

[LoneWolf]

As Doc said Fantasy Hero does not contain the rules.  All you really need to run a 6^th edition game are the core rules books.  Those contain the actual rules; the other books are more advice on how to run a particular genre.  They usually include some expanded options like more talents and perks that can be helpful but are mostly advice aimed at the GM on how to create a campaign. 

 

Of all game systems the Hero system has had the least amount of changes over the editions.  The basic game play has changed very little over the years.  The most significant changes are mostly in character creation.  Once the character is created the results are very similar to the older versions.  You can use the stat blocks from a creature from almost any edition of the game in another with minimal modifications.  Most of the rule changes affecting game play are more refinements and clarifications on how they work. 

 

Personally, I think the 6^th edition is extremely well written and actually improved on an already great system.  The biggest complaint seems to be the fact that they got rid of figured stats and characters are more expensive.  The lack of figured stats actually allows you to create more precise characters.   Before 6^th edition almost all Fantasy Hero characters ended up buying up their DEX to as high as they could afford. That was the only way to raise your base CV and it raised both of them at once.  Under 6^th edition if you want to be extremely accurate with any attack you simply buy up your OCV. If you to build a defensive character, you can buy up your DCV without increasing DEX or OCV.    6th edition gives you more points so the slight increase in cost is mostly illusion.  Your starting characters will have about the same stats but the point totals will be different.   

[Chris Goodwin]

Before I really started playing in 6th games regularly, first-gen Hero was my favored edition(s).  I was in SETAC and a big proponent of most of the 6th edition changes, but hadn't been in a regular game for years until 2019.  6th edition has grown on me, greatly. 

 

Everything is compatible enough from the beginning until now that you could pick up a character sheet from an arbitrary edition, and almost as is play it in any other arbitrary edition.  When you're sitting at the table, rolling dice and counting hexes, you'd be hard pressed to tell which edition you're playing.  That said, your original books haven't expired, so definitely play what feels right.

 

[Duke Bushido]

The biggest difference you will find is figured characterisitics and a lack of "package deals," if you are only looking at the mechanics.

 

The biggest difference you will find if you are looking at the overall products is that the first edition of Fantasy HERO is a complete and ready-to-play game.  

 

There is so much focus on the system that HERO Games no longer actually makes games.  That pqrt is on you.

 

 

[Doc Democracy]

34 minutes ago, Duke Bushido said:

The biggest difference you will find is figured characterisitics and a lack of "package deals," if you are only looking at the mechanics.

 

The biggest difference you will find if you are looking at the overall products is that the first edition of Fantasy HERO is a complete and ready-to-play game.  

 

There is so much focus on the system that HERO Games no longer actually makes games.  That pqrt is on you.

 

 

 

Hmm. I do believe Duke just said what I said but added detail and did so in fewer words!  Surely that is a first and possibly worth celebrating?!?

2 hours ago, Chris Goodwin said:

Everything is compatible enough from the beginning until now that you could pick up a character sheet from an arbitrary edition, and almost as is play it in any other arbitrary edition. 

 

I endorse this perspective of edition comparisons...

[Scott Ruggels]

No.  6e brings needless complexity.  Just stick with FH 1e and the Bestiary and you8 should be fine.

[Duke Bushido]

3 hours ago, Scott Ruggels said:

No.  6e brings needless complexity.  Just stick with FH 1e and the Bestiary and you8 should be fine.

 

I kind of recommend,the Spell,Book from that era as well.  It has a bit of errata for the magic section in the FH book; it has some additional ideas, and of,course, ir has lots of prepare spells, many at varying power levels.

 

I heartily endorse rolling your own magic, of course, but a pre-filled list can certainly,get you in the game,in a hurry.

 

 

[Doc Democracy]

7 hours ago, Scott Ruggels said:

No.  6e brings needless complexity.  Just stick with FH 1e and the Bestiary and you8 should be fine.

 

I disagree, not about the complexity, but about needless. 

 

1E and 6E are performing entirely different tasks.  1E is giving you a very specific game experience, 6E is giving you the tools to create multiple game experiences. 

 

Now, if you are content with the granted experience 6E is not needed.  If you want to create both Newhon and Greyhawk and Glorantha experiences, then 6E is a better toolbox than 1E.

[Joe Walsh]

6e isn't necessarily better than the Fantasy Hero game you have at doing the things that game already does. It just may be better at running any kind of fantasy game anyone can imagine. But if Fantasy Hero 1e presents the kind of game you plan to run, then there's no need to spend time and money on 6e. Go with what you've got (but yeah, as others have said, the Spell Book is nice because it has some errata, and then Magic Items is fine if you'd like a decent selection of pre-built magic items; both are nice, slim, focused volumes that won't take up much of your time).

 

 

 

 

Edited April 3, 2023 by GM Joe

[assault]

Don't forget that Aaron Allston's Mythic Greece game used 1e FH.
 

You can do a whole lot with 1e.

[Alcamtar]

Mythic Greece was a pretty cool adaptation. What really blew me away for 1E was the Shadow World material, particularly statting up the gods (Lords of Orhan) and other epic characters like the Loremasters and Navigators. They were so over the top, like cosmic level superheroes, it really expanded my perceptions of what you could do with Fantasy Hero. (I do doubt whether any of it was really play tested.)

[Christopher R Taylor]

All those campaign classics series were great, although some were better than others.  Robin Hood, Greece, and Egypt are my favorites.

[Duke Bushido]

10 hours ago, Doc Democracy said:

If you want to create both Newhon and Greyhawk and Glorantha experiences, 

 

The fact That those first two were for the same game, and the fact that the first western I ever played in used Traveller as the base, suggests that a background and mechanics aren't tied together too terribly tightly.    factorinf in the thousands of home brewed settings across the hobby, and it's a lead pipe cinch that replacing the setting is far more about want-to than it is about can-do.

 

One might go so far as to say that the setting is almost exteranneous, especially when one considers how many of our early favorites had no setting at all.

[Doc Democracy]

1 hour ago, Duke Bushido said:

 

The fact That those first two were for the same game, and the fact that the first western I ever played in used Traveller as the base, suggests that a background and mechanics aren't tied together too terribly tightly.    factorinf in the thousands of home brewed settings across the hobby, and it's a lead pipe cinch that replacing the setting is far more about want-to than it is about can-do.

 

One might go so far as to say that the setting is almost exteranneous, especially when one considers how many of our early favorites had no setting at all.

 

OK.  You can use any system to play any setting.  Often using the system you all know is better than any other system for ease of gameplay.

 

However, a well-thought-through system drives and rewards actions that enhance the setting and deters actions that go against the setting mores.

 

Often it comes down to how much effort you want, and need, given your group, to drive the game you want to run.

 

 

[assault]

Another useful source for 1e: Lands of Mystery. (Not coincidentally, also by Aaron Allston.)

While intended for Justice Inc., it works for Fantasy Hero as well. Just drop the adventurers from the 20s-30s aspect. Or perhaps not, if they don't have fancy gear.

Add a bit more magic if you want, but it's not strictly necessary.

Of course you can just run it with JI, adding armour and weapons from FH as required.

Edited April 3, 2023 by assault

[Duke Bushido]

On 4/3/2023 at 2:55 PM, Doc Democracy said:

 

OK.  You can use any system to play any setting. 

 

This I completely agree with.

 

On 4/3/2023 at 2:55 PM, Doc Democracy said:

 

Often using the system you all know is better than any other system for ease of gameplay.

 

 

 

This I absolutely agree with!

 

The scab that has gone unpicked, though, is that sometimes the mechanics of a particular game enforce a flavor.  The discussion has come up before.  Unfortunately, as we are fans of not just the same system, but the same universal system, it isn't a popular topic.

 

Just like "what makes it feel like Greyhawk," sometimes the question has to be answered by referencing unique or quirky mechanics not found outside one particular game system.  (Looking at you, Saving Throw).

 

My example was mostly humorous, but also just a little serious: Claw-Claw-Bite.

 

Claw-Claw-Bite is _ingrained_ into classic D and D settings because it was such a huge part of the suspense of an encounter way back when.  Nowadays, there are probably all kinds of feats and unique class abilities that make CCB meaningless over all.  But back when Greyhawk was the king of settings, it was _critical_.

 

What is it?  Well, the monster gets three attacks.

 

HERO can't do that.  Sure, you could declare that it is a multiple power attack (which never had formal rules until 5e, as far as I can recall.  We just assumed- well, some folks did; others assumed _an_ (which means one) attack ended your turn.  Others assumed it was a single attack action.  Still others figured you could shoot each power at a different target akin to some sort of MPA-as-Sweep.

 

And you could rule "CCB is an MPA," but then your ninja is going to want to know why he can't MPA with Punch-Punch-Kick.

 

Or you could define a massive HKA, take Reduced Penetration but split it three ways instead of two.  You could create a power called "Held Action that costs 30 pts for an extra phase to be used whenever you want, give the monsters two of them and _that's_ how they  CCB more than one target-  ir even define it as a limited no-range autofire but claws and bites so identical damage.  You could sig go the old Combo System we used for our Pitfighter campaign back in the 90s --  all kinds of things that you _could_ do.

 

But every one of them is outside the rules as they are right now, and every one of them requires that you _add something else_ to a famously slow combat system.

 

Again: still totally do-able, but _what else_ 'feels like Greyhawk?'   Well, you can sub a characteristic roll for a saving throw (roll 7 to not die!), but that has other HERO-related problems, since the only way you are going to need a save versus most things isn't necessarily fatal in HERO like it is in DnD.  Poison doesnt just kill,  it does damage, which has to be applied, and within parameters determined by how the poison was built.

 

So so you get a con roll every time?  Free life support versus poison?  Or just for those special occasions when you know the poison is instanty fatal [30d6 NND does BODY].  Of course that has the unitended side effect of ruining being poisoned to any lesser degree: 

 

You have been poisoned!

 

Do I make a Con Save?

 

No; I dont think so-

 

Oh, good.  I will be fine for a while.  Better go look for a medic.

 

So yes: you can simulate the effects of other mechanics, but when the mechanic itself is part of the vibe--  well, only one game-- the one you designed specifically for that vibe- is going to give it to you.

 

I mentioned playing my first Western RPG with Traveller.  Since then, we have played a _lot_ of western HERO, but even in the same setting, the game feels different.  HERO as-is just does not deliver that "combat is lethal" feel the way that Traveller does.  One-shot kills are _Way_ more common in Traveller than in HERO.   You can use Hit Locations if you want- add another step into combat- but Traveller gives you things like "take this 2d+2 damage directly into a randomly determined characteristic whose value was determined by rolling two dice...  All hits are disabling hits- all damage goes directly against a characteristic.

 

Again- you can add in similar things, bur you _are_ adding: going over and above what the rules are in order to force a feel found somewhere else.   It works; I won't pretend I haven't done it myself.  The only thing that you can't recreate by additional rules is a quick-and-dirty feel.

 

Now if you want a _supremely_ lethal western, play Boot Hill (at least the first couple of editions).  We had some of the kindest, most courteous, most chivalrous gun slingers and  lowlifes you ever saw--  everyone was afraid to offend _anyone_.

 

Honestly, if you want a game heavy on social interaction and very light on combat, play Boot Hill!  After their fourth or fifth character, the players will think long and hard about if their character even _wants_ to carry a gun!   

 

the only,game potentially more lethal would be Paranoia, but only if you were playing the day after the GM's wife left him-

 

for _you_.

 

and you brought her to the game.

 

 

sure- lethality is but one tiny facet of a game system; it is simply easy to point out as an example.  There are other things, too.

 

I cast level nine fireball!

 

I cast Ranged Killing Attack!

 

Hiw many dice?

 

I'm not sure.  How many guys where here?  How close together are they?  Oh, crap!  My END is pretty low; let's make it four dice and see what happens, okay?

 

 

 

Edited April 4, 2023 by Duke Bushido

[Doc Democracy]

14 hours ago, Duke Bushido said:

What is it?  Well, the monster gets three attacks.

 

HERO can't do that. 

 

Well, I was thinking of a three attack autofire, with a boost to one of them (the bite).  🙂

 

14 hours ago, Duke Bushido said:

Poison doesnt just kill,  it does damage, which has to be applied, and within parameters determined by how the poison was built.

 

D&D poison has all kinds of effects beyond killing.  I might be inclined, for save versus death, to give certain SFX death effects, and for everyman to have a physical complication, make a CON roll or die when subjected to that SFX.

 

Even for instant death stuff, giving vulnerabilities etc can really dial up the lethality for PCs.

14 hours ago, Duke Bushido said:

I cast level nine fireball!

 

I cast Ranged Killing Attack!

 

Hiw many dice?

 

It is easy to build spells that are all or nothing and to limit the flexibility of mages.

 

I am thinking of mages with very flexible cantrip level magic and fixed spells as they progress through the wizardly "levels".

 

It will not be D&D, don't want to play that, but it should feel like Greyhawk.

 

Would not need 6E to do that, but I think 6E is a better tool than 1E.

 

Doc

[Duke Bushido]

7 hours ago, Doc Democracy said:

 

D&D poison has all kinds of effects beyond killing. 

 

 

In the Greyhawk era, Sir, non-lethal poison meant your DM weak and undeserving of glory.

 

Shame on him.