Darkhope Posted February 24, 2005 Report Share Posted February 24, 2005 Is there a Hero system character generator somewhere out there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MitchellS Posted February 24, 2005 Report Share Posted February 24, 2005 Re: Character Generator? Yeah it's called Hero Designer and can be found in the online store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dust Raven Posted February 24, 2005 Report Share Posted February 24, 2005 Re: Character Generator? Hero Designer is the official character creation software for the Hero System, and is well worth the money to get it. They only downside is that it requires you to exort the character to HTML or RTF before printing, which makes things interesting if you want to alter something before printing (adds an extra step or three and the use of a second editing program). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted February 24, 2005 Report Share Posted February 24, 2005 Re: Character Generator? I agree that Hero Designer is excellent software for generating characters (including vehicles and bases) and building superpowers/spells/equipment etc. without worrying about the math. It isn't cheap, though. For something more basic but free, I'd suggest looking in this section of the "Free Stuff" part of the website. You'll find several spreadsheets which help with calculations for character generation and other elements of the game. If you have any interest in random chargen (for whipping up quick NPCs, starting characters for new players and the like), you should check out this website for a very good random generator for supers and fantasy characters. The resulting characters are usually quite playable with a little tweaking. You could also try this software from "Free Stuff", based on the random character generator from the Champions genre book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doppler Posted February 25, 2005 Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 Re: Character Generator? was using that random chargen roller, and I got a cool insect control guy. Cling, tunnelling, summon insects, some sort of ranged attack, and some added dex and a little armor. Seemed like there was a real intelligence behind it. Then I lost that character while trying to post it here, and everything else has been garbage. Ah well, not unlike what happens when I sit down to devise a new superhero. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobGreenwade Posted February 25, 2005 Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 Re: Character Generator? Hero Designer is the official character creation software for the Hero System, and is well worth the money to get it. They only downside is that it requires you to exort the character to HTML or RTF before printing, which makes things interesting if you want to alter something before printing (adds an extra step or three and the use of a second editing program). That's the only functional downside. If you need user support, you need to be careful to not tweak the programmer's rather short and nasty temper, often triggered by telling him he's wrong or unreasonable. I don't know of MetaCreator is still available, but if that can be found it might be a better option. It is/was a multi-system program, and I understand a free 5th Ed Hero template was created for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkhope Posted February 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 Re: Character Generator? thanks Is the 40$ worth it for those that have it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tae Kwon Dan Posted February 25, 2005 Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 Re: Character Generator? I would say the answer is yes. It does things a lot faster and I feel like it helps you learn the character creation system, because you'll start out seeing costs that don't seem right (especially in frameworks) and then can reverse engineer them from the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobGreenwade Posted February 25, 2005 Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 Re: Character Generator? I agree with TKD -- if you can tolerate the few (mostly relatively minor) weaknesses, it's well worth the $40. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted February 25, 2005 Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 Re: Character Generator? It should be mentioned that there is a free demo for HD available in the free stuff section. It doesn't allow you to save (or read character files) but the bulk of the character creation functionality is in place. The demo installer will give you HD 2.02 -- you can apply the updates to the demo version just like the regular version, allowing you to see all of the functionality (and bug fixes) that has been added in since the initial release of HDv2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tae Kwon Dan Posted February 25, 2005 Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 Re: Character Generator? Simon makes a good point there. I played with the freeware version of HDv2 for a while before finally deciding to pay the money. I found it to be extremely helpful and eventually bought it, but since the test drive option is available I would recommend that everyone does that before making a purchase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proditor Posted February 25, 2005 Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 Re: Character Generator? I'd say it's absolutely worth the outlay in cash. I recently wrote a couple of adventures that had, respectively, 10 character/vehicle write-ups and 13 character/vehicle/base/AI's....I got them done in roughly a fifth of the time it would have taken me to do them longhand. I get more use out of HD than any single book at the moment, but that sort of makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkhope Posted February 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 Re: Character Generator? Does it explaint he point costs for new powers? Cause I'm oldschool champions. I thought champions was dead 10 years ago till I saw a 5th edition book for sale in my hobby store. I was amazed o.O I noticed some costs for powers have changed so don't know them by heart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted February 25, 2005 Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 Re: Character Generator? Does it explaint he point costs for new powers? Cause I'm oldschool champions. I thought champions was dead 10 years ago till I saw a 5th edition book for sale in my hobby store. I was amazed o.O I noticed some costs for powers have changed so don't know them by heart. It will show you the costs "real-time" as you make changes to a power (and show the value of any Advantages/Limitations as appropriate)....but it won't explain the break down....it just takes care of that for you. It will explain why various Advantages or Limitations are not available for a given Power construct (e.g. "Damage Shield can only be applied to Constant Powers"), but that doesn't sound like what you're looking for..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proditor Posted February 25, 2005 Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 Re: Character Generator? I'm not sure what you mean by explain. It does show you the power cost, real and active, as you buy dice in it and add advantages or limitations. And the cost alters as you click on things so you do not have to wait for the finished product on the character sheet to know what it is going to cost for a given power. In part, that is one of the reasons why HD is soooo much faster for me. If I know I want a given power to cost X points, I can fiddle with the power in the construction phase and then click "done" when I get what I want. And....no math! It's a winner all around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkhope Posted February 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 Re: Character Generator? Well the math isn't hard at all, its only fractions. Take your points multiply by numerator and divide by denominator. 30 active with +1/2 = 45 points. 45 with -1 lim = 22.5 points. I mean does it show you that 1D6 Transfer is still worth 15 points. etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eosin Posted February 25, 2005 Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 Re: Character Generator? Hero Designer is an outstanding program and possibly the single best char generator that I have ever used (Metacreator, Whatever the old 4th ED generator was named, and dozens of D&D char gen programs). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proditor Posted February 25, 2005 Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 Re: Character Generator? Well the math isn't hard at all' date=' its only fractions. Take your points multiply by numerator and divide by denominator. 30 active with +1/2 = 45 points. 45 with -1 lim = 22.5 points. I mean does it show you that 1D6 Transfer is still worth 15 points. etc...[/quote'] Heh, I've been doing the math for 20+ years now, but it's always when one doesn't have to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted February 25, 2005 Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 Re: Character Generator? Well the math isn't hard at all' date=' its only fractions. Take your points multiply by numerator and divide by denominator. 30 active with +1/2 = 45 points. 45 with -1 lim = 22.5 points. I mean does it show you that 1D6 Transfer is still worth 15 points. etc...[/quote'] Heh...the math can get quite complex. Take a Compound Power with each component power having different Modifiers placed on it and then put the whole thing into an Elemental Control. The calculation for the final cost is non-trivial (though it does still just involve multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction). HD will show you what a given power costs (Active Cost and Real Cost). As you increase the levels or change the options on the Power, it will update the costs as appropriate. You would tell it that you want a 3d6 Transfer with the 0 END Advantage. It would take care of the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted February 25, 2005 Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 Re: Character Generator? Well the math isn't hard at all' date=' its only fractions. Take your points multiply by numerator and divide by denominator. 30 active with +1/2 = 45 points. 45 with -1 lim = 22.5 points. I mean does it show you that 1D6 Transfer is still worth 15 points. etc...[/quote'] It should also be noted that HD will take care of the Hero System rounding rules for you....which don't quite follow what one would call "normal mathematics" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkhope Posted February 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 Re: Character Generator? Heh...the math can get quite complex. Take a Compound Power with each component power having different Modifiers placed on it and then put the whole thing into an Elemental Control. The calculation for the final cost is non-trivial (though it does still just involve multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction). yeah times like that can get tedious sometimes. When you have advantages on a facet in a EC with on lime and the second facet is linked to first faced, and the whole thing has an overall lim. Its best not to calculate that late a night Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tae Kwon Dan Posted February 25, 2005 Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 Re: Character Generator? I think I see what you're asking Darkhope. Yes, you can see what it costs, because each power starts with no advantages, adders, or limitations. So plain old RKA will jump up by 15 points each time you add a d6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citizen Keen Posted February 25, 2005 Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 Re: Character Generator? Hero Designer is worth the money. I bought v1 shortly before v2, so I paid $60 and it was worth it. It does "explain" in that, sometimes I forget how much a power costs (say, Transform) per d6, so I can just open HD instead of getting out of my chair and going and getting FREd. But it's not a substitute - to explain a lot of changes, you need FREd. It's really not worth much without the newest rules upon which it is built. It's a great program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted February 25, 2005 Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 Re: Character Generator? thanks Is the 40$ worth it for those that have it? yes. and the official character packs are worth it as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citizen Keen Posted February 25, 2005 Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 Re: Character Generator? Haven't bought any - I'm one of those stubborn types who buckles down and translates them myself. Grrr.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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