So why do you play Hero?

[John Desmarais]

Re: So why do you play Hero?

 

HERO would be perfect if the modes of movement were upped so that PCs could out run vehicles and XP awards were increased by 1.5 to 3x the standard amount. That is if you like to play the game the way Steve Long envisions paying points for power tricks and loads and loads of skills.

 

So, what's stopping you from giving out 1.5 to 3x the "standard" XP award? The recomendations in the book are just that, recommendations. (I'm not sure I follow your movemement rules complaint).

[Lord Mhoram]

Re: So why do you play Hero?

 

 

Also, I GREATLY prefer peaked probability distributions. D20, with its flat p.d.f., drives me absolutely batty. I can live with critical failures, but not every f---ing time I turn around. Gimme nd6 any day.

 

When our group tried D&D 3rd (and all of us long term HEROites) one player said after a few sessions, and a series of lousy rolls "Gimme my Bell Curve back!"

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: So why do you play Hero?

 

I loved the freedom, creativity, and solid game mechanics.

 

I know some people complain about fistfulls of D6's, but I like'm.

 

Cheers

 

QM

 

P.S.: Beisides HGDB Members are the most productive, helpful, and generally alround nicest folks around. A real Community yah know.

[Guest Black Lotus]

Re: So why do you play Hero?

 

*Pours a cooler of Gatorade over the Doc*

 

The forums are a major plus for Hero. Lots of creativity here, and little in the way of nastiness.

 

I have noticed a curious phenomenon. Places where more intelligent people tend to gather have cleaner bathrooms. For example, a bookstore usually has a very clean bathroom, with no graffiti all over the stalls or toilet paper strewn everywhere. Whereas, at a truck stop, there may be excrement and other unmentionables spread liberally over various surfaces, graffiti all over the place, a broken-into prophylactic machine, and years of soap scum on the mirror.

 

I notice the same trend with certain message boards. The HERO boards are an excellent example of a BBS where the members are, on the whole, intelligent, creative, and well-mannered; it shows in the quality and content of the various threads. This speaks very well of HERO. And believe you me... there are some horrid message boards out there. But I'm sure you knew that.

[zornwil]

Re: So why do you play Hero?

 

As many others have said' date=' flexibility is one of the key features for me. I suck at dice rolling (especially during character creation) and having a point-based system where I can [i']build exactly what I want[/i] and not have to worry about bad die rolls during character creation are huge selling points to me.

 

I'm also a programmer and mathematician, as well as a tinkerer. The "do-it-yourself" / "toolkit" approach appeals to me more than I can properly express. I loved (and still love) Legos, and HERO the the gamer's version of the ultimate Lego set!

 

I became a fan of HERO with 4th Edition (my first encounter with it) and I, along with so many of you, waited the long, dry time until the emergance of DOJ and FREd. Since then, I have been consistantly amazed and delighted by the shear quality of the works published for HERO. That quality, coupled with the immediate and helpful response/support from the HERO staffers, could only further cement my reasons for loving it and playing it.

 

Last, but far from least, the on-line community here. Though we have our share of troubles, sniping, and flamefests, it's still far superior to most other on-line "game communities" in my experience. The advice is freely offered, the suggestions insightful and stimulating, and most of the members of this community genuinely do their best to help each other out. I can't begin to tell you how many absolutely stunning ideas, brilliant "I never would have thought of that!" suggestions, mouth-watering new applications for powers, and just general all-around helpful notions I've seen posted to these forums. Go team!

Do you mind if I enjoy the irony of a mathematician saying "I suck at dice rolling"?

[Hawksmoor]

Re: So why do you play Hero?

 

So' date=' what's stopping you from giving out 1.5 to 3x the "standard" XP award? The recomendations in the book are just that, recommendations. (I'm not sure I follow your movemement rules complaint).[/quote']

 

RE: XP: Ah, universal acceptance? Love from people that don't know me? I know rules sticklers that say 3-4 is the maximum you can get from a single game. The crux is if the model is model all tricks with points then we have to get more points from the game as a standard.

 

As far as movement, I think like this: Superman says to Wonder Woman "I'll match you at Mach 3!" and then proceeds to move through General Eiling. Now I ask why can I not do this in HERO? Then I see jets, f-14s flying high over head, or worse a train speeding down the tracks and I say "Can Robotman catch that vehicle?"

 

Always the answer returns, "Only if movement is your *thing* young HERO padawan. Otherwise movement is just too expensive, vehicles get to move faster than you in combat because that is all most vehicles do. If you want a character that can pace a jet in combat speed then build one that can do that, but that is all he will be able to do."

 

Did that makes sense?

 

HERO is great, I love it. I'll play it until I die likely. But love is not blinders, I see HERO's flaws.

Hawksmoor

[MitchellS]

Re: So why do you play Hero?

 

RE: XP: Ah, universal acceptance? Love from people that don't know me? I know rules sticklers that say 3-4 is the maximum you can get from a single game. The crux is if the model is model all tricks with points then we have to get more points from the game as a standard.

 

As far as movement, I think like this: Superman says to Wonder Woman "I'll match you at Mach 3!" and then proceeds to move through General Eiling. Now I ask why can I not do this in HERO? Then I see jets, f-14s flying high over head, or worse a train speeding down the tracks and I say "Can Robotman catch that vehicle?"

 

Always the answer returns, "Only if movement is your *thing* young HERO padawan. Otherwise movement is just too expensive, vehicles get to move faster than you in combat because that is all most vehicles do. If you want a character that can pace a jet in combat speed then build one that can do that, but that is all he will be able to do."

 

Did that makes sense?

 

HERO is great, I love it. I'll play it until I die likely. But love is not blinders, I see HERO's flaws.

Hawksmoor

Mega-scale movement is very cheap. A 5 speed character with 1" of basic mega-scale movement can fly 1500 kph. All of that for 2.5 points.

[Hawksmoor]

Re: So why do you play Hero?

 

Ah but that is megascale and the ludicrous threads explaining that Megascale sight or rapid sight or other sense is needed plus the 0 OCV rule make Megascale a bad choice.

 

I think you mentioned a Fuzion mechanic you liked about supersonic flight as an adder and removing NCM multiples and Megascale. I liked that idea. But I always return to the Jets have 50-75 inches of movement per each of their phases and Superheroes have only a measely 10-25 inches in movement.

 

Heck in Galactic Champions Defender has only 30, Thalya 22, Firedancer 40, GAvis GAn 23, Charm, Rampart and Sage have 10. None of them could outrun a twentieth century jet much less a 3k ion drive pursuit craft in combat mode. Small problem there. Noncombat is a different issue.

 

Hawksmoor

[Fox1]

Re: So why do you play Hero?

 

Heck in Galactic Champions Defender has only 30' date=' Thalya 22, Firedancer 40, GAvis GAn 23, Charm, Rampart and Sage have 10. None of them could outrun a twentieth century jet much less a 3k ion drive pursuit craft in combat mode. Small problem there. Noncombat is a different issue.[/quote']

 

It's well known that the HERO vehicle constructions and rules suck

[Guest bblackmoor]

Re: So why do you play Hero?

 

Mega-scale movement is very cheap. A 5 speed character with 1" of basic mega-scale movement can fly 1500 kph. All of that for 2.5 points.

 

No kidding. I play a speedster/martial artist in one of our most frequently run games, and the last time we got together the subject of how long it would take us to get somewhere came up. Someone asked how fast Blueshift could go.

 

Blueshift: "Around 140 KPH in combat. My max on open ground, wearing these [her maglev skates], I can hit around 30,000 KPH."

 

Psi-Breaker: "Thirty-three THOUSAND kilometers per hour?!?"

 

Blueshift: "Yes. I can't go anywhere near that fast in the city, of course. Traffic gets in the way."

[Guest Black Lotus]

Re: So why do you play Hero?

 

It's well known that the HERO vehicle constructions and rules suck

 

Do they?

 

*shrug* I haven't found a pure roleplaying game yet with truly good vehicle rules, actually. The only system that accomplishes that is BattleTech.

 

And d20... oh Lord, their vehicle rules suck worst of all.

[Guest bblackmoor]

Re: So why do you play Hero?

 

I haven't found a pure roleplaying game yet with truly good vehicle rules' date=' actually.[/quote']

 

I think the Hero vehicle rules are adequate. I think vehicles and bases should be cheaper, though, like 1 for 10 instead of 1 for 5.

[Guest Black Lotus]

Re: So why do you play Hero?

 

I think the Hero vehicle rules are adequate. I think vehicles and bases should be cheaper' date=' though, like 1 for 10 instead of 1 for 5.[/quote']

 

I agree that they are adequate, especially considering that you can build whatever you want with HERO.

 

They're not amazing, but I should mention I don't think that they "suck", either.

[zornwil]

Re: So why do you play Hero?

 

Vehicle rules are tough, very tough, even in a genre-specific setting. Trying to make them without respect to genre is even tougher. Yeah, I'd say they're adequate, they have flaws but mostly can be fixed reasonably easily in a campaign per that campaign's needs. HERO Movement (IMNSHO) is not as messed up as it is in M&M (though they probably will have their's reasonably fixed in the next edition if not already and I just haven't looked).