Crimson Skies Hero?

[gregghelmberger]

In casting around for a good, distinctive basis for a PBEM Hero game, I thought back to the old Crimson Skies setting. It seems to me that this is a setting rife with potential for adventure of all sorts, not just aerial combat, and with just a few changes it could be made to serve all sorts of characers and adventures.

 

There are two issues with this, though: first of all, regardless of what changes are made, there will still be considerable emphasis on aerial combat, and I'm fine with that. However, how do you do that in PBEM and have it interesting? I don't want to ignore game mechanics and just do text descriptions, but in PBEM it would be very easy to get bogged down and confused with which plane is where and how and doing what. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to handle that?

 

The second is, has anyone done any work transferring CS planes to Hero stats? The aircraft would be a major part of the game, and so it would be important to give them all the correct and disctinctive personalities and abilities, but we're talking a ton of work here. If anyone's done some of that word for me, that would be great.

 

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

[nexus]

Re: Crimson Skies Hero?

 

Our star wars gm ran into the same problem with space ship combat. Without it, it wasn't star wars but it could literally take weeks in PBEM. What he did was he runs the battle kind of quick time, getting summaries of our planned action and then runs the mechanics turn by turn. Once it becomes clear who's winning, its gets more narrative.

 

 

I think the vehicle source book has some stats on older planes you might find useful. Honestly, I think vehicle combat is still one of Hero's weak areas though.

[Barton]

Re: Crimson Skies Hero?

 

Our star wars gm ran into the same problem with space ship combat. Without it, it wasn't star wars but it could literally take weeks in PBEM. What he did was he runs the battle kind of quick time, getting summaries of our planned action and then runs the mechanics turn by turn. Once it becomes clear who's winning, its gets more narrative.

 

 

I think the vehicle source book has some stats on older planes you might find useful. Honestly, I think vehicle combat is still one of Hero's weak areas though.

Vehicle combat is a Hero System weak point, but the focus of Hero is the players not the vechicles, Ultimate Vechicle has some GREAT ideas on combat!

Saying that, I like the vechicle rules. For Pulp, I think they work well (DC-2 vs. a Fiat CR.32bis was a great fight, in which the Great White hunter character shot out the Fiat's engine with hunting rifle in 1938 Ethiopia).

[st barbara]

Re: Crimson Skies Hero?

 

Vehicle combat is a Hero System weak point, but the focus of Hero is the players not the vechicles, Ultimate Vechicle has some GREAT ideas on combat!

Saying that, I like the vechicle rules. For Pulp, I think they work well (DC-2 vs. a Fiat CR.32bis was a great fight, in which the Great White hunter character shot out the Fiat's engine with hunting rifle in 1938 Ethiopia).

I remember reading somewhere once of a Fiat biplane being tak=ken out by an enraged eagle ! Shooting one down with an elephant rifle whould be no problem !

[ThothAmon]

Re: Crimson Skies Hero?

 

Vehicle rules shouldn't be overlooked as a source of fun - one such (good) combat we've had was gyrocopter vs bad guys in fleeing truck - another would be the squadron of 1920's bombers vs winged aliens from Pluto