Few Qs about Hero and my setting

[Hainted]

I've got an original setting I've been thinking of running a campaign through.It's one I've written several stories in(and gotten one published)so i have most of the "Fluff" figured out.My problem is I can't find a system that makes what's in my head easy to convert to a rpg.I've tried Mutants and Masterminds,but I'm not a big D20 fan and I don't like their combat system or Character Generation.I'm looking for something that doesn't require a lot of dice types(My group is used to WoD,L5R,Warhammer, and Fading Suns with a little GURPS) and doesn't bog everything down with unecessary rules for simple actions.I picked up Hero and Fantasy Hero and Champions at a game shop and flipped through them but I'm not sure.I'll post some stuff about my setting and let you guys tell me what you think and how many books I need to buy to pull it off.

 

SETTING:Magic never died away and the world is shared by other races alongside Humanity.Technology is gaining ground and beginning to replace magic on some fronts.Wizards,for centuries the most powerful people on the planet,are competing with their most dangerous rivals ever,The Supers.In this world their are no "Super-Heroes" with secret identities who are driven to protect others from the goodness of their hearts.Most people with powers belong to one of three organizations.....

1.I.B.P.C.-The International Bureau of Preternatural Crime,An organization that operates free from governmental interference.The I.B.P.C. handles crimes and disasters that go beyond the scope of regular law enforcement or relief organizations.If a person has a flashy costume,code name and secret Identity he/she probably is an I.B.P.C. Member.They maintain their independence through marketing,and merchandising deals that bring in over 75% of their operating budget.The rest is made from contracts with the nations they operate in and scientific research

.

2.Reiters-The largest mercenary organization in the world.Reiters handles the jobs the I.B.P.C. can't(or won't) touch.Their distinctive feature is their Black uniforms,cars,equipment,etc...Their symbol is a horse head silohuette.

 

3.Free companies-These are the individuals who strike out on their own to make a buck.If you need something done that you can't take to the I.B.P.C. for legal reasons or to Reiters because of financial ones this is where you go.Most operate independently of each other and rivalries are intense.Sample groups include:The Gun Bunnies(All Female Bodyguard),Bunko Squad(Mixed group that specialises in Magical cases) and Manly Man's Manly Men(All Male group specialising in bounty hunting and stars of their own reality T.V. show)

 

Theres other things as well like the fact the largest manufacturer in the world(Sanpo Inc.) is owned and controlled by a Dragon,the Gnomes being the only race that can't work magic(VERY technologically advanced)and the country to the north of Ahkourlis(where the campaign takes place)being religous fanatics who want to save the world even if it means killing every non-believer to do it.I don't have time to go into it all though.

So what is the minimum number of books I need to run this?

[Lucius]

Re: Few Qs about Hero and my setting

 

Sanpo Inc? I love it! Probably a very old company that first made a fortune with gold, grain, and salt....

 

What do you need?

 

At a minimum, probably just the main Hero book.

 

Champions would have useful suggestions for superheroes and superpowers; Fantasy Hero has some ideas on fantastic beings and magick; several bestiaries have lists of example creatures; the grimoires have examples of magical spells and powers and items; There's a book I've found informative that I think was called Ultimate Mystic or Mystic World. Depending on what kind of tech you want to have, Dark Champions may be useful - among other things it is THE resource for guns, guns, and more guns, and other aspects of combat, crime and crime fighting, and adventure in the world of the late 20th - early 21st century.

 

But believe it or not, you COULD do everything you seem to want to do with just the basic book. It's just that the others have ideas and suggestions that may spare you from "re-inventing the wheel." The same could be said for asking advice here, or checking out the links several of us have to sites stocked full of sample characters, rules suggestions, etc.

 

I'm sure you know that what you have in mind will be a lot of work. If I understand you, you don't want to use D20 or even GURPS because, for example, they have pre-existing magick systems that don't necessarily match your vision of how you want magick to work in YOUR world. Hero lets you build your own magick and do it in such a way as to fit perfectly into the rest of the game because the whole game is built of the "same stuff" so to speak.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

House of the Palindromedary

[rjcurrie]

Re: Few Qs about Hero and my setting

 

Well, of course, you can run this setting with just the Hero core rulebook (currently Hero System 5th Edition Revised) as it contains all the rules. However, you may find other books handy. In particular, Fantasy Hero may be handy for its advice on different ways to implement magic systems and other advice on running Fantasy using the Hero System.

 

Here are some links to interesting free PDFs about the Hero System in the Free Stuff section of this web site:

 

Introduction to the Hero System - a summary of the system

 

Hero System Genre by Genre - a brief discussion of using the Hero System for various genres with sample characters for each.

 

Also, we're a pretty friendly bunch and quite willing to help new players. For example, if you give us an idea on how magic works in your world, you'll get lots of advice on how to implement it using Hero.

[MitchellS]

Re: Few Qs about Hero and my setting

 

I've tried Mutants and Masterminds' date='but I'm not a big D20 fan and I don't like their combat system or Character Generation.[/quote']

Character generation in Hero is nearly identical to character generation in M&M, only Hero's is more math intensive [you're adding/subtracting and multiplying/dividing fractions in Hero where as you're only adding/subtracting and multiplying in M&M]. Both games are effects based and so building anything requires picking a power and possibly giving it advantages and limitations [called Extras and Flaws in M&M] to achieve the end result. The only real difference between the two game systems in character creation is that Hero's far more granular then M&M. Here's an example of the same build for both games:

 

Fiery Hands (Hero): 2d6 RKA, area effect (cone): +1, no range: -1/2, 4 charges: -1. 24 points (30 * 2 / 2.5 = 24).

 

Fiery Hands (M&M): Strike 6, area (cone): +1, Unreliable: -1. 6 points (6 + 1 - 1 = 6).

 

If you do not like effects-based character creation then it is probably based to skip both games.

[Lord Mhoram]

Re: Few Qs about Hero and my setting

 

If you do not like effects-based character creation then it is probably based to skip both games.

 

To be fair he did also mention he didn't like M&M combat - which is my reason for avoiding the system (I detest the damage save mechanic). And while I can deal with M&M's creation system, it isn't the effects based of M&M I dislike, but that lack of granularity.

[MitchellS]

Re: Few Qs about Hero and my setting

 

To be fair he did also mention he didn't like M&M combat - which is my reason for avoiding the system (I detest the damage save mechanic).

I always wondered if you ever bothered trying the damage roll or hit points optional rules? Either of those options gives the game a different feel.

 

And while I can deal with M&M's creation system, it isn't the effects based of M&M I dislike, but that lack of granularity.

I don't believe there's a major difference between the granularity of the two games. The real difference is that in Hero the granularity either costs or saves you character points during creation and in M&M the granularity is a complication that earns you hero points to use during play. So in Hero you would give your gun 8 bullets and get a -1/2 limitation that saves you x number of character points. In M&M I'd tell my GM I only want the gun to have 8 shots and if I ended up needing more he'd give me a hero point for the inconvenience of running out of bullets. Either way you end up with only 8 bullets.

[Doc Democracy]

Re: Few Qs about Hero and my setting

 

I picked up Hero and Fantasy Hero and Champions at a game shop and flipped through them but I'm not sure.I'll post some stuff about my setting and let you guys tell me what you think and how many books I need to buy to pull it off.

 

OK. If you are looking for something that will allow you to make the game you want to run but dont want to design a game system all of your own then Hero is probably the best bet. If you want to get a particualr game style and play feel then it will take you a lot of time and effort but you will get just about what you want.

 

Hero does not play well straight out of the box (and I love the game).

 

Other systems such as M&M play very well right out of the box but are not, ultimately as customisable as Hero. I wasn't hugely enamoured with M&M in my first experiences with it but my current gaming group (who were mostly newbies to all three systems) preferred superheroes under M&M to Hero or Silver Age Sentinels.

 

I would always recommend Hero but I wouldn't do so without the health warning that you will get the best out of it after having sat and played with it for some time.

 

 

Doc

[Lord Mhoram]

Re: Few Qs about Hero and my setting

 

I always wondered if you ever bothered trying the damage roll or hit points optional rules? Either of those options gives the game a different feel.

 

No.

M&M is an interesting system, but from my experiences with it, it wouldn't do what I wanted from a game system. Didn't see the need to tinker. Just not my cup 'o' tea. Unless the approriate stats/numbers for using said optional system were in all the character writeups, it would be just too much work.

Great source material (I enjoy the Freedom City stuff), dislike the system.

 

Because of the way I play, a system would have to be so good to not only be better than the system I play, but be good enough that it stops the inertia of a game system that has been played for 22 years, with all the rules completely internalized. Haven't found one yet.

 

End of derail.

[Hainted]

Re: Few Qs about Hero and my setting

 

I feel the same way about MnM,I love the source material but don't like some of the mechanics of the system.(My group feels the same)A couple of my friends are DnD fanatics and one has played some MnM games and offered to help me with the problems I have but....I hate House Ruling a system to death just so i can run it.That's why I'm looking at Hero because a friend said it reminded him of GURPS(in a GOOD WAY no insult implied)and I ran a GURPS Discworld campaign a few years ago with just the Discworld book as my only resource so I'm familiar with that system.I'm going to check out the downloads and I'll probably hang around and bother people for a while but I think HERO might be the way to go.

 

Oh and I'm glad to see someone get the Sanpo reference in my setting they've made a ton of money supplying the various free companies and Reiters and the IBPC with equipment.The Dragon idea came from a conversation with a friend about magical creatures in the modern world.Dragons hoard wealth and the stock market and free enterprise is a lot safer than pillaging,looting and virgin stealing,especially since the invention of anti-aircraft guns.

[Lucius]

Re: Few Qs about Hero and my setting

 

Oh and I'm glad to see someone get the Sanpo reference in my setting they've made a ton of money supplying the various free companies and Reiters and the IBPC with equipment.

 

Oh, I'm sure a lot of people around here would "get it." I just chanced to be first.

 

The Dragon idea came from a conversation with a friend about magical creatures in the modern world.Dragons hoard wealth and the stock market and free enterprise is a lot safer than pillaging' date='looting and virgin stealing,especially since the invention of anti-aircraft guns.[/quote']

 

Anyone who's played Shadowrun could have told you that....

 

So, is there any particular "explanation" in your setting for the sudden emergence of superpowers? or was it all that sudden?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

House of the Palindromedary

[Hainted]

Re: Few Qs about Hero and my setting

 

In my setting for centuries people with superpowers were believed to have "Wild Magic" or been touched in some way by the supernatural.It's only in the last 100 years and the rise of genetic research that it's been revealed some of them are the result of genetic mutation or psychic ability.

 

Oh and I've heard the Shadowrun reference before but having read a couple of the books I'm different enough to be safe.It's like their DC and I'm Marvel(Good Marvel not Clone Saga and Civil War Marvel!!!!!!!)