David Nix Posted July 18, 2003 Report Share Posted July 18, 2003 Hey guys, I could use some advice. I've been playing Hero/Champions for many moons, but I haven;t lately. Geez, play d20 for a couple of years & they put out a new Edition on ya. Go figure. Anyway, I have a good bit of 4th ed material, either myself or available from friends. I have a few questions, if you'll be patient. - How important is it to buy 5th ed anyway? - Is there a big difference between 4th & 5th? - Will my 4th ed stuff still be compatable? - would it be wise to buy the new FH or Star Hero & use it w/4th edition? - If a tree falls in the forest & no one is th... whoops, got carried away. Anyhow, you get the idea. Any help would be most... helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insaniac99 Posted July 18, 2003 Report Share Posted July 18, 2003 1: pretty important, it really just expands on the stuff a WHOLE lot, things that were once only a paragraph are now full pages, Vast improvements on Change enviroment, major differance with the Shapeshift, ect... 2: yes and no, Fred really just expands on everything and adds and some small changes. 3: should be, some characters may need a little more work but lots of them you can just shunt directly into Fred with minimal work. 4: we don't have the Fantasy hero yet, so can't say, and I haven't read Start hero yet... so I dunno... in all honesty you COULD get away with just buying the 5th edition resource kit and that would let you get away with most ofo the changes if you have the Fourth edition, but if you have the money, just get Fred. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Keneton Posted July 18, 2003 Report Share Posted July 18, 2003 Re: Returning a Hero! Originally posted by David Nix Hey guys, I could use some advice. - How important is it to buy 5th ed anyway? - Is there a big difference between 4th & 5th? - Will my 4th ed stuff still be compatable? - would it be wise to buy the new FH or Star Hero & use it w/4th edition? -. 1. Buy 5th. It has been vastly expanded and cleaned up. The diting alons is worth the buy. It is important if you wil be buying support material. 2. There are not huge differences, but many differnces. Things are cleaner and make more sense. If you are buying heroic stuff there are vast differnces in Str mins! 3. Your weapons will not be compatible. Power framkworks, Flash, entangle, most adjustment powers, combat maneuvers, stunning, recoveries, and life support seem to be the biggest changes. 4. Cheeper yes, wiser, I doubt it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted July 18, 2003 Report Share Posted July 18, 2003 Well, David, all I can offer is my (reasonably educated) opinion: There have been a number of relatively minor changes between 4th and 5th Edition: some costs have changed, some mechanics have been modified. I'd say that your 4E material is at least 90% compatible with the new HERO System, and for an experienced player the changes would be pretty easy to deal with. If you'd like to see a summary of what's been changed, our fellow board member TheEmerged has compiled a good one (along with some interesting commentary on the changes) here: http://theemerged.blogspot.com/HERO425.htm So, 5th Edition is really not essential to get if you have 4th. However, most people here (including myself) would agree that you really should get 5th. It is so much clearer in straightening out ambiguities in the earlier rules, and offers so many more options, that it will really enrich your HERO gaming experience. And it has a truly magnificent index that will lead you to whatever data you seek - a vast improvement over the BBB. I could say similar things about the new Star HERO and Fantasy HERO: unless you have the desire and the confidence to build your campaign worlds from scratch, these books' campaign style advice, genre tropes, background information, sample tech or spells, character building tips, package deals etc. are greatly helpful. In fact they would offer a lot even if you didn't play HERO at all. I hope that helped. BTW, welcome back to the fold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Nix Posted July 18, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2003 Originally posted by Lord Liaden There have been a number of relatively minor changes between 4th and 5th Edition: some costs have changed, some mechanics have been modified. I'd say that your 4E material is at least 90% compatible with the new HERO System, and for an experienced player the changes would be pretty easy to deal with. If you'd like to see a summary of what's been changed, our fellow board member TheEmerged has compiled a good one (along with some interesting commentary on the changes) here: http://theemerged.blogspot.com/HERO425.htm Thats a big help - I'll check it out forthwith. Originally posted by Lord Liaden And it has a truly magnificent index that will lead you to whatever data you seek - a vast improvement over the BBB. Thats good news. I actually have two copies of 4ths basic rules. the first is the one "bundled" in as the Champions rulebook. That had NO index - a real pain. The other is the "Hero System Rules", which I bought just BECAUSE it had an index. Only problem is the things falling apart! (the binding on those old books wasn't the best in the world - they should've been drawn up "Persistant, 0 END") Thanks to everyone who has answered so far. You've pretty much convinced me to just go with 5th all around, I think - At least as soon as I can afford it, that is.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted July 18, 2003 Report Share Posted July 18, 2003 5th Edition Fantasy Hero is very different from 4th Edition. If you're playing a fantasy game I'd definitely recommend it. No spell colleges either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted July 18, 2003 Report Share Posted July 18, 2003 Originally posted by David Nix Thats good news. I actually have two copies of 4ths basic rules. the first is the one "bundled" in as the Champions rulebook. That had NO index - a real pain. The other is the "Hero System Rules", which I bought just BECAUSE it had an index. Only problem is the things falling apart! (the binding on those old books wasn't the best in the world - they should've been drawn up "Persistant, 0 END") No need to worry about the binding on the 5E rulebook giving out in the foreseeable future - Darren Watts put it through a strenuous (not to mention amusing) test of its durability. I'd recommend checking out the story here, under "A Report from the President": http://www.herogames.com/news/news20020125.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorpCommander Posted July 18, 2003 Report Share Posted July 18, 2003 From one who has taken the same steps Hello all, My name is Peter and I am a D20aholic. Through my good friend Steve Long and the wonderful 12 step program offered by Hero Games I've been able to break my addiction to bad RPGs. So far, so good. I've been on the wagon for months now. I hope to never again look at a Prestige Class crack pipe or an incomprehensible psionics handbook. Go. Buy a copy of FREd. Read it. It will change your life. Your old 4th Edition friends will still be there and they will be faster, stronger and more dangerous without expensive bandaid books like 3.5E. Welcome back to the fold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreyGuardian Posted July 18, 2003 Report Share Posted July 18, 2003 Star hero is a great big crunchy book full of science fiction goodness. I am betting the new edition of fantasy hero will be as well. Therefore you probably will want to pick up 5th edition. In general most folks seem to like most of the changes. And 5th is generally clearer and more consistent throughout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiger Posted July 18, 2003 Report Share Posted July 18, 2003 Re: Returning a Hero! Originally posted by David Nix - How important is it to buy 5th ed anyway? I'd say to do. There are changes and a lot mor material than in 4th rulebook - Will my 4th ed stuff still be compatable? Little reworking but still useable - would it be wise to buy the new FH or Star Hero & use it w/4th edition? YES!! I have the 4th editions of both books and the 5th edition is atleast twice as thick will all new stuff not reprinting I've also seen the playtesting version of Viper and it's quite different. When they redo the books the REDO the books! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farkling Posted July 20, 2003 Report Share Posted July 20, 2003 Hmmm. Speaking as a "build my own world" GameMaster, Buy the new book. I used the BBB for many years...so many years I had to punch holes in the pages and put it in a notebook, and I bought a copy of the Hero Sysytems Rulebook JUST to have the powers in a book that WASN'T falling to pieces. Though my noteook did make it easier to create handouts... I really like the 5th edition HERO book. Overalll it's better organized, and there are in depth explaniations of every power, with a few sample examples riding alongside in the margins. Many similar powers have been streamlined and their costs have been brought into balance. More common advantage and limitation effects are included with the power descriptions. Some of the special functions we had to homecook before (like position shift or velocity damping on TK, acceleration boosts on flight) have been redefined as power adders. Adders a nice power step between powers and full fledged advatages. My brother thinks the best improvement at the SuperHero level is MegaScale. He thought the book might have been worth it for that and the rules streamlining alone. I can't think of any comparable advantage from the BBB, and it has made some power effects (Storm, Thor, Iceman, Dr. Doom, Hulk) reachable for playable characters. I also live in sunny Arizona and have a habit of leaving FREd (the book) in the car occasionally (a no no in our summer heat). It has yet to suffer the fate of the old one. The old one wouldn't take it. Our whole gaming group (SIX) could stand witness to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Posted July 20, 2003 Report Share Posted July 20, 2003 Best argument for getting 5th is simply that you can get tons of help here because we're all working out of the same book (so to speak). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.