Sell me on HERO 5th ed.

[CTaylor]

Re: Sell me on HERO 5th ed.

 

I wouldn't say GURPS is more gritty, lethal, and realistic, I'd say with the base rules of each game, GURPS is that. Hero can be every bit so, if you use optional rules such as bleeding, hit locations, disabling wounds, and so on. It's what you want out of the game, not what you get handed from the start in Hero.

[rjcurrie]

Re: Sell me on HERO 5th ed.

 

I wouldn't say GURPS is more gritty' date=' lethal, and realistic, I'd say with the base rules of each game, GURPS is that. Hero can be every bit so, if you use optional rules such as bleeding, hit locations, disabling wounds, and so on. It's what you want out of the game, not what you get handed from the start in Hero.[/quote']

 

Again, I think that is less true of GURPS 4th.

 

It would be nice if people referred to which version of GURPS they're using for comparison in their replies. After all, we'd be the first to complain if people were making conclusions about Hero products based on previous editions.

[hammersickle59]

Re: Sell me on HERO 5th ed.

 

PLAY HEROES - Mind Control 10d6 Set Effect -1 "Only to convince people to play Heroes"

[archermoo]

Re: Sell me on HERO 5th ed.

 

PLAY HEROES - Mind Control 10d6 Set Effect -1 "Only to convince people to play Heroes"

 

Mind Control 15d6 Set Effect -1 "Only to convice people to use the actual name of the Hero System, rather than the name of a TV show, when talking about it".

 

[Opal]

Re: Sell me on HERO 5th ed.

 

I wouldn't mind if people wanted to compare Hero as it existed in the BBB to any other system today. Or even, really, to 3rd, though it was decidedly scattered about the various games that existed at the time.

 

For that matter the change from 3rd to 4th didn't make they Hero /System/ more GURPS-like - though the marketing of Hero from that point on has certainly been in the 'universal' mode championed (npi) by SJG with GURPS as the poster child - GURPS did use different mechanics for different genres, and from 3rd to 4th, Hero largely abandoned that practice.

[rjcurrie]

Re: Sell me on HERO 5th ed.

 

I wouldn't mind if people wanted to compare Hero as it existed in the BBB to any other system today. Or even' date=' really, to 3rd, though it was decidedly scattered about the various games that existed at the time.[/quote']

 

OK. We'll agree to disagree.

 

For that matter the change from 3rd to 4th didn't make they Hero /System/ more GURPS-like - though the marketing of Hero from that point on has certainly been in the 'universal' mode championed (npi) by SJG with GURPS as the poster child - GURPS did use different mechanics for different genres, and from 3rd to 4th, Hero largely abandoned that practice.

 

I'll concede that it was in the marketing area that the two approached each other. But it's so much more fun to say that "Hero 4th edition became more GURPS-like while GURPS 4th edition became more Hero-like."

[pawsplay]

Re: Sell me on HERO 5th ed.

 

GURPS is like eating in a very good restaurant or maybe a big Food Court. There is allot of variety but, aside from limited special orders, you have to get what's on the menu.

 

I assume by GURPS you mean "two editions of GURPS ago?"

 

It's true... in GURPS 3rd edition, the Green Lantern was pretty hard to do, but it was no picnic in HERO 4th, either.

 

HERO is like a well stocked, well equipped kitchen. You can make practically anything you want but you do allot of the work yourself which can take longer.

 

Provided you like paprika. I mean, this is just not a helpful analogy. HERO has its own baggage... highly point-efficient Disadvantages, lots of breakpoints in the pricing of abilities, some unintended consequences of the Active Points concept, and so forth.

 

They are different games. I am very relucant to make sweeping generalizations. The most I would say is that GURPS 4e and HERO 5e are both more powerful than their predecessors, and support more of the same genres and more of the same player needs (especially prebuilts). They are less dissimilar than they used to be.

 

In broad strokes, they are virtually identical. Both are 3d6 roll under games with an attribute scale cribbed from AD&D, flat hit points, and independent skill advancement. If you want to compare them, it really takes a point by point comparison.

 

In broad strokes, HERO does superheroes and variant magic systems better, GURPS does gritrealistic combat and lowkey psionic powers better. They are both problematic for games in which both high skill and great power are important and often define roles, such as Star Wars, Rifts conversions, and mecha action adventure. They are both really good at most action genres, most thriller genres, most realistic genres, and most comedy genres.

 

HERO is slightly more abstract and allows you to more easily build things like "Nazi smashing punch." GURPS is slightly more concrete and allows you to more easily buy things like Nightvision or Musical Talent. Both can easily handle a fiery blast (2d6 RKA versus 2d6 Innate Attack, burning).

 

If you want to make sharper contrasts, you would compare the games to Tri-Stat, Basic Role-Playing, and so forth. Even with older editions, what is striking is not how dissimilar they are, but how much more work you have to do than in more recent editions to do unusual things.

 

With no more than modest tinkering, you can get virtually any game of GURPS to run the same in HERO and vice versa. Powers, lethality levels, PC competence can all be dialed up or down and compared to virtually any norm you want.