Howdy I know nothing about Hero System and was wondering something

[travelnjones]

Howdy

 

I am brand new and was sort of thinking of picking up the Hero rules. I sort of had a couple of questions. The giant book is something of a commitment.

 

Say I had been playing the game some time and had played up a light armor finesse type warrior. I had build up some impressive combat skills then i wanted to and a little magic in. Would I be a good warrior with weak magic? Or could i do something where i just add magic effects into my existing attacks to make them even better? I am thinking something like the prince of persia character in the example above. He eventually got a magic attack sort of like that.

 

Also say I was going to buy Hero. I thought you were on 5th edition revised. But when i logged in i saw 6th edition? When is that coming out? Should i wait?

 

Thanks

travelnjones

[Kenn]

Re: Howdy I know nothing about Hero System and was wondering something

 

In reverse order.

 

No don't wait. 6th edition is due out in August 2009, nearly a year and half away.

 

Yes, the cost of 5er is quite a commitment. I'd recommend you pick up "Sidekick" which is essentially the minimal basics for playing Hero.

 

The beauty of the Hero system is that you build what you want. Which means EITHER of the two options you mentioned is possible (as well as a host of others.) Basically, it would be between you and the gamemaster, and how you spent your experience points.

 

And welcome!!

[Chris Goodwin]

Re: Howdy I know nothing about Hero System and was wondering something

 

Hi travelnjones, and welcome to the boards, and to the HERO System!

 

Now's still a good time to get into Hero. 6e is a year and a half or so down the line. If the size of the 5er book is scaring you away, you can pick up the HERO System Sidekick from the online store. It's 128 pages and is the complete system, though with a few options left out and a lot less text.

[travelnjones]

Re: Howdy I know nothing about Hero System and was wondering something

 

Thank you, that great actually. I dont even know if the cost was what scared me hehe, Reading that thing seemed a bit of a marathon. Ill give the side kick a try

[CTaylor]

Re: Howdy I know nothing about Hero System and was wondering something

 

Would I be a good warrior with weak magic? Or could i do something where i just add magic effects into my existing attacks to make them even better?

 

The only limits to what you can build with Hero are your creativity, the GM's permission, and the points you have to work with. If you're in a low power campaign, you won't be very good at either fighting or magic, but you can learn and build up to it (think of it as a starting teenager or a 1st level character of sorts); with a more powerful game you'll have the points to be a decent fighter with good supporting magic. It's up to you and the game you're in what you do and where you go.

 

I dont even know if the cost was what scared me hehe, Reading that thing seemed a bit of a marathon. Ill give the side kick a try

 

Well, the thing is, unlike - say - D20, everything is in one book for Hero. There's no GM guide and Player's Handbook, it's in one bundle, so it looks a bit intimidating.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: Howdy I know nothing about Hero System and was wondering something

 

I never understood the cost-fear math. Fitty bucks and you have ALL the rules for the core text. As far as a "light fighter," we don't use classes, just points. So you build to YOUR vision of a light fighter, no one elses.

[Alibear]

Re: Howdy I know nothing about Hero System and was wondering something

 

I do like 'classes' sorta. It allows in very broad strokes one to describe ones character very quickly so we all know where we stand without looking at the character sheets of everyone. We all know what that means and get a rough picture very quickly.

 

It's useful when designing the characters so the players don't step on each others toes. And really handy if and when you get a new guy in the group; you can describe what everyone has without the newbie needing to know the Hero language involved.

[L. Marcus]

Re: Howdy I know nothing about Hero System and was wondering something

 

"Classes" . . . "Archetypes" might fit Hero better.

 

And welcome, and a bit of warning: Stay out of the NGD unless you like insanity.

[Steve Long]

Re: Howdy I know nothing about Hero System and was wondering something

 

Admittedly I'm biased, but I think HERO is one of the best systems around for creating a "warrior-mage" type character, whether you emphasize warrior, mage, or both equally. It's a favorite archetype of mine but in other systems it usually seems lacking to me somehow. In HERO it never does; I can build to suit my taste.

[Alibear]

Re: Howdy I know nothing about Hero System and was wondering something

 

Admittedly I'm biased' date=' [/quote']

 

Most of us here are too, so we can't in all good conscience hold that against you.

[caris]

Re: Howdy I know nothing about Hero System and was wondering something

 

Say I had been playing the game some time and had played up a light armor finesse type warrior. I had build up some impressive combat skills then i wanted to and a little magic in. Would I be a good warrior with weak magic? Or could i do something where i just add magic effects into my existing attacks to make them even better? I am thinking something like the prince of persia character in the example above. He eventually got a magic attack sort of like that.

 

From what you are describing, a character that had been focused on one area for initial build to some future point and at that point starts to develop in a new area, that character is going to be weaker and/or less diverse in the new area development for a while. How much weaker/more focused and for how long would depend on a number of factors. Also, how noticable it is would depend on what areas of magic you moved into, and the mechanics you used to build the effect.

 

Assuming no effectiveness caps and equally efficient builds a character that spends more points on hand to hand combat is going to be more effective at that than either a characters that spend less points on hand to hand combat. Now, since there is a single list of spells for all of Hero System it is possible to build a magic based character that is as effective in hand to hand combat (using magic) as a non-magic using character with an equivalent focus on hand to hand combat. Pretty much all the mechanical elements you need to build a spell are in the rules, so you can create spells that are just enhancement to other abilities and equipment (Aid, Naked Advantages are both good for this), or ones that are designed to stand on their own.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Howdy I know nothing about Hero System and was wondering something

 

Now' date=' since there is [b']no[/b] single list of spells for all of Hero System

 

Apologies if I'm presumptuous, caris, but I guessed that my edit to this sentence is what you intended to say, and I wanted to avoid confusion for travelnjones.

 

And welcome to the community, Mr. Jones. Hope you'll stop in once in a while during your travels.

[CTaylor]

Re: Howdy I know nothing about Hero System and was wondering something

 

I think HERO is one of the best systems around for creating a "warrior-mage" type character, whether you emphasize warrior, mage, or both equally.

 

No, I agree, objectively no game handles this concept better. In fact, few games handle any fantasy concept better, I think Hero does fantasy even better than it does superheroic games.

 

One of the biggest advantages Hero has is that it doesn't take a lot to make a character notably better as a fighter, a few touches here and there and you've made a superior warrior. A few points of OCV, a spell that makes your weapons burn, a bit of armor, etc. It's surprising how useful very low powered spells can be.

[Nolgroth]

Re: Howdy I know nothing about Hero System and was wondering something

 

Sidekick rocks on toast. Cheap as dirt. If you really want to save some, buy it in PDF format. I've seen more expensive stuff on RPGNow that sucks spam. Also pick up Fantasy HERO (I think we are waiting for a reprint but it is still in PDF format). Total package is less than $30. You have a great base for a fantasy game at about what it costs for another game book.

 

Sidekick has the advantage of giving you a fully 5th Edition compatible rules set that is really easy to get into. I recommend it even if you don't pick up Fantasy HERO.

 

As to your other questions, HERO puts things together in a very modular style. There is a very fine level of granularity to the game and things can be adjusted in more ways than I care to try to list. Within all of the genre books, there are examples of how to put things together, such as Race archetypes and Professional archetypes, but that's not really a requirement. Just a guide to one method.

[Akiva]

Re: Howdy I know nothing about Hero System and was wondering something

 

I'm a recent convert to HERO myself and I did the same tentative song-and-dance. It took me about a week of reading reviews over at rpg.net, looking through posts here, and leafing through the book itself at my FLGS before I took the plunge. Of course, being who I am, I just went straight for the big book knowing that I'd have to purchase it anyway. Somehow, I felt better doing that then buying Sidekick and then buying that.

 

Having written that, however, my recommendation is to get Sidekick and then 5er. Why? Because even though you'll eventually end up buying and relying solely on the 5er, having a copy of Sidekick around is great for getting new players up to speed quickly.

 

Also, somewhere on herogames.com, there's a preview PDF that provides a quick overview of the entire system. Worth a look if you're still uncertain.

 

Finally, yes, welcome. You have truly found the best RPG ever published. And I say this in all honesty because I am not biased (okay, that part's a lie).

 

Oh, and the full rulebook smells great. That's worth the price right there.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Howdy I know nothing about Hero System and was wondering something

 

Also' date=' somewhere on herogames.com, there's a preview PDF that provides a quick overview of the entire system. Worth a look if you're still uncertain.[/quote']

 

Good point. You can download that, and other useful free introductory PDFs, from this webpage.

[Spence]

Re: Howdy I know nothing about Hero System and was wondering something

 

I have to second Akiva on his Sidekick comments.

 

While I have played Hero in one form or another since 82, it does have a LOT of options. Many many options

 

And while I make full use of them for designing PC's, NPC's, Creatures, Equipment and such. I prefer to use far fewer of the other items like combat maneuvers and such. So for play I mostly using Sidekick and have multiple copies so that everyone at the table can have one to read if needed.

 

You really can't go wrong with a copy of Sidekick around.

[gojira]

Re: Howdy I know nothing about Hero System and was wondering something

 

Welcome Valkyrie ... er, travelnjones!

 

 

Yeah what they all said. Get the Sidekick PDF for $7. It's a great deal, it can be downloaded immediately and it's also an easier read than the full rule book if you aren't familiar with Hero from previous editions.

 

Later you can use it as a loaner for friends once you get the full book. And it's great for making your first character if you want to play online like on http://www.HeroCentral.net.

[MorpheousXO]

Re: Howdy I know nothing about Hero System and was wondering something

 

Welcome!

 

Now, I'm gonna do something that no one's done yet cause they probably don't want to overwhelm you, so I'll include a proviso...

 

IF you end up liking what you see in Sidekick (yes, get that, uber book), then you most certainly should buy HERO Designer. I'd say do so even before the (nearly) 600 page monster just because it really well help you learn the system. It's character creation software that does alot of the hard stuff for you. The only problem would be that the notes in HD reference the big book, but that's only a minor hurdle until you take the thick plunge.

[Akiva]

Re: Howdy I know nothing about Hero System and was wondering something

 

I, and everyone else here, will also agree that HERO Designer essential. I want to add, however, that it's value comes not from the fact that it takes care of the 'hard stuff' but that it knows every little one-line rule and exception in the book. Once you get into designing things with Powers, HERO Designer pays for itself over and over again.

 

However, I also recommend you do things by hand at first. Sure, some of the points will be off, you'll miss this or that or wrongly allow things to combine or accentuate but I think that it's a good thing to get your hands dirty with the undercarriage before you start enjoying that quality leather up top too much. In fact, I'd plan for your first one or two game sessions to be nothing more than you guys sitting around with the rulebook, trying different character and Powers builds, and so forth. All of HERO's complexity and depth is, for the most part and thankfully, front-loaded (in other words, once characters are finalized and the game begins, HERO is, for the most part, extremely light-weight). So, turn character and Powers creation into a mini-game with all of your players where you approach it like engineers and you'll have a damned good time.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: Howdy I know nothing about Hero System and was wondering something

 

I didn't want to say it first, but yeah -- get HDv3, it really does make everything far, far simpler. Adjunctively, you don't actually need Sidekick but your players will be eternally grateful for it.

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Howdy I know nothing about Hero System and was wondering something

 

Thank you' date=' that great actually. I dont even know if the cost was what scared me hehe, Reading that thing seemed a bit of a marathon. Ill give the side kick a try[/quote']

To the "reading marathon" point: HERO 5ER {summary: its not a novel, its a reference book}