Star Hero as generic sci-fi

[The Horror]

I've posted this same post at RPGnet today. However, I figured you guys here would probably be of a lot more help to me.

 

I'm looking for a system to run games set in the Perry Rhodan universe (some obscure sci-fi series that most of you won't have heard of). Military style adventures and characters, mutant powers (teleport, telepathy, etc), hyperdrives, laser guns, alien races, primitive to ultra-advanced worlds, force fields, etc.

 

Anyhow, I was wondering if which of the Hero System books I would purchase to make this setting a reality. From what I have read the Hero System is indeed the best suited for my purposes (I am not a big fan of GURPS), but I need to decide what books to buy.

 

I know I'll be needing Hero 5th and Star Hero. What else should I get?

 

The Spacer's Toolkit and the Ultimate Vehicle seem appropriate both for ideas and for designing spaceships and personal futuristic gear. I understand that the Toolkit is very much oriented towards the Terran setting, but is it still worth getting for the setting I have described? Should I postpone getting the Ultimate Vehicle guide until the Vehicle sourcebook comes out and get that instead?

 

Is the Terran book of use to me even though I don't plan to use the setting (as in does it have details of planets and people that I can just transport into another setting)?

 

Is Alien Wars going to be of use for designing different Alien races, or is it just for the Terran setting? What book do I need to design things like Dinosaurs and other Alien entities?

 

Advice would be very much appreciated. Alternative system suggestions are also most welcome.

 

 

The Horror

[Polaris]

I am playing in a game that the TE and Spacer's Toolkit material transported easily into, but I don't know if I would regard it as overly important. What I would suggest is to get Hero 5th and Star Hero (as you are planning). If you have some extra money, think about getting Hero Designer (it will help in putting together ships, weapons, technology and the like for your game). The Sector generator software (available for FREE from the Free Stuff section) is quite a nifty program (it uses the Star Hero rules to generate star systems). Keep an eye on the online Spacer's Toolkit. For about 5 dollars you can get the Character pack for Star Hero and Spacer's Toolkit for Hero Designer. If you are going to get HD, this would be money well spent. The descriptions of the technology and ships or character packages are less important than the designed technology (since you are not using the Terran setting).

 

So, in order:

1. FREd (Hero 5th)

2. Star Hero (really, these first two are all you need to do what you want to do with quite a bit of ease).

3. Sector Generator (it's free, and very useful)

4. Hero Designer (cut down on paperwork and math... use the computer to do much of the work for you)

5. TE/STK character pack (for about 5 dollars, you get a lot of very useful prefabs for use with Hero Designer).

 

Good luck!

Polaris

[The Horror]

Excellent. Thanks for that. I'll see about them in that order, and maybe the ultimate vehicle and bestiary if I feel the need afterwards.

 

 

The Horror

[Herolover]

My Suggestions.

 

1> Hero 5e

Obvious.

2>. Star Hero.

This is number two only because you are going to be running sci-fi. Otherwise it would be below the next two.

3>. The Ultimate Martial Artist.

This is one of the core books IMO. Many martial arts made up with suggestions for more. What game doesn’t have neat hand-to-hand and weapon abilities? Also, has extremely useful information on melee combat allowing more cinematic or more realistic fights.

 

4> The Bestiary

Another core book IMO. What campaign doesn’t have animals or monsters? Great suggestions on making more as well. Need a race of monkey people…here you go. Need a strange predator on a water planet….use a shark just name it something else.

 

5> Spacer’s Toolkit.

Again this is only because you are running a sci-fi campaign. Yes, it is mainly for the Terran Empire setting however, that setting covers such an extended time period that many of the items are easily transported over into something else. Also, great for examples.

 

6> Terran Empire.

Good setting in itself and full of more detailed information. Yes, Star Hero has the Soldier package, but in TE you get the Terran Empire Naval Marine package. Much more detail. (These names are just examples since I am to lazy to pull my books out.)

 

7> The Ultimate Vehicle.

Good book, but really you don’t specifically need it to make up starships and I feel it doesn’t really add many rules to vehicle combat. However, it does have a lot of good examples and write-ups on things included in starships.

 

 

I am not sure where to put Hero Designer (HD hereafter). I love the program and constantly use it, but you really don’t HAVE to have it. If money is a problem you could skip it and just get the books, which in the end would be more useful. However, I find HD to be a great tool since I don’t have to worry about math and can easily make the output look like I want it to. Of course, none of this even mentions the GREAT usefulness of having the character packs. Sure you have Star Hero, but with HD you don’t have to input the package deals you just go.

 

You asked about Alien Wars. Alien Wars is a setting book the same as Terran Empire. All HERO GAMES settings are set in the same universe (something I dislike). You can go to the Free Stuff section of this website and get a PDF that describes the universe of HERO GAMES.

 

Basically Alien Wars is set before the Terran Empire book when mankind was fighting a race of aliens called the Xenovores. The Xenovores almost wiped mankind out, but we fought back and finally defeated them. Think the movie Aliens and the Colonial Marines against the Aliens. Very much a Military sci-fi kind of game.

[Mordacius]

Oh, I loved the Perry Rhodan series.

 

You might be able to get away with skipping the Bestiary, and I doubt The Ultimate Martial Artist will come up at all.

 

However, the Ultimate Vehicle will likely be essential if you plan on doing anything with space combat, and I'd keep an eye out for the 5E Ultimate Mentalist, when they get that out.

 

Also, I have to say that I think HERO is *the* system to do a Perry Rhodan campaign in. Even stuff as wacky as Ivan Ivanovich's ability to induce nuclear reactions at line of sight is possible without any sort of house rule (that's just spendy).

[Farkling]

IVAN!!!

NOW I remember Perry Rhodan.

 

From what I recall of the series at this late date, I'd skip on any books past FREd and Star Hero before you have digested them...but I'm a minimalist. I prefer to either build it myself or leave the details "soft" until I actually need a hard value in the campaign ("can I buy one of those to keep?"). I don't see any need to spend a lot of time building all the details. I'd be disappointed when the players didn't actually find or confront my carefully crafted object. Plot devices do not need to be built, and off the rack plot equipment does not need hard parameters...only character equipment and abilities need hard numbers at the beginning.

 

Perry Rhodan didn't have that "hard heroic" feel to it from what I remember, it was more of a high heroic to low superhero environment. And as to package deals, they are normally only necessary (in my reasoning) to characters who want to "pick a character design out of a list"

 

I'd rather work with those players. Truth is, every organization trains everyone a little differently, so I like the variations in competence level from open-ended design.

 

On the other hand...if time is limited, or you are fairly new to HERO, the software is a great buy. If you are a veteran and tired of doing it all on paper, the software is a great buy.