Alcamtar Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 I see a lot of "Solar Hero" posts here that just seem to be space-related news snippets. Anyone doing any Star Hero or has it kind of died around here? Has the impending 6E put a damper on discussion? What are y'all playing? My son dislikes the 5E Star Hero stuff because the rules are complex and the books just have too much stuff to wade through, but he LOVES 3rd edition Star Hero. Simple and straightforward, with just the right amount of complexity. (He does use the 5E rulebook for rules reference, just updates the 3E SH stuff as needed). I frankly don't have time to create a big fancy serious campaign nor to read hundreds of pages, so the 3E version is nice for that... just pick up and play. I really like the Traveller setting and general approach, so I'm eyeing the Traveller Hero pdfs. What do you all think of these? Are the two books (1&2) complete enough to provide all you need? How is the complexity, more like 5E or 3E? I can't put a lot of effort into this, I want something that saves me work and doesn't require a ton of research or reading, and doesn't take itself too seriously. Money is very tight and if I get Traveller Hero it'll probably be my one and only gaming purchase for the foreseeable future. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karmakaze Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 Re: Anyone actually playing anything? I'm in a Star Hero campaign right now. (recaps are here - http://community.livejournal.com/sar_gaming/tag/system:+star+hero - though they're pretty sparse recaps mostly.) Honestly, if I were going to run a Star Hero campaign (and I've been thinking of it), I'd probably just run it straight out of the core 5e rulebook. Of course, I run almost everything out of the core rulebook because I tend to customize my settings a bit off the genre path. It it the Star Hero setting your son has trouble with, or something else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vondy Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 Re: Anyone actually playing anything? I'm running To Boldly Go!... a post Dominion War Star Trek game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcamtar Posted November 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 Re: Anyone actually playing anything? It it the Star Hero setting your son has trouble with' date=' or something else?[/quote'] Not really the setting (I don't have the setting book, just Star Hero and the Starships book). I think it's more that the older writeups for ships and equipment are just simpler and more approachable. The signal to noise ratio is much higher. For example instead of a half dozen different styles of FTL drive, there is just one. The section on starship creation and combat is simple and straightforward. I think there is also the aspect that the 3E Star Hero is less abstract -- the setting is not separated from the rules and sample gear -- and it has a slightly campy Star Frontiers/Star Trek flavor that is very gameable. 5E is a lot more serious and literate. It's perhaps like the difference between ST:TOS and Babylon 5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NuSoardGraphite Posted November 20, 2008 Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 Re: Anyone actually playing anything? I'm running a Star Hero game set in a setting of my own design (I like to call it Dark Universe because it sounds overly dramatic) Just ran a session with a friend of mine last weekend. He wanted to play an explorer type who didn't fight (very well), just did scientific stuff. He ended up talking to an alien computer that was watching over a facility left by an ancient and powerful race...he pissed it off and it activated its defenses. Not only did he have to deal with the alien-beastie that was gaurdian of the facility, but I ended the session with his team being surrounded by government troops...They've discovered a bit too much. So now he has to discover the mystery behind this ancient race and figure out how to stop them...they're on their way to conquer and destroy again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snapdragon Posted November 20, 2008 Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 Re: Anyone actually playing anything? We've used the Star Hero books more as a supplement for our regular Supers game; bolding going into the black to combat alien threats to the earth. The GM threw out 6 possibilities for the winter campaign; I'm afraid Star Hero didn't get a single vote. Our Western Hero will be starting soon enough though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barton Posted November 20, 2008 Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 Re: Anyone actually playing anything? See my WindyCon35 writeup, remember this is a SCIFI convention not a gaming convention: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69026 We used the StarHero Alien Wars for BOTH scenarios. The players seemed to like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost-angel Posted November 20, 2008 Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 Re: Anyone actually playing anything? I'm in a Star Hero game set in the Star Frontiers setting, been going on for several years now. There's a link in my signature that goes to the campaign pages with logs of most of the game sessions on it. It's an online chat game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maur Posted November 20, 2008 Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 Re: Anyone actually playing anything? I really like the Traveler setting and general approach' date=' so I'm eying the [b']Traveler Hero[/b] pdfs. What do you all think of these? Are the two books (1&2) complete enough to provide all you need? Money is very tight and if I get Traveler Hero it'll probably be my one and only gaming purchase for the foreseeable future. Traveler HERO loses its distribution rights in just a week or so IIRC. So, you might want to make that purchase soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eodin Posted November 20, 2008 Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 Re: Anyone actually playing anything? I really like the Traveller setting and general approach' date=' so I'm eyeing the [b']Traveller Hero[/b] pdfs. What do you all think of these? Are the two books (1&2) complete enough to provide all you need? How is the complexity, more like 5E or 3E? I can't put a lot of effort into this, I want something that saves me work and doesn't require a ton of research or reading, and doesn't take itself too seriously. Money is very tight and if I get Traveller Hero it'll probably be my one and only gaming purchase for the foreseeable future. Mike Although I'm biased I'll reply. Everybody who has bought the books and posted online likes them a lot. To your tight budget/complexity question, The TravellerHero books do not reprint any information from Star Hero, Terran Empire, or Danger International, and do make references to those books where necessary. We could not reprint a small portion of the package deals - ones that didn't need any rewrite for TravellerHero - as part of our book. Realities of licensing. If you don't have or won't get those 3 books, there will be some small holes for you to fill. The idea was to provide a set of sourcebooks for those who want to play Star Hero for Traveller. So there are profession and race package deals, weapons and gadgets and armor, conversion of character from Traveller to Hero charts, Starship writeups in Hero format, some history of the Imperium, etc. and more. If you don't have any of the maps/supplements for Spinward Marches, Old Expanses, or any other subsector of interest, you'll have to create your own adventuring area. And of course, the adventures are up to you no matter what . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eodin Posted November 20, 2008 Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 Re: Anyone actually playing anything? Traveler HERO loses its distribution rights in just a week or so IIRC. So' date=' you might want to make that purchase soon.[/quote'] That's correct, after November 30th it can no longer be sold/purchased. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenLagoon Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 Re: Anyone actually playing anything? Finally getting my Star Hero game setup for the week after Thanksgiving, set in the latter part of the alien wars setting... I got one of my co-workers to play with my wife and two of our kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolgroth Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 Re: Anyone actually playing anything? Finally getting my Star Hero game setup for the week after Thanksgiving' date=' set in the latter part of the alien wars setting... I got one of my co-workers to play with my wife and two of our kids.[/quote'] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcamtar Posted November 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 Re: Anyone actually playing anything? That's correct' date=' after November 30th it can no longer be sold/purchased.[/quote'] Got it today! Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 Re: Anyone actually playing anything? I'm not actually playing at this time, but I still work on campaigns as a mental exercise. I at least have an outlet for my imagination that way, and maybe someone else will find something he can use in his campaign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowcat1313 Posted November 23, 2008 Report Share Posted November 23, 2008 Re: Anyone actually playing anything? I am working on bits and pieces of a couple of different things right now, along with more real world vehicles, and some ideas for my version of a revised system for vehicle building and such. 1. a Star Hero campaign set in the Merchantile League from the old Space Opera RPG. it has some interesting possibilities, lots of aliens, lots of assorted bad guys and politics by the truckload 2. a Dark Champions Modern campaign, based loosely on the Sigma Force novels by James Rollins, a team of "Scientists with Guns" also waiting to see what Mongoose is going to do with porting Babylon 5 into the Traveller Universe. I see lots of scary possibilities for this, 1. are the Ancients older that the first ones? 2. do the Hivers work for the shadows or the vorlons? 3. can Aslan join the Rangers? 4. is Grandfather related to Lorien? 5. where do the Techno-Mages fit in all of this? I am getting the image of a shadowtech or vorlon tech Tigress Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Coll Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 Re: Anyone actually playing anything? Unfortunately, I am not playing in a Star HERO campaign. All my friends I game with have no interest in science fiction. In fact, most of them actively dislike sci-fi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSword Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 Re: Anyone actually playing anything? I'm not actually playing at this time' date=' but I still work on campaigns as a mental exercise. I at least have an outlet for my imagination that way, and maybe someone else will find something he can use in his campaign.[/quote'] And its much appreciated that you do post your ideas on-line. You've had some great ideas that I look forward to borrowing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 Re: Anyone actually playing anything? And its much appreciated that you do post your ideas on-line. You've had some great ideas that I look forward to borrowing. I'm glad to hear some of my ideas are helpful. Please, borrow away. That's what they're for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 Re: Anyone actually playing anything? . . . If it's allowed, it's no fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NuSoardGraphite Posted November 25, 2008 Report Share Posted November 25, 2008 Re: Anyone actually playing anything? Unfortunately' date=' I am not playing in a Star HERO campaign. All my friends I game with have no interest in science fiction. In fact, most of them actively dislike sci-fi. [/quote'] Suckage! I used to have that problem. For some odd reason, many gamers, while they may like sci-fi movies and whatnot, have absolutely no interest in sci-fi gaming. My current group likes sci-fi gaming just fine. Thats why they're my current group! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted November 25, 2008 Report Share Posted November 25, 2008 Re: Anyone actually playing anything? I'm not presently playing or GMing a sci-fi game. My last attempt at a campaign was sci-fi, and that turned into a flaming train wreck because of some key conceptual problems on my part. (It was an interesting story, but a rotten situation for a game.) That triggered a lot of introspection, and I haven't run anything but small stuff for my kids since then. Our group has a surfeit of good GMs, no need for a lame one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Admiral C Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 Re: Anyone actually playing anything? My current group doesn't care for sci-fi. I've been wanting to revisit the Terran Empire and I've wanted to try my hand at crafting my own universe. I had some ideas for some off world cyberpunk style game ala Oni but it never occurred. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolgroth Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 Re: Anyone actually playing anything? Amusingly, I have been told by at least one person that I run a better SciFi game than a fantasy one. Currently I am gearing up to determine the next segment of my Gemini Ascendant campaign. After that, I am probably going to give HERO a rest and switch to a military themed SciFi game using the Shadowrun rules or perhaps Fuzion. Something less rules heavy than HERO but still with a bit of crunch to them. Which reminds me to check the MapTool forum to see if anybody else is using that wonderful piece of software for Shadowrun or Fuzion. Good luck to all those folks trying to get into a SciFi game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thia Halmades Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 Re: Anyone actually playing anything? I play in both a Traveler game & an Alien Legion game; Aroooo runs both, and he's a HUGE fan of the Traveler material. While I take some issue with the design decisions, it's very functional and flavorful, so it's hard to go 'wrong' with any of them. My personal preference aside, I can easily recommend them if you want to play Traveler. I'm designing... four or five campaigns in my head, none of which I can work on until my current project is done. 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.