Boll Weevil Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 Well hello, Fantasy Hero forum. Some of you may know me from the Champions forum. I have been playing Champions for 25ish years. I played D&D before that and not so much since. I bought the original Fantasy Hero books back in 1993. Got really wanted to play but my group wanted to stick with supers. Fair enough. I have a friend who has been playing D&D as long as I have been playing Champions. We went to Gencon together and he is intrigued by the Hero system. I thought it would be a good compromise if I taught him Hero through Fantasy Hero. My question is where to begin?! I think I mostly understand the difference between Turakian Age, Atlantean Age, Tuala Morn and Valdorian Ages. The last D&D book I bought came was red and came in a box. I don't know where D&D worlds went after I left the hobby. Cam someone tell me if the Fantasy Hero settings have analogs in the D&D world (or somewhere close)? I would like to focus my spending on settings he may be comfortable with already. Also, I understand there was a 2003 update for 5th ed. Before I start spending (geez, I thought Champions had a big line) I want to start with the basics. Should I get Fantasy Hero? Will there be a 6th ed update? What are your favorite settings? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 Re: New to Fantasy Hero Turakian age is closest to the D&D world - it's high fantasy and high diversity. Fantasy Hero and Turakian Age are independant of 5E and 5ER and can be used with either. There will probably be 6E versions though as there are significant changes between the editions that don't occur in revisions. My current favourite setting is Kamarathin mainly because it's low fantasy and different from many tropes that occur in fantasy. I do recommend Fantasy Hero rather than running it straight from the core book - it gives good examples and applications of Hero to the genre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 Re: New to Fantasy Hero Well hello' date=' Fantasy Hero forum. Some of you may know me from the Champions forum. I have been playing Champions for 25ish years. I played D&D before that and not so much since. I bought the original Fantasy Hero books back in 1993. Got really wanted to play but my group wanted to stick with supers. Fair enough.[/quote'] Nice to see you in this corner of the HERO universe, Weevil. I have a friend who has been playing D&D as long as I have been playing Champions. We went to Gencon together and he is intrigued by the Hero system. I thought it would be a good compromise if I taught him Hero through Fantasy Hero. My question is where to begin?! I think I mostly understand the difference between Turakian Age, Atlantean Age, Tuala Morn and Valdorian Ages. The last D&D book I bought came was red and came in a box. I don't know where D&D worlds went after I left the hobby. Cam someone tell me if the Fantasy Hero settings have analogs in the D&D world (or somewhere close)? I would like to focus my spending on settings he may be comfortable with already. I agree with Curufea -- The Turakian Age has most of the classic D&D archetypes and tropes: elves, dwarves, halflings, lizard men, paladins, druids, bards, underground realms and races, etc.; but with quite a few distinctive elements and spins, as well. If your friend wants a comparison to D&D worlds, TA has the scale and scope of the Forgotten Realms, with the detailed history and internal consistency of Greyhawk. The default magic system and sample spells are also close enough in style and power level to D&D that you and your friend should adapt to them quickly. TA has enough material for years of play (game-world and real-world), supporting styles from dungeon-delving, to wilderness exploration, epic quests, political intrigue, or all-out war. (BTW Fantasy HERO provides mechanics for battlefield mass combat and siege warfare.) Also' date=' I understand there was a 2003 update for 5th ed. Before I start spending (geez, I thought Champions had a big line) I want to start with the basics. Should I get Fantasy Hero? Will there be a 6th ed update? What are your favorite settings?[/quote'] If you have the "unrevised" version of Fifth Edition, you can get by quite well with that plus the FAQ... I have for years. If you don't have that, though, Revised clarifies a number of issues and adds some of the material from books published subsequently to the release of 5E, and is somewhat more clearly organized. I would suggest obtaining a copy of HERO System Sidekick for your friend, though. Since you don't have a lot of experience running HERO for the fantasy genre, I do think Fantasy HERO would be a good investment. It's not only one of the most thorough treatises published on fantasy gaming in general, it contains a ton of advice for applying HERO specifically; in particular, the chapter on designing magic systems is priceless. FH also contains many templates comparable to the common D&D races and classes, plus many other "Package Deals" to make chargen much simpler. FH will get updated to 6E eventually, but as it stands that's over a year away at the earliest. I recommend the Fantasy HERO Grimoire for a large and diverse spell collection. Like the UNTIL Superpowers Database it gives you plenty of "drag and drop" spells you and your friend can select to fill out your spellcasting characters. I don't know if you have the HERO System Bestiary (which I highly recommend), but even if you do Monsters, Minions, And Marauders would be helpful because it concentrates much more on intelligent races and beings than the Bestiary does. Nobles, Knights, And Necromancers has a sizeable selection of NPCs which, while broadly applicable, are drawn directly from the Turakian Age setting. That brings up a point that's worth emphasizing: most of the books mentioned above frequently refer to each other. For example, an NPC mentioned in TA may suggest you create the character by using a template found in FH, with spells written up in the Grimoire. A monster encounter may cite the Bestiary or MMM. The descriptions for monsters in MMM often provide sample characters based in the Turakian world. Now if you're interested in pre-generated adventures, especially ones that are free or cheap , I suggest checking out this forum thread. I hope that helps. Anything else you need, feel free to ask, but this may be enough to chew on for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 Re: New to Fantasy Hero FH will get updated to 6E eventually, but as it stands that's over a year away at the earliest. Nope -- it's 10 months away. The new FH for 6E is our Big GenCon Release for 2010. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvoncannon Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 Re: New to Fantasy Hero Yay!!! I have time to save for this. Excellent news! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost-angel Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 Re: New to Fantasy Hero The other advantage to using Turakian Age is most of the supplements are geared towards it, so you can get the Grimoire's, the enemies book (Nobles, Knights, And Necromancers), Enchanting items and do very little adjusting to fit the power of the setting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 Re: New to Fantasy Hero Nope -- it's 10 months away. The new FH for 6E is our Big GenCon Release for 2010. Good to hear, and thanks for the correction. Hope you don't mind if we try to generate some sales for you in the meantime, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 Re: New to Fantasy Hero Oh, absolutely not! Remember, we don't intend (at least at this point) to create new Fantasy settings, so we're still quite happy to have people refer to Turakian Age, Valdorian Age, Atlantean Age, and Tuala Morn when discussing settings for FH. After all, settings are usually very easy to adapt to a new edition of the rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gojira Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 Re: New to Fantasy Hero If your friend wants a comparison to D&D worlds' date=' TA has [it']. This is the idea I would emphasize. What does your friend want to do? Does he want to try another world with elves, dwarves, an Evil World-Threaten Sorcerer, spells and swords? TA is probably it. But if he wants to try something different, then one of the other supplements might suit better. I own The Atlantean Age and Tuala Morn, but not the others. So I can't say anything about TA or VA. TM is a fantastic take on low-fantasy, Celtic game-world. If you've read Katherine Kerr's Deverry series, TM fits the style very closely. The magic level of TM is lower than Kerr's books, and less new-agey, but still very very cool. As an experienced HERO player, I think you'd be very impressed by TM. The Atlantean Age is very high powered fantasy. Characters are 350 points and the NCM for stats starts at 30. I'd be a bit concerned that your friend might be overwhelmed by choices and options. TAA is also about half the number of pages of TM, and TAA tries to detail an entire planet, so by necessity TAA doesn't go into as much detail on geography and people as Tuala Morn does. TAA does have good maps of each continent and general descriptions of each major realm/kingdom/ethnic area, so you are not left hanging. But it's little more than a scaffold which you must build your own world upon. I have Fantasy Hero and for an experienced Hero player I don't think it's required. It might be a nice security blanket. FH is very focused on building your own worlds -- it's very generic. If you get a pre-built world like TM or TAA, then the value of FH goes down, imo. I can't speak for The Turakian Age or the Valdorian Age, but there's only a couple of references in TAA or TM to FH, and those could be easily skipped by an experienced GM. Summary: Tuala Morn: WOW! Low Fantasy, Celtic. Not generic, strong flavor and themes. The Atlantean Age: Good, very high powered, still must roll some of your own bits. Fantasy Hero: Generic, 50/50 whether you really need it, imo. Bestiary would be good if you don't already own it. The other bits I don't own and can't discuss. Oh, I do own Urban Fantasy. That's very cool, but also only includes mini-settings. Some extra work required by the GM here too to flesh things out. It's also mainly low magic, but it does have one Shadowrun-esque high magic mini-setting. No cyberware though. If your friend likes Dresden Files, Charles de Lint or similar stories, I'd at least mention this, and personally I'd love to play an urban fantasy game, so yeah I should give this a thumbs up too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 Re: New to Fantasy Hero Come to think of it, Atlantean Age is in some ways a bridge between the fantasy and supers genres. The capabilities of starting PCs are about as mighty as you can get without becoming true superheroes, and some of the NPCs could stand up even to Champions heavyweights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boll Weevil Posted October 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 Re: New to Fantasy Hero Nope -- it's 10 months away. The new FH for 6E is our Big GenCon Release for 2010.Gah!! No I am really torn. Maybe I will just order Turakian Age and start psyching myself up for ten months. Then again, I bought the big release for 2009 and, well.... By the way this has taught me a little something about myself. Until I win the lottery and can score me a Kindle, I am a dedicated tree-killer. I've had the 6E PDFs since Gencon and can't seem to get into reading online. For reference, it's awesome. I have CKC electronic and I like it a lot. For something I intend to read cover to cover, I need the hardcopy. Thanks for the advice all. I think I am going to need a new book shelf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted October 3, 2009 Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 Re: New to Fantasy Hero You know, I don't mean to sound grumpy, and I'm certainly not singling you out, BW; but your statements remind me of an attitude I see a lot when new editions of game rules are scheduled to come out, that for some reason all games under the old rules become obsolete, and further purchases of books using them are undesirable. HERO Fifth Edition is a great game, and Sixth Edition won't suddenly make it stop being a great game. Fantasy HERO for Fifth Edition is a marvelous sourcebook, and (with all due respect to Steve Long) I strongly doubt that the 6E version will be a dramatic improvement over it. But in any case, as with all HERO genre books, if you have the core rules you can play just fine without it. 5E for fantasy is strongly supported by other existing supplements, most of which won't be updated to 6E for a long time, if at all (and we've been assured Hero Games will continue to sell the 5E books until 6E versions are available). One will probably have to update most of the rules-related material in them to 6E oneself anyway. I'm afraid I just don't see the necessity or desirability of anyone waiting almost a year for Fantasy HERO 6E to come out if they want to start playing now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boll Weevil Posted October 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 Re: New to Fantasy Hero I bought 5th ed just months before it was Revised. I know there was not a lot of functionality difference but there was enough that I had wished I'd waited. I would agree if I were considering a Battlegrounds book but I am looking to start from the beginning and commit to buying a pretty large series of books. I've waited six years to buy Fantasy Hero. For seven, I get shiny new. YMMV, but that is worth it to me to wait for. BTW, I don't at all feel singled out. I understand your position and agree to a point. No hard feelings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost-angel Posted October 3, 2009 Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 Re: New to Fantasy Hero Besides, the money you're not spending on 5E FH could be (is?) going to Fantasy Supplements. There are a good number to get; 2 books of spells, book of adventures, 4 books of monsters, book of NPCs, book of magic items. And then four different Settings to play around with, and a sub-genre book if you want to try out Urban Fantasy. Also, if you want faeries and other celtic themed creatures, Tuala Morn has a good sized beastiary in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boll Weevil Posted October 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 Re: New to Fantasy Hero Yeah, I am prioritizing them. This could get pricey Having played Champions for so long I am resisting the temptation, for now, to get Atlantean age. I really enjoyed Champions Battlegrounds. Is FH Battlegrounds as good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost-angel Posted October 3, 2009 Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 Re: New to Fantasy Hero I think so. It's very much in the same vein as Champions Battleground - though the connections between adventures isn't as tight. But that makes them easier to run whenever instead of as an ongoing series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boll Weevil Posted October 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 Re: New to Fantasy Hero This is fun. I have also never perused the Fantasy Hero games on Hero Central before. So.Much.Content. There goes what little free time I had left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost-angel Posted October 3, 2009 Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 Re: New to Fantasy Hero Check out Shadowsoul's "A New Dawn" if you want to see High Powered Fantasy that isn't "superheroes with swords" ... it's a great game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mayapuppies Posted October 3, 2009 Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 Re: New to Fantasy Hero Besides, the money you're not spending on 5E FH could be (is?) going to Fantasy Supplements. There are a good number to get; 2 books of spells, book of adventures, 4 books of monsters, book of NPCs, book of magic items. And then four different Settings to play around with, and a sub-genre book if you want to try out Urban Fantasy. Also, if you want faeries and other celtic themed creatures, Tuala Morn has a good sized beastiary in it. Let us not forget the licensed properties from us little guys as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mayapuppies Posted October 3, 2009 Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 Re: New to Fantasy Hero Check out Shadowsoul's "A New Dawn" if you want to see High Powered Fantasy that isn't "superheroes with swords" ... it's a great game. I've got 3 FH games going on at HeroCentral as well: Clairon Barony Grey Crown Mercenaries Rocks of the Olemecans Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost-angel Posted October 3, 2009 Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 Re: New to Fantasy Hero Ah yes, Kamarathin - more good stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowsoul Posted October 4, 2009 Report Share Posted October 4, 2009 Re: New to Fantasy Hero Thanks GA. Kamarathin is an interesting setting with some original takes on Fantasy races and cultures. Worth checking out. It's also worth checking out Eosin's The Last Dominion books over at Pencil Pushers. Or check out the PbP he's running at the moment. Epic fantasy with an authentic medieval feel and a well realised world. And Susano has a massive site dedicated to all things Hero. Lots of Fantasy resources including a list of conversions of D&D 3.5 feats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost-angel Posted October 4, 2009 Report Share Posted October 4, 2009 Re: New to Fantasy Hero There's also the Echoes Of Heaven setting from Final Reboubt Press, heavily religious intent in the setting, but a good take at epic Good vs Evil and some mid-to-high level Fantasy structure. It strikes me as a setting that can also get very dark very quickly if that's your thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tasha Posted October 6, 2009 Report Share Posted October 6, 2009 Re: New to Fantasy Hero There's always running one of the established D&D worlds and use the spells/races/monsters and equipment as they are presented in Fantasy Hero and The Hero System Bestiary. That way your D&D loving friend can play in the world he's grown accustomed to and you can use your favorite rule system. Once you get used to it, converting critters to hero is pretty simple. Tasha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Desmarais Posted October 19, 2009 Report Share Posted October 19, 2009 Re: New to Fantasy Hero There's always running one of the established D&D worlds and use the spells/races/monsters and equipment as they are presented in Fantasy Hero and The Hero System Bestiary. That way your D&D loving friend can play in the world he's grown accustomed to and you can use your favorite rule system. Once you get used to it, converting critters to hero is pretty simple. Tasha I ran Fantasy Hero in the Forgotten Realms for years, just to give all of my old AD&D players a familiar frame of reference - and this was pre-5th edition. Now, with the Fantasy Hero Grimoires and the professions & races from Fantasy Hero, and magic rules created for Turakian Age, it would be even easier. Everything "Turakian" is very similar in feel to the major xD&D settings, so it's a snap to bolt it on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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