THE HERO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT GUIDE -- What Would *You* Like To See?

[Steve Long]

Re: THE HERO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT GUIDE -- What Would *You* Like To See?

 

Practically, I'd rather select my character's weaponry from a genre book so I get an appropriate Pulp, WWII or what have you weapon. Will HSEG add anything, or just reprint the charts from the existing books (perhaps updated to 6e, but I don't think anything of note changed which would impact weapon stats)?

 

I have no objection to adding some things -- in fact, I have some candidates for that in mind -- but it's going to depend entirely on whether I have the time to do the research and the writing, and the page space to add things. My primary goal is to get the wealth of material we already have re-organized, updated to 6E, etc. If that happens and I have the time and page space to expand things a bit, I will.

[Steve Long]

Re: THE HERO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT GUIDE -- What Would *You* Like To See?

 

I really would like to see sharks with fricken laser beams attached to their heads

 

Easy. This is a 4-step process:

 

1. Purchase The HERO System Bestiary and take the Great White Shark character sheet on p. 481.

 

2. Purchase The HERO System Equipment Guide (when available) and find a laser write-up in Chapter 1.

 

3. Add laser write-up to shark character sheet.

 

4. Unleash on PCs, then cackle evilly.

[Steve Long]

Re: THE HERO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT GUIDE -- What Would *You* Like To See?

 

Somehow I feel like a lot of the ancient vs. modern weaponry distinction lies not so much in damage, but in other factors (training, cost, reliability, rate of fire, etc.).

 

This whole discussion is totally inappropriate for this thread.

 

Guys, if you want to keep discussing this, please take it to another thread. I don't want to lock this thread, but if it doesn't stay on topic, I will. The issue of weapon distinction has been raised; that's all that needs to be done in this thread.

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: THE HERO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT GUIDE -- What Would *You* Like To See?

 

I don't see how using different builds for the same weapon would "defeat the point of a universal system". On the contrary' date=' requiring a one-size-fits-all build -- for [b']anything[/b] -- makes the system less useful as a tookit. Weapons, like magic, super-science, and psionics, should be build as they fit the character, setting and genre. Whether that results in identical phenomena having different builds in different campaigns should not be an issue. At all.

 

Actually, many posters on these boards (not myself, actually) do use Hero for cross-genre games. Having the barbarian's axe or the rogue's sling suddenly do less damage because a character from a modern era has been added feels wrong to me.

[BobGreenwade]

Re: THE HERO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT GUIDE -- What Would *You* Like To See?

 

You know, Steve, the more you say, "That's something more appropriate for HERO System Weapons," the more I salivate for that book.

 

For this one, I only have two requests in the weapons/armor scope.

 

First, a personal force field that uses Damage Negation.

 

Second, a pastiche of Duck Dodgers' disintegrator weapon (using Side Effects or Burnout rules for when it, well, disintegrates).

[whitekeys]

Re: THE HERO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT GUIDE -- What Would *You* Like To See?

 

Other then the fact that this probably should be discussed here, the problem with weapon damage is probably actually Hit points. And there are two ways of looking at it...

 

On the one hand, if you were to assume that two well-slung rocks to the head were enough to kill someone, then ir really shouldn't matter what the damage is. Two slings you're dead, two shots with a weak handgun you're dead.

 

Alternately, it simply hard to determine different amounts of damage when you're dealing with small Hit Point numbers, like 10 and you're only working with d6s. There's just only so many options. On the gamut of weapons from a punch to a rocket launcher, how can you possibly give each item inbetween an equal damage increment? But like I said, this probably shouldn't be discussed here, lol

[The Main Man]

Re: THE HERO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT GUIDE -- What Would *You* Like To See?

 

I don't know if we can make any specific equipment requests, but... how about an omnitool like the sonic screwdriver from Doctor Who?

[RexMundi]

Re: THE HERO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT GUIDE -- What Would *You* Like To See?

 

Omni Tools, and Utility Belts, combined with Steve's Shark with Laser Beam flow chart. That would work for me.

 

~Rex

[IndianaJoe3]

Re: THE HERO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT GUIDE -- What Would *You* Like To See?

 

I'd like to see drugs and medical equipment.

[Darbor]

Re: THE HERO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT GUIDE -- What Would *You* Like To See?

 

As I don't see anything showing the organization topic as closed, I want to weigh in on that.

 

I'm a FH player and would be happiest with Option #3. Option #1 would not be too bad. Option #2, even with the Appendix that some people have suggested would be pretty darn annoying.

[Rigel]

Re: THE HERO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT GUIDE -- What Would *You* Like To See?

 

I support organization idea #1. I think it would be easy to find an item. I might not know whether you consider it modern or fantasy, but I would certainly know I'm looking far a weapon. Plus, I think this has the advantage of showing off the universality of the Hero System. You can see different items from different genres side-by-side (or, at least, near each other).

[ideasmith]

Re: THE HERO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT GUIDE -- What Would *You* Like To See?

 

Actually' date=' many posters on these boards (not myself, actually) do use Hero for cross-genre games.[/quote']

I am well aware that many posters use HERO for cross-genre games. I am not aware of cross genre games being any more cookie cutter than single-genre games.

 

Having the barbarian's axe or the rogue's sling suddenly do less damage because a character from a modern era has been added feels wrong to me.

The sudden arbitrary change in weapon damage you describe sounds like an arbitrary GM ruling. As such, the GM can prevent it by not making the arbitrary ruling.

 

If I should GM a game inspired by The Mouse That Roared, bows would certainly be more effective than guns. Because doing so would help with that “Mouse That Roared” feel. And someone from the future with a photon gun showed up, I wouldn’t consider that a reason for either bow or gun damage to change. Why would it be?

[The Main Man]

Re: THE HERO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT GUIDE -- What Would *You* Like To See?

 

I'd like to see drugs and medical equipment.

I second this. I think they would be particularly useful for Dark Champions and Cyber HERO games.

[The Main Man]

Re: THE HERO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT GUIDE -- What Would *You* Like To See?

 

Omni Tools, and Utility Belts, combined with Steve's Shark with Laser Beam flow chart. That would work for me.

 

~Rex

Actually, the sharks with friggin' laser beams could make for a humorous sidebar note towards the beginning. It also would shill another book as well as exemplifying the "plug in and play" nature that HERO easily accomodates.

[Blazar]

Re: THE HERO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT GUIDE -- What Would *You* Like To See?

 

I would love to see something on clockwork and steampunk type items.

[The Main Man]

Re: THE HERO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT GUIDE -- What Would *You* Like To See?

 

I would love to see something on clockwork and steampunk type items.

I agree; those could be cool.

 

 

Say, what about reprinting the Available Technical Resources Index? Perhaps make it more generic and using it as a label for items throughout the book?

[Steve Long]

Re: THE HERO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT GUIDE -- What Would *You* Like To See?

 

Say, what about reprinting the Available Technical Resources Index? Perhaps make it more generic and using it as a label for items throughout the book?

 

To the extent I want to discuss "tech levels," I'd rather save that for Star Hero; here it would be out of context. Nor do I want to specifically peg things to a system; that's too close to telling GMs what to do, whereas I'd rather give 'em the tools to create their own technology evaluation and ranking systems.

[The Main Man]

Re: THE HERO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT GUIDE -- What Would *You* Like To See?

 

Fair enough. What will the extent of Sci-Fi weapons be in HSEG? What if there were reprints of Terran Empire equipment in addition to Spacer's Toolkit entries?

[Steve Long]

Re: THE HERO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT GUIDE -- What Would *You* Like To See?

 

What will the extent of Sci-Fi weapons be in HSEG?

 

Well, basically what you see in the 5E SH itself, supplemented as necessary with bits and pieces from our various SH supplements (particularly STK). I'm not going to pull in stuff from AW, TE, etc. en masse because it's setting-specific, and that's not appropriate for HSEG. I'll cherry-pick it for stuff that I can "genericize" and don't already have in some form.

[BobGreenwade]

Re: THE HERO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT GUIDE -- What Would *You* Like To See?

 

Steve, have you ever seen Dr. Michio Kaku's show "Sci-Fi Science"? A few of the gadgets he addresses there might be good for inclusion -- for example, when he did "How to Build a Light Saber," what he came up with was really a plasma sword, and it was cool enough that I've included it in the sci-fi story I've recently finished.

[The Main Man]

Re: THE HERO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT GUIDE -- What Would *You* Like To See?

 

Well' date=' basically what you see in the 5E SH itself, supplemented as necessary with bits and pieces from our various SH supplements (particularly STK). I'm not going to pull in stuff from AW, TE, etc. en masse because it's setting-specific, and that's not appropriate for HSEG. I'll cherry-pick it for stuff that I can "genericize" and don't already have in some form.[/quote']

 

Oh of course. I figured that they could be genericized, but in any case they make for more examples of different SF weaponry.

[gojira]

Re: THE HERO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT GUIDE -- What Would *You* Like To See?

 

Actually' date=' the sharks with friggin' laser beams could make for a humorous sidebar note towards the beginning. It also would shill another book as well as exemplifying the "plug in and play" nature that HERO easily accomodates.[/quote']

 

 

I was thinking the same thing, right up there with "how to build a throwing badger." Even funnier would be the index entry:

 

 Shark, Frickin', with Frickin' Lasers on its Frickin' Head ......... p 85

 

Too many jokes make a book trite, but a few make it more fun to read.

[The Main Man]

Re: THE HERO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT GUIDE -- What Would *You* Like To See?

 

What about a list of slasher movie weapons? A knife glove (A Nightmare on Elm Street), hooked chains (Hellraiser), a chainsaw (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre/ Evil Dead Trilogy) are all weapons that could bear writeups IMO. Speaking of knife gloves, I seem to recall an ancient Indian weapon that was pretty similar.

[Folded]

Re: THE HERO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT GUIDE -- What Would *You* Like To See?

 

Steve' date=' have you ever seen Dr. Michio Kaku's show "Sci-Fi Science"? A few of the gadgets he addresses there might be good for inclusion -- for example, when he did "How to Build a Light Saber," what he came up with was really a plasma sword, and it was cool enough that I've included it in the sci-fi story I've recently finished.[/quote']

 

One of those shows was about building a teleporter, but what he ended up with was a long range duplicator. All we have to do is kidnap Michio Kaku, steal a WHOLE lot of money, duplicate Steve a dozen times, and we'll have all the sourcebooks we could ever possibly want!!!

 

Hey, that'd make a great Foxbat adventure...

 

Oh, and method #1, just to contribute.

[BobGreenwade]

Re: THE HERO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT GUIDE -- What Would *You* Like To See?

 

What about a list of slasher movie weapons? A knife glove (A Nightmare on Elm Street)' date=' hooked chains (Hellraiser), a chainsaw (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre/ Evil Dead Trilogy) are all weapons that could bear writeups IMO. Speaking of knife gloves, I seem to recall an ancient Indian weapon that was pretty similar.[/quote']I'll second this. It shouldn't take up too much space, it stretches the variety of genres covered, and it adds an extra dash of kickbuttiveness.