Fred Lang Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 I'm 40 pages into my first contact with the HERO System (6E), and I like what I see. I'm a sucker for giant rule books, and HERO does not disappoint! In that first 40 pages, I've already seen ~8 mentions of ways to avoid abusing the rules. I wonder if the HERO system, because of its open-endedness, is more prone to abuse than other RPGs? GURPS 4E, which I'm more familiar with, is another "Universal" RPG rule set, but there aren't nearly the same number of warnings about unbalanced characters and games in the rules for that system--and GURPS is as close as I can get to an "apples to apples" comparison, given my limited understanding of HERO 6E. I'm looking forward to exploring HERO 6E and delving through the forum here. Now I just need to find a game in San Francisco... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boll Weevil Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Re: Well, hello there, HERO System! (New Guy) Welcome, Strongbow!! Check out the Player Finder forum toward the bottom of the fora listings. Enjoy!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost-angel Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Re: Well, hello there, HERO System! (New Guy) Welcome to HERO. It's no more abusable than any other system out there, sometimes it just feels a little easier to break any given game. The art of creating a Hero Campaign is partially in what you don't allow instead of what you do allow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mystic Pilgrim Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Re: Well, hello there, HERO System! (New Guy) Welcome, Strongbow... I, too, am a reformed GURPS connoisseur... To be honest, I was originally intimidated by the HERO System, at first... Mainly, because it was such a radical shift of role playing philosophy from all the other RPGs; but once you get used to it, it has such an amazing eloquence and flexibility compared to all other systems. Anyway, I'm sorry for rambling... Again, welcome to the boards... You'll find the folk here are helpful and friendly and very welcoming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyper-Man Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Re: Well, hello there, HERO System! (New Guy) Welcome Strongbow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mayapuppies Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Re: Well, hello there, HERO System! (New Guy) Welcome aboard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattingly Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Re: Well, hello there, HERO System! (New Guy) One big difference between HERO and GURPS is that HERO tells you how to build your own power/ability, instead of giving you a big list. That's why you'll see references to what you can do versus what you should do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevlyn Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Re: Well, hello there, HERO System! (New Guy) Welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zane_Marlowe Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Re: Well, hello there, HERO System! (New Guy) Welcome Strongbow! I've been writing a new players' intro to the two Hero System volumes for a little while now (it's not quite finished). Maybe some of it might be useful for getting your head around the system. Anyway, hope you find the community here both welcoming and insightful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jomster Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Re: Well, hello there, HERO System! (New Guy) Welcome, welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted January 31, 2011 Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 Re: Well, hello there, HERO System! (New Guy) As several people have pointed out, I don't think that HERO is necessarily more abusable than any other RPG rules system. However, because of its nature -- because it gives you the tools to build what you want, instead of building it for you -- I think it's a good idea to put warnings in the book about potential areas of abuse to help the GM (and the players, for that matter, who are hopefully mature enough not to "drive on the sidewalk" just because they've been given a driver's license, as I like to say). There are so many possible ways to combine the different elements of the HERO System to create things that we figure a few notes, based on experience and user feedback, about possible points of abuse improve the gaming experience for everyone. Hope you enjoy HERO as much as we all have! As you've already figured out, this is a great place to post questions and observations; we have the best fan community in gaming, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy_The_Ruthles Posted January 31, 2011 Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 Re: Well, hello there, HERO System! (New Guy) Welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fearghus Posted January 31, 2011 Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 Re: Well, hello there, HERO System! (New Guy) I have two points I'd like to make. I have found that in HERO it is very easy to min-max. I have also found that the HERO system punishes min-maxing more than other game systems. This might not apply with other game mastering styles other than mine, but in hero if you pile all your points into attack powers and nothing on defense (depending on AP limits and such) then you are going to jump into combat blow one bad guy away then go down yourself and leave the rest of your group to take on the rest of the bad guys. The min and the max seem to be more extreme so it behooves players to play balanced characters. Second... The combat system in HERO is quick, so if you are a power player even though min-maxing is easy in the system combat is normally not the central focus of a game unlike other games. Sometimes when I am playing a d20 based game that shall not be mentioned one combat takes HOURS and HOURS!!! I have never had that happen in HERO accept when I was teaching a whole table of players new to the system, and that only took a long time because you are literally taking every player by the hand... explaining all the combat options, and letting them make a decision on what they want to do. But once you get a group together that has a working knowledge of the system combat is fast so long as the defense and attack powers are balanced properly (and I find setting active point limits does this really well). Anyway... back to the point. Because combat is a smaller part of the game than in other systems, your character having powers that abuse the rules matters less than it would in other games. granted people can still buy high powered presence attacks and things like that to "help" them in role playing... but I find that good ROLE players thrive in HERO not good ROLL players. Just my observations though. I am sure that other game masters and players have other experiences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Lang Posted January 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 Re: Well, hello there, HERO System! (New Guy) Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone! I'm still reading along, and I'm enjoying what I see. Still haven't figured out the reasons for some things (why the Strength table begins to jump increments as opposed to having a steady STR 1, 2, 3, 4, 5..., for instance), but I love the feel of the game rules so far. Though it may not matter to many, I am also really impressed with the look and feel of the HERO 6E rule books themselves. I love the blue covers, the solidity of the binding and overall construction of the books, the well-laid interiors, the highlighted subsections, and the visual breathing room inside the pages that make it less daunting than it could be with so many rules and items to follow. Add to that the thick pages that are easy to grasp and turn, a readable typeface and friendly tone to the prose, and I'm sold. (Yes, I admit that I am particular about some things, and printing is one of them. HERO 6E gets an A+ from picky Strongbow on this point.) Again, thank you. It's not often that the Big Shots will respond to a meager little "Howdy" thread like this, so that's another big selling point. Knowing that the folks in charge of the book still pay attention is something I haven't seen yet. I'm impressed. Onward! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mayapuppies Posted January 31, 2011 Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 Re: Well, hello there, HERO System! (New Guy) Again, thank you. It's not often that the Big Shots will respond to a meager little "Howdy" thread like this, so that's another big selling point. Knowing that the folks in charge of the book still pay attention is something I haven't seen yet. I'm impressed. Onward! Yeah, the people here are friendly like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Posted January 31, 2011 Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 Re: Well, hello there, HERO System! (New Guy) Welcome aboard. Wooooooo! Dogpile on the new guy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tasha Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Re: Well, hello there, HERO System! (New Guy) Welcome to the boards! Hope you enjoy the rules as much as we all do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Re: Well, hello there, HERO System! (New Guy) Now I just need to find a game in San Francisco... Strongbow -- not only do we have a lot of fans in the San Fran area (that's where the company and the game got started, 30 years ago), but there's a great Hero gaming opportunity coming up in just a couple weeks: DunDraCon, Feb. 18-21 at the San Ramon Marriott. The Hero crew (myself, Darren, Jason, Tina) will be there, selling books and doing seminars, as will some of the people you interact with here on the boards. And there'll be lots of HERO System games being run all weekend long. Come on out and join the fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mystic Pilgrim Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Re: Well, hello there, HERO System! (New Guy) Oh man... I would have to be in Ohio... argggg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh bunneh Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Re: Well, hello there, HERO System! (New Guy) Welcome, Strongbow! Yeah' date=' the people here are friendly like that. [/quote'] Well, most of us are. But watch out for that Bunny guy. He's a real jerk! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Re: Well, hello there, HERO System! (New Guy) Welcome, Strongbow! Well, most of us are. But watch out for that Bunny guy. He's a real jerk! Yeah, he even stole my rug! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh bunneh Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Re: Well, hello there, HERO System! (New Guy) Yeah' date=' he even stole my rug![/quote'] That rug tied the whole place together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brionl Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Re: Well, hello there, HERO System! (New Guy) I may have to miss DunDraCon this year for the first time in about 25 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Lang Posted February 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Re: Well, hello there, HERO System! (New Guy) Strongbow -- not only do we have a lot of fans in the San Fran area (that's where the company and the game got started' date=' 30 years ago), but there's a great Hero gaming opportunity coming up in just a couple weeks: DunDraCon, Feb. 18-21 at the San Ramon Marriott. The Hero crew (myself, Darren, Jason, Tina) will be there, selling books and doing seminars, as will some of the people you interact with here on the boards. And there'll be [i']lots[/i] of HERO System games being run all weekend long. Come on out and join the fun. Argh! I'll be knee-deep in getting my porfolio ready for Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle this month, so I will miss DunDraCon. I have 7 comic cons on my 2011 schedule (tickets already bought for most) scattered all around the country, with gaps in between to tweak whatever the comics companies think needs tweaking so that I can get on with one of the larger companies. Once I get the nod and regular work somewhere, I'll be free to attend some cons for fun--for now, it's all cons for WORK. ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gojira Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Re: Well, hello there, HERO System! (New Guy) Welcome Valkyrie! ...er, Strongbow! One opinion on the abuse of Hero rules: Hero encourages a lot more tool-kitting than most other rules. Since the base points, advantages and limitations are all standard, all of the powers and abilities are right there for you to change how you want. Don't like how something works? Change it? Are spells (powers) too expensive for mages to buy? Let's make all spells cost one point each. Etc. As you get more into Hero, you'll find that Steve (and other Hero writers) often break the rules, just because they want a campaign to have a certain feel. Stuff might be more or less expensive, or just have fun "side rules" that govern how it works, in any given campaign book. And I think that emphasis on changing thing leads to an attitude that GM adjudication is more important than following the rules. Does a player follow the rules, but break your campaign? Say "don't do that." Does a player have a cool idea for a character that isn't game breaking, but not legal by rules? Allow it! It doesn't matter. The rules are just there to have fun, and as soon as the rules get in the way of fun, it's time to change the rules. That's the meta-rule in Hero. It's harder to do in practice than it is to talk about in the forums, but it's something we all strive for. Take care, and happy Hero-ing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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