Tell me about Fantasy Hero 1st edition (the self-contained one).

[jdrakeh]

I had a little bit of extra cash this month so, on an impulse, I bought a few first edition Fantasy Hero books (the self-contained game version). I had a friend who talked this game up like crazy back in the day and Noble Knight had the books marked down quite cheap on sale, so I took the plunge. What have I gotten myself into? Will this game rock my socks off? Is it a totally different play dynamic than D&D? Do wizards rule the roost, or are different character types more balanced (ala Champions)?

[Ndreare]

Re: Tell me about Fantasy Hero 1st edition (the self-contained one).

 

I would be interested in the answer to this as well. I remember it but not with enough information to be useful

The one thing that stuck out to me was as a wizard I was not subject to the broken normal characteristic maxima rules.

Our GM at the time began enforcing NCM in concept on powers as well, to prevent the 3D6 RKA fireballs from being the ultimate problem solver.

[gojira]

Re: Tell me about Fantasy Hero 1st edition (the self-contained one).

 

Heh, the OP (I assume) posted the exact same thing on RPG.net, where it garnered a pretty good amount of attention, and folks waxed nostalgic about their old FH campaigns.

 

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?666268-Tell-me-about-Fantasy-Hero-1st-edition-%28the-self-contained-one%29

 

 

Aside: If Hero Games runs out of other ideas, I wonder if "Retro Hero" would be of interest to consumers. Release an all-in-one, nostalgia product with all the old rules of some of the early Hero stuff, like the old 1st edition Fantasy Hero. Probably should fix anything obviously broken, but the briefness of the rules, their "old school" feel, and the relative quirkiness that comes from that should be a selling feature.

[Ndreare]

Re: Tell me about Fantasy Hero 1st edition (the self-contained one).

 

Isn't that what champions complete was.

[Ndreare]

Re: Tell me about Fantasy Hero 1st edition (the self-contained one).

 

That is to say the first in a series of all in one books. Or is it a one of a kind?

[jdrakeh]

Re: Tell me about Fantasy Hero 1st edition (the self-contained one).

 

Heh, the OP (I assume) posted the exact same thing on RPG.net, where it garnered a pretty good amount of attention, and folks waxed nostalgic about their old FH campaigns.

 

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?666268-Tell-me-about-Fantasy-Hero-1st-edition-%28the-self-contained-one%29

 

 

Yep, that was me. I posted here because I thought that I might get more response from Hero system experts, as it were.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Tell me about Fantasy Hero 1st edition (the self-contained one).

 

It's been a long time since I looked at those old FH rules, but what I recall is that they came with a lot of mechanical assumptions about how things like magic worked, which tended to enforce particular play mechanics. This came out before HERO System was unified in Fourth Edition. Before that, each genre (fantasy, supers, sci-fi, modern adventure, pulp) had its own version of the system, with rules tailored for a particular style of play. They were all similar, but distinct and not completely cross-compatible.

 

In the case of FH 1st Edition, baseline magic spells had a lot of built-in restrictions that would be considered Power Limitations in the present system. You could buy most of them off by investing more Character Points. Animals and "monsters" were built including abilities unique to them, not normally available to PCs. Overall a less flexible system than what HERO gamers today are used to.

[Tasha]

Re: Tell me about Fantasy Hero 1st edition (the self-contained one).

 

Heh, the OP (I assume) posted the exact same thing on RPG.net, where it garnered a pretty good amount of attention, and folks waxed nostalgic about their old FH campaigns.

 

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?666268-Tell-me-about-Fantasy-Hero-1st-edition-%28the-self-contained-one%29

 

 

Aside: If Hero Games runs out of other ideas, I wonder if "Retro Hero" would be of interest to consumers. Release an all-in-one, nostalgia product with all the old rules of some of the early Hero stuff, like the old 1st edition Fantasy Hero. Probably should fix anything obviously broken, but the briefness of the rules, their "old school" feel, and the relative quirkiness that comes from that should be a selling feature.

 

I think that the nostalgia is just looking at the past with Rose colored lenses.

 

Any Edition of FH could rock someone's socks off if they are coming from a d20 game. Though there's still more than a little work required to run the game. I don't remember there being any spells written up (besides the Sample Characters). The only strangeness of the system are only strange to those coming from Champions or other Hero System. (No Invis, Darkvision is just Sight Per Skill levels, Images doing a bunch of things.) It's probably one of the cleanest versions of the rules pre 4e.

[jdrakeh]

Re: Tell me about Fantasy Hero 1st edition (the self-contained one).

 

Any Edition of FH could rock someone's socks off if they are coming from a d20 game.

 

Well, I'm coming into it from Holmes BD&D (circa 1977), not a d20 version of D&D.

 

Though there's still more than a little work required to run the game.

 

That doesn't bother me. I've had some experience with 2nd and 4th edition of Champions/Hero, as well as years worth of experience with other generic systems, which all required work to build a setting/campaign.

 

I don't remember there being any spells written up (besides the Sample Characters).

 

I haven't received the books yet, so I can't say they're in the core book or not - but I did order The Spell Book supplement which, I assume, has spells in it.

[jdrakeh]

Re: Tell me about Fantasy Hero 1st edition (the self-contained one).

 

They were all similar' date=' but distinct and not completely cross-compatible.[/quote']

 

Animals and "monsters" were built including abilities unique to them, not normally available to PCs. Overall a less flexible system than what HERO gamers today are used to.

 

I also ordered the Hero System Bestiary for 3rd edition Hero with the understanding that it was largely compatible with the first edition/printing of Fantasy Hero. Is that correct?

[Steve]

Re: Tell me about Fantasy Hero 1st edition (the self-contained one).

 

Talking about first edition FH really takes me back. I used it to run a pretty decent Talislanta campaign. It was clunky in a few ways, but it was a lot of fun and lightyears more flexible to do games when compared to 1st edition AD&D.

[Lucius]

Re: Tell me about Fantasy Hero 1st edition (the self-contained one).

 

I had a little bit of extra cash this month so' date=' on an impulse, I bought a few first edition Fantasy Hero books (the self-contained game version). I had a friend who talked this game up like crazy back in the day and Noble Knight had the books marked down quite cheap on sale, so I took the plunge. What have I gotten myself into? Will this game rock my socks off? Is it a totally different play dynamic than D&D? Do wizards rule the roost, or are different character types more balanced (ala Champions)?[/quote']

 

If you're familiar with Champions in any edition, 1st Ed Fantasy Hero shouldn't be difficult to grasp. Certain things might trip you up because they work differently than later editions; for example, Rather than an absolute limit on Disadvantages or any category of Disadvantages, there is a "diminishing returns" rule that cuts the value of multiple Disadvantages of a given type.

 

I miss one aspect of the magic rules; the "Variable Advantage" Modifier allows a single spell to be flexible in a way you can't quite match in later editions, although a properly constructed Multipower can come close. Well, now I think of it a Variable Power Pool could mimic it but that's overkill.

 

There are sample spells and magic items, and a complete sample adventure to get started, and even three sample player characters.

 

 

Isn't that what champions complete was.

That is to say the first in a series of all in one books. Or is it a one of a kind?

 

I believe Champions Complete is meant to be "one of a kind" but it is in a way a return to the original Hero System. It started with Champions of course and then came several games, each stand-alone, in different genres; Justice Inc for pulp, Danger International for modern action/adventure, etc.

 

I ran a Justice Inc game earlier this year for a friend, and I do miss some of the old ways of doing things. On the whole, I think I'd prefer to play 5th or 6th edition Hero, but I'd still rather play 1st edition Fantasy Hero than any edition of D&D.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Palindromedary Hero

[Tasha]

Re: Tell me about Fantasy Hero 1st edition (the self-contained one).

 

Actually it was Champions for Supers, Espionage for Modern and spy stuff, Justice Inc. for Pulp.

 

Danger International, Fantasy Hero and Robot Warriors were in a later wave of releases (all made possible by Hero's Discovery of Perfect Binding, as all earlier books were staple bound.)

[Chris Goodwin]

Re: Tell me about Fantasy Hero 1st edition (the self-contained one).

 

If you happen to have the Spell Book and Magic Items book coming, they both include the errata page that was also in later printings of the original book. Both of those books also import some additional rules from Champions, though neither of them makes any use of those additional rules.

[jdrakeh]

Re: Tell me about Fantasy Hero 1st edition (the self-contained one).

 

If you happen to have the Spell Book and Magic Items book coming' date=' they both include the errata page that was also in later printings of the original book. Both of those books also import some additional rules from Champions, though neither of them makes any use of those additional rules.[/quote']

 

I skipped Magic Items for the time being, but do have the Spell Book on the way, along with a copy of the Hero Bestiary (3rd Edition). Am I missing out on anything spectacularly important by not getting Magic Items? That is, can I make my own magic items with the rules located in the core book? The reason I skipped picking up Magic Items was because I tend to like "magic poor" settings (at least in terms of the number of magic items floating around).

[Scott Baker]

Re: Tell me about Fantasy Hero 1st edition (the self-contained one).

 

When I was playing 1st Edition everything (Champs, FH, etc.) we used to mix-and-match all the rules. We just ignored things that didn't fit the particular genre. I don't think you'll have many issues using the materials from any of the earlier FH versions.

[Toadmaster]

Re: Tell me about Fantasy Hero 1st edition (the self-contained one).

 

I also ordered the Hero System Bestiary for 3rd edition Hero with the understanding that it was largely compatible with the first edition/printing of Fantasy Hero. Is that correct?

 

The original Fantasy HERO is actually based on the 3rd edition rules, as were the various other non-superhero games. The 1st and 2nd edition only include Champions rule sets. 3rd edition added a greatly increased skills list among other changes, largely to support the non-supers gaming.

[Toadmaster]

Re: Tell me about Fantasy Hero 1st edition (the self-contained one).

 

double post

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Tell me about Fantasy Hero 1st edition (the self-contained one).

 

I also ordered the Hero System Bestiary for 3rd edition Hero with the understanding that it was largely compatible with the first edition/printing of Fantasy Hero. Is that correct?

 

Before Fourth Edition HERO System, animals had their own rule set, which the first Hero System Bestiary contained (and it sounds like that's the one you ordered). Animals and "creatures" created for any Hero genre used those rules, but each genre also had its own rules for PCs and NPC characters.

[Chris Goodwin]

Re: Tell me about Fantasy Hero 1st edition (the self-contained one).

 

I skipped Magic Items for the time being' date=' but do have the Spell Book on the way, along with a copy of the Hero Bestiary (3rd Edition). Am I missing out on anything spectacularly important by not getting Magic Items? That is, can I make my own magic items with the rules located in the core book? The reason I skipped picking up Magic Items was because I tend to like "magic poor" settings (at least in terms of the number of magic items floating around).[/quote']

 

The core book includes a good sized handful each of monsters, spells, and magic items, and all the rules you'll need to make more. That said, you'd probably find either the Bestiary or the Spell Book the most useful, with Magic Items in last place. The Spell Book includes a section on magic system design that reappeared in expanded form in the FH book for 4th edition, which I honestly found more useful than any of the spells.

 

(Edit) I never owned the 3rd edition Hero Bestiary, but the rules for building monsters in Fantasy Hero 1e are just a bit different from the ones for building characters. All monsters start from 0 in all stats, as well as in movement, which basically means they cost (if I figured it out correctly) something like 137 points more to build than an equivalent player character. Those point totals are used when Summoning or Shapeshifting into monsters as well.

[jdrakeh]

Re: Tell me about Fantasy Hero 1st edition (the self-contained one).

 

Thanks for all of the feedback, folks! My books arrived yesterday afternoon and it looks like I chose wisely. Look forward to playing a game soon-ish.

[Chris Goodwin]

Re: Tell me about Fantasy Hero 1st edition (the self-contained one).

 

Any more questions, just ask. I don't know how much experience you have with Hero in general, but we're all happy to help!

[jdrakeh]

Re: Tell me about Fantasy Hero 1st edition (the self-contained one).

 

Any more questions' date=' just ask. [/quote']

 

Thanks! I started reading the core book early this morning and really like what I see. In many ways, it's much less complex than the later versions of Hero I have experience with (notably the Big Blue Book and FRED).

[Imaginos]

Re: Tell me about Fantasy Hero 1st edition (the self-contained one).

 

Assuming you've had time to digest the book, what do you think now?

[jdrakeh]

Re: Tell me about Fantasy Hero 1st edition (the self-contained one).

 

Assuming you've had time to digest the book' date=' what do you think now?[/quote']

 

I think it was definitely worth the purchase price. I look forward to running a game with it, possibly in an alternate 12th century Europe with high fantasy overtones.