4th Edition vs 6th Edition

[Amorkca]

Hello all

 

We are just getting back into playing Champions and have not played anything but 4th Edition; is there much of a learning curve between the 2 versions?

 

I just picked up the Champions Complete book and was thumbing through it trying to remember the rules and thought I'd post a query here!

[ayinde]

I would say no most of the new rules are not drastic

[Lucius]

The biggest change is probably that there are no Figured Characteristics now, and OCV and DCV are not considered Characteristics that you have to buy up seperately rather than being figured from DEX.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

I still have a palindromedary

[Amorkca]

Thanks for the replies gang.

 

We took some of the characters from Champions Complete and ran them through a fight scenario. Things are pretty much as we remembered, but we had to spend time refreshing our memories...

 

That'll take a lot longer...

 

[Hyper-Man]

Check these out:

 

4th to 5th Edition Checklist & Commentary

 

Hero System 6th Edition – Key Changes

[Killer Shrike]

Mechanically...they are generally similar enough that you can roll with the punches of learning the differences as you go. As is usually true but perhaps more so with the HERO System, the best way to really dive in is to make characters and compare and contrast them. If you have some old 4e characters laying around you can also take the tact of "re-imagining" them and making a 6e version, which will give you some very solid stakes in the ground to make comparisons from.

 

 

Spiritually...6e is much less "free-wheeling" than 4e (and the oddness of referring to the rather rules heavy 4e as "free-wheeling" is not lost on me). 6e has much more rules coverage, depth, and nuance than 4th, and this can feel restricting.

 

There's a lot more to remember or refer to as needed if you want to be "by the book" and correct per the rules as written (though of course you can always opt to not care that much and disregard the rules when they are inconvenient).

 

The GM is relied upon far less for rulings and interpretation and sorting out odd mechanical interactions. This is generally a good thing, but it does mean if you have long-standing habits from playing 4e for many years that are at odds with 6e "clarifications" or assertions you might be taken aback from time to time.

 

 

 

All in all, I think 6e is the best version of the rules mechanically, and has a lot to recommend it. But I do look back on 4e nostalgically as the more lean and nimble engine.

[Christopher]

The big difference is not 4th too 5th. It is 5th too 6th. I have both of the later two and the difference is great in some apsect. But personally I prefer 6, if just for all the bugs, inconsistencies and overcomplexities that were fixed.

About either being more or less free-wheling: I guess some people never noticed the big "What not to spend points on" Rule or the Full Text of the Power Skill in 6th Edition. The game can be as free wheling as the GM wants too.

 

I am not a big fan of "Figured Characteristics" mechanics in RPG, especially not if it is a single expensive Charactersitic and the resutling values cannot be increased manually - wich was the case with DEX/EGO and the CV's

 

A big question is wich books you buy:

6E1 + 6E2 are the official Core books and can often be aquired in a Cheaper bundle. They are still quite expensive and weighty.

Champions Complete is a newer, lighter Core Book with more Focus on the Superheroic genre.