Browsing through the HERO store

[Duke Bushido]

And I couldn't help but notice how much of the PDF material was written by Greg Ewans.  I was intrigued by the Wondrous Treasure compilations---

 

has anyone read any of his material?  Is it worthwhile stuff, or just random stuff?

 

What I'm worried about-- and forgive me; I do _not_ wish this to sound as offensive as I think it might-- but what I'm worried about is finding out it's all a bunch of Steve Long type stuff: thirty new sets of special effects for killing things.  That kind of stuff.

[Duke Bushido]

I am going to give the author the benefit of a doubt and assume the lack of response means that no one active on this board of late has actually tried this stuff. 

 

In an attempt to keep this positive:

 

Why are folks not tempted to try these inexpensive little 3rd party supplements? 

 

[archer]

Honestly, I rarely pay attention to the name of authors for RPG material so I rarely have an opinion on authors, whether I've used their material or not. That would probably break the hearts of some authors who depend on their name to regenerate repeated business but, sorry, I've had to remember people's names for work for so many years that I developed an aversion for doing so for my entertainment. If it makes you feel any better, I don't remember the names of actors or singers either. I might like a movie or a particular song but I probably have no idea who you are.

 

Though I admit I really miss Aaron Allston.

 

 

[Ninja-Bear]

Duke for me it’s not because it’s a third party, it’s because I’m on a tight budget. That and I’m not really a PDF buyer/user. Plus I don’t play a lot of Fantasy so the need isn’t there.

[tombrown803]

Duke, I have bought several of his products. They aren't bad builds, but what he has done is take the many of the popular items from D&D and done a conversion to Hero. If you want to know how to build a ring of protection or wand of lightning it can help.

[Duke Bushido]

 

First and foremost:

 

My heartfelt thanks to everyone who responded.  Even if you think it didn't, it helped, and I deeply appreciate it.

 

 

15 hours ago, archer said:

Honestly, I rarely pay attention to the name of authors for RPG material so I rarely have an opinion on authors, whether I've used their material or not. That would probably break the hearts of some authors who depend on their name to regenerate repeated business but, sorry, I've had to remember people's names for work for so many years that I developed an aversion for doing so for my entertainment. If it makes you feel any better, I don't remember the names of actors or singers either. I might like a movie or a particular song but I probably have no idea who you are.

 

I'm with you there!  Seriously, my whole life-- Couldn't even tell you who sings the songs I sing along with (except for Charlie Pride).  Actors?  Nope. Authors?  Rarely.  If I liked it, I liked it, but it wasn't specifically because "you" wrote it or "she" played in it.  Totally get it.

 

 

13 hours ago, Ninja-Bear said:

Duke for me it’s not because it’s a third party, it’s because I’m on a tight budget. That and I’m not really a PDF buyer/user. Plus I don’t play a lot of Fantasy so the need isn’t there.

 

We have a remarkable amount in common, actually.  I usually don't buy PDFs (I _want_ to hold a book, period.), but I don't mind them for Fantasy because-- ta-da!  I don't play fantasy, either!  Seriously, I actively dislike the genre, and flat out _detest_ most of the game systems that fantasy-specific games use.

 

For some reason, however, I don't mind Fantasy HERO (as much).  Likely because it's much more free-form and organic, and just "feels" better, less confining.  At least, reading it does, and a couple of tables I've sat at (as much as I dislike fantasy, sometimes it's the only way to get your RPG fix ).  Sadly, _most_ Fantasy HERO games I've sat in on are  with groups specifically trying to emulate the feel and the flavor and structure of the games I _dislike_, so I don't play much.  I guess I like to peruse Fantasy HERO books because the core openness of the rules and the system (except for Spell Colleges; that's just goofy) give me hope....  But since I'm not going to actually be playing, I don't mind the PDFs as a nifty thing to have lobbed into my phone for unexpected downtime.

 

And the only reason I'm considering it because-- while far, far, FAR from flush, I had a little side-enterprise pay off better than expected, so I allotted myself a small stipend to pick up some gaming stuff.  PDFs seemed like a really economical way to do that, particularly, as noted, when I don't anticipate ever needing an actual book.

 

Though I have recently discovered my Western HERO (original, yellow one) has gone missing, so if anyone knows of one for sale somewhere-- _please_ give a shout; I actually _like_ that one! 

 

I know-- you don't think you're comments added much, but they did!  It's comforting to know that I'm not the only gamer who has financial reasons to pick and choose; it's nice to know I'm not the only one who doesn't do Fantasy as a general rule, and that I'm not the only person who would rather hold a book.  Essentially, it lets me know I'm getting just what I want: feedback from people roughly like me.

 

 

3 hours ago, tombrown803 said:

Duke, I have bought several of his products. They aren't bad builds, but what he has done is take the many of the popular items from D&D and done a conversion to Hero. If you want to know how to build a ring of protection or wand of lightning it can help.

 

Thanks, Tom!  That's extremely helpful, actually.  I have a much more specific idea about what is inside (the little blurbs weren't _quite_ useless, but they really didn't offer much).

 

So tell me this, if you can:  have you found them to add anything to your games, or to provide any inspiration for your own builds?

 

 

[tombrown803]

Unfortunately, I don't get the chance to game much these days. Some of his builds/ideas have been interesting and made me think. My suggestion is to buy one. Then you can see the basic principle of how he builds them.

[Norm]

I am not currently playing HERO.  Since another person wanted to try GM'ing for a while and was not comfortable GMing without a module/adventure pre-built, we are playing Pathfinder.  If I was running a Fantasy Hero would probably grab the Wonderous Item collections.  They include the HD packs.  That for me is worth a lot even if I would only use a couple per book.

[Duke Bushido]

I'll split it with ya.

 

The HD stuff is useless to me.

[Brian Stanfield]

I have most, if not all of the Wondrous Treasures PDFs and I enjoy reading them. There's not a lot of text for color, just simple descriptions of what the items do. But it is useful to see different ways things can be built. Each item has a brief breakdown of the game mechanics (power, duration, range, etc.), a description of how the item works, and then a more detailed breakdown of the power build. Because it's setting-neutral, there's not a lot of extra text, but it could easily be supplemented for one's own campaign. 

 

If you're inclined to read these sorts of things, they're fun to look at and aren't very expensive. You can get them in bundles as well. These are really the only supplementary third-party publications that I always pick up. They're so inexpensive, you should definitely pick one up and see the approach and whether it fits your needs.

[Duke Bushido]

I think my spellcheck snuck in and messed up the author's last name and I didn't notice till now.

 

At any rate, I tried the Forgotten Enemies titles (there were only 2, so I didn't have "the urge" to grab up a whole set of something!

 

Worth the price.  I think I preferred the larger character portraits in the first one to the much smaller ones in the second, but it's a minor quibble.  

 

In all honesty, the would have been far more useful to me if I didn't already have the original sourcebooks these characters (all but Ghoul; I don't think I've got the mutant enemies book) came from, and I'd recommend them to anyone who didn't have these books (or doesn't want to do their own conversions to the newer system) and wanted to add a few villains to his stable.  The conversions are reasonably accurate, the write-ups are true to the source material.

 

There is nothing earth-shattering here, but the given the price of enemies type books, the price is completely reasonable.  As a bonus, if you have the Hero Designer software (I don't, so I don't actually "feel" the value there, even though I completely understand it), there are hdc files for the characters, and at the end of the PDF is a set of paper doll minis for each character presented.

 

It's not slick, stellar, glossy stuff like when you actually buy a book, and it's not---  I don't want to come across as bashing this; it's a lot of effort on the author's part, and in no way do I not feel like I got reasonable value.

 

The best testimony, I suppose, is to say that, even though I can't use the "biggest" part of it (the software files) and already have earlier version of all but one of these characters, I still feel like I got more than I paid for.

 

Kudos to the author(s?).  Definitely worth-a-look stuff.

 

Unforunately, I can't go through with my plan.  I came back to the forum because I had awarded myself some mad money, with the intention of picking up a few items from the store-- reading material, idea-fodder, etc.  However, having shortly after my arrival discovered that my Western Hero is missing, I bit the bullet and dumped my remaining mad money on finding another copy of that in reasonable condition-- as I mentioned, I use that one a _lot_ (like the way other people used Ninja Hero, way back when) in Heroic-level stuff, and sometimes as a stand-alone.  

 

Fifty bucks!  Holy smurfin' crap on a crutch!

 

Like the least-popular HERO book ever published, and it's fifty bucks for a used one!

 

 

[Brian Stanfield]

On 10/4/2018 at 10:13 PM, Duke Bushido said:

Like the least-popular HERO book ever published, and it's fifty bucks for a used one!

 

Not as many out there=holy smurfin’ crapon a crutch. I had to work to find a copy as well, and the print copy was blurry! I wish it was available in PDF.

[Duke Bushido]

7 hours ago, Brian Stanfield said:

 I wish it was available in PDF.

 

Obviously I can't make it available, but when mine gets here, there will be a pdf shortly there after!

 

[Brian Stanfield]

1 hour ago, Duke Bushido said:

Obviously I can't make it available, but when mine gets here, there will be a pdf shortly there after! 

 

 

Perhaps you could let me know when that happens . . .

[Duke Bushido]

Well it won't be any time this month. 

 

I have to say, I sort of got my money's worth here, too! 

 

My book was waiting on me when I got home, and I opened it with the fervor of a five-year-old at Christmas (you know, if said five-year-old had a pocket knife) and was quite shocked to discover that I had accidentally bought the wrong thing.  I checked my order, and it was for a used copy of Western HERO infair to good condition. 

 

What I _got_ was a brand new, unsold copy of Western HERO!  Still in the original cellophane-like wrapping, with several ancient price tags getting lower and lower, then newer ones with much, much higher prices (presumably as it became a. Ollectibke or an antique; I don't know) still stuck to it (all of them _considerably_ less than I payed :(.)

 

While I am delighted with this turn of events, I am also scrupulous: I have an e-mail to the seller to determine if this was a mistake and if they would like to exchange or what-have-you.  As tempting as it is to here that crinkly crunch of Tearing off the wrapper....

 

Not until I am sure, I'm afraid. 

 

And even if I get to keep it, there is no way I am slicing up a book this pristine. 

 

I'll look again next month for one that could only be improved by living in my phone.

 

 

[Duke Bushido]

Okay, heard back from the seller.  She says "keep it; no difference in price." 

 

Woo-hoo! 

 

She felt it was likely a grading error on someone's part, or someone ordered a new one and got the fair-to-good one, but as the only other transaction on that title was over four years ago, she felt if someone had received the wrong copy they ould have complained by now.

 

 

So now I've got to find a complete but less pristine copy to make my ultimate portable version. 

 

[Duke Bushido]

Located one!

 

Condition listed as "Fair," which is above "good," which, in turn, is above "reader's copy."  Or maybe it isn't.  I haven't heard the term "reader's copy" since the internet took over.  Yeah; I'm old.  I remember honest-to-goodness book finders: a service you paid for and these folks specialized in locating truly hard to find things.

 

But I digress.  I just ordered a "Fair" copy remarkably inexpensively, and to keep the price down, I requested shipping by canoe.  Slow canoe.  _Really_ slow canoe.  But when it gets here, I will find bits of time here and there to make sure I have an ultimately storable copy.

 

I _really_ miss my last machine: the one with Photoshop and God's personal Cannon scanner.  We used that thing for years-- did our wedding pics and invites on it.  Haven't seen a "home version" scanner even close to the capacity that thing had.  You could set it for resolution greater than the screens most of us where using!   Set it high enough, it took two hours to scan a character sheet, but when you put that bad boy into PS to clean it up, it was _majestic_ when it came out. 

 

I miss that thing.  But, for my purposes, the junky little thing on the filing cabinet will probably work.  Just wish I had PS to clean it up.

 

Ah-- why am I worried?  All the art in Western HERO (for those who have never seen it) looks like it was faxed to the publisher anyway!   You know: back when a pixel was slightly larger than a Tricuit.

 

 

Picked up a second copy of Horror Hero and Star HERO as well-- might as well give them the same treatment, right?
 

 

man, when you don't care at all about quality, these things aren't nearly as expensive.  

 

 

[Duke Bushido]

Well my new-to-me "spare" Star HERO showed up first.  (the one by Paula something and Sam Bowne; 3e rules, I think).

 

Guess I'll give the idea a "practice run" of sorts this weekend.  This one's _ideal_ for cutting up, too.  Cover is a lost cause, and some of the pages look like they've been wadded up and crumpled a few times.   Anything I do to this thing will be an improvement.

 

Wish me luck!

 

 

 

 

[Old Man]

3 hours ago, Duke Bushido said:

Well my new-to-me "spare" Star HERO showed up first.  (the one by Paula something and Sam Bowne; 3e rules, I think).

 

 

 

Is that the one with the Janet Ausilio art?  That was a really good book, even if the balance was off.

 

Good luck with the scanning!

[Duke Bushido]

I'll double-check the artist when I get back home (I don't remember off the top of my head), but yes, this book was really good.  So good that i'm going to make a permanent digital back-up should it ever go the way of my Western HERO and turn into yet another copy of 4e Ninja HERO.

 

And thanks!  Just wish I still had Photoshop to help me clean it up pristine.  Oh well.  I'll have 1200dpi scans; I can clean them up any time after that, right?  

 

 

[Duke Bushido]

Yes; the cover artist is Ausilio.

 

I've got about a third of the book dissected, owing mostly to how much else I have to get done this weekend, and owing more than you'd think to just how difficult removing the cover (spine and all) proved to be-- at least, without damaging the pages.  I want to trim them up square so they'll scan more-properly oriented (as mentioned, I am currently without manipulation software to correct things like that), but it'll get there.

 

Well, Western HERO has been put off yet again.

 

Back in the nineties, the wife and I tried eBay.  Three separate occasions; three separate sellers.

 

Got burned each time.

 

From that point on, all through the decades, when someone suggested "you can prolly get it real cheap on eBay," our response has, without fail, totally unrepeatable in a public forum, but involved lots of references as to how but the suggester and eBay should both involve themselves with Belgium, as frequently and brutally as possible.

 

All these years later, I could not resist the temptation to pick up a copy of Western HERO (the one scheduled for deconstruction) from a google add to an eBay seller moving out a poor grade (perfect for ripping up without too much guilt) copy for under twenty bucks.  It showed up yesterday.

 

Got burned _again_!

 

What the surf is "Battlelords of the Twenty-First Century"?!

 

I'm never going back.  It took twenty odd years before I'd tried eBay again.  I have no doubt I will never try again.  Honestly, I haven't got another twenty left, really.

 

eBay can Belgium itself as painfully as possible for the rest of eternity-- I mean like get the whole country up in there, landmarks and all.

 

 

[Brian Stanfield]

46 minutes ago, Duke Bushido said:

Got burned _again_!

 

What the surf is "Battlelords of the Twenty-First Century"?!

 

‘You know you can contact eBay to resolve this, right? Probably doesn’t even have to involve Belgium . . . .

[lemming]

On 10/27/2018 at 6:49 AM, Duke Bushido said:

I'll double-check the artist when I get back home (I don't remember off the top of my head), but yes, this book was really good.  So good that i'm going to make a permanent digital back-up should it ever go the way of my Western HERO and turn into yet another copy of 4e Ninja HERO.

 

And thanks!  Just wish I still had Photoshop to help me clean it up pristine.  Oh well.  I'll have 1200dpi scans; I can clean them up any time after that, right?  

 

 

It's a bit different to work with, but GIMP has been my photoshop for many years.   (I was surprised a couple years ago finding out how easy it was to switch between using the two, which was much harder back in the 90s)

[Duke Bushido]

Thanks for the heads-up, Lemming. 

 

Just popped in to retract my suggestion of Belgium all around. 

 

The seller actually  contacted _me_ before i could cypher out how to contact him. 

 

He discovered the mistake, said he will ship the correct item, and to simply keep the wrong item. 

 

I'm going to mail it back to from whence it came; I don't want what I didn't pay for. 

[Duke Bushido]

[Duplicate post removed-- Duke]

Edited October 29, 2018 by Duke Bushido
Duplicate Post