The Expanse in Hero: How would you do it?

[TranquiloUno]

While I wait for my actual The Expanse RPG to arrive I wanted to ask the forums:

 

Are you familiar with The Expanse? TV or books?

 

If so do you have any thoughts on how to run that in Hero?

 

Anything that sticks out to you from a Hero perspective for emulating that setting?

 

 

[tkdguy]

The Expanse comes closer than other shows to my homebrew campaign. I'd probably have to make minor changes only.

[mallet]

Well it would theoretically take place in what the Hero System timeline would be "Solar Hero" which has never had a setting book published. 

But some of the material from the Alien War book would be very helpful (Alien War takes place just a bit after "Solar Hero" when humanity has finally created faster-then-light drives). 

Form Alien Wars you could use a lot of the weapons, equipment and gear. Some of the ships (if you just cut out the warp drives, etc...). Like The Expanse, humanity doesn't have anti-gravity at that time and most space weapons are still ballistic weapons and nukes. Heck, a buffed Xenovore could be used as a Human/protomolecule hybrid creature (just remove the tail and stinger).

For the rest of it, the Star Hero book would give you pretty much everything else needed. 

 

PS. Love the series! Please post here once you get the RPG and let us (me) know how it is!

[Tjack]

On 12/9/2019 at 3:01 PM, TranquiloUno said:

While I wait for my actual The Expanse RPG to arrive I wanted to ask the forums

   Are you thinking of using the system in their book or just using the background material and running it as Hero?  Or had you decided yet?

[TranquiloUno]

On 12/20/2019 at 6:13 PM, Tjack said:

   Are you thinking of using the system in their book or just using the background material and running it as Hero?  Or had you decided yet?

 

Having ready the actual The Expanse RPG a bit I'd say FOR SURE Hero. -2 to 4 is your stat range? Why!?!

 

I'll be using all their nice charts and pictures and travel times and so forth though. 

[GM_Champion]

AGE system is pretty much Traveller with roll-high a la most modern d20 games, and also Mongoose Traveller, and it adds the Stunt Die.

 

I approve of 3d6 roll-high.

 

However, in these days of "all games are 5e or PF2 at conventions" (and maybe Cyberpunk REd and Shadowrun and Call of Cthulhu) finding AGE is about as rare as finding HERO.

 

That said, I hope the Expanse sells gangbusters and encourages more RPG producers to grow the science fiction pie.

 

(And that 7e HERO, when it comes, moves to roll-high for everything so we can get all the RPG newbies 5e D&D yanked out of the mainstream...)

[tkdguy]

I'd either go with HERO or GURPS. If my players prefer a simpler system, I'd use Classic Traveller.

[Tjack]

1 hour ago, TranquiloUno said:

 

Having ready the actual The Expanse RPG a bit I'd say FOR SURE Hero. -2 to 4 is your stat range? Why!?!

 

I'll be using all their nice charts and pictures and travel times and so forth though. 

   No real reason, just vague curiosity.

[TranquiloUno]

12 hours ago, Tjack said:

   No real reason, just vague curiosity.

 

Oh, sry, the "Why!?", was a semi-rhetorical question directed at the choice of a -2 to 4 stat range for AGE.

[TranquiloUno]

12 hours ago, GM_Champion said:

AGE system is pretty much Traveller with roll-high a la most modern d20 games, and also Mongoose Traveller, and it adds the Stunt Die.

 

Interesting. Traveller is one of the classics that I've never gotten around to spending any time with.

 

12 hours ago, GM_Champion said:

 

I approve of 3d6 roll-high.

 

However, in these days of "all games are 5e or PF2 at conventions" (and maybe Cyberpunk REd and Shadowrun and Call of Cthulhu) finding AGE is about as rare as finding HERO.

 

That said, I hope the Expanse sells gangbusters and encourages more RPG producers to grow the science fiction pie.

 

My understanding was that the The Expanse setting was at least partly derived from actual tabletop games the two authors were involved with.

Interesting to look for aspects of that in the novels\show. Interesting to see a system based on a TV show\book based on an RPG (at some point).

 

 

 

 

 

12 hours ago, GM_Champion said:

 

(And that 7e HERO, when it comes, moves to roll-high for everything so we can get all the RPG newbies 5e D&D yanked out of the mainstream...)

 

You think his is a significant factor in things?

 

[Spence]

I've read all the books and watched all of the series. 

But for me, Expanse is a hard nut to crack for scenarios.  I'd definitely have to play as a player for a while.

[Ternaugh]

19 hours ago, tkdguy said:

I'd either go with HERO or GURPS. If my players prefer a simpler system, I'd use Classic Traveller.

 

It certainly feels like Classic Traveller to me. The Rocinante as shown in the TV series reminds me of a 400-Ton System Defense Boat. And the gates remind me of a MacGuffin in A12 Secret of the Ancients.

 

I would probably either run it in CT/MT, or I'd use Hero for characters and personal combat, and CT for ships and ship combat.

[tkdguy]

I like the Classic Traveller rpg, but I'm not too fond of the space combat section. My sweet spot for space combat is the Starmada Compendium, which I have used to run the space battles in my hard SF game.

 

That said, Classic Traveller's backgrounds are mostly military. HERO and GURPS are more flexible with character generation.

[Duke Bushido]

GAH!

 

You folks (and all the chatter elsewhere) are making me wish we could get that show locally!

 

 

[GM_Champion]

19 minutes ago, Duke Bushido said:

GAH!

 

You folks (and all the chatter elsewhere) are making me wish we could get that show locally!

 

 

 

Duke,

 

It's on Amazon Prime only, but Amazon Prime as a service is no longer an annual lump sum as the only option.

 

$11 or so buys you a month of streaming, during which month,if you had time, you could binge-watch all 4 seasons.

 

I think they also sell the episodes individually if $2-$3/month to own one episode fits your schedule and budget better...

[GM_Champion]

12 hours ago, TranquiloUno said:

 

Interesting. Traveller is one of the classics that I've never gotten around to spending any time with.

 

 

My understanding was that the The Expanse setting was at least partly derived from actual tabletop games the two authors were involved with.

Interesting to look for aspects of that in the novels\show. Interesting to see a system based on a TV show\book based on an RPG (at some point).

 

 

 

 

 

 

You think his is a significant factor in things?

 

TranquiloUno,

 

The first RPGers came out of a mostly-common background of board game and/or wargame experience, plus every actor-in-training who walked by a gaming table.

 

That's a heavy math-enabled demographic not intimidated by Subtraction, and not allowing the friction of having to use an unused skill (subtraction) stop them from having fun.

 

Today, 5th edition D&D (helped largely by Critical Role actual play YouTube channel) has pulled in so MANY new gamers from the mainstream that the gaming demographic is now much closer to the national demographic (at least in the USA).

 

With that comes people who do not use, or do not like to use, mental math as a daily task. They use it to shop and buy things because they have to, but have calculators and computers and smartphones to give them the answer.

 

Addition simply costs less mental effort than subtraction for many people for a variety of reasons.

 

Therefore, addition creates less friction to stop a mainstream person from getting into an RPG.

 

As proof, 5e D&D has sold more copies of D&D than all previous D&D editions put together, D&D has entered mainstream news without stigma, and D&D is now a "cool" activity instead of mainstream society viewing it as a minority interest unworthy of mainstream attention, or worthy of mainstream derision.

 

I find subtraction easy. Almost everyone on this forum does too, I bet, but we are not the mainstream majority, and if we want HERO to live and grow, HERO needs to become more accessible (roll-high) without giving up its strength and reason to be - ultimate customization of one's character.

 

So as not to derail this thread, please feel free to start a new thread in the Rules subforum or some other appropriate place for your quote and reply.

[TranquiloUno]

6 hours ago, GM_Champion said:

TranquiloUno,

 

The first RPGers came out of a mostly-common background of board game and/or wargame experience, plus every actor-in-training who walked by a gaming table.

 

That's a heavy math-enabled demographic not intimidated by Subtraction, and not allowing the friction of having to use an unused skill (subtraction) stop them from having fun.

 

Today, 5th edition D&D (helped largely by Critical Role actual play YouTube channel) has pulled in so MANY new gamers from the mainstream that the gaming demographic is now much closer to the national demographic (at least in the USA).

 

With that comes people who do not use, or do not like to use, mental math as a daily task. They use it to shop and buy things because they have to, but have calculators and computers and smartphones to give them the answer.

 

Addition simply costs less mental effort than subtraction for many people for a variety of reasons.

 

Therefore, addition creates less friction to stop a mainstream person from getting into an RPG.

 

As proof, 5e D&D has sold more copies of D&D than all previous D&D editions put together, D&D has entered mainstream news without stigma, and D&D is now a "cool" activity instead of mainstream society viewing it as a minority interest unworthy of mainstream attention, or worthy of mainstream derision.

 

I find subtraction easy. Almost everyone on this forum does too, I bet, but we are not the mainstream majority, and if we want HERO to live and grow, HERO needs to become more accessible (roll-high) without giving up its strength and reason to be - ultimate customization of one's character.

 

So as not to derail this thread, please feel free to start a new thread in the Rules subforum or some other appropriate place for your quote and reply.

 

Uh, no thanks.

[DreadDomain]

On 12/31/2019 at 5:08 PM, tkdguy said:

I'd either go with HERO or GURPS. If my players prefer a simpler system, I'd use Classic Traveller.

Have yet to read The Expanse RPG and how AGE is applied to it but aside from it, my choice would be GURPS. With Space, the Spaceships series, Ultra-Tech and Bio-Tech, GURPS has fantastic support for sci-fi game. Heck, to establish the technological baseline, you could start from Interstellar Wars, Vorkosigan or Transhuman Space and exclude FTL and/or transhumanism and/or aliens and you are probably 80-90% there, complete with write-ups for ships, space combat, travel time within the solar system, character templates and, in the case of Vor and TH, the GURPS rules.

[TranquiloUno]

6 hours ago, DreadDomain said:

Have yet to read The Expanse RPG and how AGE is applied to it but aside from it, my choice would be GURPS. With Space, the Spaceships series, Ultra-Tech and Bio-Tech, GURPS has fantastic support for sci-fi game. Heck, to establish the technological baseline, you could start from Interstellar Wars, Vorkosigan or Transhuman Space and exclude FTL and/or transhumanism and/or aliens and you are probably 80-90% there, complete with write-ups for ships, space combat, travel time within the solar system, character templates and, in the case of Vor and TH, the GURPS rules.

 

I got the '88 version of GURPS Space to compare and contrast with the 5th ed Star Hero book.

Roughly the same content IMO.

 

Templates and write ups might be very useful. Or not at all.

Haven't determined who the players are going to be so the entire Spaceship Combat aspect might be totally off-screen.

 

Hero seems pretty workable. I think the trick will be more about finding adventures for the PCs if they don't come up with a good collective identity and skill set(s).

 

The Expanse characters map pretty well to the Pilot (Dex guy), Engineer (Int gal), Captain (Cha guy), Security (Str guy) and even Medical (RIP Shed\"Wis" guy, I guess?) with Bobbi and Avasarala being more Str\Fighter\Combat and Cha\Int\Social types. 

That and a nice ship are a pretty good basis for a game.  But the show\books do make integrating multi-POV splitting-up-the-party type antics a lot easier.

 

I'm thinking about blowing up Earth the first session and seeing what they do. Maybe give them a free medium freighter with some secrets too.

 

Disaster movie kinda feel.

 

And then maybe psionics via protomolecule tech.  

 

Shooting for a, "One tiny ship in a huge universe".

[tkdguy]

Surbrook's Stuff has an Astronaut template, which may be a better fit for the Expanse than some of the templates in Star HERO.

 

http://www.devermore.net/surbrook/herosource/other/astronaut_template.html