Updating the crunch for 5th edition books

[BigJackBrass]

This may have been discussed before but, since nothing came up when I searched, here's something I've been pondering:

 

At this point I think it's fair to say that we are not going to see 6E versions of, say, Lucha Libre Hero or Dark Champions. The economics clearly aren't in favour. In many cases, though, the parts of the 5E books requiring an update are not the bulk of the volume, so they still work as excellent sourcebooks if you don't mind doing a bit of work on the numbers. 

 

With that in mind, what about producing update PDFs for older books specifically to bring them in line with the current edition? There's no rewriting, reformatting and reprinting of the originals involved, simply a downloadable document providing updated stats etc. I can't think of an easier way to make old stock relevant again and to open up earlier material for people who aren't really in a position to rejig everything themselves. 

 

Does that sound like a reasonable idea, something worth pursuing? 

[Spence]

This is something that could be great for 6th Ed players. 

For the smaller items, to update a book like Hudson City from 5th to 6th would be a daunting task.  

[Duke Bushido]

I don't want to over-simplify it, but isn't it just a matter of removing COM (and making it a Disadplication, if you feel like bothering), reconfiguring Growth, and pretending that Figured Characteristics were just bought to that level? 

 

To be fair, it's just a matter of reconfiguring Growth.  Nothing else has changed enough to kink the hose, so to speak. 

 

EDIT: Are you looking for _compatible_ with 6e?  Or _optimized_ for 6e?

[BigJackBrass]

5 minutes ago, Duke Bushido said:

Are you looking for _compatible_ with 6e?  Or _optimized_ for 6e?

 

Well, I suppose what I was thinking was a replacement for the stat block, say, that would give you the equivalent of buying a 6E version of the book, without needing to do any conversion yourself. In that respect I suppose I'd be expecting the update to be optimised for 6E. 

 

Right now there are lots of titles which I guarantee some potential buyers are skipping over because they use the older rules. It's not clear how easy it is to play a 5E book like Urban Fantasy Hero if you want to use 6E rules; and that in turn raises the question of whether to buy 5E or 6E if the supplement or setting you want hasn't been updated. Picture someone who is interested in Hero looking at what to play: right now they might not only be dealing with character creation and writing an adventure, they may also need to revise the book without any experience using the system. It's an additional chore, but it's also very off putting. Honestly, if you look at the product descriptions in the store they're often ambiguous enough as it is and certainly don't go out of their way to bridge the gulf between editions. 

 

Accepting that not every book would be suitable for this sort of treatment, I still think it could be a good way of making a lot of that great older stuff relevant and accessible, sort of a software patch. I don't know if Hero Games would go for it, so thought I'd toss the idea of the for opinions from people who have actually used the system far more than I have. 

[Spence]

IMO, for what it is worth, just putting out an "update" file will not gain too much traction.

 

I have seen this before, where the update is just a document/file with updated stats, but requirement the use of the original book.  I've bought a few of these myself, and after the first few days of having to have two books open simultaneously just t read it, I just shelved it or played the original rules. 

 

But taking the original book and replacing all of the 5th Ed annotation/write-ups with 6th Ed would be a very daunting task.  Not just the conversions, but editing the original book to contain the new information, if you can even get original book layout files. 

 

About the only place I have seen "update files" see any real acceptance/use is for adventures which are relatively short and usually exist as a separate GM/Handout section in the original product. 

 

Just an opinion of course, but maybe something to consider.

[Ninja-Bear]

I would love to see all the various martial arts which were in the older books but not in the HSMA make it in a PDF.

[Duke Bushido]

Not trying to drift the thread (too much) but what didn't make it into 6e martial arts? 

[Ninja-Bear]

Not a complete list:

Dancing Spider

Drunken Clown

Jade Fist

Silk fist 

Resplendent Dragon

Ghost Eye

Path of the Seven Sisters

Sapphire Phoenix

Yengtao techniques in a Multipower 

 

[IndianaJoe3]

7 hours ago, Ninja-Bear said:

Not a complete list:

Dancing Spider

Drunken Clown

Jade Fist

Silk fist 

Resplendent Dragon

Ghost Eye

Path of the Seven Sisters

Sapphire Phoenix

Yengtao techniques in a Multipower 

 

 

I don't think that, "Football" as a martial art made it past 4e.

[Ninja-Bear]

4 hours ago, IndianaJoe3 said:

 

I don't think that, "Football" as a martial art made it past 4e.

Your right and I almost listed it for completeness sake.

[Ninja-Bear]

Three more I forgot:

 

Golden Demon

Golden Serpent

Bronze Serpent (a sword style)

[pawsplay]

My suggestion is to do this as a fan project, then use your Internet fame to boost other projects you want to do with more commercial potential.

[MayhemLikeMe]

Thing I like most about 6E books (Champions Universe stuff, anyway) is the updated/additional lore, the color art - the creative content stuff, not just the new stats.  5E and 6E are so close that they're easily interchangeable given my experience with the system, and I don't really sweat the cost differences - there's more to balancing encounters than points, after all. Sometimes the re-working of a characters' powers is a solid improvement, too.  

 

Still, the new lore & art are the highlights. But the creative content stuff is the expensive stuff - time from writers, artists, editors, who generally like to get paid. 🤑