Super Squirrel

Re: Damage Reduction hit by Armor Piercing

Damage Reduction, as mentioned reduced post-defense damage. Therefore the guy who pointed out an incorrect rule, causing your character's death should get a nice punch in the nose when you next see him.

Re: Tmnt

The mentor should be a skilled DNPC if you are trying to get the feel of the original show or comic.

Also, TCRI as a company, should exist to give you the aliens and weird technology.

Re: The TMNT TV show

Oh, and regarding TMNT, I find the main comic very dark and thus very appropriate for a Dark Champions game. I'd sight some examples, but I'd rather not spoil the comic to the readers of it there.

Re: The TMNT TV show

Personally, I'd run TMNT as a Dark Champions style game. I also wouldn't let the players play a turtle. They would play something else and the Turtles are "out there". They might run into one of them at some point in time or another.

Re: Tmnt

I bought a copy of every TMNT gaming product made off of eBay. It ran me about $15.00.

Re: Questions and Suggestions for my next campaign.

Hello all. I am looking for input on my next campaign.

 

I am starting to plan my campaign and since I will be picking up the new Pulp Hero book and have some players that have shown great my next campaign will be a Pulp adventures game. I am wanting (hoping) to make a game that is 60% Indian Jones, 20% Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, and 20% everything else.

 

My Basic Idea

The campaign starts in 1936. The PCs are hired by a multi-millionaire philanthropist for a “project†he is putting together. They travel to (some remote out of the way place TBA). (I may put an adventure together based on their travel.) Once at the TBA place they find that the philanthropist has built a massive airship. I am thinking something like 1.5 times the Hindenburg. It will have its own crew, science staff and labs, I am even basing a squadron of 5-6 “fighter†planes on the airship.

 

The idea I have for the campaign is that “airship†travels around the world investigating strange areas (can you say lost worlds), archeological digs, and other sites of interest helping natives, fighting wrongs, and generally getting into trouble.

 

What do you think? Do you have suggestions? Adventure ideas, problems you see, etc

I think your campaign is exactly why I came up with the ideas I did for Digital Hero articles. I don't know when the first one goes out, but I think you will find them very useful for your Pulp Campaign.

Re: What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

I don't know how to word what I'd call it, but the DH series I'm writing is called "You Gotta Have Culture". In it, I'm basically going from spot to spot over the world and taking small groups of people that are, well, perfect for a pulp campaign and writing up about them. So far my goal is to simply do 10 for Digital Hero. But based on my research for future articles, it could clearly fill an entire book and I think it would make a great aid for players.

There are countless cultures across the world. You could use seven chapters to cover the seven regions (North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, Oceania). Throw in an introduction, a chapter on GM Secrets, and an appendix with some tables for quick reference (Tech Level Access, Aggressiveness, Population Size, Region, Page Reference, etc...) and you probably have a book of at least Hero Bestiary in size.

But I'm not going to let Hero Games stop me from writing those DH articles.

*grabs a shotgun and some moonshine*

Re: Lack of Fully Developed Worlds

What have I started? There are now at least four off shoot threads based on the topic I started.

Re: Longest Running Thread EVER

As I just realized, I accidently posted while in lurker mode, I'd like to state, I'm back on the NGD, but mostly in lurker mode. And I got my raise yesterday at work. It wasn't much, but it was the most I could possibly get at work.

Re: Lack of Fully Developed Worlds

Im not familiar with that setting; I bought the book and gave it away because I have zero interest in Sci Fi space games, so Im spitballing here, but lets say they publish a series of splatbooks for Terran Empire.

 

One for each race

One for Psionicists

Several for different identifiable groups.

 

They pay to develop and publish them. Months later they hit the market in a phased progression. Do they fly off the shelves? Unlikely. The demand isn't there. The player base isn't wide enough to support it and DOJ takes a big fat loss, which they are not solvent enough to absorb blithely.

And this is pretty much where I was going with my initial post.

It is a vicious circle. For the supplements to fly off the shelf, it requires you have a strong fan base. To have a strong fan base, you need to have supplements for the player needs.

Lets say that there are 10 gamers in a hypothetical market.

2 gamers prefer Fantasy.

2 gamers prefer Superhero.

2 gamers prefer Sci-fi / Space.

2 gamers prefer Pulp.

2 gamers prefer Western.

Now, Hero Games can, in theory, satisfy the needs of all 10 gamers. But the problem is, other systems appeal more directly to the genre. If a Fantasy Gamer walks into the gaming store and sees two books, one is can do anything and one is designed for fantasy, the fantasy one is going to natively appeal to him more. Especially because all of the fantasy system's supplements support the single genre. Where Hero System's supplements are divided between all five genres.

Now, I recognize that not all players like using premade worlds. And like Derek, many people just steal ideas from genre books. I do that all the time myself. I have a Dragonlance book I have never used and likely never will use in a d 20 game. But I'll be very unlikely to sell the book because it has ideas that I like in it. But not everyone is like that. Many people like to have lots of resources that you can just pull off the shelf and use for the game in question rather than develop it yourself. This is most likely why the fan base is so small for Hero. I think of people as naturally lazy. They would rather have the work done for them than go out and do the work themselves.

So I think that if there were some very well designed game setting worlds, even if it wasn't something most people would use, for Hero system, it would help dramatically in expanding the fan base.

Re: Lack of Fully Developed Worlds

The question which started this whole thread was if the lack of supported worlds was hurting Hero sales. My answer has been the same all along: No. What is hurting Hero sales is the company's inability to capture the imaginations of even its core fans with its current worlds. The worlds are not that inspiring and the fans have not embraced them.

Hero System can't be a be all and end all for a Genre unless they focus on the genre and neglect the flexibility of the system. If they only focused on Fantasy Hero and released nothing but Fantasy Hero books, it may very well begin breaking into WotC sales with the system. But instead because the system is capable of covering any genre, they release books of all natures. And there is nothing wrong with that.

Watch the Pulp Genre market. There isn't one. And the nature of a Pulp Hero campaign is very simple. 1930's Earth with a certain feel to it. And having read the Pulp Hero book, it covers everything. It has a timeline and the "CIA Factbook" of the 1930's World. It covers the elements of a Pulp feel, it has a section of how Pulp Authors compose a Pulp story. So because the setting of the Pulp Genre is so limiting and most of the macro elements are covered in the Hero System Genre book, Pulp Hero is going to be the big contender for what systems people use to play a Pulp Campaign.

Hero System requires more books than another system to encompass everything and it can't put out those books fast enough. I certainly wouldn't say because it can't build worlds to intrege fans. I can't think of a world setting other than Shadowrun that has ever "captured" me. Greyhawk is vanilla. Forgotten Realms is vanilla. Dragonlance is vanilla/chocholate twist. 7th Sea's setting is vanilla.

Re: Lack of Fully Developed Worlds

I assumed you meant put on a website for everyone to have access to if they so wished. Such a website would stifle sales of similar products that DOJ wished to publish. There would be no reason to publish a new villians' book when there are 500 villains online available for free.

True, and this gets closer to my point. I think that if a player run site (like Susano's) is to be good and not hurt Hero, it has to be considerate of what Hero Games is trying to market. There also is a question of where is the line. Having lots of free web based resources is going to encourage more people who don't play Hero to play Hero. But if it is cutting into supplement sales, it isn't worth it. But if a system is done that it encourages purchase of supplements, it both brings in players and increases the profit for Hero Games. In this case everyone wins.

Re: Lack of Fully Developed Worlds

A treasure trove for a GM. Financial ruin for DOJ. Hero Games makes money by selling supplements not by selling 5Er.

I meant "created by GMs for their individual games" not "created and put into existing products"

Re: Lack of Fully Developed Worlds

I couldn't agree more. It is a family and there is always disagreements in families. And it is working through those issues that helps families grow closer and stronger.

 

Don't get me wrong. I wish Hero had a larger following also. I know what you mean about not finding people to game with. And part of that may be the "setting" issue. WOD was mentioned as a setting. And while I do see it as a setting I see it more comparable to Hero the D&D. I have run numerous Mage games and never used their characters or plot lines. I made my own.

 

And I love published worlds. I think one of the biggest tragedies in gaming was the loss of Al-Qadim. I feel that is the best D&D world ever created. There is a path where we can find the balance of published game world & support with the home grown world that many of us love to create.

 

I have no doubt that we will find that balance as we continue to discuss, create, cognate and most of all have fun with our gaming.

My comparison between WOD and Hero was to outline the intrinsic differences. WOD games are simpler to build even when you want to make all of your own characters and use none of the provided ones from WOD. Also WOD has the advantage of the campaign setting require the "supernatural" of the world to remain in the shadows set on Earth. That makes games fairly easy to design if the GM prefers a simple approach.

If you wanted to design the entire campaign world in a quick nutshell, you can take major cities, write down the clan of the ruling prince's clan and whether he is good evil or whatever. You don't need to detail with names and powers until the players decide to go to the city and be introduced or plot indicates you reveal such information.

In Hero, where Superheroes are public, if you want the same cursory glance of the campaign world you need to know the name of the team the members in the cities and basic powers. You don't need to write them up, but you are looking at almost fifty times the work you would spend on a Vampire game.

But I think that in this thread the answer has been touched upon. It shouldn't be DOJ's responsibility to provide us the detailed campaign settings that lure gamers. After all, they already provide us with everything. I think it that we, the players, should be providing it. Imagine just for a moment what a website would look like with every Villain, Hero, and NPC ever created for a 5th Edition game available. It would be an absolute treasure trove for a GM.

So I think the solution for the problem, is a better effort by players to establish the game system in a way that their are bountiful resources available to players and yet at the same time, not take away from the gaming materials provided by Hero Games so that they can continue to earn the profit necessary to put out more game systems.

Re: I'm going to have a WHAT?

Of course, I also just might have VIPER kidnap the baby or maybe a time travelling superhero to bring back an angry son/daughter who has no idea who his/her real mother is when in fact the person they are trying to defeat so happens to be it.

Re: I'm going to have a WHAT?

I'd simplify superhero pregnancy.

Match off an advantage with a disadvantage.

I'd give a temporary Physical Limitation: Pregnancy that would encompass a couple of small special effect disadvantages. I put it under Physical only because it easier encompass all of the small, valueless limitations under Physical. This would cover mood swings, morning sickness, distinctive belly, social limitations, and the schedule of going in for doctor's appointments. I would also include a Vulnerability on the character sheet for x1.5 Stun on all attacks to Stomach Target Area in that. This is not because blows to the belly should cause more damage, but the maternal instinct to move the incoming blow to a different location to protect the baby.

To compensate the Physical Limitation I would give equal points in powers of things like the Reputation Perk (for angry Pregnency PRE attacks and for things like people opening doors).

I'm going to take a stab at something I think doesn't help the Hero System and its popularity. I'm going to do this, because I think if it is agreed that this is a problem that doesn't help Hero System, then I think we have a possible solution. But I'm going to guage what others think on the matter before addressing solutions.

Hero System is a complex system. For a GM to design games, it requires time. This is more time than your average game system. This can be viewed as a turn off to many game masters and will put them towards systems like Mutants and Masterminds which have quicker prep time. In most gaming circles I've been in anyway, you are lucky if all of the players have a core rules book. It is the GM that owns the bulk of the books.

Now bare in mind that "Fully Developed Worlds" is a bit misleading. A game world is never fully developed nor should it be fully developed as it hinders a GM's ability to stretch. Fully Developed Worlds, I mean worlds developed enough that a GM can pull from available wealth of resources to simplify the game process. This simplification needs to be higher in systems that take longer design. A GM's job, after all, is to prepare the game for the players and not put a heavy burdon on the GM.

Further complicating Hero System is that anything is possible. You can have a Pulp Hero Game, a Star Hero Game, you can have a Cyberpunk, and so on. If you look at the Hero System lineup, it gives them a lot of product potential but makes it difficult to lock on to a setting and "develop it to all hell" which is the primary advantage of systems that are simpler in prep-time to begin with.

Compare this to other game systems:

WotC: I'm not going to address D&D 3rd Edition as a d20 system. I'm discussing specifically the world systems and core books by WotC. First, game preperation is relatively easy for a GM. Depending on how in depth they wish to go with an individual session, it can take a couple of minutes to hours. You can grab the Monsters Manual flip to a page, pull a monster's stats and copy it down. If you want to build an NPC it takes a bit longer but you can do it. It leaves more time to fun fillers like maps, miniatures and so on. Furthermore, the core WotC lineup is fantasy base. You have two major WotC campaign settings to pick from. You have Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms. Each book has an assortment of supplement books.

WW: White Wolf has another unique simple approach. Game design is fairly simple though from what I understand you do spend more time than you would with a WotC game. The campaign setting is unique approached though. The campaign setting is Earth. The approach is stealth. You aren't supposed to expose yourself to the real world so that there is no public acknowledgement of their existance. Also, as it is the real world, game design is fairly simple. Every major city is presumed to have a Prince. As such, each city has someone in charge of making sure things runs smoothly in the shadows. You can pick a city, get basic city information from some web searches, design the Prince and some major NPCs and be good to go on an entire campaign in no time.

Hero System can be anything, anywhere, anyworld. Building things takes longer. This means you have two choices, you can go with one of the existing settings (limit 1 per genre from the company) or you can devote a lot of time to game design to make your own world. Also, because of the broad scope of Hero System, they can't devote the number of resources as I'm sure they would like to on a genre. Further, unlike the real world setting of Vampire, the locals are more public. You don't have a system where you know that every city has a superhero team and if they do, you don't have a simple system for who it is. And it is a lot harder to create it on the fly as well.

It isn't that bad with Hero System but I kind of feel it can't help in the long run. Many people like things simple and time is a luxury these days for people. It is at least my opinion, that one of the biggest drawbacks to the Hero System is intrinsic to advantages the system offers. By giving players the world, you take away a set, well defined, and easy to work with campaign world.

Does this make sense to people? Any thoughts or reactions on what I am getting at?

Re: Thinking Differently About SPD

Possible Ground Rules that could be set:

1. No Reduced Endurance Advantages on Movement Powers

2. SPD bought above 6 is limited to Speedsters and requires Extra SPD can only be used for movement powers and recoveries (-1).

So, you could have a SPD 12 character with odd phases only allowed to be used for recoveries and movements.

Re: Hero is broken

I hate vehicles. In an upcoming article for Digital Hero I briefly contemplated building a vehicle in addition to the character I included. After trying to approach it six different ways, I just decided it wasn't going to happen and stopped trying to make the vehicle.

Re: A request for proofreaders for some DH articles

I need someone to poke me with a red hot poker when I'm not getting work done on my Digital Hero articles myself.

Re: A more feminine martial art

The Nude Bomb

 

32 Active, 4 Real

 

1 pip RKA

 

Area of Effect: 32" Radius (+2)

Autofire 10 shots (+2)

Penetrating x2 (+1)

Affects Desolid (+½)

No Range (-½),

No Knockback (-¼)

1 Charge (-2), OAF Bomb (-1)

Gestures: Break bomb against solid surface (-¼)

Only vs. non-living clothing/costumes (-2)

I wonder if they will let me add that to my Teleporting Speedster's VPP.

Re: Nethack Hero

I meant for making a table top roleplaying game but I suppose you can make it for a computer game as well.

I'm just curious, has anyone tried converting Nethack to Hero?

I wouldn't mind seeing a write-up for the Amulet of Yondor.

Re: I'll Never Play Pulp

I'm sure I can get at least one player in the area into a Pulp campaign. The problem is, one player is not enough. So I know exactly what you mean.

Re: How to get them off d20

If I wanted to get players off of d20 I'd start out like this.

All players are normals in a town. They have jobs and have some sort of background. Because of the d20 backing this means they are 0-level characters for the D&D class of their choice with a couple of PS and KS in the job of their choice. I'd also have them describe any sort of code of conduct or driving goals the character has. Once I had the list, I'd sit down and build the basic character on 50+50 points. The disadvantages would be mostly Pscyhological Limitations.

At the start, the players would have characters that look and feel like a Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, Priest, etc. Because I created the characters, I would build them all the same SPD. This means combat would be naturally watered down. I wouldn't enforce END restrictions and as the GM I'd keep track of BODY damage. I'd have the players keep track of their STUN. Every second "round" of combat I would remind them they get their REC back in STUN.

At the end of the game I would congratulate them for surviving their first game of Hero System. They would get five experience points no matter how difficult or simple the game was. I'd also throw in a roleplay bonus for people I felt did an exceptional job.

Then comes the hardest part of for the GM. I'd look for problems the players likely encountered. One almost certain to have happen is STUNNING. I'd suggest that the "Fighter" consider buying something like "+10 CON, Only for Resisting Stunning(-1), Requires an Ego Roll(-1/2)" which would cost him 4 of his 5 XP. If he says something like, "Well I was hoping to improve my combat with that experience" tell him he can buy buying a CSL with his prefered weapon.

The reason why you want to start small is it makes the players see improvements and character growth early. It would make for a very difficult job as a GM early on because you have to do a lot of work. Once the players are more accustomed to the rules, when they have an idea, ask them how they think it would be built. Then sit down with them together and build the power together. I also would recommend you be willing to lend out a copy of the rule book so the players who want to get rid of the training wheels sooner rather than later can do so.

Don't press the fact that players can do whatever they want to. Let them discover it on their own. If you have been playing for a while and the party still looks like typical classes right out of D&D you might want to drop a hint or two, but ultimately, let them play what they want and sooner or later you will get a player wanting to play something very atypical to the d20 environment.