Alcamtar

i tend to use the original (3e) edition of Fantasy Hero for this, or D&D. For actual play, my advice is to just pick an RPG you're comfortable with and that feels intuitively right, and use it. There is no "hero way" to do it... It changes every edition and is completely absent in FHC Usually i'll end up writing my own document for this sort of thing, so I can give it out to players. My rule of thumb is that a price list should fit on a single page, else it's too long. Also if it's intuitive it is easy to remember and extrapolate, so doesn't need to to be exhaustive. Real medieval prices would be flexible and subject to barter anyway.

Nice witcher write-up.

The only rules Q&A and discussion I've been able to find is on therpgsite starting around post #9

That's true, but the interpretation seems to have changed a bit sometime around 5th edition, at least the way modern weapons like bombs work. It also seems to be inconsistently applied throughout the system. For example +5 pts of running doesn't double your speed.

Ascendant is a new superhero RPG being Kickstarted by Autarch. I don't know about the mechanics since at first glance it appears to be a percentile system with very large numbers, both of which are turn-offs for me. But the art is fantastic and I've been impressed with ACKS, so there's that. Anyway nobody seems to be discussing it and I thought that the superhero fans here might find it interesting. There is a free preview if you are interested in the rules: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/autarch/ascendant/posts/2773764 From the preview, it uses a logarithmic point-buy method that I have long felt would be a improvement if it were adopted by Hero. That is each N points doubles the effect, and because of that you cannot just add point values; to increase an effect you convert from points to real world value, adjust he real world value, and then convert back to points. Overall that is not a problem... if the numbers are small! With large numbers you're gonna need a calculator which I don't like. For example, in Hero, a 12d6 of Blast is 60 points. If +5 points were really a doubling, then 65 points should do twice as much damage, but it doesn't. If it were truly logarithmic we'd have 5 pts (1d6), 10 pts (2d6), 15 pts (4d6), 20 pts (8d6), etc. If Joe and Sally add together their 10 pt and 20 pt Blasts, how many points is it? You have to first convert to actual effect (2d6 + 8d6 = 10d6) and then convert back to a point value (10d6 = 21.6 points). Wanting to avoid decimal fractions may be behind Ascendant's use of large point values. Anyway this is an interesting enough approach to be worth looking at, IMO.

All I know is the 375 pt elf in my last campaign was tough as nails.

I like that. I usually think of r[PE]D as "DEF" but "armor" is more intuitive.

I personally use roll high for combat, because combat rolls are always calculated and the arithmetic is slightly easier... but roll low for skills, because the target number is nearly always static and its easy enough just to roll against it. I tell players to roll however they are comfortable. Just tell me the DCV you hit and we're good. I haven't had a new Hero player in ages so teaching is kind of a moot point for me.

Is this for 6e?

Alcamtar was a character name from an example magic item build from the 1985 edition of Fantasy Hero. My first game was B/X D&D, circa 1981 or 82. That was also my first GM experience... I didn't have anyone else to play with so I roped my family into it. Currently prepping a Fantasy Hero (FHC) adaptation of Master of the Desert Nomads (X4/X5). This is the first Hero in some years, as we've been playing B/X D&D and ACKS exclusively, and Dungeon World before that. First played Fantasy Hero in 1985. Also played Star Hero once in 1986 (IIRC). Those are the only Hero genres I've played.

I always teach Hero with an inverted combat roll: 1. Roll 3d6 2. Add your OCV 3. Subtract 10 4. The result is the highest DCV you hit. Easy to grasp, fast to calculate.

Probably, 'cause I've seen you around too . I tend to hang out at whatever board supports the game I'm currently running. In the past I hung around DragonsFoot (as 'Mike'), the PEG Savage Worlds forums, and ENWorld. Lately I've only frequented the Hero forums. But the name "Alcamtar the Cleaver" is from the original edition of Fantasy Hero, in the writeup of the magical dagger Demons Fang (IIRC). Maybe you saw the name there. Mike

A book of nothing but character sketches would be just as cool, even with no backgrounds... :-) Mike

Wow, I really like that. She looks like a real person, not exaggerated like fantasy women so often are. In fact, looking through Fantasy Hero, all your women have this quality. Out of curiousity, do you work from models or photos, or "out of your head?" As a GM I have little real need for a specific commission, but something I would love is a book of illustrations -- NPCs, castles, taverns, that sort of thing. I really like your NPCs and fantasy scenes. The details seem right to me, in a "yeah that's how I would do it too" kind of way. Anyway, an illustration book would be really cool; pictures that a GM could hold up to show players what an NPC looks like, or which provide a visual "adventure seed". I would be very happy with simple black-and-white sketches. They wouldn't need to be finished in an 'artbook' way, interior art quality or even sketch quality would be great. If the book were spiral bound so you could open it "flat" to a single page, and if each sketch were enlarged to fill a page, it would make a great visual aid. This sort of thing could make it affordable for a GM to acquire multiple NPC and adventure illustrations, be a lot cooler than "everyone flip to page 229," and give you a market for your rougher sketches. A downloadable PDF would work fine, as long as it prints with reasonable quality (sometimes PDF art looks kind of weird.) Really for NPCs that I might only use occasionally I'd much rather buy three cheap books of rough sketches than a single more expensive book of finished art (though that would be cool too). Anyway, just an idea. Mike