Mentor

Re: Rant? Speed in Hero

Oh there's glitches all OVER that concept.

 

Like I said - we don't do that because the bookkeeping required would cause Elder Gods to run and hide.

 

We do things how we do it to keep from brain asplody.

 

But in all honesty - if I wrote down the sequence of a Turn, Held Actions, Aborted Actions and assorted weirdness I bet I could turn it into a dynamic flow in narrative without fail every time and not run into 1 second weirdness. That's what I mean for dramatic purposes.

 

In practice in a game we put things into nice sequential orders and resolve things as they come up not over the time frame they "dramatically take place in"

QFT!

That is why I always prefered using the Segments and Phases to represent frames of a comic or dramatic action in a movie rather than a specified period of time for each movement.

Re: A problem for missileers

This is where reality and SFX need to check in. Decide if a few arrows are laying around on the ground because that is how regular arrows work.

But, the PC, Hood, needs to man up a couple of points to allow for the possibility as well. It is a Multipower, after all, so surely the player can come up with a one or two point cheap slot allowing him to pick up use arrows and fire them. Activation 11-or some such.

I despised the old D&D approach that every time an arrow was fired, it broke, as I am pretty decent with a bow and know that such is not usually the case.

Re: Post-Apocalyptic Hero

I tried to give you Rep for being politically balanced (even if' date=' perhaps, mentally otherwise), but I have to spread more around.[/quote']

 

Got him for ya,' Bob. It was too good to ignore.

Re: Images of Lost Cities

Land of the Kama Sutra, baby.

 

Most North Americans lack a sense of the incredible parade of antique civilizations that has marched across much of the rest of the world. IMO that absence profoundly affects the mindset of the prevailing culture here versus there. We tend to think in the relatively short term, and are always looking to where we're going while giving little consideration to where we've been.

I live in the region where the Sapnish first crossed in to the US in 1598 and thought I understood old.

I recall a trip through the Yucatan in which the guides pointed out a Cathedral built by the Spanish in the mid 1500s and thinking how North Americans have no idea how long people had civilizations here.

Then we went to the Chichen Itza pyramids built in 600AD and realized that the Spanish were newcomers and I really got to know what ancient means in the Americas.

I can't wait to get to European and Middle Eastern ruins and really rock my world.

Re: Thoughts on SPD

I might give a very slight edge in combat to the Brick. But just barely. Say 55% vs 45% at best. When my super Bricks miss Zl'f and she keeps plinking her 6 or 7 STUN through, they can always knock a wall down on her or toss a bus at her. When the Brick only has to target a hex, super high DEX is more important for that Dive for Cover than for that "unhittable" DC.

OTOH, as a GM, if a particular Brick PC is "to tough" to notice the MAs, a little Find Weakness or AP or NND attack modifier evens the scales just fine.

Likewise, an MA, such as Zl'f, who is really hard to hit is addressed by CSLs bonusing Grabs or thrown objects making them more dangerous, or as Blackjack has been so adept at in our campaign, using Damage Shields to make a low defense PC like Zl'f hurt herself as bad as the baddie she hits. They are not as useless as so many players think.

There is nothing immoral or unfair about tailoring an adventure and the villains to specifically challenge the team who is playng. On the contrary, it is doing your players a disservice not to.

Re: The cranky thread

...and Christians who fear Secular Humanism as the biggest threat.

No, I think it is pretty safe to say that global jihad ranks way above pampered Westerners' self justification of their love of things and experiences for the vast majority of Christians.

Re: The cranky thread

Jihaddists are waging war for control of the world and there are still people, even on these boards, who fear Christianity as the worlds biggest threat to their life, liberty an property.

Re: Susano's Guide to Adapting Fictional Characters to HERO

PART II: FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLET' date=' MORE POWERFUL THAN A LOCOMOTIVE -- CHARACTERISTICS[/b']

 

Probably the hardest part of the character for you, the writer, to quantify is a character's characteristics. The reason for this is simple -- characteristics are highly relative. For example, Person A may feel that Spider-Man has a 30 DEX, while another may say he has a 36, or a 38, or 43, or.... Well, you get the idea. There is no real hard and fast rule for settling on a characteristic value, other than to try and consider how the character relates to his world (and just his world, and not other characters from other series). By that, I mean don't start handing out 30 DEXs just because a character is said to be blinding fast. Take a step back and consider what the character's world is like. Is it filled with mostly normal humans? Then blinding fast might mean a DEX of only 18, or 20, or maybe 21-23. This also holds true for other characteristics as well. In this section I'll briefly look at the standard HERO Characteristics and offer suggestions for how to come up with a reasonable HERO System value for them.

 

STR: Of all the Characteristics, STR is the easiest to quantify. The reason is simple -- we already know how much most things weigh. If a character picks something up, odds are we can figure out his STR score from that. Myself, I use a formula first presented in the Fuzion core rules set: take the max amount the character can lift over his head, double it to find what he can lift to his waist, and then double it again to see what he can lift to around his ankles. While this isn't exactly the same as the lifting formulas given in The Ultimate Brick, I like them as they give me nice round numbers and are neatly "cinematic." Sometimes you're lucky enough to be handed this information directly, as was the case with Ann O'Brien (of Monkyman and O'Brien). There's a comic panel of her lifting a 1,600 lb. barbell over her head. Using my formula, you get 1,600 x 2 = 3,200 x 2 = 6,400 lb. total lift (or a 35 STR). In the case of Mr. Extraordinary (from PS238), he is seen lifting a Sturmpanzerwagen AV7 up over his head. A little research shows the AV7 weighs in at 33,500 kg, for a total lifting capacity of 134,000 kg, or a roughly 63 STR. Of course, not every character you want to convert is seen lifting some sort of weight overhead, but it gives you a good rough estimate to work with. Conan, for example, repeatedly wrestles with apes, giant snakes, knocks men out with a single punch, and hurls a massive bench of solid silver at a foe. Giving him a 25 STR just seems "right."

 

DEX: This is where you, the writer, need to make your first real judgment call. DEX is one of the most relative characteristics and often open to a great deal of debate. My suggestion is to try and relate the character to the world around him. If he gets into a fight, how does he do? How many guys does he tackle at once? Can he hit them all with a single attack? Does he get hit in return? If so, how often? Does the character admit to being slow? (Harry Dresden of The Dresden Files does.) Or are his actions a blinding flurry of speed? Going back to Conan, he is repeatedly described as being fast, with his speed likened to that of various great cats. Max, from the film The Road Warrior, is shown grabbing a venomous snake before it can strike (hence the quote "I never seen a man beat a snake before. Reflexes, that's what you've got. Reflexes."). In these cases, we can look in The HERO System Bestiary to get an idea of what sort of DEX score might be appropriate. The great cats are given DEXs in the low 20s, so taking REH literally, I gave Conan a 23 DEX. Max, on the other hand, was given a 17 DEX (to beat the snake's 14 DEX) with +2 Lightning Reflexes to represent his "reflexes." With other characters, think about what they can do and what sort of training they have, and try comparing them to the various sample Normals found in the 5th Edition rulebook. If the character gets into fights with Talented Normals and comes out okay, then he probably has a DEX (and/or Combat Skill Levels) higher than a Talented Normal. I also recommend looking at the various Package Deals found in different genre books. Some of them, such as the Special Forces packages in Dark Champions, or the various Fighter packages in Fantasy Hero, include Characteristics bonuses.

 

CON: Much like DEX, CON is a relative Characteristic. However, here one has a slightly better idea for how "tough" a person is and/or should be. A normal human has a CON of 8-10. A slightly "tougher" human has a CON of 12-13, while a Talented Normal has a CON of 14-15. So determining a character's CON is often just a matter of logic. If he sits at a desk all day, a CON of 8-10 is best. If he's at least nominally active, a CON of 10-12. If he's a trained soldier, then a CON of 14-15. An Olympic athlete or professional boxer? CON of 18-20. A superhero? CON of 21+. Also consider how physically durable the character is. Elric (Elric of Melanibone) is said to be so weak some days he couldn't lift himself out of bed. This sounds like a CON of 3 to me. Conan, on the other hand is nigh-impossible to stun and tends to shrug-off adverse environmental effects. He has to have a CON of over 20 and I settled on 25, which while high, does fit the virtually superhuman vitality and endurance attributed to him by Robert E. Howard.

 

BODY: This score is treated much like CON. How hard is the character to kill? (Not hurt, that's PD and ED.) Once again, keep in mind Joe Normal human has a BODY of 8-10. Larger than normal people should have a few extra points (at least). Action heroes also have extra BODY, and Bruce Willis (or, his Die Hard characters anyway) is the poster boy for 20 BODY. Personally, I don't tend to give out high BODY scores unless I feel the character is really that hard to kill. Of course, since most characters you're adapting live though whatever their creator throws at them, one needs to use a little common sense.

 

INT: When selecting a value for this Characteristic, I try to keep in mind that HERO System INT reflects how fast the character thinks, not how smart they are. Still, people who aren't all that smart (in terms of IQ) tend not to be quick on the uptake, while many super-intelligent people are more methodical thinkers and spend a lot of time considering a problem before resolving it (i.e. a person is who "stupid" probably doesn't have a high INT score, while a scientist with an IQ of 180 might only have an effective INT of 10 or so). A few points of INT are suitable for people who react quickly to changing situations, even if they are otherwise of a normal intellectual level. Of course, one shouldn't forget such concepts as "animal cunning" and "insane genius" allowing a supposedly "dimwitted" character to have an INT far higher than anyone might expect. In addition, don't forget about PER bonuses. Just because a character is intellectually a "moron" doesn't mean they can't have a keen sense of hearing and the over-all wariness to react to an unusual noise. Also don't let preconceived notions about a character fool you. Most people think Conan is just another stupid sword-swinging barbarian. Trust me, anyone who can speak roughly 15 languages is no dummy.

 

EGO: EGO is willpower and self-confidence. Anyone who shows a lot of either (or both) should have a higher than normal EGO. Elric, for example, bargains with demons and gods and in many cases treats them almost like an equal. Both Daffy and Donald Duck have a distinct lack of self-control, with Donald flying off the handle at the slightest provocation. Thus, Elric probably has an EGO of 20 or better, while either of the Ducks have an EGO of 8, or even less. These are, of course, extreme examples, but it lets you know what to look for. Characters who have had some sort of assertiveness training -- such as many martial artists, police officers, and soldiers, should have a few points of EGO, defined as improved self-confidence. Wizards, priests, and others who demonstrate strong self-control should have even higher EGO scores. Gandalf, for example, stands firm before a oncoming Balrog and a Nazagul; giving him an EGO of 30 or so seems about right!

 

PRE: PRE is like EGO -- some people should have more of it almost automatically. Once again, police officers, soldiers (well, commanding officers), and those used to giving orders (and having them obeyed) should have high PRE scores. Captain America is the perfect example of this. He stands firm in the face of adversity (indicating a high EGO), but also can rally others to his cause with just a few words (meaning he has a high natural Presence). Batman is another example -- he terrifies thugs simply by showing up (usually). Both men have PRE scores of at least 20, with Captain American probably having a 30 or so. Batman might have a 40 (in costume), or he might simply always take advantage of having a Reputation and using the environment to get large PRE Attack bonuses. You also need to consider using Limited PRE (such as "Only To Defend Against Presence Attacks" (-1)) for characters who don't impress others well, but also don't get scared easily. Spider-Man for example. He doesn't give many villains pause -- in fact, if he shows up they often sneer and get ready to fight -- but by the same token, he doesn't back down from threats.

 

COM: Unlike almost all other Characteristics, COM is more subjective than relative. As the saying goes, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," and one person's drop dead gorgeous might just be another's dog ugly. Still, one can often get a good feel for a character's COM by how other characters react to them. Oscar Gordon (Glory Road) states he isn't handsome, has a broken nose, and a scarred face. COM? 8 (although Star, Empress of 20 Universes did call him "handsome"). On the other hand, Urd (Oh, My Goddess!) is 5'6", curvaceous, with naturally tanned skin and flowing white ankle-length hair. Sexy personified, she easily warrants a COM of 26 or better. James Bond has women fall all over him, and has a certain look to him that women seem to desire. Not only does he have a high PRE score, but a 20 COM to go with it. In setting COM scores for characters I tend to go for a sort of "gut feeling." 8-10 for normal looks, 12-14 for people who are in shape and reasonable fit and attractive, 16-18 for "movie-star/model" looks, and 20+ for those characters who most anyone calls "hot" (Chun Li [Street Fighter] for example). Also remember that COM is human-centric. While you and I might think an orc is COM 6 for having rough skin, scraggly hair, tusks, and what not, that might be the height of orcish beauty.

 

PD & ED: Getting a character's defenses right can be a tad tricky. Especially these days, what with STUN Only Damage Reduction and Combat Luck. A good rule to work with is to increase a character's base PD and ED by 1.5. So a 10 STR normal who's not a fighter gets a PD of 3, making him a little tougher than a Normal, which is often about right for many cinematic and literary characters. Of course, for characters who get into physical confrontations a lot, as well as trained martial artists and other "tough guys." one should consider doubling the base PD & ED. With superhero conversions, give the character what ever seems right -- if he can bounce bullets easily, then the character needs a PD of around 20 or so (fully resistant). And don't forget to look for clues to the character's toughness in the source material. The description for Superman (circa 1938-39) stats "...and that nothing less than a bursting shell could penetrate his skin!" which sounds like a PD of 25 or so (also fully resistant).

 

SPD: In the early days of Champions and the HERO System if you wanted to attack more often, you bought more SPD. These days, with Rapid Attack, Rapid Fire, Autofire skills, Sweep, and so on, you can dish out a lot of damage in only one Phase. I try to keep this in mind when selecting a SPD for a character, and have become somewhat conservative in that regard. A SPD of 2 is used for anyone who is obviously totally normal, with no combat training (Janet Bhai from Black Lagoon for example). A SPD of 3 is good for police officers, soldiers, and experienced martial artists. A SPD of 4 is used for highly competent fighters and many (if not all) cinematic action heroes. SPDs of 5 and up are given to those who either A) consistently out maneuver foes, or are simply that fast. A prime example of a 6 SPD is Bruce Lee in Enter The Dragon. In this film he constantly evades and blocks attacks from multiple foes and has the chance to strike back. The same goes for Jackie Chan and Jet Li, as well as Deunan Knute from the manga Appleseed, who engages in the one prime indicators of a high SPD -- how many comic panels she gets as opposed to everyone else. When dealing with comics characters this is often a good indicator of how fast someone should be -- Deunan, Daredevil, and Spider-Man all are shown doing a lot in either a rapid series of panels, or doing one extended action in just a single panel (usually while obviously slower characters just stand there).

 

REC, END, STUN: These values are probably the least important to capturing the look and feel of a character. I tend to leave these values as figured, although I might round up STUN a bit to the nearest 0 or 5 (i.e. a 29 STUN becomes a 30 STUN). On the other hand, if you bump up these stats too much, you might as well as bump up the character's CON. END, however, might get a huge boost, if I feel the character seems to have a lot of energy to expend on powers, but isn't physically much tougher than a normal human (Harry Dresden seems to fit this mold, as he has a lot of magical energy, but isn't much tougher [CON-wise] than anyone else). Of course, this might indicate some sort of END Reserve as well.

This section should be Sticky and read by all Hero gamers.

Can't rep you yet, Mike.

Re: The cranky thread

Ah' date=' times where you really wish you could say "Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part". Well, say it and remain employeed that is...[/quote']

 

You know, after reading your post, it occured to me that since I own the business, poor planning on the part of my employees does constitute an emergency on my part.

 

Oh, well.

Re: Images question

basically' date=' what I see, is that if I make the image with the limitation only makes 3 images, then there will be one perception roll, if they fail, then all 3 images are fake, if they pass, then all 3 images are real. If I bought the power with auto fire, and put the Effect to makes only one image, then the opponant would make one perception roll per image. I guess it is all about what you want. But thanks for the help guys I appreciate the help.[/quote']

 

I agree with Sean. That is a nice approach to hopefully only losing one image to disbelief at a time.

 

Rep on the way.

Re: Images question

Just plain Images should do it. How close do you want them? If they're all in the same hex with you, then it's just regular Images. If you want to spread them out a little, you buy +1/4 for each doubling of radius.

 

Than add the Limitation "Only to make exactly 3 identical images of myself" -1? -1/2? And No Range.

Yessir, that is how I would do it.

Re: Rules to ignore, or replace

So the human MA with 35 DEX and 8 SPD should not be able to deflect (dodge out of the way) of a higher speed weapon, but the mutant EP with DEX 12 and SPD 3 should be able to?

 

If half your opponents can deflect your EB, but only 1 in 20 can deflect your teammate's EB, is it fair that you both paid the same for your EB's?

 

Take that one step further - if your AoE attack can be deflected, you get a limitation. Your teammate, whose AoE attack cannot be deflected, pays more for this added versatility.

 

To me, the issue with Missile Deflection is that it ignores a core Hero precept - that mechanics and special effects are separate. That alone carries significant weight, in my view, for the argument it should be changed.

I am adamant that the determination of how PC is built should take nearly no notice of how much or how little another PC paid to do their thing. Almost nothing can more ruin a campaign than the players judging their character based on envy over how much perceived value they are getting compared to another, assuming both characters are effective, rather than role playing their own PC with flaws and weaknesses as well as advantages. This applies to some damage caps, characteristic caps or any other measures of "fairness" based around any sort of "he got a bigger piece of cake" concerns. I realize that you are not coming from that approach, but that is an unfortunate "worst case" I have run into. I am pretty hard core on the "just worry about your character not hers" stance.

I generally agree with the mechanics/SFX separation precept but honestly don't see how Missile Deflection is broken in practice eben if it does not adhere to the cost structure philosophy.

Re: Rules to ignore, or replace

What if I define my RKA as a rock thrown at the speed of light' date=' or a bullet fired at the speed of light? The lower level Deflections still apply. I'd agree that changing the power so it is not defined by SFX would be appropriate. 20 points to deflect all missiles, with "nothing faster than a thrown object" being a limitation defined by the campaign frequency of missiles that can, or can't, be deflected would be just as workable.[/quote']

 

I can see the point that the SFX definitions are not all consistent. What difference would it make in the cost or damage of the EB to define the SFX so? The rule would still give cost advantage for thrown object buy but would the power be bought based on the liklihood of such an attack?

 

The concept and SFX of the character rather than the power itself should be the deciding factor in this (and pretty much every) case. A Martial Artist who is basically an enhanced human would likely justify thrown stuff, arrows and possibly even bullets, but I don't see faster than that. A mutated Speedster or Energy Projector could more easily justify higher speed weapons. SFX is mutable that way.

 

YMMV.

Re: Musings on Random Musings

Bill' date=' why do you keep making posts that are blank, except for the occasional smilie? [/quote']

 

Crazy talk, man. Just crazy talk from Bill.

Re: Musings on Random Musings

It's not just a river in Egypt, you know.

 

Louise: "Okay, now let me just see if I can get this straight. You come from another planet, and you're mortal there, but you're immortal here until you kill all the guys from there who have come here... and then you're mortal here... unless you go back there, or some more guys from there came here, in which case you become immortal here... again?"

 

McLeod: "Something like that."

 

"What about the giant starship?"

"What giant starship."

The one to fly through that GIANT HOLE IN THE HIGHLANDER PLOTLINE!":mad:

"Oh, yah, that one.":o

Re: Rules to ignore, or replace

Not in Hero

 

It is FAR cheaper to travel at the speed of light than at the speed of sound.

OK, you got me there, Sean. Repped.

Re: Rules to ignore, or replace

These are SFX. Functionally' date=' any given Power is identically to any identically purchased Power regardless of SFX. Thinks like how fast it moves really don't matter.[/quote']

 

Agreed, but the powers as purchased are inclusive. The "easy" effects are less expensive than the tougher to stop ones.

 

I can see a point about purchasing each level separately based on SFX more than getting everything for one low price. At least that way, one need not buy all of the missile types.

Re: Musings on Random Musings

Yes' date=' and I'm played by Michael Ironside, and we fly around on jetpacks. [/quote']

 

Whew, that's a relief because that means none of it ever happened. Just poll the boards and Sci Fi fans and see if they admit to situation in which Michael Ironside flew around on a jet pack decapitating anyone for their quickening.

 

Bad dream.

 

Never.

 

Happened.

Re: Rules to ignore, or replace

And I can see being able to deflect lasers and not bullets' date=' but don't see why one should be more expensive than the other. [/quote']

 

Speed of light is higher and thus costs more than a missile travelling at the speed of sound or a couple of multiples of same.

Re: Would you allow this?

After reading this thread in its entirety, my answer would be no, I would not allow this

.

The power to reproduce an object or person should by paying for ful Shape Shift should require contact with the entire object or person, not just a hair or cell. Automatic assumption that it is DNA that is being analyzed rather than the structure of the mimicked person, even down to cellular level, doesn't automatically follow, IMHO.

Even the appropriate special effect which assumes DNA analysis as the cause of the shape shift should not allow the ability for previously stated reasons.

Re: The Mind Controlling Hero

Count me as one of those who doesn't see Mind Control as an evil or unethical power.

Revengers assemble. Bluto and the Bully boys have invaded city. How shall we handle them?

Immeasurable Hunk; "Me bash till they bones break and ears bleed."

Crowd; "Yay!"

Inflamaman; "I'm gonna fry them and suck the air outa' their lungs with my Inferno blast."

Crowd; "Yay!"

Badger Emo Teen Obsession Man: *snik* "Slice their spleen out then pout about my bad memory."

Crowd; "Yay!"

Cerebelo Gal; "I shall grip their will and make them reveal their headquarters and then surrender meekly to the authorities."

Crowd; "Eeeww."

No, not so bad.

Re: Would you allow this?

So the question seems to be;

Does the alien in John Carpenter's "The Thing" or Mystique in the X Men movie get the ability to anylyze DNA of sells or hair when they buy Shapechange at cellular level or just copy someone/something they have seen or touched (depending on SFX) unless they buy analyze DNA as a power?

Does this cover the main points of the controversey?

Re: "Understanding limitations and advantages"

I've always found the Superman example to be a little too specific too translate well. Here is my preferred. All vampires in a given Fantasy Campaign world must have Susceptibility: Sunlight 3D6 per turn. Now, player Fred wants to build a priest of the sun god, and have a gift from said god to produce sunlight. The base power is bought as Images (or Change Environment, if you prefer). When if at all would the PC have to add on some sort of Damaging Attack power to reflect the fact that the vampires can take damage from the light of this spell (assume that the GM agrees that this is appropriate for the campaign in general, i.e. that it is "true" sunlight in relation to the SFX of the Susceptibility)?

 

I tend to not consider the points from Disadvantages to NPCs as being meaningful (to be honest, I do not usually bother to get too worried about the real points with NPCs at all), so I base my decision on how common vampires are going to be in the campaign. If the major villains that I've planned for the campaign are going to be vampires, than the PC is going to have to pay points for some sort of attack power, or the PC will have to accept that the light they are producing is not quite "true" enough to affect the vampires.

 

On the other hand, if Vampires are only going to show up in once in a blue moon, than I do not see the need to require the extra attack power.

 

Getting back to the NPC issue, I do tend to look at SFXs that will negatively impact PCs do to Disadvantages or Limitations as part of balancing. For example, if one of the PCs has a Vulnerability to a specific SFX, I'll treat attack powers of that SFX as being in a higher category (low, medium, or high) than the straight dice would reflect. That of course, gets in to the fine art of balancing.

Great point. If a GM tells players that the campaign is a Vampire Hunter campaign, then designing a sunlight guy should indeed require buying the vampire affecting powers and not just assuming the SFX is applicable.

OTOH, Solar Guy as a hero in a generic campaign should receive appropriate SFX bonuses and minuses if appropriate, when the occasional vampre shows up.

"One size fits all" SFX rules always seem to have exceptions anyway

Re: Are Hero characters too rugged?

Hero PCs do not represent real life. They represent fiction, whether in comics, film, TV or literature.

Superhumans should not even be considered as the name alone works against realistic definitions.

A movie in which Indiana Jones or James Bond spend days in hospital after each fight would be realistic but not heroic. Bullet wounds take much longer to recover from and even longer to be at full fighting trim in real life.

Imagine Tarzan having brain damage and being weak after each bullet graze to the head instead of reverting to primitive.

Reality is the boring stuff most of us do every day. I am sure there are some champ number crunchers out there who could closely simulate the real levels of effect of fight damage to a PC but I probably would not want to play in their game.

Re: Traveller Hero... an update from the authors

I have a question for those waiting for TravellerHERO...

 

Since the book is so big, we are considering splitting it into 3 smaller books (like the little black books), smaller being relative at 100 - 150 pages in each book. Book 1 would be character creation stuff, Book 2 would be starship creation and starships, Book3 would be gadgets and Imperial information. The disadvantage is that it's 3 separate books; the advantage is you could buy only the pieces that you were interested in.

 

I would like to get people's thoughts on this, as one factor in the end decision.

 

Thoughts?

Edit: The two books are good for me.