redleaf

Very nice. I downloaded it! And I'll use it!

I almost always make my characters by hand (not HD). I usually use Notepad now, and the Windows calculator, as opposed to a pencil and character sheet.

It just comes from playing first edition. It's just an immersive/nostalgiac feeling that I can't get using HD. I find it extremely relaxing. On more than one occasion I have designed a character in this way to just take my mind off life's stresses.

Dropping an ordinary person to the point where they are bleeding out at 1 BOD per turn means that they will be dead (as in "significantly dead" ) in a couple of minutes. That's about what you get from being shot through the heart. I've seen trauma cases up close and personal and I have even seen a fatal shooting (two 7.56 rounds right through the chest) as it happened. I've been shot (in the head, no less!) myself - and went around with a large steel plate in my skull for years. The gamers' idea that a fatal wound is something that kills instantly - as in, kills in a fraction of second - is an artifact of TV and film where people get shot, fall down and lie still (or from systems where you're fine up until you lose your last hitpoint and then you are dead). That happens, very, very rarely in real life - pretty much the only thing that will kill outright is a large calibre wound with severe brain penetration. (Or you know, gross trauma like having a a couple of tonnes of concrete plate dropped on you from a few metres up - that'll do it too). In reality, even severe head wounds are rarely fatal in a moment - it's just that people in that situation fall down and bleed out quickly, and there's often little or nothing you can do about it.

 

So in real life terms, down and bleeding out in a minute or two is an instant kill. That's what happens in real life when people are shot in the head or a crucial organ. So in that regard, Hero is relatively realistic. The really unrealistic part is how easy it is to "paramedic" someone back to life once they hit that point: in real life, if you are bleeding to the extent that you are going to be past the point of resuscitation inside two minutes, then really, you are beyond saving unless you happen to be already inside a very well-equipped hospital ... and even then, your odds are extremely poor.

 

cheers, Mark

Thanks, Mark. This is what I thought reality was like. I always felt that once you hit 0 Body that a "Normal" person bleeding out in under two minutes was frighteningly close to reality, and that Hero really nailed it. "Good" to hear it does reflect reality, from someone who's seen it. (Although I'm positive it's not pleasant to have witnessed.)

I've been toying with the Savage Worlds system. Of course, Hero is my first love. In my opinion, the problem with other systems is that they sacrifice realism in favor of a "cinematic" approach to simulation. What I mean is, they leave a lot up to the GM.

The problem with rules systems that are not Hero: As GM, I feel I can't kill a player character, since I am defining the reality of the situation, so if the roll ends in death then it seems like I bent it that way, so I feel pressure to give the player/character an out, where I would not in a highly realistic system like Hero.

No, I don't go into every adventure hell-bent on killing the PC's. Well, actually, sort of I do. I feel it's up to the players to avoid that "painted into the corner" moment where the rules say you gotta pay the piper...You made a series of decisions and now it's a handful of D6's that amount to a massive killing attack. (You let the reporter stay to watch the fight, now the subway train is bearing down on him, and you have to push him out of the way and take that hit.)

To me, without that possibility hanging over the players/characters, there is no dramatic tension in the game. If the system requires the GM to make too many on-the-fly rules, most GM's will be softhearted and give the players a much bigger chance (CINEMATIC) than they would have had if they been using the specifics of the Hero system.

So I guess what I'm saying is: I can't enjoy non-Hero systems (or, at least low-complexity cinematic rules systems).

What are your thoughts on this? Have you been in a non-Hero game and had these feelings?

Re: Talislanta Hero [6E] Wow. I didn't realize it, but all the Talislanta books I have are the First Edition ones. Crazy. Someone should run a Talislanta game online. :innocent whistle:

(Redleaf joins in harmony to Savinien's whistle.)

I have *always* wanted to play Talislanta. If only there were some way...

Neutral Ground was a supplement I always admired, but never had. I ended up making up my own scenario based on the blurb, but I totally got the idea from the supplement.

UPDATE: For the one-shot, I am leaning towards The Island of Doctor Destroyer. It really is a good scenario. I am intrigued by Blood Fury, and I noticed that Bruce Harlick had a hand in it, so I'm looking into that one.

The other choices were all good. Wings of the Valkyrie feels a little railroady, but I would play that one with a group who was willing to accept that.

At this point The Island of Doc D is taking the lead, just because it lends itself to one-shottedness and has the right structure.

(I considered a vote, but I think I have to pick from the contenders to find the one I feel capable of running well.)

I think it might give us a few more contenders. Why not?

Shades of Black. Looked back at some of the comments on that.

And there's also Evilution Unchained...

Oops. Maybe my terminology is at fault.

By "one-shot" I mean that it will be one adventure played out. It might take more than one session.

I see it as some text chat, a group meet-up, and other methods including email.

We'll set a target date for the group meet. I'll start everyone separate. Some people may not make it to the group play (the character may die or the player may drop out). But whoever gets their stuff together by the target date will be in the group play.

Actually, I think that will work rather well.

I have always wanted to try The Coriolis Effect. I'll look at the other two Christopher suggested.

I agree that The Island of Doctor Destroyer is a great one. I'd definitely consider that one. I've run it before.

It wouldn't be a dealbreaker if people have read or played the module already. I think this will be fun. Modules seem to play out completely differently for me each time. We could even build in a time travel element: "I've seen this before. This happened last time..."

PS: I'll check out Reality Storm.

I'm going to run a one-shot online game in 6th Edition. People will be able to play any character they want. It will be in a "Marvel Team-Up" vein: the heroes involved will be kind of unfamiliar with one another.

Anyway, I have a bunch of modules. I want to pick one that people actually want to play. I would consider ordering a copy of one I don't have if it was in Uber-demand.

I was even toying with a Mutants and Masterminds module, called "Time of Vengeance."

So tell me: what module have you heard good things about that you would want to play in a one-shot?

(Doesn't have to be 6th Edition. I have modules going back to The Great Supervillain Contest.)

Re: Star Hero campaigns?

I used this combined Star HERO/ Space Opera campaign that worked out pretty well. I used Space Opera for the history and ship combat' date=' and HERO for the rest.[/quote']

 

Wow. Very cool attachment. It's short and sweet, and a great basis for a campaign. Kudos.

I'm working on a new Star Hero campaign. One thing that came up in some private messages with members here is the concept of "Crowning Moment of Cool."

For example, in Star Wars (the original movies), one Crowning Moment of Cool would be when Luke was fighting Darth Vader, and refused to fight, and then Vader mentioned Luke's sister, and Luke lost it and started laying it down on Vader.

Followed by another Crowning Moment, when the Emperor tells Luke to kill Vader, and he throws his lightsaber away...

What are some CMOC's in other sci-fi movies/shows? I think taking these and working backwards will also help plan a campaign.

I was thinking about this. I've run a long Champions campaign and I consider it successful, and I wonder if it really had a metaplot? Does "keeping the world safe from Dr. Destroyer and Mechanon" count?

Anyway, do I need a metaplot for Star Hero? Star Wars had "struggle against an evil galactic empire" and most sci-fi has 'em (though I'd argue Firefly doesn't--no offense, I like Firefly). But can I just have the characters flyin' around in their spaceship, getting in and out of jams? Won't that get old quick?

So I guess I'm looking for examples of functional metaplots for Star Hero, given a futuristic Earth scenario, or arguments as to why you don't need 'em.

(I'm not sure "metaplot" is the right word, but I'm using it anyway. I guess I mean "grand story arc.")

Re: R2-D2

Yeah, I ain't seein' no R2-D2.

Re: Questions from a newbie

I've been thinking about this a lot, actually. I think Hero players might be a little different than D20 and other gamers.

D20 (D&D in particular) doesn't, in my experience, scale very well past about level 12 or so. Combat tends to take a long time (in actual minutes) to play out, while happening over a very short amount of in-character time. At a similar level of power, is Hero less cumbersome? How does it scale as you become more and more powerful?

I think the progession is more gradual, and I don't think combat gets more difficult as you build your character. That has been my experience.

I'm reading that your typical sci-fi or fantasy game is "Heroic" and starts at around 175 points per character. How many more points might someone accumulate during a fairly long campaign?

It could go on forever, but I'd say you'd get about 10-15xp per month depending on how often you played. At 3 times a month, probably 10xp. In my experience.

One of the more annoying aspects of D&D in the mid to high levels is how easy it can be to kill off characters, which is something I prefer to avoid unless they brought it on by doing something dumb. If you're dealing with very powerful characters in Hero, how easy is it to accidentally kill them off?

I'd say it's less easy to accidentally kill someone off in Hero, because the Stun usually takes them out before you can accidentally kill them. And then as a GM you can back off and give them some breathing room.

In another post, someone mentioned pre-generated characters as a way to ease people in to the Hero System. Any other suggestions?

Just an elaboration: get the player to pick a hero they like from TV or literature and then track down a copy of that character that's already been written up in Hero, then make cosmetic changes. And change the name.

This works well if you have someone jumping in at the last minute.

Re: Star Hero campaigns?

Nolgroth gave me some ideas!

And BlueCloud and makes sense.

BlueCloud suggested I poll the players. I think I kind of am. Right now I'm doing a Star Wars PBEM using Star Hero, but the players are newbies to the Hero System. I think I want to do a campaign with people who are already Hero System fans, so asking here makes sense, because I think all Hero players must like something similar, right? Otherwise we'd be hanging out in a GURPS forum (if there is one).

So I guess I'm really asking what players here have found to keep a Star Hero campaign going long term.

So far I'm hearing that making a game successful is very similar to making a Champions campaign work (Nolgroth's descriptions made me think that).

BlueCloud is saying stay away from Trek but go more general space opera. Or better yet take a lesser-known world and jump off from that. (I'll check out John Ringo right after this.)

Re: Tales of the Gold Monkey finally coming to official DVD release

OPening credits on YouTube:

This looks good. It reminds me of Brisco County just from watching the opening credits.

It also has an "A-Team" feel.

(And of course Indiana Jones.)

Re: NEMESIS SQUADRON: New Game Packet!

I PMed GoldenAge for a copy of his Nemesis Squadron Part 2 pdf. It's awesome!

This is the kind of thing that you could throw your group into and get started quick, I think.

The only thing I would add as a GM is a bunch of pre-made characters, like templates, of each race so that new players could jump in quick, or people whose characters had died could grab a new one right away.

(I don't think that it's lacking in the package--I think each GM should take the time to make the characters in a way that suits the subtleties of their own campaign.)

Summary: It's very, very cool. You can jump right in. And it looks like fun.

Re: Star Hero campaigns?

I thought I could refine my question a bit. So I broke it up into two:

1. Are there any pre-made campaigns that have proved to be long-term playable?

2. In terms of homemade campaigns, what are some examples of metaplots that have worked for you? (I mean worked as in they allowed for a long-term campaign.)

I've played a lot of Champions and keeping it going was easier, in my opinion, because it's a modern setting. For some reason (for me as a GM) it's easy to have a long-term game in a modern setting.

For a fantasy setting, I guess what keeps it going is partly metaplot but also the accumulation of wealth and power. (I guess this might also work for a space campaign.)

I want to have a long-term game because I like to see characters build and grow, and establish a solid mythology.

I guess what I'm asking is "What worked for you?" in a space campaign, and then I can digest it and figure out whether these ideas will work with my group.

Re: How Much XP to Award?

I usually give out 2, or 3 if the character has done something pretty cool.

It's definitely less that one xp per hour. Probably like 1xp for every two hours of game play. Usually we play about four hours, and I give out 2xp.

So I'm going to stand behind my 1xp per 2 hours of game play. With a 1xp bonus for the character doing something awesome.

Re: Need Superhero Name

Trust me on this: if the PC is a university professor and has a life outside of that' date=' he'll have no time for superheroics. My dad's a professor and he's always working.[/quote']

 

Can't your dad climb out his office window like Indy?

Hi. I'm running a pbem Star Hero campaign and it's going well, but I'm thinking of starting a new one. (But keeping the old one going, of course...don't wanna panic the players!)

What kinds of campaigns are people running? Based on existing universes or all-new scenarios? I'm doing a Star Wars one right now and I'm looking for something fun and new. If people could give me a bit of info on what they're doing.

I guess what I want is a solid campaign that allows for long-term play. So that's really what I'm asking, I guess. Successful long-term scenarios.

Re: Q: Blasters and Star Wars-type equipment?

Thanks, everyone! This is really helpful!

And Nevenall's stuff is great!

Hi. I'm planning a Star Hero campaign. Help!

Two questions:

1. I want Star Wars technology, but all the links to Star Wars converted to Hero seems to only include credit prices, and not point costs. I'd like to find a list of blasters and Star Wars-level weapons (no lightsabers necessary) and armor that already have the point costs and descriptions. I don't want anything fancy, so I though Star Wars would be the best way to go.

2. I'd like a star map of colonies and such, just to remain consistent, rather than have to make all of it up.

Any ideas?