Kenneth New

Re: Genre-crossover nightmares When we were playing GURPS we used to joke about a GURPS Ice Age/War Against the Cthorr campaign. Another GM in our game used to joke about his GURPS Bunnies and Burrows/Reign of Steel campaign.

Re: 6th Edition Mega-Scale and Movement I believe that all non-combat teleport takes a full phase. (I don't have my book with me right now). Megascale at a scale greater than 1m = 1m is non-combat teleport. The upside is that you don't have to buy teleport twice in order to use it at megascale, you just have to buy the advantage for your teleport. But if you actually use it at megascale distance it will suffer all the normal disadvantages of non-combat teleport.

Re: 6th Edition Mega-Scale and Movement

Re: He likes it he likes it! (Have to share) The campaign is set in 1925, in NYC. The magical community exists, but mundanes don't see it due to a magical velamen that causes them to rationalize the supernatural away. The characters all belong to the magical community and investigate supernatural threats. It's a shared world campaign, so there are seven PCs (but only six in each story). Dorian Montrose - mageborn wizard, reporter for the Arcane Observer and occasional columnist for the New Yorker; specializes in force spells Osborn Scamander - mageborn wizard, Egyptologist who examines new archeological finds for the magical government so they quietly seize any artifacts of real magic; specializes in spells with an Egyptian flavor Edith Harkins - mageborn witch with a flying broom and flying monkey familiars; she runs a coven of lesser talents and specializes in fire magic Eric Van Stern - a member of an old mageborn family who was born without any magical talent; he's a private investigator who helps the magical community when it has to interact with the mundane world and the mundane world when something weird occurs; he uses his grandfather's magical sword in combat Sister Tessa - a part devil who channels divine forces and is a member of the Order of St. Michael, a church sponsored monster hunting organization that is sometimes at odds with the larger church Fu Ban - a mageborn of Chinese descent who was never trained in wizardry; he's a martial artist whose magic channels itself into superhuman maneuvers Snag Cobblestone - a goblin artificer and master of wards; he's extremely knowledgeable about the magical underworld 225 points/8 DC limit on spells and magical maneuvers (i.e. powers bought as feats)

Re: Real Costs for spells and how you handle them? In our modern fantasy game (based loosely on the two Harry's - Potter and Dresden), we use multipowers and require a mage's spells to thematically linked in each multipower. My character has a hex multipower (force spells) and a teleport multipower.

Re: 6th Edition Mega-Scale and Movement This is no longer the case in 6th ed. "The amount of megascale a character buys defines the upper limit of the scale of his power. He can vary the scale of the power from use to use, ranging from 1m = 1m up to 1m = the maximum distance he bought megascale for ...." (6E1, 340)

Re: He likes it he likes it! (Have to share) I've had the same experience lately. HERO is my favorite system, but most of my friends just want to play D&D. Don't get me wrong, I love D&D, but I've kept trying to get them into the HERO system. My brother in law helps in this regard since we've been playing since the early 1980s. It turns out in our case, it was the genre. Many of my friends have no appreciation for the superhero genre. Once I created a Modern Fantasy campaign for them (based loosely on the two Harry's - Potter and Dresden), they've been enjoying it quite a lot.

Re: Running Hero at Gaming Conventions This thread is interesting to me. I've never run HERO games at conventions because I wasn't sure how the complexity would play in a four hour time slot. Given some of the advice I see here, I'm really wanting to try it. What power level do you all think would be best for a four hour convention game? In my home group we play a Modern Fantasy campaign and a Supers game. I could write scenarios for either genre (or try my hand at another), but at home we never have to worry about pacing and everyone undertands the rules. BTW, I've been running HERO since the early 1980s, but usually run 'easier' games when I go to conventions.

Re: The Hero System is bland and over complicated It's fairly pointless arguing with folks like this reviewer. HERO is a system that is powered by the imaginations of its GMs and players. If you have a limited imagination, you will find the system bland and boring. If you have a great imagination, you will find it compelling and interesting. Unlike other gaming systems, the authors haven't done all the imagining for you.

Re: Oil spill Unfortunately, neither of my characters could do much about the oil spill. 1) Seeker is a telepath and has nothing that would affect the oil. Although he's an Olympic gold medal winner in swimming, he couldn't survive the depths. As others have mentioned, he could use his powers to try and find out who was responsible. 2) Psyblade is martial artist with a telekinetic blade. (You'll have to forgive the blade. He's only 17 and thinks it's cool). All he could do is stand by in shock until he finally gave in to the inevitable and began scrubbing oil off of pelicans.

Re: HERO SYSTEM BESTIARY Sneak Peek: The Cover I have to say that I like the cover. The stylized are a nice departure from what other games are doing. It makes the HERO books stand out.