Vorvodoss

Hey all. I know there are some websites out there with guidelines regarding character concept. I'd love a list of questions I could hand my players so they can think of their characters. Does anyone know of a website/resource that fits this description? Thanks.

Thanks. That does it for me.

It really depends on what kind of NPC I'm looking at using. If its a simple quick battle NPC that won't matter in the long run, I usually decide what he can do (one or two attacks), what order he'll most likely use them in, and how many hits it takes to kill him. I usually do this on the fly because these kind of battles aren't usually going to kill the heroes. Now, if its a major villian/boss, I create him or her exactly the way I would create any PC (concept, etc.) and create background for him. Since I don't really get to create PCs (especiallly after the players start spending xp) this gives me the oppurtunity to develop character of my own...one of the reasons I became a GM in the first place. Oh, and I use HD2...that makes it all that much easier.

On p.30 (FREd) there's a table of all the skill discussed in FREd. There's a column that says Base/+1 Cost. What does the +1 Cost mean? Usually, the base is 3 while the +1 Cost is 2 points. Could someone explain this to me? Thanks! (*note: the reason I didn't want to ask Steve this is because you guys can probably help me out and Steve doesn't need anything else on his plate)

You have a good point here. CSLs were one of the hardest things for me to grasp and explain to my players so I could agree that getting rid of them would simplify things. However, I would also venture to state that without things like CSLs there becomes less of a reason to use HERO at all.

This wouldn't make things that much easier. The challenge when learning HERO combat is the roll system and the flow of combat (the issue this thread orginally addressed). Bonuses and penalties are easy to pick up because virtually every system out there has them in some form or another.

Yeah, you got it pretty much right, except... Look carefully...this is actually THAC0. The concept behind d20 is that everything goes up. It's all based on bonuses. It's a very subtle difference but it has impacted the gaming community. To further explain, in d20 you roll your die and add a single bonus to it (figured once). If there ARE any penalties, the DM handles it and it only affects the target difficulty number. It's pretty rare for a player to have to worry about it (unless a spell is cast, there shouldn't be a reason the bonuses should change). In HERO, things can (and I've noticed often do) change a lot. This is the charm and power of the system. My players are getting used to it but they are still getting the hang of rolling dice and knowing what they were trying to roll. I tell them the DCV of their opponent but that actually widens the gap. I HAVE noticed that if I simply ask them to tell me what they hit (a la the optional roll system of 11+OCV-3d6) they have a much easier time...but this is even closer to THAC0. When d20 came out...they wanted an escape from THAC0 and its tendency for unrealistic constraints. HERO doesn't seem to have those constraints because the CV ranges aren't fixed and can be affected by a lot of different things. OK...that was a whole lot of what was in my head and I'm not sure if I even made my point. Let me know if I didn't and I'll try to explain my thought process better. *edit: I saw this after I posted: This is THAC0 almost exactly the way it is run in 2e D&D.

I was specifically talking about how combat works. In other words, if d20 and HERO are that alike, why couldn't a simple "roll die, add bonuses, check against armor class" work? Now, before I get flamed I want to clarify that I like the HERO way of combat now that I'm getting used to it. I just wanted someone to explain how combat in HERO is like combat in d20 (besides things like half-move, etc.).

This is great advice all the way around. The problem I faced at the beginning of this game is that two of the three players in this group hate battlemats (I'm really kind of ambivalent with enough of a slight preference towards not using them that I don't care...HA! dismantle THAT...hehe) while one really likes them. Well, it became simple majority rule. I so do the same thing! In fact, I'll admit I haven't really bothered with my NPCs' hp (or BODY and STUN in HERO) for quite a while. When it's a big boss or something of the like, I'll have a detailed battle block but I've usually already decided if I'm going to let a PC die and how many. I don't decided which PC will die, just how many. I hate it when the whole group dies because I've made an NPC just too hard. I fudge all the time. I really never got comfortable rolling dice in the open and my players have never really minded because I have a habit of fudging in their favor.

Hey Steve. I can't think of the page right now and I don't have the book in front of me but I was having a hard time figuring out what the "notes" in the Martial Arts blocks (in FREd) mean. For example, say for martial throw it might say "Grab, Abort, Str +10". What exactly does this mean? Does this mean that you have to Grab first while aborting an action and that it give you a Str +10? Or does it mean it can be used the same time you would use an Abort, etc.? I'm just trying to figure this one out. Thanks!

I did misunderstand you and I agree but I would also point out that there are some players who, no matter what, just want to roll dice and there are others who barely remember the dice are there. The same division exists between people who can play with figs and those who just don't like them. Neither side is better but it's always a learning experience for the GM with a new group. Caris, I'm not going to quote chunks of your post because I'm tired and there's a lot I'd like to comment on but can do so in a general sense. Based on just what I've posted about my game, I completely agree with you and you have some great points. However...and a big one at that...I forgot to point out something major. You see, that was really the first major combat action in the scene. I try to balance. For the most part, I will establish the feel as quick as I can then fade to the more standard speed of a combat. Usually, I resolve actions quickly to keep the pace up. There are those moments when I can work in the description. You made a comment about the GM telling you what the PC thinks. I really should clarify. When the players know the world and the parameters they are playing in I don't ever really tell them what they think. If they ask what an appropriate response might be, I hand it to them. But when they are playing in a new world/genre I've created I tell them the proper reactions their archtype(sp?) would have so they help me create the right milieu. My players know this because they've been playing eagerly in my games for years now. I'm an average GM but a decent storyteller so they know they are going to get an interactive novel more than a strategy game. So yes, you probably wouldn't like my game style that much but I'm pretty sure you would like the story. Hey, has anyone ever put together an IRC HERO game? If we could find the right tools/add-ins/dice bots I would be willing to run some games and would love to play in them to learn the system more.

Sounds like a pretty involved system, Caris. Let me know if it works out for you. ^.^ Personally, I just use a piece of paper as scratch and quickly write everyone's name, DEX and SPD on it. As each person takes an action, I put a check by their name. There's more to it than that but it's a simple system and I'm sure most people use variations on it; it's probably not important to go into detail here.

I've had this happen as well...in fact, it's one of the reasons I became a GM and stopped enjoying the player-side experience. The trick for me, when conveying the surroundings and mood I'm trying to create, is to constantly remind the players what they're dealing with. With the above example in mind, I would do something like this: PC1 says he attacks and rolls a successful hit. I describe the scene like so: "You strike your opponent in the chest for "x amount of damage" but he kicks at you which causes you to move to the side. Your foot slips and you feel the emptiness beneath you like a palpable presence, eager to claim you. Wind whips by you and you remember that there is no second place if you lose this fight." The NPC may never have actually attacked. I included the missed kick for flavor so I could justify having the PC loose his footing. I make sure not to penalize the PC if he decides to ignore the lost footing because there was no roll that said he did indeed deserve a penalty, etc. However, I also throw the lost footing challenge to him that he can use if he wants, making the game a little more dynamic and constantly in flux--a greater challenge for the player and more fun for all.

Yes, but if you remove the mat, you wind up forcing the players to do that. Btw, things as far as distances and such do NOT have to be thrown to the side. I design my combat encounters for the characters so they each have a little something to do. If PC1 attacks the enemy that I had intended for PC2, I can easily switch them and no one is the wiser. It requires a little more work on the GM's side to keep things straight but I find that when I have a mat I feel more constricted. This is, of course, simply personal preference. The two biggest differences between the systems are also the ones that make it a new process almost entirely. I agree that there are similarities. However, CV works a lot like THAC0 which has never been a system I've loved due to its inherent restrictions. HERO battles that by making it ever-changing (some may disagree with me). The other difference is the approach to combat time. In d20, all combatants are operating in turn (Initiative) in the span of six seconds. In HERO, as we know, there are twice as many seconds and for me it seems as if there are 12 little rounds to keep track of. However, there are times when there is no one moving that round so I have to remember to skip them. These two differences make combat hugely different.

How so?