buzz

Re: "Encounter level"

Very well' date=' don't wait for other people to provide you with it, impress us with your brilliance and come up with one on your own.[/quote']

I already preemptively apologized for my frustrated tone, so I think your tone here is uncalled for.

 

I haven't made any claims to brilliance, so I don't know where you're getting the idea I have some magic answer; that's the whole reason I'm interested in this subject. I've asked the "encounter levels" question and have seen others ask it many times. Obviously, it's something people don't grok just from initial contact with the system. I am glad to see people sharing their experiences in this thread.

 

But, obviously, since the question is getting asked, I think that it's something the company should address. At least, it's something I'd like to see them address. If anyone could provide useful analysis of the system and provide advice, I think it'd be the people who write the books.

Re: "Encounter level"

Here's the real truth -- any such mechanic is just a tool' date=' and like all tools its true value is only realized in the hands of someone that knows what they are doing and / or have talent to begin with. A very good tool can compensate for its user's deficiencies, but a true master will always be capable of a much more nuanced and virtuoso performance than a hack with a tool.[/quote']

Well, so what? Are you saying HERO is too good to bother to provide some guidance? That it's only for "true masters"? What the heck is wrong with giving people somewhere to start? How else does a player attain mastery? Ten pages out of 5ER's 592 is all we get?

 

Metaphor: I've been playing guitar for about 20 years. Guitar (i.e., music) is an infinitely more complex, involved, and subjective endeavor than playing HERO. None of this has prevented the existence of lots of great teaching aids. If a book can set me on the path to comping jazz, a book can help people get better at using HERO.

 

Apologies if I sound a little miffed. I just don't buy the idea that gaging NPCs is somehow beyond explanantion.

Re: "Encounter level"

Which leads me to believe they have no forumla to guage these kinds of things and are just winging it by going on experience.

I don't see why this would prevent them from putting some of that experience down on paper. The mere fact that they can make evaluations means they can produce guidelines. D&D's CR system is probably even more subjective, but that doesn't stop it from being extremely helpful.

Re: "Encounter level"

The problem is ... I don't think there ARE "concrete useable guidelines" for encounter levels in Hero.

I have to believe that where there is math, there can be analysis. Steve, Darren, et al obviously have written scenarios and NPC books, so I gotta believe that they're basing the challenges they present using some sort of metric, or at least their own expertise. This question comes up enough, and 5ER being totally silent on the issue, that I think it'd behoove them to try and codify/discuss it should there ever be an Ultimate GM type book, or a subsequent edition of HERO.

The Effectiveness Rating makes some strides in this area. Just reading it though pointed me to some specifics I hadn't really thought of before. I'd like to see more.

Re: I finished reading 5th Edition, Revised

I find adding damage in Hero to be rather simple honestly. It's never confused me much.

It just never seems to sink in for me, especially when it involves STR and advantages. I honestly think it could be a bit more intuitive.

Granted, I mostly play Superheroic games, and my GMs run pretty "lite" with the rules. We'll see how I feel when my Star HERO campaign starts in a few weeks.

Re: I finished reading 5th Edition, Revised

That's cuz they are. The AoO Rules in D20 alone make the Adding Damage Rules in Hero look simple.

Wow. For me, D&D's AoO was a couple paragraphs that are pretty much second-nature now. Adding damage in HERO is four pages (FOUR pages!) out of the book that make think, "Yeah, there are parts of this game that are way more complicated than they need to be."

Re: "Encounter level"

I'm really hoping that, someday, a book along the lines of The Ultimate GM will be published that directly addresses this topic with concrete, usable guidelines so that, instead of having to hope one has "a good GM who knows what they're doing," one can instead become a good GM who knows what they're doing.

In the meantime, take a look at "The Effectiveness Rating" in Digital HERO #3.

Re: What's the best hero suppliment!

Hmm...

Hudson City has been the book I had the most fun reading. I was just totally fascinated by it. USPD has probably been of the most use to me, though.

If software counts, however, Hero Designer gets my nod. It's a vital tool that should be in every HERO gamer's arsenal. On top of that, it's probably the best piece of chargen software in existence. Would that d20 had anything even remotely as awesome.

Sidenote: I'm really surprised to see love for DC:TAS and TE.

Re: SJG's Traveller Deck Plans - dang wrong scale!

Pluggy MgPlugPlug says' date=' "Check out BlackWyrm's line of spaceship maps at http://home.insightbb.com/~ryan.wolfe/Future_Armada.htm"

Flippin' gorgeous stuff, sir.

Re: Computers for TE starships

Thanks, GA.

Re: Computers for TE starships

the computers in SH tend to represent things like autonomous systems that can run the ship without people.

 

I don't believe that's a capability that the TE Setting wishes to use.

I didn't get that impression. If ti were true, it would put TE far behind Traveller's Imperium, and that just seems wrong.

I notice there are writeups for starship computers in TE, but none of the starships statted out in TE or STK have computers as part of their writeups, a la the ones in Star HERO. Does this mean they're essentially a separate component? It seems unclear to me, seeing as all the TE writeups have Skills for the ships that appear to represent computer abilities (such as most military ships having Tactics). Or are these just labs?

Thanks!

Re: SJG's Traveller Deck Plans - dang wrong scale!

Mantis: By "double," I meant, every HERO hex on your character sheet means two hexes on the map, since that's how the scale works out.

Everybody else: Gotcha. I'll try using 'em as-is and see if it makes a difference. Thanks!

So, Iw as all psyched about using the Free Trader deck plans from SJG for my Star HERO game, and then I noticed that, hey, GURPS hexes are only one yard.

Crap!

I'm of half a mind to just not covert to keep my players from having to double everything, but I dunno. Any thoughts? Anyone else using these SJG products for their Star HERO game?

Re: Starting Resource Points for Trav/Firefly-ish TE

Resource Points? Is this the "Equiptment Pool" system form Dark Champions?

 

How does that work?

Yep, DC p.150.

Basically, it's a pool of free points you can use to purchase equipment. It replaces money, which is a smart thing to do in heroic campaigns.

Re: Starting Resource Points for Trav/Firefly-ish TE

Good stuff, nolgroth. FYI, they have a ship; one of the PCs basically inherits it, the rest are essentially employees. The ship is really the "set", though.

The only PC who wanted a vehicle of their own was one guy who badly craved a cargo mecha. That one he's paying for with his own points.

Okay, I've got some PCs being created for a TE campaign that's in the ol' "Free Trader Beowulf" mode of heroes making a living on a merchant ship hauling cargo and passengers. 75+75 heroic game. In another thread, I was persuaded to go with Resource Points instead of money, which seems a good choice. (RPs seem, IMO, the way to go with Heroic games.)

So, in DC, PCs start off with 60 Equipment Points, and then 5-10 for Vehicles and Contacts. Is this reasonable for my TE campaign? I was thinking that I ought to lower the points a bit and have the players work towards increasing them (by spending points) over time. Basically, doing so to model that they're workin' stiffs at the outset of the game.

Thoughts on whether lowering the points is a good idea, and what good amounts are? I was thinking maybe halving what's in DC, but that may prove too harsh.

Re: How many HAPs?

Do the points "reset" every session, or do they carry over? As I understand the ones from Pulp HERO, they reset.

Re: Galactic maps

Is this the sort of thing you were looking for? I made it for a Trek Campaign, but is this the style you were looking for?

Heck, sure. That looks gorgeous. Was this a mapping app or just Photoshop?

Re: How many HAPs?

I was going to go with individual HAPs.

Do you ever use HAPs as a reward? E.g., "That was some cool roleplaying! Take an extra HAP for the rest of this session."

Re: Starting Money

Take a look at the Resource Points idea from Dark Champions. It works really well and removes some of the "oomph" from having to price everything out.

Ah, good call. I had been toying with the idea, but since the campiagn is pretty much a Traveller/Firefly-style merchant thing, I had this nagging feeling that I needed to use real money. Resource points make sense.

I'm thinking of using Heroic Action Points from Pulp HERO in my upcoming Star HERO game. I'd like to just have a fixed amount of points per session, but the book doesn't really give any guidelines as to how much is a reasonable amount. Any advice?

Re: Starting Money

Um, okay.

Re: Starting Money

What I've done so far is this:

1. They have a ship, a beater far trader inherited by one fot he PCs. No cash or points were spent on this. It's part of the setting.

2. One player wanted a mecha (don't ask me why, he loves anime). I told him to pay points for it.

3. Other than that, I just declared them at "middle class" or worse, and they have anything that would be reasonable. If they want the unreasonable, they have to run it by me.

I really wish the stacks of HERO books I own would have been of more help here.

So, I see many sections in the various SF HERO books about being careful with the amount of money PCs have access to, but I'm not finding any guidelines on how much money to actually start PCs off with in a Heroic game set (roughly) in the Terran Empire setting.

Any ideas here? For the time being, I've just asked my players to use common sense and run anything out of the ordinary by me.