bluesguy

Complications: When someone wants to play in my campaign I always ask them to come up with a backstory that fits the campaign world (after providing them some history about the campaign world). From that backstory we build their character. We talk about physical abilities, skills, talents, perks, powers (when appropriate) and complications. Complications explain all kinds of things about a character and their motivation. For instance in my campaigns: Mage killed the character's cousin in an unfair magical duel. Character became a bounty hunter to find said mage. He was 'hunting' the mage. The character was also a mage and was in a country where magic was outlawed. So he had a complication because of that. He was 7' tall and his skin (like most of his people) the deepest color of black you could imagine. More complications. Another character was running away from an arranged marriage that was going to stick her with some old guy and be forced to do 'noblewomen things'. So she ran away. She was a rebel (complication). Had a 'noble' attitude (complication). Being 'hunted' by her family. Because she was an expert with a sword she was often challenged in the street for a duel (rivalry - complication). Another character was a 'priestess' who didn't believe in the gods and treated as a big sham (Psychological complication). Later she bought it off after the gods made their presence known to her in a dramatic and terrifying way. She had been a circus performer before being a priestess and she was always putting on a big show (complication). Had to be the center of attention (complication) One of the things that you will find in creating characters in Hero is that creating a deep backstory makes it easier to create the character and role-play that character. One of the biggest drawbacks (IMO) for any system that essentially guides (limits) you based on some dice rolls and your initial class selection is that you don't have to even think about a backstory and therefore it is easier to roll-play vs. role-play.

Hero as a game system is a toolkit for creating pretty much anything you want to envision. NOTE: 5e is the previous version of the system and is still sold by Hero. 6e is the current version. Converting material from 5e to 6e is relatively easy (especially if you use Hero Designer - see below). Yes Hero start out as Champions - a super heros gaming system. Hero easily evolved into a generic gaming system. The way this is managed is based on how many character points a character starts with and how many points they can use to buy various powers. In Superhero games the base points for building a character and for creating powers/abilities is much higher than a 'heroic' level game (most fantasy games are heroic). The last question first - Resounding Yes. Here is how it works: Conan the Barbarian has a Hand-and-Half Sword and he is very strong. When he attacks with his sword it does 'killing damage' and that with his strength he can do 3d6 killing attack with the sword. Merlin the Mage has a Fireball. His Fireball is also a 'killing damage' attack and it is an actual ball of fire that fills 6m radius globe of space and it will do 2d6 killing attack. Each of those attacks use the same Hero mechanics to 'build them'. Killing Attack cost 15 points per 1d6 Area of Effect for a 6m radius is called an advantage and adds +1/2 to the total cost. Conan's sword is 3d6 so that means 3*15 points = 45 points Merlin's Fireball 2d6 so that means 2*15 = 30 points * 1.5 = 45 points So that means both of these attacks are 'balanced'. In a 'heroic' game Conan's sword is something Conan can buy with money. So he doesn't spend his character points for the sword itself. But he does need to spend them on things like Strength, Body, Constitution, defenses, weapon familiarities, skills with swords. Merlin has to spend points to get a fireball. Typically a mage will have to include limitations to any spells. They probably will include, material components (bat guano), focus (wand), gestures, incantations, possibly concentration, etc. All of those things will lower the cost from 45 points to a real cost. You will have to manage that yourself, Hero doesn't force you to do one or the other. Here are a couple of examples: Nyonia is my campaign https://nyonia.davidtannen.com/player-s-guide - If you look at the subcategories you will find a whole bunch of information about this campaign and how to build characters Valdorian Age is a campaign that has been retired - http://valdorian-age-rising-power-on-the-frontier.obsidianportal.com/wikis/gaming-mechanics-information How do you want it to work? If you want to have mages that can be something like Dr. Strange then you as the GM can decide how to set the mechanics up to do that (Variable Power Pools and some specific advantages are required). I would recommend you don't do that. If you want mages to have a set of spells that they know and can cast you can do that as well. You can even create 'schools' of magic and create an advantage for mages to stay within a school. Yes there is a 'monster manual' - http://www.herogames.com/forums/store/product/78-the-hero-system-bestiary-pdf/ Well the big thing is that players get experience points pretty 'slowly' - 1 to 3 XP per adventure (1 or 2 sessions). In the beginning most players use the XP to fill out their character with skills or physical abilities to match their initial vision but they didn't have points to build that character. Once that happens players tend to save points to get something big. For instance in my Nyonian campaign the two mages could not increase the overall power of their spells without spending a fair number of points (15 or 20 if I remember correctly). So the players saved the points over time and then went on a quest which magically enhanced their abilities and they bought the enhancement with points. Other characters, such as fighters might buy special combat maneuvers. For instance "Whirling Blades of Death" - which allows them to attack any characters standing directly next to them - so if they are surrounded they can chop up their opponents like a food processor chops up a bunch of carrots. The Hero mechanic might be Area of Effect 2m Radius only useable with a melee weapon and no range. So here are my recommendations for you on what to purchase. I am also going to recommend getting PDFs rather than hard copies because of the cost. My first set of suggestions is based on your building or using an existing campaign (say one of the D&D settings): Fantasy Hero Complete http://www.herogames.com/forums/store/product/507-fantasy-hero-complete-pdf/ - A great deal of what you need is in this single volume to run a fantasy game. Hero System Grimoire http://www.herogames.com/forums/store/product/82-the-hero-system-grimoire-pdf/ - Spells (95% of every spell you could imagine) Hero System Grimoire II http://www.herogames.com/forums/store/product/245-fantasy-hero-grimoire-ii-book/ - The other 5% Bestiary http://www.herogames.com/forums/store/product/78-the-hero-system-bestiary-pdf/ Enchanted Items http://www.herogames.com/forums/store/product/229-enchanted-items-pdf/ - Every fantasy game has some magic items Hero Designer http://www.herogames.com/forums/store/product/1-hero-designer/ - This one tool will make creating characters, monsters, vehicles, etc you life 100% easier. You have to know what you want but if you do HD will make your life so much easier in the actual process of creating. If you do get HD then always purchase the HD packages for any of the above products because it will make your life 1000% easier (especially for the Bestiary and Spells). Need a campaign setting (you still need some of the items from above): Narosia: Sea of Tears Fantasy RPG - I have this and if I hadn't already been building my own campaign at the time I would have used this instead. Unique magic system. Divine intervention that actually means something. http://www.herogames.com/forums/store/product/531-narosia-sea-of-tears-fantasy-rpg-book-pdf/ Turakian Age - This has a very D&D setting feeling to it. My son ran us in this setting and it was fun http://www.herogames.com/forums/store/product/418-turakian-age-pdf/ Valdorian Age - Gritter game. Magic is almost non-existent. Forget about monsters the most dangerous thing is other people. I ran this for three years. We had a blast in the world (you have big sandbox because the only thing detailed out is one big city). I tossed out the magic system because it was too confusing for new players. http://www.herogames.com/forums/store/product/447-valdorian-age-book/ Additional resources http://surbrook.devermore.net/herosource/herosource.html http://www.killershrike.com/Default.aspx?tab=0

Very impressed with the work you have done.

Many against a few: LOTR - Battle of Amon - Very skilled fighters vs. minions (but not necessarily one hit wonders). And hobbits ability to hide. LOTR - Battle at Balin's Tomb - Everyone beat up on the cave troll now! Nice scene where Boromir is stunned by the cave troll. Also when Frodo is stabbed and stunned (KO?) by the troll. Captain America - Elevator Fight scene Thor vs. Iron Man vs. Captain America - Knockback. Lots of collateral damage. The Iron Man suit being slowly destroyed as it is taking body from Thor's attacks. Incredibles fighting in the Jungle - Teamwork Incredibles + Frozone vs. Robot

Personally I like to point people to this fight scene when it comes to sword dueling (cinematic). Not only do you see what fencing martial arts gets you, plus levels, plus levels, plus +1 SPD on your opponent but you get to see what Oratory + PRE attack gets you (in the form of taunting)

Can I play in your campaign ... This would be fun. Did PCs generally die during any adventure they went on?

Here are some origins for characters I have played or players in my groups have played: Avatars of a mystic/mythical/god-like being Inventor/Surfer who built a flying surfboard and some 'sound blasters' for fun Born that way

Yea they threw a lot of things at the minions. One character has a lasso that came in handy when the minions got to close.

Don't know. I only go to Calhoun Square for Famous Dave's BBQ so I can see live blues shows (go figure - see nickname).....

In my campaign I have used: Villain bases Parks Science Musuem Mall of America The new Vikings Stadium while it was still under construction A local nuclear power plant Streets Downtown skyscraper (a'la Die Hard 1) Mansion Street festival State Fair Grounds during the State Fair Governor's Fishing Opener (players fighting from boats with limited movement options vs. minions who could fly - that was fun) Rural MN / Wilderness The advantage of running a game in a real life city which the entire group lives in.

Very interesting characters. Keep going!

I have used a few ICONS adventures in my game. As a general rule I look at the scenario and then look for villains in the Champions Villains, Vols. 1-3 books for villains that match the concept of the villains in the ICONS material.

Perhaps some very finely cut up Ghost Peppers in the stew!

In my Valdorian Age campaign the players were rescuing a large group of prisoners from a tribe of orcs. As some of you know orcs in VA is a very rare occurrence. The players numbered about six, they would have to move about 20 prisoners all women and children except for one very incapacitated knight. The orcs had a few hundred individuals. Probably a hundred warriors/hunter types. The players figured out their escape route and laid some traps along the way to kill/slow down pursuers. At least one character had herbalist skills and healing. They had previously acquired a bunch of herbs and medicinal ingredients which the herbalist knew all about. At that point it was a hand wave. I asked the player, what do you want to happen to the orcs when the ingest this stuff and she said "I want them to either be throwing up or having diarrhea for at least few hours - especially if we can get it to the ones who will be chasing us." She also combined it with a sleeping 'potion' she sometimes used. She then made some great rolls. One of the players was able to place the 'poison' in drinking supplies and food that would be eaten. In the night they rescued the prisoners and ran... The village was asleep (see potion) and woke up vomiting or having diarrhea or both for most of the morning. Basically I did a hand wave. I want to encourage being creative and fun role-playing so that means there are times when you hand wave the 'points/details/exact impact'.

Those two resources are two of the most amazing pieces of software available on the web for free for RPGers. When I found them a few months ago my jaw just dropped to the floor.

When I started running the Valdorian Age my son came up with a sorcerer/bounty hunter type character. He was trying to find the person who killed his cousin in an unfair magical duel back home (Abyzinia). Our daughter came up with a character from the Cynthian Plains. She was a horsewoman, archer and minor priestess. Her love disappeared with others traveling to trade horses. They came up with these backgrounds - I just gave them the background from the world. The result was the mage that my son's character was hunting became the master villain in the campaign. I hadn't intended for that to happen but I was given a rough gem and I didn't want to waste it. The other character's lover was kidnapped by agents of the master villain. One other player, wanted to play a dwarf (very rare in VA) who had amnesia. He remembered that his family had driven him out. Turns out that was all a lie. He was sent to find people to trade with. He was also captured by the master villain, tortured, mentally altered and then sold as a gladiator. In my current campaign everyone has done a fine job of providing interesting backgrounds that allowed me to weave a thread of a tale. As a GM I like providing a background and letting the players 'riff' off that background and then I can 'counter-riff' to what they are doing.

I assume the religious characters gain or lose morality points based on behavior (and the god they follow)? If that is true I would give the appropriate player a token to reflect their current morality. I would take away tokens for not acting within their faith when they should have and give them some when they demonstrate somewhat out of the ordinary examples of their faith. It is easier to lose your morality than it is to gain it back ;-)

My Champions sessions tend to revolve around a big combat. There is usually some RP in the beginning to figure out what is going on and then a big fight. We (gaming group) use Champions as our filler game between other campaign sessions. It is very episodic and action oriented. As my wife says when we get ready to play Champions "Property Damage that's what we like."

In my FH campaigns I did the following: Combat riding (more expensive than plain riding) skill to represent someone highly trained in mounted combat (knights & mounted archers) Penalty -2 OCV applied (the players would always buy the PSL to offset) Trained warhorses did not react to noisy combat, fire, or even 'flesh wounds' Rider or mount taking a major wound would have to make a combat riding roll to stay on the horse If the rider wanted the mount to attack a combat riding roll had to be made Players with regular riding rolls had to make a riding roll every time they tried to attack someone while mounted. Mounts not trained for battle would require riding rolls if ridden into battle. Being hit caused a riding roll. Basically if you were not trained to fight mounted you ride up, jump off your horse and attack from the ground.

Sadly enough I ran a campaign using that system +35 years ago and the players successfully killed 4 red dragons. Surprise helped. Great planning helped. Damn lucky dice rolls helped. In my current campaign dragons have their own civilization, tend to live in small communities/family groups, and have subservient races that provide for food, entertainment, 'hands', etc. Some of the players would like to 'visit' the dragons domain. The rest are like "Are you nuts. The last time humans got involved with dragons it started 1000 year dark age because someone pissed one of them off. We stay here and they stay there."

In my current campaign: Character's powers come from Native American magic - so the costume is magical and appears when they need it Character is electrical in nature and changes the fabric in their clothes into their costume One character literally carries her costume in a bag and changes into it - nearest bathroom stall One character is the incarnation of the angel Gabriel and just manifests into Gabriel One character is a neolithic native American and wears whatever clothes he feels like wearing that day

Thank you for posting folks. If you are new here is a place to post an introduction.

Oh that idea sounds like a lot of fun. As far as balancing goes just keep the active points at about the same place for all attacks and it should work out ok. After all "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Arthur C. Clarke

Bump

Did the players have a good time? Did it add to the story? Did anyone feel railroaded (well probably a bit but heck mental powers can have that affect)? If the answers were Yes! Yes! No/Not really. No problem.