bluesguy

Hi, all,
I've been here a bit but not introduced myself - apologies for rudeness.
 
My handle, Doccowie? My name's Andrew Cowie, I have a lot of friends called Andrew, they tend to call me Doc to differentiate.
 
First tabletop RPG? Holmes Basic D&D. A friend's American aunt bought it for him and he brought it back to London. Same one I GMd. So, that's, er 39 years ago...
 
What am I currently playing/DMing? Mostly 5E - I've been playing with the same group for 20+ years, and they ain't shifting from D&D.
 
Why am I here? Well, I see D&D as going out for pizza with my mates, it's great fun, and we love it - but that doesn't stop me experimenting with a gourmet rule system. When they change their minds - I'll be ready!

We have a schedule? Why does no-one tell me these things?!

For those having issues with HD appearing too small under high resolution screens (when running Windows), an update has been posted which enables command-line flags to set the default font size throughout the application.  To use, you need to launch HD from the command line (or create a batch script) with the following:
javaw -jar HD6.jar [font size] for example, the following would set the default font size throughout the application to 18pt:
javaw -jar HD6.jar 18 Windows does not appear to pass font scaling along to Java, hence the issue under high resolution screens.  Moreover, there are known issues within Java in attempting to change the font size once the UI has been rendered.  This is the reason that the command line flags are needed rather than a new application preferences setting.

Time for a bump

It was suggested that maybe we create a thread for new people who are posting and especially for lurkers.
 
So here is what I would like to suggest everyone post as an introduction:
 
How did you come up with your 'handle' (forum name)? What was the first tabletop RPG you played? What was the first tabletop RPG you GMed? What are you currently playing/GMing? I hope this thread gets pinned.
 

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

How did I come up with my handle?  My favourite champions character is called "Silver Paladin" (basically a British version of Tony Stark/Iron Man) - swapped round and using the chemical symbol/latin for Silver.
First RPG played?  D&D just after going to grammar school.  Haven't played D&D in a loooong time.
First RPG you GM'd?  Traveller with LBB.  Still do Traveller off and on.  Wrote a fair amount and reviewed a lot else for the first version of Mongoose Traveller.  I didn't actually start playing Champions until I was at uni.
What are you currently playing?  Coming back to RPG (and Champions) after organising and running a re-fight of the Battle of Jutland for the Museum of the Royal Navy.

How did I come up with my 'handle.' a go to fantasy male character name
What was the first RPG you played? d&d in 2005ish or hero 
What was the first RPG you GM'd? Hero a home brewed campaign
What are you currently playing? see above 

Summary of last week's session:
 
(Brief minor retcon - I realized the Isle of Rhodes was several days out of their way, so instead they spend the night in port at Patras in SW Greece.)
 
Episode 2: Pirates of the Caribbean Mediterranean:
In Patras, you hear various rumors about odd storms, currents changing course, the occasional sea serpent, and so forth.
The journey from Patras to Constantinople is slower die to bad winds, tho a prayer from Edmondo abates them somewhat. A couple of days out, you are set upon by a galley of Muslim pirates from Egypt. There’s no chance you can outrun them with this wind, so you and Pironti’s crew make ready for battle. The two ships exchange arrows as they draw closer, and while your shooting is far more effective than the pirates’ it is not enough to drive them off and they close to board. Tyri, Geralt and Aeddan leap aboard the galley and fierce fighting ensues. Abida throws several alchemical concoctions that blind or disrupt the pirates, including a piece of mandrake root that turns into a simulacra that further distracts the pirates. Edmondo tends to the fallen. Finally, Thri eviscerates the enemy captain and the remaining pirates surrender. Half of you transfer to the galley and resume your voyage with both ships. Days later (10 days after leaving Patras) you sail into the port at the great city of Constantinople.

That sounds like so much fun to play in.

Hello, i am playing HERO from 5th edition revised, i am trying to introduce HERO 6th edition to as many RPG players as i can and recently bought Champions and Fantasy complete for 2 of them, they really like the books but my personal opinion is that is very difficult to play/ understand the book without having the 6E1 and 6E2 books nearby.Things like computing damage classes for advantaged power(and why you do so), or adding damage or even minimum damage are so minimally worded and without examples in the complete books that if these are your first and only HERO 6th edition you have to resort to the forums to clarify them or have an INT score of 20+ to work them out on your own(DC,adding damage,missing DC table).its a pity for such a wonderful and loved system as HERO.I hope there will be an errata on them soon.
 
P.S. otherwise from minimun wording i like the books too and congratulate every HERO product available and the effort of the writers.

Ummm how do you play all those games?

Hey Rose, I'm still alive and kicking. eepjr has inspired me lately to revisit the HERO material by persistently grinding through Fantasy HERO material, and I've been making some mechanical improvements to the site here and there, so I still have a hand in the HERO jar but I'm no where as active as I once was.
 
Long story short, my wife and I had another baby a couple of years ago, and that, plus work, other kid, etc, I just don't have the free time I used to have. I started using Fate and Fate Accelerated for my (seldom) game sessions mostly due to the greatly lessened time it takes to work up material.
 
I still love the HERO System and it is still my favorite game system of all time. Just, y'know, life happens.
 
 
 
How did you come up with your 'handle' (forum name)? Long story short, it was my handle for Mechwarrior a very long time ago, that I then used to replace a different handle I had used for years that I discovered was very similar to one used by a hacker with a bad reputation. It just sort of became my net persona, unintentionally. 
What was the first tabletop RPG you played? Actual table top was D&D Red Box; I was 10. But my real intro to the hobby was Joe Dever's Lone Wolf; if that hadn't of hooked me I would not have been interested when the opportunity to play D&D was offered.
What was the first tabletop RPG you GMed? Also D&D Red Box.
What are you currently playing/GMing? My Pathfinder Fate Accelerated hack, though on an extremely spread out schedule. We play every now and then when the stars align, usually in bursts of a few sessions. Over the last year I've also played in some one offs of Edge of Empire, Pathfinder, and Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, and we play a lot of board and card games. Netrunner, Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, Warhammer Quest, Descent, Sentinels of the Multiverse, and Smashup most recently. I'm currently looking forward to the new Netrunner Mainframe board game, and the Sentinels of the Multiverse Oblivaeon kickstarter.

I want to thank all the new folks, lurkers and everyone who has been welcoming on this thread.  That is the point of the thread.  Good job folks.  Keep it up.

If I get a few minutes I will photograph my collection.  It isn't anything like what you folks have though.
 
I will also photograph miniatures that I have - only the metal/plastic ones, I definitely have at least 150 painted fantasy characters and monsters.  I have a ton of 'cardboard' cutout options.  One of the best options for fantasy cardboard cutouts is from Inkwell.

How does one take a photo of PDFs on a shelf.

*emotes extreme envy*

It's a sickness.
 

 
I'd love to see your HERO collection!
 
 

It was a time of great decline and despair. Mankind was scraping an illiterate, bestial existence out of the ruins of once-shining empires. Forgotten were the secrets of how to make the straight roads and the great structures that still dotted the landscape. The memory of these empires was so dim that some places attributed these ruins to giants, for mortal men could never have built such wonders. Libraries were few and those who could read them fewer still; what knowledge remained was carefully preserved by monks and guilds who barely understood it, let alone how we came by the knowledge to begin with. Indeed, in those times a stack of half a dozen books was regarded as a library. Order was maintained through force of arms, not law; the common people were stalked by banditry, plague, famine, and godless hordes out of the East. With each passing year, structures decayed, populations shrank, knowledge faded, and hope dimmed. The end times were nigh--that was plain as day to anyone.
 
I guess. I'm not familiar with the 1001 setting exactly, just the 1001 I lived through.

As the thread originator let us try to stay on topic.
 
Thank you

In the Turakian Age, everybody hates the Ulronai. It's a rule.
 
If you have a group of people everyone hates, there will surely be jokes about them.
 
I'd like to hear suggestions for Ulronai jokes. I'll start.
 
 
Q: How many Ulronai does it take to light a candle?
A: Why would they light a candle when they can sneak up on you in the dark?
 
 
Q: Why did the evil wizard hire a bunch of Ulronai mercenaries?
A: There are some things that Orcs just won't do.
 
 
Q: Why did the baron hire all the Ulronai males in his realm to tend his flock of sheep?
A; Hey, if they're flocking with the sheep they're not flocking their own women and making more Ulronai!
 
 
Q: Why should you never make fun of Ulronai to their faces?
A: I don't know about you but I don't want to be close enough to one to look them in the face.
 
 
Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?
A: He saw an Ulronai coming.
 
 
Q: Why did the jester take off in such a hurry?
A: He saw the Ulronai coming too!
 
Lucius Alexander
 
Why are there Ulronai in the tagline? They're probably trying to steal the palindromedary.

It was suggested that maybe we create a thread for new people who are posting and especially for lurkers.
 
So here is what I would like to suggest everyone post as an introduction:
 
How did you come up with your 'handle' (forum name)? What was the first tabletop RPG you played? What was the first tabletop RPG you GMed? What are you currently playing/GMing? I hope this thread gets pinned.
 

So in my years of RPG and specifically playing Hero, I have taught three different groups to play Hero.  The first time was after college when I formed a gaming group.  The people who wanted to play either knew AD&D, participated in the SCA, or were just your everyday nerds ...  I taught all of them how to play Hero.  After a while a few players were able to create their own characters without much help from me.  Other people in the group started running games and they used Hero because they liked it.
 
The second time was when we moved and we formed a new group.  A few of us knew how to play Hero and the rest were all AD&D players.  That was a short lived group because we moved again.
 
The third time is with my current group.  First I taught my teenagers how to play the game.  My son has taken to the system and has turned into a rule-lawyer (which can be very frustrating at times ).  He has also started running his own game and is doing a really good job.  Then we had two other people start playing with us - D&D/variants.  And our newest member had never played a single RPG but wanted to do a group thing with us.  My son and I do most of the 'heavy lifting' when it comes to character creation.  Everyone has gotten very good at character concepts & back stories - which makes the actual character creation pretty easy.
 
So here is the approach I take with new people:
Think about who the character is.  What makes the character 'tick'?  What do they do when they aren't being a "hero"?  How did they become a "hero"?  Do they have goals?  If we are playing a superhero game I will ask them about what kind of powers they want (which may have come out of how they became a "hero")?  This is absolutely a critical step for people who play Pathfinder/D&D variants, because in Hero the character concept comes first and then the game mechanics starts.  In Pathfinder/D&D variants you roll dice and try to figure out kind of viable character you have based on the random rolls ... Then I sit down and explain exactly what each characteristic is.  When we get to Stun and Body I use some examples like "Body damage is like having a bruise, cut, broken bone.  Stun is more the 'shock' of the injury."  Explaining normal vs. killing goes something like "Bruce Lee punches you that is a normal attack.  If he hits you hard enough he will break bones.  Dirty Harry shoots with his gun it will put a physical hole in you."  And then with Stunned I just tell them to think "Punch drunk boxer - still standing but definitely not thinking straight". We talk about how to build the powers/talents/perks/skills they need to make the character work in the beginning.  Along the way we might map out how to use future XP to meet the original idea. Complications grow out of the first step. Combat:
I got off the forum or download a one page explanation of how combat works.  Everyone gets that sheet.  Then I have a few mock combats with new players so we can step generic combat and combat for their character.  We will talk about what will most likely be effective for them in combat.  When we play I will have the following dialog: GM:  Ok you are going to hit the bandit in front of you
Player:  Yep
GM:  Do you know what to roll?
Player:  No
GM:  Ok.  You start with an 11 and then add your OCV to that.  Then add any skill levels you want to use in the attack to the previous number.  Then add any pluses/minuses for the maneuver you are using.  What is that number?
Player:  11 + 5 + 2 = 18.
GM:  Now roll 3d6 and subtract it from the number you just calculated.  And tell me that number.
Player: Rolls a 10.  So 10 from 18 is 8.
GM:  Excellent that means you hit a DCV of 8.  Next time do the math ahead of time and roll the dice.  You can then just tell me "I hit a DCV of 7."
Usually people learn how to do combat within a session or two.  I have one person who has not learned how in 8+ months.  So we all help her out. I also sit new people next to experienced folks so they can get some help.  
What do the rest of you do?

Hello there!
How did you come up with your 'handle' (forum name)? It's the name of one of my characters on Champions Online - she's in my avatar as well.
What was the first tabletop RPG you played? Dungeons and Dragons... Probably 3.5? I'm relatively new to the tabletop scene (at least, compared to some of you who seem to have been at this much longer than me!)
What was the first tabletop RPG you GMed? None yet... But I'm in the process of setting up my first game - of Champions! I'm really looking forward to it.  I've never done this before, but it should be a lot of fun.
What are you currently playing/GMing? See above.
 
I'm totally here because of the Champions Online MMO - when I learned it was based off a tabletop RPG I took it upon myself to track down the books - ended up with a pile of 6E books and an urge to start a campaign. Still in the planning stages, but I hope to start by early November.

It was suggested that maybe we create a thread for new people who are posting and especially for lurkers.
 
So here is what I would like to suggest everyone post as an introduction:
 
How did you come up with your 'handle' (forum name)? What was the first tabletop RPG you played? What was the first tabletop RPG you GMed? What are you currently playing/GMing? I hope this thread gets pinned.