John Desmarais
-
Posts
2,826 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
News
Store
Forums
Downloads
Events
Posts posted by John Desmarais
-
-
Re: A Hero Shopping List
We all want to buy a lot of Hero swag but reality doesn’t always let us.Hmmm... I've bought every Hero product released since Champions 3rd edition. They were all "must haves" at the time I saw them. In retrospect, a couple might not have been.
John D.
-
Re: accepting rules suggestions for 1st Annual Combat Wombat Steel Cage Grudge Match!
Here are a few suggestions:1) No limitations allowed.
Say what?
John D.
-
Re: Where are the low fantasy worlds?
{snip}So why are there so few campaigns of that sort being posted here?
{snip}
Because Hero strongly appeals to game system "gear heads" who find writing magic systems to be fun - and once you're created one you want to play with it; and in general, high fantasy serves that purpose better?
Actually, the one time I did run a low fantasy FH game, the players opted to end it and start something with more magic and fantasy races. Gotta run something the players will play...
John D.
-
Re: Why play Fantasy Hero over other fantasy games?
As for Williamsburg, a number of things. First, realize that I'm a student (at WM), not a regular citizen; I suspect it's a much better place to live than to go to school. Heat and humidity (and no AC), excessive religious fervor, a bad secondary school system (thankfully, I went to private school), and a certain amount of distaste from the surrounding community.Lack of diversity isn't so good either, but that's more the college than anything else...
That said, I don't hate Williamsburg, I'm just not terribly fond of it and other than the fact that I like WM, I wouldn't stay here. Many students really do hate it, though - one person said "the best thing about Williamsburg is that in two hours, I can be out of sight."
Nah! The best thing about Williamsburg is that it sits on the edge of Hampton Roads. Newport News, Hampton, Virginia Beach, and Norfolk are where everything interesting (of non-historical signifigance) is. When I lived there the area was supporting at least 10 comic/game stores (most of them are combined stores that sell both), many independantly owned books stores (in addition to the nation chains), a bunch of high quality used-book stores, and had a gaming population that I wish Winston-Salem had. Outside of gaming, there are several small concert venues that are favorite places for performers that can't fill a either of coliseums, several movie theatres (including small, independent ones that show oddball stuff that Carmike and AMC wouldn't touch), several good library systems, lots of museums (both of teh art and non-art variety), and just a slew of other things that used to occupy my free time when I lived there. Williamsburg itself has very little of these things, but a 20 minute drive can get you into the heart of it.
Now, where I currently live (Winston-Salem, NC) is a horrible place to be a gamer, and (to judge by the number of book stores) has a population that is functionaly illiterate. And don't even get me started on cultural activities...
John D.
-
Re: A view from outside
5. Power Frameworks were Broken: Yep - sorry. They were. Awarding an "Elemental Control" point bonus to a character whose powers stayed in-concept was just silly. A character was supposed to be "in-concept" anyhow.
Elemental Controls are not designed to provide a bonus for a "character whose powers stayed in-concept". They provide a way of defining a single power (single special effect) that has multiple effects, and the system treats them as such - which provides a built-in set of limitations.
If I create an Elemental Control for "Flame Power" which contains all of the powers that I think make up "Flame" and then get hit a Drain that targets one of those powers - all EC slots get drained. That's a pretty serious limitation.
John D.
-
Re: Why play Fantasy Hero over other fantasy games?
I started out playing AD&D a few years ago, and since converted to 3.0. I've played Hero for about a year, mostly Champions.Comparing D&D to Hero, D&D has two big advantages - easily made characters that don't require lots of GM supervision, and it's harder to "break" than Hero. (That doesn't take into account a GM looking over the player's shoulder).
Actually, while at one time I would have agreed with "D&D is easier to build a character in" philosophy, 3rd edition changed my mind. I find it takes me a lot longer now to build D&D characters, which more "flipping through the book" than it does for me to build FH characters. Even the players I have who's primary gaming experience was D&D found building FH characters a easy process.
John D
p.s.
What's wrong with Williamsburg? My office was there for many years.
-
Re: Why play Fantasy Hero over other fantasy games?
I have dabbled with the idea of playing Fantasy Hero for some time now but have been reluctant to buy it. I have been playing RPDs for 19 years and like most others started out playing D&D. I have played most games that are out there but always went back to D&D. Then I found champions and that changed everything. This was the only game to play if you were going to play superheroes. But how well does the system work for Fantasy? What make this setting better than D&D? Looking for your thoughts and input.Fantsy Hero is probably the Hero variant that I GM the most - it's the easy genre to get players to play (because of the ubiquity of D&D). Personally, I find that the system works well - right out of the box (so to speak) - for everything except magic. The Hero System powers are not spells, they are a meta-system that you can use to build a magic system; and build it you must (or someone must).
The Fantasy Hero book offers up a lot of advice on how to build magic systems (but stops just short of actually doing it), and the Fantasy Hero Grimoire offers up a whole slew of pre-written spells and a capsule version of the Turakian Age magic rules (which makes FHG a "must have" book if you want to start quickly).
Fantasy Hero's strongest point (imo) is that it's a point based character creation system, which means that you are not locked into a predefined "class". A character can be (within the limit of the points available and the framework of the setting) whatever the player imagines.
John D.
-
-
Re: Codename: Kids Next Door
I was thinking about putting something like this together for next years' convention season. And specifically invite the conventions' younger attendees to play in the game. I just have to shift gears from my current "use all HERO rules I can remember" to "Keep it simple' date=' stupid" so as to present the system in a beginner-friendly light.[/quote']I have gotten into the habit recently of, whenever putting together a game for younger gamers, using only those rules that appear in Sidekick. Work well.
John D.
p.s.
I'm glad I'm not only one who watches that show and thinks "I could do this as a Hero game..."
-
Re: David Weber Universe Question
HAs anyone done any work on Wargod's Own universe by David Weber? I am thinking of running a game with that as a back drop and if someone has done any stuff on it it would save me some time and I would be quite grateful. Thanks in AdvanceI just recently chewed through the first two books and thought it would make a pretty godd setting, but that's as far as I got (been a busy month).
John D
-
Re: Setting Idea
Anyone here use any ideas from the Deed of Paksennarion by Elizabeth Moon? Or have read the books.I'm re-reading it right now and while i wouldn't use the world whole cloth, it has some great ideas in it.
Many years ago (ie. when the books were still new) I used it, pretty much in whole, as a setting for a short-lived campaign.
It's a nice setting, but lacks some of the "whiz-bang" stuff that my players expected in a fantasy setting.
John D
-
Re: Central Casting: Heroes of Legend
I've recently gotten my hands on a copy of this book. Actually, a friend has offered to sell me her copy. I have't had a chance to read it through or even use it at all, so I'm hoping to fish for a few opinions from anyone who's read it.For anyone who hasn't, it looks to be a book without genre/system that includes a bunch of character development/background tables for fleshing out flat characters.
So... has anybody read this?
Thanks!
Central Casting (all three books) are cute and can actually be helpful for players that have problems fleshing out background - so long as don't take it's results to literally.
I have found that they are at their most useful with games that use a point-based character creation system as you can then just have the players pay points for every wierd little thing that book assign to the character. (Used as an add-on to a random character creation game can lead to some really unbalanced results if the GM actualy lets the cahracters have what the book gives them).
John D.
-
Re: More boast than post!
I hear you' date=' my players are usually stuck in the "IF IT ISN'T FILLED WITH ELVES IT ISN'T GOOD!" frame of mind[/quote']A problem I've seen before but fortunately don't have at the moment. In fact, my current game is Fantasy Hero in a setting in which the only available race for player characters is human (I get tired of the standard fantasy races sometimes) and none of the players had an real problems adapting.
John D.
-
Re: Standard Equipment Sheets ? Got any ??
Thank you John Desmarais , that's almost exactly what I'm looking for . Have you done your own Minion Control Sheets ? I found the published ones missing important things like SPD and room for Equipment and Combat Modifiers .Thank you again
QM
P.S. : What else have you done for HERO sheets ???
Hmmm.. Being as I have no minions to control I've never made a minion control sheet (or seen one for that matter, you got an example?)
Other sheets? I made my own Combat Record sheet, and then remade it, and remade it, and remade, etc ,etc... (I'm still playing around with how much information is too much).
Back in the 4th edition days I made all of my own forms, even going so far as to build my own GM screen. These days I don't get to game as much as did back then so I haven't had the impetus to churn out the same quantity of stuff. Also, having character builder software takes away some of reason to build my own. The only reason I built the Fantasy Hero character sheet (that I modified into the generic one in the link above) was because my wife doesn't really like character builder apps.
These types of things are easy enough to crank out - I guess isf someone has a request I could throw it together.
John D.
-
Re: Standard Character and Equipment Sheets
I realized that the standard HERO System 5th Edition Character sheets are to contricted for my use . Has anyone created their own with larger Skills , Perks , Talents , Powers , Disadvantage sections . Good for pregenerated characters in a Heroic( semi Cinematic ) campaign .Please and thank you .
QM
Here's a more generic sheet.
http://john.desmarais.org/HeroCharacterSheet.pdf
John D
-
Re: Standard Character and Equipment Sheets
I realized that the standard HERO System 5th Edition Character sheets are to contricted for my use . Has anyone created their own with larger Skills , Perks , Talents , Powers , Disadvantage sections . Good for pregenerated characters in a Heroic( semi Cinematic ) campaign .Please and thank you .
QM
Here is the sheet that I made for my Fantasy Hero games. I guess it could easily be modifed to something closer to what you are looking for (but since I'm not currently doing Star Hero I haven't made one that really targets SH).
http://john.desmarais.org/FantasyHeroCS.pdf
John D.
-
Re: Power Armor
Hi guys,My game will incorporate a mixt of elements between Starcraft/Starship Troopers/Battletech/ and Warhammer 40K and I need advices on how to create a power armor.
First question, should I use the vehicule rules to create the armor? I only have the basic book, so I don't have access to the more detailed vehicule rules.
My standard rule of thumb when determining whether to make power armor a vehicle or not is this: Build the power armor as a vehicle if I expect the character in the power armor to interact with (fight) primarily vehicles (instead of living beings).
The reason? Character to character combat in Hero is easy. Vehicle to vehicle combat in Hero is easy. Character to vehicle combat introduces enough differences to create more work for me (the GM) and I'm lazy.
Secondly, how can I , with the basic rules, set statistics to a constant level? Let me be more clear. Let's say I want the powerarmor to give a 30 STR no matter hopw strong the person inside the suit is. How can I do that?If you go the vehicle route, it automatically work this way.
If not, simply buy the STR in the armor with a limitation "Character STR does not add" -1/2 (adjust the value if you don't like mine).
Third, anyone has exemple of power suits I could use?Not with me (the perils of answering from work).
Thanks!John Desmarais
-
Re: Dealing with Invisible Heroes
Hey guys, one of the possible characters that one of my players will be creating is going to be a guy who will be invisible to sight, sound, smell, psychic abilities, etc... I'm a bit worried that a character like this could destroy plots. I could see a constant, "I go behind him and snap his neck" or something to that extent (maybe not a kill, but a defeat for the villain). If possible, I'd rather not disallow what a player wants to play but I also don't want to cheese the game and have to have major villain have the ability to sense him.We haven't talked about disadvantages yet, so that's still up in there air, but there's no guarantee that he will take power related disadvantages.
Anyway, what are your suggestions on what I should do?
Just out of curiosity, what is the rationale (special effect) for the character being Invisible, Silent, Odorless, and Physically null? This bit of information may make it easier for folks to come up solutions to your quandry.
John Desmarais
-
Re: Player-Built Characters...
--Player makes character at home and brings it on game night. GM scans character for any glaring abuses of the rules. Game commences.--Our typical method is for me to give the players a packet of campaign background info a week or two ahead of time so they can start thinking about characters. We then spend the first session with everyone building characters together (with my help where needed).
John D
-
Re: New to Hero Level GM'ing
While I've ran several games of champions and have a good understanding of the system, I have never run a game with Hero (75 base, 75 disadv) level characters.Soon I'll be running a modern horror genre with Hero Level characters (I think it will be a good introduction for some new players into Hero System). I am running into some troubles.
1. I know most equipment will be purchased with charcter's money and not with points. But how many "dollars" = 1 point? And should the "dollar cost" be based on the items active point cost or real point cost?
If possible, you are better off just usng real-world prices for items instead of trying to assign prices based on points. Internet shopping is a great source for pricing.
2. Where do I draw the line between equipmen that costs dollars vs. equipment that costs points? For example: If a character wants to buy a custom made magazine fed 10 gauge auto-shotgun, should it cost dollars or points?Pay points for things that simply could not be purchased in your setting. A custom magazine-fed shotgun is certainly unique, but you could probably find a gunsmith willing to design and build one - but make the PC pay through the nose for the custome design and labor involved.
3. If/when I do decied to force a character to pay points for an item, should it be purchases though "Focus" or "independant"?I would really appreciate any advice or tips anyone could give me on these or similiar topics.
As a player I hate Independant. As a GM I thinks it's cool. The problem with Independant is that if you lose it, you've lost the points. Personally, I am of the opinion that if the PC was able to make the item in the first place, they should be able to re-create it if it gets lost - so I would just use the Focus limitation.
ThanksThe Mad Arab
John Desmarais
-
Re: What superhero world concept are you tired of seeing?
What I am tired of is Mutants. Everyone besides my character in that game (and all previous games that I had heard about being run locally) had mutant PCs and a registration act. Give it a rest. I love the X-Men but the whole mutant threat/registration thing has been done to death.Amen...
John D
-
Re: What's the best method of introducing HERO System to newbies
I would recommend starting with pregen characters/mechs and teaching them combat. From the concepts of combat you can delve into almost any other part of the Hero System rules.Big agreement here. Character creation (particularly the scale of things) makes so much more sense after you've played once (memories of my first Champions character - created before I had ever played the game - still haunt me). All of the numbers just make more sense after you have seen them used.
John D.
-
Re: Older FH Products
If I have the 5e FH' date=' FHG, and I'm planning on MMM, is there any reason for me to pick up earlier edition materials? I see stuff like 4e FH, and FH Companion 1 and 2 on ebay from time to time. Am I really missing out on anything?[/quote']Most of what you would get out of the 4th edition FH products is covered in the 5th edition book - usually in greater detail. If you can get them really cheap they might be of historical interest...
John D.
-
Re: So, Who Else Is Gonna Grab Galactic Champions ASAP??
*raises hand* Probably the book I'm most looking forward to' date=' aside from the Mystic World and the eventual PRIMUS sourcebook.[/quote']I've been grabbing every Hero book as soon s it came out since the mid 80s. No point in stopping now.
John D.
Taking the plunge into Fantasy Hero ... help!
in Fantasy Hero
Posted
Re: Taking the plunge into Fantasy Hero ... help!
One other book you might want to consider - The Hero Beastiery.
Sugeestions:
Know the rules. If you've played Hero games before you probably have the basics down already - particularly if your exerpeince is with Champions.
Read though Fantasy Hero. This book is just full of ideas and suggestion on using the Hero System for Fantasy.
Experience. I usually award 1 or 2 points at the end of each short arc, with a few more points awarded at the end of the extended story arc.
Things that work / don't work. Optional combat rules. There are a lot of optional rules in the combat chapter of the Hero System Rules (things like hit location, knockdown, imparing, etc, etc). Individually, each of these things can add an additonal level of "realism" and/or danger to your combat. Using to many of them will sloooooow combat down to the point where it becomes boring (combat should never be boring).
Encumberance. I know a lot of Hero GMs who don't like the encumberance rules. I like them for Fantasy as it provides a great rationale for Wizards not wearing armor (most of them lack the STR to deal with the encumbrance).
Spells / Magic Systems. Fantasy Hero does not include a magic system. The book offers up lots of suggestions for designing them, but doesn't quite do it for you. Depending on your perspective (and how much you like system fiddling) magic system design can be either the funnest part of setting up a campaigbn or the most tedious. The Grimoire incldues write-ups (and costs) for scads of spells, grouped by school. It also includes a capsule description of how magic works in the Turakian Age setting. You may want to consider starting with this as your default magic system and, if you later find it doesn't suit you, change later. This lets you get your magic up and running in a hurry.
Starting points. In my typical FH games, characters are built on 75 points plus disads, no more than 25 points in any single disad category, normal characteristic maximum assumed.
Non-human races. The Fantasy Hero book includes packages for a whole bunch of familiar (and not so familiar) fantasy races. I have some kind of psychological limitation regarding the ways these packages (and packages in general) handle charactersitic adjustments. Unfortunately, I'm not really sure why I don't like it, so I haven't been able to come up with a fix that I like. (My current FH game has no fantasy races, so it's not an issue for me right now).
No doubt, more discussion will follow...
John D.