Andrew Byers

Re: Gestalt: Architects of Change: What Would *You* Like to See

Just wanted to quickly add that I am very much looking forward to the setting expansion when it comes out. I've always enjoyed Gestalt and am looking forward to having the already published and new material compiled.

Re: [Characters] Wildguard; The Pacific Watch!

Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for doing those great write-ups and posting the link to the announcement of the new Wildguard mini-series next year. Wildguard is a really, really fun title (I just wish it were monthly) and has some great character concepts that would work great in Hero.

Re: How To: Doppleganger

Be aware that some Mellors occasionally get stuck in the hideous, half formed monster state:

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/24/newsid_2529000/2529115.stm

 

Dear God, they're more hideous than I had imagined!

Re: Hyper Intelligence

I remember a Batman homage that had a hyper planning multi that totally rawked! You might look for it in old threads.....I'll think a bit and see if I can add anything more tangible...

Sounds neat. If you can remember anything more that might help us find the thread, that would be cool. I tried some obvious searches, but couldn't come up with the one you're talking about (not surprising, given the sheer number of threads that reference Batman).

Re: Animated objects

I havea character who does something very similar to this. Goblynne Greene She "Goblinizes" ordinary objects, which brings them to life and gives them certain monstrous characteristics. Imagine, if you will, a chainsaw with glowing red eyes, wings, and an evil disposition.

 

It's accomplished though summoning with a limited range of effects. To avoid the problem of having a billion character sheets, I limited each summoned creature to three "characteristics." Size: Small/Medium/Large Toughness: Light/Medium/Heavy and Attack: Smash/Chop/Zap

 

The Flying Chainsaw is: Small, Medium, Chop

An Animated Automobile would be: Large, Heavy, Smash

A Store Mannequin would be: Medium, Light, Smash

 

Movement and Defenses are determined by size and weight.

 

All combinations add up to the right number of points for the summoning.

 

It was a lot of work to set up, but very easy to play (I just keep a scratch sheet for the goblins) which is the important thing.

Great character concept and the art is nice too! Any chance you could post a character write-up for her and the various "goblins"?

Re: [Review] Solar Smith And The Sky-Pirates Of Arcturus

I definitely enjoyed writing it; there's a reason it's the longest or second-longest HPA. I'd love to revisit that overall setting with a "planetary romance" adventure focused on a single world' date=' or more information about various subjects, or who knows what. Hopefully someday I'll get the chance. [/quote']

 

Please do, Steve! Planetary romance is one of my absolute favorite genres, and I have been hoping you would add more to the Solar Smith setting ever since it first came out.

Re: COPS, CREWS, AND CABALS -- What Do *You* Want To See?

This probably isn't quite the right book for them, but I would love to see updated write-ups (and expansions?) for Aaron Allston's The Blood.

Re: Alien Conversions

If you have Galactic Champions check out the hive-mind aliens there' date=' they use the +x INT idea as well -- and it might not be bought, I'm not sure.[/quote']

 

Yep, you're right, I see that they do. They are the Nibu Gemani (pp. 113-115) for anyone who wants to look them up. The INT gain is a bit of a "cheat" though, since they don't pay for that ability. It's a pretty neat write-up, though. A planet of these guys would be pretty nasty!

Re: Alien Conversions

Mind Link and +X INT; "Only if X" members present.

 

The Physical Limitation of "X Intelligence" would be downgraded due to the variable nature of the creatures intelligence.

I like it. It's elegant and probably the simplest way to represent them. Thanks!

Re: Alien Conversions

I'd love to see someone write up a description of the Tines from Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep.

Description of the Tines from Wikipedia: Dog-like creatures that think in packs of 4 to 6 individuals. (In other words, an individual consciousness consists of several persistent biological entities, who share their thoughts through high-frequency sound. A single creature is as smart as a clever dog; two to three can form dim intelligence; four to six is the standard; packs of more rapidly degrade into incoherence, although a genius pack of eight was known as one exceptional case. Other configurations are possible. Examples include, long sentry lines with a continuous mental link and garrisoned slave teams.)

Anyone have any ideas on the best way to simulate them in Hero?

Re: IK Hero?

I was wondering what peoples opinion on Packages are I am not sure I should even bother working on specific packages for things like professions or character archetypes there seems to be no point in 5e revised to make packages worth taking. They are a lot of work and if no one is going to bother taking them it would be a lot of work for nothing.

 

Should I put the work in or just work more on the magic and more setting oriented skills and talents and let the players define who and what they are?

 

Just wondering what people thought...

Personally, I'd rather see you concentrate your efforts on magic. I agree with you, I think we can figure out the character/profession archetypes easily enough, but in the past I've found it somewhat of a pain to convert D&D/d20 spells and the like to Hero. I'd love to see your take on IK magic.

Re: Lensman/Pulp Sci-Fi

It's all paper stored in a box somewhere (I've moved six times since then). If I could folks interested in playing it I'd revive it and then feel compelled to dig up the old notes and electronify them.

Well, I second the request for your notes. I'd love to see them. I have GURPS Lensmen, which is a good reference, but nothing beats a good Hero conversion.

Re: The Wheel of Time

Hopefully it will have some sort of resource about Channeling Weaves and which of the Five Powers are used in each. That would be an excellent resource.

I think it will. He mentioned channeling briefly when he was talking about the encyclopedia, which makes me suspect he's probably going to list/describe all known weaves. I can only assume he'll include which powers are used in each. I remember someone asking specifically about more detailed maps as well, and Jordan said that he thought the encyclopedia would have a series of new, detailed maps as part of the package.

Re: The Wheel of Time

A while back Eosin posted a writeup for a Myrrdraal to the boards; it was in HTML format, but after the HTML feature on these boards was disabled the template became just scrambled code. With Eosin's permission I reconstructed it, and have attached it as a DOC file to its original thread. I don't know if it's among the Documents that Eosin has, but in case it isn't, here's where you can find it:

http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?p=766492

Thank you very much for cleaning that up and putting it into Word! I've grabbed it from the other thread and put it with the other shadowspan write-ups that Nolgroth wrote (trolloc, dragkhar, and gholam).

Re: The Wheel of Time

The news about a single main sequence WoT book is also good news' date=' sort of. It will be good to see the story wrapped up, but it also means that I won't get to play in Randland for very much longer. It will be interesting to see Mr. Jordan tackle a new setting.[/quote']

 

Forgot one other thing he said at the book signing. His first project after the next/final main sequence WoT book is the Wheel of Time Encyclopedia. He has someone helping him put this together and as soon as he finishes the series he'll be directing all his attention to the encyclopedia. I suspect this is going to be a very good resource for gamers.

Re: The Wheel of Time

I have all my stuff in word... care for the DOC?

 

 

Eosin

 

PS - once you get it all together if I can find a spare moment, I might try to gussy it up in InDesign. I have a few spare graphics laying about.

That would be great, thanks!

My email address is andrew.byers(at)gmail dot com (hopefully the spambots won't recognize that as an email address.....)

Re: The Wheel of Time

Just wanted to give everyone a quick update on first draft the WoT to Hero System conversion PDF project. I have grabbed all the substantive material from this thread, along with two others I found (see below) and pasted it into a Word document. It's extremely ugly at this point and needs to be cleaned up a great deal. I have been extremely careful to make sure that all the authors of the individual pieces have been maintained (right now I have it all color-coded in the document). Some of the material is going to be very easy to extract, while much of the rest (especially Channeling rules) is going to take a while. I will also make sure that the variant Channeling systems (e.g., Nolgroth's and Eosin's) are all presented separately as optional systems.

Here are the links to the threads I've drawn from so far. If anyone has other threads I should grab material from, please let me know.

http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2338

http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12881

http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24376

P.S. I picked up Knife of Dreams last night at a book signing with Robert Jordan. No word on when the final book is coming out (he confirmed that there will be only one more in the main WoT series). He has ideas for two additional short prequel novels; those are confirmed. He has an idea that would fill up 2-3 additional WoT books outside the main series, which he calls "outrigger novels" because they don't deal directly with the main story arc. He is going to sit on those books for a year or two while he decides if the basic concept is strong enough to support 2-3 books being written. If not, he won't write them. After the next WoT book he will write a new fantasy trilogy (different universe altogether) that he has a contract for. So basically we get one more WoT book then we'll have to wait a while for any more development of the setting/characters.

Re: The Wheel of Time

The end result of everything that I do for the WoT Conversion will be in a PDF document or something of the sort. I'm far from completely done, but it is starting to shape up nicely. As to your question about help compiling the stuff, heck yeah. I only have one caveat and that is Eosin and I have both created independent channeling rules that are quite different in function. Some of the stuff that I have used (such as Shielding) comes right out of Eosin's system, but overall they are different. To make matters even more complicated, I had another system based roughly on The Gift from Fantasy HERO.

 

Keep in mind that Eosin and Nu Soard Graphite in particular have done some amazing work on converting WoT. I just hope Nu Soard Graphite gets around to updating his sword forms. One of the coolest things ever. (Speaking of Eosin's work, can I add a modified version of your Arms of Air variant to the Weaves list? Can we post your Myyrdraal write-up here?)

 

So yeah, as long as you give credit where due, I have no problem with you doing the PDF thing. Probably going to have to create versions for it if you start now, cuz I ain't done yet. Still have to figure out exactly how I am going to stat out those pesky Ogier.....

Sounds great. I think I might wait a bit (a week or two) before getting started to compile what we have so far. I'll work with you and everyone else to ensure that everyone is credited properly. You're right, the various channeling systems are probably going to be the toughest to compile, since I've seen various partial systems posted. Not sure that any one channeling system covers all the possibilities in the books, but I'm sure that will come together over time.

Re: The Wheel of Time

There were many new weaves displayed in Knife of Dreams, but I am torn as to whether I should write those up immediately or wait a while so I don't post anything potentially spoiling.

 

Oh, and if you are a Wheel of Time fan, get the darn book. Finally some real movement in regards to the plot.

 

-nolgroth

Hey, please feel free to write up the new weaves. I'd say just post them with a spoiler warning and you'd be fine.

I haven't picked up the new book yet, but I plan on getting it this Thursday at a Robert Jordan book signing.

In a related question, would there be any interest in compiling all the Wheel of Time Hero conversion material into a PDF or Word document to get it all in one place and enable better sharing of the information? I think having it all in one place would help us see where the gaps are as well. I'd be more than happy to help compile the material (going back through this thread and others) if there is any interest.

Re: The Kandris Seal

I will have to admit that I made a mistake when I released TKS. I didn't create any supporting material. That will be changing upon the release of the revised edition of TKS. If there's an interest (and I can get approval from the powers that be)' date=' I will be publishing other books for the setting. More detailed books about the organizations, adventures, and possibly genre books (i.e. a book with specific information for the TKS setting for a Pulp game).[/quote']

 

 

Please do publish other books for the setting once you get the revised version released (assuming you can secure Hero Games' permission)! I would very much like to see you expand on the setting. I would especially like to see you expand on some of the organizations in the setting, as well as a complete campaign.

Re: The Kandris Seal

I second the recommendation. I bought Kandris Seal when it first came out and enjoyed it thoroughly. If you like the old Dr. Strange comics (I haven't read any Dr. Strange in well over a decade, so I can't vouch for anything newer), you'll enjoy Kandris Seal. It's got loads of fully-statted NPCs and is pretty much good to go for starting a super-mage style campaign. $7.50 is a great price for the PDF because it really does contain a lot of "meat" for your campaign.

Re: TravellerHERO PDF in the works

Just wanted to say that I'm REALLY impressed with all the work that you guys have done so far, and I can't wait to see the finiahed product. This is really an amazing effort!!!

Re: My Star Wars Force Powers

Thanks for all the replies. I to go away for the weekend' date=' but will post more on Monday.[/quote']

 

Made any additional progress? I really like what you've done so far, and the concept of having a single, comprehensive "grimoire" / set of Force abilities usable in any Force construct in Hero is a really good one. Please keep up the great work!

Re: Ye Ole Wheel of Time MAGIC SYSTEM

Just wanted to bump this thread up a bit and see if anyone has put any more thought into WoT magic since last November/December.

Re: Favorite Television Characters

Anyway' date=' now [i']I[/i] want to see Magnum statted out. I wonder if he's in the GNBoRH?

Alas, I just checked GNBoRH, and while it's a great site, it doesn't appear to have a write-up for Magum. (With the exception of Buffy and Charmed, its TV section is a little lacking.