bigdamnhero

Got it in one. Thank you Sir!

Most likely you have HD set to remember window positions and sizes (the default) and have changed screen configurations at some point so dialogs are being placed off screen.
 
Delete appPrefs.xml and the start HD and everything should be reset.

I'm currently running a Galactic Champions game, so our space battles also include flying spandex people punching spaceships. We mostly use standard Hero vehicle combat (6ed), but I wanted to use a vector-based movement system with at least a passing resemblance to how objects actually move in zero G instead of looking like the usual WWII dogfight. (Basic concept swiped from the minis game Full Thrust.) We've only had one space combat so far, but it worked really well: the players found it easy to understand after just a couple moves, it played quickly, and really gave the battle a unique feel.
 
No hexes: freeform movement measured using rulers or measuring tapes. The exact scale is handwaved, but 1 “movement unit” = 1cm on the map. (You could use 1m = 1” but you’ll need a big playing space!)

We ignored the Z axis and just did everything in 2D. In my experience/opinion, trying to simulate 3D on the tabletop is way more trouble than it's worth.
 
A ship’s Flight is how fast it can accelerate; there is no maximum velocity. (I mean theoretically there is, but I’m pretty sure you’ll run out of table long before you approach 1 C!) Ships can move NCM if they want, with the usual effects on CV.
 
For each ship you need to keep track of three things:
- FACING is the direction the ship is pointing – indicated by the miniature’s facing
- COURSE is the direction the ship is moving, which may not be the same as its facing – indicated by arrow on a disk or a counter
- VELOCITY is how fast the ship is currently moving – we tracked velocity using 2d10s (ie a velocity of 24 is reflected with a 2 on one die and a 4 on another)
 
Ships move and act on their Phases as normal. Movement is a 4-step process:
- The ship drifts in the direction of its current Course for its current Velocity in cm. Leave the Course arrow in place to mark the ship’s starting position.
- From its drift location, the ship can then move normally up to its full Flight move in cm. There is no Turn Mode, and rotation is “free” so basically they can move wherever they want up to their full movement. The new Facing is in line from the drift point to its final location, to reflect the direction the ship was applying thrust.
- Measure the distance from the starting position (the arrow) to the final location (the mini); the distance in cm is the new Velocity.
- The new Course is in line from the starting location to the final location; move the course arrow up to the final location.
 
Combat is handled normally after movement. For simplicity, I let ships & character do a full move and attack at one additional range band (ie -2 OCV).

Movement Example: A ship with 24m of Flight is currently moving towards the right, which we’ll call 3 o’clock; its current Facing and Course are the same and its current Velocity is 10. The ship wants to accelerate. First the ship’s mini drifts 10cm towards 3 o’clock, and the arrow is left in place. The ship then moves normally, and decides to move 24cm straight ahead. The distance from start to finish is 34cm, so that is the ship’s new Velocity. Its Facing and Course are unchanged. Move the arrow counter up to the final location. Note that for linear examples like this you could’ve just added 10+24 and moved the ship forward 34cm.
 
The next Phase I took pictures! Ship’s Course and Facing are both still towards 3 o'clock, Velocity 34. (The arrow is on the disk under the ship counter, but you don’t need to see it until you move anyway.)

 
Say the ship wants to turn to port/left. First, the mini drifts 34cm to 3 o'clock, leaving the arrow in place.

 
From there the ship moves its full 24cm to 12 o'clock. The ship’s facing is now towards 12 because it was applying thrust in that direction.
 

 
Measure the distance between the starting and end locations, which comes out to around 42cm – that’s the ship’s new Velocity. The angle from start location to finish is the new Course; move the arrow up. (I left the arrow on top so you could see it.) Looking at this pic it looks like the ship counter got bumped out of alignment, but it should still be facing straight towards 12 o'clock.

 
On it’s next Phase say the ship wants to stop. First the mini drifts 42cm along its current course (call it 2 o'clock). Then the ship moves 42cm (using NCM) back towards 8 o'clock, ending up where it started. Velocity is 0; new facing is towards 8 o'clock, and the Heading counter is removed (or ignored).
 
 

Welcome aboard!
 
Hero does have a reputation for complexity, and that is somewhat deserved in that the game has so many options. Basically Hero gives you the ability to create any character/monster you can imagine without being constrained by someone else's notions of how X ought to work. The downside is, the amount of up-front work can be intimidating to new players especially if you're starting from a blank page.
 
The good news is most of the complexity (& math) lies in building Powers; if your PCs are mostly normal humans with guns, character construction is pretty simple. The MHI book has plenty of pre-built guns & equipment, plus a few pre-built spells and such, so plugging those in is fairly straightforward. The other good news is that once you have the characters built, the game itself plays pretty quickly in my experience. Many GMs find that the easiest way to introduce new players is to skip character creation entirely and play a session or two with pre-gen PCs in order to get a feel for the system; then if you want to go back and create your own PCs, things will make a lot more sense.
 
One big advantage Hero has IMO is because it started out as a superhero game, it was designed to be able to handle any mix of genres, powers, etc, from guns to martial artists to superpowers to magic to whatever. So it makes mixing elements together much more seamless than many games, which is a plus for an urban fantasy setting like MHI.
 
Yes, the MHI RPG book is complete and is meant to be able to stand on its own. It uses the "Basic" Hero rules, with a few options and so forth stripped out. But it also stripped out a lot of the explanations of how things work - feel free to ask here if you have any questions. I would suggest you consider also picking up Champions Complete or Fantasy Hero Complete, which IMO do a better job of covering the core rules overall, and might make it easier for you as GM.
 
Re creating your own monsters: yes, there are rules for that in the MHI book. Monsters are built the same way as any other character, just with different Powers, etc. It's also very easy to take an existing monster build and modify it by removing X and adding Y.
 
Other books you might want to consider, not required but might save you some work:
Bestiary - more pre-built monsters Equipment Guide - a ton more guns, weapons and equipment Grimoire - a book of premade spells, geared more towards traditional fantasy settings, but easily adaptable to MHI Hero Designer - character creation software, makes "the math" go away Hope that helps. Feel free to ask any other questions or follow-ups you might have!

So my wife of 18 years has finally decided she'd like to try out this weird hobby of mine! I'm talking her through the basics of how RPGs work, this is how you create a character, etc. And she asks "Do you have a couple character sheets for characters I'm already familiar with that I could see for comparison?"
 
That loud smacking sound you heard was me & my forehead. Yes. Yes I do. And no, I don't know why that never occurred to me before!

This really does seem to be a binary thing with Hero gamers: our brains are only capable of holding one method of calculating To Hit. For some people, [Roll = 11+OCV-DCV] makes perfect sense and [11+OCV-Roll=DCV] is completely confusing; for others, it's the other way around. I think the [Roll = 11+OCV-DCV] tends to be more popular among people who've been playing Hero longer (After all, that was the only way to do it until 5ed introduced the "alternate" method.) That was how my brain was wired for 20+ years, and it made perfect sense. Then I tried the [11+OCV-Roll=DCV] method, found it much easier...and now my brain has trouble going back to the old way.
 
I would say I find the [11+OCV-Roll=DCV] method much easier to explain to new players, partly because it's closer to the way To Hit is calculated in most RPGs. To simplify it more: I pre-add the 11+OCV and write that on the character sheet as the "Attack Roll." Then the formula just becomes:
 
Attack Roll +/- any Bonuses/Penalties – 3d6  =  DCV hit
 
It helps that this is essentially the same mechanic used for Skill/Characteristic Rolls, so they really only have to learn one: "Take this number, subtract 3d6, and tell me how much you make/miss it by."

I would probably use the old First edition Albedo, starship combat.   Missiles, drones, hyperkinetic weapons. It’s extremely lethal, with a high incidence of TPK, but that would limit such combats. So if two enemy ships show up, one would power down ad coast, and then turn the inside of your ship into a horror survival game for the enemy boarders😄
 
however BigDamnHero’s vector movement system is so damn elegant I have to use it. 
 
My intent is the flavor is like The Expanse. So one depressurizes the living spaces and hope for the best. 

Hey Bigdamnhero, I just wanted to say thanks for writing up this movement example!!  I see nobody else replied, but i think that's very cool, and will definitely give it a shot when our Star Hero campaign gets to space combat. Standard Hero vehicle combat is okay for ground and air vehicles, but i really was not looking forward to trying to use it in space. 
 
I'm a firm believer in inertia and the vacuum of space.  Without air under ones wings or asphalt under ones tires, things are be different.  It really annoys me when some sci-fi shows depict space battles as airplane dogfights and i was dreading our space fights looking like that.  So all hail Babylon 5, BSG and The Expanse for showing us how amazing some realism can be.    The movement system you've described looks like the perfect cure, and separating ones movement vector from their heading and using angles seems brilliant...  If you play again soon, would be sweet to see a short video depicting a few turns of space dogfight combat.  
 
Thanks again and all the best!

I'm currently running a Galactic Champions game, so our space battles also include flying spandex people punching spaceships. We mostly use standard Hero vehicle combat (6ed), but I wanted to use a vector-based movement system with at least a passing resemblance to how objects actually move in zero G instead of looking like the usual WWII dogfight. (Basic concept swiped from the minis game Full Thrust.) We've only had one space combat so far, but it worked really well: the players found it easy to understand after just a couple moves, it played quickly, and really gave the battle a unique feel.
 
No hexes: freeform movement measured using rulers or measuring tapes. The exact scale is handwaved, but 1 “movement unit” = 1cm on the map. (You could use 1m = 1” but you’ll need a big playing space!)

We ignored the Z axis and just did everything in 2D. In my experience/opinion, trying to simulate 3D on the tabletop is way more trouble than it's worth.
 
A ship’s Flight is how fast it can accelerate; there is no maximum velocity. (I mean theoretically there is, but I’m pretty sure you’ll run out of table long before you approach 1 C!) Ships can move NCM if they want, with the usual effects on CV.
 
For each ship you need to keep track of three things:
- FACING is the direction the ship is pointing – indicated by the miniature’s facing
- COURSE is the direction the ship is moving, which may not be the same as its facing – indicated by arrow on a disk or a counter
- VELOCITY is how fast the ship is currently moving – we tracked velocity using 2d10s (ie a velocity of 24 is reflected with a 2 on one die and a 4 on another)
 
Ships move and act on their Phases as normal. Movement is a 4-step process:
- The ship drifts in the direction of its current Course for its current Velocity in cm. Leave the Course arrow in place to mark the ship’s starting position.
- From its drift location, the ship can then move normally up to its full Flight move in cm. There is no Turn Mode, and rotation is “free” so basically they can move wherever they want up to their full movement. The new Facing is in line from the drift point to its final location, to reflect the direction the ship was applying thrust.
- Measure the distance from the starting position (the arrow) to the final location (the mini); the distance in cm is the new Velocity.
- The new Course is in line from the starting location to the final location; move the course arrow up to the final location.
 
Combat is handled normally after movement. For simplicity, I let ships & character do a full move and attack at one additional range band (ie -2 OCV).

Movement Example: A ship with 24m of Flight is currently moving towards the right, which we’ll call 3 o’clock; its current Facing and Course are the same and its current Velocity is 10. The ship wants to accelerate. First the ship’s mini drifts 10cm towards 3 o’clock, and the arrow is left in place. The ship then moves normally, and decides to move 24cm straight ahead. The distance from start to finish is 34cm, so that is the ship’s new Velocity. Its Facing and Course are unchanged. Move the arrow counter up to the final location. Note that for linear examples like this you could’ve just added 10+24 and moved the ship forward 34cm.
 
The next Phase I took pictures! Ship’s Course and Facing are both still towards 3 o'clock, Velocity 34. (The arrow is on the disk under the ship counter, but you don’t need to see it until you move anyway.)

 
Say the ship wants to turn to port/left. First, the mini drifts 34cm to 3 o'clock, leaving the arrow in place.

 
From there the ship moves its full 24cm to 12 o'clock. The ship’s facing is now towards 12 because it was applying thrust in that direction.
 

 
Measure the distance between the starting and end locations, which comes out to around 42cm – that’s the ship’s new Velocity. The angle from start location to finish is the new Course; move the arrow up. (I left the arrow on top so you could see it.) Looking at this pic it looks like the ship counter got bumped out of alignment, but it should still be facing straight towards 12 o'clock.

 
On it’s next Phase say the ship wants to stop. First the mini drifts 42cm along its current course (call it 2 o'clock). Then the ship moves 42cm (using NCM) back towards 8 o'clock, ending up where it started. Velocity is 0; new facing is towards 8 o'clock, and the Heading counter is removed (or ignored).
 
 

I'm currently running a Galactic Champions game, so our space battles also include flying spandex people punching spaceships. We mostly use standard Hero vehicle combat (6ed), but I wanted to use a vector-based movement system with at least a passing resemblance to how objects actually move in zero G instead of looking like the usual WWII dogfight. (Basic concept swiped from the minis game Full Thrust.) We've only had one space combat so far, but it worked really well: the players found it easy to understand after just a couple moves, it played quickly, and really gave the battle a unique feel.
 
No hexes: freeform movement measured using rulers or measuring tapes. The exact scale is handwaved, but 1 “movement unit” = 1cm on the map. (You could use 1m = 1” but you’ll need a big playing space!)

We ignored the Z axis and just did everything in 2D. In my experience/opinion, trying to simulate 3D on the tabletop is way more trouble than it's worth.
 
A ship’s Flight is how fast it can accelerate; there is no maximum velocity. (I mean theoretically there is, but I’m pretty sure you’ll run out of table long before you approach 1 C!) Ships can move NCM if they want, with the usual effects on CV.
 
For each ship you need to keep track of three things:
- FACING is the direction the ship is pointing – indicated by the miniature’s facing
- COURSE is the direction the ship is moving, which may not be the same as its facing – indicated by arrow on a disk or a counter
- VELOCITY is how fast the ship is currently moving – we tracked velocity using 2d10s (ie a velocity of 24 is reflected with a 2 on one die and a 4 on another)
 
Ships move and act on their Phases as normal. Movement is a 4-step process:
- The ship drifts in the direction of its current Course for its current Velocity in cm. Leave the Course arrow in place to mark the ship’s starting position.
- From its drift location, the ship can then move normally up to its full Flight move in cm. There is no Turn Mode, and rotation is “free” so basically they can move wherever they want up to their full movement. The new Facing is in line from the drift point to its final location, to reflect the direction the ship was applying thrust.
- Measure the distance from the starting position (the arrow) to the final location (the mini); the distance in cm is the new Velocity.
- The new Course is in line from the starting location to the final location; move the course arrow up to the final location.
 
Combat is handled normally after movement. For simplicity, I let ships & character do a full move and attack at one additional range band (ie -2 OCV).

Movement Example: A ship with 24m of Flight is currently moving towards the right, which we’ll call 3 o’clock; its current Facing and Course are the same and its current Velocity is 10. The ship wants to accelerate. First the ship’s mini drifts 10cm towards 3 o’clock, and the arrow is left in place. The ship then moves normally, and decides to move 24cm straight ahead. The distance from start to finish is 34cm, so that is the ship’s new Velocity. Its Facing and Course are unchanged. Move the arrow counter up to the final location. Note that for linear examples like this you could’ve just added 10+24 and moved the ship forward 34cm.
 
The next Phase I took pictures! Ship’s Course and Facing are both still towards 3 o'clock, Velocity 34. (The arrow is on the disk under the ship counter, but you don’t need to see it until you move anyway.)

 
Say the ship wants to turn to port/left. First, the mini drifts 34cm to 3 o'clock, leaving the arrow in place.

 
From there the ship moves its full 24cm to 12 o'clock. The ship’s facing is now towards 12 because it was applying thrust in that direction.
 

 
Measure the distance between the starting and end locations, which comes out to around 42cm – that’s the ship’s new Velocity. The angle from start location to finish is the new Course; move the arrow up. (I left the arrow on top so you could see it.) Looking at this pic it looks like the ship counter got bumped out of alignment, but it should still be facing straight towards 12 o'clock.

 
On it’s next Phase say the ship wants to stop. First the mini drifts 42cm along its current course (call it 2 o'clock). Then the ship moves 42cm (using NCM) back towards 8 o'clock, ending up where it started. Velocity is 0; new facing is towards 8 o'clock, and the Heading counter is removed (or ignored).
 
 

I'm currently running a Galactic Champions game, so our space battles also include flying spandex people punching spaceships. We mostly use standard Hero vehicle combat (6ed), but I wanted to use a vector-based movement system with at least a passing resemblance to how objects actually move in zero G instead of looking like the usual WWII dogfight. (Basic concept swiped from the minis game Full Thrust.) We've only had one space combat so far, but it worked really well: the players found it easy to understand after just a couple moves, it played quickly, and really gave the battle a unique feel.
 
No hexes: freeform movement measured using rulers or measuring tapes. The exact scale is handwaved, but 1 “movement unit” = 1cm on the map. (You could use 1m = 1” but you’ll need a big playing space!)

We ignored the Z axis and just did everything in 2D. In my experience/opinion, trying to simulate 3D on the tabletop is way more trouble than it's worth.
 
A ship’s Flight is how fast it can accelerate; there is no maximum velocity. (I mean theoretically there is, but I’m pretty sure you’ll run out of table long before you approach 1 C!) Ships can move NCM if they want, with the usual effects on CV.
 
For each ship you need to keep track of three things:
- FACING is the direction the ship is pointing – indicated by the miniature’s facing
- COURSE is the direction the ship is moving, which may not be the same as its facing – indicated by arrow on a disk or a counter
- VELOCITY is how fast the ship is currently moving – we tracked velocity using 2d10s (ie a velocity of 24 is reflected with a 2 on one die and a 4 on another)
 
Ships move and act on their Phases as normal. Movement is a 4-step process:
- The ship drifts in the direction of its current Course for its current Velocity in cm. Leave the Course arrow in place to mark the ship’s starting position.
- From its drift location, the ship can then move normally up to its full Flight move in cm. There is no Turn Mode, and rotation is “free” so basically they can move wherever they want up to their full movement. The new Facing is in line from the drift point to its final location, to reflect the direction the ship was applying thrust.
- Measure the distance from the starting position (the arrow) to the final location (the mini); the distance in cm is the new Velocity.
- The new Course is in line from the starting location to the final location; move the course arrow up to the final location.
 
Combat is handled normally after movement. For simplicity, I let ships & character do a full move and attack at one additional range band (ie -2 OCV).

Movement Example: A ship with 24m of Flight is currently moving towards the right, which we’ll call 3 o’clock; its current Facing and Course are the same and its current Velocity is 10. The ship wants to accelerate. First the ship’s mini drifts 10cm towards 3 o’clock, and the arrow is left in place. The ship then moves normally, and decides to move 24cm straight ahead. The distance from start to finish is 34cm, so that is the ship’s new Velocity. Its Facing and Course are unchanged. Move the arrow counter up to the final location. Note that for linear examples like this you could’ve just added 10+24 and moved the ship forward 34cm.
 
The next Phase I took pictures! Ship’s Course and Facing are both still towards 3 o'clock, Velocity 34. (The arrow is on the disk under the ship counter, but you don’t need to see it until you move anyway.)

 
Say the ship wants to turn to port/left. First, the mini drifts 34cm to 3 o'clock, leaving the arrow in place.

 
From there the ship moves its full 24cm to 12 o'clock. The ship’s facing is now towards 12 because it was applying thrust in that direction.
 

 
Measure the distance between the starting and end locations, which comes out to around 42cm – that’s the ship’s new Velocity. The angle from start location to finish is the new Course; move the arrow up. (I left the arrow on top so you could see it.) Looking at this pic it looks like the ship counter got bumped out of alignment, but it should still be facing straight towards 12 o'clock.

 
On it’s next Phase say the ship wants to stop. First the mini drifts 42cm along its current course (call it 2 o'clock). Then the ship moves 42cm (using NCM) back towards 8 o'clock, ending up where it started. Velocity is 0; new facing is towards 8 o'clock, and the Heading counter is removed (or ignored).
 
 

I'm currently running a Galactic Champions game, so our space battles also include flying spandex people punching spaceships. We mostly use standard Hero vehicle combat (6ed), but I wanted to use a vector-based movement system with at least a passing resemblance to how objects actually move in zero G instead of looking like the usual WWII dogfight. (Basic concept swiped from the minis game Full Thrust.) We've only had one space combat so far, but it worked really well: the players found it easy to understand after just a couple moves, it played quickly, and really gave the battle a unique feel.
 
No hexes: freeform movement measured using rulers or measuring tapes. The exact scale is handwaved, but 1 “movement unit” = 1cm on the map. (You could use 1m = 1” but you’ll need a big playing space!)

We ignored the Z axis and just did everything in 2D. In my experience/opinion, trying to simulate 3D on the tabletop is way more trouble than it's worth.
 
A ship’s Flight is how fast it can accelerate; there is no maximum velocity. (I mean theoretically there is, but I’m pretty sure you’ll run out of table long before you approach 1 C!) Ships can move NCM if they want, with the usual effects on CV.
 
For each ship you need to keep track of three things:
- FACING is the direction the ship is pointing – indicated by the miniature’s facing
- COURSE is the direction the ship is moving, which may not be the same as its facing – indicated by arrow on a disk or a counter
- VELOCITY is how fast the ship is currently moving – we tracked velocity using 2d10s (ie a velocity of 24 is reflected with a 2 on one die and a 4 on another)
 
Ships move and act on their Phases as normal. Movement is a 4-step process:
- The ship drifts in the direction of its current Course for its current Velocity in cm. Leave the Course arrow in place to mark the ship’s starting position.
- From its drift location, the ship can then move normally up to its full Flight move in cm. There is no Turn Mode, and rotation is “free” so basically they can move wherever they want up to their full movement. The new Facing is in line from the drift point to its final location, to reflect the direction the ship was applying thrust.
- Measure the distance from the starting position (the arrow) to the final location (the mini); the distance in cm is the new Velocity.
- The new Course is in line from the starting location to the final location; move the course arrow up to the final location.
 
Combat is handled normally after movement. For simplicity, I let ships & character do a full move and attack at one additional range band (ie -2 OCV).

Movement Example: A ship with 24m of Flight is currently moving towards the right, which we’ll call 3 o’clock; its current Facing and Course are the same and its current Velocity is 10. The ship wants to accelerate. First the ship’s mini drifts 10cm towards 3 o’clock, and the arrow is left in place. The ship then moves normally, and decides to move 24cm straight ahead. The distance from start to finish is 34cm, so that is the ship’s new Velocity. Its Facing and Course are unchanged. Move the arrow counter up to the final location. Note that for linear examples like this you could’ve just added 10+24 and moved the ship forward 34cm.
 
The next Phase I took pictures! Ship’s Course and Facing are both still towards 3 o'clock, Velocity 34. (The arrow is on the disk under the ship counter, but you don’t need to see it until you move anyway.)

 
Say the ship wants to turn to port/left. First, the mini drifts 34cm to 3 o'clock, leaving the arrow in place.

 
From there the ship moves its full 24cm to 12 o'clock. The ship’s facing is now towards 12 because it was applying thrust in that direction.
 

 
Measure the distance between the starting and end locations, which comes out to around 42cm – that’s the ship’s new Velocity. The angle from start location to finish is the new Course; move the arrow up. (I left the arrow on top so you could see it.) Looking at this pic it looks like the ship counter got bumped out of alignment, but it should still be facing straight towards 12 o'clock.

 
On it’s next Phase say the ship wants to stop. First the mini drifts 42cm along its current course (call it 2 o'clock). Then the ship moves 42cm (using NCM) back towards 8 o'clock, ending up where it started. Velocity is 0; new facing is towards 8 o'clock, and the Heading counter is removed (or ignored).
 
 

I'm currently running a Galactic Champions game, so our space battles also include flying spandex people punching spaceships. We mostly use standard Hero vehicle combat (6ed), but I wanted to use a vector-based movement system with at least a passing resemblance to how objects actually move in zero G instead of looking like the usual WWII dogfight. (Basic concept swiped from the minis game Full Thrust.) We've only had one space combat so far, but it worked really well: the players found it easy to understand after just a couple moves, it played quickly, and really gave the battle a unique feel.
 
No hexes: freeform movement measured using rulers or measuring tapes. The exact scale is handwaved, but 1 “movement unit” = 1cm on the map. (You could use 1m = 1” but you’ll need a big playing space!)

We ignored the Z axis and just did everything in 2D. In my experience/opinion, trying to simulate 3D on the tabletop is way more trouble than it's worth.
 
A ship’s Flight is how fast it can accelerate; there is no maximum velocity. (I mean theoretically there is, but I’m pretty sure you’ll run out of table long before you approach 1 C!) Ships can move NCM if they want, with the usual effects on CV.
 
For each ship you need to keep track of three things:
- FACING is the direction the ship is pointing – indicated by the miniature’s facing
- COURSE is the direction the ship is moving, which may not be the same as its facing – indicated by arrow on a disk or a counter
- VELOCITY is how fast the ship is currently moving – we tracked velocity using 2d10s (ie a velocity of 24 is reflected with a 2 on one die and a 4 on another)
 
Ships move and act on their Phases as normal. Movement is a 4-step process:
- The ship drifts in the direction of its current Course for its current Velocity in cm. Leave the Course arrow in place to mark the ship’s starting position.
- From its drift location, the ship can then move normally up to its full Flight move in cm. There is no Turn Mode, and rotation is “free” so basically they can move wherever they want up to their full movement. The new Facing is in line from the drift point to its final location, to reflect the direction the ship was applying thrust.
- Measure the distance from the starting position (the arrow) to the final location (the mini); the distance in cm is the new Velocity.
- The new Course is in line from the starting location to the final location; move the course arrow up to the final location.
 
Combat is handled normally after movement. For simplicity, I let ships & character do a full move and attack at one additional range band (ie -2 OCV).

Movement Example: A ship with 24m of Flight is currently moving towards the right, which we’ll call 3 o’clock; its current Facing and Course are the same and its current Velocity is 10. The ship wants to accelerate. First the ship’s mini drifts 10cm towards 3 o’clock, and the arrow is left in place. The ship then moves normally, and decides to move 24cm straight ahead. The distance from start to finish is 34cm, so that is the ship’s new Velocity. Its Facing and Course are unchanged. Move the arrow counter up to the final location. Note that for linear examples like this you could’ve just added 10+24 and moved the ship forward 34cm.
 
The next Phase I took pictures! Ship’s Course and Facing are both still towards 3 o'clock, Velocity 34. (The arrow is on the disk under the ship counter, but you don’t need to see it until you move anyway.)

 
Say the ship wants to turn to port/left. First, the mini drifts 34cm to 3 o'clock, leaving the arrow in place.

 
From there the ship moves its full 24cm to 12 o'clock. The ship’s facing is now towards 12 because it was applying thrust in that direction.
 

 
Measure the distance between the starting and end locations, which comes out to around 42cm – that’s the ship’s new Velocity. The angle from start location to finish is the new Course; move the arrow up. (I left the arrow on top so you could see it.) Looking at this pic it looks like the ship counter got bumped out of alignment, but it should still be facing straight towards 12 o'clock.

 
On it’s next Phase say the ship wants to stop. First the mini drifts 42cm along its current course (call it 2 o'clock). Then the ship moves 42cm (using NCM) back towards 8 o'clock, ending up where it started. Velocity is 0; new facing is towards 8 o'clock, and the Heading counter is removed (or ignored).
 
 

I'm currently running a Galactic Champions game, so our space battles also include flying spandex people punching spaceships. We mostly use standard Hero vehicle combat (6ed), but I wanted to use a vector-based movement system with at least a passing resemblance to how objects actually move in zero G instead of looking like the usual WWII dogfight. (Basic concept swiped from the minis game Full Thrust.) We've only had one space combat so far, but it worked really well: the players found it easy to understand after just a couple moves, it played quickly, and really gave the battle a unique feel.
 
No hexes: freeform movement measured using rulers or measuring tapes. The exact scale is handwaved, but 1 “movement unit” = 1cm on the map. (You could use 1m = 1” but you’ll need a big playing space!)

We ignored the Z axis and just did everything in 2D. In my experience/opinion, trying to simulate 3D on the tabletop is way more trouble than it's worth.
 
A ship’s Flight is how fast it can accelerate; there is no maximum velocity. (I mean theoretically there is, but I’m pretty sure you’ll run out of table long before you approach 1 C!) Ships can move NCM if they want, with the usual effects on CV.
 
For each ship you need to keep track of three things:
- FACING is the direction the ship is pointing – indicated by the miniature’s facing
- COURSE is the direction the ship is moving, which may not be the same as its facing – indicated by arrow on a disk or a counter
- VELOCITY is how fast the ship is currently moving – we tracked velocity using 2d10s (ie a velocity of 24 is reflected with a 2 on one die and a 4 on another)
 
Ships move and act on their Phases as normal. Movement is a 4-step process:
- The ship drifts in the direction of its current Course for its current Velocity in cm. Leave the Course arrow in place to mark the ship’s starting position.
- From its drift location, the ship can then move normally up to its full Flight move in cm. There is no Turn Mode, and rotation is “free” so basically they can move wherever they want up to their full movement. The new Facing is in line from the drift point to its final location, to reflect the direction the ship was applying thrust.
- Measure the distance from the starting position (the arrow) to the final location (the mini); the distance in cm is the new Velocity.
- The new Course is in line from the starting location to the final location; move the course arrow up to the final location.
 
Combat is handled normally after movement. For simplicity, I let ships & character do a full move and attack at one additional range band (ie -2 OCV).

Movement Example: A ship with 24m of Flight is currently moving towards the right, which we’ll call 3 o’clock; its current Facing and Course are the same and its current Velocity is 10. The ship wants to accelerate. First the ship’s mini drifts 10cm towards 3 o’clock, and the arrow is left in place. The ship then moves normally, and decides to move 24cm straight ahead. The distance from start to finish is 34cm, so that is the ship’s new Velocity. Its Facing and Course are unchanged. Move the arrow counter up to the final location. Note that for linear examples like this you could’ve just added 10+24 and moved the ship forward 34cm.
 
The next Phase I took pictures! Ship’s Course and Facing are both still towards 3 o'clock, Velocity 34. (The arrow is on the disk under the ship counter, but you don’t need to see it until you move anyway.)

 
Say the ship wants to turn to port/left. First, the mini drifts 34cm to 3 o'clock, leaving the arrow in place.

 
From there the ship moves its full 24cm to 12 o'clock. The ship’s facing is now towards 12 because it was applying thrust in that direction.
 

 
Measure the distance between the starting and end locations, which comes out to around 42cm – that’s the ship’s new Velocity. The angle from start location to finish is the new Course; move the arrow up. (I left the arrow on top so you could see it.) Looking at this pic it looks like the ship counter got bumped out of alignment, but it should still be facing straight towards 12 o'clock.

 
On it’s next Phase say the ship wants to stop. First the mini drifts 42cm along its current course (call it 2 o'clock). Then the ship moves 42cm (using NCM) back towards 8 o'clock, ending up where it started. Velocity is 0; new facing is towards 8 o'clock, and the Heading counter is removed (or ignored).
 
 

The very first Hero campaign I ever played in was Fantasy Hero (3ed). In fact, I played almost exclusively heroic-level Hero for more than a decade before I got into my first Champions campaign. I think Hero works really well for fantasy, but it depends on what type of fantasy game you want to play. If your players want to play a standard-issue D&D-style game, then yeah the D&D rules are probably better suited for that. But if you want to create your own original magic system(s), or you have a character concept that doesn't fit neatly into clearly-defined classes, or if you generally you want to play a different style of fantasy, then Hero allows you to do that far better than trying to force D&D into something it wasn't made for.*
 
The best way to hook D&D gamers into trying Fantasy Hero is to ask them "Have you ever had a character concept you couldn't make work in D&D? Maybe something from a book/movie that didn't seem to fit in a D&D world? Let's try building that."
 
The "other best" way to hook them in is: "Hey, I have this really cool idea for a fantasy game, where magic works a little differently, but I can't make it work using D&D rules. Are you guys willing to try this other system?"
 
Also note that Fantasy Hero requires much more up front work on the GM's part, particularly in terms of designing magic systems, world building, etc. In general I find the more work you expect new players to do, the more frustrated they're likely to get. Depends on your players, of course. Some will enjoy creating their own spells, so you can hand them the rule book and let them go nuts. (Subject to GM approval, natch.) Others will have a concept in their heads, but would prefer to let you handle the mechanics of building it. Other just want you to hand them a list of spells they can choose from.
 
The other things that drew me to FH immediately were the rules mechanics "fixed" several things that had always annoyed me about the D&D system (armor making you harder to hit; whittling away Hit Points by death from a thousand cuts; etc). And lastly - and this is entirely subjective - D&D characters always felt more like a 2-dimensional framework to hang magic items off; whereas Hero characters felt much more 3D, with magic items enhancing character abilities rather than supplanting them. YMMV on the last part. (On all of it, really.)
 
* BTW, this was my chief complaint with most of the published settings for Fantasy Hero. Turakian Age in particular felt like it was trying too hard to be "How to run a D&D game using Hero," as opposed to Tuala Morn and Atlantean Age which gave you something different and original that you couldn't do in D&D.

Fair enough. To some extent you just have to come up with new names for them.
 
But it's still an interesting question. One of the reasons I got burned out on high fantasy, especially in RPGs, was to some extent they all feel like the same game world I've been playing in since I was 15, with at most 10% variation for "My elves are different..." Gaming aside, I think that sense of YATRO* is a big part of why the fantasy genre has always limited mass-market appeal (ie - outside of core fandom) compared to SF. So personally I like the fact that most SF universes feel a little more distinct/unique, particularly when it comes to alien species. Even if you're just stealing everything from existing material, there's enough variety to choose from that you can mix & match into something that feels unique.
 
But OTOH, to what extent does the "commonality" of fantasy races (and other tropes) make it easy for players to jump in to a new game world and feel like they already know what's going on? But does that recognition factor help sell games? Does that lowering of the learning curve help players to learn & immerse themselves in the setting quicker?
 
* Yet Another Tolkien Rip-Off

I meant to post this awhile ago, but honestly forgot all about it. Last year in my Revelations 1001 historical fantasy campaign Our Heroes got involved in a massive Viking naval battle. (Viking "naval battles" mostly consisted of pulling the longships alongside each other and then fighting hand-to-hand, so it's really more of a melee battle that happens to take place onboard ships.) While I didn't want to wargame out the entire battle, just the number of fighters on the PCs' ship alone would be too many to handle individually. So I grouped most of the warriors on both sides together into squads of 5 and used a simplified version of the mass melee rules from FH. I thought it worked out pretty well, so I thought I'd post my results here.
 
Rules:
 
Individuals (PCs and major NPCs) were represented by their own paper minis. Squads were represented by counters.
To simplify, all squads started out with 5 warriors. Each squad adds +4 to its starting BODY for unit size (see FH mass melee rules for further discussion) To simplify, I started all squads with 15 BODY (11 Base +4) just to make the breakpoints easier, but it would work with different BODY scores All other Characteristics were basically the same as the individuals' While we're using Hit Locations and sectional armor in this campaign, for squads we just treated all hits as being vs. Torso (9-11)  
Rather than increasing the damage that units do (as per FH), I represented that by giving squads Autofire attacks:
Attacks against other squads hit on 1-for-1 Attacks against individuals hit on 1-for-2, as normal  
Each squad has a Readiness Level: which is affected by both Casualties and Morale:
Full: +1 OCV, +1 DCV, +1 Morale, Autofire x5 Shaken: +0 OCV, +0 DCV, +0 Morale, Autofire x3 Disrupted: -1 OCV, -1 DCV, -1 Morale, No Autofire Routed/Destroyed: Unit is removed from play Most squads started as Full, but a few went in Shaken due to various reasons  
Casualties:
Squads start with   15  BODY Units that have lost   5  BODY cannot be above Shaken (+0) Units that have lost  10  BODY cannot be above Disrupted (-1)  
Morale Check:
Each squad has a Morale Roll, which is based on EGO with certain modifiers Squads must make a roll when a Unit takes damage > 1/3 its current (not starting) BODY, or when directed by GM. Failed Morale Check drops the Unit one Readiness Level.  
Rallying:
A successful Rally raises a Unit’s Readiness Level, but it cannot exceed that indicated by its Casualties. Units get a free Rally (Morale Roll) post-Phase 12, or may take it as a Full Phase action per Recovery rules. Individual Characters may make Oratory Rolls or PRE Attacks to give bonuses/penalties to Rally Rolls.  
For each unit type, I gave the players a 1/2 page character sheet, along with a 1/2 page rules reference.
 
I used  Alea disks to represent each squad because they're awesome and you can write on them with dry erase markers. Each PC got a color to represent the troops they were controlling to make it easier to keep track of them, and the enemy troops were similarly color-coded. Written on each disk were 3 things:
Unit type (mainly axes vs. sword & shield) Readiness Level Body damage taken, represented by hash marks  
I'll post some pics further down so you can see what it looked like. The beauty of this was that Body Damage and Readiness were the only characteristics that changed, so writing them on the disk eliminated the need to keep track of "Wait, how many body does this squad have left?" and so forth.
 
That's the basics. I'll post the scenario and how the battle went in follow-on posts, along with some pictures, and end with my thoughts and observations.

I meant to post this awhile ago, but honestly forgot all about it. Last year in my Revelations 1001 historical fantasy campaign Our Heroes got involved in a massive Viking naval battle. (Viking "naval battles" mostly consisted of pulling the longships alongside each other and then fighting hand-to-hand, so it's really more of a melee battle that happens to take place onboard ships.) While I didn't want to wargame out the entire battle, just the number of fighters on the PCs' ship alone would be too many to handle individually. So I grouped most of the warriors on both sides together into squads of 5 and used a simplified version of the mass melee rules from FH. I thought it worked out pretty well, so I thought I'd post my results here.
 
Rules:
 
Individuals (PCs and major NPCs) were represented by their own paper minis. Squads were represented by counters.
To simplify, all squads started out with 5 warriors. Each squad adds +4 to its starting BODY for unit size (see FH mass melee rules for further discussion) To simplify, I started all squads with 15 BODY (11 Base +4) just to make the breakpoints easier, but it would work with different BODY scores All other Characteristics were basically the same as the individuals' While we're using Hit Locations and sectional armor in this campaign, for squads we just treated all hits as being vs. Torso (9-11)  
Rather than increasing the damage that units do (as per FH), I represented that by giving squads Autofire attacks:
Attacks against other squads hit on 1-for-1 Attacks against individuals hit on 1-for-2, as normal  
Each squad has a Readiness Level: which is affected by both Casualties and Morale:
Full: +1 OCV, +1 DCV, +1 Morale, Autofire x5 Shaken: +0 OCV, +0 DCV, +0 Morale, Autofire x3 Disrupted: -1 OCV, -1 DCV, -1 Morale, No Autofire Routed/Destroyed: Unit is removed from play Most squads started as Full, but a few went in Shaken due to various reasons  
Casualties:
Squads start with   15  BODY Units that have lost   5  BODY cannot be above Shaken (+0) Units that have lost  10  BODY cannot be above Disrupted (-1)  
Morale Check:
Each squad has a Morale Roll, which is based on EGO with certain modifiers Squads must make a roll when a Unit takes damage > 1/3 its current (not starting) BODY, or when directed by GM. Failed Morale Check drops the Unit one Readiness Level.  
Rallying:
A successful Rally raises a Unit’s Readiness Level, but it cannot exceed that indicated by its Casualties. Units get a free Rally (Morale Roll) post-Phase 12, or may take it as a Full Phase action per Recovery rules. Individual Characters may make Oratory Rolls or PRE Attacks to give bonuses/penalties to Rally Rolls.  
For each unit type, I gave the players a 1/2 page character sheet, along with a 1/2 page rules reference.
 
I used  Alea disks to represent each squad because they're awesome and you can write on them with dry erase markers. Each PC got a color to represent the troops they were controlling to make it easier to keep track of them, and the enemy troops were similarly color-coded. Written on each disk were 3 things:
Unit type (mainly axes vs. sword & shield) Readiness Level Body damage taken, represented by hash marks  
I'll post some pics further down so you can see what it looked like. The beauty of this was that Body Damage and Readiness were the only characteristics that changed, so writing them on the disk eliminated the need to keep track of "Wait, how many body does this squad have left?" and so forth.
 
That's the basics. I'll post the scenario and how the battle went in follow-on posts, along with some pictures, and end with my thoughts and observations.

Looks like there are a lot more of us in the Denver area than I thought. We should all get together for a beer or a backyard BBQ or something. It'd be nice to meet y'all face to face.

OK, I'll bite. (I've derailed enough threads in my day...)
Powerful isn't the same as unstoppable, let alone godlike. In most "Earth-bound" superhero settings, conventional military forces aren't normally a big challenge to powerful superheroes. But in large numbers, they can still wear the heroes down until they run out of END. And there are always specialty units with advanced/heavy weapons that are powerful enough to at least get a few good licks in. (Sure Superman could take out a tank battalion with ease, but he also knows if he does it's just a matter of time until someone breaks out the kryptonite.) Even if none of that exists and military forces are no threat at all to the supers, well there are still super Bad Guys, or else what's the point? A galactic game has even more possibilities because of different tech levels; the PCs may be able to punch through a Xenovore ship with ease, but try that against a Malvan ship and they're going to get spanked.
 
Again, powerful isn't unstoppable. But that aside, maybe because they're wise enough to realize that might doesn't make right, that power corrupts, and that benevolent dictatorships rarely stay that way for long. To use the classic example, Superman doesn't take over the world because he recognizes that just because he has the power to force others to do his bidding, doesn't mean he has the moral right to do so. He believes that democracy, while far from perfect, has proven a far better method of improving the human condition than any autocracy ever tried. And more practically, he knows that if he tried, every other super in the world would join forces to stop him, and even he's not THAT powerful.
 
There's already a genre term for beings who think their powers give them a right to dictate how everyone else should live - they're called supervillains.
 
Those are fair questions, but they're not exactly new: they've been explored in numerous comic titles, mostly awful Iron Age drek and Zach Snyder movies. If that's what you want to play, fine, but I find them extremely tedious myself.
 
[shrug] I could poke the same holes in just about any fictional world, including yours. It's all just a matter of what assumptions you make, and what things you're willing to handwave in order to play the kind of game you want.
 
I've found exactly the opposite: quantifying things like that put limits on things. "Am I strong enough to rip open a tank?" [checks the numbers] "Nope, I guess not." "But the Hulk can do it!" "Well, I guess you're not the Hulk..."
 
Again, the whole point of Superman is that he has faith in humanity to find their own path, and he's read enough history to know that by becoming an autocrat he would inevitably become autocratic and tyrannical. He sees his primary job as preventing other supers from trying exactly that trick.
 
Honestly, RDU Neil, I get your points, and if that's the game you and your players wanted to play, fine. But as far as I'm concerned, your "hero" became a straight-up villain by the 3rd paragraph when he decided that he had the moral right to force his beliefs on other people.
 
Huh, actually defeating and overthrowing your "hero" sounds like a solid concept for a GC campaign...
 
In the Star Wars game I just finished, the GM actually had a lot of fun simulating SW "physics." Space has a down, you see, which is why most planets only seem to be habitable in a very small zone, because if you move too far from the poles, you'll fall off.
 
Again, it all depends on whether you want to play science fiction vs. space fantasy (Star Wars) vs. superheroes in space (GC). I'm not one of one of those gamers who thinks realism is a 4-letter word, or needs to be put in scare quotes. I've played plenty of "real world plus ____" games that were a ton of fun. But generally realism (or the lack thereof) should drive the needs of the story, not the other way around. especially in any kind of SF setting, where much of the world works however you want it to work. If you want to tell a story about superheroes who are powerful, but not godlike, who are strong enough to treat most conventional militaries as a mook fight, but there are still plenty of beings/things that can challenge them...then you just set your campaign guidelines accordingly. There's nothing wrong with the take you chose to pursue, but it's by no means the only valid take.

Speaking of Marvel's Cosmic stories, I did come across this:
 

From last night's historical fantasy game. As part of their efforts to build an alliance against the evil Prince Kor, Our Heroes have been trying to facilitate a marriage between the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, and Princess Zoe Porphyrogenita, daughter of the Byzantine Emperor. Things are going well, until Robert, King of the Franks shows up...
 
GM: The French King looks around the room, spots the beautiful Princess Zoe, and makes a beeline over to start chatting her up.
Geralt: (Irish Holy Warrior) Oh hell no! I step between them and politely suggest to King Robert that this isn't the Princess he's looking for.
GM: Great, make me a High Society Roll to see how badly you step in it.
[Geralt rolls a natural 18]
[headdesk]
Geralt: (angrily) "What do you think you're doing trying to make time with the Emperor's betrothed!?!?"
...followed by an exchange of Who Do You Think You Are's and Don't You Know Who I Am's, ending in...
Geralt: ...And I deck him!
 
And that, children, is how in 1001 France declared war on Ireland and sat out the war against the Antichrist.

From last night's historical fantasy game. As part of their efforts to build an alliance against the evil Prince Kor, Our Heroes have been trying to facilitate a marriage between the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, and Princess Zoe Porphyrogenita, daughter of the Byzantine Emperor. Things are going well, until Robert, King of the Franks shows up...
 
GM: The French King looks around the room, spots the beautiful Princess Zoe, and makes a beeline over to start chatting her up.
Geralt: (Irish Holy Warrior) Oh hell no! I step between them and politely suggest to King Robert that this isn't the Princess he's looking for.
GM: Great, make me a High Society Roll to see how badly you step in it.
[Geralt rolls a natural 18]
[headdesk]
Geralt: (angrily) "What do you think you're doing trying to make time with the Emperor's betrothed!?!?"
...followed by an exchange of Who Do You Think You Are's and Don't You Know Who I Am's, ending in...
Geralt: ...And I deck him!
 
And that, children, is how in 1001 France declared war on Ireland and sat out the war against the Antichrist.

From last night's historical fantasy game. As part of their efforts to build an alliance against the evil Prince Kor, Our Heroes have been trying to facilitate a marriage between the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, and Princess Zoe Porphyrogenita, daughter of the Byzantine Emperor. Things are going well, until Robert, King of the Franks shows up...
 
GM: The French King looks around the room, spots the beautiful Princess Zoe, and makes a beeline over to start chatting her up.
Geralt: (Irish Holy Warrior) Oh hell no! I step between them and politely suggest to King Robert that this isn't the Princess he's looking for.
GM: Great, make me a High Society Roll to see how badly you step in it.
[Geralt rolls a natural 18]
[headdesk]
Geralt: (angrily) "What do you think you're doing trying to make time with the Emperor's betrothed!?!?"
...followed by an exchange of Who Do You Think You Are's and Don't You Know Who I Am's, ending in...
Geralt: ...And I deck him!
 
And that, children, is how in 1001 France declared war on Ireland and sat out the war against the Antichrist.

From last night's historical fantasy game. As part of their efforts to build an alliance against the evil Prince Kor, Our Heroes have been trying to facilitate a marriage between the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, and Princess Zoe Porphyrogenita, daughter of the Byzantine Emperor. Things are going well, until Robert, King of the Franks shows up...
 
GM: The French King looks around the room, spots the beautiful Princess Zoe, and makes a beeline over to start chatting her up.
Geralt: (Irish Holy Warrior) Oh hell no! I step between them and politely suggest to King Robert that this isn't the Princess he's looking for.
GM: Great, make me a High Society Roll to see how badly you step in it.
[Geralt rolls a natural 18]
[headdesk]
Geralt: (angrily) "What do you think you're doing trying to make time with the Emperor's betrothed!?!?"
...followed by an exchange of Who Do You Think You Are's and Don't You Know Who I Am's, ending in...
Geralt: ...And I deck him!
 
And that, children, is how in 1001 France declared war on Ireland and sat out the war against the Antichrist.