Duke Bushido

Thanks, Man.... I needed that.....

From a cannon? Into a wall? (oh please oh please oh please oh please.....) I'm not even going to click that link. I'll be too disappointed to discover I'm disappointed.

My apologies; I thought I had addressed this earlier: There were, initially, I think 4 patterns offered? Like you, I prefer my dice readable at a glance (yet weirdly, don't like them to have numerals-- it just throws me, somehow). I was torn between the pair with the floral "pips"-- a certain number of chinese blooms arranged in a circular pattern) or the one with the mixed characters (various... "kanji?" I can't remember the chinese word, I'm afraid... from various forms of written chinese such that each symbol had a number of strokes to denote the numbers on the dice. I rather liked that one, if only because the Playstation had me used to doing that for 1 through 4 already. In the end, I went with the "floral pips" because I thought they were more attractive, and would appeal to her more than something could be mistaken for marketing swag from Monster energy drinks..... Agreed. That's okay. I appreciate it, but that first sentence was enough to break my heart..... I was wondering if someone had done d10 or dice pool mechanics or if there had been a proper d15 for rolling characteristics or something.

I didn't read the Hobbit until 4th grade. Didn't really like it. Was coaxed into reading the Lord of the Rings series by a teacher who saw a fourth grader walking around with The Hobbit. Read that in 5th grade. Didn't like it, either. If I am to be completely honest, I liked it considerably less. I _almost_ enjoyed the Hobbit, but it was in that "oh, look! I could be the four-foot-hero" way that kids are want to use to project themselves into the story. Alas, I kept getting thrown out of it with "but he's _so_ _stupid_....." moments. Still, it was better than LotR, just not enough better to make me enjoy it (I'm not bagging on it, all you fans, fanatics, and fanboys. I am not blindsiding anyone with the idea that I don't like Tolkien's creation, so I don't see any reason to sweeten this a bit. I'm not insulting it; it is something that has absolutely _no_ appeal to me, and a lot of annoyance. Judging by its popularity, your mileage will almost definitely vary). I took another stab at the trilogy in High School. Couldn't even force myself to finish it. Decidedly not what I like. Prior to and for some time after reading the Hobbit, I enjoyed Tarzan and the John Carter of Mars books (some of them; I wouldn't have access to the rest for several years), as well as various of Howard's Conan stories, though to be honest, the Conan books had a certain sameness that got old pretty quickly, even when I was a kid. I liked about half of the Wells to which I had been exposed, and _adored_ Verne. (Probably why I really got into the very earliest bits of Steampunk, before, as someone else pointed out elsewhere, it became all about goggles and gears on hats--- and stupid. Why do we do this? Take something charming and fun, pull out the trappings rather than the content, and just bloat it up on trappings to the point of being unrecognizable? ). But of course, that came much later. At any rate: Burroughs, Wells and Verne (mostly Burroughs, but in a weird "John Carter of Africa meets Tarzan of Cimmeria versus Conan of Mars" sort of way......) were my first introduction to fantasy. I've read more -- I hate to say "common" or "run of the mill," but.... well, what's a pleasant way to say "stories placed in Tolkien-derivative worlds with Tolkien-derivative pretty much everything?" I accept that Wells can be classified as Sci-Fi; I usually do that myself, really, but it kills me knowing that this is also typically what happens with Verne. The setting didn't really even seem to matter with Verne; he was.... wonderfully fun to read. I know that there are going to be plenty of people who scoff at the lack of originality and breadth in my early reading materials, but let me remind folks that I am from a teeny-tiny town called Circle, Alaska. The "school" I went to for half my life had two rooms: one of them was for the wood-fired boiler; the wall that made it two rooms was only there as some small protection should something go horribly wrong with the boiler. The "school library" was I-kid-you-not across the street and down two doors and was, in fact, my Aunt Beulah's house. She had collected books her whole life, and I think she was eighty back then. If it wasn't in her library, it wasn't in town.

But it works so well in-genre: I mean, who hasn't had a fantasy about walking up to some high-ranking muckity-muck and just slapping the crap out of him? Local politicians _especially_....

Hello, Beast! I had hoped to be at a keyboard when I had time to post this, but evidently I'm not going to get a weekday shorter than 14 hours this year, so.... In fairness, Basic is just as out of Print as is MHI, though there are still a few sellers with license for a few PoDs out there. And Basic has no more "currently on print" support than does MHI. Theoretically, the source material for MHI is still in print on the form of the adventure books that inspired the game in the first place, though, which is more than Basic can claim. (Don't get me wro g: I am not bashing Basic; in my own opinion, it is far superior to the two Big Books in nearly every way. I just wish it had been called Sidekick, just because 5e did that with the "lite" edition of the rules as well.) But your comment about the GM having to make a few easy decisions: Based on some of the Co versations o. These boards, it seems that those decisions aren't especially easy for a lot of folks, and I am betting that they are even more challenging for those not too terribly familiar with the HERO System- they are not up against just learning a new system, but they have no real grasp of what the results of their decisions could be. I have no hesitation in proclaiming that more than a handful of us experienced GMs have been surprised and unhappy with the actual results of things we tried coming from an experienced background. Making matters worse, Basic really doesn't offer much counsel on doing this beyond telling you it's okay to try. Again, not something new players are going to fully understand just off what's in Basic. Certainly they will muddle through if they are determined, but it's not the same as having made an informed decision. It's wieed: its an even mix of urban fantasy and action adventure. You's think I would like the MHI books, but they kind of turn me off... You're right, of course, but that was easy for you because you k ow what you're doing and what you're talking about. It's not unthinkable that a new GM would end up buying Monsters, marauders and whatever the Hell the other thing was because he isn't experienced or comfortable enough to yet to build it on his own. He might decide he needs a bestiary, too. At this point, he has spent at least as much as shelling out for MHI, still has to dial in the rules he likes and doesn't like for his game, has _none_ of the flavor or background or setting data from MHI-- in short, he has some rules and some support material, but he still has to build a game out of all of it. He could buy MHI and not just run a game, but get some pretty nice color artwork, too. Again: either approach is valid, but I know which I'd prefer as a new-to-HERO GM, and definitely as a player. And of course, all that material that works with Basic- well, it works with MHI, too.

Hugh: In short summation: If you can grasp w actions per reaction phase, I don't think half-phases into phases is going to throw you. In my own teaching experience, half phases and zero phases into phases and segments and turns is a recurring stumbling block. Never had anyone not grasp OCV+11-DCV, though I seem to be unique in that, but I have new players trip over the speed chart with some regularity. Conversely, if the as-printed chart and terms cause problems, simplifying the terms may help. Shoetwr than that: an easy-to-understand game that would generate sales for the company "HERO Games.". I am _reasonably sure that at this point, they'd sell greeting cards if it helped them stay afloat; I'd rather it be something game related and compatible with Hero, but one-hundred-percent built on direct excerpts from the books that aren't selling? Nope; not interested.

No, Sir; you are absolutely right! sentry0's thread, via which LL is providing an exceptionally-astute series of observations and interesting relations. So if you will all edit your memories, please, we can continue on.

Love it! And I would like to commend you on the name, as well.

Most of those "everything's is a dollar" stores have six packs and periodically twelve packs of d6 for a buck as well if you're in a pinch to grab a pile for an event. And are you saying that New School Traveller uses pokyhedrals? I love Traveller, but I've been playing it on HERO legs for decades now.

Dude, I have _got_ to sit in on one of your games. Can I just audit it or something? We seem to have similar taste in settings in which to play (though I'm more down with atomic rockets than hard science )

Completely with you on that! And to go one further, I've noticed that it bugs me tenfold what it used to in the pre-internet days (though, to be fair, it bothered me then, too.) And truthfully, I really, deeply disliked Turakian Age just because of all that politics and social engineering that went into it. Lord Liaden's thread on the book has brought me around: I don't actively dislike any more, but I still don't expect I'll be setting a game in it: as the GM, I would be the _most_ involved with keeping up with all that tedium. Wait-- who classifies Gamma World as fantasy?!

I think I found the source of the consternation! Before turning in, I figured I'd cruise through Basic and check. While I like Basic as a rulebook _way_ more than the Encyclopedia, I confess that the wording here was _terrible_: To quote: "Obvious, Inaccessible Focus (-1⁄2): Anyone looking at the character knows the power comes from the Focus, but taking it away from him requires 1 Turn out of combat. Examples include armor, rings, and clothing." Here it does not say "can be removed in one Turn, but specifically says "_requires_ 1 Turn." Not "can take" or "a Turn" or even "up to one Turn," but _requires 1 Turn_" :/ If our friend Pawsplay is using Basic as his guide, he is getting bad info. Honestly, what with him being a lawyer, I wouldn't have expected this from Steve: when you are making an effort to limit your words, careful selection of each word is _critical_, as you have no long diatribes with which to explain the intent behind your words. Shame, because now I am suspect of the whole stinking book, and I won't have time to reread it for months yet-- Time I was saving to read Narosia.

Out of Rep again (I'm starting to think it's a condition or something!). Re: soft magic and "sensawunda" (which reminds me: Scott, I have to report a theft.... ), I've got a thread going on Chris's board about some of the cantrip builds we did back I. The late 80s for our fantasy game: we stretched some of the rules to absolute agony here and there just to make things that felt more like magic than superpowers. Check it out if you like and evetone is invited to play: just post a cantrip from one of your own games with as much or as little detail as you'd like. The only rule is you can't tell anyone else that they are doing it wrong: it was their game; it would be perfectly impossible for them to do their own game "wrong.".

I submit that this is because to build or play it, you have to k ow how it works exactly, and once you know that, a lot of the mystery is gone. Probably why, no matter how much I prefer it, I have never had that same "ahh" moment with Fantasy HERO magic that other games have ( eiwflt) given me. At the end of the day, I know I'm rebranding Champions powers. :(