kjamma4

Sorry, I just had one more.

Yesterday, we were playing in our second session of Fantasy HERO. Basically, we had converted our existing characters from a D&D 3.5 campaign we had been playing for a while and continued using HERO. One character was sneaking up ahead of the two other characters. He came across eight goblins led by two hobgoblins, none of which noticed him. He was running low on endurance due to a combination of previous spells and combat.

He decided that he would get no better opportunity so he let loose with a mana blast (I believe it was a 6d energy blast). He rolled really well and killed the goblins outright. All of us being new players, we were taking combat really slow to learn the ropes. We read carefully through the knockback rules and were happy when the two hobgoblins were pushed back two inches, enough to slam them into the wall behind them. They fell prone and had to use their phase to get up and move. My daughter’s and my characters then stepped forward and were able to deal the death blows to the injured hobgoblins, much to the relief of the spell caster who was down on END.

The cool thing about the whole deal was that it played out perfectly in my mind’s eye. I could SEE the elf sneaking up and casting the spell. I could SEE the goblins scatter like ten pins and SEE the hobgoblins lifted off their feet and slam into the wall, landing in a crumpled heap. I could SEE them struggle to their feet, dazed, only to succumb to us taking advantage of their state. It was awesome.

[As background, I have been roleplaying for about 25 years and have played a variety of games and have had many games where I’ve felt like I was actually in the game. However, most of our recent games of D&D have lacked something and seemed like just number fests – rolling dice and simply subtracting from a hit point total (and that may be more of a slam on the way we were playing rather that the D&D system.) The recent session of HERO have been a complete reversal and I’m glad to say that the other players in my group agree.]

Re: New guy likes END

New guy likes Speed Chart' date=' new guy likes END.[/quote']

 

New guy also likes the interaction between the Speed Chart and END. Yeah, I get four actions per turn to your three. However, I am spending more END per turn than you. I better make sure my extra attack puts you down before my END runs out or you are going to pound on new guy who has no END left.

 

Cool.

In addition to the SPD chart, I am also digging the use of END. We are just starting a Fantasy HERO game (actually, we converted our D&D 3.5 characters somewhat and are continuing that campaign using HERO). Using END has put a whole new spin on the game. You can no longer just swing away endlessly but must rather budget your END. Your "kewl" powers are great, but they come at a cost. Thought must be put into when you use them and for which opponents (and the satisfaction is quite high when your gamble pays off.)

Me likey.

Re: New Guy likes SPD Chart

You guys are reminding me of my favorite Car Wars vehicle - the EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle' date=' which showed up in an issue of [i']Space Gamer[/i], I believe. Good times, good times...

Issue 49, March 1982. I'm getting old.

Re: New Guy likes SPD Chart

I understand the new Car Wars is a card game along the lines of Magic: The Gathering or Illuminati: New World Order.

Not exactly. The newest version of Car Wars is version 5.0 which increased the scale of the game and comes in nine different booklets, each of which contain the rules and two sample vehicles (and variants.) It does not contain vehicle construction rules (which, combined with the "dumbing down" of the game, contributed to a lukewarm reception.) IMHO

There is also a Car Wars card game which is non-collectible. Up to six players each have a vehicle with the same stats. You have a hand of cards representing damage from different vehicles, armor to possibly negate the damage, and cards for special effects. This, on the other hand, is a pretty cool game and is quite fun. A beer-and-pretzels game.

No real point to this but to heap some praise.

I just started playing HERO as of GenCon this year. I am very impressed with the SPD chart to handle combat. Here's why:

1) It makes sense. Your attacks are spread out over the turn in a logical fashion based upon how many you have.

2) It seems "fairer" than an initiative system where you do all of your multiple attacks at once.

3) I'm an old-school Car Wars player. The concept of the SPD chart is almost the same as the movement chart in that game. I was able to grasp it right away.

Re: The limits of regeneration

From the source material' date=' I recall an old Wolverine appearance where drowning was addressed. The bottom line was that he would not die due to his healing factor, but he would keep drowning, so it was pretty ugly for the regenerating character.[/quote']

 

In the "Casca" series of books by Barry Sadler, this same thing happened (Casca was the Roman legionnaire who pierced Christ's side while he was on the cross. Christ doomed Casca to eternal life until Christ's return to Earth.)

 

On a side note, there was a character in the Godlike game called the Indestructible Man who could survive any damage he knew about (the government tested this in a multiple-megaton nuclear blast with him at ground zero - he survived). He ended up dying of liver damage through alcoholism.

 

[My thought on him was that if he became a doctor and was aware of the hazards of alcoholism (and other diseases, problems, etc.) could he have lived forever?]

Re: Tips/Tricks/Advice

For a new GM the best advice' date=' IMO is to keep character builds pretty simple, insist on all powers being bought to 0 END (new players often have a problem with tracking END as it is probably not something they are familiar with - you still need it for pushes, but tracking it every action can be a pain) and keep character build pretty simple. Brick martial artist blaster. Repeat with different costumes. Try to round defences to 10/20/30 (makes calculating damage easier). If you an get away with giving everyone the same speed, do it.[/quote']

 

Interesting. We just played our first game of Fantasy HERO and we botched up on keeping track of END in favor of our characters. After a reread of the rules, the GM and I were of the opinion that we should keep a strict track of END. We both felt it more accurately portrayed what would happen to someone swinging a sword continuously in combat.

 

[i just bought a little device with spinning wheels that is designed to be a life counter for Magic or other card games. I'll see how well this works for keeping track of END and STUN.]

Being a new player of HERO, I am interested in any advice on how to make the games run smoother/faster/easier. Based upon a fantasy game played recently, I will be bringing a chart outlining hit locations and damage classes to speed up combat.

I am mostly looking for little tidbits that will help the game move along. An example of what I mean (as applied to another system) would be the tip in Deadlands to use colored paperclips to keep track of wounds and wind.

[Tips for both players and GMs would be appreciated.]

I played HERO for the first time at GenCon this year. Since then, the members of my regular group have joined a twice monthly Pulp HERO game run by one of the players from GenCon.

Yesterday was an off day from the pulp campaign so the guy in our regular group who normally is the DM for D&D 3.5 tried running a Fantasy HERO game. Unfortunately, due to work/school/home schedule, there were only two players instead of the usual four to five.

The game went really well. As we are all new to the system, we made a few mistakes in regards to bookkeeping (especially our END). However, we were all impressed with the combat and the options you have. It was a bit less "hack-and-slash" and more using tactical options. The fact that we are becoming familiar with the system through playing in the pulp campaign helped alot. It will be interesting to see what happens when all the players are there.

We also learned that we need to have "cheat" sheets for all the players. These will include the hit location chart, the damage class chart, and will probably be customized for each player's specific martial maneuvers.

All in all, an enjoyable night. It seems like we will be putting the system through its paces in one genre or the other in the upcoming months.

Re: Lo, Our Savior is Born!

My wife's cousin's son (her second cousin) is named Raistlin.

Technically, the boy is not your wife's second cousin, he is your wife's first cousin, once removed.

http://www.genealogy.com/16_cousn.html

[sorry, I got hammered on this in an Estates class once and it's stuck with me ever since. ]

Re: 1/2 Dice and Stun Multiplier Dice

I'm surprised you found Hero dice' date=' they've been out of stock for a long time, nice.[/quote']

 

I first picked up a set of six that were in a little plastic zip-loc bag. Since your post, I noticed that they had five more loose with the regular dice. Picked those up too!

 

I did do a modification on the six-sided d3 I had. I drilled a small hole in both 3s and one of the 2s to represent BODY damage. Came out pretty good. The die is smaller than the HERO dice so it works cool for a 1/2d6

 

I tried two mods to get a STUN die. I took a regular d6 that was black with white pips. I colored in the pips on the 6 whit a black sharpie, drilled a single hole in the middle, and filled in that pip with white out. Doesn't look too bad from far away but I wasn't really pleased with it (especially since you would have to be told that it is a STUN die and that you did not have to subtract one from the number rolled.)

 

I also took a blank d6 and using the black sharpie, wrote "STUN x1", "STUN x2", etc. It was obvious from looking at it what the die was used for but the handwritten words looked kinda lame. Also, despite the claim to the contrary, the writing from the sharpie was not permanent.

 

I think I am going to try stickers with laser printing.

Re: 1/2 Dice and Stun Multiplier Dice

1 and 2 is one

3 and 4 is two

5 and 6 is three

I fully realize that this is not such a big deal and the calculations involved are not really that math intensive.

I understand how to do it. I just thought it would be kinda cool to have dice that ALREADY had the calculations done. (apparently I'm the only one:confused: )

Re: 1/2 Dice and Stun Multiplier Dice

You can go to a site like this one... http://www.eaieducation.com/530178.html ... and buy some blank dice that come with stickers' date=' and make the dice however you please. You could make a STUN multiplier die that actually has "STUN x1," "STUN x2" and so on, and make a half-die with "3 STUN +1 BODY" on one side. How cool is that? [/quote']

 

Yeah, but then I don't get to use my Dremel tool.

Re: 1/2 Dice and Stun Multiplier Dice

I know several companies make half-die die. If you look around your FLGS you can probably find some there.

Is this different from the die I described (six sided, 1-3 twice)?

I recently played HERO for the first time at GenCon. In the game I played in, the GM and the two experienced players had their own HERO dice.

I picked up the revised edition recently and also picked up a set of the dice as well. One thing that kind of frustrated me was rolling 1/2 dice and the stun multiplier dice*** in that you rolled your regular dice, then if you had a 1/2 die, you rolled that (with the attendant calculation) and then the stun multiplier (with the attendant calculation).

Has anyone modified dice to allow one roll for everything? There are a couple of ways you could do this.

1/2 die - I have a six sided die that is numbered 1-3 twice. You could drill small holes in both 3s and one of the 2s to simulate the body done (much like the official HERO dice).

Stun multiplier die - paint in five of the pips on the six side to make a second one (or paint in all six and drill a hole in the center to make the second one). Alternately, there are some dice out there that have a picture or symbol for the six instead of pips or a number. You could simply use this result as a secondary "one" result. Both of these methods result in a die that has the following sides: 1,1,2,3,4,5 which eliminates any calculation for the stun multiplier.

An alternative to either of the die types is to use blank d6s and simply make your own stickers to affix to them.

***I fully realize that this is not such a big deal and the calculations involved are not really that math intensive. Most people probably would say, "Why bother?" This is just thrown out as a possible alternative.