tripthicket

drunkonduty's link above is fantastic (for me). As have been all the answers so far, to be sure. But that link, with the 5 or 6 viewpoints/essays given, really helps crystallize what I was wanting to know vis a vis worldbuilding and the comparison between fantasy and superheroes. I was of a mind that I wanted to create a world(s)/campaign that had superpowers but not have it be focused on superheroes, while at the same time not excluding them. I also wanted to have elements of urban fantasy. This discussion has helped me see that I probably do want to go with fantasy and incorporate my other elements into it, if I can (and discarding stuff that ultimately just won't plausibly fit). My reluctance to embrace fantasy is probably most strongly influenced by my own relatively shallow direct experience with it. Excellent food for thought all around.

Being the first and largest genre of the roleplaying world, being easier to set up (as stated above--I like that factor, which hadn't been proposed before, and yet makes sense), and something that only just occurred to me (but which may not be a factor) -- there's the stigma of comic books and superheroes still being something 'for kids' and perhaps looked down upon. Sure, you've got the superhero movies of the last several years that increased superhero popularity and visibility, but there's still decades of that other perception to overcome. Despite their rise in popular culture, there are still large swaths of the population that look down on superheroes (and yet don't mind fantasy?).

Excellent replies! I've been especially pleased with the reviews of history. Although I knew some snippets of some of it, it's great to hear expanded versions. Learning is fun! I'm scratching my head a little at the assertions that fantasy is more black and white than superheroes. Superheroes=good/white, and supervillains=bad/black. The exact same can be said about the fantasy genre: our heroes (the adventurers) = good/white, while monsters/enemies = bad/black. It seems like a subjective thing. I do NOT want to drag this discussion towards politics, but is it possible, keeping the history from above replies in mind, that superheroes are leaning (in general) more towards upholding authority (not authoritarianism, if the two subjects can be split), whereas adventuring in a fantasy world is more 'go your own way, do whatever you like.' One flavor of superhero worlds is that superheroes almost get locked into an obligation to use their powers to help people, kinda like a full-time, 'round-the-clock, never-ending treadmill of a job. ("Where were you when my house was burning down?"/"Why didn't you stop that runaway train?"/"What good are you when my neighborhood is still full of drugs?") Who wants that kind of negative consequence when they're tryna play a game and escape from their lives for a bit? Of course, no game has to go that way, but I offer this as one possible reason why folks might pick fantasy over superheroes. Then there's the ability to change the world, or at least their little slice of it. Fantasy adventurers seem to do this on the regular, although I'm speaking as a person on the outside of that. Superheroes, again, are about maintaining the status quo. Despite all the fantastic powers, machines, etc., our world doesn't really change. So...it's almost down to the superpowered fight, with big, splashy, showy powers making an awesome visual (kudos to Killer Shrike pointing out the differences between novel and comic book readers--fascinating viewpoint), and everything else is maybe kinda bolted on (romance, sleuthing, etc.). Again, I'm loving what you all have to say, but it may come down to 'that's the way it is' with no forecast for that ever really changing. This was all predicated by my contemplating the beginning of more concrete construction for a gameworld I've been thinking about. Spending a goodly amount of time to craft an online world for others to play in, with one flavor attracting maybe hundreds of players, and another maybe attracting only a couple dozen players...yeesh. Goes back to my motivation, and what I think I really want to do. In the end, that's the most important thing, even if I turn out to have 'wasted my time'--it's what I will have wanted to do.

Being more a fan of the superhero genre, I've often wondered at the general (roleplaying) public's seeming preference for the sword & sorcery genre. I base my theory on the huge amount of fantasy rpgs out there, although superheroes have quite a few. I also look at the number of superhero MMOs as opposed to fantasy-based games. I have a working theory, which I'd like to open up for discussion. Superheroes are about Protecting the Status Quo, Upholding The Law, Opposing Evil, Black & White (all of this is of course my opinion, and is way simplified as well). All of this is done in a world close to our own. Fantasy is about Adventuring, and all that might entail, in a world different from our own. The magic, the monsters, the treasure. Arguably more of an escape. Some of it might have to do with D&D being the most popular game, as well as arguably (I keep using that word--I hope I know what it means) the first roleplaying game. I could just be talking out of my hat, but it occurs to me that superheroes are 'obligated' to keep Things As They Are afloat, while players in a fantasy game venture out and do almost anything they like in a world full of mystery. Why do you think that fantasy is a more popular genre?

How would one model Parkour as a Movement power? There's elements of Running, of Leaping, the Acrobatics skill, maybe even Swinging. Would something like 'Flight, Only along surfaces' do the trick, with the SFX being running, small jumps, climbing, swinging, etc.? Or is there another, better, way? Have you run across this before, or created a version of it that you're satisfied with?

If you're talking about a traumatic experience that could break or almost break a person (gender probably doesn't matter here, although the victim was a woman), then may I recommend Jimmy, a novel by William Malmborg. While the title character does engage in a few brief sexual actions, it's the manner in which the victim Kimberly is imprisoned that eventually breaks her will. I found the description of what she went through and the details of how she slowly broke down mentally to be believable, as written. The gore and sexual attacks are very few, toned down as far as details, and not at all the focus of the story. If you get a chance, look it over; it may help with what you're wanting to achieve.

Tried to do a search for "upside down," but didn't get results anywhere near what I was asking about. Nutshell: working up a monkeyman-type HTH fighter. DEX 25, high Climbing skill (but no Clinging--yet), Extra Limbs in that his legs and feet can be used just like arms and hands (and no penalty for 'Off Hand,' so Ambidexterity), Acrobatics skill, possibly Contortionist, maybe but not likely Double-jointed. What I'm trying to achieve is to have ChimpBoy (name changed to protect the mischievous) fight just as well while hanging upside down as he would while standing on his feet, with no penalties. I considered Environmental Movement, as some kind of subset of Zero-G combat, but that didn't seem to fit. Truth be told, I'm not sure what the penalties, if any, would be. I guess without knowing that, it's hard to find something to automatically cancel them out, such that only OCV + any skill levels are the only things to be considered. So, as a GM or player, how would you think such a circumstance (hanging upside down while fighting) might hamper such a character, in game terms? And what would you use to negate that hampering?

Now, see, I did a search, dangit! I guess 'cooldown' isn't the same as 'cool-down.'

I am building a power that has several restrictions. In a nutshell, my hero can hurl only 6 thunderbolts per day, and cannot hurl a thunderbolt more often than once per Turn. The term I'm using to represent this delay between uses of the power is 'cooldown.' I did a search for that term and came up with this thread: http://www.herogames.com/forums/topic/91145-building-a-heat-sink/ My topic is different enough from what I found there that I felt the need to start another thread. Not to mention I don't have a copy of 6th Edition Fantasy Hero, so I can't reference page 162, as mentioned in the thread above. Here's what I've got so far: Thunderbolt: 12d6 Blast vs ED (SFX: Lightning bolt thrown from a hand), 6 Charges (-3/4), Each charge costs END (-1/2), 2 x END (making each charge cost 12 END)(-1/2) (60 AP) (22 RC). Before I came looking here, someone suggested using an END Reserve to represent the cooldown, like so: END Reserve of 12 END, with REC of 12 (11 AP) (11 RC). The charges of the thunderbolt each use 12 END, which comes from here. Using this guarantees that another thunderbolt cannot be thrown until the END Reserve recovers post-12. Some have argued that using an END Reserve like this, that the player has to pay for, is backwards. I dunno. I already saved 38 points with the Limitations listed, so paying another 11 to help simulate the power as I envision it seems like just part of the cost of the original power. So instead of saving 38 points, I save 27. (And please do correct my math if it needs it) I'm actually surprised this hasn't been covered clearly somewhere. Maybe it has. I've had the 2 6E rulebooks for about a month now, and somewhere in my fevered reading over the past few weeks, I could have sworn I saw just this term, used to describe this type of Limitation, but I've looked for hours and haven't found it, so I must've dreamed that or something. So, what do you all think? Is the above configuration wrong? Should it be represented another way? Let me hear from YOU! And thanks!

Is the link for this site still the one in the original post, or is there another link now?

Nah, that's not a bug; it's a feature!

As the guy who instigated this whole thing, I should throw in another 2 cents of clarification. My concept/vision is that SuperCharacter uses Teleport as his only means of movement (aside from the normal Running, Leaping, Swimming). Let's throw out an example of what I'm trying to achieve: Badguy is hovering in the air, about 30 feet up, and 30 feet away from SuperCharacter. SuperCharacter has enough Teleport to get to the hex right in front of Badguy (30 feet in the air) as a Half-Move, then he attacks, perhaps with surprise bonuses, perhaps not. I envision SuperCharacter staying in exactly the spot he Teleported to, not having the capability of his own volition to move left, right, up, down, back or forward -- via Flight. In most cases, yeah, standing on air, but definitely not walking on air. Turning on Flight, Usable As Hover Only is a zero-phase action, happening at the beginning of a Phase (and do please correct me at any point; I'm a returning veteran who's very rusty and am finding myself a little thrown by that and some of the changes in 6E). SuperCharacter then Teleports to his desired location (that he can see, that it's safe to be in, and that he can reasonably be assured that he'll arrive at). Assuming he gets to where he wants to be, the Flight/Hover is still in use, so SuperCharacter doesn't fall. He stays where he put himself until he chooses to move to another location. Buying enough Flight to counter-act Knockback might be the way to go(6E1 117); the purchase of Knockback Resistance might be in order. I always find myself thinking in absolutes, which harms my character creation, especially since I create most of my characters in a vacuum. 'The Flight/Hover and associated powers/tricks always work to make sure he's rooted to the spot he intended to arrive at.' But then there's Knockback, being knocked unconscious, Drains and the like, all conspiring to mess up my plans. It may be that the best solution is to just buy several points' worth of Flight, limit it to Hover and resisting KB only, and call it it a day as an imperfect power. With sufficient force, he can be knocked down from his perch, Fall according to the normal rules, and save himself or not. This power ( and all powers) should be built to work as intended, and should have ways in which it will fail its intended purpose. Note that I don't think it's necessary for any reason I can think of to Link this Flight to his Teleport (however much of that he ends up buying); the two powers could be and are used separately as the need arises, or used together when necessary. Thanks for the discussion! You all have helped to clarify what I might have been thinking, as well as clarifying a few things and giving me new ideas.

Well, that's me, then. In between groups, I would construct dozens if not hundreds of characters, trying all kinds of different combinations to bring to life the superfolk living in my head. So mucho thanks to all of you guys! I'll be picking up both of them in the near future.

I may be overgeneralizing, but it seems to me that there are three categories that HERO products fall into, with some overlap. There's settings books (such as Galactic Champions or Vibora Bay), there's character books (Champions Villains Volume One: Master Villains or Conquerors, Killers and Crooks), and there's rules books (HERO System 6th Edition: Character Creation or HERO System Advanced Player's Guide). I suppose that an argument could be made for a fourth category, examples books (Champions Powers or The Ultimate Brick), or even more general categories, but let's not keep splitting hairs or every single book will fall into its own category. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But what's my point? I've seen posts ever since I started reading online about roleplaying games, and a very common statement from self-professed GMs is that they don't bother with the settings books much, as they have their own world(s) already built. Some of them may get a few of those books anyway, to mine for ideas. My favorite type of book falls into the character category; I love seeing (somewhat) new combinations of powers built into new and interesting characters, whether villain, hero, civilian, or what-have-you. For this same reason, I love examples books. And I think all of us can agree that rules books are a necessity, although it's arguable which books are necessary and which ones aren't. Which comes to my real point. I'm considering purchasing the Advanced Player's Guide I & II. I already have Character Creation and Combat & Adventuring. Behind character books and example books, my next choice would be rules books, of which some could be said to be part-example book, too. My question (finally) is, having the two main rulebooks for HERO System 6th Edition, why should I buy these guidebooks? What are they mainly about? Which leads me to a tiny side-rant to close this out. What's up with the store? I haven't exhaustively pored over every item in the store, but in general I get the sense that there's a difference in the way 5th Edition and 6th Edition books are presented. With 5th Edition, there's info that includes author, ISBN number, number of pages, detailed description of contents, etc.; in effect, more than some advertising blurb that may or may not be helpful in describing what the book is actually about. With 6th Edition, all of that seems to be absent in far too many cases. Many of the more recent products are only available in PDF, which might have something to do with it, but if so, why? I've looked over lots of 6th Edition books and products, but most of them have only very scant descriptive text which does little or nothing to entice me to buy them. In fact, the only reason I will buy a book from the HERO store, when I do, is because I've been a HERO system fan for 25 years and want to support the company. The choice of which book I'm likely to buy is discussed above, but the store isn't really helping, at least for me. I get most of my information on 6th Edition books from other sources, and that shouldn't be a necessity, says I. Okay, rant over.

That's an excellent question. Going off of the guardian, I'm going to say the main thrust of the wizard's mystic abilities is to imbue items with magical properties. Enchant them, I believe, is the proper term. He's never tried anything this ambitious, and a couple centuries down the road, he recognizes that the magical essence within the clockwork man has accrued much knowledge and experience, just from being aware of itself and from thinking about everything it knows of, and the relations between all of those things. So, he sends the guardian off on a journey across the world, appropriate and changeable disguise in place, to see what the world and the World of Man is all about, and to learn everything it can. I also forgot one important detail, and the omission of that detail has had all of you giving excellent suggestions, but in the wrong direction, or at least in a direction that's not helping me clear the fog from my brain. The detail is that the guardian is meant to be a player-character itself. Recall that, despite the wizard's chosen school of magic, the PC-guardian has two main areas driving its choice of powers: 1) it has a metal body, magically sustained and repaired as needed, and 2) it has a source of self-replenishing magical energy withing itself, that both keeps it 'alive' and that can be used, not in spells per se, but as attacks, defenses, etc. that have magic as the SFX. I had wanted to avoid 'tricking' powers, such as Illusion and Invisibility, but maybe I'm too close to the problem, and those would be entirely appropriate, if used properly in the performance of its duties. I do thank all of you for the ideas and advice you've given me. Back to the grindstone!

Mr. Wizard lives in a medieval keep, actual location unimportant. He takes it into his head to add redundancy to his defenses, not merely relying on protective wards and suchlike. To this end, rather than summon pesky passive-aggressive demonlings, he builds a mechanical man. Once he's done so, he pours magical energy into this metal figure, thereby bringing it to a semblance of life and sentience. In fact, said magical energy not only remains to enervate this guardian, but can be used by this selfsame guardian in its duties as protector of the keep. My aim here is to gather advice and opinions on the construction of this little guardian. Some things I already have in mind, such as Characteristics to represent a golem made of metal, probably in the range of a demi-brick (STR, say, about 30, and so on). I should stress here that this is no mindless automaton, so none of those powers will be used. Most or all of the Life Support powers would seem to be in order. Good defenses, as you wouldn't build a tank with balsa wood, although I'm not sure if all of the different classes of defense would be needed. Healing itself via Regeneration. Consider also what the guardian is likely to be facing: bands of would-be invaders (your basic fighter, ranger, mage, thief, cleric, etc.--y'know, a regular D&D party), maybe a creature or three sent as an attack by a rival wizard, maybe the wizard himself, maybe a company of soldiers sent by the nearby king. You get the idea: whatever might show up on a wizard's doorstep in any given fantasy campaign. Note, too, that with the bigger threats, the guardian would call for help from its creator -- it would have enough intelligence to recognize when it would be in over its head, so to speak. Thus, the wizard would 'program' the guardian with the appropriate abilities at a prudent yet effective level. Where I'm drawing a blank is in what exactly would the guardian be able to DO as regards protecting? Actually, I'm not really drawing a blank, I'm kinda overwhelmed with all of the possibilities. Of course, it could do anything, without having to cast spells or stick to one college of magic, because basically, it would be using attacks powered by its own internal battery of magical energy. Since it could do anything, I'm spinning my wheels trying to narrow it down. The ability to detect anyone coming from a (very long) distance, hidden or not--possibly. Maybe even when the persons/whatever are magically hidden. Protective walls, perhaps. Direct attacks, surely, but which? Entangles? That makes sense, but I as a player hate being ensnared in Entangles, so I'm sympathetic there. I figure more ranged powers vs HTH; if the invaders have gotten that close, the guardian would have failed--some invaders would be keeping it busy grappling while others make an end run around it. I think I've given you an idea of what I'm after, and where my head is at in the construction process. How would you build such a guardian; what would you have it be able to do? Thanks in advance for any and all advice or suggestions.

What would be the limitation on Flight if the character can only Hover with it? No movement, not up, down, sideways, nada, merely standing on air (the character I have in mind has other movement powers to get him up there in the first place). Is there a minimum base cost with Flight? Would one need to buy enough Flight to overcome the effects of falling, or is 1m of Flight good enough, since the character isn't falling? Should I buy enough Flight to (try to) counter terminal velocity, if the character is knocked out (and thus begins falling), then comes to before going splat? Same question with mid-air Knockback? 1m of Flight to counter 1m of Knockback? Thanks for any advice, and if I need to be over in the Ask Steve forum for this one, let me know.

I was actually considering getting them as PDFs from the store here, and while I do want to support Hero Games, as far as the base books (4th Edition/The Big Blue Book, 5th Edition/FREd, and now 6E1 & 6E2) are concerned, I like having those in hardcover. Sentimental? Longer-lasting? Continuation of a personal tradition? I dunno. But this is just the beginning of my foray into 6th Edition. In time, I foresee myself not only getting every 6th Edition product I can, but also going back and getting everything in 5th Edition I never picked up (to the extent I can find them and/or even discover they exist -- what is the deal with the Wikipedia entry on Hero Games not listing any products past 2012?). Addiction ahoy!

I did manage to get the two big books (6E1 and 6E2) in hardcover. In fact, received them in yesterday's mail. Wow! Even with the photos on eBay, I didn't realize they'd be this BIG! I'm glad I found them, though. Back to the topic at hand, I guess I'll have to search out my first foray into POD, based on what the Hero Games store does or doesn't have, printed-book-wise.

Okay, Print on Demand novice. I'm late to the game (heh) and am now looking to start collecting 6th Editions books. I think I have a deal lined up for the 2 main books, Character Creation and Combat & Adventuring. As I understand it, these are the starting points for 6th Edition, and include conversion notes/guidelines for transferring from 5th to 6th. So my plan is to get these already printed books, however I can, either hardcover or softcover. Beyond that, I want to support HERO Games and purchase directly from them. To that end, I'm thinking that purchasing PDF versions of their products (where no already-printed version is available thru the HERO store) and then having them printed via a source like Lulu (never heard of this; link please (if allowed)). Final cost after print-on-demand may be about the same as a printed book would be, but I've got nothing to lose if HERO Games doesn't have a printed copy of a given product. I prefer books (does that make me a Luddite?) I'd still be supporting them by buying the PDF version from them. (deep breath) For those of you who've used Print-on-Demand services, were you happy with the finished product? Did you think the pricing was fair, and the job was done in a timely manner? Were any specific instructions you provided (don't know how this printing process works, actually) carried out perfectly, half-@$$ed, or ignored? What kind of cover, if any was provided: hardcover, softcover, binder? Paper quality? Sharpness of text and images? Colors of images, with the understanding that almost all of the images would be black & white (so I guess we're talking distinctions of grey from one end (black) to the other (white), and not ending up with a muddled-looking mess)? What was the general turn-around time, from placing the order to having the printed book in your hands? Thanks for any and all feedback.