Direbadger

Re: Urban Fantasy Recommendations (I don't think I've seen these mentioned already) Kelley Armstrong - Women of the Otherworld series Kat Richardson - Greywalker Sergei Lukyanenko - Night Watch Kelley Armstrong isn't a favorite of mine, but her books cover a wide variety of supernatural and are quite popular. Kat Richardson does a good job of capturing my style of Urban Fantasy gaming. A typical tough PI with supernatural abilities helping out the underdog against the big baddies. Importantly, though, is the concept of the "twilight" or another plane the hero can cross into where the bad things live. This concept is prevalent in a lot of urban fantasy and should definitely be touched on in a game supplement. Night Watch and the other books in the series are great reads. The supernatural forces of the world are largely divided into two camps, light and dark, which patrol and monitor each other, all the while scheming and conspiring. The book also works in a great deal of ambiguity between light and dark, good and evil. The concept of "twilight" or another dimension is prevalent as well. With regards to other books that have been mentioned already, Laurel K. Hamilton's early Anita Blake novels are some of the defining books of the genre in my opinion. The social power plays between characters are amazing. The various rules and customs of supernatural societies are very well fleshed out. This should be required reading for any urban fantasy game designers. Patricia Briggs is extremely entertaining for a light read with a little different take on how things work in a supernatural world.

Re: Knightshift Stories -- Campaign Log Out of curiosity, how long are your average sessions lasting? Trying to get a feel for how much to plan per session for my own game. Thanks.

Re: Learning Hero I've read enough of the rules to have a good basic understanding of how things work and could run a combat (but still with a decent amount of looking stuff up). The next step is character generation. Any tips on generating characters at the beginning (i.e. how to generate a reasonably effective/fun character)? I'd prefer to do it without spending more money (just yet) on books like Fantasy Grimoire or USPD. Also, is Hero Designer a critical tool to have? I really enjoy statting up my own NPCs and creatures, but could use a few pointers. How does one guage the toughness of an encounter and balance out the opposing sides? Should the bad guys have just as many points as the PCs? Should a single creature/NPC taking on the party have points equal to that of the entire party/group or two-thirds or half? Any simple guidelines would be helpful. Lastly, are there any shortcuts for statting up mooks for combat (other than copying an example out of a book)? Are there a few key stats that I can make up and jot down rather than doing a detailed character creation? (For example, when making up a few D&D bandit mooks, you can quickly just make up HP, AC, Attack Bonus, and Damage and not worry about individual ability scores, skills, feats etc.) Thanks again for all the help!

Re: What do I need to run a good supers game? The campaign I was going to run would be a modern super hero game largely inspired by the various X-men comics and spinoffs of the 80s and 90s, as well as some of the newer iteration of Marvel comics like Ultimates and Ultimate X-men. The recent release of X-men movies will probably fuel the imaginations of the players quite a bit. I envision mid-level supers dealing with not only bad guys but societal problems as well. I won't be using standard Marvel characters or the Marvel universe, but I will be borrowing ideas heavily.

Hey folks! As a newbie trying to run a supers (and a fantasy game) what books do I really (practically) need to run a good game? I currently own: 5ER Sidekick pdf I was thinking of one or two of the following: Champions Champions Universe Until Super Powers Database Hero System Combat Handbook Ultimate Martial Artist How "indispensable" are these titles? What does Champions have that isn't in the core book? I like writing a lot of my own setting details, is there really any need for Champions Universe? If I pick up HSCH do I really need UMA too? Thanks!

Hello again everyone. Rank and file newbie here trying to run a Fantasy Hero game (and also a supers game, but that's a story for another thread). I currently own: 5ER Sidekick pdf (printed out) Fantasy Hero pdf I plan on primarily using Sidekick for the first several adventures. The setting is one of my own design. Are there any other books that I really (almost) need to play the game? What other books would be helpful (or more helpful than others)? I was thinking of one of the following: Hero System Combat Handbook Fantasy Hero Grimoire Ultimate Martial Artist Also, how often am I going to be referencing stuff in Fantasy Hero? Should I be printing a lot of it out on my laser printer? Thanks!

Re: Casual Survey: Age of players and Hero's utility vs. other games I'm 33 and have been playing Hero for a week now. I started RPing a little over 20 years ago, and began with D&D in it's various incantations. I have played some Rolemaster/Spacemaster for a while, but for the most part, D&D has a stranglehold on players in my area. I've owned and read several other games and systems and have played a few session with each, but I always ended up coming back to the standard D&D fantasy game. In the last 5 years or so, I switched from primary player to primary GM and became disillusioned with D&D. It's a great game, but there are so many different things I want to do that weren't easily done in that system. Since I'm the GM now, I can do things my way, which seems a lot easier with a level-less, point-buy system, where rules and setting aren't overly intertwined. I've been looking for a solid unified system that can handle the different campaigns I've been wanting to run (super heroes, fantasy, modern, sci-fi). I was also looking for something with a proven track record, continued support from the company, and a reasonable sized fan-base. This is how I ended up with Hero (GURPS came in 2nd). I think I've come to the right place. One thing I found interesting was the average age of people here (and the link to the previous poll about player ages with Hero). I'm pleased that so many of the players are in the neighborhood of my age, but I was a little dismayed at the lack of younger players. Does Hero not appeal to younger gamers (compared to other RPGs), or does the younger crowd just not hang out on these boards? Cheers!

Re: Learning Hero Hey everyone, thanks for the all the encouragement and advice! So far I've started off with sidekick, reading the important parts about character design and combat and browsing through some of the powers. Taking my time and going through it (Sidekick) doesn't seem all that bad. I'm really psyched about the system as a whole. After I'm a little more familiar with the system myself, I'll run a few sample combats to get my players up to speed. I'm thinking about sticking with Sidekick for the first few real sessions, and then slowly adding in more options from the big book. Another thought I had was to run a lower-powered game to start with for a few sessions, using heroic rather than superheroic characters. I'm thinking that a mini-campaign of Fantasy Hero or Dark Champions might be a bit easier to manage at the beginning rather than a full-fledged supers campaign. Here's my first rules question: How does the timing work for a block in combat? When does the blocking character declare the block? A block is listed as a 1/2 phase action. Does the blocking character need a phase in the same segment the attacker is attacking in? If not, does it use up his next phase? I get most of the die-rolling and such, but the sequence and timing part still has me a bit confused. Thanks again for all your help!

Is there a good source for pre-statted NPCs for Hero 5th Champions setting? Being new to the game, creating NPCs from the ground up can be an arduous task and so I was looking for a good collection of pre-made characters, villians, mooks etc. Thanks

I'm a total Hero system newbie, having never played or run a game with the system before. I just picked up 5thEdRev and Sidekick. I'd like to run a super hero game and so I turned straight to the grandaddy of them all, Champions/Hero. My big question is, how do I go about learning the system well enough to run a game for my players who will also be Hero newbies. At first I tried tackling the main 5th edition rules, but found it a little tough to get through at first. Sidekick seems a little easier to start off with. What now? I'm still feeling a bit overwhelmed with the system and not comfortable enough to start running a game. Unfortunately, there aren't any other Hero games around that I can sit in on as a player. If I want people to start playing Champions or Hero, I have to be the one to introduce them. It seems like quite a lot to handle at the beginning, any tips on learning the system and getting up to speed as a GM would be appreciated. Help me before I give up and just go with Mutants and Masterminds! Thanks