Korgoth

It is oft said on the internets rpg'o'sphere that GURPS is better for running campaigns/settings that are closer to 'human/normals' power scales and that GURPS tends to break down at higher 'superhero/cosmic' power scales. And it is oft said that the HERO System is better for running at higher power level 'superhero/cosmic' scales but lacks the granularity to run campaigns/settings closer to 'human/normals' power scales. Now IMO I'd say HERO does lack the amount of 'granularity' I'd like for near normals/heroic roleplaying and has no problem at all modeling superheroic/cosmic scale power level games. (HERO is my all time favourite RPG engine/took-kit and I love it dearly. It's also the system I mechanically know the best and am most comfortable with, 'system mastery' you'd call it) GURPS however is a system I am only tangentially familiar with (despite owning many world books from the 3E era, and the 4E core books) And I've always had this niggling feeling in the back of my head that I'm cheating on HERO when I begin to read the GURPS rulebooks as their are so many similarities between the two systems (I know I know it's silly, I have the same issue with watching 'Family Guy' vs the Simpsons. It's stupid but it is what it is) So I am making a concerted effort to learn GURPS 4E as of late but I also am curious if it's worth the effort in a sense that it will replace HERO as my go to do everything generic rpg engine. Will it handle 'Heroic Scale' games as smoothly and effortlessly as it will Superhero gaming? Or Will I never achieve the holy grail of gaming (one system to rule them all)(I'm also a notorious/rabid system collector and ever in search of the 'perfect' RPG engine for any particular genre, let alone the ultimate prize of the perfect generic RPG engine) and just accept that HERO is for High Power stuff and GURPS is for lower powered stuff. Also feel free to disagree with my thesis and tell me why HERO is the best at Low Powered games and fails at Cosmic Supers or vice versa. P.S. Both systems are 3d6 bell curve based at their cores. And a +1 to a roll is a big deal in both systems. So if that is the case, to me at least how can GURPS be more granular/better at human scale/heroic games when many (not all of course) folks feel HERO isn't, yet HERO also uses the 3d6 bell curve, and a +1 or -2 to a skill roll is a pretty big deal. Bigger impacts than a +1 in a d20 game or a +5% or +10% to a roll in a d100/BRP game. P.P.S.Thanks in advance for everyone's feedback and opinions. I value the thoughts of those with experience and system knowledge of both rpg engines. And also I'm not looking to poo poo on GURPS or HERO, this question comes from a place of love for both RPG's and Generic systems. * Post EDITED for grammar/spelling/formatting*

I'd say it's not an official HERO Games product/book but a fan website that best captures rules for a Greyhawk/Dragonlance type D&D campaign. That website is my favorite of all the HERO fan-sites, Killershrike's 'High Fantasy HERO' site (it's primarily 5th edition content to boot). I'm willing to bet his 'World of Generica' is just what your looking for, He breaks down feats, classes, races and especially magic in 5E mechanics. It's got SO MUCH content it's amazing IMO. If I won the lottery I'd pay to have all that content professionally laid out and setup for Print on Demand books. I'd also recommend checking out his other HERO content, he's got Sci-Fi and Cyberpunk and Super-HERO pages just as detailed and content rich as his Fantasy HERO page. Not to mention pages for other RPG systems.

Good podcast, thanks for sharing and interesting to learn more about you and your RPG history.

Awesome, thanks for looking that up Kuma Shinobi. In reading the rules for "Staredowns" I really like them, but... for Melee Combats. In Westerns sometimes it's the Town Drunk, or a Simple Farmer that stands up to Black Bart and shows that he has true courage. So that sort of Hero I don't envisage having much Presence above 10 if any, heck maybe even lower than 10. Also a Bully/Villain could have a High Presence, rep as a "Bad Man" but in actuality when he's alone without his gang backing him up he may be a coward deep down. I guess the real question is... What do you all reading this think. Do you consider the HERO "Presence" stat as encompassing more than just a character's/npc'c reputation and fame/notoriousness? Does it also encompass courage?

As per the title why is this forum so stingy with the upvote per day amount. Some days I want to upvote 10 posts, another day 0. Why should it be limited? I can only upvote each post once anyways. The Dream Pod 9 forums uses the same interface/forum software as the HERO forum, so maybe it's an odd/default setting for this forum software? If so could it please be change.

Would be nice to get an answer to this question, but the lack of one I think is an answer in and of itself.

I never thought of that! but that is EXACTLY the same sort of thing isn't it. For Samurai it's an "honor/test of skill" thing I think, not flinching first. Thanks for mentioning that. If you find that bit please post the book and page number as I own most of the 4th, 5th, and 6th edition books.

To me that's a big part of "Westerns" (and by extension Western RPG's). That is the "Duel in the main street of town at High Noon". Whomever draws first is the aggressor (be they the White Hat or the Black Hat) and the one who draw's second is acting in self defense. At least if there are witnesses (Towns folk) who'll vouch for the Hero if he didn't draw first, but was faster than the Villain. To me it's one thing that's been missing from all the Western RPG's I've looked at, though that's by no means an exhaustive list. A "Stare-down/Flintch first" system where the Player and the Villian have to play a game of chicken and make the other one flinch and draw their gun first, thus making themselves acting in self defense, and safe from prosecution by the law. I'd like to see some sort of "Grit" stat (not sure what I'd use in HERO for that? Presence? EGO?) on which each part in the duel has to roll against their "Grit" and if they fail they draw their gun. Each round they succeed the next round is at a cumulative -1 to simulate the building tension till one of the parties snaps and goes for their gun. Now As for gunfights when no ones is watching, well... anything goes pard'ner.

I've done some googling, but I've come up with nothing so I thought I'd ask the HERO denizens here on the forums. Does anyone know if there is one of those Let's Read threads for the HERO 5th Edition Revised Core Rules book any on the web? Same Idea as the ones below for 4th and 6th editions respectively. Lets Read 4th ed https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/hero-lets-read-the-big-blue-book.454655/page-4 Lets Read 6th ed https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/lets-read-hero-system-6th-edition-volumes-1-2.767046/

I ask as I haven't found one either here or at drivethrurpg, though maybe I just failz @searching. I can find the PDF that says '#450' on the cover and #400 on the inside but I already own that one in dead-tree and pdf. I'd like to get a new copy of the 'revised/451' edition as my old book is really showing it's age now. So I'm specifically the 'Product Code 451' version which, according to RPGG has a bit of re-formatting, art and layout. https://www.rpggeek.com/rpgitemversion/5177/deluxe-printing This deluxe edition of the Big Blue Book differs from the standard editions as follows: New interior graphics and layout. The new layout uses page borders, large gray bars for chapter headings, gray boxes that look like torn sheets of paper for tables and a serif font compared to the more plain layout of earlier editions. The Sourcebook and Campaign Book no longer have their sections starting at S1 and C1 respectively but are now numbered like the rest of the book. The Deluxe cover, other than the obvious additions of the word "Deluxe" and the banner mentioning HeroMaker, has much more vibrant colors than the regular hardcover and softcover. In addition, a metallic sheen has been placed on various surfaces, notably Seeker's sword and Dr. Destroyer's armor. Rules corrections. The rules have been updated to reflect changes that first appeared in the Hero System Rulesbook. The earlier hardcover and the softcover do not have these changes. An index. The hardcover and softcover only had a comprehensive table of contents. Smythe-sewn hardcover binding. The pages are laid out in signatures of 16 or 32 pages and sewn together, then glued to a backing. The text block of all the hardcovers, regardless of printing, "floats". This means the pages are attached to a backing which is then glued to the covers of the book, but not the spine. The first printing hardcover, in a cost-cutting measure omitted the sewing and glued the pages directly to the backing, similar to a softcover book. The glue used in the first printings became brittle and the pages fell out, requiring Iron Crown Enterprises to send out replacement copies with better glue to owners of the first printing that requested a replacement. HeroMaker Software. The Deluxe edition includes this software to create characters with. The last 35 or so pages of the Deluxe book is the instruction manual for HeroMaker. The software requires MS-DOS to run and is no longer supported. Nick: Deluxe Printing Publisher: Hero Games Year: 1995 Hard Cover Product Code: 451 ISBN-10: 155806205X

I'd suggest adding Killershrike's Cyberpunk stuff to your Cyber Ombnibus book. http://www.killershrike.com/MetaCyber/MetaCyberSetting.aspx It would have to be copy/paste of his web content but it's really good stuff (as is all of Killershrike's content)

Just came across this thread and am really glad to see you're testing these waters out (HERO Games). I also was hesitant at first to try the print on demand service at RPGNow/DriveThruRPG. But the soft cover and hard cover books I've bought are of great quailty. You can't really tell the difference from a store bought book IMO. I'm off to order both books right now. Please add the new "Ultimate Skill" to the print on demand service as well :-)

Re: Possible HERO System Supplement Kickstarters From Steve -- What Interests You? All 4 projects interest me. And I'd want a hard copy of each so I'm guessing the 50$ amnt for each of them.

Re: HERO System Grimoire Looking forward to the print copy as well.

Re: HERO System Equipment Guide I was just going to ask if their is a "print" version availible yet for this title.