Khymeria

Hey, glad you were thinking about Gaslight: Horror and Heroics in the Victorian Era. Holmes, Watson, Thomas Carnacki, Sping-Heeled Jack, Count Dracula, Renfield, Van Helsing, Dorian Gray, Victor Frankenstein, Frankenstein’s monster, Invisible Man, Captain Nemo & the Nautilus, Nemo, Tarzan, The Time Traveller, Jekyll and Hyde (a literary version and a Hollywoodized version), Dr. Moreau, Morlocks, Beast Men, afanc, banshees, mummies, vampires, seances, gadgetry, rules for Madness & an Alienist talent to correct it. Most of the write-ups follow their literary performances in exacting detail up to the point that was available for use, crafted page by page. There is a lot more in the book, some history and important figures and how your characters may interact with that. London is described as a campaign setting with some spookier places detailed. I’m the author, feel free to ask away.

I have a home in Forestville, spend s lot of time between the two. Hit me with a DM sometime.

From the perspective of somebody who has worked on both WotC products for 5E and Hero System 6E, I think I have a pretty unique perspective on this. Obviously Hero System has a bit more upfront intellectual investment on character creation but once you learn it, that part is over. D&D constantly has some new mechanic that is independent in function from the system, all spells are different with interpretable text for example. So complexity is a bit more with Hero but levels out on a timeline. Players don’t get to that part has been the feedback I’ve received because often Hero players seem to be viewed as not very nice, not warm, not friendly, not inviting, and sometimes just flat out argumentative. I personally have pointed this out when someone asks a question on a Facebook page and the response is “the book is your friend” and I point out the book is hundreds and hundreds of pages and if they helped the player might have more interest in the system, gatekeeping like Gollum with a ring is s bad look. I wrote Hero System Book of Templates I and II so a player would have an easier time learning the creation process by reverse engineering the template they were familiar with, since help had seem hard to find.

Northern California? San Francisco here.

So am I with a Book of Lairs inspired night of long encounter style but I hate maps. I just hate them to pieces! I am having a lot of fun having my playtesters outthink me instead of hacking and slashing. That is a lot different feel than when working on a WotC backed adventure. Much more enjoyable to write the story.

How sturdy are the porcelain dice, like if one of those casino sized luck rocks takes a tumble off the table, does it come apart like grandma's nice dishes? How weighty?

Think about what you want to include, builds, stories, challenging encounter locations, fully detailed NPCs, etc. Then ponder your page count. Consider art and writers. Then use social media to promote. @Beasthad a solid idea with the blog style, which would be easier than a zine maybe, although everybody loves a collection of goodies.

If you look at the Hero System Book of Templates I and II you might find some builds, nuff said. They won’t be anything from the Distinguished Competition though. Any questions feel free to ask, I’m the author.

Trust me on this, get Gaslight currently being offered in the Hero Games Patreon. It sets the stage for Victorian Era gaming quite nice. It has a Madness mechanic that allows you Cthulhu-esque style, lots of places in London of interest, the world at large, templates like Criminal, Psychic, Faithful, Inventor, Savage, Academic, Retired Military, Detective and more. Gadgets and talents specific to the genre. Starting at Competent Normals and building. The release is about to get into character generation, templates, talents, powers, campaigns, technology, carbon monoxide poisoning, early automobile, medicine. There will be write-ups for Dracula, Renfield, Van Helsing, Invisible Man, Dorian Gray, Doctor Jekyll/Mr. Hyde (literary and Hollywoodized), Holmes, Watson, Moriarity, Spring-Heeled Jack, Jack the Ripper, Victor Frankenstein and his creation, Captain Nemo and the Nautilus, The Time Machine, banshees, ghosts, spirits, seances, new way to hold back the undead. Just all kinds of stuff. I wrote it so feel free to ask me any questions. It is more than 200 pages without a single piece of art or map laid out. I love the literature of the period and that is the idea of mixing literary and real world individuals into an 1890 something campaign against nefarious people and forces just outside the illumination of the Gaslight.

@assaultThanks for the feedback, I would love to hear how you think Gaslight can be tightened up. There is a lot more to come, so feedback along the way is appreciated and heavily considered. Feel free to message me. -Christopher

@GM Joe@SteveThe Patreon is up! Here you go! https://www.patreon.com/hero_games

I think 3 and 4 need more builds of same character at different point levels. There is very little for really high point games and some lower point build have a broad base appeal. I never thought about Power Pellet Puc Man! (Not misspelled, original name in Japan)

I might run something just for fun, I thought it would be easy enough to sit down and let players just pull a build from one of my books, Hero System Book of Templates I and II and maybe attract some new blood that is curious. I thought about a scheduled game but honestly many of the responses I saw about mask usage and vaccinations just kind of made me leery about it and I didn't sign up for it.

I am working on this currently but for a more detective/horror based setting, Gaslight for Hero (project title, not actual title) and include Reporter, Academic, Inventor, Scientist, Occultist/Psychic, Cowboy, Savage, Retired Military, Doctor, Detective, Explorer, and Noble. It is an excellent companion piece for @Christopher R TaylorWestern Hero as it set in the same time frame and just across the pond. Dracula, Invisible Man, Professor Moriarty, Dorian Gray, Spring-Heeled Jack, Jack the RIpper, and a whole lot more. The focus is on 100 point starting PCs. Hopefully coming very soon.

Wow, this is some really cool feedback. I really appreciate it and have definitely monkeyed around with builds from the Distinguished Competition, because the build tend to be a bit higher and a different type of game is represented. I tried to include things that are tricky builds or build types that I haven't done yet. Obviously something with a vehicle or cave full of them is something that hasn't been done yet. The Ring Guy (VPP) is another that I have not shown much of that type of power yet, although a bit with Crimson Sorceress, but more of an aside to the main power. I am a fan of Plastified Prankster (my 2nd favorite superhero) and Blue Bug Man, classic and new kid, so I would probably include those as neither type has been represented. Multiple Last Son of Dying Planet would be a must, one resembling the classic cartoon by Max Fleischer and another more in line with the Justice League cartoon more than likely. I might also do a rhyming medieval fire breathing demon who happened to first appear the same month I was born. I grew up on Challenge of the Super Friends so Native American Giant is something that I would dig putting in as well as Boo Yah Bot and Two Minds Make One Tough Character.

I am considering running a Champions game at DunDraCon but haven’t ran at a con in awhile and covid and masks are a consideration. Anybody planning on attending? Anyone interested in playing? Anybody been to a con since Covid?

What genre are you most interested in Juan? Use the Discird, and we will all help you get headed in the right direction.

This would be an interesting sourcebook and a great expansion to almost any style super campaign. I just had my first supplement publish for Hero Games, Book of Templates, I’m finishing up the second, and then would definitely consider something like this. I’ve always liked Savage Dragon and Batman: Year One.

I'm on the west coast in the U.S. I have a decent amount of flexibility in scheduling so if someone runs a game, I am interested. I am working on a few Hero Games products for Hall of Champions so I don't have the time to devote to running Fantasy Hero at the moment.

Why yes I do. Khymeria@gmail.com

Thanks @PenDrake777, I have that but on point suggestion. I want martial characters to use powers to represent combat expertise if the players choose. It separates just pluses and minuses and damage into a realm above gritty. @MrKinister I like what you’ve proposed. It seems to be an easy way to simulate a body of spells. Perhaps with a focus, or gestures, or incantations, and requires a skill roll to balance it with weapons and create the learned magic feel. Work up your spells and let’s see what we get. Were you thinking of a human by the way?

Here are some guidelines for my homebrew world. All standard D&D races are represented, this is because it is a system neutral setting but I wanted players that were familiar with D&D to feel at home. This includes tieflings (which are actually extraplanar creatures that were spilled accidentally in the world and are largely unwelcome, think District 9 or Alien Nation. Dragonborn are represented as well as gamers like dragon PCs. They great part about Hero System is the flexibility to create your dragon man how you see it. Are you a black dragontype and can breathe water, do you have claws/fangs, etc.? Things are spread out because when I watch fantasy movies they are always journeying. Often their is a point of geography that separates people, empires, and religions. It also allows for the players to have territory to claim, conquer, mold as their own. This irks me about standard fantasy settings like the Forgotten Realms, every piece of real estate is claimed. It is a pretty standard world, some places have more magic than others and most of it is rare, which keeps it fantastic. Your magic can come from your bloodline (sorcerer), a book/scrolls/clay tablets (wizard), the elements (druid), a pact you have made with something (warlock and kind of cleric). I don't want to break it down into classes but it appears that the standard fantasy archetypes might help. If you have a question or anything about a type of character you want to play, that would help. A rogue, a cavailier, a barbarian, a shaman, a witch, a monk, a ranger, a sneaky wizard. It will be much easier to mold to what you want than for me to give you pages and pages of setting to read, instead of you saying the character you would like, and then me filling in options based on that type or character or their place in the world. I hope that helps. You can say like Legolas, or Conan, or Drizz't, or Gray Mouser, or the Hound and that is at least a base of what you want to play.

Describe the type of character you would like to play. I think you and I are on the same page for game theme, both being fans of higher magic and heroics. Do you want to use spells? Where do you get your spells from? A patron like an demon prince, arch fey lord, a diety, family bloodline, a spellbook and knowledge of arcana? Do you see yourself using weapons primarily? What weapons? What race would you like to be? Any of your standard fantasy races can be handled easily in the setting? Are you a barbarian shaman that takes on animal traits? An elf destined to be the greatest archer that ever lived. A half lung alchemists skilled in using hallucinogenic bombs in combat? What character would you like to play? It’s Hero System which has flexibility as an advantage so I intend to use it.

Yeah sorry, 175 sounds about right. I didn't have book handy and my brain was stuck in older edition mode. As far as how magic works, I have designed a world that allows for me not to have to say "no that isn't allowed" or "that isn't in my world", because as a player in other games and other Hero system games this always bothered me. So what I propose is you describe the character you want to play, the archetype, race, how you see your magic working. For example a dwarf might want to use Rune magic to fit with the dwarven way. A character might want to be like somebody in the Shannara bloodline and have a bit of sorcery , or a more Vancian style mage (which are the most typical for the setting because I grew up comfortable in the arms of D&D) which is represented pretty well with Azgandian Magic from Fantasy Hero. Divine Magic from Fantasy Hero pretty much nails it if that is how you choose to get your magic although the limitation (only for diety's purpose) is a bit restrictive and not necessary. A diety would never grant the faithful a spell that opposes their domain. But, a god of war might allow a priest to create a feast to boost morale before heading off to battle even though this is not necessarily in their domain. It can sometimes stymie players when presented with a lot of option so create freely and then we can adjust and tinker to find a home in the world. I left lots of open space to accomodate for this as well as a planar system that crosses over in "bumps" so if you really create something odd, it is a one of a kind in the realm and was left their when this plane "bumped" momentarily with your home plane. Got more questions, ask away, rpgs are a collaborative storytelling effort.

So I don't have as much experience GMing a fantasy game as I do a supers game but I have enough to know that 100 point starting value doesn't really cut it for an exciting character out of the gate. I like spells and possibly an ability done as a power, like a healing touch of a holy warrior or scurrying up a wall. It appears that me and @MrKinisterare on the same page as far as likes. I like the heroes to be just that. So nutshell, high fantasy with competent, exciting characters. Suggestions for a point total to start are welcomed. @Mccabe what are your preferences for your type of fantasy question? Once you decide on the type of characters, I will give you the setting details so you can flush it out. I have documents to send you on the setting. I can really handle any race/class combination in my setting so have at it.