Edsel

With the advent of the Robotech RPG Tactics Kickstarter I have started pondering the idea of an RPG using that setting. I do not like the Palladium system so I was wondering if anyone has done any work on converting the mecha (assorted veritechs, Zentraedi battle pods, etc.) into the Hero system? The minis and rules for the Kickstarter look really good, but it is in reality a miniatures combat game more akin to 40K than a true RPG. The miniatures look cool so it'd be nice to use them in a Hero System campaign.

I have been out of Hero System for about two years. Now I am starting to get back into it. When last our group played we were still using 5ER but now intend to make the shift over the 6th Edition. I have looked over the conversion stuff in the 6th Edition rule books but I have noticed a plethora of little changes that were subtle enough not to be mentioned in those few pages. For example I see that the default STUN Multiplier for a KA is now 1/2d6 instead of the old 1d6-1. I have spent about 30 minutes trawling through the discussion forums to see if there is a thread or a post that gives a comprehensive list of changes between 5ER and 6th Edition but I have come up short. Rather than spending more time searching perhaps some kind soul could direct me where to look? Surely somewhere there has been a more complete list of changes created.

Re: Announcement: The Monster Hunter International RPG! I got the last Beta level slot yesterday. Glad it's doing so well.

Re: Suggested additional (rule) books? HSEG and Bestiary? I love the Pulp Era too. I plan to read the Grimnoir books once I finish the MHI novels. If a Grimnoir RPG book gets a Kickstarter I would probably pledge for it too.

Re: Announcement: The Monster Hunter International RPG! Just finished reading the first novel, I plan to start the second soon. Throughly enjoyed the read. I am looking forward to this Kickstarter, it will be the first I have ever pledged to. I am still a 5ER guy and so is my group but I will gladly pledge in order to get the background material and what will still be throughly usable game material.

Re: Who's Hunting You? And Why? We are starting a new Champions campaign on May 7th. The New Titan's campaign is set in the DC Universe with some changes to fit our situation better. My character is Wildfire, the younger brother of Starfire. Hunted by Blackfire because I renounced her rule and fled to Earth to find my sister who is sadly missing since none of Earth's heroes ever returned from some Crisis they had to deal with. Wildfire is going to stay on earth since he figures if/when Starfire returns she will come back to Earth. Hunted by Killer Frost because upon my arrival I interfered with her efforts to kill an unidentified man in a limo. I got the drop on her and she was forced to flee after lots of police began to arrive at the scene.

Re: Traveller Hero Wow! How did I miss this thread for so long? Oddly enough I was thinking about trying to do some Traveller to Hero conversions and just now stumbled across this. Alas it appears I am too late to obtain a copy.

Re: Clyde Barrow's Sawn-Off BAR In case anyone is curious... In my current Pulp Hero game one of the players is a typical two-fisted hero type. The PC has a 20 STR and uses a BAR whenever he can get away with it. As it turns out he was able to get the weapon to the big ending fight in the Hero Plus Adventure "Curse of the Vulture God." This was a huge fight. The High Priest, 4 summoned mummies and 40 Vulture cultists (half armed with old 6-shot carbines) verses 5 Player Characters and 10 Brotherhood of the Western Ankh (all armed well). The BAR was very effective in this fight (as was the flamethrower they had gotten their hands on). It was a really huge battle and took us about 2 1/2 hours to fight to conclusion. All of the BAR questions stem from the PC wanting to somehow lighten the weapon so it would not be bulky. Since it was mainly used while braced behind a vehicle the bulky aspect was really never an issue during this battle.

On page 372 of 5ER there is a DCV checklist. When would you apply the 1/2 DCV for carrying a bulky focus weapon? Based on how it reads I would say step 3 in the order. This would mean if the character has a normal DCV of 6 he next adds his two DCV levels to make him an 8 DCV and then the total is halved to make him a 4 DCV. It this how everyone else runs it?

Re: Clyde Barrow's Sawn-Off BAR Yeah, the gas tube did limit how much it could be sawn-off. Perhaps 6" or so. This also meant no bipod.

The standard BAR M1918A2 from Pulp Hero page 305, is a bulky focus. Clyde Barrow (of Bonnie & Clyde fame) used a BAR on which he had cut down the barrel and cut down the butt to enable the weapon to be lighter and more quickly brought into action. Of course I imagine that such a modification ought to impart a -1 Range Modifier and perhaps increase the STR minimum of the weapon since there is less weight to counter recoil. The thing had to be hip fired since the butt was now too short. In your opinion would this allow the weapon to do away with the "bulky" limitation? The PER Modifier of a standard BAR is +7 how much less do you think the PER Modifier would be for the cut-down version?

Re: Telegraph Operation I have pretty much decided that, in a game based pre-WWII, that Morse Code will probably a simple part of the System Operations skill. It will come into play rarely and it is an era-specific part of that skill. I thank you all for your input.

Re: The HERO System 6th Edition The books have not yet made it to the US. As I understand it the ship with the first batch of books will be leaving China (and the printers) on September 10th. It'll probably to about three weeks after that before the actual books start making it to the various distributors. For now you can get the PDF from the Hero Online store and pre-order a copy of the hard backs.

I am making a character who is a photographer and reporter. I intend for his skills to include telegraph and wireless operation. This is easily handled with the Systems Operation skill. What about Morse Code? Should this be counted as part of Sys Op skill, or should I buy a Language: Morse Code, or perhaps a KS: Morse Code would be more appropriate. Any one care to offer their opinion?

Re: Reactions to 6e Since I have access to a good duplexing color laser printer I have printed hard copies of both books and put them in a pair of binders so I can more comfortaby read them (reading a PDF on a computer screen just isn't for me). This way I can also scribble in the margins and hilight to my heart's content knowing that my books, when they arrive, will remain pristine. Thusfar I have read upto the Powers chapter. My current plan, should I choose to use 6E, is that I will keep the 5ER COM characteristic and dispense with the Striking Apperance Talent. I have also worked up a set of house rules that require certain minimums for specific characteristics. For example OCV & DCV must be at a minimum equal to DEX/3, PD must be a minimum of STR/5, etc. This will essentially re-create the figured characteristics of 5ER. Next I will start reading the Powers chapter to see what sort of changes have been made. I may or may not feel compelled to institute more house rules based on what I read. Eventually I may get around to writing up a full set of my house rules and posting them here.

Re: Cost of Levels Yes, you did. I just mis-read one of the posts the first time around.

Re: Cost of Levels 5-point levels can also apply damage.

Re: Cost of Levels But 5-point CSL still exist. Better to not buy up your OCV Characteristic and just buy a bunch of 5-point OCV levels then you can change them out for damage when you wish to do so. If you are surprised you can't use the levels but then if you are surprised you can't attack anyway. I'll simply put caps on the number of levels characters can buy to avoid this. Of course since I house rule that your OCV and DCV characteristics must be bought to a minimum of your DEX/3 it shouldn't be as much of a problem anyway.

Re: Cost of Levels I can see no place in the new rules that say that you can buy a 5-point level for all DCV. However if I look at the size templates in the back of book one, it is made pretty clear that you can do just that. It is fairly obvious that the 5-point all OCV level still exists as well even though it is never expressly permitted or prohibited in 6E (at least not that I can find). Therefore for 20 points you could buy +2 OCV and +2 DCV of skill levels and have the choice of opting for +1 Damage Class and +2 DCV instead. If you bought +2 Overall Combat levels for 20 points you could only do either: +1 Damage Class, or some combination giving you a total of +2 split between OCV and DCV. This makes the first option much more attractive.

Re: Re-introducing COM to 6th Edition Which is exactly what the inestimable rjcurrie did for me right here.

Re: Shadow Angelus No, things kind of fell apart. There were numerous reasons. Eosin has had to take a break from gaming for reasons that he can enumerate if he feels that it is something he wants to share with people outside our group. I am the primary care-giver for my 83-year-old mother and I just don't have the prep time I need for such an involved game. A couple of other members of our group have had real-life concerns that have made their regular attendance spotty. We've had to skip several regular sessions and play boardgames. Last week was the first real role-playing of any sort we tried when I ran one of the Hero Plus Pulp Hero adventures (very little prep needed). Even then only three or our regulars were there plus one newbie and myself. I think we all enjoyed the game, enough in fact that the game may resume at a later date with one of the other players in our group taking over as the GM. I hope that happens since I would love to run a character in the setting. Perhaps in a few months people's lives will get sorted out enough that we can resume our normal gaming.

Re: "Neat" Pictures

My 1st House Rule I got the first house rule for any 6th Edition game, that I run, figured out: Minimum CHAR Values Each character must meet the minimum Characteristic values given below. Unless otherwise specified round normally. Characters may only ignore these minimum with GM permission. OCV min = DEX/3 DCV min = DEX/3 OMCV min = EGO/3 (characters with no mental powers are exempted) DMCV min = EGO/3 SPD min = DEX/10 round all fractions down PD min = STR/5 ED min = CON/5 REC min = (STR/5) + (CON/5) END min = 2xCON STUN min = BODY + (STR/5) + (CON/5) I have only glanced at the Characteristic rules thus far in the PDF. I will wait until my books arrive before I do any in-depth study of these sizable books. The PDF is fine for reference but it drives me batty to try and read one for long (that's why I ordered the books too). Our group's current campaigns are all in 5ER and until a new campaign starts it is doubtful that we will be using the 6th Edition books.

Re: The 2nd REALLY important 6th edition question I like that solution, it seems elegant enough. This is the first post I have seen in a long time that makes me more inclined to give 6th a try.

Re: Pulp Era Gun Laws Thanks Yansuf! More information than I had hoped for. Alas I have already expended all my rep for this 24 hour period but I will get you tomorrow. Excellent information.