GreaterThanOne

I use a Perception roll to notice and give general information. 'She is wearing a big diamond ring on her ring finger', and a Deduction roll to give additional information. i.e. She must be married, (+4) She must be married to a rich guy., (Crit or +10)She must be married to a multi-millionare or be that rich herself, that is a rare type Ib diamond." Using another example I would use PER to inform the player, "You hear footsteps on the stairs" and Deduction for, "They are coming down the stairs trying to be careful", (+4) "They are too heavy to be your little sister's", (Crit or +10) "A heavy set person is trying to creep down the stairs, they are wearing work boots or some other heavy shoes." I prefer using Deduction to interpret and PER just to notify the player and let them come to their own conclusions. I heavily use complementary skills as above including Science and Background skills to supplement Deduction.

Does anyone know if there is book, article, etc. for 6th Edition (or that I could adapt) that covers advanced hacking/programming such as for a Cyberpunk, Modern, or Near Future setting? If not, any suggestions on how to develop a system that would represent cyber 'Combat'? I'm thinking both Cryptography and Analyze: Network Security as complementary skills, but I am also thinking of perhaps a sort of mini-game element that might add to scenarios where the hacker is running in real time parallel to the 'action heroes' like in the movies. I am not opposed to adapting from another system to Hero if required. Any ideas or suggestions welcome.

Edit!

So funny, I just found this night before last on accident looking for Gaming Music. It is actually very enjoyable so far! Do you know what tools they are using for distance communication? Tools etc? +1 worth listening to.

This. It doesn't matter how good the products look if no one buys or plays them. I personally believe the best thing at this point would be to make the system free and sell the modules, miniatures, etc. Using Unreal Engine as an example, they were able to quickly dominate the market because they a) Made a product that was easy to learn, hard to master, and b) they let everyone and their mom make mods, systems, games, add-on and plug-ins for free and retain a percentage. We are still following old models in a very much changed world but there are some excellent opportunities with long range playing advancements, VR, etc. But we have a lot we can do now. Maybe we need a Hall of Heroes where GM's share resources for new players and coordinate for conventions? I just came back from a long hiatus so there may be a bunch of resources I am missing but first we have to run the games so people can see that it isn't that hard. Also we should probably stop telling each other that what we are doing is "hard". It isn't. It's a set of logical rules which anyone can learn with some patience and diligence. No, you can't learn Hero by flipping through a few pages and scanning a weapons chart but it can be learned without much fuss if your IQ is anywhere near average. I spent most of yesterday at a sponsored event which had a series of short games. One of the games is new and being released and we each got a character sheet, some dice and a quick overview of what was on the sheet. We played. The launch is in a few months and it was an excellent way to spread the game but it is a COORDINATED effort not some lone Urban Gamer trying to revitalize a system. Anyhow, I for one am here for the long haul.

I agree with you. I worked in mining financing for years and its the same problem. There are dozens of quality mines with little or no funds for them and a few large Market Darlings. Capital or a hell of a lot of sweat equity will be required. What I meant to imply is that funding, planning and execution all require at least a few motivated persons. Financing nor motivation alone will solve the issues but I believe it is worth doing.

I disagree. Never underestimate what a few highly motivated people can get done when they decide to. If we will decide to is a separate issue. I can say with almost absolute certainty that in some way shape or form HERO will continue to exist so long as people play RPG's because of the morale of the people here and a bunch of quiet individuals out there that understand why the D&D crowd doesn't know what they are missing. Not that D&D can't be fun, I have had fun playing some of the most terrible RPG systems ever! I don't know if it will be a financially successful or popular endeavor but people will be using HERO or one of its iterations for a long time. Ours is a social hobby and the players and more importantly GM's have to advocate for HERO. They don't know what they don't know. We have the Community system coming to hopefully create some cool On-Ramps for HERO which should be one of our primary objectives as a group along with hosting games. I found out there was a mini-convention in town last weekend and it was very easy to drum up interest in a possible game. I agree with the art or Color issue but maybe we can turn it into an asset. Slap a sticker on the front that says : "Pretty, Misleading Picture Here". Make the fact that it DOESN'T try to sell you on the color a strong point. Maybe we need better art in a rules book. I don't know. Not that I have anything against art for RPG's in general. Not a single one of us can say we haven't looked at some stunning picture over and over and played imaginary scenes in our heads. I tell people that poo-poo Splash and Color to think of it as foreplay for gaming. It's Viagra for our imaginations. Art is dry tinder for our minds. It brings back all those fantasies from staring at an amazing image. We get the benefit of all that time imagining when we play, albeit with differences, because we share our imaginations with the others so our world becomes an amalgam of each person that participates. However, we live in an age where we have nearly unlimited Splash at the press of a few buttons so I personally do not pay much attention to Color outside of the actual playing and planning part. I use it to spark my idea machine, it doesn't help me understand or appreciate the rules any better. I wanted a universal system not a specific game world so I got exactly what I wanted. I do believe we need some great splash for the Campaign Worlds though. It helps people "be" in the world, especially those with less vivid or active imaginations. I would rather have someone buy a HERO product because of a "stupid reason" than not get to know the system.

I could not agree with you more! Honestly, it is one of the biggest issues I have with HERO. The openness of the system seems to bring out the Power Gamer in a lot of people. I can't recall where I read it but "Not all the answers are on your character sheet" is a good mentality to keep in all TTRPGs. Your point total (within a certain range) is not what determines how effective you are in resolving conflict and shouldn't unduly affect your enjoyment but if it does tailor your campaign to that. The freedom of HERO can lead you down a lonely, boring road of Overpoweredness. Don't forget the Roleplaying part of RPG in our never ending quest for The Perfect System.

OK, so a little background. I have been playing RPG's since around 1985. I played Champions for a long time but, like many, had a difficult time finding groups and almost all HERO groups were Supers related. The common belief then was that Champions had the broadest creation system (it still does) and creation wasn't random (most still are). I took a nearly 2 decade break from TTRPG's but coming back has given me a lot more perspective on the hobby. I have a couple of dozen GURPS books in a box under my stairs including Man-to-man and a bunch of awesome world books that are all, without exception, excellent. GURPS does world books well, no doubt about it! Their skill system is ostensibly more logical and accesible but I haven't purchased HERO System Skills yet and overall HERO may be at least as good. I will reserve judgement on that issue until I have the skills book. Now where HERO just simply destroys GURPS is in the hands of a creative Player or GM who understands the intricacies of the system. This is the primary reason I decided on HERO: Think of ANY ability, power or thing and you can make it in HERO. YOU, not a Game Designer. You don't have to buy a module, learn a new sub-system or invent your own rules. You want a Native American shaman that can put a curse on you that transforms you into a talking monkey over a month? Done. Need something like Dr. Who's Sonic Screwdriver? Done. A tank? Easy. An alien that drains-life-from-everything-around-it-even-when-he-doesn't-want-to? Done! GURPS lacks (or lacked) an overall system for EVERYTHING. There are no true Rules to Make The Things only the rules and the things they make for you. It makes it difficult or impossible to compare the total power of say a mages blast to a cowboy's six-gun. HERO makes it possible (though not exact) by comparing Active Points. You can tailor HERO to the scale you want from planet eating gods to kids investigating a lemonade stand's stolen funds. GURPS handles the latter well but if you want to do the former you will likely need to buy a new book (p.s. It's GURPS Religion and a few others like Vodoo which is amazing!) or try to adapt the rules. Equipment charts and splashy art tend to get gamer's attention and often a player new to a system opens to the Weapons and Armor or Spells section, scans for the most "broken" weapon and then builds a character around that. Fine, but what if you want something that isn't in that list? How does adding Range or making it a Focus affect its power or cost? The consistency of HERO allows you to fairly easily create brand new things to the degree and detail you desire. Instead of looking for what you want you can make it! Now to the crux of your issue, and I sympathize with you because Westerns are one of my favorite gaming genres, the period is well documented, it translates to other Universes (Horror, Frontier Space, Outlands Fantasy, etc) well and it has a broad range of activities to engage in usually involving fighting. Assuming you aren't just looking for period equipment lists (check HERO Equipment Guide if you are), you can create things in the world that may not be part of that world book easily by comparing similarly powered abilities or objects and simply changing the "Special Effect" and playing with Modifiers. Characters, weapons, vehicles and armor all use the same meta-rules. The specific books just go into more detail about how to achieve specific effects or address Genre specfic issues such as Time Dilation or Scalping. Example: "Two-Guns" McClintock hides from his pursuers in some abandoned Native American cliff dwellings. He lost his custom (OAF) guns in his escape but at the back of the caves finds a long dead bandido with a rusty .69 calibre 1822 US Model 1822 rifle(31/2D6 RKA!!!) with a dozen or so bullets. Because of its rust and age, the GM gives it the Activation Roll 11-, Jammed and Inaccurate, 1/2 OCV limitations. Now we have a general idea of how effective it is overall, the player can assess his risk of using it because of limitation standardization, and because of Active Points (69!) we know how DEADLY it is when and if it hits despite the modifiers and roughly how likely it is to kill someone. The key to enjoying HERO is learning (and using) the rules. Often people say "Learning the rules is half the battle". For the HERO System "Learning the rules IS the battle!" Once you learn the fundamental rules you can make anything with any series of attributes or characteristics you want in absolutely any universe you can imagine. GURPS is a collection of rules, terms and concepts but HERO is truly a creation system. Doubt it? Ask for anything here and I promise you one of these nerds can design it in no time at all. I do disagree with a lot of the players here in regards to big dice pools. Larger dice rolls are not favorable to EXCITING combat as it creates an average at high enough numbers. I'm sure some of the math people have gone into it in excruciating detail but I find the variability of low dice attacks to be perfect for the unknown. At high levels it's very easy to know if you are going to affect the target if you know their defenses. With HERO this "bloat" appears to come from the players in using what I consider extremely high values in their games a sort of Power Creep. I think this is a left over from being primarily used for super hero campaigns but it isn't inherent in the system and I'm inferring the advancement of this phenomena from looking at people's character sheets. I personally prefer a large variance in effect but many people prefer higher level "attrition" combat. Whatever floats your boat! When I came back to TTRPGs I compared the two side by side and if you can deal with the lack of specific World details (outside of the Champions Universe), the system is much more adaptable. Like most things in life though, if it is worthwhile it probably takes time to master. GURPS uses an exponential cost scale which inherently limits scaling (that was its intent). The idea is a natural one since it represents the law of diminishing returns but it limits its applicability to being "universal". Cost is a function of rarity or effort for a normal human and the system gets a little wonky at high levels. To retain its Universal applicability, HERO uses linear costs, i.e. +1D6 costs what the previous +1D6 costs UNLESS the GM puts a Maximum Characteristic or Active Cost limitations in place which will vary depending on the feel and style of the campaign. Hope this made sense I have been typing in short bursts between work and cooking. TLDR; HERO is easier to scale than GURPS but both are pretty awesome.

Both Normal Defenses and Resistant Defenses defend against Killing Attack STUN damage. (HSV2 pg. 103) though you might have just mis-typed but just in case.

Interestingly enough, one of the players decided to join the "the other guys". It is making things much more chaotic and fun! I really like free-form gaming even if it can put strain on my GMing abilities. This is turning out to be very fun!

"You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means." ~ Inigo Montoya

Thank you to everyone for the information. I am reading as quickly as possible both on Mechanics and World Building but I am definitely going to get the Updated Version first. If only because, for all intents and purposes I am relearning the rules from scratch. I am certain things have changed but its been so long that I can't see the differences. I don't want to awaken memories that might affect my fluidity with 6E as a GM. I'll almost for sure get the original later anyways.

Help a guy out. What is the difference between that version and the $20: Aaron Allston'sStrike Force PDF aside from price of course.

The Sith were originally a race. They were defeated but their Philosophy became like a religion. So Sith were warrior monks based on might and power. The third "version" is a revival like The Third Reich or MAGA.

This is the introduction to a new world I am creating for a Supers Campaign. I have an extensive background because I am also using it for a setting for a few short stories. Let me know what you think or if you see any serious problems or even if you just think something would be "cooler". Anything constructive is appreciated. I do not have a name for the setting yet so its just world setting. I have some ideas but I am waiting for an Ah-Ha moment. So here it is: The adventures will take place at a time of great upheaval. The Character’s lives will develop in the immediate aftermath of an immense and continuous bombardment of Earth by Extreme Energy Cosmic Rays originating from a Supermassive Blackhole in the Ursa Major Cluster. A blackhole with a mass 9 billion times that of our sun in the center of that galaxy, rotating at 85% the speed of light has been spraying Cosmic Rays towards the center of our own Milky Way galaxy for nearly a billion years like a colossal woodchipper launching a spray of hyper-accelerated, deionized nucleons instead of bits of wood. . As our solar system gyrates around the galactic core as part of one of its spiral arms, we cross paths with these enormous waves of Cosmic Rays like driving around an enormous water sprinkler with the window down on an undulating road. These rays and their sub-particles bombard Earth through its magnetic barrier, the heliosphere, causing mutations and activating passive adaptations hidden in the DNA of nearly all forms of life on the planet from bacteria and virus floating in the upper limits of the atmosphere to strange life forms adapted to a life without light, leeching the energy to survive and replicate from the chemical vents in the deepest depths of the oceans. Plants and animals can exhibit traits from species far back in their genetic tree often regressing nearly entirely and other times only exhibiting a few minor throw-back traits. Other creatures blend genetics into strange hybrids, many familiar to us through legends and mythology. Monsters like dragons, giant apes, and even unicorns have their basis in Affected animals in bygone years during past Events. Often these traits are spread broadly or were spread by particularly successful species like humans. A few of these life forms can inter-breed with local life and completely new species often emerge in generations rather than millennia or ages. On the other side of the coin, entire Genus and Families of creatures annihilated almost overnight as ancient mosses, algae and fungi alter local ecosystems often after wreaking havoc on local life or by creating new alpha predators that decimate local plant or animal populations. Previous Events have caused mass extinctions and a particularly long Event was responsible for the Cambrian Explosion 55 million years ago. The effects have also ensured that no animal has successfully evolved to use radio or higher frequency organs on Earth as the cyclical nature of The Events cuts their branch short before it ever has a chance to be useful. Until now... Humans, in their inexhaustible curiosity and exploration have altered the very climate of Earth in great part fueled by the advances in electronic and communications technology including the use of high frequency radio and the harnessing of sub-atomic particles. Our technology allows us to store knowledge and communicate information across the globe in microseconds. It is the technology behind intercontinental ballistic missiles and The Internet. It has allowed us to gain dominance over the entire planet as measured by sheer impact like no other species before. Except... Without our tools, we are not much more than very curious, very weak, little monkeys. The average medium sized domestic canine could very likely kill the average, unassisted and unarmed owner if they decided to turn against them fearlessly. Forget about the average 21st century human fighting off a predator of any size alone and unarmed. But we don’t lose access to all of our tools, our species has survived and clambered to the top of the food chain on a trail of blood and fire littered with the carcasses of the species that have caused us fear and even more of those plants and animals that are resources, food or labor. We are not a peaceful species and we will not go out without a fight. Another of our greatest assets as a species is our ability to adapt to the most hostile environments, we find a way to cling to life and eventually to dominate it at times against seemingly impossible odds. Even without radio, electricity or computers we are still far from declawed. Firearms, explosives, Kevlar, RPG’s, and napalm all still level the playing field in our favor against these Monsters, and we are going to need it because... This Event is different in more than one way. For one, its duration will be measured in decades not years or weeks. As it continues the world will continue to evolve/devolve and chaos will start to play a part as permutations of permutations twists the world into something unrecognizable to those that live to see its effects. This event also differs in another important way. Amongst those Affected humans that exhibit strange god-like powers are some from previous ages. The eldest have lived millennia, immortals for all purposes and this time they have been waiting. Since time immemorial the Affected born fortunate enough to look Human have served “civilized” men until eventually and inevitably, they too are feared or envied and eventually killed. Our species only knows one cure for fear. From the besting of Enkidu by Gilgamesh to the theft and then blinding of Polyphemus by Odysseus, history repeated itself endlessly. The victors hailed as heroes for every creature slaughtered regardless of the threat it posed or how hard it tried to avoid contact with this xenophobic and genocidal primate. This time, the eldest and wisest, the survivors of these inevitable Monster Hunters and so-called Heroes have asked, “Why should a town of filthy, superstitious, ignorant fishmongers be granted more right to life than a unique and majestic Dragon that, if left alone, will live for millennia?” and the answer was, “They should not be.” They asked themselves, “What is the worth of a noble griffon in lives of men?” and the answer was, “A great many.” And when they asked, “Why should we let them hunt us one by one, alone, hiding in the deepest caves, in the most isolated corners and the furthest isles?” and the answer was, “We should not.” This time, they are prepared. Those able to infiltrate human society have gained positions and made fortunes. They have prepared supply lines and equipment that will not be affected by The Event. Their vision is a world where the leaders shepherd the planet instead of ravage it. That nature be allowed to run its course and that undesirable traits be restrained, trained or controlled by whatever means possible but that only in the direst cases are unique species to be destroyed. They wish to impose their will on the destructive humans like the days of old in Ancient Olympus, Ancient Sumer and Old India. Before this endlessly destructive Age of Man. But first they must bring man low. Shatter his pride and take his tools so that he will know his place at the feet of the gods. A war is coming which side are you on?

Starring a Wood-Elf Dream Mage and his Dwarf Assistant?

Brilliant! I really like that idea.

I joined this group and have gotten some absolutely incredible maps including animated maps for people that play on screen tables. This is just one was one that I am going to use and fairly time/genre generic but there are hundreds of all types. The Reddit group is r/battlemaps/ I am not in any way associated with the Patreon or even know who they are. I just grabbed one of the maps I downloaded and liked to show an example. Enjoy!

I'm not familiar with the term. I asked a series of questions after the initial description and then after about a 30 minutes back and forth I left them with some Hard to Answer Questions and Food For Thought. Then on the day of the first run we completed the character. Except for the secret powers. I chose some "Secret" Complications for example he doesn't know it yet but his END requires that he drain electricity at least once a day and decided his girlfriend is a DNPC.

Amen to that! One of the first things I tell the people that ask about the game is: "This is not a costume and cape game about super heroes. It is about normal people with extraordinary powers." I believe that creating a normal then saying "Now what happens when they get X power" provides the clearest route to understanding and produced results I just don't have actual "Rules" established which as the campaign goes on might help new players.

I had forgotten about Heroes! I agree I am very much a "Simulationist" player with a strong, strong emphasis on character development. I will be sharing some of the Heroes and Villians here as we go on but I know not all players have these objectives. I want to ensure that if they want to spend game time collecting money, or food or conquering a city that is fine. My job as GM is to delve into the "Why" and "How" and provide the environment and conflict that their wishes will entail. I am a big believer in Consequences. I basically did as you mentioned and asked them to design the person and then very general idea of powers. it worked exceedingly well with the first player who is 12 years old but with the adults they may feel too constrained. sorry for the mess in the responses I haven't figured out how to erase a post yet.

This is how I created the first player's character along with them. I then added in things like Extra Time, Concentration, RAR, No Conscious Control, X4 END etc. I want them to expand from these Powers by buying off the limitations or adding new Advantages. Exactly one of the issues I want to address. With high power games it often feels like a war of attrition against enemies. The Powers become the fastest and easiest way for Players to "Advance" at they become crutches that detract from the more mundane stories that often make TTRPG's so much more interesting when you can't simply "Hulk Smash" every problem. Essentially I want to have an outline of rules that delineate why you can't just "Get Some More Mental Defense" because they are being jacked around by mentalists. I would instead guide them to perhaps make a deal with a mad scientists in exchange for a mental defense helmet for some dubious mission or learn Ancient Mindfulness from an Old Taoist Priest to help protect from the effects. Do you feel that as the campaign advances player's resent/ed the GM control over their Powers? I am leaning strongly towards this "Heavy Hand" approach as I believe it will allow them the most focus on their person. Especially if they don't actually know the Powers only the "effect".

I haven't used 6E enough to get the feel for END issues. I have read on some of the opinions. I will keep it in mind for the reasons you mention. I am building the powers myself right now but obviously I want the players to learn the system and That Way Min-Maxing Lies.

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