shnar

Re: Hero Sales Figures, new blood? This is actually what I was hoping to find out from a company perspective. Not exact sales figures, but trends. Has the core rulebook sold steady since it's release (after the initial big buys I guess), has there been a tapering off of business, and increase, etc. This should be one of the primary factors for driving a ver6, if at all even. -shnar P.S. Nolgroth, is your avatar from Fallout?

Re: City of Heroes - Online Hero Game Oh, my mastermind's Zombie names are "Ash", "Bubba", "Sean", but haven't thought of better names for the other 3... -shnar

Re: 6th Edition Hero System That's what I've been saying. HERO is great, I love it, the only problem is that it's so dang massive that it's hard to get new players excited about it. I grew up with HERO when it was smaller, so I've gradually grown and understood why it's evolved into this beast. New players don't have this luxury and so for the most part bypass it. I don't care how we do it, that's the one problem I'd like to see solved in HERO 6. -shnar

Re: City of Heroes - Online Hero Game My friend plays a character named Carlos the Dwarf, a tall native american tank... -shnar

Re: Hero Sales Figures, new blood? Yeah, this was a long shot. But I wasn't really thinking long term, rather recent trends, like since 5e was published, how have sales of core books been over the years, steady, declining, increasing, etc. Figured I'd ask -shnar

With some of the discussion about a HERO 6 edition, I'm curious as to what the sales numbers are of HERO 5, and how they compare with previous HERO sales. Probably the best point made in the HERO 6 thread is that HERO 5 is good to go for many years. I agree with one caveat, it's too big and intimidating for new players to pick up (the main reason my local gaming stores say they don't carry HERO anymore). Is Hero Games at liberty to say how well the core rule books are selling over the past few years? i.e. is HERO getting a good influx of new players, or have the core rules stagnated? If they're going strong, then don't mess with a good thing -shnar

Re: 6th Edition Hero System I think people are missing the gist of what I propose. HERO 5 is so damn big, that very few newcomers are jumping on board. It's just too much of a beast to tackle. 'Course, I don't have any evidence except what I see at my local gaming stores. None of them even carry it anymore since they said no one wanted to buy such a big, expensive book. The only people I know who want to play are those in my generation (30's) that started way back in the 80s and still appreciate the game for its greatness. I don't care about books/formats/info, I care about new players, which is what will keep HERO alive. Breaking the beast that is FRed into smaller components will IMHO help bring new players to the fold. HOW you accomplish that, I don't really care. If it's the "splat" books, fine. If it's a "box" set a la 80s games that has 3 or 4 rulebooks (chargen, combat, vehicles, etc), fine. One of the reasons I suggested the "splat" books is it's how it got a lot of *us* into HERO, and since we've grown with it, we now like the big bulky tome that has all the rules in it (well most of us, I still don't like such a massive manual and often wonder why it's even needed, when I was playing just fine with the 3rd edition, which is much, much smaller). Maybe rather then splat-books, we do something similar to what ICE is doing with Rolemaster Express, the whole Sidekick edition. Maybe HERO6 effectively is just SideKick with some additional "add-on" books that allows players to slowly add rules to their SideKick that eventually makes them look more and more like the full HERO5... -shnar

Re: City of Heroes - Online Hero Game Oh, and I did create "Sam Stone", who was a Blaster/Device with a smiley face on his white t-shirt (i.e. Serious Sam). -shnar

Re: City of Heroes - Online Hero Game I had "Dynamite Sunmbitch", a Fire Blaster, until they made me change the name to "Dynamite Sandwhich". My friend has a villain MasterMind called "The Original White Man" (he's native american, so he hates whities). -shnar

Re: 6th Edition Hero System But I'm not, I'm saying do both. Have one massive toolkit tome that has all the rules in their nitty gritty, and then have 10 lighter books that allow other gamers to pick and choose their options as need be... Why can't we have both? Why can't we just get along? -shnar

Re: Rant? Speed in Hero I don't get this. I've been seeing that some people are having a hard time keeping track of speed. Doesn't your character sheet have 12 numbers on it, and you just circle the numbers that correlate to your speed (i.e. if your speed is 4, you have 3, 6, 9, and 12 circled). What's to keep track of? You do this right when your character is created then never look at the speed chart again, just when the GM says which phase we're in, you act. What am I missing? Why do some players think this is hard? -shnar

Re: 6th Edition Hero System Which I wonder, would it be bad to do both? Have a massive tome-book, and also have the split up books? -shnar

Re: 6th Edition Hero System I like this example, it shows that Hero5 is already a splat book. I would push that Hero6 goes even further. Taking Martial Arts as an example, remove everything in Hero5 out of martial arts except a couple basic moves (i.e. Punch, Kick and Block). Then if you want "utlimate" martial arts, with all the bells and whistles, you pick up the Ultimate Martial Arts, and that has a whole bunch of extra manuevers. Having the basic attack/defense is enough to play in every genre, the rest simply clutters the core rules. -shnar

Re: 6th Edition Hero System I think you're missing the point that I'm trying to make. Previous HERO versions were simple, elegant. THAT's what I want out of HERO6. The BigBlackBook has got to go, and I think it's in either one of two ways: Either splitting out similar to Hero3, or to split out the core rules into specific areas (i.e. a Powers Book, a Combat Book, a Base Book, a Vehicle Book, etc). I think we need to address why we're even thinking about a enw version of Hero. The only complaint I ever hear about HERO is that it's too complex. The BBB scares them off. This is probably the biggest reason I feel that splitting the book up is the best thing for a HERO6. Make a Core-Rules book that is just basic skills, basic powers, basic adds/limits, basic disads, and basic combat. Just enough to play. Then have the Ultimate Books expand everything. Heck, maybe they can satisfy both crowds. Create the "splat" books AND create a massive tome. You like the tome, buy that. You like more managable books, buy those. In the end, the system is the same... -shnar

Re: 6th Edition Hero System I just used Champions as an example. My Fantasy Hero and Star Hero books are a lot smaller and more elegant than HERO5 + FantasyHero5. There's a LOT in HERO5 that I just don't use in FantasyHero, it's not needed. Vehicles and Bases off the top of my head, though how magic is treated is another. It just seems to me that the problem with HERO is the growth of HERO. Reduce the core book to the primary elements then make everything else an add-on book is how I'd do HERO6... -shnar

Re: 6th Edition Hero System The elegance of Champions1 is missing in the mass of HERO5, and I think the next version should split things out into specific areas. Even if you want to leave all the powers in the core rules, I'd still split things out into logical books, something like CharGen, Combat, Vehicles, and Bases. If you don't like the idea of genre specific books (i.e. Fantasy Hero Vehicles vs. Star Hero Vehicles), at the very least trim the fat out of the main book. I can play with Champions1 rules very easily and it's not a behemoth for players to read/search through. Some optional rules from Champions 2 and 3 are nice, but not in the least bit needed to enjoy my Superhero game. I'd like to see that return to HERO... -shnar

Re: 6th Edition Hero System You know, I've been thinking more about this. I think HERO's main problem right now is that it's *grown* too much. I've got my old beatup Champions1 book (the grey one from the box edition) and it seems so much more elegant then HERO 5 mainly because it's so much simpler. There are simple, core rules that have existed in every HERO incarnation, and I think if a Version 6 were to come out, then it should be a back-to-the-basics type of version. I would create it as the following: - Stip down a LOT of the HERO5 book into a core HERO6 book (remove a bunch of optional stuff like Vehicles, Bases, various Combat, etc. Even some of the trickier powers like Variable Pools and the like. Just the core rules, core stats/skills/powers/disads, etc). - Create a bunch of Add-On books, maybe the "ultimate" series, that readds anything that was stripped out. - Create a bunch of Genre books too (i.e. Star Hero, Champions, Fantasy Hero, and I love the "Age" books). There would be a lot of optional rules that are good for the setting but may be clutter for other settings in these books. - Create a BoxSet version of the Genre books that combines the Core Rules and the Genre into one, so you could either buy Champions Box, which has CoreRules and Champions setting, or you could by the CoreRules BOOK and the Champions BOOK separately (that way if you bought Champions, StarHero, FantasyHero, you wouldn't have 3 sets of CoreRule books). This makes the game easier for beginners to hop in and play, but keeps the toolkit aspect for the advanced users. Also, making a lot of the growth from Champions 1 to HERO 5 as optional rules would solve a lot of problems I think... -shnar

Re: Spell Law: Shield Mastery

Re: Genres HERO GAMES may want to avoid (intended to be humorous) Hogwarts Hero, 'nuff said. -shnar

Re: GMing a Post Apocalypse campaign I think using an already developed setting is perfectly all right, *especially* if the players are familiar with it. It will give them the ability to relate without a lot of effort on your part. I however would *not* recommend reworking Hero into the SPECIAL stats. Keep HERO the way it is and just use the Fallout setting. Hero is complicated enough without having to rethink the stats. You can create the "perks" relatively easily as well as packages too. Since you have a general setting, you know the kind of NPCs and Creatures you need to create, so now it's just doing grunt work. I'd be curious to see the stats of things like Mutants and DeathClaws. -shnar P.S. Also rather excited for Fallout3 myself...

Re: 6th Edition Hero System No, that's Unluck and Luck respectively -shnar

Re: City of Heroes - Online Hero Game Holy crap, I'm not even sure I want to start reading this thread. It's been active since 2004?!? I will say I've been playing CoH/CoV since they first came out, though I only have 1 lvl 50 char (Claw/Invul Scrapper on Champions named Knight Hawk). I really loved the simplicity of the game, you get right in and you're not fighting rats, your pounding on gangs. No loot to worry about, just get your power and off you go. I haven't played as much lately, been doing a lot of Lord Of The Rings Online, though I still have an active account (really wish they'd offer a lifetime membership pricing like LotRO had). I hop on every now and then with Jag (MindController) or Thorongil (StoneTank) both in their low 30s. -shnar

Re: HERO's crit system (wanting a Rolemaster version) Thinking about it a little more, the main difference is predictability and probably just general flavor. Just noting a limb is disabled seems stale with the effects rather predictable, but reading about bruising an arm and specific effects for immediate phases that varied just seems more organic. (and yes, the RM crits did a lot more bruise/breaking then death and mayhem. Most deaths were only on the 66, 94-100 rolls). Well, was just a thought, probably not applicable to HERO... -shnar

Re: 6th Edition Hero System If it hasn't been said yet (hard to tell, this thread is so huge): Seventhed! -shnar

Re: 6th Edition Hero System That is awesome! I gotta admit, I love my Blue 4th Ed hardbound book with Perez's Seeker leaping at.. um.. can't remember the Doom-wannabe's name. The real DEX comparison is between 20 and 21. 19 still gives you a 6 OCV, but 20 gives you a 7. 21 Gives you a 7 as well, and doesn't give you any real boost to SPD (unless you're doing the linear SPD cost, you'd save 1pt) or any other significant advantages, and in a Heroic campaign, it costs you 6 pts instead of 3, so why would anyone ever want a 21DEX? I've done it though with some of my chars. It's the "initiative" bonus in combat, the higher DEX goes first, and since everyone else is capping at 20, your tiny extra 21 makes you just that much more quicker than everyone else, you really do have lightning reflexes Can't do this, since it affects the 5pts = 1die rule. And I don't see how the figured characteristics are unbalancing here. I don't understand this one. I assume you're talking about Killing Attacks. I *love* how Killing Attacks really are different from normal attacks and have the completely random Stun affect. To me, it's a great representation of RL. When you are bludgeoned, you feel it and get stunned all the time. When you have a bullet go through you, sometimes you feel it a lot, sometimes it goes right through and it's not felt at all but you still took vital damage. I don't get people's complaints about this one nor about the SPD Chart. That's a defining GREAT aspect of HERO. SPD removes the clunky initiative crap you see in other systems and it's incredibly easy to you. Every character sheet I've ever seen has the 12 segments listed in a corner somewhere with the player's segments circled. When combat starts, GM just says, "Ok, phase 1 anyone move? k, 2 anyone? k 3, Anyone?" etc. And then DEX comparisons to see who moves first. Easy as pie and has such a tactical play to everything (as opposed to the Everyone Moves Every Time feel of most other systems). -shnar