Herolover

I play Everquest II and have started looking at the possibility of using it as a setting for a HERO game. It is basically a High magic level game with an almost post apocalyptic feel. Has anyone else done anything with this?

Re: d20 conversion to/from Hero System

Re: Hugh Neilson and D.U.H.S. 1) I think this is a GREAT idea and is actually how I do many of my games for newbies. A lot ot the problem is when they see an HERO write up they get lost when all they need to know is 2d6. Funny story time... In my current running Champions game the "spokesman" for the group was at a press conference when the group was just forming up. They had defeated some villian and the "spokesman" wasn't happy about being the one to talk so he started giving a real patroitic speech about how they weren't really heroes the real "Ultimate Heroes" were the american people. Well the press got a hold of the name "Ultimate Heroes" and ran with it, so now the group is UH and I always say, "Hey, look its uhhhhhh"

Re: How Long to Learn Hero System? I know this is going to seem strange, but don't worry about getting things right. During play when a situation comes up andyou aren't sure what the rule is write down the question and then make up a ruling on the fly. Later after the game you can go back and fine out what the rule is. When making a character don't worry about getting every little power and ability right. You can always learn the intricacies later. Get the main idea of the character and worry about the details later. HERO, like any other game, can be a chore to learn. Also, like any othe game, it can take a while to master. Ask people on this list. Many of us here have been playing/GMing HERO for very long times. I myself have played it off and on for 20 years now and religously for about the last 10

Re: Making Hitting Calcs Easier I played with a similiar idea. I always liked the idea that that you always wanted to roll high or always wanted to roll low. However, I have found my current method to be perfect. The player takes their OCV adds 11 and then subtracts their roll. OCV +11 minus roll. This way all the player has to do is tell me what DCV they hit.

Re: Ideas for a Hero Games Legendary Product I second this statement. I hate it when I here someone using them that way, because most people here it and think HERO is only good for supers. I try to nicely correct them and show them that HERO is far more than just supers.

Re: New to Hero, couple of questions This is not meant to be any type of criticism, but you may be falling into a trap that many hero fans and players fall into. Why are you worried about the guns range and its write up? If you are playing a "Supers" game (where players have to spend points for equipment) and a player wants to make up the gun then have him write up the gun and that is the range it has. Maybe his gun has limited range or give it the Increased Max Range advantage to the point that you want. Either way the official write up won't matter but the write up the player has done will. If, on the other hand, you are a player or GM in a Heroic level campaign (where players don't have to pay points for equipment) then the write up of the gun doesn't really matter. Points for equipment don't matter so just give the gun what you think it should have. This goes for any equipment in a heroic level campaign. Who cares what its write up is, all you need to do is not what it does. HERO systems is a really good system that I use for everything, but don't get caught up in points and doing everything just right. Steve Long had a quote, I have since lost it, that to paraphrase said: If you are worried about doing things the exact right, cheapest way, then you are loosing the purpose of the system.

Re: Need Stats For A Llama That is a nice right up, but you forgot one important power that all Llama's have: Bleeting: Mind Control 10d6, Reduced Endurance (1/2 END; +1/4), Area Of Effect (6" Radius; +1) (112 Active Points); Only to instll rage in the person against the Llama (-1), Visible (Sounds like a Llama bleeting; -1/4) PS: Sorry, but this is a reference to a Knights of the Dinner Table comic strip and I couldn't resist.

Re: The Truly Evil GM Two things come to mind. 1) There was a Deadlands campaign I ran where the characters were on a train. I let them run along with the adventure then halfway through when they killed some NPC's I acted like they had ruined the entire campaign. I told them that was it, I hadn't planned on that, and the campaign was over. I told them it was time to start working on a new campaign. They weren't happy and it was almost time to go so I asked, "What is today, I mean month and year?" It took a moment, but then they realized that it was April 1st and I was just smiling so they figured it out. 2) My current champions campaign. We started with me telling the players to pick a villian out of CKC. They each picked one and we started the campaign. I explained to them that UNTIL had discovered them in a VIPER base. Apparently they were clones of the originals and VIPER was doing some kind of plan, but UNTIL didn't know what. Well the campaign went on for a while and finally one player discovered that no, they aren't the clones, but the originals that VIPER some how changed. The shock was amazing. They each figured they were the original character given a chance to be good. Of course, now the villians they picked out of CKC have shown up so they are completely lost. They don't know if they are clones, originals, or if the are all clones or what.

Re: Terran Empires - FF + Body armor? This is a very interesting idea that I have never thought of. I always knew that DCs doubled, but never thought about the idea of defenses doubling. For Terran Empire setting where most attacks are Killing and most defenses are resistant you can go on ahead and say that 2 DEF doubles. For non-killing attacks though I think defenses would double at 6 non-resistant defense.

Re: Science Skills List Wow thanks for all the help. Those are some good list I appreciate it.

I am wondering if anyone has ever come up with a nice long list of science skills (and what they are) for Star Hero. Many Star Hero games use sciences and it would be nice to have a list of sciences (both real and future). Does anyone know where to find such a list or should we just make one up?

Re: Terran Empires - FF + Body armor? Umm...according to standard Hero System rules they would add together. You may have "house ruled" in that they don't but there is no system rule that says they don't add. (In fact they do.) As far as the Terran Empire setting I haven't seen anything on this subject one way or the other except for Starships where they do add together. As far as personal FF's go I am sure you could come up with any setting rule you saw fit to put forth.

Re: What Would You Like To See In Upcoming HEROglyphs Columns? How about an article where you make up items, equipment, powers, etc from popular culture. Of course some of these items have been done in other books, but not so much for Science Fiction and Fantasy. An example of this might be a write up of famous sword from a common fantasy setting or a piece of equipment from a science fiction setting (a tricorder for example) I will give more ideas later.

Hello all. Not sure if any of you knew this, but Steve Jackson Games has finally released Cardboard Heroes: Modern Characters. I bought it, opened it, was was amazed to find the first page was Champions characters like Grond, Foxbat, Dr Destroyer, etc. Now, these are the old 3rd-4th edition ones, but still. Someone might be interested

In the back of FRED there is a short list of vehicles with their stats. Now, I know there are more vehicles in the Ultimate Vehicle and the Vehicle Sourcebook and I do have those two books. What I am wondering is ther a master sheet anywhere listing the vehicles with their stats like they are in FRED?

Re: Modern campaign power limits Modern D20....ugh. I normally do not mind D20 games, but man...Modern D20 gives D20 a bad name and the fact that a a character could destroy a tank with his bare hands does not surprise me at all. PS I loved the move Bubba Ho-Tep

Not sure how to title this. Here is my question. Dark Champions is supposed to also be the "Modern Book" for Hero. Well, I was wondering what kind of pwoer limits you have for different things. An Example is that in Fantasy Hero it is given that an average spell is 30-40 active points with powerful spells around 60 active points plus. What about the Modern campaign with some powers? Such as a Modern fantasy campaign? Would you keep the same kind of power levels or would you up the power levels.

Re: Need help creating a power. I guess I made a mistake in explaining what I was going for. The character is called a Supernatural Focus. He has the ability to call upon the Supernatural, however it is a 50-50 question whether or not the Supernatural answers. Once called upon the player has NO control over what supernatural effect occurs, but he does have a 50-50 chance of controlling the "target" of the effect. Example: Joe is a "supernatural focus." Joe gets in a situation and decides he needs something to happen so he calls upon the supernatural to act. He makes a single roll and if he fails nothing happens. If however he succedes it means the supernatural reacts. The GM randomly decides what effect there is. Lets say a lightning bolt cracks out. Joe again makes another roll. If he fails the GM chooses what the lightning bolt does, but if Joe succeeds he can choose where and what the lightning bolt does. No matter who controls the effects (GM or Joe) the effect called up is random. I am going to have a random table to roll upon. Thinking about it more and more this is what I have come up with. What do you think? 55 Supernatural Focus: Variable Power Pool, 50 base + 5 control cost, (75 Active Points); Character has no choice how or when powers change (-1), Activation Roll 11- (-1), Active points in power is dependent upon local mystic energy level (-1), Only mystical effects (-1/4); all slots Character must make an 11- roll to control the power (-1)

Hello all. I am needing your help. I need help creating a power. The power is actually part of a specific type of character. This character has the ability to call upon "mystic energies," but it is very unreliable. Basically it goes like this: a) The player decides to call upon the effects. He an activation roll to see if anything happens. If the activation roll fails nothing happens, no good or ill effects occur. b)If the activation roll is successful the player must then make another activation roll to see if he can control the effects. So far I know it should be a VPP and two activation rolls, but I have not idea how to write this up. What do you think?

Re: Conspiracy X HERO Although I had thought about using the Zener cards and do think itis a VERY neat idea I am not going to use them. The way I want things to work is the player buys the power and then has a seperate skill to determine how often the power works. The character can increase the skill without re-doing the power. Soo.... The "power" is going to have RSR. The skills is going to be a Power skill not based on any stat, just general or background. The characters are then going to be allowed to buy the skill as: Familiarity 8- General 11- Good 13- Best 15- Note they will not be allowed to go above 15-. There powes work, but they can fail. I am doing it this way because it best simulates the setting.

Re: Conspiracy X HERO The Conspiracy X system is why I want to "convert," although loosley, the setting to Hero. A group I was in tried it once and got all the way through character construction. We stopped when we realized that the Navy Seal had the same stats as the 16 year old asthmatic.

Re: Weirdest Hero question yet Ahhhh Porn Hero. I threaten my players with it a lot.

Re: Conspiracy X HERO I already have GURPS X and was just wanting to know if anyone had already done anything with it. I am going to be starting to work on it, but it will take me some time.

Re: Conspiracy X HERO Sorry didn't see the GURPS or Original question. I would get the original. Why... 1) Better presentation of the mythology. GURPS kinda treats you like you already know. X (or the oringinal) takes you from the sleepy into the light and really wakes you up. Much better read IMO. 2) The innovative way in which they handle psychic abilities. All humans are psychics, but some can be trained or use drugs..ever heard of MKULTRA...to improve their ability. The one good mechanic out of X is the psychic mechanic. At the back of the book are 5 ZENER cards (If you don't know think the cards in Ghosbusters with squares, circles, squiggly lines, etc) set up to be photocopied. The GM Takes the 5 cards and shuffles them. The players are rated 1-5 in the psychic abilities. The GM picks a number of cards equal to the players rating. The player names a card and if the GM picked it the power works. Example: Five cards (Triangle, Square, Circle, Cross, Lightning Bolt). The player has a 3 rated "Heart Explosion". He want to use it on an enemy. The GM shuffles and draws (facedown) Circle, Cross, Triangle. The player thinks for a minute and says Lightning Bolt. The power doesn't work. Of course GURPS cuts this to just a die roll as I would in HERO... maybe. The other mechanics of X are horrible however.