Akiva

Re: And 6e print books start to arrive

Received mine last night.

They're. Frickin'. Heavy.

Heavier than you might imagine. The whole package came in at 8 lbs, which should tell you something. The binding is remarkably tight and is probably the first RPG that comes anywhere near Ptolus' print quality. The pages are thicker than your standard magazine glossy page (or so it seems) and they're just overall beautiful, beautiful books.

And, of course, I'm pleased to see that the format of HERO 5er wasn't messed with but, instead, massaged toward greater greatness. Although I no longer run any RPGs (my group went to straight board gaming early this year), I'm happy to continue my support for HERO and buy all of the books and supplements (excepting that superhero nonsense, of course) and read them all.

Re: Making a master Table Booklet

Another thing to consider is grabbing and pasting screen captures of various charts and whatnot that won't cut-and-paste properly. I know a lot of people who have used this method to construct GM screens that look like they were professionally produced.

Re: Expanded Unoffical Bibliography for Urban Fantasy HERO

Just about anything written by Ligotti if you want to blend a little horror into your urban fantasy.

Winterlong by Elizabeth Hand is the perfect example of post-apocalyptic urban fantasy.

And, although I didn't read it fully, Perdido Street Station by China Mieville tackles Urban Fantasy from the opposite direction.

As for RPGs, there's Tribe 8 which falls in line somewhere between Winterlong and Perdido Street Station.

I'd also throw Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow in there. If read with an eye for it, it's pretty much an epic fantasy adventure with various magical sects (the Pavlovians), items (Rocket 00000), creatures (the giant solenoid), and is itself written with a mystical structure. It also happens to be my favorite American novel.

Re: Urban Fantasy Hero

I think we may be getting off-topic here' date=' but it's definitely possible to shoehorn too much into one of our genre books.[/quote']

 

I meant within scope, of course. I understand that Weird Conspiracy might not fit into Urban Fantasy (only I seem to think so because I take 'fantasy' as meaning 'fantastical' and not 'fantasy' in the sense of magic and dragons) but as long as one stays within a few reasonable boundaries, including page count, and furthermore doesn't sacrifice too much depth for breadth, the word 'shoehorn' should be the furthest from everyone's minds.

Re: Urban Fantasy Hero

Which saves you from the mistake TSR made with their Dark Matter setting for Alternity. They shoehorned everything into one setting' date=' and it just became a mess. Good call.[/quote']

 

The major difference here is that HERO genre books are toolkits to build the setting you want whereas TSR's settings are presented 'complete' and ready-to-run. So it's not technically possible to shoehorn too much into a HERO genre book. The only accusation one could make is that some things are covered in greater detail than others in a HERO genre book.

Re: Urban Fantasy Hero

We may try again at some point' date=' just to see if the waters have changed, but for now original PDFs will have to remain small and simple things.[/quote']

 

Well, if you do decide to give it another shot, you can bank on my money for a weird/conspiracy/surrealist Hero book or PDF.

Re: Urban Fantasy Hero

In this business' date=' you have to constantly arrange compromises between your Inner Artist and Inner Businessman. [/quote']

 

Which is something you seem to do remarkably well. My blasphemous, barely-tolerated non-HERO-playing friends are consistently amazed at how you guys can put out so many books of quality (and some of them quite lengthy) each year especially when the RPG industry is more in a valley than a peak right now. Heck, SJG considers Munchkin, a card game, to be its flagship product now rather than GURPS.

 

That aside, have you ever considered doing PDF-only supplements for the genres that you'd like to cover but don't think would merit the cost and effort of print publishing? It think it'd be better to have a 64-page Weird Conspiracy Hero PDF supplement than no Weird Conspiracy Hero supplement at all. Going back to SJG again, they've done really well with this approach and have even added PoD possibilities for the titles that have done really well through PDF-only sales.

Re: Urban Fantasy Hero

I remember where you discussed it in the book and that's where my eyebrows raised; I had just expected a broader scope beyond magic-in-the-modern-age. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course. I've been waiting a long time for this book and it's great stuff so far.

It's too bad about Weird Conspiracy Hero, though. It's pretty much my favorite genre (especially when combined with Urban Fantasy) and I'd be interested to see what you'd have written about it. Luckily, I can pretty much generate whatever I need between Urban Fantasy Hero, Dark Champions, and The Ultimate Mystic.

Re: Urban Fantasy Hero

Steve, I was surprised that you limited UFH the way you did rather than expanding it and including weird, supernatural, conspiracy, mystical, and surreal types of 'urban fantasy'. Stuff like Twin Peaks, Carnivale, etc.

Re: Urban Fantasy Hero

I'll snap up the index when I get the book but I was hoping UFH would be longer than 144. I guess it's not so bad' date=' the average 3rd Ed GURPS book was 128 or something similar and they had lots of info and PAH wasn't overly long either.[/quote']

 

I was mildly disappointed in the page length myself. I was spoiled on Dark Champions and Fantasy Hero. But, damn if these 200 pages aren't jam-packed with greatness.

Re: Urban Fantasy Hero

Luckily' date=' the last pages sidebar says it should appear in the Free Section soon.[/quote']

 

This is a good thing. I'd still rather have it as part of the book itself, of course.

Re: Urban Fantasy Hero

Just received mine today as well. First thing I noticed also was that there was no index which I found to be quite startling considering how the HERO books are widely regarded to have not only some of the best indices in the business but also some of the most functional. Other than that, so far it's tremendous. I've been waiting for this book since I got into HERO!

Re: Howdy I know nothing about Hero System and was wondering something

I, and everyone else here, will also agree that HERO Designer essential. I want to add, however, that it's value comes not from the fact that it takes care of the 'hard stuff' but that it knows every little one-line rule and exception in the book. Once you get into designing things with Powers, HERO Designer pays for itself over and over again.

However, I also recommend you do things by hand at first. Sure, some of the points will be off, you'll miss this or that or wrongly allow things to combine or accentuate but I think that it's a good thing to get your hands dirty with the undercarriage before you start enjoying that quality leather up top too much. In fact, I'd plan for your first one or two game sessions to be nothing more than you guys sitting around with the rulebook, trying different character and Powers builds, and so forth. All of HERO's complexity and depth is, for the most part and thankfully, front-loaded (in other words, once characters are finalized and the game begins, HERO is, for the most part, extremely light-weight). So, turn character and Powers creation into a mini-game with all of your players where you approach it like engineers and you'll have a damned good time.

Re: Howdy I know nothing about Hero System and was wondering something

I'm a recent convert to HERO myself and I did the same tentative song-and-dance. It took me about a week of reading reviews over at rpg.net, looking through posts here, and leafing through the book itself at my FLGS before I took the plunge. Of course, being who I am, I just went straight for the big book knowing that I'd have to purchase it anyway. Somehow, I felt better doing that then buying Sidekick and then buying that.

Having written that, however, my recommendation is to get Sidekick and then 5er. Why? Because even though you'll eventually end up buying and relying solely on the 5er, having a copy of Sidekick around is great for getting new players up to speed quickly.

Also, somewhere on herogames.com, there's a preview PDF that provides a quick overview of the entire system. Worth a look if you're still uncertain.

Finally, yes, welcome. You have truly found the best RPG ever published. And I say this in all honesty because I am not biased (okay, that part's a lie).

Oh, and the full rulebook smells great. That's worth the price right there.

Re: Guess Who Finally Read the Powers Chapters

Thanks, guys. These are all some good ideas.

I do plan on keeping the daemons as NPCs because it allows greater flexibility for hackers to use Computer Programming to design newer or stronger daemons. I have some restrictions in mind, as well. For example, a daemon can never have a skill roll or Characteristic higher than that of the programmer who coded it, etc.

I'm torn over using the Mind Link Power because I want some tangible means to differentiate between characters who can do it and those who cannot and, as far as I understand it, you can't charge for SFX only and I'd also like to be able to model the fact that the Daemonlink can be detected by the Radio Group as Armitage has shown.

Also, Armitage, good catch on the IAF/OAF. I had somehow missed that part.

Re: Guess Who Finally Read the Powers Chapters

Can you show me a sample write up of a daemon' date=' as opposed to the link, so that I get a better idea of where you are coming from mechanically?[/quote']

 

It's basically an AI computer as described in 5er (pgs. 459-461) but all software instead of hardware. Each daemon has one major function (data delving, watch dog, combat, etc.). Although they do have some autonomous decision-making abilities, they do not have self-will and will not launch tasks on their own. If, in the midst of one task they come across something that they think might be useful or good, they'll contact their user to inform them rather than pursuing it on their own. Furthermore, they don't have programs on their own.

 

So, a pretty well-rounded delver daemon would look something like this:

 

INT 11

DEX 13

EGO 10

SPD 2

 

3 Concealment 11- (the ability to hide stolen data that it has collected)

3 Bugging 11- (data sniffing)

3 Cryptography 11- (can't be a good delver if one can't break passwords)

3 Disguise 11- (I'm not a rogue daemon, I'm a copy of Minesweeper!)

3 Forgery 11- (I stole the data but here's some fake data to throw you off my trail)

3 Interrogation 11- (You'll tell me what I need to know and now)

3 Stealth 11- (Look, nothin' but zeros, ma! Nothin' but zeroes!)

 

Dependence on User: Takes 3d6 Damage (Extremely Difficult To Obtain, 6 Hours) (Real Cost 20) [This reflects the fact that a program cannot exist without its user and will be garbage-collected in about six hours.]

Re: Guess Who Finally Read the Powers Chapters

The question I'm getting at is "is the impact to the game such that the mechanic Mind Link is really necessary' date=' or can it be handled as a special effect?"[/quote']

 

To me it seems like it would be necessary simply because, without the implant, it's something that not anyone can do. Without the implant, he's severely limited in how he can interact with his daemons. He would have to stop, pull his laptop out of his knapsack, squat down or whatever, and start typing. With the link, the laptop can stay in his backpack and he can keep on the move. If he had, say, a watchdog daemon actively checking for security measures in the hacker's current location, the daemon could instantly warn the hacker without the hacker having to do anything.

 

'Better slow down. They've got motion sensors ahead that are geared to trigger a pair of turrets. I can try to disable them but they'll only go down for about thirty seconds at a time.'

 

And so forth. If the hacker wants to work in tandem with his daemon, then he'd have to stop, pull out his keyboard, and start hacking.

 

Taking the opening scene of Tron as an example, unless I made the Flynn buy Clu as a Follower, DNPC or Computer...

 

He does have to pay for the daemons he writes. Instead of using computers as they're written in HERO, they're being treated more transparently. They're more like portable wireless dumb terminals rather than, say, a full laptop running a complete OS. So, all of the Characteristics, Skills, etc., that are normally bought for computers have been shifted to the daemons. This, to me, seems to justify the Mind Link.

 

Take the Smartlink gun for example. Are you effectively making the gun an NPC by giving it an INT stat, and either an EGO (so it can make it's own decisions) or programs that determine what it can do (which kind of implies use of a Computer (game mechanic) in the build)?

 

Now, with this example, I think I might agree with your assertion that its wirelessness can be handled by SFX. There is no communication of any kind between the user's consciousness and his gun. It's just a means to make him more accurate with his attacks. Heck, it might not even be wireless since the guns have to be held in his hands; it might be some kind of electrical impulses used to steady the hand or whatever.

Re: Guess Who Finally Read the Powers Chapters

Mind Link is really only necessary for abstract communications with an NPC of some sort (computers and computerized vehicles would fall into this area).

In this case, Mind Link is exactly what I'm looking for. Part of the hacking rules in the setting are based off one of the opening scenes of the movie Tron where Flynn is using his program Clu to hack into the system and look for some missing data. Although Flynn was typing commands the entire time, the movie made it look like they were having a conversation and that's what I based the Daemonlink on.

Thanks!

That's right: me. Now, having read it doesn't mean that I fully understand it which is why I wanted to pass these things by you.

I'm building out some biomods for the cyber/bio/nano/whateverpunk game that I'm running and, well, the first thing I've learned is that building equipment is inordinantly fun; probably more fun than it seems like it should be. The second thing I've learned is that the HERO Designer knows probably more about HERO than I'll ever know; at least as far as building Powers goes. The versions I built out using the HERO Designer always had differing costs and often had other surprises (i.e., certain Powers having modifications built in that I had been charging for separately).

Anyway, primary question: in a Compound Power that has an OAF, is the OAF limitation applied to each Power? That seems the most logical to me due to the fact if the Focus is lost, then the character's ability to use any of the Powers is gone. I just wanted to make sure.

Another question is that most of the gear in the setting is wireless, including smart gun links, and so forth. I'm building these as Compound Powers as well and basing them off of Mind Link. I can't think of anything else that would work.

And, my third question is, is it absolutely necessary to give everything IPE even if it can only be detected by one Sense Group? The Daemonlink below, for example, could be detected by Radio Sense Group but not by anything else since it's telepathy transmitted via wireless. The HUD Glasses, which I now realize I haven't applied IPE, would also be entirely invisible to everyone except the one wearing the glasses.

Here's are two examples of the things I built out, a link that allows a hacker telepathic communication through a wireless laptop that he carries with him with an AI program he's inserted into the network:

Daemonlink: Mind Link, Machine class of minds, Specific Group of Minds, Invisible Power Effects (Fully Invisible; +1/2) (15 Active Points); Only With Others Who Have Mind Link (-1), No Range (-1/2). Notes: Can only link with daemons through a smart computer that has been properly configured (requires a computer programming role for configuration; not for further use).

The No Range is because the user must have his laptop right there with him (in the same hex) for it to work. At first, I had given it OAF to represent that it was useless without the laptop nearby then I figured that the laptop, which has its own OAF, takes care of that. The Daemonlink is surgically implanted so it's not technically a Focus at all.

HUD Shades: (Total: 9 Active Cost, 4 Real Cost) Nightvision (5 Active Points); OAF (-1) (Real Cost: 2) plus +2 PER with Sight Group (4 Active Points); OAF (-1) (Real Cost: 2)

The shades are just a pair of sunglasses that provide greater clarity of sight in both light and dark conditions. This is where I applied the OAF to both powers in the Compound Power. My player definitely liked the extra point discount, at any rate.

Am I heading in the right direction or am I doing extensive damage to the fabric of space-time itself?

Re: How do I reduce my DCV?

I would allow this only if the character also has a low PD/rPD. It's not much of a disadvantage to get hit often if you can shrug off 95% of the damage.

Re: Statting Out Minor Enemies

Those are some great ideas. I hope to eventually build up a a little portfolio of pre-gen minor opponents. I even had an idea of using standard-issue index cards and one of those little containers normally used for recipes. I know I could use a computer for this, and I do keep a laptop open during my sessions, but I'm still old-fashioned enough to still do most in-game tracking by hand on a yellow legal pad.

Re: Do you have any "deal brekers" when it comes 6th edition?

This isn't a deal-breaker but it's something I wouldn't mind seeing:

A limited special edition in a single volume with three colored ribbon bookmarks sewn into the binding.

I'd pay premium for a super nice edition.

This, however, is a deal-breaker for me:

The look and feel of the book: if the fonts and formatting don't maintain the current unassailable quality of the fifth edition, I'm going to ball up my fists and throw one hell of a temper tantrum.

Also, the new edition should smell as good, if not better than, the current book does now. OR ELSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Statting Out Minor Enemies

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I ended up going with just the bare essentials based off what Chris wrote and it worked out like a champ.

Re: Is 5er Still On Its First Printing?

He's a spelunker at heart so he took his trusty donkey and a bottle of rye whisky marked with three Xs and went on his way.

Last I heard, he had changed his last name to Plainview...

So, after several 'sessions' of just hanging out, tweaking character builds, discussing the campaign setting, going over skill and combat rolls, and so forth, we're finally going to actually start the campaign tomorrow evening.

Knowing that I'm going to want to throw at least one combat scene at them, I sat down to work that out. I fired up HERO Designer and then thought to myself, 'Do I really need to do all of this just for a handful of grungy gang members? I don't need their COM scores. I doubt I'll need their EGO, INT, ECV, and so forth either.' I figure, as long as I give them reasonable stats and skills, I should be covered. It's just going to be a minor gun fight.

So, when you guys are statting out minor NPCs for combat, what all stats do you insist on covering? For a modern game, where a quick gun battle is expected, I imagine I'll only need STR, DEX, CON, BODY, PD, SPD, REC, END, STUN, and a couple of skills to cover their combat abilities.

Am I missing anything?