Author Topic: Hero System for Shadow World (Read 2768 times)

Witchking20k · « **on:** July 25, 2018, 07:08:01 AM »

Does anybody use the Hero System to play in Shadow World? I'm curious if we can share some info....

Terry K. Amthor · « **Reply #1 on:** July 25, 2018, 07:15:53 AM »

Quote from: Witchking20k on July 25, 2018, 07:08:01 AM

Does anybody use the Hero System to play in Shadow World? I'm curious if we can share some info....

Wow. We tried to integrate FH stats into Shadow World long ago in Jaiman. IT was 1989 so it was difficult to get a lot of feedback, but we got the impression that almost all SW people were Rolemaster.

Witchking20k · « **Reply #2 on:** July 25, 2018, 07:35:59 AM »

I have been playing in SW using Hero System (off and on) for quite a few years. There are two of us who take turns GMing, both in SW, so I had decided to try and use Hero to change it up a bit. What is nice about Hero is that you start off, well, Heroic. So, you can dive right in to some more high end adventuring. No worrying about starting characters not having enough DB, OB, Skills or Spells.

I have been playing 6E Hero for a while but find it far more bloated than need be - so, I am revisiting 4th Edition. Fantasy Hero 4E is an excellent book. (not sure if you had a hand in that or not). It contains some rough conversions from RM to Hero etc. Curious to see if anyone else has developed some more material.

Terry K. Amthor · « **Reply #3 on:** July 25, 2018, 08:24:24 AM »

Quote from: Witchking20k on July 25, 2018, 07:35:59 AM

I have been playing in SW using Hero System (off and on) for quite a few years. There are two of us who take turns GMing, both in SW, so I had decided to try and use Hero to change it up a bit. What is nice about Hero is that you start off, well, Heroic. So, you can dive right in to some more high end adventuring. No worrying about starting characters not having enough DB, OB, Skills or Spells.

I have been playing 6E Hero for a while but find it far more bloated than need be - so, I am revisiting 4th Edition. Fantasy Hero 4E is an excellent book. (not sure if you had a hand in that or not). It contains some rough conversions from RM to Hero etc. Curious to see if anyone else has developed some more material.

Whatever works for you, glad you are using SW!

No I had nothing to do with anything Hero or FH related; someone else did the stats in SW products. I had enough trouble keeping up with Rolemaster, dealing with MERP and SHadow World back in the day.

Witchking20k · « **Reply #4 on:** July 25, 2018, 08:36:13 AM »

Totally understandable. Not sure if ICE/Hero would be interested - but I could probably post an update file for use with making SW usable with Hero 6E. At the very least it might expand the audience for SW.

Hero System is not for everyone. In fact- anyone who waives the "Rolemaster is too complicated" flag can look no further than Hero for a complex game that is successful.

egdcltd · « **Reply #5 on:** July 25, 2018, 09:27:56 AM »

Quote from: Witchking20k on July 25, 2018, 08:36:13 AM

Hero System is not for everyone. In fact- anyone who waives the "Rolemaster is too complicated" flag can look no further than Hero for a complex game that is successful.

Or Pathfinder.

Terry K. Amthor · « **Reply #6 on:** July 25, 2018, 10:14:08 AM »

If you wanted to post to the ICE forums here, I am sure it would be appreciated.

JohnnyR · « **Reply #7 on:** August 14, 2018, 05:09:15 PM »

Quote from: Witchking20k on July 25, 2018, 07:08:01 AM

Does anybody use the Hero System to play in Shadow World? I'm curious if we can share some info....

I once thought of doing that but with the announcement of RMU I changed gears. I decided SW was best with a gritty, granular system. With the HERO system I originally planned to start the characters off with fewer points, making them closer to RM's starting characters. I planned also to use the optional rules for grittier combat and integrate the crit tables.

I also like Hero 4th but agree with making CV more expensive as the new edition does.

The practical reason I haven't worked on a Hero conversion is that the few steady players I manage to find are interested only in DnD or in rules-lite games like Savage Worlds and Numenera.
Glad it's working for you, though.

Witchking20k · « **Reply #8 on:** August 15, 2018, 01:02:00 PM »

Now that I've toyed with it enough I have come to realize that the key to the Hero System is to pick and choose the options you want carefully. Want a gritty game - wounding, hit location etc are all available. Want lower power- cap the Active Cost of Attack & Defense powers. Problem is it takes time to understand the types of things you need to watch out for.

Witchking20k · « **Reply #9 on:** August 15, 2018, 01:03:16 PM »

One thing that is interesting: when you try to re-create Elves (in general) you see how much more powerful they are than Humans.

JohnnyR · « **Reply #10 on:** August 27, 2018, 06:57:21 PM »

True. I converted part of a spell list; the first spell turned out to be more powerful than a few down the list - I think it was Animal Sleep. Had to do some minor rearranging of spells.

Witchking20k · « **Reply #11 on:** August 27, 2018, 07:13:08 PM »

That's one area that I try not to worry too much about. It's one of the strange things about the Powers system in Hero. Relatively mundane effects can be very costly. I use the spells as close to as-is as I can or I don't use them at all (and use hero built spells). Most spell effects in RM are kind of descriptive- like heat solid or and illusion spell- so, why bother worrying about a true conversion. As long as everyone else is using the spell lists than they are balanced vs. each other. The BIG difference is in duration. Because of the SPD system in Hero an effect that lasts one minute is really powerful. In RM 1 Minute is 5 actions (I think the combat round is 12 seconds) but in Hero a PC could actually have 2-4 actions in each 12 second combat round.

Peter R · « **Reply #12 on:** August 28, 2018, 02:08:12 AM »

1 minute is 6 actions in current versions of RM, 12 actions in RMU and 30 actions in HARP. 10, 5 and 2 second combat rounds.

Witchking20k · « **Reply #13 on:** August 28, 2018, 05:18:45 AM »

Yup. So, basically, I look at the individual spell and what type of list it is from to decide the duration. If it's something like "Light" where the spell is intended for out of combat utility than I leave the duration alone because 10 minutes/level of imagined travel time is fine. But if it's a spell like "Protection I" then suddenly that 1 Minute/Level Duration is pretty effective. The one observation that I have made is that in Hero all PCs act in 2 Phases per Turn. You have to buy the ability to have more; so, it's not terribly fair to punish a PC that has spent CPs on having more actions. As a whole though it comes back to the fact that if all the PCs, NPCs, and bad guys are using the same rules then they aren't really unbalanced, right?

Peter R · « **Reply #14 on:** August 28, 2018, 07:28:30 AM »

I would say the danger in your logic is that your logic would work if everyone was a pure spell user as everyone got the same power boost but spell user verses purely skills based character would be a significant boost to the magic users. I haven't played pure Hero System, just Champions is each spell list a Multipower, Elemental Control, Variable Power Pools or just individual powers?

Witchking20k · « **Reply #15 on:** August 28, 2018, 07:35:45 AM »

I am not using the powers system at all to re-create the spell lists. Just using straight conversions. The only thing I am using powers for is creating Talents or Semi-Magical powers.

Peter R · « **Reply #16 on:** August 28, 2018, 07:46:57 AM »

Quote from: Witchking20k on August 28, 2018, 07:35:45 AM

I am not using the powers system at all to re-create the spell lists. Just using straight conversions. The only thing I am using powers for is creating Talents or Semi-Magical powers.

Then the only danger is the non-magic vs magic game balance.

Witchking20k · « **Reply #17 on:** August 28, 2018, 10:39:01 AM »

Yes. The reason we use the Hero System is for the innately favorable dice rolling and control over character creation. The PCs start better and progress slower. It kind of allows for a different type of gaming in Shadow World; gives you a different feel.

Peter R · « **Reply #18 on:** August 28, 2018, 11:18:16 AM »

I really enjoyed playing champions so I imagine Shadow World and Hero System is a great combination.

Witchking20k · « **Reply #19 on:** August 28, 2018, 02:59:39 PM »

It's pretty good. It has a more Heroic feel. Things like healing are easier- but you can still build in a lot of grit.

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Author Topic: Hero System for Shadow World (Read 2768 times)