Grade the Hero System

[SteveC]

Ah Hero. It's my jam! If I had one system to play and had to use it for the rest of gaming, it would be Hero. That's because there's so little it can't do. I've played Hero for a gritty Darklands (the old computer RPG set in Medieval Germany) to cosmic powered Heroes. We even used it for Amber. Simply the best out there.

 

[johndesmarais]

Been using the system for years, and it’s still the system I’m most likely to turn to - particularly if there is not a bespoke system for whatever game I'm planning. Although it’s history is in superheroes, pulp-style adventure is what I’ve done the most with it.

 

[aramis erak]

I used to love it, mostly for Fantasy Hero... but I've since found it just too complex to bother with, especially since I don't like having to say, "I'm using an older edition because I think the recent edition's changes make it a worse game."

Even still, it's not a bad system. Most of the math (unless the GM allows VPPs) is preloaded during CharGen.

I still think it's the closest to a simulationist agenda in print... but noting what it simulates isn't our reality.

If I had players willing to do the math, and a copy of Herobase... I'd be willing to run it FTF.

I still have a copy of the MS-DOS Heromaker... and my 4E/5E books.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

It’s my favorite system, bar none.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

It's my go-to system.

I'm currently running an urban fantasy game in it. Although I'll admit to some* house rules. I'm also also ignoring many of the little rules. e.g.: goodbye long tables of modifiers. If I need a modifier for some situation I'll give +/-2 and leave it that most of the time. Really good tactics will get a bit more of a modifier, but never more than +/-4.

I'll agree with most of what was said above. Yes, even some of the contradictory things, because there's so many rules that there's some justification for almost any opinion of the system.

hmm, what can I say that's fresh? (for the thread.)

Character creation is it's own pass time. As several folks above have said - they have so many more characters than they could possibly play. Because tinkering with character concepts to get them just right is fun. For some of us. I admit, not everyone's cup of tea. But I will say that if you're going to be doing lots of designing, then Hero Designer (a java based spreadsheet) is totally worth the $25. I'm currently doing up a campaign for Legend of the Five Rings, and I am getting soooo much value out of Hero Designer.

I love the action system for combat. Holding and aborting actions allows for dynamic back and forth between combatants.

I think it works just fine at low power levels. Honestly, there doesn't need to be much (any?) differentiation between types of swords. Or types of guns. A handgun does 1d6. A big handgun does 1d6+1. An assault rifle might do 1&1/2d6 with armour piercing rounds. All three guns will kill normal folks real fast and only tickle the ever-lovin', blue-eyed Thing.

There's a lot of little rules in the game. It is, quite frankly, over-written. Knowing which you can safely discard is too much for any new player. A stripped down version of the rules is needed.

While we're doing the stripped down rules version we really need to source some better art.

It definitely benefits from having a VTT. And there is one on...I want to say Foundry. I'm told it's great. Me, I can't get the damn thing to work. But I'm a Luddite. I do have specific characters sheets for playing (the default ones from Hero Designer are too busy by far) that make it much easier to track the stuff.

Woo. I could go on much longer. But I'll spare y'all.


*okay, lots of house rules.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

...
6th edition (the latest) made a major break with prior editions. It corrected a big math problem, introduced IMO some unnecessary changes, and split the fanbase. Such is life.

I've never really looked at 6th ed. (Nothing against it. In fact I'm a big fan of getting rid of figured characteristics.) So I'm just wondering what the big maths problem was?

 

[kigmatzomat]

I played it 30 years ago. Any system where you need to know math order of operations (FOIL) to build a character gets negative points from me. Making a character was painful (and I was taking differential equations at the time). There were 2 or maybe 3 frameworks for point buying (elemental, power pools, maybe more). Soooo many options that had non-obvious interactions. And in play action phases for speedy characters had a "matrix".

I much prefer the later versions of Fuzion with the "supers" add ons (like from the short lived Shards game).

 

[Thomas Shey]

I love the action system for combat. Holding and aborting actions allows for dynamic back and forth between combatants.

That's one of the things that can make playing a fencer or other martial artist so interesting in the system.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I think the biggest personal draw for the system is that I have yet to conceive of a character concept I couldn’t model in it that works in basically the way I want it to. I’ve even used it to model concepts for other games and even pieces of fiction.

The last one may sound weird, but if you can stat out a character in a concrete way using a game system, it helps you maintain internal consistency in your fiction. It also serves as a check against the character developing in ways that don’t make sense.

 

[Reynard]

I played it 30 years ago. Any system where you need to know math order of operations (FOIL) to build a character gets negative points from me. Making a character was painful (and I was taking differential equations at the time). There were 2 or maybe 3 frameworks for point buying (elemental, power pools, maybe more). Soooo many options that had non-obvious interactions. And in play action phases for speedy characters had a "matrix".

I much prefer the later versions of Fuzion with the "supers" add ons (like from the short lived Shards game).

Everyone has different preferences and they are all valid.

That said every negative you listed is a positive to me, and Fuzion is hot garbage.