Champions

[Regdar]

This, gladly, is no longer true as of 5th Edition. NPCs are, at long last, properly and even cleverly constructed.

Alas you are incorrect, there are still mistakes a plenty. Look at their Errata for the first book for one.

 

[Utrecht]

I disagree I think it does a great job of handling modern non-supers games, and fantasy games, and obviously supers games. I haven't used it yet for sci-fi, but I don't see why it would fail there.

I do not disagree that it could handle it, but i just think that there are better systems for this sort of thing - and personally do not think that Hero is a great fit for modern non-super games - I would think that the campaign would get bogged down in the combats. in a supers game I am happy with 1-2 comflicts per session. In a non-supers game I would like to have the plot advanced a bit further and think that hero is not nearly as good at this type of cinematic type activity.

 

[Intrope]

Alas you are incorrect, there are still mistakes a plenty. Look at their Errata for the first book for one.

Actually, that's not a huge number of errata for a book of that size (compare it to the PHB!). And many of them are trivial from a rules standpoint. Not to say that the NPC write-ups in HERO 5 are perfect, but they're pretty good--very few of the known errors in writeups contain huge gaffs (the only big gaff has to do with Automatons that don't take STUN--which IIRC only effects 2 characters).

As an added note (on NPCs), they are currently building up HeroDesigner files for all NPCs/Creatures (they've already made the Bestiary ones available for sale). This is IMO a really good thing!

 

[blackshirt5]

First Champions character? I suggest the KISS approach.

You mean make a superhero who wears way too much face paint, has an extra long tongue, and a guitar shaped like an axe?

Sorry, it had to be said.

 

[WayneLigon]

The math does not bother me but I heard it takes two hours to run a combat. Is that true?

No, not at all.

 

[WayneLigon]

Well I just found out that we are not playing Super Heroes. We are playing ordinary humans.

Well, that sucks Champions does super heroes wonderfully. It doesn't do normal human levels all that well, though it's certainly possible. I'd use something else for a game like that, unless later on he's planning on something happening to give you super powers or psi powers or something like that.

 

[bolen]

Are there any advantages it has (other then 15 years of history over Mutants and Masterminds) I plan on running a M&M campain this year.

 

[Dragonblade]

HERO is a cool system. Very detailed and complicated but also very powerful. If the players and GM are experienced enough any type of game can be played and character creation and combat are not so bad.

For novices, HERO can seem very difficult to get into. Combat can take a very long time if you aren't familiar with it and have to constantly look up charts and such. Its very technical. Character creation can also be very time consuming.

It is also one of the best if not THE best super hero RPG system of all time. At least in terms of detail and customizability.

That being said, for the casual gamer and non-diehard HERO fans, d20 is much better for high magic fantasy. Spycraft and d20 Modern are probably better for any action oriented modern setting game. And Mutants and Masterminds is the best Supers system outside of Champions. Much easier to play and create a character for.

 

[PA]

Ah, Champions and the Hero System...my absolute favorite! Now, if only I could convince the people in my gaming group that it's the best thing since sliced bread, I might actually be able to play it.

Try a diplomacy, no, a bluff check (DC 49).

 

[Tratyn Runewind]

Hi again!

Posted by Utrecht:
Champios/Hero is really good with 4 color smash them up action - not so good for more realistic type campaigns - I am wondering why he is not using something else like: Spycraft, d20 modern or even Gurps...... Square peg and round hole......

Posted by WayneLigon:
Well, that sucks Champions does super heroes wonderfully. It doesn't do normal human levels all that well, though it's certainly possible.

Hero's a lot better here than Champions used to be, actually. Hero 5th has a lot of the goodies for lower-powered campaigns that first showed up in Justice Inc., Danger International, the Adventurer's Club, and so forth; human-scale characters have quite a few options and no longer look so alike as they did once upon a time.

Posted by Utrecht:
I would think that the campaign would get bogged down in the combats. in a supers game I am happy with 1-2 comflicts per session. In a non-supers game I would like to have the plot advanced a bit further and think that hero is not nearly as good at this type of cinematic type activity.

Modern guns can end even Hero System fights very quickly in campaigns where every character isn't packing resistant defenses in the 20-30 range. The hit location rules, commonly used in Heroic campaigns, multiply damage that strikes vital spots, hastening things still further. And the lower SPD of these agent-level characters will also help speed the action along, with fewer moves per turn.

Posted by Intrope:
very few of the known errors in writeups contain huge gaffs (the only big gaff has to do with Automatons that don't take STUN--which IIRC only effects 2 characters).

Heh, yeah, nothing like years past. I still remember the original write-up for Anklyosaur, in the first Enemies supplement. He was tough as all-get-out, because he was outrageously illegal - the Active Points in his Multipower powers exceeded the points in his pool by huge amounts. Someone got confused, and thought that powers of 60+ Active Points could be slots in a 40-pt Multipower with a few Limitations...

Posted by Shard O'Glase:
I haven't picked up the hero5 champions suplement yet,(way too much to uy, and so little time) but I'm glad to hear they revised him. Do they have his henchmen that came out in the groups book for 4th edition. His team had perhaps the best backstory for a villan team in the history of comics/rpgs.

Sounds interesting; I missed a lot of the later 4th Edition supplements. I tend to doubt that his henchmen would be out yet; there's only the one villain book out so far (Conquerors, Killers, and Crooks), and I don't remember seeing them mentioned in discussions of the book (my copy hasn't arrived yet). The 5th Edition Champions Universe, though, while based on that of earlier editions, is not the same world, and some characters are missing, while others have their histories changed. Most of the old classic villains (Dr. Destroyer, Mechanon, Foxbat, Grond, Eurostar, VIPER, Genocide, etc.) seem to be around in one form or another, but there's no guarantee that every detail is the same as before.

Again, hope this helps!