Mercule said:
So, I keep looking at D&D and thinking, "But Hero does that better and has fewer numbers to track/balance." But, at the same time, I'm pretty much out of time to roll my own adventures.
What I'd really like to do is start up a Hero game using the Dungeon Adventure Paths, Ex to Castle Ravenloft, Rappan Athak, etc. I'm also somewhat interested in using Eberron as a setting.
Anyone tried this? Words of wisdom?
It's been a few years since I last did the same thing, but here are a few observations:
1. I only converted Dungeon adventures, not full modules, and certainly not an adventure path. If you plan to convert any of the larger adventures, I strongly recommend only converting the pieces that have to be done first, then wait and see what the party does. If they end up skipping whole sections, you don't have to convert them, which will cut down the workload considerably. I enjoy designing creatures and characters in Hero, but it takes time. Keep that time to a minimum when you can.
2. Be willing to handwave some things. I threw in a Mirror of Life Trapping in one adventure. Is that a major transform? An interdimensional teleport? Something else? Who cares. The point wasn't to TPK the party, but to give them a challenge that couldn't be defeated through raw power. The first character looked straight at it and disappeared. The others got a perception roll to see a dim shape ahead, and they figured it out from there. Since the mirror couldn't be moved or destroyed, they had to come up with a way to block it until they figured out how to get their comrade back. A memorable encounter that required no crunch.
3. Be willing to make changes, especially to creatures. Hero functions very differently than D&D. A horde of orcs is dangerous to even the most capable fighter. Some creatures just don't convert very well. Others have far too many abilities - only convert the cool ones, and ignore the others. If a creature doesn't work as well in the system, substitute something else. The players won't care (probably won't even notice).
4. Hero has great rules for envionmental challenges - play up things like breaking down doors, hacking through walls, swinging on chandeliers and ropes, fleeing a forest fire, etc. You can do the same things in D&D, but the rules aren't as good (IMO). Take advantage of what Hero does well.
5. All D&D adventures assume healing is readily available - make sure it is. They assume strong magic (spells, items). In Hero, items aren't as important, but weak spellcasters will not work well with most D&D modules.
BTW - I recommend requiring all spellcasters to use a single multipower for their spells - it gives them cheap access to lots of spells (slot costs are quite low), but limits how many of those spells can be active at any one time (it's not cheap to buy a large pool of points for the MP). A few XP's can easily buy a new spell or two, but boosting overall spell power will take lots of time. YMMV, but I've found this works well to give the spellcasters flexibility without allowing them to outshine the bricks, sneaks, etc.
Hope this helps. Good luck!
