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Fantasy Hero
416 pages, Trade Paperback, Perfect Bound, Black & White
Retail: $31.99
Authors: Steven S. Long
Artists: Storn Cook (cover), various (interior)
This supplement is for the Hero System and does not include any d20 material. However, it contains a wide variety of materials useful for any fantasy campaign.
Overview: Fantasy Hero does an excellent job at its stated objective, which is to cover the genre of fantasy RPGs (in particular the Hero System). This is an intimidating book, coming in at a little over 400 pages and it is mostly text at that. For those who love reading about the make up and under pinnings of fantasy, this book will do a fantastic job (sadly, even with its bulk FH did not have the room to do an in-depth study of some areas BUT an exhaustive treatment of the genre would require a library and not a single book). This book gives a Hero System GM all of the tools needed to lay out their own campaign setting and raises many issues that even experienced GMs will often neglect. As a Fantasy Hero GM, I find that I reference this book more than any other. I also turn to the book when writing d20 stuff just for the engaging information.
Art: If Hero has a weakness it is the art. Some books have smoking art while others are mediocre at best. The cover was done by Storn and is of good quality. Interior art ranges from mostly sub-par to passable art with a few outstanding pieces interspersed. Overall the art in Fantasy Hero does the job.
Fantasy Hero starts off with a discussion of the nature of the fantasy genre for RPGs. It goes into detail about the various sub-genres like crossworlds fantasy, epic fantasy, high fantasy, low fantasy, swords & sorcery, urban fantasy, and then spends several pages discussing mixed fantasy such as adding mystery or horror to your campaign. Each section includes a 2-3 paragraph description (or more as needed) of the subject and then a breakdown of the common elements. FREX: Sword & sorcery discusses the following elements as being central to the genre: "barbarism is the natural state of mankind," magic is slow and difficult, lack of heroism, only the tough survive, short term thinking, & show me the money. Each of these elements is discussed in relation to gaming. The first part of the chapter takes 24 pages of text.
The next section covers common fantasy elements. This is an overview of both the physical and philosophical elements that are common to most fantasy stories, including mundane items as castles, keeps, caverns & cities but it also covers things such as prophecy & the nature of evil in fantasy.
Chapter 2 covers character creation. Hero is a point based system and the flexibility in racial and cultural creation flexes its muscles throughout this 100 page chapter. The chapter starts with racial write-ups that discuss the physical characteristics of a given race, then it covers the cultural packages, environmental packages come next and covers subjects such as a being who comes from the plane of fire and similar exotic environments. Each of the aspects of creation are optional and customizable by the DM.
Professional Packages follow and are similar in nature to classes common to d20, again these are optional and even within an individual group some characters may opt to take a package deal while others just build a character in the raw. Each professional package deal includes requisite stats, skills, perks, and if applicable the appropriate disadvantages. These packages may also be stacked upon one another - there is no rule stating that a character with the Ranger package deal may not also take the commander package deal.
Hero System has an open ended stat system, so discussion of the stats is warranted to set standards lest a player decides to create Superman for a fantasy game. The next section lays all of these issues out and is followed by the skills section. The skills are modified from the core Hero rules as needed for the fantasy genre (FREX: Combat Piloting is not relevant to most Fantasy Hero games but it is discussed briefly for those rare games where characters ride dragons or similar creatures).
The Perquisite & Talents sections deserve some special mention. These two sections which are somewhat unique to Hero System allow the character to develop in manners other than skills & combat ability. Contacts has always been a feature of Hero that sees much use in my own games. This allows the character to purchase a 'friend' to whom they can turn to for information or favors, they are not followers simply friend in key locations who occasionally provide useful information or skills to the characters. Characters may also purchase temporal, military, or spiritual ranks with Perks - this simple aspect allows the player to control the growth of his characters responsibilities. A character who is a local priest who wants to do more with his church need only add a few points to become a bishop, of course the points guide the GM, the story will need to be resolved in game. Talents are those abilities that border on the mystical - all the great heroes of fantasy have some talents even if that is something as simple as being fearless. A plethora (I like that word) of new talents appear in this book such as Divine Favor & Trackless Stride allowing players several options in making there character unique.
At the core of Hero System are its power rules and true to form, we are given a double dipping of power uses in the fantasy genre.
Next up is a fairly standard equipment list appropriate to the technology.
Next we have the combat & adventuring section. It includes optional rules for realism, bleeding wounds, and other gory details to bring in the Grim & Gritty. Weapons and Armor take up the next section of the chapter. With the power rules, weapons and armor can really stand out from the crowd. Unlike d20 where damage is damage, Hero system offers a multitude of methods with which to whack your opponent so weapon choice is an important factor in character development. Some weapons do only stunning damage, others do killing, among the killing some are armor piercing and much more useful against the knightly character while still others tend to ring your bell (increased Stun Modifier). Details on advanced weapon creation follow (similar to Master Work weapons but with more choices). A similar section covers armor and shields.
Chapter 3 includes Hero Systems fantasy mass combat rules - I will defer commenting on these since I have not playtested them to see if they work.
Chapter 4 covers the most difficult aspect of playing a game in Hero System: Magic. The first dozen or so pages discuss issues related to magic to help a GM define exactly how they want magic to work in their Fantasy World. The author comes to Fantasy Hero with the assumption that most GMs will be running a homebrewed world and so the direction here is not what is the -right way- to do magic but what are the aspects that the GM needs to consider. This is followed by various construction mechanics, again no rules are laid out only different ways the rules can be applied to achieve an effect.
Spell Creation and Use delves into the specifics of individual spell creation in much the same manner as the previous section went into magic systems. This is followed by a lengthy section giving various examples of magic systems that can be used and includes 14 or so systems that are well thought out and described.
Magic items have always been a bone of contention in my home games since players generally have to pay points for them. The Enchanted Items section covers all the aspects of magic items - everything from acquisition to creation. It has a large section giving examples of several items.
Chapter 5 is another section of this book that is valuable to any GM - Fantasy Worlds covers the aspects of world creation. Geology, ecology, history, demographics, and settlements are some of the sections covered. These are not long but IMO they are succinct, providing the important information while cutting out the fat. What Fantasy World does not need a section on races? This is not a list of dwarves, elves, and trolls - the section on Fantasy Races includes thoughts on creating animal based races (Furries), amphibians, magical beings, and covers ethnicity within the various major races. Once you have the where (geography) and the who (races) you need the why (civilizations). Thirty pages discuss issues like marriage, death rituals, trade, and the function of government. Chapter 5 is one of the brightest points of this book, a good read for anyone not just those inclined to play Hero.
Chapter 6 details the details of how to GM. Hero System has always had an understanding that even within the same system different groups will play the game differently, some enjoy humor, others realism, and some even enjoy the hopeless struggle. One important factor in determining the success of a game is to ensure that players have the same expectations - pre-defining weather morality is a gray thing or a black & white thing will help avoid conflicts based on misunderstanding. There is an obligatory section on plots and a nice little section on disconnects in the game (like splitting the party). Environmental dangers follows this and covers aspects like lava, bad weather, and traps.
Chapter 7 - The final section has several NPC both heroic and villainous for use in your game. These are stock type character like the evil wizard and a few staple monsters.
In review - once again I find myself torn between a score of 4 or 5. I think I must have a psychological issue with giving a score of five. I do not have any area to fault the book barring the art but it still does not climb into that HOLY SMOKES category for me. Since the book is my most referenced book on fantasy, it would seem that a 5 was a shoe in but this book demonstrates both Hero's greatest strength and its greatest weakness - versitility. The book is endlessly diverse and new GMs will find themselves struggling with the sheer number of options. More sections with examples and even a tutorial on world building using the Turakian World (a world book also produced by Hero) would have boosted the review into that ever elusive 5.
Eosin the Red
416 pages, Trade Paperback, Perfect Bound, Black & White
Retail: $31.99
Authors: Steven S. Long
Artists: Storn Cook (cover), various (interior)
This supplement is for the Hero System and does not include any d20 material. However, it contains a wide variety of materials useful for any fantasy campaign.
Overview: Fantasy Hero does an excellent job at its stated objective, which is to cover the genre of fantasy RPGs (in particular the Hero System). This is an intimidating book, coming in at a little over 400 pages and it is mostly text at that. For those who love reading about the make up and under pinnings of fantasy, this book will do a fantastic job (sadly, even with its bulk FH did not have the room to do an in-depth study of some areas BUT an exhaustive treatment of the genre would require a library and not a single book). This book gives a Hero System GM all of the tools needed to lay out their own campaign setting and raises many issues that even experienced GMs will often neglect. As a Fantasy Hero GM, I find that I reference this book more than any other. I also turn to the book when writing d20 stuff just for the engaging information.
Art: If Hero has a weakness it is the art. Some books have smoking art while others are mediocre at best. The cover was done by Storn and is of good quality. Interior art ranges from mostly sub-par to passable art with a few outstanding pieces interspersed. Overall the art in Fantasy Hero does the job.
Fantasy Hero starts off with a discussion of the nature of the fantasy genre for RPGs. It goes into detail about the various sub-genres like crossworlds fantasy, epic fantasy, high fantasy, low fantasy, swords & sorcery, urban fantasy, and then spends several pages discussing mixed fantasy such as adding mystery or horror to your campaign. Each section includes a 2-3 paragraph description (or more as needed) of the subject and then a breakdown of the common elements. FREX: Sword & sorcery discusses the following elements as being central to the genre: "barbarism is the natural state of mankind," magic is slow and difficult, lack of heroism, only the tough survive, short term thinking, & show me the money. Each of these elements is discussed in relation to gaming. The first part of the chapter takes 24 pages of text.
The next section covers common fantasy elements. This is an overview of both the physical and philosophical elements that are common to most fantasy stories, including mundane items as castles, keeps, caverns & cities but it also covers things such as prophecy & the nature of evil in fantasy.
Chapter 2 covers character creation. Hero is a point based system and the flexibility in racial and cultural creation flexes its muscles throughout this 100 page chapter. The chapter starts with racial write-ups that discuss the physical characteristics of a given race, then it covers the cultural packages, environmental packages come next and covers subjects such as a being who comes from the plane of fire and similar exotic environments. Each of the aspects of creation are optional and customizable by the DM.
Professional Packages follow and are similar in nature to classes common to d20, again these are optional and even within an individual group some characters may opt to take a package deal while others just build a character in the raw. Each professional package deal includes requisite stats, skills, perks, and if applicable the appropriate disadvantages. These packages may also be stacked upon one another - there is no rule stating that a character with the Ranger package deal may not also take the commander package deal.
Hero System has an open ended stat system, so discussion of the stats is warranted to set standards lest a player decides to create Superman for a fantasy game. The next section lays all of these issues out and is followed by the skills section. The skills are modified from the core Hero rules as needed for the fantasy genre (FREX: Combat Piloting is not relevant to most Fantasy Hero games but it is discussed briefly for those rare games where characters ride dragons or similar creatures).
The Perquisite & Talents sections deserve some special mention. These two sections which are somewhat unique to Hero System allow the character to develop in manners other than skills & combat ability. Contacts has always been a feature of Hero that sees much use in my own games. This allows the character to purchase a 'friend' to whom they can turn to for information or favors, they are not followers simply friend in key locations who occasionally provide useful information or skills to the characters. Characters may also purchase temporal, military, or spiritual ranks with Perks - this simple aspect allows the player to control the growth of his characters responsibilities. A character who is a local priest who wants to do more with his church need only add a few points to become a bishop, of course the points guide the GM, the story will need to be resolved in game. Talents are those abilities that border on the mystical - all the great heroes of fantasy have some talents even if that is something as simple as being fearless. A plethora (I like that word) of new talents appear in this book such as Divine Favor & Trackless Stride allowing players several options in making there character unique.
At the core of Hero System are its power rules and true to form, we are given a double dipping of power uses in the fantasy genre.
Next up is a fairly standard equipment list appropriate to the technology.
Next we have the combat & adventuring section. It includes optional rules for realism, bleeding wounds, and other gory details to bring in the Grim & Gritty. Weapons and Armor take up the next section of the chapter. With the power rules, weapons and armor can really stand out from the crowd. Unlike d20 where damage is damage, Hero system offers a multitude of methods with which to whack your opponent so weapon choice is an important factor in character development. Some weapons do only stunning damage, others do killing, among the killing some are armor piercing and much more useful against the knightly character while still others tend to ring your bell (increased Stun Modifier). Details on advanced weapon creation follow (similar to Master Work weapons but with more choices). A similar section covers armor and shields.
Chapter 3 includes Hero Systems fantasy mass combat rules - I will defer commenting on these since I have not playtested them to see if they work.
Chapter 4 covers the most difficult aspect of playing a game in Hero System: Magic. The first dozen or so pages discuss issues related to magic to help a GM define exactly how they want magic to work in their Fantasy World. The author comes to Fantasy Hero with the assumption that most GMs will be running a homebrewed world and so the direction here is not what is the -right way- to do magic but what are the aspects that the GM needs to consider. This is followed by various construction mechanics, again no rules are laid out only different ways the rules can be applied to achieve an effect.
Spell Creation and Use delves into the specifics of individual spell creation in much the same manner as the previous section went into magic systems. This is followed by a lengthy section giving various examples of magic systems that can be used and includes 14 or so systems that are well thought out and described.
Magic items have always been a bone of contention in my home games since players generally have to pay points for them. The Enchanted Items section covers all the aspects of magic items - everything from acquisition to creation. It has a large section giving examples of several items.
Chapter 5 is another section of this book that is valuable to any GM - Fantasy Worlds covers the aspects of world creation. Geology, ecology, history, demographics, and settlements are some of the sections covered. These are not long but IMO they are succinct, providing the important information while cutting out the fat. What Fantasy World does not need a section on races? This is not a list of dwarves, elves, and trolls - the section on Fantasy Races includes thoughts on creating animal based races (Furries), amphibians, magical beings, and covers ethnicity within the various major races. Once you have the where (geography) and the who (races) you need the why (civilizations). Thirty pages discuss issues like marriage, death rituals, trade, and the function of government. Chapter 5 is one of the brightest points of this book, a good read for anyone not just those inclined to play Hero.
Chapter 6 details the details of how to GM. Hero System has always had an understanding that even within the same system different groups will play the game differently, some enjoy humor, others realism, and some even enjoy the hopeless struggle. One important factor in determining the success of a game is to ensure that players have the same expectations - pre-defining weather morality is a gray thing or a black & white thing will help avoid conflicts based on misunderstanding. There is an obligatory section on plots and a nice little section on disconnects in the game (like splitting the party). Environmental dangers follows this and covers aspects like lava, bad weather, and traps.
Chapter 7 - The final section has several NPC both heroic and villainous for use in your game. These are stock type character like the evil wizard and a few staple monsters.
In review - once again I find myself torn between a score of 4 or 5. I think I must have a psychological issue with giving a score of five. I do not have any area to fault the book barring the art but it still does not climb into that HOLY SMOKES category for me. Since the book is my most referenced book on fantasy, it would seem that a 5 was a shoe in but this book demonstrates both Hero's greatest strength and its greatest weakness - versitility. The book is endlessly diverse and new GMs will find themselves struggling with the sheer number of options. More sections with examples and even a tutorial on world building using the Turakian World (a world book also produced by Hero) would have boosted the review into that ever elusive 5.
Eosin the Red
