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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jdrakeh" data-source="post: 3576828" data-attributes="member: 13892">HERO is much more of a 'tool-kit' for gamers in that it gives you a set of tools that you can use to simulate pretty much anything -- the downside is that you have to use those tools to build pretty much everything prior to play. The core book itself only provides scant examples of pre-calculated powers and equipment. As somebody else mentioned, statting up something as simple as a handgun is a fairly involved process in HERO with designing alternate applications of powers (such as spells) being even more involved. HERO supplements are largely dedicated to providing rules for building your own milieu-specific powers/equipment/characters. GURPS is more of a 'pick and choose' affair than a 'build it yourself' approach, with its core books containing a wide array of pre-constructed powers, spells, etc. Things such as equipment are standardized, as they are in most RPGs, rather than being built from scratch using power/effect variants. There is much less prep work involved with GURPS. GURPS supplements are dedicated largely to presenting 'ready to use' milieu-specific powers/spells/etc, rather than milieu-specific rules that you can use to build these things yourself (there are some exceptions to this, though not a great many). That is, you can pick up the GURPS core books, a setting supplement, and be playing in the space of a few hours. Ultimately, GURPS gives you material that you can use to play a game and HERO gives you tools that you can use to build a game. If you're short on prep time, I recommend GURPS. If having complete control over your game down to the smallest detail is a big concern of yours as a GM, I recommend HERO.[Edit: Also worth mentioning are Hero Sidekick (currently available as a commercial PDF-only product) and GURPS Lite (currently available as a free PDF or as printed booklet with the GURPS GM Screen). I've played in and run full-fledged campaigns using both of these introductory rule sets, though Sidekick is slightly more limited in scope than Lite.]</blockquote>

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