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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DrunkonDuty" data-source="post: 6340034" data-attributes="member: 54364">I would cheerfully use HERO for almost all* games I would run. I like the flexibility of the system and I like the ease of use in play. Yes ease of use in play. HERO is much simpler in play than DnD 3.X and many other games out there. I admit that character design can be complex, but honestly, not that complex unless you're playing supers. In fact if a player has a clear concept they can put together a starting character as easily as a 1st level DnD character.Of course I've said all of this on the forums before. More on topic (ie: one reason I think many gamers stick with DnD and similar systems.)My girlfriend is fairly new to RPGs. She likes HERO but she prefers Pathfinder. I think there's several reasons for this but one I've noticed is the clear, well defined class progression available in DnD.What she likes about Pathfinder is the laundry list of powers that one gets as one goes up levels. As she is relatively new to RPGs she gets great benefit from having a list of stuff from which to pick as the characters level. Lists/modularity are/is easier than "dream something up" that HERO and GURPS give you. There is also the cool factor - you see some cool power et.al. higher up the list. You aim for it, you work toward it, you get it! That's a very satisfying aspect of playing games. She's not (yet) familiar enough with the 3.X system to see how clunky it is. Nor have we reached high level play where the problems become very pronounced. So she is unaware of one of the biggest negative aspects of the system. (i.e.: it falls apart at high levels.) Sure I've mentioned this, but being told something and experiencing it for yourself are two very different things. I think by their nature points buy systems encourage wider choice, a more freeform style of character design/advancement, HERO and GURPS being the best examples.Me, I'm well past the point where I need the list. I prefer coming up with my own list. But I've been a gamer for 30 something years. And a hard core gamer at that. I don't need the help and sometimes I feel downright restricted by the options. Now of course the reason I am able to come up with my own list for a character is because I've had so many years playing with systems where there have been example lists.  Between that and a very deep familiarity with a great deal of genre fiction from which to draw I'm well catered to. "If I see further it is because I stand upon the shoulders of giants." To coin a phrase. So I love HERO. It is so very open - it enables me to play the character I want to play straight out the starting gates. My girlfriend looks at HERO and is rather flabbergasted by all the openness. She prefers a more well defined framework in which to operate. I suspect that will change with time and familiarity with more RPGs. Another reason is that it's easier to mod a system you know than to learn a whole new system and THEN mod that. Even if the other system would be quicker and easier it isn't perceived to be because of the "devil you know" effect.Cheers.*Only exceptions are L5R and Ars Magica. In both cases the system is part of the appeal and it's pretty much impossible to replicate it with another system.</blockquote>

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