| Post/Author/DateTime | Post |
|---|---|
| #1RustmonsterJun 05, 2009 11:10:13 | I've heard some stuffs about the HERO system, so a while back I checked it out on the Internet Knowledge Depository*. After reading about it for a while, my thought process was as thus: Basic rolls are 3d6? Point-based characters? Bought abilities modified by Ads and Disads that create a final multiplier? THIS IS GURPS! Granted, I have not actually read the system itself. But everything I have learned points to HERO being near identical in structure to GURPS. I hate GURPS! Pages and pages of minute detail, useless things I never dreamed of needing to know, vast quantities of homework to perform to even play the damn thing ("Hmm, what is my character's pressure threshold?"), etc etc etc. Don't even get me started on the skills. Good, I understand you pride yourself on being a "universal" game system, but do you really need these thousands of skills? Can anyone with experience with the HERO system explain any differences between GURPS and HERO? *Wikipedia |
| #2MacariusJun 05, 2009 13:07:46 | I've heard some stuffs about the HERO system, so a while back I checked it out on the Internet Knowledge Depository*. After reading about it for a while, my thought process was as thus: I'm not sure why you hate GURPS. I've found that starting with GURPS lite and simply adding what you want from the main gamebooks gives me what I want. But, seeing as you do hate GURPS, it's highly unlikely that you would like HERO system at all. It requires the use of all the rules in the book, while with GURPS you can stick with GURPS lite and leave out the more complicated rules. Though, I do like how the initiative rules in HERO's works, but I think the rest require too much knowledge to use effectively. |
| #3MechaPilotJun 05, 2009 19:52:57 | I have no experience with either the GURPS or HERO systems. The wall of large books for those systems at my local hobby shop seemed rather intimidating. From what i've heard about how lethal combat is in GURPS, I know it's not for me. I do have to confess that my favorite non-d20 system is the Cinematic Unisystem rules. This is probably because it is very much like d20. The primary mechanic is the roll of a single d10 with a modifer equal to the sum of an attribute and a skill. It is a point buy system with qualities and drawbacks, but it does not dwell on minutae as you said the others do. In short, if you feel you must look for a system outside of the d20 system; the cinematic unisystem rules are a good solid step out of the d20 mold. |
| #4farmer42_dupJun 05, 2009 21:47:48 | Check out HERO Sidekick. It's a lot easier to grab a hold of and gives you the bare minimum needed to run HERO. The thing with HERO is that you can drop whatever you want, it's a toolkit first. As for the difference between it and GURPS, it's night and day. While both are ppoint buy and use the same dice rolling, things work a lot differently. You might also want to check out HERO Designer. It's their char gen software. |
| #5StuntmanJun 08, 2009 17:41:30 | I've played the HERO system briefly back in the 90's. The game we played was actually called Champions and it is a superhero type of setting. I haven't played GURPS, but from the description of it, both systems sound very similar. My impression of HERO is that it is very flexible, but there is a lot of bookkeeping required to build a character. I ended up building a spreadsheet in order to build a character. If you do any type of min/maxing, you pretty much need one. It is very flexible, but the lack of guildlines can cause you to build rather degenerate characters. You could build something that can kill or knock out anything you hit, but are knocked out with very little damage. There is some blurb saying that the DM should watch closely for degenerate characters and some examples of such characters. Different characters can have a vastly different power level. Someone with 6 different major powers can be cool, but may end up being rather subpar compared to another character with only 3 powers. The reason is if you spread your points out amongst 6 powers, each will be half as powerful as having just 3 powers. I've only played a handful of sessions using HERO. I found that you could end up with a degenerate rock-papers-scissors effect. You have the right match up and you dominate too easily. Against the wrong match and you're screwed. For a superhero type of game, it tends to fit the setting. For example, if Superman runs into anyone with kryptonite, he's pretty screwed. It makes for interesting comic book stories at the expense of overall game balance. A DM has to be pretty skilled in order to present a good challenge to well tuned characters. I find HERO is a player's dream and nightmare at the same time. You get great flexibility, but crunching the numbers can be a headache. I build a character whose character sheet was about 25 pages (using my spreadsheet). I purposely such a character to thuroughly test my spreadsheet. One of the reasons why it took so many pages was that he had 5 different forms into he can change (each form required another copy of the character sheet because it had totally different abilities), a base and a computer. I only ended up playing this character once and used only 3 of the 5 forms and did not get a chance to use the base or computer. |
| #6Johnny_AngelJun 09, 2009 17:17:22 | I've heard some stuffs about the HERO system, so a while back I checked it out on the Internet Knowledge Depository*. After reading about it for a while, my thought process was as thus: Hero and GURPS are similar. However, Hero (I think) actually goes into smaller detail with certain things. I'm not nearly as knowledgable about the system as some other people are though. GURPS As for GURPS, I love GURPS. The thousands of skills only exist if you want them to. The big thing which intimidates many people is that GURPS is not prepackaged like D&D is. In D&D you can pick a class and race and already know what skills and abilities you get. In GURPS there aren't any classes*, and any character can have any skill you want. If D&D were a set of Legos; GURPS would be more like an Erector Set. D&D says,"If you want to build a defender, then pick this." GURPS says,"Envision the character you want..ok, now build it however you want." As a world-builder/sandbox style DM, I found more freedom and tools in GURPS than I had with 4E, but that's simply my opinion. 4E has the advantage of being easy to set up. 4E is quick, easy, and it doesn't worry about the small details. Personally, I'm a detail oriented person, so I love GURPS. I like being able to build the game I want. GURPS can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. You want to be a simple sword swinging fighter? You can do that. You want to be an awakened monkey ninja pirate who wields a light saber? You can do that too. *Most DMs create what are called "templates." A template in GURPS is essentially a race and/or class. The DM figures out what he wants a certain package (i.e. elf or fighter) to contain and then pre-builds a set of skills, advantages, and disadvantages. Likewise, most DMs tend to trim the skill lists for their games. Computer Hacking typically doesn't exist in a caveman game. |
| #7farmer42_dupJun 10, 2009 1:55:09 | HERO has templates, as well, to make life easier. As for things being too powerful, generally poiunt limits are imposed such as an active point limit and a dice limit. For example, if you limit damage dice with a dice limit to only 8 dice, you can have a norml attack that does 8 dice or less or a killing (which works a little differently) attack that does 4 dice (it's more lethal, so dice count twice). In terms of point limits, HERO has and Active point count, that being how many points a power would cost before and limitations to the power. OFten times, GMs impose caps to this. |