Hero System on RPGX

[Kenjitsu]

Welcome to the Hero System on RPGX community hub, your one-stop shop for the RPGX Hero System community! The Hero System includes (but not limited to) Champions, Dark Champions, Fantasy Hero, Star Hero, and Monster Hunter International. Here you can find other Hero System fans to discuss the game, settings, or your own characters with, you can also find games looking for additional players to join here. Whether you're looking to start your first foray into the Hero System or are already an experienced Hero, everyone is welcome to participate in the discussion!

[HeroFan]

Wow. I am no longer playing, just popped in for nostalgia's sake, and it so warms my heart that this particular sub-forum exists!

[Kenjitsu]

Saw how well the Shadowrun thread worked, so decided to create one for my favorite game system. Feel free to stop by any time Hero.

[Beastttt]

So are there any games here?
I have been playing Champions/Hero System since 1986(currently in a couple of games on discord/roll20

[Kenjitsu]

Unfortunately, there are no Hero System games currently active, which is why I am trying to build up the community. There was a few games several years ago (in fact one of those games is why I even found this site).

Saying that, I am preparing to run a game. I am just waiting for some of my existing games to end or die off before diving into it. I am planning on doing a Monster Hunter International game, which just happens to be the game that brought me to this site. As my other games fade away, I plan on doing a Star Hero game too.

I see that you are relatively new here. Tell me a little bit about yourself. Have you kept up with the Hero System (6th edition)? Have any interested hosting a game? Any desire to do a solo game (host or run)?

[LordOfLemuria]

I've never played Hero System but I've always been interested in it. As a GURPS player, probably nothing else gets compared to GURPS as much as Hero. I have looked over a Champions book (I like Supers), but that's about all. I think something like Champions, GURPS or Mutants & Masterminds is necessary for me to enjoy a Supers game, because wondering how all the fiddly bits of Superman's powers work occupies half my time reading comics. I once spent 22 hours working on Silver Age Superman for GURPS! I am sure I'd like Hero System, too.

[Kenjitsu]

Welcome to our little corner of the forum.

The nice thing about the Hero System is that you can build Superman in all his glory. The only downside is that the point cost might be higher than the starting limits of a game. Saying that, there is nothing wrong with building Superman first and then scaling him down to whatever the starting level is.

While I do love the superhero aspect of the system, because I started out playing Champions (which is the superhero version of the game), my first game I will host here will probably be the MHI variant, which is normal people fighting supernatural enemies with superior firepower. I will start with that since I actually have a campaign for that version, and even though it is just six missions, that will probably take a couple of years to play out given the slower pace of a PbP game.

Saying that, I would love to see someone else run a Superhero game.

In the future, I am planning on converting a Shadowrun game that I am running over to the Hero System. I think I would be willing to allow that to be a superhero game since some of the Shadowrun abilities could easily crossover to superpowers, so why not allow any super powers? It is more of a mystery game anyway with just a little bit of combat, so I don't think it would be too broken to allow the players to be superheroes in that setting. But that is at least a year or two away.

[LordOfLemuria]

Originally Posted by Kenjitsu

Welcome to our little corner of the forum.

The nice thing about the Hero System is that you can build Superman in all his glory. The only downside is that the point cost might be higher than the starting limits of a game.

Well, the GURPS version had 4 Quadrillion points just in Strength, so 'outside of starting point limits' is pretty much expected.

I have read a few threads elsewhere of people comparing GURPS Supers and Champions, though some of it was Greek to me as I don't know Champions very well, but it seems like they're pretty dang close in general philosophy, though GURPS defaults more to 'realizm' whereas Champions seems more 'heroic'/adventure oriented, but GURPS has plenty of switches and optional rules to make it more like comics.

[Kenjitsu]

Since there have been some GURPS games recently and GURPS managed to get its own folder under the games folder, I decided to start looking into GURPS and it is not so surprising very similar to the HERO System. The main advantage that GURPS has over the HERO System is that they offer a free GURPS Lite set of rules new players can pick up and create a character with. It may not have all the options that the Basic Set offers, but it is more than enough to build a playable character.

The one thing that GURPS is lacking in are Adventure or Campaign books that lace together a story line for you. But then again, the HERO System has a similar issue. The nice thing about both systems being frameworks is that they can be adapted to any existing Adventure or Campaign, which is what I am considering doing.

I am currently trying to get into a GURPS Space game just to try it out and get a better feel for it. If that experience goes well, then I have a tough decision to make. I have one game that I am playing in that is supposed to be a short module. Once it is finished, I will have some bandwidth to run a game. The question will be which system to use: HERO System, GURPS, or Starfinder. (The nice thing about Starfinder is that Paizo focuses on making adventures for them which makes it easier for the GM to run a game.) But I do have a Monsters International campaign for the HERO System, which I am tempted on running too.

Luckily, I have some time before I have to make a decision. The short game I am waiting on finishing will probably run through the end of the year.

[Vann the Red]

Ah, my two favorite gaming systems debated. Warms my heart. I feel like Hero scales better at high power levels and GURPS shines at "realistic" levels. Just my $0.02, though. I love them both.

My dream campaigns (when I'm retired and have time) include a Wheel of Time game set during the Trolloc Wars played in GURPS, a LotR campaign during Aragorn's wanderings (also GURPS), and a Dark Champions the Animated Series campaign of street level teen heroes played in Hero.

[Kenjitsu]

Thanks for stopping by.

I have been buried over with work lately, so haven't had as much free time to devote here, but I was planning on eventually running a Monster International Inc game, which is based on the book series of the same name and uses the Hero System. So, it would be pretty close to a street level Dark Champions game. No super powers and having to fight supernatural creatures (like zombies and a necromancer).

[Vann the Red]

I'm a big urban fantasy fan, so that sounds great!