Gauntlet Posted August 21 Report Share Posted August 21 I am missing a few but have most of them. It is a great game, the only one I feel compatible to Hero. The only problem is that it is really only used for one game type. But it is much better than the new stuff of which Vampire the Masquerade is part of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted August 21 Report Share Posted August 21 On 8/20/2024 at 4:04 AM, Steve said: I own pretty much the entire catalog of books for the last couple of editions but have never been able to run it as a campaign. I only have 4th ed but, yeah, never got to run it. On 8/19/2024 at 6:09 PM, Gauntlet said: Have any of you played Ars Magica? It has to have the absolute best magic system of all role-playing games. Of course, in that game the Magi are overwhelmingly more powerful than every other character type. Wrong! Fantasy Hero is the absolute best magic system of all roleplaying games. You can run Ars Magica's magic system in it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja-Bear Posted August 21 Report Share Posted August 21 On 8/16/2024 at 11:17 PM, Christopher R Taylor said: Fantasy Rome sounds like a great setting. I'd love to do a very ancient Mesopotamian early bronze age low magic fantasy game. Scott Bennie for Green Ronin had Testament, an Old Testament source book for DnD 3rd. I have it. Alas never ran it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher R Taylor Posted August 21 Report Share Posted August 21 Quote Scott Bennie for Green Ronin had Testament, an Old Testament source book for DnD 3rd. I have it. Alas never ran it. At some point, maybe, in the future if I live long enough I want to write a bronze age fantasy game, and Testament will inform a lot of that. The setting fascinates me, its Conan plus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tolen1 Posted August 22 Report Share Posted August 22 One of these days, I aim to run a game influenced by Treasure Planet and Spelljammer. But I have to finish reading the rules first... Old Man 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gauntlet Posted August 22 Report Share Posted August 22 22 hours ago, Old Man said: Wrong! Fantasy Hero is the absolute best magic system of all roleplaying games. You can run Ars Magica's magic system in it! I guess you could run a game where Magi are 400 points, Companions are 200 points, and Grogs are 100 points. Variable Power Pools (Magic) definitely will be used by Magi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoneWolf Posted August 23 Report Share Posted August 23 (edited) Fantasy Hero does not really have a magic system. Chapter 4 is about how to create a magic system, but the GM has to do a lot of work to do before it becomes an actual magic system. If the GM just uses the rules the Hero System without modification the game becomes a low powered Champions campaign instead of a Fantasy Hero campaign. That is both the greatest strength and weakness of Fantasy Hero. The GM can create any type of campaign they want, but there is very little ready to go material that can be used right away. There are a few supplements that are helpful, but even those usually require a great deal of work to fit into a specific campaign. In other game systems you can usually take a character from one campaign and drop that character into a campaign with a completely different group and have it works with minimal modifications. I have never seen this when someone brings a Fantasy Hero caster from a different group. Edited August 23 by LoneWolf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gauntlet Posted August 23 Report Share Posted August 23 Of course that is one of the both great and poor things about Hero. You can do practically anything, but many times you do need to take the time to create it, but there are a lot of additional books that can give you ideas of where to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted August 23 Report Share Posted August 23 3 hours ago, LoneWolf said: Fantasy Hero does not really have a magic system. This is the kind of observation that triggers my inner curmudgeon. 1st ed. FH absolutely did have a magic system--you buy your spells as powers individually with advantages and limitations including a magic skill roll. That's it, that's the magic system. Ever since then, Hero got high on its own supply, added dozens of optional magic systems, and now the perception is that it "does not really have a magic system." Oh well, I tried to warn them. Christopher R Taylor, Chris Goodwin and Duke Bushido 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gauntlet Posted August 23 Report Share Posted August 23 I think it was just a typo when he said that "Fantasy Hero does not really have a magic system." What was meant to be said was that "Fantasy Hero does not have ONE magic System." It has a ton, and even if they don't work for you, you can make your own. Though the sheer numbers could make it confusing for some players and the game's GM needs to be aware of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher R Taylor Posted August 23 Report Share Posted August 23 Technically there is not one official magic system for Fantasy Hero but there are several offered options for spell systems in the Fantasy Hero book. Also, there are several official settings out there for Fantasy Hero, each with their official magic system. My own Jolrhos setting has its own magic system. So its not true to say that there is no magic system for FH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted August 23 Report Share Posted August 23 24 minutes ago, Gauntlet said: I think it was just a typo when he said that "Fantasy Hero does not really have a magic system." What was meant to be said was that "Fantasy Hero does not have ONE magic System." It has a ton, and even if they don't work for you, you can make your own. Though the sheer numbers could make it confusing for some players and the game's GM needs to be aware of this. If so then the typo is more correct. With every new edition FH has become less of a game and more what you'd call "guidelines". New players have no idea how to choose between systems to make the characters or campaigns that they want. As brilliant as it is, FH6 is not a game that you pick up and play, it's a pile of parts for making a game that you pick up and play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted August 23 Report Share Posted August 23 Product idea: Hero Magic Systems. Steve and Gauntlet 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gauntlet Posted August 23 Report Share Posted August 23 45 minutes ago, Old Man said: If so then the typo is more correct. With every new edition FH has become less of a game and more what you'd call "guidelines". New players have no idea how to choose between systems to make the characters or campaigns that they want. As brilliant as it is, FH6 is not a game that you pick up and play, it's a pile of parts for making a game that you pick up and play. Of course for me personally, the guidelines are I love about Hero. When I run a game, it is my game, not just the companies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoneWolf Posted August 23 Report Share Posted August 23 I stand by what I said about Fantasy Hero not having a magic system. What it has is a system to create a magic system. Grailknight 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Goodwin Posted August 23 Report Share Posted August 23 1 hour ago, L. Marcus said: Product idea: Hero Magic Systems. The Grimoire has multiple worked example magic systems, each with a couple of dozen spells. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gauntlet Posted August 23 Report Share Posted August 23 (edited) Deleted Edited August 23 by Gauntlet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gauntlet Posted August 23 Report Share Posted August 23 35 minutes ago, LoneWolf said: I stand by what I said about Fantasy Hero not having a magic system. What it has is a system to create a magic system. What about the following magic systems that are listed in the Fantasy Hero book: THE ARTS ARCANE CHAOS BLADES ELDRITCH LORE THE GIFT LEX MAGISTERIUM WORDS OF POWER NA’SENRA RUNE MAGIC THE SECRET SCIENCES TALRIADAN DRUIDRY VANSARJAK Or are you saying that since they only give you a couple of spells and the way to create spells but not an entire list of spells it does not count. But there also is a number of Grimoire books, at least 4 that I know of, would those count? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoneWolf Posted August 24 Report Share Posted August 24 Those are not complete magic systems they are starting points for creating a system. The Grimoires are also more examples and support material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted August 24 Report Share Posted August 24 4 hours ago, Gauntlet said: Of course for me personally, the guidelines are I love about Hero. When I run a game, it is my game, not just the companies. I see what you're saying, but seven posts ago people were pointing out that you generally can't transfer spellcasters from one FH campaign to another. And I'm kind of inclined to agree. Grailknight 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja-Bear Posted August 24 Report Share Posted August 24 How many spell collages did the Western Shores sample campaign have? Fantasy for 4th Ed had a magic system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Goodwin Posted August 24 Report Share Posted August 24 1 hour ago, Ninja-Bear said: How many spell collages did the Western Shores sample campaign have? Fantasy for 4th Ed had a magic system. It looks like 13 in Fantasy Hero, 13 in the Companion, and 21 in Companion II. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gauntlet Posted August 24 Report Share Posted August 24 (edited) On 8/23/2024 at 7:31 PM, Old Man said: I see what you're saying, but seven posts ago people were pointing out that you generally can't transfer spellcasters from one FH campaign to another. And I'm kind of inclined to agree. Yea, but to be honest rarely you will not have problems moving one character from one Campaign, be it Fantasy Hero, Steampunk, Star Hero, Western Hero, Champions, Dark Champions, or anything else. Even if the games are technically the same type it doesn't mean that they would work in a different campaign. There could be rule differences, point differences, character concept differences, and so forth. Edited August 25 by Gauntlet Christopher R Taylor and Ninja-Bear 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoneWolf Posted August 24 Report Share Posted August 24 In a Fantasy Hero game I can usually write up a warrior type character, and use that character in multiple Fantasy Hero campaigns. I might need to make some minor adjustments, and maybe some changes on the equipment he uses. That is usually not the case with casters. Even when the same person is GM there are often changes in how magic works from campaign to campaign that often requires rewriting the spells. I have even had to rewrite casters in the same campaign when the GM changed things. This is not a bad thing; in fact it is often a good thing. Being able to change how magic works allows a GM to correct imbalances in the game without having to scrap the entire system. What makes the Hero System better than other systems is its flexibility, but that flexibility comes at the cost of standardization. By not having a defined magic system Fantasy Hero allows you to have any magic system or systems you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted August 25 Report Share Posted August 25 17 hours ago, Gauntlet said: Yea, but to be honest rarely you will have problems moving one character from one Campaign, be it Fantasy Hero, Steampunk, Star Hero, Western Hero, Champions, Dark Champions, or anything else. Even if the games are technically the same type it doesn't mean that they would work in a different campaign. There could be rule differences, point differences, character concept differences, and so forth. Exactly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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