Notes on the Hero System

     These are my notes and articles on the Hero role-playing system by George MacDonald, Steve Peterson, and Rob Bell -- published by Hero Games. The core rules were created for the Champions superhero RPG, released in 1981. This core was expanded to cover other genres in 1989 when it was released as a universal system (alongside Champions 4th edition). In 2002 the 5th edition has been released, with myself credited as contributor for my velocity damage system (see below).

     Hero is in many ways my favorite system as a player, at least in the past. My main It has many flaws, most notably a rough learning curve and poor ease-of-use. However, the basic concepts work better than many later games.

Review
This is my complete review for the Hero system, 4th edition.
An Alternate Movement system
This is the original article I wrote for 4th edition, which has been partly incorporated into the 5th edition. It is an alternate approach to movement-based damage in the Hero system. It fixes some game-balance as well as realism issues.
Alternate Damage Table
An old utility which I found a while ago to simplify the process of large standard (i.e. non-killing-attack) damage rolls. This translates a single 3d6 roll into the average result for anything from 7d6 to 20d6, including STUN and BODY.
Top 10 Myths about the HERO System
This is something of an FAQ about common complaints about the HERO system. Some of them are justified, others are not.
HERO System Advice Essays
These are a series of articles with advise about particular points of the HERO rules. They should apply equally to someone considering whether to use the system, or to someone confused about the rules.
Equipment in HERO
Breakpoints in HERO stats
Lethality in HERO

Links


J. Hanju Kim <hanjujkim-at-gmail-dot-com>
Last modified: Mon Apr 30 14:48:18 2007