Traveller Hero Launches!

[Star]

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Hi all,

After all the delays, we are VERY happy to announce that Traveller Hero ("THero") has finally launched! The first couple of products (of what will be many, many products going forward) have been made available.

In honor of the long awaited launch of THero, we are running a sale of 20% off everything in our entire store until April 6.

You can find us at www.comstar-games.com Please help spread the word...

William
ComStar

 

[Blue Ghost]

Where's the actual T-HERO rulebook? I'm trying to find it, but don't see it listed.

I want a copy

 

[Star]

The game uses the Hero System rules, and as such that is the 'rulebook' (any of the Hero System rulebooks, including the very inexpensive 'Sidekick' can act as the 'rules').

We have the license to publish (with Avenger) writing up Traveller using Hero terms (Avenger has the license with Marc, while we have the license with the folks at Hero).

We have a full line planned for THero (including a fairly large 'sourcebook' that will hopefully be out this summer), but will not be able to do a 'rulebook'.

William

 

[Blue Ghost]

Okay, but how do I know what an ACR or Fusiongun do in a HERO ruleset, or generate characters using a Travelleresque deal but wth HERO mechanics?

 

[Ganidirsii O'Flynn]

Wow... Firstly GRATZ!!! to the launch. A new Traveller sourcebook is a Good Thing.

But I gotta tell ya, I *hate* the HERO system... casinos don't carry that many d6's....lol! But hey, at least it ain't Iron Crown...

Don't mind me, old grog mumbling. Nothing to see here.....

 

[Qstor2]

Originally posted by Blue Ghost:
Okay, but how do I know what an ACR or Fusiongun do in a HERO ruleset, or generate characters using a Travelleresque deal but wth HERO mechanics?

HERO is similiar to GURPS. Champions uses the HERO System btw. HERO is a point buy system where you use the points to buy your ability scores and your skills. The number of points is a reference for the "power" of your character. The more points you use the more powerful your abilities and skills are.

If you have the main HERO book and Space HERO you should be able to create a Traveller-type campaign.

Mike

 

[Blue Ghost]

I've played the HERO system since the first edition of Champions (when they were still using typewriters), so I'm fairly familiar with it

What I'm really asking is how does Traveller equipment operate in the HERO ruleset?

Ditto with character generation. I've created characters for Champions, but they were all taylored made. Traveller is more traditional in letting the luck of the dice decide your characters' fates.

So, how am I to translate one to the other? Or am I supposed to make up stats for high energy weapons and Gauss guns?

 

[tancred]

Blue Ghost, the main Traveller Hero rulebook will have HERO System stats for all sorts of weapons (I should know, I did a lot of the conversions.)

Until it is ready, you can use the information from Star Hero, Terran Empire, Spacers' Toolkit, and Dark Champions, all published by Hero.
Each of these books has information for equipment (not only weapons, but other gear as well) for its era.
Dark Champions, being the modern era book, has the slugthrowers, while energy weapons are in the various Star Hero books.

The converted Traveller equipment works just like any other equipment; it's written up in HERO system terms as a power.

For chargen, you have two options: There's a full conversion section in the book, so you can roll up Traveller characters then convert them.
Or, there is a full listing of the Package Deals that HERO uses, so you can generate HERO characters without having to convert them from Traveller.

 

[Blue Ghost]

Ah, so there is a rulebook! It's just not published as yet. That's cool

 

[Supplement Four]

CT ... MT ... TNE ... T4 ... GT ... T20 ... T5 on the way ...

And, now, yet an eighth version of Traveller rules?

Can this be good for Traveller?

Or, is it good idea to have so many incarnations?

 

[Rhialto the Marvelous]

Honestly, it's not a bad thing at all. HERO is the great game I never got round to playing... I was never into supers, but Fantasy HERO looks great.

For one thing, design your own spells, how cool is that? Well, cooler than "I cast Magic Missile (yet again, yawn)." For another, I've always dreamed of playing *almost*-superheroic fantasy PCs. A HERO Fantasy PC just feels more, well, heroic, than a 20th level D&D PC. Maybe I've lurked too often on killershrike's awesome website.

Anyway... while Batman doesn't do it for me, I do like the Green Lantern. If THero gives the Lantern some toys to play with (or to smash, whatever the case may be), that's cool in my book...

 

[Ganidirsii O'Flynn]

Originally posted by Supplement Four:
CT ... MT ... TNE ... T4 ... GT ... T20 ... T5 on the way ...

And, now, yet an eighth version of Traveller rules?

Can this be good for Traveller?

Or, is it good idea to have so many incarnations?

Supp4, all I can say is that it can't hurt. As I said, I'm not a Hero fan, but it's rather like the original Traveller engine. If you like it, you like it and there's no point discussing pro's and con's. If you don't like it, there isn't much to convince you.

I don't know about you, but I own all the incarnations of Traveller, and will continue to buy whatever incarnation is out there. Traveller is my game and an engine is just an engine. You can adapt any engine to any background, so why not let the HERO guys do their thing?

 

[kafka47]

Originally posted by Supplement Four:
CT ... MT ... TNE ... T4 ... GT ... T20 ... T5 on the way ...

And, now, yet an eighth version of Traveller rules?

Can this be good for Traveller?

Or, is it good idea to have so many incarnations?

Two comments.

a) It will not matter so much if they keep the base line being CT so that we have something to convert back into at the end of the day. The more supplements that appear and descriptions of the Traveller universe makes for a good and healthy Traveller Universe. It is like saying in the heyday of D&D when all the supplements poured in: "Is this good for D&D?" and the solid answer was yes. As it increased the market exposure of the product otherwise we might all be talking about Tunnels & Trolls or Runequest as the dominant fantasy player.

b) Traveller Hero has long languished as a fan project that was freely available on the Internet, I applaud anyone who wants to look at the Traveller mechanic and wants to make it better. Hero is one such attempt. While the rules may not be my cup of tea, if they start writing adventures that I can port into my MT (my Traveller of choice) universe, I will be much happier. Better have it published than exist as an Internet variant that way it can critiqued, praised and new mechanics can arise from the ashes of the old.

So as much we might long for the simplicity of the LBB, the industry has moved on, and Traveller has to change to keep up with the newest developments, all these micro rule sets are helping modernize Traveller, as long as they remember the great foundations that game was built upon.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by kafka47:
It is like saying in the heyday of D&D when all the supplements poured in: "Is this good for D&D?" and the solid answer was yes.

Not really. All those supplements were good for D&D because they all used one system.

What I see here, with HERO Traveller, is yet another splinter Traveller group, another fraction of an already too fractured audience.

There are a couple who buy all things Traveller, but I think most will stick to their system of choice. I know I'm not going to convert anything from THERO to CT. Heck, I'm even getting ready to sell all of my TNE stuff.

If this were all one system, I'd say, YES! More stuff to buy! More neat Traveller thingies!

But, really, since it's HERO, I'll never use it.

My guess is that only those interested in HERO will buy Traveller HERO. The GT guys aren't going to switch over. The T20 guys aren't going to switch over. And, as a CT guy, I know I'm not going to switch over.

Hmmm...

-S4

 

[Blue Ghost]

My gaming group uses and likes the HERO system for the current campaign (the guy running the show is a big superhero buff), so it makes sense for me, otherwise I'm not sure it'll have a significant impact--good or ill.

 

[Starflyer]

Very happy for any new Traveller publishers, however yet again we have a new system that is going to require several system books and multiple 'conversions' before being remotely playable or compatible with anything thats gone before.
Why can't we simply get a game that's playable right out of the box?

 

[atpollard]

When no outside publisher was supporting the HERO System, its fans did an incredible job of converting anything and everything to the Hero System. Congratulations! Someone is finally willing to invest in putting it on paper.

With the publication of Traveller Hero books, the writers and liscense holders will get some money in their pockets - and that is VERY GOOD for Traveller. Given the Hero Fan support, the Traveller to Hero conversion would have existed as a fan based effort anyway, so it seems like an everybody wins scenario if it gets published and writers get paid.

 

[kafka47]

Not really. All those supplements were good for D&D because they all used one system.

RoleAides, Unicorn Games, White Dwarf in part, these all were variants that only marginally used the D&D mechanic. Remember, I am talking circa 1981.

 

[Rhialto the Marvelous]

Nobody is advocating Traveller HERO as the new end-all be-all system that all Traveller fans must now convert to, or else. It's simply a gateway for HERO players into the Traveller universe.

It'll sell a couple hundred copies, maybe a few thousand--some fraction of however many copies Star HERO has sold to date. And (hopefully) it'll show the HERO players what a kewl sandbox we've been playing in all this time... so that, when they hear of a Trav game in their area, they might be open to play it using Trav rules if HERO is not an option.

That's all, and that's not half bad.

 

[flykiller]

Why can't we simply get a game that's playable right out of the box?

we do. it's just that we have (smile) several.