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We, role players, are a strange lot indeed. Yes, we like our supplements and we absolutely love our twenty-episode megacampaign adventure modules, but while some of us pray for publishers to release at least one sourcebook every few months, others scoff at the prolific rate at which some companies continue to churn out even the most unnecessary supplements. But let’s stop talking about Wizards of the Coast for a moment and take a look at HERO Games. After all, not many RPG publishers have released so many supplements for their game(s) as these guys have. There is, however, a major difference between HERO supplements and your generic This Book Must Be Bought Because You Will Need It to Continue Your Campaign book: the HERO System is so complete and versatile that these supplements either present new settings or show readers how to use existing rules in order to create fun characters or just ‘stuff’, adding either only a small amount of rules or no rules at all in the process.
Similarly, we would like to invite gamemasters who read this review to think about previous games they’ve GM’ed. Most RPG’s come with a small selection of vehicles, but what do you do when player characters get into the trouble you know they will get into every few gaming sessions while piloting or driving a vehicle? Oftentimes, you can just whip out the needed stats for the particular type of vehicle they’re using. Sometimes, things get more complicated. What about the player who really wanted his character to drive around on a Ducati motorbike, while the only motorcycle listed in the RPG is a V-Max? Or let’s say you’re in charge of a James Bond campaign. The old JB rules are outdated and nothing new is being released, so do you tell you’re players the campaign will be set in the eighties and do you restrict their choice vehicle to the Lotus Esprit, the Aston Martin and a few others? Or do you wing it?
Of course, many GM’s and players will point out that RPG’s aren’t necessarily simulations of real life. They’re perfectly content to use abstract rules or use the ‘generic motorbike’ presented in the vehicle lists. The problem is: most RPG’s involve a certain inherent degree of simulation… and we like it. After all, what’s the use of having 101 different types of BattleMechs if they all have identical stats? Why would anyone want to obtain a Glitter Boy armour if SAMAS powered armour is just as good? Obtaining, buying and/or tweaking equipment and vehicles is part of the fun, part of the sense of accomplishment and part of the thrills of playing any game that includes such things.
So, we ask you again: do you wing it, thereby possibly incurring the wrath of your players because arbitrary decisions can cause a lot of discontentment if they have no logical base? Maybe you’d rather ignore the existence of vehicles altogether or you want to throw away all of your superb setting books and start buying RPG’s released by The Forge or Memento Mori Theatricks exclusively?
HERO Games has an alternative. It’s called The Ultimate Vehicle, it has been around for a few years and it’s still as solid as ever.
While this supplement presents stat blocks for a lot of different vehicles, it also includes extensive vehicle creation rules. Now, several RPG’s have done this before… but only rarely were the rules as generic. Think about the recent TechManual for the BattleTech game, for example. Yes, it includes superb vehicle creation rules… but only for one particular setting. GURPS Vehicles has a lot of vehicles as well… but it mainly presents existing vehicles, broken down in Tech Levels, without offering a concise creation system. The Ultimate Vehicle presents one in its very first chapter.
Vehicles are broken down in one of several different types: air vehicles, ground vehicles, mecha, space vehicles, water vehicles and miscellaneous vehicles. Care is taken to distinguish vehicles from focuses and living beings, after which an expanded vehicle size table (ranging from 0 to 300 – Size category 60, a length of 1 million meters) is presented. All of the stats are looked at and several new Limitations and Advantages are presented (such as Limited Coverage, Personal Defense, Full Reverse, No Turn Mode, Sideways Maneuverability, Cannot Move Backwards and Difficult to Operate). Please note that, while these modifiers are new, they are simply applications of the basic rules presented in the core rulebook and thus can be inferred from those. It simply is easier to have them written down here. This way, no argument about the exact modifier can exist, so that heated debates can be avoided.
As always, Skills, Perquisites, Talents, Powers, Power Advantages, Power Limitations and Disadvantages are all looked at. The authors give specific rules for buying Combat Skill Levels for vehicle weapons, present a lot of examples of how certain Powers can be used (Aid can be interpreted as a turbocharger, Change Environment as airlocks, security systems and slicks, Clairsentience as long-range reconnaissance probes and internal security monitors, etc). Again, these are just examples of how one can apply the standard rules to vehicles. Just flipping through the pages should encourage players to come up with some novel vehicle ideas, especially if they want to make a super vehicle for their superheroes in their superhero setting. What about a bomber (with the Dropped Power Limitation) that is controlled by an Alien Computer (a 15 point Disadvantage) which causes Constant Malfunctions (again, a 15 point Disadvantage) and is a Slow Starter (a 5 point Disadvantage), for example? Maybe it’s even Publicly Known (another 15 points).
Each of the next 5 chapters focuses on a different type of vehicle. The authors seem to have considered just about every possible factor, such as the effect of (anti)gravity on ground vehicles, different movement types (antigravity, duct fans, legs, runners, tracks, wheels, leaping, tunnelling, rowing, propellers, towed, sailing, jet engines, rotors, wings, delta-V, rockets, warp drive, hyperdrive, jump drive, star gates, wormholes, inertialess drives and even probability drives), equipment (ranging from batteries to cigarette lighters, internal lights and seatbelts), and more. Each chapter ends with stat blocks for a wide variety of vehicles, with most attention going to modern vehicles, although space vehicles get their own well-deserved chapter.
The chapter on vehicle equipment discusses anything from weapon mass and volume to a multitude of weapons, defenses, movement systems, personnel systems, power systems, sensors and communications and miscellaneous equipment. This, more than any other chapter in this supplement, is where the HERO System shines. Using the basic rules, the authors present dozens of examples, thus showing how versatile and flexible the system really is. A treat!
Another great chapter is the one on combat & adventuring. Here, a lot of new stuff is presented, adding a new dimension to vehicle handling in the RPG. This is a lot of fun to read through and should motivate gamemasters to include more situations in which vehicles take the center stage. It’s all in here, folks: vehicular perception, operating a vehicle in combat, vehicle speed and initiative, vehicle actions, characters in vehicle combat, all kinds of different movement and maneuvers and combat modifiers all get their own sub headers. As always, GM’s are left to choose for themselves how much realism they want. Some of the information is pretty extensive. Ever wondered what the Control Roll Modifier would be if you were driving on rough unpaved muddy ground (-3), with heavy winds (-2), while injured (-1 per 2 BODY), in a damaged vehicle (-1 per 2 BODY) that has been knocked back (-1 per 2” of KB), at a velocity of 120” or 240 meters per Turn (-2) while moving sideways (-1) through numerous obstacles (-1) of Medium size (-1) and being overloaded (-1 per 10%)? It’s in here. Want to know how much time it takes to fire a vehicle weapon, make a Piloting Roll, ram, sideswipe, start a vehicle, try to intimidate opponents with a vehicle or more? It’s in here, too. Want to calculate crew casualties or character damage? No problem. Need to know how realistic space movement would be handled? Just turn to page 178. Want to use velocity-based Defensive Combat Values, sensor locks, mental powers, magic or coordinated attacks? The rules are in the book for you to use or disregard. Players and GM’s can now also choose between using simple vehicle damage or complex vehicle damage. The latter uses optional hit location tables and hit location special effects. Extensive tables are included for airplanes, automobiles, boats, buses, motorcycles, helicopters, mechs, (star)ships, submarines and tanks. There are also sections on generating random roads and events, chases, stunts, optional non-mapped combat and a lot more.
Last but not least, we get helpful advice on creating vehicle characters, followed by a bibliography and an excellent index.
Just like the other supplements in the Ultimate series, this book includes a lot of detailed information on a lot of different subjects. There are over fifty sample vehicles within its pages, but it is mainly a guide to building and using vehicles in a campaign. It’s main merit is that it helps GM’s make their players feel as if their vehicles and other vehicles are an actual part of their world. Too often, a PC’s favorite car or even his or her own fighter plane is mentioned only in passing just because there are no stats for it, or because the rules on handling vehicles aren’t clear. The Ultimate Vehicle alleviates this problem and hands GM’s a tool to add an extra dimension to their games, broadening the scope of what’s possible and sparking the imagination. This, my friends, is the main reason why a lot of us like fairly realistic rules. They save us from arbitrary decisions, help us to suspend disbelief, add a part of reality to the fabric of our imagination and present us with a lot of different opportunities.
Ever since HERO System has gone through its fifth incarnation, the lay-out of the books has been excellent. The artwork in The Ultimate Vehicle, however, is a fairly mixed bag. The illustrations are well-placed, but no less than twelve different artists have contributed their drawings to this supplement. Some of the art is pretty good, some of it is barely passable. Unfortunate, but it doesn’t change our recommendations: this is a worthwhile addition to any RPG library.
More info: www.herogames.com
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