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The first version of Fantasy Hero I had the pleasure of owning was a stand alone game using the Hero System. In those days, the Hero System games were not distributed as a core system book with a series of genre books. Rather, each game book had a different spin on the house system, not unlike many current game systems. Though an interesting diversion, the book didn't offer our little group at the time enough of a distraction to pull us away from the prevailing fantasy RPG.
The fourth edition of the Champions game (which now styled itself the "Hero System") saw the separation of the material into core system material and genre material; the Champions book segregated the material into two different parts of the book, and a system book was also available separately that lacked the supers genre material. The fourth edition of the game saw the creation of genre books like Fantasy Hero, Ninja Hero, and Horror Hero which required that you have a book with the actual Hero System founding rules in order to utilize.
This genre-book style Fantasy Hero book saw a significant increase in the breadth and versatility of the book and the system when applied to fantasy genres. In addition to providing implementations and guidelines for using the Hero System for fantasy, it was to me the same sort of "universal genre sourcebook" which had usefulness in other systems for fantasy that GURPS Space was for spacefaring SF genre games. But not only did I use Fantasy Hero in this capacity; I also used it for its intended purpose to masterfully handcraft fantasy genre games using the Hero System.
By the fifth edition of game, the transformation of the system to a true "universal system" format was complete. No longer were the core rules connected at the hip to the supers genre book; now the rules were available only by themselves in an impressive 374-page rulebook. As meaty as this book was, the follow on genre books would also be rather sizeable.
In this review, I hope to scrutinize the potential utility of this book in creating Fantasy Genre games, with an eye towards comparing it to its handy predecessor. In addition, I will be making some commentary on the efficacy of the 5th edition Hero System rules in handling fantasy game beyond that which originated in this book.
The book is written by the machine of a developer known as Steve S. Long.
A First Look
Format: The book is an impressive 416 page perfect-bound softcover book. For those who aren't count, that makes the book bigger than the core rulebook. The book is priced at $31.99 US.
Art: The cover art by Storn Cook. Similar to other 5th edition Hero softbacks, the cover picture is a wrap around illustration. The artwork depicts a variety of fantasy characters defending a keep from an advancing horde of green-skin humanoids.
The interior of the book is black-and-white, and includes artwork by Nate Barnes, Storn Cook, Bob Cram Jr., Andrew Cremeans, Keith Curtis, Jonathon Davenport, John Grigni, Daniel Kiessler, Eric Lofgren, Cara Mitten, Nick Ingeneri, Eric Roman, Scott Ruggels, Klaus Scherwinski, Greg Smith, and Chris Stevens. The art was a little light, but not as sparse as I might have expected for a book of this size. Overall, the quality and professionalism of the art is fairly good. Other than general fantasy topics, there is no unifying theme of feel between the artwork.
Layout: Except for tables, the bulk of the book is laid out in two column format with a small body text font, similar to the Hero System Fifth Edition rulebook. Unlike the rulebook, the margins are only sparingly used for examples.
The only significant editorial error that stuck out to me is that the page headers of chapter seven, the bibliography, and appendix are labeled "chapter one."
A Deeper Look
Fantasy Hero is organized into seven chapters, a bibliography, an appendix, and an index. The content of the chapters is as follows:
Chapter One: The Fantasy Genre
For me, one of the most useful sections of the 4th edition version of Fantasy Hero was the section analyzing and presenting various conventions of the fantasy genre; it proved to be a useful idea mine for fantasy campaigns. The being the case, was pleased to see that not only does such a section appear in this edition as well, but it is one of the many aspects of the book that were expanded in this edition.
While it is obvious that this section was inspired by that in the prior edition, it is obviously not merely a rehashing of it. For example, the subgenres section of the chapter discusses common elements of many fantasy campaign archetypes. In the prior edition, this section divided fantasy into: high fantasy, "hack and slash fantasy", funny fantasy, mundane fantasy, and dark fantasy.
The new edition reconsiders the whole jumble. It names as subgenres Crossworlds Fantasy (Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Harry Potter, et al.), Epic Fantasy (Lord of the Rings and contemporaries and immitators), High Fantasy (to include many genres with common and/or powerful magic like Earthsea, Dying Earth, as well as typical Dungeons and Dragons settings), Low Fantasy, Swords and Sorcery, and Urban Fantasy. Of particular note here is the separation of epic and high fantasy, the loss of the disdainful "hack and slash fantasy" category, and a more extensive take on subgenres that have modern elements or characters.
Also of note is that funny or dark fantasy/horror are removed as subgenres. Rather, the discussion on fantasy worlds posit that certain styles of game exist that can apply to various subgenres. The book calls these "meta-genres", and includes comedy, horror, mystery, romance, and tragedy.
Overall, the take on common fantasy campaign types is expanded to take a closer look at more current trends as well as making more sensible and balanced distinctions between campaign styles. If anything, this section should prove to be even more useful food for thought when devising fantasy campaign settings.
Other material in this chapter includes a laundry list of general fantasy elements and how you might use them (each description being lengthier than the mere paragraph that they received in the prior edition book) and a few notes on how you might use other Hero System genre books to provide elements for a campaign.
Despite all this useful material, there seems to be one major element in the prior book that this one lacks to its detriment: the campaign ground rules sheet. The old fantasy hero rules provided a fairly straightforward form useful in defining how the campaign operates, its tacit assumptions, etc. This was useful in both conception of a campaign and being a ready reference for the players; I think it was a major mistake to exclude some version of them in this edition.
Chapter Two: Character Creation
Of course, most of the actual rules for creating characters are in the Hero System rulebook, but this chapter provides specific implementations and package deals. Lots of package deals.
For those not in the know, package deals in Hero System 5th edition are basically pre-purchased selections of abilities and disadvantages corresponding to a given group or archetype. In this case, the package deals cover a few bases bases: the character's race, culture, and profession (warrior, mage, etc.) There are many more package deals than the previous version, providing options as normal and dwarves and elves, or as exotic as vampires, trolls, and serpent-folk.
The Hero System is, of course, a point based purchase system, so these package deals are theoretically optional, mainly to be used to speed up creation and/or provide core defining concepts. That said, the shift in the package deal rules serve the fantasy genre less well than the supers genre, and here is where it shows. The fourth edition rules provided "package bonuses" encouraging characters to take such archetypes. In supers campaigns where every character can have a wildly different set of capabilities, I can see how the genre would not be well served by the package bonus. However in the fantasy genre, things such as race have a more tangible effect in the setting and encouraging the archtypes more strongly is highly desirable.
(Yeah I know, some point-purist out there is going to ding me for supporting a form of kickbacks. I find that they are a very useful tool for shaping the feel of a game, and benefit to the PC is too low on the point scale to be unbalancing, and is far outweighed by the game benefits.)
The chapter also goes runs down the various character creation elements used in the Hero System and provides commentary, variants, and implementation notes to applying them to the fantasy genre. In addition, there are a few all-new game elements, primarily talents constructed using the Hero power system.
Finally, the chapter caps off with a short equipment list and monetary system with items available in a typical swords & sorcery style fantasy world.
Chapter Three: Combat & Adventuring
The combat chapter follows a similar format to the character creation chapter. In a similar fashion to the way that the prior chapter steps through all the character making options in the Hero System rulebook and provides guidelines and variants for applying them to fantasy setting, this chapter pores thought the various combat options and discusses guidelines and variants for using them in a fantasy setting.
In addition to general genre appropriate adaptations, this chapter shows how to use the system to represent a variety of common fantasy elements like weapons, poisons, and protection.
One all new section of the rules in this book is the mass combat rules. Similar to many such systems on the RPG market (at least the better ones), it simplifies the task of mass combats by cobbling units of multiple characters into a single entity for the purposes of mass combat. Also like some such similar system, the size of the unit, map and time scale all depend on the "battle scale" chosen for the battle.
In addition to adapting the rules to handle combat of units of multiple individuals, the mass combat rules handle morale, the effect of heroes, and sieges. All said, considering the level of exacting detail that has went into the rest of the book at this point, I was surprised that they were able to handle such a daunting task so succinctly.
Chapter Four: Magic
Perhaps the biggest strength of using the Hero System as a vehicle for fantasy gaming is the prospect being able to define and create you own systems of magic and define it in game terms, and have relatively little worry about how it will work out in the game. In fact, you can create several such magic systems in a Fantasy Hero game and use them side by side with each other with only minimal GM worries.
I know. I've done it. But, in a way, I "cheated" to do it.
The prior edition was afraid to live up to its potential as a fantasy game with a useful meta-mechanic system by insisting that the GM dispense with one of the most convenient tools in the Hero System when designing magic system. To sum up what I consider to be the greatest flaws, perhaps I should directly quote what that book said about this tool: "No power frameworks."
But this version of Fantasy Hero atones for that past sin by including this possibility and discussing the effects that using power frameworks is likely to have on the tone and balance of the magic system.
More generally, the magic chapter has been expanded from its prior incarnation in several ways. From conception of the magic system in the terms of the setting to creating the system and its components spells in game terms, the magic chapter provides extensive guidelines for a creative and enterprising GMs. The chapter also provides a number of sample systems (along with the background justifications) with a few spells from each.
The chapter also includes some notes on the use and creation of magic items, along with some sample items.
One thing the chapter does not include a lot of is sample spells, deferring this task to the upcoming Fantasy Hero Grimoire. This surprised me considering the size of this book. The last edition had a fairly good starting selection of spells; I thought that this edition could afford at least as many.
Again something that is sorely missed from an earlier edition is a form, in this case the magic system design sheet, which provided a convenient tool for design and reference for magic systems.
Chapter Five: Fantasy Worlds and Races
While the first chapter had an analysis of genres for the readers consideration, this chapter gets down to the nuts and bolts of creating a world to game it. The chapter provides advice for both conceptual issues such as the geography and politics of the world, as well as game rule issues like how to design package deals for fantasy races. Though there are a few notes of inspiration, the chapter is essentially a laundry list of things to consider and a few mechanical notes to go with it.
Chapter Six: Gamemastering Fantasy Hero
This chapter consists of pretty much bog standard GMing advice regarding fantasy campaigns. Much of it refers back to the inspirational material on genres mentioned earleir, looking at the various options (subgenres, etc.) through the eyes of a GM interested in the pratfalls of each.
General advice is provided that are pretty much applicable to any fantasy campaign, such as character activities, plotting adventures, running villains and so forth. As well, a number of system rules issues are included, such as advice on utilizing character disadvantages in games and creating monsters, and rules for handling environmental conditions in a fantasy setting.
Chapter Seven: Drudaryon's Legion
This final chapter provides some sample characters for inspiration or utilization in your game. This includes a few PC types and a few villains, complete with game statistics and plot seeds.
Other bits
The bibliography provides some inspiration resources for fantasy games, with a brief rundown of most of them. Most of the entries are novels, but there are a movies, RPGs, and nonfiction books cited.
A short appendix provides statistics for three buildings: a fortress, a wizard's tower, and an inn.
There is a fully stocked index in small type.
Conclusion
Two of my favorite things about Fantasy Hero got better in this version: the genre rundowns and the ability to create magic systems to your own specifications. Of these, the latter is really a massive improvement in this incarnation. There is little here that you couldn't have done before with the hero system, but the guidelines are more sensible and more helpful.
If there is a disadvantage of this version compared to the last, I would have to say it would be ready to go bits like spells and abbreviated bestiary entries. This book is in toolkit mode all the way and does a little less to do the work for you. This was surprising to me considering the girth of the book, and by trimming some fat from some of the more exhaustive takes of Hero System game elements as applied to fantasy, I could definitely see that room could have been made for it.
At any rate, I still think if you have an idea for a fantasy setting spinning around in your head that no existing system quite matches, the Hero System's meta-mechanics let you precisely craft details of such a world in a decent manner, and Fantasy Hero provides decent advice on such a task.
-Alan D. Kohler
