Post originally by SteveC at 2005-01-21 11:35:57
Converted from Phorums BB System

Ah, we seem to have a fundamental misunderstanding here: I am not making the claim that attributes do not have a major impact on skill in the REAL WORLD, I am simply saying they have a small effect in terms of the skill rating IN THE HERO SYSTEM. In reality, of course, there tends to be a correlation between high skill and high stats, but this is not what we were discussing.

For the record, though, I know a large number of folks with PHDs in the sciences and the hummanities, and I'll tell you that the notion that they're more intelligent than normal is largely bunk. They know some very specific things very well, but their general knowledge is worse than average in many cases. This is largely a distraction from our original discussion, however, which was about the Hero system and using it to model the B5 universe.

The difference between an 8 Int character and an 18 int character in Hero is huge, even though it might not appear that way on the surface. A generic scientist with an 8 Int has a skill roll of 11- in any science...or any skill governed by intelligence. That gives a 62.5% success for skill checks. An 18 Int gives the character a 13- roll, only two points better, but it gives us a 83.8% success rate for the skills. That's a big difference. Buying an Int of 18 will cost us 10 points over Int 8, and buying up a skill by +2 will cost us 4 points. That means once you have three or more skills based on Intelligence, your Int 18 character is getting a better deal for his investment of points. Combine that with the fact that Intelligence is tied into perception and there's no reason to create a low Int scientist at all. Now you might say that the 8 Int character has a pretty good chance of success (62.5%) and you'd be right. However, skill rolls based on Int tend to be very "either/or" as in you either know something or you don't, and by and large if you're making the roll you want to be confident you'll make it: especially if that's your character's schtick.


So again, to get back to the main question: can Hero do a game in the B5 universe? Sure it can! It can do a great job with it. I also own the reviewed product as well, and I think that Mongoose's OGL system ALSO does a good job.

--Steve