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Hello all,

Wanted to share my experiences with Heroes of Adventure and sing its praises a bit more.

I came across HoA well into the 1st edition when the three core books and Lair of the Mutant were already released. I had been trying to convince a couple of friends to give TTRPGs a  try and while a fantasy board game or two (like Zombiecide Black Plague) had them interested, they winced or their eyes glazed over whenever I showed them a full on RPG rulebook and tried to go through what the rules entailed.

One night,  when showing them this great, free, very readable new RPG, Heroes of Adventure something clicked in their brains. "This! This is the one" they said. They loved the simple direct explanation of rules (just two pages of bullet points for the basics?) They liked the very concise presentation of lore that presented a familiar fantasy world that was yet a blank canvas setting to explore. They loved the little detail of players suggesting where in the world they were from, even being prompted to mark it on the map.

I too loved the simplicity. The unified skills and attributes system did away with the convoluted stats, bonuses, proficiencies, derived stats, feats, skills, and other mess you get with a standard RPG. One glance at the HoA character sheet and you know what a hero is good at and how good they are. No need for endless formulae or learning 4 or 5 systems to run one character.

So my friends generated their characters. I let them have  lot of free choice  rather than rolling randomly as they had already spontaneously started creating lore for the world and characters to inhabit it. They created their own little corner of the world to justify why their mismatched character would be friends on a quest together.

A few sessions later and they were knee deep in gore, stuck somewhere under the old moat house, trapped in the Lair of the Mutant.

A while after that, stories of adventure had a couple of co-workers interested in giving roleplaying a first try. They were familiar with all the tropes from many videogames and fantasy books but had never had a chance to try the real thing. I brought out the HoA books I'd had printed up for the previous adventure, plus copy of the shiny new Fortress on the Wild Frontier. I led them through character creation and they leaned right into it, creating simple but compelling backstories and discussing reasons why they might end up journeying to the wildlands.

I started them off trundling down the frontier roads with Grun and son. Within the hour they were at the moat house, where the random encounter rolls were so favourable they almost missed out on all the fun. And let me tell you, a wizard with illusion magic and luck on her side is nothing to take lightly. Critical spell rolls, those video gamer instincts and a sturdy rope saw them in and out without  scratch  faster than you can say "little boy lost down unmarked abandoned well."

On they went to Skenrith Keep, leaving a confused swarm of ants wondering where the queen's dinner went. A letter from a relative and a chance encounter with some miners set them on their way north from Skenrith to the old silver mines up there. They stopped off at a fishing village over night, where  chance encounter with a very grumpy crocodile seemed to tie in with their previous adventure when they sliced it open to find it had recently eaten some kind of mutated insects. But they had been requested to help out t the mines. Some trouble there spooking the miners it seemed. A couple of sessions later and they had enjoyed the satisfying conclusion of their second dungeon quest. Not bad for first time roleplayers.

Now, admittedly, I can see how some veteran gamers might find the rules less satisfying than their 600 page core book and 15 rules supplements, made playable only through the use of some virtual tools. But at that point it's just  virtual videogame anyway. Whereas Heroes of Adventure has a simplicity that suffices to provide reliably satisfying resolution of events without players feeling bewildered. My novice players never once seemed confused as to how things worked. They learned quickly which of the funny looking dice they needed to cast spells or shoot arrows and the rest of the time they were roleplaying.

I'll end my ramble there. Just wanted to share and hope it inspires.

Big thanks to The Nameless Designer for the gift of HoA!

Every new release from the Nameless designer brings such joy.

This new release was so unexpected. I have so many comments and questions

May I ask what the impetus was for this new update?  If you have time I would also like to hear some of your thoughts behind the changes in the new version.

I feel the changes in classes are like welcome revisits to first edition character creation. I chuckled a little when reading that classes were rationalized to 10 (with 4 class options) at first it seemed like the twenty classes from 2nd edition had been reduced to a mere forty :P 

I have rolled up several characters in this new version and it is indeed very fast and generates very diverse and interesting characters. A Halfling storyteller turned Bounty Hunter? A Discredited Giant Blooded Historian, now  a Gladiator. At first it seemed a bit too simple compared to the previous edition. especially with those old background creation tables. In fact this generates  a wider variety with less effort required to invent or make sense of the implied backstory story, This way it almost writes itself. Very elegant. Reminds me of your Ancient Weapon Generator.

I very much appreciate the new Beastman ancestry as I have  player who insisted to be an orc rogue. We used the stats from the monster manual as a base to replace the normal race choices and improvised form there. But the addition of also giant and goblin kinds was inspired. I wonder if we might look forward more new monstrous ancestries at some point, perhaps in a refurbished dusty dragon inn? Would be fun to see Lizard folk, Gnomes or even Goatmen (Minotaurs?) show up. Dragonkin might be popular too I suppose. But Six is plenty for now.   

I have a few more observations but I'll save them for another post.
Oh! One last questions... why isn't page 48 the new cover art?

Thanks for the wonderful new edition!

Thanks for your hard work on this great game.

By the way, those extra little tables are much fun. I think the horse attributes table is my favourite.

Spent a while with the new version of this so as to do it justice. And so, I have added a brief rating review to the download page. I'll post it here too.

Beyond being the simple, easy to use bestiary that this book first seems, the new edition of the Monsters Compendium is a rich resource for populating your fantasy worlds.

Including more than just monsters and beasts, the common folk are present too. You can find all manner of humans and members of other factions to encounter. The addition of some entries like smallfolk, lizardfolk and even goblins hints at an expanded set of playable races in HoA's future.There's also  handy generator for creating or enhancing your foes, and a clever index listing all monsters and their stats.

A hidden treat is the subtly different tables on some monster entries, giving quick ways to add detail and flavour to the inhabitants of your game.

Wow! Nice surprise to see this pop up.

I must confess I am kinda fond of the art in the first versions of your books, even if it was a bit janky in places. I miss the old dark fantasy vibe of cover of Lair of the  mutant for example. But, I do appreciate the more consistent look of the books overall now. I like that you kept the same town map images in Fighting Pits too. Those look really nice.

Hi there,
Here are some suggestions for how I might handle those in my games. YMMV:

Regarding disguise attempts. If you mean a person trying to disguise themselves using normal means, I would suggest Guile as the skill to apply. However, I think it depends on how the character is trying to disguise themselves, in which case agility could work (if the disguise represents how well the character can keep their identifying features hidden). Characters just trying to hide in plain sight with a well chosen outfit and total confidence could be a will check (representing how brazen confidence might distract from any flaws in the disguise). For a quick, simple test, describing how the disguise is being attempted could justify applying almost any skills. Even disguising yourself as an animal could be attempted with a wilderness check.

If it is  more elaborate disguise, especially for multiple characters, it could require a combination of a lore check to know what features a good disguise should have, especially if trying to look like a specific person or faction member (clothes, items, makeup, hair, equipment, etc), then acquiring the materials my be needed followed by a crafting check to make the disguise. Then a check to to apply the disguise, and a guile check to pull off the deception in encounters. For an important moment of an adventure when the success of a quest depends on the deception it could be worth spending the time roleplaying to that extent. 

For raising dead, that might require some Referee house rules. Permanent magic effects tend to only come from Miracles which require a permanent loss of 2 Health. Other ways could come from creative use of alchemy (with some potent and hard to find ingredients, probably unsavoury ones), or an artefact of some kind. Either of which might grant the ability to raise dead for extended periods without recasting empowered Necromancy.

Hi,
Just saw Heroes of Adventure as I was browsing this list of most often mentioned/recommended OSR games.
https://figcat.com/lists/fantasy-osr-and-nsr-games/

HoA comes in at 54 on this list of 100 games. Very respectable.  Seems people are talking about HoA  decent amount around the web. Glad to see more recognition for this gem.

Keep up the good work, Nameless Designer!

Hi there,

Have very much enjoyed all the releases for HoA so far.

In terms of feedback, I wonder if you will add a comprehensive list of abilities somewhere in the book, or maybe for the referee's guide. Could help with looking up rules or building custom characters.

Also, would you consider a random table for level-up as an optional rule? Something between a D10 or D20 table giving a range of benefits between HP, Def, new ability or skill choices or even special benefits like additional damage with  preferred weapon or spell. Could be a single general table or a class/role specific one.

Lastly, I hope the way players get to contribute to world building through career backgrounds is staying. The simple prompt to add places to the world map or invent a group or former comrade really helps ease new players into the game.