In December 2021 we presented the new HERO System 5E Megabundle, a colossal array of nearly three dozen rulebooks and supplements that use the 2004 Fifth Revised Edition (“FRED”) of the all-encompassing HERO System from Hero Games.
Across four decades the endlessly flexible HERO System remains a standard for adventures of larger-than-life characters in a consistent rules framework. Designed by George Mac Donald, Steve Peterson, and Ray Greer, the system debuted nearly 40 years ago in the first edition of one of the earliest superhero RPGs, Champions (1981). In the next decade the early Heroes adapted the system for fantasy, science fiction, pulp, and every other genre. Later the small company licensed the property to Iron Crown Enterprises, where for a time the Hero line editor was newcomer Monte Cook.
After ICE ceased operations, Hero Games fell dormant, until the owners used its assets as collateral to fund a short-lived e-publishing distributor called Cybergames. In 2001 — in fact, 19 December 2001, 20 years ago almost to the day from this offer’s launch — longtime Hero freelancer Steven S. Long joined with a group of investors, “Defenders of Justice,” to purchase the Hero assets and form Hero Games anew. One of Long’s first projects as line developer was HERO Fifth Edition (2003), quickly followed by FRED and, over the next five years, more than 100 supplements and scenarios — millions of words annually, a one-person output rarely matched in the field’s history.
The Bundle of Holding has presented FRED and its voluminous support line in no less than seven past offers, yet never managed to encompass the whole era. This new HERO 5E Megabundle filled the gaps, adding the Star and Pulp Hero 5E lines, Ninja and Post-Apocalyptic Hero, and a few key supplements we never found room for — all told, it’s 6,800 pages of HERO material. Of 35 titles in this offer, 16 were new to the Bundle of Holding.
There were sixteen titles in our Hero 5E Core Collection (retail value $176.50) as DRM-free .PDF ebooks:
- The HERO System Fifth Revised Edition rulebook and Sidekick 5E
- Key HERO 5E supplements: Bestiary 5E, Combat Handbook, Equipment Guide 5E, The Ultimate Skill, and Vehicle Sourcebook 5E
- All seven HERO 5E genre campaign toolkits: Fantasy Hero 5E, Star Hero 5E, Ninja Hero 5E, Pulp Hero, Urban Fantasy Hero, Post-Apocalyptic Hero, and Lucha Libre Hero
- Play aids: Hero System Resource Kit and Map Archive I – Martial Arts and Fantasy
Those who paid more than the threshold (average) price also got our entire Bonus Collection with nineteen more titles worth an additional $162.50:
- Nine Fantasy Hero 5E supplements: Enchanted Items, Grimoire and Grimoire II: Lost Magic, the enemies books Monsters, Minions, and Marauders and Nobles, Knights, and Necromancers, Fantasy Hero Battlegrounds, Book of Dragons, and Asian Bestiary I and Asian Bestiary II
- Five Star Hero 5E sourcebooks: Alien Wars, Scourges of the Galaxy, Spacers Toolkit, Terran Empire, and Worlds of Empire
- Four Pulp Hero books: Masterminds & Madmen, Thrilling Hero Adventures, Thrilling Places, and Pulp Hero Vehicle Sourcebook
- A collection of historical figures in HERO terms, You Gotta Have Character
Ten percent of each payment (after gateway fees) went to this HERO System offer’s pandemic-related charity, Direct Relief. Direct Relief sends protective gear and critical care medications to health workers, with emergency deliveries to medical facilities across the US and to regional response agencies across the world.
WHAT’S NEW?
Of the 35 titles in this HERO 5E Megabundle, 16 were new to the Bundle of Holding. Nineteen titles had already appeared in one or more of six past offers — the original HERO System Bundle (June 2013), Champions 5E (Sept 2014, revived Jan 2016), Champions Ultimate (Jan 2016), Early HERO (Nov 2018), Fantasy Hero Essentials and Fantasy Hero Settings (both May 2019), and Hero Magazines (Sept 2020).
- FRED, Sidekick, the Map Archive, and the Resource Kit have appeared in most of these Bundle offers.
- Pulp Hero, Star Hero (Sixth Edition version), and Lucha Libre Hero appeared in the original 2013 HERO Bundle.
- The Ultimate Skill and Vehicle Sourcebook were both in Champions Ultimate.
- All the Fantasy Hero titles and Urban Fantasy Hero appeared in the two May 2019 FH offers.
- Star Hero 1E (the original 1989 edition) appeared in Early HERO.
- Updated versions of some of these titles appeared in the HERO System 6E offer (Feb 2021): the Equipment Guide, The Ultimate Skill (as HERO System Skills), Star Hero, Fantasy Hero, the Grimoires, and the Bestiary.
This HERO Megabundle’s Core Collection presented six titles for the first time (total retail value $75.50): Bestiary 5E, Combat Handbook, Equipment Guide 5E, Star Hero 5E, Ninja Hero 5E, and Post-Apocalyptic Hero. (Wait, had we never before presented any edition of Ninja Hero? Can that be?!)
This Megabundle’s Bonus Collection haf ten titles new to the Bundle (total retail $81): all five Star Hero sourcebooks, all four Pulp Hero books, and You Gotta Have Character.
BUT WHAT ABOUT CHAMPIONS?
Two days after this offer launched, we added tons more FRED — the Champions 5E Megabundle and Champions 5E Universe Mega!
