I have doubts anybody here will care, or even know what I'm talking about, but I've recently written everybody's favourite fiend, the ultroloth, in terms of the HERO system. It came out really powerful, but I'm starting to think I like it that way. Oh, right, it can be found here, so that I don't have to try to reformat it for these boards. I plan on doing some more Planescape stuff like this (I figure next on my list are the pit fiend and balor), so I'll keep you posted when I get that done.
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I've got the balor done now. I also, for the curious, came up with some general guidelines on playing a Planescape-oriented HERO campaign:
1. PCs are 200 point characters (100 base, 100 disad).
2. Nonexemplar characters should use NCM, though they get the 20 points for it. I'm considering the idea of buying 2-3 points in a characteristic as a power, to represent 'racial bonus', and thus get around the NCM restrictions.
3. I've abandoned my idea of an 'equipment pool'. Instead, characters will just buy equipment with their points, and represent them being equipment with Focus (and, when appropriate, Real Weapon/Armour). This streamlines characters, I think, and gets us away from the D&D paradigm of 'treasure as the goal'. Also, it allows, say, a master swordsman to use ONE BLOODY SWORD his entire game career, rather than falling into the encouragement (and almost necessity) of constantly replacing your weapon with a better one found in the dungeon. Think: how many D&D characters have a named signature weapon that they have a good rapport with? Compare: how many awesome literary characters do?
4. I don't believe in point maxima. If you want to spend 150 of your 200 points on a single power, that's your problem.
5. Alignment is represented by Psychological Limitations. Each component of an alignment (law/chaos and good/evil) are represented by their own psych lim. Neutral doesn't have one, unless you're really neutral (which is okay, too).
6. I assume hit locations and knockback will be used.
7. Most importantly, I ditched the inane idea I had of making planar races into package deals. I realised that Planescape characters are all about being wacky and unique - your race is just another excuse to do that. I don't want to say like D&D that because you're a tiefling, you can make darkness. I'd prefer it be like 'I'm a tiefer, and since my grandfather was a balor I can shoot fire from my eyes'.
8. Literacy is free (which doesn't mean you have to take it with all your languages).
9. Racial language (like Infernal or Ignan) trumps Planar Trade for native language. Although, I assume most characters will be pretty fluent in Planar Trade.
10. Everyman skills:
Acting, Climbing, Concealment, Conversation, KS: Some kind of planar knowledge, tied to home plane, Navigation: Appropriate to home plane (Usually Dimensional and Land), Paramedics, Persuasion, Stealth
11. I figure we'll be using rules for Weapon Familiarity.
12. Characters larger or smaller than human-sized shall use Inherent Growth or Shrinking to represent that. This goes directly against what HERO 5E says we should do, but I don't care, because I like it better that way.
Pants of the North!