Running HERO Demo at the Fantasy Shop

[Eldyn]

Hi all

I am going to be running a HERO demo at the fantasy shop here in St Louis. http://www.fantasyshoponline.com/ They are having a RPG demo day on the 21 of June.

Figured I would do a scenario using my existing HERO Dragonstar game, so I can mix different types of characters together.

Plot idea: An elven business man on Altar 5 needs a group of adventurers to rescue his daughter who has been recently kindnaped. He can not go to the police because he is in the demise of an evil dragon and supports the resistance. So he doesn't want his personal life looked at too closely.

Players: I will pregenerate the characters. But I want to give the players a couple of options. So the team leader will have 2 versions. One using cyberwear and one using Psionics.

Any suggestions ? Ideas ? Warnings :) ?

Mark

[teh bunneh]

Forgive me for reposting, but these are from a post I made some time ago in answer to someone asking the very same question. Feel free to ask for more detail or follow up if you like. :)

Here are some things I've learned from running and playing in demos/con games. Others probably have different experiences, so take everything I say with as much salt as it may need.

One of the things to remember about con/demo games is that you have absolutely no control over who joins your game. You can get people who want to hack 'n' slash, people who want a cerebral role-playing experience, people just there because their friends are there, people who've never played before, and people who are really into the game. So as GM, you gotta learn to roll with it; follow the players' lead.

When you're running a Hero game, you want to showcase the system to get people interested in it. Don't get bogged down in the mechanics. Don't create really complicated characters. If you've got people who've never played the system before, give them the basics before you begin -- "It's a 3d6 Roll Under system. Baseline human stats are 10; maximum human stats are 20. Initiative is determined by order of SPD. Mr. Fireball, you've got two attacks -- a big one that affects a single target, and a smaller one that fills the whole room with flame. Madam Frost, you can encase someone in ice so they can't move or shoot razor-sharp ice shards at them. If anyone has any questions about their character or the game, I'll answer; otherwise, let's play!"

Try to do all the math beforehand (for instance, I never tell people "11+OCV-roll=DCV hit." I tell them "Your Offense is 20. Roll 3d6 and tell me how much you made it by; I'll tell you if you hit or not." I've had players tell me after the game that they thought the math was going to be hard, and they were surprised that it wasn't. This is the kind of image we want Hero to have.

Ask the store manager to order an extra copy of Sidekick or two, and if the players enjoy the game suggest they pick it up. Heck, at only $15 a copy, you might just buy them and give them to your players.

Con games have a time-pressure. Demo games are a little more relaxed. If everyone is cool about it, you can slow the game down to talk about the mechanics, or answer players' questions, or offer alternate tactical advice ("Would you like to try a Move Through? It's sort of like a flying tackle -- you run as fast as you can and slam into him; it's harder to hit, but with your STR you'll probably do lots of damage.")

My personal philosophy is that Con/demo games, being one-shots, should have lots of action mixed with a little bit of thinking. 2-3 fights works well for me -- usually two small fights and one big one. I stick a puzzle or a simple mystery in the middle to make it interesting and keep it from seeming like a wargame. I always start with a fight -- assume the heroes are already together, assume they already know and trust one another, and assume they're already at the bank when the robbery occurs. It's too much hassle (in a one-shot con game) to try to get a bunch of strangers to work together. However, YMMV. I've played con games where there were no fights, only role-playing and puzzle solving and those are fun too.

Never, ever make one particular character central to the plot. Invariably, either no one will want to play that character, or the guy playing him will have to leave halfway through the game. Don't ever put the players in a situation where they need Madam Frost to make an ice-bridge to cross the chasm. Let there be alternate ways across. Trust me!

When I run, I have a stable of 12 characters for the players to choose from. That way, no one is ever left with a character they have no interest in playing: "I really wanted to play Dr. Invincible, and Mr. Fire looked interesting too, but the others picked them before me. So I guess I'm stuck with Doofus the Sidekick." But then again, I love making characters.
IMHO, pre-gen characters should be instantly recognizable and iconic. An unflappable Patriot, a super-brainy Powered Armor guy, a dumb-but-good-hearted Brick, a hot-headed Blaster, an inscrutable Super-Mage, a hyperactive Speedster... they are iconic for a reason. Funky power builds, personalities, and origins are great in a campaign, but in a one-shot you want your players to be able to get into character instantly.

Avoid over-complicated character builds. Unless it's important to the plot, demo characters don't need "KS: Flower Arranging"-type skills. As long as everyone can dish out and absorb roughly the same amount of damage in a fight, you're good. I played in a con game once where the characters had so many skills, backgrounds, etc, that it was impossible to read the friggin' character sheet -- and 90% of those skills/perks/talents never came up in play! :frustration:

I'm starting to run out of ideas. If you've got any more questions, ask away!

[Eldyn]

Thanks Bunneh that was actually very helpful. I need to be cautious about the complexity. I have a tendency to run very plot complex games with multiple villains and heroes advancing several different agendas.

Mark

[Tim]

I was going to start a new thread for this, but does anyone have any pre-made demo adventures they'd be willing to share? I'm looking for a variety of different genres to run at our new FLGS.

I have a Sci-Fi and Fantasy adventure in teh works but not anywhere near completion. I'll post them when I get them done.

[BlackSword]

I was going to start a new thread for this, but does anyone have any pre-made demo adventures they'd be willing to share? I'm looking for a variety of different genres to run at our new FLGS.

I have a Sci-Fi and Fantasy adventure in teh works but not anywhere near completion. I'll post them when I get them done.
I ran a martial arts game at last years ('07) Diecon, SCUBA Hero can attest to the awersomeness of it. ;) I am out of town and away from my home PC, but when I get back I can provide 6 characters (a couple need some work). The plot I ran was fairly straightforward, but I can provide a synopsis.

[Tim]

Thanks Blacksword.

[teh bunneh]

I don't know if you can get anything out of it, but here's my notes for an adventure I ran a few years ago at a con. It was the first of several Teen Titans Go! adventures I've run. It's pretty specific to the Teen Titans universe, though...

I've also run some high fantasy "Arabian Adventures" games and some really dark "Dark Champions: TAS" games. I could post the notes for those if you're interested.

[GoldenAge]

Howdy Eldyn...

I used to work at the Kirkwood Fantasy Shop (looooong time ago). How's the gaming in good ole St. Louis?

[Tim]

Thanks guys. the hard part I'm having in coming up with mine is trying to build the characters. I'm great with rough ideas, but horrible at the polishing stage.

[teh bunneh]

Thanks guys. the hard part I'm having in coming up with mine is trying to build the characters. I'm great with rough ideas, but horrible at the polishing stage.

My advice is to keep the builds simple and basic. Don't clutter up the charsheet with a bunch of extraneous detail. :)

[02032395549]

thanks very much, that was realy helpfull for me)
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+442032395549 , 02032395549

[teh bunneh]

thanks very much, that was realy helpfull for me)

You're welcome! :)

[BlackSword]

As promised. The characters may be a little rough, but worked pretty good when I ran it.

[BlackSword]

And one last character that hit the 5 attachment limit.

[SCUBA Hero]

I ran a martial arts game at last years ('07) Diecon, SCUBA Hero can attest to the awersomeness of it. ;)I attest, I attest! :celebrate

I had a great time playing Great Wall, and BlackSword is an awesome GM! :thumbup:

[BlackSword]

I attest, I attest! :celebrate

I had a great time playing Great Wall, and BlackSword is an awesome GM! :thumbup:
Thanks for the vote of confidence. Btw, how did Diecon go this year? Unfortunataly I had other plans for that weekend.

[SCUBA Hero]

DieCon went well; they made enough to keep it running next year. :celebrate

I had a full table of five players for my Pulp Hero "Nazi Death-Zombies of the Congo!" (availablle for download on this very site!) :D scenario, and they enjoyed it (as did I). My test run on my gaming group went well, too. In both cases, the fellow with the elephant gun used it to great effect, accompanied by much enjoyment.