Question: Sidekick vs. HERO

[Golem]

I recently bought Sidekick to start a gaming group. I was wondering, do I absolutely need to buy HERO the full version to play? Can I get going with just Sidekick?

Also, on a side note, how many powers is Sidekick missing? I should want to know what I would be missing.

[JmOz]

I recently bought Sidekick to start a gaming group. I was wondering, do I absolutely need to buy HERO the full version to play? Can I get going with just Sidekick?

Also, on a side note, how many powers is Sidekick missing? I should want to know what I would be missing.

Sidekick is definatly enough to start with, eventualy you will probably want to upgrade, but Sidekick is a full game. Any questions just ask and you will probably get 5 answers to help you along.

As for the number of powers missing, I think it is about 8 or so, but there is a sidebar listing them in sidekick in the powers sections

[Egyptoid]

GM needs the Big Black Book, aka FRED,
players can get by with Side-Kick

SIDE-KICK! (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405325/quotes)

[ghost-angel]

I disagree - no one needs the main book to play the game. Granted it's got a ton of goodly information in it.

But the game itself can be played using just Sidekick all around.

Depending on your play style you may eventually want some of the extra goodies in The Rules; but there's no need for it.

[lemming]

I'll agree with Ghost, sidekick yes, main rules are nice to have, but not necessary.

[Steve Long]

It's correct that you can play with just Sidekick. However, I should mention that if you buy our supplements, you'll soon find Powers, Advantages, and other abilities that aren't in Sidekick, so you may want to consider upgrading to the full 5Er rulebook in that case.

[Kraven Kor]

FREd (5th Edition Rules, "Big Black Book") contains oodles of examples and samples and longer explanations. But all the powers and whatnot from FREd are in Sidekick.

Again, you don't need anything other than Sidekick, but FREd and the various supplements will help better customize your game, explain how to better simulate various effects, etc.

[Maur]

FREd (5th Edition Rules, "Big Black Book") contains oodles of examples and samples and longer explanations. But all the powers and whatnot from FREd are in Sidekick.

Again, you don't need anything other than Sidekick, but FREd and the various supplements will help better customize your game, explain how to better simulate various effects, etc.

Not all of them are in Sidekick... most powers are there though...

[Steve Long]

But all the powers and whatnot from FREd are in Sidekick.

This isn't correct. SK omits some Powers and other game elements that are rarely used, not easily described, or the like. You can find a sidebar list in several sections of what was left out.

[Lord Liaden]

A few years ago our board colleague arcady posted a listing of things from the main rulebook that aren't included in SK. He called it a "partial list", but it's still pretty darn thorough:


Here's a partial listing of things missing, only because I stopped to work on other things before finishing it:

Frameworks:
Variable Power Pool

Skills:
Analyze
Autofire Skills
Defense Manuever
Penalty Skill Levels
Rapid Attack
Teamwork
Two-Weapon Fighting



Powers:
Absorption
Damage reduction
Duplication
Endurance Reserve
Find Weakness
Lack of Weakness
Missile Deflection
ShapeShift
Summon



Advantages:
attack versus limited defense
cumulative
delayed effect
difficult to dispel
does body
does knockback
double knockback
duration-inherent
hole in the middle
indirect
megascale
penetrating
range-line of sight
sticky
time delay
transdimensional
trigger
usable on others
variable advantage
variable special effect


Limitations:
duration
gradual effect
independant
some limited examples
no conscious control
reduced penetration
restrainable
variable limitations


hit location

I should point out that while the main rulebook contains much stuff useful for any genre, the excised bits would be noticed most when using published Champions supers-genre supplements. For other genres Sidekick has almost everything that appears in published books, and that would be useful for running games in those genres.