What is HERO Sidekick?

[Great Cthulhu]

I saw the add for playtesters and I'm intrigued.

Is this a basic edition of the HERO system?

Is it going to try and maintain the flexibility and feel of the advanced system?

I've always loved HERO and would love a simpler faster system to inflict on my group.

[Dust Raven]

I'd like to know this as well. Over the past 4-5 years I've seen a number of products called "Sidekick"....three of them specifically for the Hero System. All of them different things.

[Monolith]

Sidekick is basically a rules lite version of the HERO System. Consider it a primer for people who are interested in learning about the HERO System but do not want to dive headlong into the complexity of the large black book. From what little I have seen of the playtest manuscript it appears to have all the same flexibility of the HERO System. At 128 pages the book will similar to 2nd Edition Champions and will contain all the essential rules, but with most of the optional rules removed, as well as some losing some of the more complext Power, Advantages, etc. Sidekick will also have some character examples.

[Great Cthulhu]

Would we be able to run a Sidekick generated character in a full fledged HERO game without messy conversion problems?

I don't mind if HERO is trimmed of the fat for Sidekick so to speak...but I don't want it to end up a system that is only marginally compatible with HERO either (ie...the difference between Basic D&D and Advanced D&D). It should be able to be integrated smoothly.

[Lord Liaden]

Sidekick is 100% compatible with the 5th Edition rulebook. There are no different or modified rules in it - everything is straight 5E. The significant differences are that a lot of the elaborate explanations, optional rules and more complicated/obscure Powers and Modifiers have been trimmed; and that the book is constructed to be a teaching aid, to help new players learn the HERO System basics so that they can more easily pick up the full ruleset.

The current playtest primarily involves breaking in players new to HERO, to learn what is useful and effective as a teaching tool and what could be improved.

[Monolith]

Originally posted by Great Cthulhu
Would we be able to run a Sidekick generated character in a full fledged HERO game without messy conversion problems?

I don't mind if HERO is trimmed of the fat for Sidekick so to speak...but I don't want it to end up a system that is only marginally compatible with HERO either (ie...the difference between Basic D&D and Advanced D&D). It should be able to be integrated smoothly.
As Lord Liaden stated, Sidekick is 100% compatable with FREd. The difference is that certain things have been trimmed out of Sidekick. A few Talents have been dropped, a few powers dropped, a few advantages dropped, etc. Things like the Optional Bleeding rules, for example, are not included in Sidekick because they are not necessary to play the game. Almost everything which is considered optional in FREd is not in Sidekick. But in every other way nothing else has changed. It is still the HERO System, only with less options.

[Great Cthulhu]

Thats great to hear!

Thanks for the responses.

PS:

I've seen this in a number of places and still can't figure it out...what does FRED stand for?

[Monolith]

Originally posted by Great Cthulhu
I've seen this in a number of places and still can't figure it out...what does FRED stand for?
It started out as a joke where Steve Long said he would not care if they called 5th edition Fred as long as people bought it. Then someone later came of with the name FREd standing for Fifth Rules Edition. :)

[Great Cthulhu]

Ha! :D

Than I guess its FREd, and not FRED.

[Steve Long]

Just to echo what others have said, Sidekick isn't intended to vary from the core 5E rules. The whole point of it is that it's a teaching tool that makes it easier for people to learn to play the HERO System and, eventually, upgrade to the full set of rules (and, hopefully, become purchasers of rulebooks and supplements). Making it different from Hero, or leaving out any "core" concepts, would make the transition from one to the other so difficult that it would defeat the purpose -- I want to smooth the learning curve, not keep it in place in a different form. ;)

There are a few teensy-tiny differences (like making Shape Shift an easily-explained subset of Multiform rather than its own Power to save space, which is a significant consideration when trying to cram 400+ pages of rules down into 128 ;)). But by and large the two are identical -- one is just a small subset of the other without all the options and complex add-ons.

[Lord Liaden]

Originally posted by Great Cthulhu
Ha! :D

Than I guess its FREd, and not FRED.

Well now, personally I agree with you and use that rendering myself, as do a number of other posters here; but according to the list of "Commonly Used Abbreviations" under the FAQs link, it's officially FRED. For the record, though, I've never seen Steve Long use that nickname in any form; I think he's still kicking himself over making that remark in the first place. ;)

If you'd be interested in the tale of the genesis of FREd (it's actually an amusing read), you can follow it via these links to the old discussion board threads:

http://www.herogames.com/oldForum/CompanyQuestions/000203.html

http://www.herogames.com/oldForum/CompanyQuestions/000203-2.html

http://www.herogames.com/oldForum/CompanyQuestions/000203-3.html

[CorpCommander]

Originally posted by Great Cthulhu
What is HERO Sidekick?

Son,
Its a miracle product. Look here..
it cleans
it shines
it brightens
it will make your whole game fun, easy and convinient
no mess, bother or annoyance
it enhances
it glorifies
it will make you a diety to your FLGS crew

;-)

My group is playtesting with it right now. It is FREd in cliffe notes version. Its a thing of beauty actually. My crew contains people from many levels of RPG experience from complete newbie (still smells like 'supply') to someone who taught role playing to Gary Gygax (exageration - but you get the point). Only one has read Hero 4th edition. I am so happy this thing exists. Its exactly what our group needed.

[Great Cthulhu]

Steve Long replied! I feel honored! Thanks for confirming my suspicions.

Lord Liaden,

those links were hysterical! Thanks! FREd it is!

Corpcommander,

Thats what I want to hear! Even though Mr. Long suggested its just a stepping stone to the full system it seems that it could support a HERO campaign all by its lonesome. Just the fact that its only a 128 pages instead of 400 plus would be enough to convince new players to give it a try.

[Steve Long]

Don't get me wrong, Cthulhu -- it could support a campaign on its own. That's just not its purpose. We won't be publishing Sidekick-specific support products or supplements, and if anyone asks me a SK question my answer is almost always going to be, "You can find that information in the 5E rulebook." ;) The last thing we want to do is splinter the fanbase into two camps or make it seem that SK is intended to compete with 5E.

If too many people buy SK and use it on its own for a long time, it would probably count as a failure in terms of its stated goal. However, the hope is that people will find it so much fun that they'll soon want to expand their Hero horizons and pick up the core rulebook and/or Hero supplements. It wouldn't be that hard to use a published Hero 5E supplement with SK; you'd just have to ignore or change any Powers or Power Modifiers that SK doesn't include. CB or SOB, for example, would be highly playable with SK, I think. As long as SK generates sales, we'll probably consider it a success. ;)


For the record, though, I've never seen Steve Long use that nickname in any form; I think he's still kicking himself over making that remark in the first place.

Nah, I find the whole situation kind of funny; I prefer "5E" because it's easier to write.

I just wish people in general were more inclined to turn my suggestions into reality as happened here. ;)

[Great Cthulhu]

Oh...I understand YOUR goals for Sidekick.:)

Me...I'm just looking for a less dense alternative to show players rather than one of the two 5e books I have now! So I'll probably work out of Sidekick and use the 5e books for occasional reference.