What's the best method of introducing HERO System to newbies.

[TheQuestionMan]

Greeting HEROphiles, I ended my Battletech HERO campaign several months ago. It was a great success in that they all bought their own copies of HERO System SIDEKICK and recently started bugging me to start a Superhero campaign. I was reading several of the Forums and noticed that lots of people wanted HELP starting their own HERO Systen Campaigns. I have compiled my own threads here from several sources and hope a HERO will rise to help the new GMs.

What's the best method of introducing HERO System to newbies, but where do "YOU" start with HERO System???

Give an experienced GM a chance to expose HERO System to new gamers!!!
-TheQuestionMan

I've found that - in your situation, premade characters with a little room for customization works well. That way you're not all bogged down with the mechanics of char. gen. Start playing the setting, and the rules/mechanics will follow.
-Aroooo

At some point yet to come (I'm hoping in two weeks), I'm going to be introducing HERO to the group I play with. The only system they have played in is D&D. Well at least that the only system that we play. Anyway, I thought it would be best to make their PC for them as they know zero about the HERO system. I started by asking the players what type of PC they thought they would like to run (in general.) Most of them didn't care what they played (or at least they didn't have any ideas), so I basically said, I'm thinking of X, Y, and Z what do you think. This go them thinking and giving me some ideas. I had to create a foundation for them to work from. Now I'm making the PCs for the players. I tried to include them in the creation process as much as possible with out getting them involved in the rules. This has gotten them involved in the creation of their PCs but with out all the needed time and pain of learning how. They seem to be excited to play and ask how it's coming along from time to time.

This will also give me a better idea of what each PC can do so I can help each player better.

I hope this letter has some merit and that it helps you.
-Drakkenkin

I havent had a chance to employee it yet, but the next time I go fishing for new players, Sidekick will definitely be in my bait box....
-Killer Strike

A firm handshake and a sharp stick.
-Enforcer84

It's not so bad. I would make the characters up with the newbies, but only after having them describe what they wanted in a fair amount of detail. Then I'd walk them through sample combats (or using other skills) in an out of character way (non-threatening). It's worth it!!
-ShelleyCM

If you are running a Battletech-universe game, and the players are familiar with the Battle tech system, I'd get them to give you (ahead of time) some Battletech game system characters and convert them over. Play one or two "intro" sessions with these characters so people:
a) know what to expect in terms of what their characters can do
b) get some feel for the rules

Then you can either make new ones from scratch or simply go ahead with the ones you started with. Even though they start out as "standard characters", my experience is that they start to diverge and individualise pretty rapidly, as people realise they can add ko0l skills
-Markdoc

Agreed, at the end of character creation for any new system (or modified existing system they know), I always run a combat first. Unless I plan something special, this will be a "dream" combat that one of the PCs is having...(which PC? the winner of course! ^_-) This lets them get a feel for the combat side of the system, including it's lethality, and let's them know what to expect accordingly. Usually I just let them face of against each other (board/mapped combat), but occasionally I will throw in other foes to face. (Facing off against each other is not a bad idea, since they will now know what they can expect from their equivalent NPCs...The only problem could occur if you have vindictive players who might try to get revenge in-game later...In which case have them fight generic NPCs.)

After combat, if they wish to "tweak" their characters, I allow changes before the game starts, as long as they're not just making themselves even more combat machines...8 Levels into Handgun! :-P

Oh, and as far as introducing them to the system goes...since it's just Battletech this will be easy, since there are no powers involved. Just go through it step by step with them...attributes...talents....perks....skills.... equipment....GO!
-UltraRob

For me it’s simple. I create the character and give them a character sheet completely devoid of point costs. DO NOT MENTION ANY CALCULATIONS! This is extremely important. I've been able to run games with total RPG newbies just fine. The player’s only gets to act when I call out their name (from the speed chart) and whenever they do anything they roll three dice. From the die roll I determine if they hit or succeed at a skill. I also convert all killing damage to its normal DC equivalent (that way they only have to learn one way of figuring damage; it still bypasses PD as normal).

It works for me.
-AaronD

A little late to post this, so I hope it went well.

I recently taught my group the system (except for 3 who sort-of knew it, its been a few years). For the first few games, I made sure to explain everything - we had a test combat first, then went over it again when it came up in the actual session. I had to explain the "normal dice" and "killing dice" rolls (for Str checks w/Body, etc). When skills came up, I'd explain how those worked, when a character was stunned I explained that, etc. Lots of explanation. But it seems to have worked pretty well - most people don't have major questions (which is odd, since after a few years, I still got d20 questions). Of course, I have gone easy on them, and it's a fantasy game, so there aren't a lot of powers (or spells) yet. I did run a few champions games so they got a taste of different powers, so that may have prepared them.

My biggest advice then is take it slow and explain. I made sample characters for some people, others designed their own (with help and guidance, of course). In a few more sessions, I'm going to allow a "reboot" - let the players drop those skills or whatever that aren't used (things they thought they might need, or misunderstood how they worked, etc), letting the players take better advantage of the system now that they understand what they are doing (of course, I have to approve everything, as usual).
-Badger3k

Come on -- 'fess up! How did it go?
-ShelleyCM

I think they killed him
-Mayapuppies

The rat bastard switched threads!
Over here
-Lemming

Whew! Well, at least we know he made it out alive!
-ShelleyCM

The Sidekick book has been getting high praise for the purpose of introducing folks to the HERO system.
-Hermit

For the most part I've gamed with the same group of people for almost 15 years now.

However, I did manage to get a pack of d20 fiends of the Game Mechanic mode to try HERO with a simple trick. "You know how you're always debating the value of various feats and spells? Imagine if there was a core to d20 itself, in which all these things had a point value instead of just being a generic feat or just another 3rd level spell..."
-TheEmerged

I often run games for non-Hero veterans at conventions. Some of the tricks I use to make the game easy to run and learn include:

1. Use pregenerated characters, at least for a few games, until people are ready to create their own. That's partly what the sample characters in the backs of our genre books are intended for. They're relatively simple examples of archetypical character types without any overly-complicated power constructs so that people can use them to learn.

2. Find or create some "easy-learning" aids. The Two-Page Combat Summary in the "Free Stuff" page is a good example. Another good idea would be a one-page summary of each pregenerated character's major powers and how to use them. ("First, Sapphire has some Energy Blasts. To hit with them, make a 3d6 Attack Roll. If you hit, roll the number of indicated dice to determine damage....")

3. Tailor the events of the game or campaign for learning purposes. At a con game, I often like to jump right into a combat -- it gets the action going, and gives everyone a chance for some excitement, while at the same time making them focus on the combat rules. In a campaign, I'd also try to work in some situations involving social Skills, investigations, and so on.

Lastly, for a campaign I think Sidekick would be helpful -- that's why we created it, after all. Make sure everyone who's going to play has a copy of SK or the 5E rules (their choice), and that they make some effort to learn. It doesn't make any difference how good a GM you are, the players have to take at least a little interest in learning the rules, and that usually means reading the rulebook (in whole or in part).
-Steve Long

My approach - and it has worked with 14 year olds - is to let them play the game before they see the system. There are obvious bits of the system they need to know - CV, DEF, STUN, BODY and END if they are going to actually play the game but everything else can quite easily be hidden.

The first game I ran with the kids had no killing attacks in it (kept away from two kinds of damage) and didn't differentiate between PD and ED.

That way they could concentrate on hitting and keeping track of STUN/BODY and END.

As Steve said - I used pre-gens for them all - though I had canvassed them on the kind of character they wanted and sat with them for ten minutes each discussing what they wanted their character to be like.

I also made up my own character sheet so that the only detail on it was detail they needed to know. I avoided mechanics based descriptions ie there was no 8D6 AP 0END, Instead it was 'Laser Blast (8D6) - halves opponents defence and doesn't tire you.'

It was only when they began to want to make their own character they needed to go into the system details and it was then I'd have appreciated Sidekick! It'll be easier next time with Sidekick as an extra small step in the initiation process.

Essentially I made it look as much like D20 as I possibly could. They took to it like ducks to water.
-Doc Democracy

I actually know a GM who insists that the only way to teach people the system is to have them make their own characters. While that idea has certain merits, people who are new to gaming in general might find that a bit too daunting. My system is to give them "cheat sheets" which summarize the most common stats they have to refer to: stat rolls (make sure they understand the difference between the stat and the stat roll), phases, combat values, defenses, END, and STUN. It's also important to teach them the difference between rolling to succeed and damage.
-Supreme

Many newbies have trouble wrapping their heads around the speed chart. You may want to keep the speed around 4-5, if there's a bigger rift the lower spd characters will get pissed and sometimes not understand why other characters get to do more.
Although I'm going to sound like a company shill, the UNTIL Super Powers DataBase would probably be very useful for you, in that players can pull power-constructs right out of the book.
-ChuckB

I would recommend starting with pregenerated Characters/Mechs and teaching them combat. From the concepts of combat you can delve into almost any other part of the Hero System rules.
-Ben Seeman

psst Ben, shouldn't you be pushing Sidekick?
-Lemming

Well, I figured that went without saying. Any decent GM would already have purchased copies of Sidekick for each of his players.
-Ben Seeman

I agree with Ben's advice. Start them with some simple sample combats with premade characters. Don't go into detail about how to build powers and the like - let them get a feel for the system first. How to roll to hit and damage, basic combat maneuvers (none of the optional stuff), that sort of thing.

I'd strongly suggest you go to this webpage in the "Free Stuff" section of the website, download the "Intro to the HERO System" and "Combat Summary" fliers, and print out copies for all your players. Twenty minutes of reading those will greatly help them get up to speed on the basics of the system.

Good Luck, and to quote Douglas Adams: "Don't Panic!"
-Lord Laiden

One of the things I do when starting out a new group is run them through a little "danger room" exercise. Basically you break the players into two squads, explain they are duking it out with "training weapons" with the squads going after each other, throw some terrain down on the table and let them go to it...

The squad that eliminates the other side wins
-Al Beddow

I tried a low fantasy without magic (i.e. no powers). If the game ever comes back from the dead, I'm going to get Sidekick, or get my players to buy themselves a copy of Sidekick.
-Tkdguy

Big agreement here. Character creation (particularly the scale of things) makes so much more sense after you've played once (memories of my first Champions character - created before I had ever played the game - still haunt me). All of the numbers just make more sense after you have seen them used.
-John D.

Honour to all who contributed

QM