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POLL: Pencil-and-paper character creation?


pbemguy

Old school or software?  

36 members have voted

  1. 1. Do you use a pencil and paper to make your Champions characters, or do you use software?

    • Pencil-and-paper method (includes any manual method, like Notepad and a PDF of the rules, Calculator app)
    • Software (HeroMaker)
    • I mostly use pencil-and-paper but a bit of HeroMaker
    • I mostly use HeroMaker but some pencil-and-paper.
    • About 50/50 manual and software
    • Other (explain below)


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How many people use the pencil and paper method to make their characters?

 

I honestly never use the software. I use the Champions rules as a stress reliever. I will at least once a month sit down and make a character just to clear my head.

 

I just want to know: how many people still use the old school method?

 

(This plays into the idea of a wiki on another thread. I feel like the pencil-and-paper people might be more into the wiki? Or am I wrong?)

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I had to hit "other" because of the "includes notepad, calculator app, pdf of rules" section on "pencil and paper."

 

I use pencil, paper, and an open paper rulebook, period.  No computer, pdf, or any of that.  

 

It's how we had to do it in the early days, and I find it quite relaxing to do it that way now. 

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52 minutes ago, Barton said:

Other: It could include Champions Character Creation Cards. Have not used them.... yet....

Plan to use at a convention/store demo.
 

 

Before you do, I would suggest going over the cards so there’s no surprises. I think it’s the Science! Card that has like 10 Blank science skills available. I would either fill out the list ahead of time or maybe half the list or I was thinking using that point total for a massive general Science! Skill then have the player roll for specific knowledge at -1 or -2 penalty.

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57 minutes ago, Barton said:

Other: It could include Champions Character Creation Cards. Have not used them.... yet....

Plan to use at a convention/store demo.
 

 

 

I'd love to see a 5th or 4th version.  I know it will not happen, but I can dream 😁

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You can make your own. Just purchase the Cards and make your own in Word, or what software you might want to use. I STRONGLY suggest buying the cards so you see how they are designed and then you could make a 5th or 4th version for yourself. 

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I hate to admit it, but (in the interests of full disclosure) though I used to use pencil and paper to create characters, I haven't been able to manage it since, oh, Champions 3?  The pale blue cover with flying heroes in mid-air?  After C3, character-building just seemed to take too much time for too little return; NPCs were particularly bad, as you needed so many of them!

 

I gave up on superhero character-building, but not on the concept of playing superheroes (which I love).  Instead, I got acquainted with Dr. Anomaly -- who some of you may remember from the Board from years ago -- who was a computer genius, a hardware/software man and an elemental nerd... and my long-time Champions GM.  He snapped up every form of the Heromaker software as it appeared, learned it, loved it and MASTERED it; he could put together a player's character, from the ground up, full-detail, in 45 minutes -- and much of that time was due to player "input", not mechanics.

 

I couldn't do much at all with Fifth Ed; FREd was just too much for me... granularity had expanded like a very point-hungry malignancy, to the point that having a PC able to blink or breathe was an either/or proposition, because of the costs involved.  Nothing was ever included with anything else, and common sense rulings didn't seem to exist between the black covers... unless you were gaming with Dr. Anomaly, who somehow made it work.  And after he moved away... that pretty terminated my Champions experience.  :-(

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I'm old school. Paper and pencil for me. 4th grade math doesn't scare me. I can do that stuff mostly in my head.

 

I think doing it manually is a good way for beginners to learn the Hero System. You get a deeper grasp and appreciation for the character building architecture of the game when you do everything yourself. Once one has mastered the system, however, I can see how using Hero Designer could be a huge time saver. Hero Designer could also be a good way to "check your work", so to speak, and confirm one's understanding of the game. But in general I find that software can't keep up with my creative flow as I toy with various ideas and concepts, whereas I find no such cognitive lag with pencil and paper.

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7 hours ago, zslane said:

I'm old school. Paper and pencil for me. 4th grade math doesn't scare me. I can do that stuff mostly in my head.

 

I think doing it manually is a good way for beginners to learn the Hero System. You get a deeper grasp and appreciation for the character building architecture of the game when you do everything yourself. Once one has mastered the system, however, I can see how using Hero Designer could be a huge time saver. Hero Designer could also be a good way to "check your work", so to speak, and confirm one's understanding of the game. But in general I find that software can't keep up with my creative flow as I toy with various ideas and concepts, whereas I find no such cognitive lag with pencil and paper.

 

Perfectly said.  Creation'wise with any RPG, I have to go paper pencil and physical book in hand. 

For Hero for 5th ed HD allows me to quickly use things form the books from NPC's to gear.  The combat sheet fast print out and the ability to quickly tweak NPC's and mooks is very handy.  For characters and full build villains I normally don't need the math check, but when I am speeding through adjustments between sessions it can be a very valuable tool. 

 

 

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Hero designer works for me.  With my handwriting it takes way too long and the character is unreadable.  Doing on the computer allows me to not only create the character faster and make the end product legible.  It also allows me to put in a background and notes.  I can type much faster and more accurately than I can write by hand. 

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2 hours ago, LoneWolf said:

Hero designer works for me.  With my handwriting it takes way too long and the character is unreadable.  Doing on the computer allows me to not only create the character faster and make the end product legible.  It also allows me to put in a background and notes.  I can type much faster and more accurately than I can write by hand. 

 

This. This right here.

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