Getting into the Game

[Crayon]

So me and my friend are getting into this and I want to know what the best way to do that is. I bought the BR, the Character Creation book, and the Combat and Adventuring book. I started to read the BR but do I have read all of the books in their entirety?

[Greywind]

I don't think I've ever read all the books in their entirety. At least not in one go.

 

Read the rules as you need to. Reference characters as you need to. Look up the powers on the characters to help figure out how the character is supposed to work if it isn't obvious.

 

Read through combat. Run a combat. Read the parts that you aren't sure of again.

 

Also, feel free to turn to the board if there is something you have issues with in how it works, don't understand clearly, etc. We generally tend to be a friendly bunch.

[Duke Bushido]

I had only the basic rule book for nearly two years (I leave the boaed from time to time, foe extended periods.  I completely missed the existence of 6e until it didnt exist anymore.  EBay, book traders, etc (the foeum store had only BR at that point: I nees paper copies to read from)).

 

Granted, ive been playing since 1e, so I had a leg up enough that I dont know if its possible to play from I ly BR, but I cant imagine they wouls have bothered to publish it if it wasnt possible.

 

I think you will be fine.

[DreadDomain]

10 hours ago, Crayon said:

So me and my friend are getting into this and I want to know what the best way to do that is. I bought the BR, the Character Creation book, and the Combat and Adventuring book. I started to read the BR but do I have read all of the books in their entirety?

Hi Crayon, welcome aboard. The Basic Rulebook is a distilled down summarized version of the Character Creation and the Combat and Adventuring books and it probably contains everything you need. It does omit some skills, talents, powers etc. (each section has a sidebar stating what was not included in BR) but it's a safe bet you will not miss them.

 

Aside from these extra elements, the "Big Blue Books" contain a lot more examples, toolkitting options and guidance. If what you read in the BR feels unclear, go read on the topic in one of the two big books.

 

As others have said, you don't need to read it all start with the BR only. If you find character creation complex at first, don't worry too much. Character creation in HERO is it's own mini-game and the complexity is very much front loaded. Once in game it really isn't that complex.   

[Tjack]

6 hours ago, Greywind said:

I don't think I've ever read all the books in their entirety. At least not in one go.

 

Read the rules as you need to. Reference characters as you need to. Look up the powers on the characters to help figure out how the character is supposed to work if it isn't obvious.

 

Read through combat. Run a combat. Read the parts that you aren't sure of again.

 

Also, feel free to turn to the board if there is something you have issues with in how it works, don't understand clearly, etc. We generally tend to be a friendly bunch.

    After looking at what I wrote I realized that it was already said here, but much more clearly.  The only three small points I’ve got left to toss in are  1) Keep your first characters simple.  A basic write up of Batman is much easier to run than one of say Green Lantern.  2) Try basing your first few characters on something you’re familiar with.  A write up of let’s say...Spider-Man, If you already know how the powers are supposed to work in the comics it’s easier to understand how the rules make that happen. 3)  The most important one of all...IF YOU’RE NOT HAVING FUN, YOU’RE NOT DOING IT RIGHT!!!!  Always remember that you’re here to have fun.  Enjoy yourselves and best of luck. 

[Christopher R Taylor]

Check out the Champions Begins tutorial for a beginner scenario you can use with players, its in "beta" still as people playtest and the illustration work is finished but its pretty much done otherwise.  It will walk you through the basics of how to play, fight, and run a game with sample characters, etc.

[Ninja-Bear]

4 hours ago, Crayon said:

So me and my friend are getting into this and I want to know what the best way to do that is. I bought the BR, the Character Creation book, and the Combat and Adventuring book. I started to read the BR but do I have read all of the books in their entirety?

What you can do is have some sample battles to help get the feel of things. Pulsar is a fun villain. Use him and have your friends run some Super Agents. For Super Agents just swipe Competent Normals and some sample gear and FIGHT!  And feel free to ask more questions on this board, people are willing to answer. Warning though you may get too many answers 😂. P.s. I assume you are playing a Supers game?

[assault]

5 hours ago, Crayon said:

So me and my friend are getting into this and I want to know what the best way to do that is. I bought the BR, the Character Creation book, and the Combat and Adventuring book. I started to read the BR but do I have read all of the books in their entirety?

 

You only need to read BR. Use the others for reference.

 

Even BR is pretty dry reading.

 

Pay attention to the Basic Rules and Concepts chapter. Follow its references at your leisure. Don't hesitate to skip over long sections like the Skill and Power lists.

 

Ask us questions, even if you think they are silly.

 

The suggestion of Champions Begins is good. There is also the Fantasy Hero Primer in the files section. Obviously, both are oriented to specific genres, but both are useful introductions to the whole system, written by different people. One may be clearer than the other, depending on the topic. Also, they are free.

 

But with a bit of effort BR is enough.

The most important thing is to keep your early characters simple. Someone of us still prefer simple characters even after 40 years....

 

Benchmarks for your characters are a bit tricky. As long as they are consistent within your game, it's fine. You don't need to build characters for games you aren't playing in. We can point you at vague notional averages, if you like, but they don't mean much, beyond possibly making it easier to use published characters.

 

There are a bunch of published books that would be handy, but you've already spent a fair bit of cash on a system you might not even end up liking!

 

Good luck, persist, and feel free to ask.

[Nekkidcarpenter]

12 hours ago, Crayon said:

So me and my friend are getting into this and I want to know what the best way to do that is. I bought the BR, the Character Creation book, and the Combat and Adventuring book. I started to read the BR but do I have read all of the books in their entirety?

Welcome!  I'm going to go in a different direction here and say that you absolutely do need to read all the rules.  In fact, it's vitally important that you also memorize page numbers for quick, easy and fun contests you'll probably want to have with your friends in lieu of actually playing.

[LoneWolf]

Like Duke I started on 1st edition which was a lot simpler and the book was a lot shorter.  Back then it was possible to read through the whole book without too much trouble.  With the new rules that is a lot more difficult.  The new books have a lot more detail and concrete examples, but that does make reading them like reading a text book. The good news is for the most part the important information is in the beginning.  The later parts give clarifications, exceptions and rules on how the object interacts with other things.  It also usually gives examples of the object.  In the beginning reading the first few paragraphs of the skill/talent/power will be enough to give you a basic idea of how it works.  

 

Read the entire section on Characteristics.   Understanding how they work is important as is knowing what various types will have for any characteristic.  Knowing STR defines how much you can lift is good, but it also helps to know what is considered normal STR.

Skim over the section on skills to get an idea of what skills are available and how they operate.  Do the same for powers and talents, but read the section on the types of powers as it often has rules for specific types of powers that are not in the specific power.  Also skim over the advantages and limitations sections but make sure you understand the math behind it before delving too far into the specifics.  

 

Skim over the combat book, but for now ignore the optional rules. 

 

When you go to create your character read over the sections of the book that pertain to them that you skipped earlier.   So if you are creating a teleporter and you only read the first couple of paragraphs on teleportation then go back and read the entire section.  

 

Last of all don’t be afraid to ask on the forums.  People here are more than willing to help newcomers.