Is Champions usable my newbies?

[starblaze]

So I have some new people who have never played an RPG before.  So I was thinking about running something rules light.  However, before that I was considering getting back into my first love, Champions.

 

So have you ever ran Champions or Hero System for newbies.  Did it work?  What did you do to make it work?

[Grailknight]

Champions/Hero is fairly simple in play. You don't really need to change gameplay much though you may want to ignore END in your starting sessions.

 

The complexity is all in character creation. I'd suggest you decide on your campaign power levels and make the PC's for your newbies first session off their descriptions. That way they get some input, and you can keep their competence spread from being too wide. Once they have the gameplay down, go back and tweak or completely remake their characters with them.

[novi]

Agreed.  The complexity with HERO is almost entirely front-loaded.  Which is not to say that there isn't any in play; combat has a lot of options when you dig into it.  Emphasis on OPTIONS; not every game is going to have someone using the STRAFE maneuver.  Also, the rules as written want you playing on a map, not just winging it in the theater of the mind.  It can help to prove that range penalties are not arbitrary.  Assuming this will be IRL, I think game stores still have bins of cheap Heroclix figures around?

 

But start off with pre-gens you build for the characters, and keep them relatively simple.  But throw everybody a piece of complexity, something less straightforward than punch or blast one bad guy.  Simple options to get them thinking tactically.  Also, give everybody a clear out-of-combat role that is relevant to the scenario you run.  Because without non-combat and characters bouncing off each other, it's just a war game.  The scenario needn't be that complex, either, just urgent.  And make sure that the characters advance it through their own agency.  One of the characters finds a clue that another character interprets, for instance, not just them responding to police radio emergencies.

 

Ignoring END is a good suggestion.  Also, start with everybody acting on their action and not aborting.  Once players get used to that, have someone abort to dodge, or dive for cover.  A bit after that, have a smart villain tactically hold an action to wreck a PC.  In each case, give a brief explanation that this is an option they can use from now on.

 

After the first scenario or two, once they presumably start to understand how the game works, you can tweak the characters or have them bring in new ones.  And add more complexity, like martial arts and more complicated powers.

[Sketchpad]

12 hours ago, starblaze said:

So have you ever ran Champions or Hero System for newbies.  Did it work?  What did you do to make it work?

 

I've ran beginner games and demos a few times with Champions/Hero. I always start with pre-gens and do some simple adventures (bank job, monster on the loose, etc.) to get them used to the dice rolls and such. After a few sessions, I check in and see how they feel about the game before I start bringing in advanced ideas like HAPs, or more complex power builds. The current game I'm running is reacquainting my players with the game. I removed the points entirely on their sheets, and have informed them that, for this brief campaign (~3 months), I'll be spending the XP for them so they can concentrate on getting used to the game and asking questions.  

[LoneWolf]

As others have mentioned most of the complexity of the Hero System is in the character creation.  Using premade characters will reduce the amount of complexity.  When building the characters keep things fairly simple and avoid any complex builds.  Don’t use VPP and restrict multipowers to ultra-slots only.  Most power should have few limitation and even those should be strait forward.  Multipart limitations like unified power and side effects should also be avoided.  If the player has to look in multiple places to figure out how a modifier works that is probably not a good one to use.   

 

The Hero System is incredibly flexible with a huge amount of optional rules that can simulate any type of game you want.  My suggestion would be to not use any of the optional rules for your first campaign.  When the players have mastered the basics, you can introduce some of the optional rules in the next campaign. 

[DShomshak]

Well, I was introduced ton Champions in a gaming group where none of us had played it before. We managed. Admittedly, this was also 3rd edition, which was a lot simpler. Our characters also were all very simple. Low point value, too -- I don't think any character was built on more than 200 points.

 

Dean Shomshak

 

[Barton]

I have done games at Origins and GenCon aimed at children, just have pregened Teen Champions characters. Teen Champions are great genre due to being low powered so simpler characters to play.

 

Another thing I have had luck with are the Champions Creation Cards [

]to quickly make characters.

[bluesguy]

I have taught at least 20 people how to play using Hero. I created a Champions adventure with pre-built characters. The location and the characters were all themed around Minnesota so that people could quickly grasp the character concepts.  I ran it for a few different groups of people, and it worked out well.  People had a good time.

[Christopher R Taylor]

I know that every person here learned to play Champions, its always been kind of an amusement to me reading those same people wonder if possibly others could do so.

[starblaze]

I have taught the game before to people.  Most of the time I have been successful although I did have one player that loved to create characters but the combat system just threw him.

 

Really, making a character can either take a long time or not, it really depends on the player and the GM.

[Doc Democracy]

I think all the comments are on point.  If you are talking gameplay then it is relatively simple and, if they are enjoying the game they can delve into character creation.  I have generally asked what kind of character they want and then produced the character with the proviso that I will change anything if the character in gameplay is not what they expected.

 

My only addition would be to bespoke character sheets for them removing most of the mechanics and only give the numbers they really need to pay attention to.  There have been a number of examples over the years but the time invested in the character sheet often delivers in play.  I insist that the character sheet is the players GUI to the game/setting/campaign.

 

Doc

[phydaux]

Premake 6-8 hero characters, the various tropes.  BE SURE TO INCLUDE PICTURES ON THE CHARACTER SHEET.  Let them each choose a premade character, and then run them through a typical one off adventure.  I have one I can run off the top of my head that I call "Quick!  To the Hoverjet!!"  I've posted the outline here before. YEARS ago, but it's there.  I'm sure you can come up with one. but if you can't:

 

ACT ONE:  The PCs, members of the PRIMUS authorized local hero team The New Guardians, are relaxing around The Base when an alert gets transmitted from police headquarters - A giant Tyrannosaurus Rex is rampaging through the park of Campaign City.  "Quick!  To the Hoverjet!!"

 

The PCs defeat the giant monster, only to find out it's mechanical not biological.  Why would someone release a mechanical monster and have it go on a rampage unless... Another alert comes in from police headquarters - A villain with a squad of super agents is robbing the diamond exchange in the business district across town!  "Quick!  To the Hoverjet!!"

 

ACT TWO: The Agents are low powered but they work in several teams of three, as many Agent teams as there are PCs, one with a Blinker Gun (AOE cone flash attack), one with a Net Gun (AOE 1 hex Entangle), and one with a Mega Blaster (12d6EB).  The Agents get stomped, naturally, but they slow down the PCs enough to allow the villain to escape with the diamonds.  But what's this?  The diamond exchange manager slipped a tracking device in with the diamonds.  The scanner in the Hoverjet should be able to home right in.  "Quick!  To the Hoverjet!!"

 

ACT THREE: The PCs track the villain to his secret lair, only to find the villain waiting for them, and with backup!  One villain for each PC.  Commence knock down drag out.  If the players use what they learned in the first two fights and use even a LITTLE teamwork then it should be a tough but winnable fight.

 

 

Edited July 2 by phydaux

[Duke Bushido]

So it is tell-on-myself time again,I see....

 

 

Yes; I have taught many,many people to play since the 80s.  The closest thing I have had to difficulty is when teaching experienced gamers who have never seen a points-buy system before.

 

And the only person who was actually hard to teach was me.  I spent a solid quarter hour trying to understand why "EGO Attack" was _not_ a Disadvantage or why "Code Against Killing" _was_ a Disadvantage, or that not all "Disadvantages" we're _bad_ (like that CVK, for example).

 

And Hunteds.   "Hunted by who, exactly?"

 

"Villain groups...   Government groups-"

 

"FBI?  CIA...?"

 

"Or VIPER or UNTIL-"

 

"Untill what?"

 

Just UNTIL.

 

"Until _what_?"

 

Hunh?

 

"Until what?  Hunted until _what_?"

 

No; just UNTIL-

 

"Right.  Until what?  Until when?  Do the Disadvantages have time limits?"

 

You lost me...

 

Hunted.  Hunted until _when_?

 

Oh, that's up to you!  You can keep it forever, or you can save experience and buy it off, or just buy it down if you want to keep it in the story.

 

"So Hunted until whenever?"

 

Right.

 

By who?

 

Whoever.

 

Until....?

 

Sure!  That's a pretty solid choice, though it kind of suggests the governent thinks you might be a villain?  Or at least UNTIL."

 

"Until...    I prove myself?"

 

Actually, that would be a great justification for buying your Hunted off, or buying it down a bit.

 

So Hunted; got it, but by _who_?

 

UNTIL-

 

Fine!  Hunted by the FBI until _when_?

 

It doesn't have to be.  That's what UNTIL is for!  When they FBI or whatever doesnt make sense, you can just chose UNTIL!

 

"Until _what_, Jim?!  Until _when_?!

 

 

That...

 

Actually went on way, _way_ longer.....

 

It became something of a pre-internet meme at our table until I was the last member of that group (that same group that wouldn't _dream_ of helping Jim explain what UNTIL was).  

 

For _years_, any time UNTIL was even mentioned, the players would fall all over themselves to be the first to mock scream "Until _what_, Jim?!  Until _when_?!"

 

 

So, uhh....  Maybe no Acronyms while you are explaining the setting?

 

 

 

[Stanley Teriaca]

I imagine Bud and Lou for this.

 

VIPER on first...

DEMON on second...

UNTIL on third...

IHA is shortstop...

STOP is in the outfield...

Along with RAVEN and the dead body of GENOCIDE...

 

SAT is the pitcher and COIL is the catcher.

[Opal]

On 6/2/2024 at 7:46 PM, starblaze said:

 

So have you ever ran Champions or Hero System for newbies.  Did it work?  What did you do to make it work?

Yes.

Yes.

Use pre-generated chatacters.

 

Edited July 16 by Opal
's'all been said

[Maccabe]

Actually I had many a player who was new to HERO play it. Generally the characters weren't that original and the EXP awards took getting used to, based on some games that award 100's of exp per session.

When it comes to character creation a newbie PC should buy only the following;

1 offensive power, 1 defensive power, 1 movement power, 1 enhanced sense and 1 skill.

 I used this to help newbies create characters and just recently ran into another GM who did something like it.