Hero Designer v2 - Helpful or Hurtful

[Exemplar]

Hopefully the title doesn't thrown anyone off -- I'm sure the HDv2 is very helpful for experienced HERO GMs. I'm just starting to get into the HERO system (going to play my first HERO system game at Origins this year). My question is does HDv2 make it easier or harder to learn the rules of the system?

 

At this point I'm planning on picking up the rulebook, Sidekick, FH, and Turakian Age so I can try getting used to the rules. I'm on the fence about HDv2, though. Thoughts?

 

Thanks...

[Fitz]

Re: Hero Designer v2 - Helpful or Hurtful

 

My advice would be to get used to making characters manually first, since that will force you to read the books.

 

HD2 is an excellent tool for character creation, and I wouldn't be without it these days, but it makes it very easy to whack together a perfectly point-balanced character without having the first clue what all their skills and abilities actually mean.

[Exemplar]

Re: Hero Designer v2 - Helpful or Hurtful

 

That's what I figured. I'll have to hold off on that one for a little whille till I get my guinea pig group to let me run some test games with the system.

 

Thanks...

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Hero Designer v2 - Helpful or Hurtful

 

I think it helps newbies because it prevents you from doing outright illegal things, though you can still get into trouble with "GM's determination" options.

 

However, nothing can replace actually reading the rules and understanding what you are trying to do first.

 

 

My advice to new players is to read the combat section first and dont worry too much about terms you dont understand at this point. Just note them down as something to keep an eye out for later.

 

The combat rules are really "THE GAME"; the rest of the book is either character creation or GM's stuff.

 

Then, after you have a rough understanding of how Combat works, just make a generic superhero or other simple character with a basic concept. If you choose to model an existing character from literature or media, dont try to be too exacting or specific at first -- the fine tuning to get a really close match is probably beyond you at this point.

 

Write down, in plain English, what general abilities a character might have, leaving plenty of space for notes for each section.

 

After you have a decent list, if the character has superpowers turn to the general powers section of the book and read about the Power Types. If your character has some kind of enhanced movement the section of Movement Powers will list all of the Movement powers and some rules affecting all of them. If they have some kind of attack the section on Attack Powers will list all of the standard Attack Powers and so on.

 

For skills and other abilities, its pretty easy to just look at the lists and match up concept with ability. So, if your character is a Scientist for example, the Science Skill on the Skill list looks about right, so flip back and read the section on that, and so on.

 

In this fashion you will learn as you apply, and thus you can tackle it in bite sized pieces and youll remember it better because youve contextualized the abstract rules into a specific instance.

 

As you read things you'll likely come up with ideas, as well as find a perfect fit for what you want. Just write down relevant page references, power constructs, skills, what have you on your sheet of paper under the ability you want.

 

When you are done, just write up the character from your crib sheet, pointing everything out.

[badger3k]

Re: Hero Designer v2 - Helpful or Hurtful

 

What KS said. But to add in my own two shiny coins, I'd recommend the program right away for a few reasons -

 

(1) it's fun to play around and see what you can come up with,

(2) it does tend to let you see what can and cannot work per the rules,

(3) it keeps track of everything and saves paper, and,

(4) in most cases, the entries for powers and such have references - it makes it easy to look up what you don't know about. I've been busy remaking a chain shirt, so my gaming has slacked off (been a few weeks), but I know the older versions had all the pages (or books, cant recall exactly) for various things. Plus, having all the info already in one place can make it easier to read the books (got an idea for something? Want to see how an advantage or limitation works, or see what increasing an attribute can affect? Try it out on the program and see what it looks like.)

 

Admittedly, you won't get full use out of the program until you know how the game works, but I feel it can be helpful.

[Snarf]

Re: Hero Designer v2 - Helpful or Hurtful

 

I don't think it's much help for starting players, but after you've mastered the basics it can help you get the details right and clear up misunderstandings.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Hero Designer v2 - Helpful or Hurtful

 

I think it's a great tool if used directly with the book.

 

It does the math very quickly, saving you time and, if you're not the math type, does the math for you. And if you like doing the math yourself, ummm, I have the name of several good phyciatrists (jk).

 

It allows you to go from concept to actual game mechanic quickly as well.

 

But definately use the book with it, look everything up first, read the FAQ as well if you have access to it right then.

 

Like many game systems (less than some, more than others) the initial learning curve it nearly verticle and requires just plain old RTFM.

 

But Hero Designer can be a very good tool for quickly working out how to build a full character and making all the points come out.

 

More than one time I've got a concept down and punch it in only to realize I just made a 973 point character.... Ok that only happened once. But still, it helps when playing around with concepts and comparing powers. Saves time, saves paper.

 

And I admit, I hate paper, I don't own a printer and only carry a paper notebook because I don't have a 70 houry batter on my laptop. So I'm only slightly biased.

 

(Oh, and since Dan is so damned obstinate about making HD go "by the book" (that's good BTW) you'll know instantly when you make a bad construct by the rules. As he says "Listen to the program....the program is wise. Obey the program.")

[CorpCommander]

Re: Hero Designer v2 - Helpful or Hurtful

 

For newbies I would say that HD is very useful. If anything its a good proof reader for legality of your design. The drawbacks are heavily outweighted by the benefits. The biggest problem is controlling powergamers. However that is more the juristiction of the GM and not the software.

 

Compared to doing it by hand on paper, there is no doubt using HD is much more fun. It reduces the complexity of character design and gives people the ability to ask "what if?"

[Barwickian]

Re: Hero Designer v2 - Helpful or Hurtful

 

For newbies I would say that HD is very useful.

 

Speaking as a newbie, HDv2 has been invaluable in my quest to get to grips with Hero System. I'd highly recommend getting it for the following reasons:

 

(1) It's designed to be fully-compatible with 5th ed rules. That means it can help you figure out what's legal and illegal when the rulebook leaves some doubt.

 

(2) It has built-in "intelligence", so if you select a particular power, the modifiers available to that power are displayed. That's a big help.

 

(3) It's a helluva lot quicker to design a character in HD than to do it with pen and paper. That accelerates your learning process.

 

There are a couple of disadvantages - HD is fairly expensive, and you have to learn how to use the software as well as learn Hero System. But learning how to use HD doesn't take that long, and if you have the cash to spare, it's well worth it. Once you've read the rules and got to grips with HD, your learning will progress very much faster than it would without HD.

[Exemplar]

Re: Hero Designer v2 - Helpful or Hurtful

 

Thanks for all the replies. It's been a while since I've tried learning a new system, but the tips are appreciated and very helpful. I'll probably be getting a copy of HDv2 based on Andy's experiences, but that won't be for a while (but it will need to be done before I head out to Origins since I really need to learn things by then).

 

Thanks again...