delta.n9ne Posted September 16, 2008 Report Share Posted September 16, 2008 Hey guys, I am completely new to the Hero System. I have played D&D since childhood, and since the beginning of High School started playing Heroes Unlimited and Rifts. I am gradually learning this system in between the chaos of life. I am hoping that there is some advice from the veterans out there...either who are completely for Hero, or who have played the other systems and can offer advice on getting used to it. My main concerns are as follows: 1) Convincing my player group to give it a try, and also teaching them the system when they are stubbornly attached to the Palladium (Rifts/HU) system. Also, running a game that could teach them the mechanics in a quick and efficient manner. * Was going to use the bestiary to run an Aliens/Predator game, something they're familiar with, using the Hero system... 2) I love the point-based system for character creation. I have not yet created a character from scratch (still learning the lingo and acronyms), but I do have Hero Designer, which helps in doing all the math. I am slightly confused as to the power grouping effects. I understand the basics, for the Elemental Control, for example. But the VPP and Multi-Power is not really explained well. I don't know why I don't just get it...if there is a comparative way to describe it, that would be great... 3) I have not yet started looking into the game mastering aspects...IE, combat and the like. Any advice or hints on learning it for myself, as well as converting my player group from the Palladium system, would be great. I plan on reading up on it myself and learning the system, but any kind of heads up is cool. 4) I just found out through the chat that my copy of Hero Designer is pirated, and thus I don't have access to the Vault. As my funding is low, I was hoping that there might be other download sources for Prefabs and Character Packages (user created content?) out there in the Web. I acquired a Martial Arts set from the same place I got the HD program...but I fear it could be pirated too. I don't want to screw the Hero company...but having prefabs would help the learning, the transition, and character creation as I get used to the system. Eventually, I'll want to do it myself (if you want something done right...), but to start, these things would be a great help. Thanks for your time everyone...I appreciate the courtesy to a noob. Feel free to respond here, or even email me at delta.n9ne@gmail.com Peace... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyper-Man Posted September 16, 2008 Report Share Posted September 16, 2008 Re: Noob from Heroes Unlimited/Rifts... Welcome to the boards! A heroic level Sci-Fi game is a great way to learn the combat mechanics. Supers are great for learning character construction but hitting new players with both at the same time can overcomplicate things. I strongly recommend getting several copies of Sidekick. See the last link in my SIG below for a brief comparison of Multipowers VPP's and the Variable Advantage. Playtest some basic combats with prebuilt characters (Conquerers Killers and Crooks and Champions are great character resources for this purpose). Hero Designer is great but don't get hung up on pre-fabs until you understand why the ability is constructed the way it is first. There are several posters on the board that have their own sites with tons of HERO content (killershrike.com, surbrook.devermore.net/index just to name a couple). I'm sure the rest of the peanut gallery will chime in soon as well. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delta.n9ne Posted September 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2008 Re: Noob from Heroes Unlimited/Rifts... Thanks for that...I'll check the comparison out. I do have a ton of the books, and since I got the books without having even heard of the system before, I figured I should put 'em to good use. I've played with the HD program and on a whim made some powers, and in reading the books I can pretty well understand the basics. I have found that it's easy to get caught up in making an awesome power set, then having no points left over for attributes and skills! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted September 16, 2008 Report Share Posted September 16, 2008 Re: Noob from Heroes Unlimited/Rifts... Welcome, delta.n9ne! You've come to the right place -- we're a pretty friendly and helpful bunch to newcomers, and love to answer questions to show how strong our HERO-fu is. At the moment I don't have a lot of time to answer your specific questions, but I'm sure other folks will be along before I can return to give you advice. In the meantime, you may benefit from some free resources to help you get up to speed on HERO. For example, from this webpage you can download PDF files including an introduction to the basic mechanics of HERO (makes a good player handout), a summary of the combat sequence, and advice and examples for using HERO to run various game genres. You can also view a couple of tutorials posted to these forums dealing with the two most complex elements of the game, character generation and combat. This one provides step-by-step examples of chargen, while this one gives detailed narrative examples of combat. Below are a couple of other threads which I think will be particularly useful to you as a new HERO GM: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9188 http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3304 Re your request for help weaning your group from RIFTs, perhaps it would help to present them with elements of RIFTS converted to HERO? There's quite a lot of material available, as you'll see from the links below: Detailed discussion of various RIFTS game mechanics, conversion guidelines and examples, and writeups for several character classes: http://web.archive.org/web/20041227061856/http://www.herogames.com/oldForum/Champions/000157.html http://web.archive.org/web/20041227061142/http://www.herogames.com/oldForum/Champions/000157-2.html Weapon Damage Class conversions, and writeups for Coalition weaponry and armor, and ley-line magic: http://web.archive.org/web/20041227034259/http://www.herogames.com/oldForum/Champions/000579.html Detailed RIFTS attribute conversions: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?p=860986 [starting at post #70] Writeups for the Crazy, Cyber Knight, Glitterboy, Juicer, and Dragon Hatchling: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=96757 Writeups for vampires (post #33); skelbots, as both HDC and DOC files (post #s 40 and 42); and the Glitterboy armor and weapons (post #s 60 and 61, HDC only), plus discussion: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?p=101262 Other approaches to MegaDamage: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28271 Palladium cybernetic implants: http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/mathew/hero-cybernetic.html Palladium psionic abilities: http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/mathew/hero-psionic.html Vehicle conversion notes: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?p=6294 RIFTS character profession Package Deals (left-hand column, "Occupation Packages") and racial Package Deals (center column, "Racial Packages"): http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/mathew/champions.html#packages (NOTE: The links on the webpage above are sometimes cranky and may take you to the author's homepage instead. Just go Back and try the link again.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted September 16, 2008 Report Share Posted September 16, 2008 Re: Noob from Heroes Unlimited/Rifts... Oh, BTW, here's a little conversion material related to Heroes Unlimited. Character conversion guidelines: http://web.archive.org/web/20041222103305/http://www.herogames.com/oldForum/Rules/000322.html HERO writeup for Strongarm: http://surbrook.devermore.net/adaptationsrpg/HUstrongarm.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Hiemforth Posted September 16, 2008 Report Share Posted September 16, 2008 Re: Noob from Heroes Unlimited/Rifts... 1) Convincing my player group to give it a try' date=' and also teaching them the system when they are stubbornly attached to the Palladium (Rifts/HU) system.[/quote']I'll concentrate on this one. Here's a secret about players (especially players who aren't GMs themselves)... Players want to play. They'll play whatever someone wants to run. If the HERO System is what you're running, then they'll most likely play it. They might grouse about learning some new stuff at first, but if you're running it, and it's a good game, most players will keep coming back to play in it, rather than go to the trouble of running something themselves, or (unless you're in a very gamer-heavy environment) finding a new group to game with. {FIELD OF DREAMS} If you run it... they will play. {/FIELD OF DREAMS} Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BNakagawa Posted September 16, 2008 Report Share Posted September 16, 2008 Re: Noob from Heroes Unlimited/Rifts... my advice on introducing gaming groups to the hero system is always the same. Pick some genre that you know your players like. Pick 2 iconic groups from that genre and look for online writeups for them. (if you're feeling overly ambitious, DIY) Winnow out the really complicated ones, the ones with VPPs or overly large multipowers and such. Hand out sheets and let them bash on eachother for a while. Doing this allows new players to play characters they know and like already. That way, they know instinctively what they should be doing, they can focus their questions on the mechanics of how to do it in a brand new game system. Seriously, character construction is very involved in this system, using pre-generated characters that the players are already familiar with will skip this so you can get onto the fun part quickly. Decades ago, this is how Hero Games introduced people to a brand new game system. They used the X-Men, Teen Titans and Alpha Flight. It worked then, it'll work now. You just need to pick teams that will resonate with your players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legendsmiths Posted September 16, 2008 Report Share Posted September 16, 2008 Re: Noob from Heroes Unlimited/Rifts... If you are wanting to do Supers, you can also use the Champions sourcebook - there is a random hero generator there. I use that in the "Be a Hero" 2hr events I run at conventions. Instead of rolling, just have the players pick from the appropriate lists. I can have 6 players make characters in an hour and then spend an hour beating each other up (3 on 3). I also second the notion of using an established character set, hand out pregens, and even play out a scene from a movie. Be sure to do your homework for any fancy moves (like throwing bad guys into other bad guys, "bringing down the house" type maneuvers, etc). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikesama Posted September 16, 2008 Report Share Posted September 16, 2008 Re: Noob from Heroes Unlimited/Rifts... 1: Others have covered it, players play. If you run it they will play. 2: Think of the three in this way. An elemental control is a bunch of related powers that you can use at the same time (the human torch can fly surround himself in a fiery forcefield is practically immune to fire would be the entries into an EC). A multi power is a group of powers you pretty much use one at a time (Cyclops can fire regular optic blasts, narrow down the beam to cut through reinforced materials or widen it out and use it to swat down incoming missiles just one at a time). A variable power pool is a method of always having the right power, or at least close to ( A green lantern can do almost anything with his ring given enough willpower). ECs points wise are based on the smallest power setting the power level of the framework. Multi and variable pools are based off your maximum power with them. EG: you have a 20 active point EC, all you powers must be at least 40 points active. you have a 60 point VPP or MP, all powers must be 60 or less. 3: Do some easy runs with some thugs and minions first to test out combat, you really need to run chapions fights to get used to them. 4: Don't know about the prefabs I don't usually use them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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