What's a good way to learn the game?

[Kruhl Sentru]

A little over 2 years ago I learned about the H.E.R.O. System via the Champions Online website, and was rather impressed with what I saw. I also, however, saw that HERO Games was making a new edition, so I decided to wait until the new edition came out before buying any of the books, and so around last January or February I finally got my 6th ed. HERO system core rulebooks. The only problem is, together volumes 1 and 2 are significantly bigger than my calculus book. As such, try as I might, I have not been able to sit down and read through both of those books.

 

So, my question is this: What's a good way to learn the HERO game system? I've already noticed that alot of this system seems to be somewhat skippable, and simply would need to be referenced back to it as necessary. Even so, these are massive books with hundreds of pages.

 

I don't know of any HERO System players in my local area to help with the learning process, but I do have a couple of potential players for a game I'm hoping to run once I've learned enough of the HERO System. I myself plan on running the game, so I'll probably need to know most of the rules inside and out (or so my thinking goes). In any case though, if anyone has any ideas on how to shorten the time it's going to take to read through these monstrosities of rule books, I'd greatly appreciate it.

 

As a side note, I do love what I've read so far, and the system seems to be just what I'm looking for: extremely flexible, class-less, and relatively balanced. It's just that I only have so much time each day I can sit down and read before my brain decides to melt.

[Narf the Mouse]

Re: What's a good way to learn the game?

 

Yes, most of it is reference "stuff". A lot of the text is either common-sense or advice.

 

Unfortunately for your situation, the best way to learn is to play. It all falls into place, then. Second-best? Get yourself the Basic Rulebook ("Diet Hero") - It's a lot shorter. It contains the "minimum necessary". Run off that until you're comfortable, then start adding things from the full rulebooks.

[Hyper-Man]

Re: What's a good way to learn the game?

 

With the rules you only have half of the equation necessary to learning to play with the system. You also need a setting of some sort. The Champions sourcebook is one method but still requires you to build a lot yourself. Another option you might like better with a new GM and players is PS238. It's a condensed version of the rules and a complete setting all rolled into one. Yes it is 5th edition but since you have the full 6e rules you could add/incorporate anything from those books that you want.

[Tasha]

Re: What's a good way to learn the game?

 

A little over 2 years ago I learned about the H.E.R.O. System via the Champions Online website' date=' and was rather impressed with what I saw. I also, however, saw that HERO Games was making a new edition, so I decided to wait until the new edition came out before buying any of the books, and so around last January or February I finally got my 6th ed. HERO system core rulebooks. The only problem is, together volumes 1 and 2 are significantly bigger than my calculus book. As such, try as I might, I have not been able to sit down and read through both of those books.[/font']

 

So, my question is this: What's a good way to learn the HERO game system? I've already noticed that alot of this system seems to be somewhat skippable, and simply would need to be referenced back to it as necessary. Even so, these are massive books with hundreds of pages.

 

I don't know of any HERO System players in my local area to help with the learning process, but I do have a couple of potential players for a game I'm hoping to run once I've learned enough of the HERO System. I myself plan on running the game, so I'll probably need to know most of the rules inside and out (or so my thinking goes). In any case though, if anyone has any ideas on how to shorten the time it's going to take to read through these monstrosities of rule books, I'd greatly appreciate it.

 

As a side note, I do love what I've read so far, and the system seems to be just what I'm looking for: extremely flexible, class-less, and relatively balanced. It's just that I only have so much time each day I can sit down and read before my brain decides to melt.

 

I would recommend taking one of the sample characters and play skirmish battles with a friend. Look up the sections on how to hit, how to deal and take damage. Look up the powers and skills the character has and see how they work. Look at maneuvers and how the effect the combat when used. Once you feel pretty comfortable with the skirmish gaming. Then mix it up with some of the other sample characters and see how their differences in powerlevel work out in combat. Again look up any skills and powers that you haven't seen yet.

 

Eventually you will want to run a real game. Buy a Genre book. Champions-Superheroes and Fantasy Hero are the current ones that are ready for 6e use. Read the stuff there and make an adventure (or convert something from another company) Using the Hero System Bestiary, you should be able to convert any low power fantasy adventure to hero. If you want to run champions there are a number of 6e adventures that could be a ton of fun to run. Try to use the premade characters at first, then later pick up Hero Designer and make your own.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: What's a good way to learn the game?

 

Welcome, Kruhl Sentru! It's always nice to welcome a new member to the HERO community. As you can see, we're a generally friendly and helpful bunch to newcomers. Feel free to ask any questions or request any advice -- we love to show off how much we know.

 

As for your specific request, you might first want to take a look at this: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php/77944-Hero-In-Two-Pages-Complete . It's a handy summary of all the basic system elements, and makes a great handout to new players. It highlights the main areas to keep in mind when learning the game in easily-understandable terms.

 

Beyond that, and for your specific situation -- new GM without HERO veterans available to play with and learn from -- I second the suggestion of picking up the HERO System Basic Rulebook. It was specifically designed and playtested to teach the game to newbies, with plenty of examples. It contains most of the core rules from the full rulebooks, which are mechanically identical, but trims down the detailed clarifications and optional elements to produce a much smaller, simpler, and cheaper package. Nonetheless the Basic book is a complete playable game in itself, and will handle most genres and most situations respectably. When you're ready to expand your horizons with the full rules, you'll find it much easier to follow with the fundamentals already under your belt.

 

The two most involved elements of the game to run are character generation and combat, so I suggest you work on building a few characters (folks often post theirs to the appropriate forum here for critique) and run a few trial combats by yourself. I recommend avoiding supers and magic-rich fantasy characters to start with -- they tend to be more involved to stat up than characters for other genres, which are really fairly simple. Similarly, leave out the more involved optional combat elements like Hit Locations until you're comfortable with the flow of combat.

 

Once you have those parts down, you can start introducing your players to the game. I suggest making their initial characters for them, based on their descriptions, and then take them through their own practice combats. At first most players just want to start playing and aren't much concerned with the mechanics of chargen; but once they experience HERO's flexibility they'll probably want to learn more about the system so they can build their own characters the way they like them. (HERO chargen is almost a separate game in itself.)

 

All that said, in case you haven't noticed it I would like to point out the "Player Finder" forum elsewhere on these discussion boards. It's a fine place to advertise your interest to other HERO players in your area, or look up other people from your location in search of players. You may find you're not as alone as you think.

 

I hope that helps. Anything else you need, feel free to post followups.

[Doc Democracy]

Re: What's a good way to learn the game?

 

Like many games, the best way to learn is to play. The most difficult part of most systems (because it is most important to the players) is combat. In HERO that is exacerbated because it allows you to tinker with stuff other systems provide fully formed and immutable.

 

As such, choices for new players and GMs sometimes seem overwhelming. I would suggest that you use the sample characters either in the books or in any one of the sites where afficionados such as Susano and Killer Shrike have been providing pre-built characters for many years now. Provide your players with these pre-built characters and find an old adventure you can use (either an old Champions adventure or one of the new ones - I would not sweat what edition they were using - it is mostly backward compatible in gameplay) and then run through it. Once you use the powers etc in gameplay then you will begin to read the rules in earnest and will find that, in essence, HERO is quite a simple game with lots of options.

 

When you have done this a few times you will find that you want to do your own characters and, because you understand how things work, will have a reasonably good idea of what you need to use to accomplish stuff using the rules.

 

And, if you get stuck (and we all do now and again) then the boards are a useful sounding board for suggestions.

 

Doc

[AlCook]

Re: What's a good way to learn the game?

 

I've never played either, although I've gotten the HERO system since the 4th edition (loved to read them, but never really "read" them). My grasp of the system is weak, but I'm getting there.

 

The size of 6th is intimidating, in my opinion, you'll be doing yourself a favor if you do read through both books cover to cover. Take your time and read through. I wouldn't worry about trying to completely absorb or understand everything right off the bat. You can always go back and re-read the parts that gave you trouble in the beginning. I'm mentally marking those to go back to myself. Stuff will sink in.

 

Right now I'm about 100 pages into Volume 2, and some of the things that I read in Volume 1 make sense. Once I'm done with the second book, I'm going to start making some characters and see what happens there, then maybe try out some combats and see how that goes.

 

Good luck and good reading:)

 

Oh, just wanted to add that I've found that I can read about 5-10 pages before brain melt sets in as well. Then I just put the book down for a few hours and read 5-10 more pages.

[marc]

Re: What's a good way to learn the game?

 

my approach is to read both books completely 6e1 and 6e2 cover to cover .. i am not a fast reader, and as common knowledge you know books are not slim.

 

I read 6e2 cover to cover first.. then backpedaled to 6e1.. and am about half way trough that.

 

i would feel best if i had time to reread both books, then turn to a genre book, like fantasy hero.. that is a monster read as well. 500 pages yikes .. bigger than 6e1, before running the system

 

I have gm'ed 4th edition hero .. and a few other systems..

 

I am a supporter of the idea of playing the game to learn and using the books as a reference. Altho i feel as a GM that i owe it to my players to do a cover to cover read of 6e1 and 6e2.. as far as reading cover to cover the fantasy hero, that is yet to be, or not be.

 

Marc

[archermoo]

Re: What's a good way to learn the game?

 

My tried and true method to learn a new system is sit down and make a characters with it. And I'll certainly agree that starting out with the Hero System Basic book would likely be much easier than jumping into the full rules.

[Kruhl Sentru]

Re: What's a good way to learn the game?

 

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for the responses! I didn't think I'd get that many this fast.

 

Right now I'm attempting to read through the preface to each of the sections in volume 1, but I'm skipping stuff like the individual skills and powers until I'm ready for them. I've already made a zombie my way in the system for practice, and it only took about 45 minutes (which is pretty good for a system I don't know yet). I'll have to try out pitting it against another creation sometime, as that seems to be one of the suggestions around here.

 

I've thought about buying the smaller rulebook, but I'm on a bit of a budget here. I'll probably have to see about buying the genre books first, as I'm split between a few different hobbies as is. Of course, the real problem is that my game would eventually require both fantasy hero and modern hero. The game I want to run is a bit of a complicated one, and one that I've been wanting to run for some time now, but didn't have a system that could reasonably handle it.

 

Basically, the players start as modern adventurers in a realistic setting, but soon end up getting sent through a one-way portal into a fantasy setting. There they start by adjusting to everyday life in a new world, and eventually go out on adventures and become continually stronger, until they reach an almost superheroic level of power. Then, portals begin to open up between the fantasy world and the modern world, and war breaks out between the two worlds. This of course forces the players to determine which side, if any, they wish to take. After the war is over, the story wraps up by the players slowly adjusting to their new roles in life that were forged in the war, whether they be magical superheroes guarding the two worlds in the aftermath, or renowned peacemakers for stopping the war, or whatever else could end up happening depending on the players' desires and actions.

 

It's effectively my first attempt at an over-arching meta-plot, so I don't know how well it will go, but hopefully I won't make the same classic mistakes I've made in previous GMing attempts. I figure this time I'll have a slew of all new mistakes to make lol.

 

Anyways, thanks again for the replies, and I'll have to see about learning this system the best that I can.

[Tasha]

Re: What's a good way to learn the game?

 

Always remember that any ruling/plot that advances both Player and GM fun is a good way to go.

[Lucius]

Re: What's a good way to learn the game?

 

"How I Learned Hero System"

by Wannabe Ninja

 

The first lesson my sensei gave me started with her saying "Hit me." I

tried to strike a pose like I'd seen in kung fu movies and she said "No,

don't make like you're Karate Kid. Just hit me." I tried, but it took a

few tries to connect. Then she hit back, and it hurt a lot less than I

expected. "What kind of move is that?" I asked. "Just a Basic Strike"

she said. "Same thing you're using." So I asked how come I had to throw

a few punches and she just clipped me the first time, and she explained

Combat Value. "Start with basics" she explained while ducking away with

a normal Dodge, not even adding Skill Levels, "If you don't know how to

roll to hit and damage for an ordinary blow, you won't know what to do

with The Unseen Sword of the Crescent Moon or The Spinning Whirlwind

Kick."

 

"These are the basic building blocks" she said with a straight face

while demonstrating Basic Blocks by frustrating every punch or kick I

threw at her, and using her extra Phases to counterattack. That's how I

learned how important SPeeD is.

 

I was starting to see where I needed to spend my points.

 

The first real Martial Manuever she used was Throw, and that was just to

teach me Breakfall. I began to see that DEX was good for more than

initiative. When I complained about the exercise and the ascetic diet

she said it was good for the CON. I was so disappointed to learn that

didn't mean we were going to GEN-CON. When she showed me Nerve Strike, I

was really Stunned. At first I thought there was so much to learn, but

she always came back to basics. "It just drops a couple of steps," she

explained, "Don't count BODy and don't subtract defenses. Just do a set

number of dice, STR doesn't help. And of course, if they have the

defense, it doesn't work at all." Naturally I asked what the defense

was. "Every No Normal Defense attack needs a special defense; for Nerve

Strike, it's having rigid armor that protects the pressure points." I

said "In other words, when you most want to bypass defense - when you're

up against armor - is when you can't use it?" She told me she didn't

design the Manuever, she just spent points on it.

 

Sensei wasn't done with me when I'd picked out ten points in manuevers

and took the KS and a few Skills like Breakfall, and Stealth because I

wanted to be like a Ninja. "Talents are so useful" she said. "Combat

Luck, Danger Sense, Lightsleep...." I protested "Who's going to sneak up

on me in my sleep?" I should have known she'd say "I might." We talked

so much about Skills I might as well have taken Conversation. "It's

boring to fight all the time" she said. "If all you do is fight, fight,

fight, who will care about you? Even Miyamoto Musashi took PS:

Painting." I had to ask, "Me - ah who?" "See what I mean?" she went on,

"If you don't spend points on something besides Combat Skill Levels,

you'll never know what anyone's talking about and everyone will know

you're an ignoramus."

 

The day came that she brought up Powers, and I said I didn't want to be

a superhero. "Powers aren't just for supers" she said, tossing me a bag

of throwing stars and taking out a sword. "You wanted the Weapon

Familiarity, start throwing." As I tossed them one by one she knocked

them aside, explaining "Killing Attacks are a power. So's Missile

Deflection. And Reflection." She caught the last one barehanded and

returned it; only Combat Luck saved me. "Run or die." She charged, and

being no fool, I ran. Even though I knew she wouldn't kill me - not as

long as I was doing what she said, anyway. "So's Running. Now stop.

Listen." I listened, believe me. "That trick with walking on rice paper

- Limited Gliding. Scattering marbles to trip up pursuers - Change

Environment. The Ninja's famous ability to 'disappear' in plain sight -

Invisibility. Just because something's listed in the Powers section of

the book doesn't mean having it qualifies you for a mask and cape."

 

At first I was really confused by Disadvantages. "How does it help to

have something like Hunted by Ninja?" I asked. "I'm Hunted by WANNABE

Ninja" she clarified, "Why do you think I wound up stuck with you for

this long?" I ignored that and asked "Why would anyone want a

Disadvantage? Give me one good reason." She gave me several. First,

it's more points to spend on things I need, "like maybe KS: What the

Heck You're Talking About." Second, they can help define a character and

may even be required for a concept; "The 'Style Disad' is practically a

gimme. More optionally, Berserk if Surprised would define you as having

dangerously honed reflexes, or Vulnerable to Flash could underline how

hypersensitive your eyes and ears are." Third, it can provide a

challenge to overcome; "I can spread the word about you and give you

Reputation: Hopeless or Foolish Wannabe Ninja. Then you will have to

work hard to be taken seriously." I declined to take that one. Fourth,

they can provide depth and detail to my history, background, and

personality; "Everybody needs Psych Lims, in my opinion. It gives you

motivation and something to roleplay." Finally, they can provide "hooks"

to draw me right into the action; "Adventures can be written around

Disadvantages! Look, you've always wanted to meet a real Ninja, right?

Take Hunted by Ninja and maybe you will." "I'd like to meet one, not

necessarily get killed by one!" "Just take it at 'mildly punish' level"

she said. Little did I know she was setting me up. I had not yet bought

Analyze: Inscrutable Martial Arts Masters.

 

The time came to leave the dojo. "You have nothing more to teach me?" I

asked, and she scoffed. "I have more to teach than you'll ever know, but

you can't learn it yet. You've spent your alloted points and maxed out

Disads. Get out there and earn some XPs."

 

So I have. I still haven't met any Ninja, not met per se, where I knew

what they were. But who do you think replaced my steel shuriken with

ones made of rubber? Stole all my socks? Put a tripwire between two

trees in a park right where I was going to walk? Gave my date the

fortune cookie that said "your dinner companion is an idiot, maybe you

should date a real Ninja instead?" Wrote "Stupid barbarian" in Japanese

on my livingroom ceiling, and then "Stupid barbarian can't read

Japanese" in English after I got someone to translate it? I've got to

buy off this Disad.

 

But first I have something else to spend XP on. Something that will

finally get me some respect. My sensei gave me the idea when she

threatened to give me a bad Reputation; I'm going to get a positive

Reputation that will get me taken seriously. Yes! I'm saving up for

Reputation: Skilled and Dangerous Wannabe Ninja.

 

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Copyright Palindromedary Enterprises

[torchwolf]

Re: What's a good way to learn the game?

 

"How I Learned Hero System"

by Wannabe Ninja

Very Repworthy.

 

Please, re-post the others too. This is the perfect place.

[brionl]

Re: What's a good way to learn the game?

 

You might also want to pick up the Hero Designer program. It does all the math for you and cuts the time to make a character down to about 10 minutes. Then you spend the next hour tweaking it anyway, but it's still a good start.

[Kruhl Sentru]

Re: What's a good way to learn the game?

 

Lol, good one Lucius. I think I know most of that already, but I need to read up more on the combat section. I did make a 400 point superhero for practice, but I think I need more skills. It was a good exercise in spending hours trying to get a character just right though lol.

 

Speaking of which, where do people post characters they want critiqued? I'm thinking someone more experienced than I might be able to point out any glaring flaws.

[Narf the Mouse]

Re: What's a good way to learn the game?

 

Lol' date=' good one Lucius. I think I know most of that already, but I need to read up more on the combat section. I did make a 400 point superhero for practice, but I think I need more skills. It [i']was[/i] a good exercise in spending hours trying to get a character just right though lol.

 

Speaking of which, where do people post characters they want critiqued? I'm thinking someone more experienced than I might be able to point out any glaring flaws.

Generally, one of the genre forums (Champions, Fantasy Hero, Star Hero, etc..)

[Lucius]

Re: What's a good way to learn the game?

 

"How I Learned Hero System"

By Juan Heavybrick

 

You can learn a lot from a villainous monologue.

 

He had me trapped, glued to the wall with that sticky goo he

uses, and he had to gloat. He told me I was DCV 0 and as his lackeys

leveled their weapons he told me their bonus for brace and set, and

about the skill levels built right into the guns with the focus

limitation, and I could tell he loved telling me about how their damage

stacked up to my defenses. I learned about the Armor Piercing Advantage

one of those blasters had, and the Hardened Advantage I didn't have.

This guy loved to hear himself talk. Before he'd even told me, I'd

figured out the monologue rule, how his big speech was essentially

taking up no time at all, occurring between the moment I got plastered

to the wall, and the moment his minions opened fire. He went from

character creation to how experience points were earned, which was a lot

less materiel then than it is now, but still a lot to pack into a

monologue. He wanted me to know all about this brilliant system of game

rules. And inevitably, he told me just a little too much.

 

Straining mightily, I tore myself loose and sure enough, they

could hardly miss at that range, especially the guy with Area Effect:

Cone. Each blast stung or staggered me, but I was too heavy for

Knockback to be an issue, and each roll of the dice told me I wasn't

Stunned yet. They weren't coordinating attacks, and it's only if two or

more of them hit at the exact same split segment that they get to add

damage for that. He gave me plenty of time to count hexes, so I knew

that before their next phase I could half-move a Leap and Grab him,

getting a bonus to my Presence Attack that made them all drop their

weapons.

 

"But...how?" he sputtered, "That Entangle was big enough even

your great STRength can't break it that fast!"

 

"Pushing" I grunted as I tightened my bearlike hold on him,

knowing my explanation would be the last thing he heard before slumping

unconscious, to awaken in a jail cell. "You told me I can push STR, and

I can push a Power, so I figured I could do both - push STR and Density

Increase at the same time. While you can still draw breath, tell your

guys to either give up or start making Full Moves away from here, 'cause

the cops weren't far behind me and you can hear them coming now if you

make a Perception Roll."

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Copyright Palindromedary Enterprises

[Terminal]

Re: What's a good way to learn the game?

 

Best way to learn combat (and ain't that the hardest part) is to grab a couple of Normals and have 'em fight barehanded. When that gets boring (won't take long), give one of them a knife. Then give one a gun and the other some body armour. THEN try making a character with just a handful of points, twenty or so, who could survive such a duel. Once you've got the basics, leave the book open at the manoeuvres page and try out a few.

And if I were running a new system that neither I nor any of my players were familiar with, I'd knock out a few simple characters and play out a one-night adventure with them ("You're off-duty cops on a road trip into the Rockies. After a few beers, you decide to haze the rookie of the group by leaving him tied to a tree outside. You let him freeze for an hour, then come out to discover he's gone, there are strange footprints in the snow and the ropes have been burned through. What do you do?") There's nothing quite like a bunch of curious players to really steepen that learning curve.

[Susano]

Re: What's a good way to learn the game?

 

Also, try mu website. Grab some characters that you know and have them fight it out. I have hundreds of characters, adapted from all sorts of sources, all ready to be dropped into an empty arena so you can learn the ins and out of Hero System combat.

[clsage]

Re: What's a good way to learn the game?

 

Also' date=' try mu website. Grab some characters that you know and have them fight it out. I have hundreds of characters, adapted from all sorts of sources, all ready to be dropped into an empty arena so you can learn the ins and out of Hero System combat.[/quote']

 

I'll second this suggestion. "SURBROOK'S STUFF" ( http://surbrook.devermore.net/index/ ) is, along with "The Great Net Book Of Real Heroes" (AKA GNBORH) ( http://www.sysabend.org/champions/gnborh/ ), amongst my top "go to" places for hero ideas, concepts, cool builds, etc.....Tho' be advised, the character builds on GNBORH (and for some of the chars at "SURBROOK'S STUFF") are pre-6thEd rules. So keep that in mind when comparing their structure versus the rules you mentioned you have.....

 

And, of course, there are always helpful folks here in the forums willing to do critiques, suggest builds, etc......

 

-Carl-

[The Doctor]

Re: What's a good way to learn the game?

 

Kruhl,

 

A great way to learn the game would be from Aylwin13 and myself. I believe you said that you frequent the hobby town on cole and ustick. Previously Aylwin and I had a golf date for this sunday we could suspend our match play and meet you at your favorite game store. Aylwin and I have been playing Champions since the early 80s. If your game let me know so I can set it up.

 

The Doctor

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: What's a good way to learn the game?

 

Kruhl,

 

A great way to learn the game would be from Aylwin13 and myself. I believe you said that you frequent the hobby town on cole and ustick. Previously Aylwin and I had a golf date for this sunday we could suspend our match play and meet you at your favorite game store. Aylwin and I have been playing Champions since the early 80s. If your game let me know so I can set it up.

 

The Doctor

 

Rep for growing the hobby

[Lucius]

Re: What's a good way to learn the game?

 

"How I Learned Hero System"

 

By Dr. Morrow

 

I learned what I know via the scientific method. Controlled

experiments in the laboratory. At least, they started out under

control....

 

With the right equipment you can measure a lot of things. With a

simple hamster wheel, not different in principle from a toy you'd buy

for a pet gerbil, I was able to measure the Running speed of rats as I

pumped points into their Running, then bought Running back down and

piled on the Noncombat Multipliers, and then applied a Megascale

Advantage and saw the numbers really take off. With Eidetic Memory a

mouse can run a maze perfectly after exploring it once, and Tunneling

lets it cut right to the cheese. Everyone was impressed when I gave a

Rhesus monkey a PRE of 30, especially when I added skills like

Bureaucratics, and PS: Writing Grant Proposals and let it help with fund

raising. I was eventually able to afford an island on which to learn the

combat system by equipping whole armies of lab animals with Attack and

Defense Powers and letting them fight.

 

Then I experimented with Disadvantages, things like

vulnerability and susceptibility. I made one mouse the DNPC of another

mouse, and observed their behavior as one became far more annoying and

the other, although exasperated, remained protective. I modified them

further; I wanted to see what happened when I deleted the "Animal

Intelligence" Disad. One thing that happened was that they picked up one

default language for free, and I had talking mice. I made the DNPC

"Useful" and upgraded my main mouse with a high INT, Scientist and

several Sciences, and a number of other useful abilities. I had in mind

a grand experiment in which I would observe and record my scientific

mouse as HE conducted experiments with the rest of the lab animals. I

gave him the run of the labs and the equipment, including more than one

copy of the rulebook.

 

When they escaped, my only clue was the book left behind with

his underlinings and margin notes. Anonymity was circled, so I'm sure

they have faded into the world's population of lab mice despite what

should have been Distinctive Features. I hadn't even given them Social

Limitation: Laboratory Animal, and I have since learned that my escapee

has plainly stated "Actually, I'm a laboratory mouse bent upon world

domination" and been laughed at and the obvious implications ignored.

From notes made in the sections about Bases I am sure he has acquired a

scientific laboratory somewhere, and controls it secretly.

 

Now I use my skill of Deduction and powers of scientific

reasoning to track down what I have loosed upon the world, for I know

too well what I have created. If my monster mouse wants to rule the

world, it is only because the world is the biggest and best laboratory

he can imagine. If he has his way, we are all just lab animals.

 

Perhaps he's even succeeded. Maybe as I build gadget after

gadget to counter his plots or track him down, I'm just running a maze

he's set for me. Am I a Hunted on his character sheet now? Or is he a

Hunted on mine?

 

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Copyright Palindromedary Enterprises

[Kruhl Sentru]

Re: What's a good way to learn the game?

 

Kruhl,

 

A great way to learn the game would be from Aylwin13 and myself. I believe you said that you frequent the hobby town on cole and ustick. Previously Aylwin and I had a golf date for this sunday we could suspend our match play and meet you at your favorite game store. Aylwin and I have been playing Champions since the early 80s. If your game let me know so I can set it up.

 

The Doctor

 

Sent you a PM.

[Barton]

Re: What's a good way to learn the game?

 

If you can attend a major HERO convention: Origins, GENCON, DunDraCon (and maybe some others). Play in several games take notes on styles of play and GMing. I learned A LOT this way.