scavitt13 Posted October 31, 2003 Report Share Posted October 31, 2003 I imagine you guys get this sort of question all the time, but can any of you offer advice on how to best learn the Hero system? I want to run a Star Hero Game and find myself a bit overwhelmed at the prospect of all the reading I need to do. I have slowly been working my way through FRed, and would welcome any advice you all might have as to how I might be able to decrease the learning curve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monolith Posted October 31, 2003 Report Share Posted October 31, 2003 Hello and welcome! The first advice I would give to you is only read the sections of FREd (HERO System 5th Edition) running from pages 19-25 (characteristics) and pages 226 to 307 (combat and adventuring). Then take the sample characters from the back of Star Hero (I'm assuming you have Star Hero) on pages 296-315 and run a few sample combats with your friends/players. Once you have a few combat sessions under your belt, and have a general feel for the game system, then spend some time looking at the example character and how they are built. From that point you can start to see how Skills work, and how Powers work to make gadgets. Take it step by step, don't try and learn everything at once. Character creation is the most complex part of the game, so playing it first and getting a feel for the characters before you start building them will go a long way toward helping you create interesting characters later. Feel the game out first, and then worry about exactness later. Take it step by step and you will do fine. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scavitt13 Posted October 31, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2003 I was impressed enough by the quality of the products that I bought FRed, Star Hero, the Terran Empire, and the Hero Designer . I just need to figure out how to use them thanks for the advice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alibear Posted October 31, 2003 Report Share Posted October 31, 2003 I'm guessing joining an existing game is not an option? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted October 31, 2003 Report Share Posted October 31, 2003 You'll find that these boards are a fantastic resource for any questions that you run into. If you have any questions on Hero Designer, just let me know and I'll do what I can to help out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monolith Posted October 31, 2003 Report Share Posted October 31, 2003 Originally posted by scavitt13 I was impressed enough by the quality of the products that I bought FRed, Star Hero, the Terran Empire, and the Hero Designer . I just need to figure out how to use them It's cool that you have all that material. Terran Empire is a wonderful setting. I am currently playing in a campaign set there. If you want you can read about some of it here: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4553 The hardest part of using the HERO System is just reading the book! That is why I suggest you only read the combat sections first. Then use the sample characters for a couple of mock battles, either just with yourself or with some friends too. When you are playing with the sample characters only look and read about the skills that the character has. That way you learn the system in stages. If you try and learn it all at once you will get bogged down in details and get frustrated. You will find that most of the skills are self explanitory. Climbing means you use that skill roll to climb. Stealth means you use that skill to do quiet, stealthy things, etc. Powers are the hard section, but since you are using Star Hero you will not need to get too bogged down in it. There is some nice equipment and vehicle examples in Star Hero, Terran Empire, and Spacer's Toolkit. So from that alone you will not need to have to worry about building too many things with Powers. You just pick a piece of equipment from one of the books and your character uses it. If there is someone else playing a HERO System game in your area, you might also inquire with them about just sitting in to watch a game or two. You will find that once you get past the fear-induced anxioty the book causes that the game system is really quite simple. Character creation is really the only difficult part of the game. The rest is quite simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEmerged Posted October 31, 2003 Report Share Posted October 31, 2003 First, I'll second the recommendation that you play using sample characters before you try building characters of your own. Second, I'll hand out the standard boilerplate that you shouldn't use ANY optional rules until you've got a handle on the rules themselves. Third, spend some time reading these boards -- especially the genre-specific ones. While there's a fair amount of noise on some of them (NGD is almost 100% noise), the genre-specific ones often have some great discussions by people that are actually experienced in those genres. The "actually experienced" statement is not intended as a crack on anyone on this board, but something I run into so much on boards for That Other Product that I have to say it. Fourth, I would recommend that you purchase the "Writeup heavy" products like the Bestiary, USPD, and CKC before you purchase the genre products like Champions & Star HERO. Get a good handle on how character & power creation works, THEN decide what you want to do within the genre. USPD is actually the 2nd product I'd recommend purchasing, immediately after FREd itself. Fifth, never forget that this in an entertainment not a religion. We're not out to convert you into a holy war against That Other Product -- we're out to have fun and that's hard to do if everyone is arguing all the time. Remember this one when you're trying to recruit players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monolith Posted October 31, 2003 Report Share Posted October 31, 2003 Originally posted by TheEmerged Fifth, never forget that this in an entertainment not a religion. We're not out to convert you into a holy war against That Other Product -- we're out to have fun and that's hard to do if everyone is arguing all the time. Remember this one when you're trying to recruit players. Not a religion? Heretic!!! Burn him!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farkling Posted November 1, 2003 Report Share Posted November 1, 2003 lighter fluid at the ready Where'd he go? He sounded like he'd finally converted to the one true system, and then THAT statement pops out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEmerged Posted November 1, 2003 Report Share Posted November 1, 2003 Harde har har Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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