HERO System in Gneral

[radio_scramble]

Hey guys! I'm trying to gm a game of champions with a few friends, but it is far, far more complicated than I anticipated. Is there anybody who would be willing to hop on a google hangouts, discord, etc. call to help us out? Thanks!

[Steve Long]

Only I can answer in this forum, so I'm going to move this to the Discussion board, where anyone can chime in -- and hopefully someone can help you out. :)

[Doc Democracy]

Where are you based?  those in the same time zone have a better chance of doing this kind of thing.

[Killer Shrike]

I would suggest that you get a copy of Hero System Basic

 

 

It is relatively tiny and simple (130 something pages), and much less of a barrier to entry for new players.

 

Alternately if you are playing supers or fantasy the Champions Complete or Fantasy Complete books may be better for you. But I still recommend Basic.

 

[megaplayboy]

There was a product even simpler than HS Basic or Sidekick, but the name escapes me right now.  I'll look it up in the Store and see if it's there, if it is I'll edit this post for you.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/110227/Hero-In-Two-Pages

 

It's free.  

 

 

[Doc Democracy]

My big tip is to get to know the game first. By that I mean how it plays, not how to create characters.

 

if you take some pre-generated characters and try them out in a brawl, to check out combat, then run a short basic scenario to check out skills, talents etc.

 

This will teach you what is important and help you focus on spending points when you decide to build a character.

 

When you do decide, come onto these boards and do it publicly. Folk here are pretty good at advising and, you will get five opinions for every three commenters.

 

[radio_scramble]

I am in EST. Thanks for all the tips! The thing is, I have been looking through the Hero System basic rules and stuff, but I am still super confused about everything. I don't understand what most things on the character sheet mean. I am a DND player, and I want to move to this because it seems better, but it is a whole lot more complicated. It'd be great just to have someone be there to answer any questions that arise.

 

[megaplayboy]

From simplest to most elaborate:

Hero in Two Pages(noted above)

Hero System Resource Kit(5th edition, maybe a 4th edition version too)

Hero System Sidekick(5th edition)

Hero System Basic Rules(6th edition)

 

There's also 5th edition handbooks broken down by rule section: Hero System Character Creation Guide, and Hero System Combat handbook.  

 

None of this stuff costs more than 10-20 bucks.  And Hero in Two Pages is free.

[radio_scramble]

I have the 6th edition book. It has been helpful, but it is not so helpful with the basics. It is not the basic rule book which is probably why.

[sentry0]

+1 for HERO in 2 pages...there's also this - https://www.herogames.com/files/file/367-fantasy-hero-primer/ - it's written specifically for fantasy but there's lots of good stuff in general for the HERO System within.

 

[TranquiloUno]

On 5/29/2019 at 3:20 PM, radio_scramble said:

I am in EST. Thanks for all the tips! The thing is, I have been looking through the Hero System basic rules and stuff, but I am still super confused about everything.

 

 

What's the first thing that confuses you?

 

On 5/29/2019 at 3:20 PM, radio_scramble said:

 

I don't understand what most things on the character sheet mean. I am a DND player, and I want to move to this because it seems better, but it is a whole lot more complicated. It'd be great just to have someone be there to answer any questions that arise.

 

 

Do you have actual questions or is it all just confusing?

 

What parts of the sheet confuse you?

 

Hero IS, for sure, more complicated than D&D, and by the same token takes more learning on your (the general you\player\GM) part.

 

If nobody wants to voice chat without in realtime do you have serialized off-line questions we could answer?

 

Have you gone from the character sheet to the book and back and forth again?

 

Like...find one thing on the sheet you don't know and then look it up? That kind of thing?

 

 

 

My general suggestion would be to skip almost all the character *creation* (not what the stats mean) and move right to the example characters and actual gameplay rules.

Then run a generic scenario with the pregens\samples and go back and forth from the book to the sheet (and\or this board!) to figure stuff out.

 

Like if one example character has Stealth 14- then you can look up the Stealth skill, then look up how skill challenges work, then look up Dex rolls, and so on.

 

 

[Spence]

Also, what adventure are you running?  Or do you still need to build it?

[megaplayboy]

There was a quickplay rules type scenario that involved some kind of arena combat thing, IIRC.  I think George and Steve had something to do with it.  I seem to recall it came out in the late 90s as a way to introduce people to Hero.  Am I mistaken?

[Doc Democracy]

On ‎5‎/‎29‎/‎2019 at 11:20 PM, radio_scramble said:

I am in EST. Thanks for all the tips! The thing is, I have been looking through the Hero System basic rules and stuff, but I am still super confused about everything. I don't understand what most things on the character sheet mean. I am a DND player, and I want to move to this because it seems better, but it is a whole lot more complicated. It'd be great just to have someone be there to answer any questions that arise.

 

 

I am in the UK, so timings could be an issue. If you really want a session online I might be able to organise something.

 

The sheets are complicated but most of that is because the sheet is doing an accounting role as well as providing gameplay information. Once you are a bit more familiar, you will see it is probably no more complex than D&D and 100 times more consistent.

 

Have a look at my Golden Age thread, I have been working through setting up a campaign in public, I have even been posting my customised character sheets for my HERO novice players.

 

Would be happy, on that thread, to go through some of the details with you.