Brian Stanfield

So here are a couple of observation from Origins this week, where I was in a couple of sessions with complete beginners:
They can’t understand the character sheets. Don’t try to sell them on HERO with the character sheets! I actually liked the layout of a couple of the HD templates, but I knew what I was looking at. What really helped was a separate page that explained, in plain language, what their powers could do. Emphasize this kind of simplicity. Sell them on the ease of the skill system. It’s wide open, and one set of skills is not dependent on another set of skills, so none of those meta-gamey skill trees are needed, thank you very much. Totally emphasize he flexibility of combat! It’s way cool, as long as you help them understand the core concepts (OCV, DCV, and the effects of maneuvers to these). One dice roll resolves most of it. But please, Please, PLEASE do not teach them this: 11 + OCV - dice roll= DCV you can hit. NOBODY understood what the hell this means! Seriously. I watched it happen in real time. They were able to calculate stuff and make the dice roll, but they didn’t intuitively understand why they were doing it. Teach them the pre-6th way: 11 + OCV - DCV = the roll you need to make. People get it when you are subtracting the opponent’s DCV from your OCV. It makes intuitive sense. Who cares if they know the opponent’s DCV while they are learning the game. That sort of meta-game knowledge may actually help them understand the interaction of the parts better. You can always unload the 6e formula on hem later if you want to hide the DCV. I can’t emphasize this enough. It was a deal breaker for a couple of the new folks, who never quite got the math. When players simply sit back while you calculate everything for their roll, it’s a good indicator that they’ve pretty much tuned out. While it may take getting used to, it’s exciting to roll a handful of dice for damage! People often cheer at a good die roll, but they go nuts for a good 10d6 roll! Just a few observations from the field. God bless all you GMs who run these convention games! I couldn’t do it. 

So here are a couple of observation from Origins this week, where I was in a couple of sessions with complete beginners:
They can’t understand the character sheets. Don’t try to sell them on HERO with the character sheets! I actually liked the layout of a couple of the HD templates, but I knew what I was looking at. What really helped was a separate page that explained, in plain language, what their powers could do. Emphasize this kind of simplicity. Sell them on the ease of the skill system. It’s wide open, and one set of skills is not dependent on another set of skills, so none of those meta-gamey skill trees are needed, thank you very much. Totally emphasize he flexibility of combat! It’s way cool, as long as you help them understand the core concepts (OCV, DCV, and the effects of maneuvers to these). One dice roll resolves most of it. But please, Please, PLEASE do not teach them this: 11 + OCV - dice roll= DCV you can hit. NOBODY understood what the hell this means! Seriously. I watched it happen in real time. They were able to calculate stuff and make the dice roll, but they didn’t intuitively understand why they were doing it. Teach them the pre-6th way: 11 + OCV - DCV = the roll you need to make. People get it when you are subtracting the opponent’s DCV from your OCV. It makes intuitive sense. Who cares if they know the opponent’s DCV while they are learning the game. That sort of meta-game knowledge may actually help them understand the interaction of the parts better. You can always unload the 6e formula on hem later if you want to hide the DCV. I can’t emphasize this enough. It was a deal breaker for a couple of the new folks, who never quite got the math. When players simply sit back while you calculate everything for their roll, it’s a good indicator that they’ve pretty much tuned out. While it may take getting used to, it’s exciting to roll a handful of dice for damage! People often cheer at a good die roll, but they go nuts for a good 10d6 roll! Just a few observations from the field. God bless all you GMs who run these convention games! I couldn’t do it. 

The idea I think is that once you have your group in HERO then it is easier to switch genres because you will not have to overcome the “system inertia” of the group.  🙂
 
Doc

A dozen Spideys got together for their crossover annual issue.
 
Each character sheet was laid out as a micro comic book.
 

Cereal Killers: Night of the Living Crunch
 
This is the first time in a while that we've had nine players, so every character got to be a part of the action.
 
28 bowls later... The dead are rising, and want to eat your grains. America's favorite breakfast cereal icons star in this grim and gritty urban adventure.
Cap'n (James Tiberius) Crunch is a mighty sailin' man; an experience seaman leader. Tony the Tiger is the fitness nut (or flake) of the group, bringing out the tiger in everyone. Toucan Sam the cynical detective noir is suspected of ecoterrorism -- the nose knows. Sugar Bear brings peace, jazz, and cereal to children of the world. Trix Rabbit is the driven (manic?) experimental field engineer / gadgeteer. Lucky the Leprechaun is the mystic master of the occult arts -- the Cereal Supreme. Sonny the Cocoa Puffs Cuckoo is the chocoholic street smart pharma hustler who can go nutso with extreme prejudice. Count Chocula feeds upon chocolate by night, and sleeps in a large cereal box by day. Quisp is studying the Earth, visiting from his native Quisp Continuum. Breakfast is the most important game of the day.
 

Monster Hunter All-Stars
Hellboy, Ghost Rider, “Evil Dead” Ash, Hermione Granger, and Selene (Underworld) faced off against Lo Pan, the Kurgen, Mothman, Mr. Tumnus, and the Scorpion King.
Ash bisected Mr. Tumnus, after gauntlet-punching his flute down his gullet. Hellboy punched out Mothman, who was eating his demonic brain. Ghost Rider soul-gazed Lo Pan with a penance stare. Hermione paralyzed the Scorpion King. Selene used Kurgen’s own sword to cut off his head and steal his Quickening. Lo Pan and Mothman managed to escape, but the rare magical books were protected.
 
 
   

Room B233.
You'll need 2 generics per game, and go check in with the room's main desk (straight ahead as you walk in).
 
Since I'm filling in for a missing GM, anyone with tickets for those games gets first crack at it, but I have way more characters for my games, so there's always room.

The following is not official, but is based on official statements.

From the Kickstarter page:
Original estimated date Jun 2019.
The manuscript was submitted by May 1st.
That leaves editing, layout and "stuff".
 
So, reasonably close to the estimated deadline. Add a bit for unavoidable delays.

I'll start being concerned if I don't see it by August.

Hooray!!!!!!

Hooray!!!!!!

Been a while, folks, but I promise:
 
I have _not_ given up.
 
In fact, I've been really, _really_ busy.  Well, it's _crawling_, but it's taking up almost all of my spare time.  The problem there is, of course, that I _really_ don't have a lot of spare time!  
 
The proofreaders and Chris and Scott (ta-da!) should by now have the first proofs of the repairs to the covers.
 
We've almost got a releasable result, guys!
 
 
 
Duke
 

Here's my game schedule.
 
Title: Urban Fantasy All-Stars
Desc: Hellboy, Ash, Buffy, Ghost Rider, John Constantine, Hermione Granger, and others join forces to defeat ultimate evil. 
System: Dresden Files RPG / FATE 
Players: 12 
When: W 2-6p
 
Title: Cereal Killers - Night of the Living Crunch 
Desc: The dead are rising, and want to eat your grains. America's favorite breakfast cereal icons star in this grim and gritty urban adventure. Role-playing and a sense of humor stressed. 
System: Champions 
Players: 9 
When: T 9-11a 
 
Title: Spideys on Infinite Earths 
Desc: Tickle your Spidey sense and thwip into the Spider-Verse to team up with Agent Venom, steampunk Lady Spider, Superior Spider-Man, Six-Arms, Spider-Woman, Spider-Monkey, Supaidaman, and other variations. 
System: Marvel Super Hero's (FASERIP) 
Players: 12 
When: F 9-11a 
 
Title: Meep on the Borderland 
Desc: What if all of your favorite fantasy movies were remade with Muppets? Arm your felt with broadswords, holy symbols, magic wands, and a ten-foot pole. One does not simply wokka wokka into Mordor. 
System: Champions 
Players: 15 
When: S 9-11a
 
 

Splitting infinitives is almost as bad as ending a sentence with a preposition, and that is something up with which we shall not put.

Yes, but splitting infinitives is to boldly go where . . . Wait a minute. . . .

Yes, but splitting infinitives is to boldly go where . . . Wait a minute. . . .

You mean this ?
 

The resemblance is rather striking:
 

.
 

Lucius -- as if villains ever need write-ups!
 
RDU -- My games will be run in the Rogue Cthulhu room, but I don't know where that is just yet. I'll let y'all know.
 
 
 
 

I'm filling in for a canceling GM in the Rogue Cthulhu room. Since I'm a last-minute change, my games aren't on the event grid.
 
I'll be running games Wed 2p-6p, and Thu/Fri/Sat 9a-1p. I haven't decided which will be when, but I'll have these prepared:
 
Meep on the Borderland, HERO muppet fantasy adventure
 
Spideys on Infinite Earths, Marvel FASERIP Spider-Verse characters that weren't in the movie like Lady Spider, Supaidaman, Kraven the Spider, and Spider-Punk.
 
Monster Hunter All-Stars, Dresden Files RPG starring Hellboy, Constantine, Venkman, Hermoine, and others
 
Cereal Killers, HERO breakfast icons fight monsters
 
 

You know, I was thinking about this while lurking on this thread. I’ve always wondered if the character point inflation wouldn’t have been necessary in 6e if they had simply shifted all the Characteristic ranges back down to lower levels. If normal is still 10, and if DEX doesn’t need to be elevated to drive the Figureds, then the ranges could overlap more, and supers could still excel at some Characteristics while remaining “normal” at others. Then the point inflation could be reduced.
 
I only say this as I’m building some pre-gen heroic characters for a Pulp campaign. I’m fighting against every urge to inflate DEX and the CVs simply out of habit. My players are all new, so they won’t be programmed to think like the earlier editions, so I’m trying to reset the ranges in my own mind.

personally I think characteristics are what skew the system. There are two big elements to HERO. Skills and Powers. Everything a character does tends to come down to these two elements. Characteristics have been an ill-fitting bridge between these two elements since first edition.
 
I know why that is. I know why people like them, they are a direct link to how we perceive the world.
 
personally I think the system would be cleaner without them and all the arguments of the proper cost and the assumption that one characteristic is pretty much like another.
 
Doc