TranquiloUno

Here is an example of one the schools of magic and a few spells.
 
ASTROLOGICAL MAGIC

 
Astrological Magic is a form of White Magic that requires significant training and education to master.  Practitioners of Astrological Magic are called Astromancers.  Astromancers call upon the power of the stars themselves to create magical effects.  When casting, the Astromancer must call out complex strings of astrological correspondences, binding the powers of the Moons, Planets and Zodiac and causing them to converge on, while tracing their corresponding signs in the air with their fingers.  Astromancy is famous for its powerful divinatory abilities, and many people are unaware that these stargazers can call upon cosmic energies to vanquish the most powerful of foes.  The signature ability of Astromancers is Astrology.
 
Astrology 
By spending an hour studying the relative position of Rhûne's moons and stars, the Astromancer can perform any one of the following divinations:
Fate: The condition or general whereabouts of any once individual may be divined. The Astromancer may divine if the individual in question is "safe," "in great danger," "nearby," "faraway," etc. If desired, the general direction in which an individual may be found can also be discerned. Wisdom: The wisdom or advisibility of a single course of action may be determined in advance; i.e. "is it safe to cross the swamp by day," "is it wise to offer a bribe to the city magistrate," etc. Only "yes" or "no" answers may be determined through this type of divination. Destiny: The caster may determine whether a given event or circumstance will occur in the near future; i.e. "will the wizard be in his tower tomorrow night," "will we encounter goblins as we pass through the forest," etc. Only "yes" or "no" answers may be determined through this type of divination. Use of this ability requires a clear night sky, telescope and astrolabe and one hour.  Astrology is a form of magic but is not a spell, rather it is is a magical talent.  Spellcasters who choose Astrological Magic as their free School gain the Astrology talent for free, but must still purchase the Astrology skill.  Otherwise, Astrology costs 5 points.
 
Astrology: Precognitive Clairsentience (Sight Group) (40 Active Points); Extra Time (1 Hour, Only to Activate, Character May Take No Other Actions, -1 3/4), OAF Bulky Fragile (Telescope and Astrolabe; -1 3/4), Precognition Only (-1), Concentration, Must Concentrate throughout use of Constant Power (1/2 DCV; -1/2), Conditional Power: Stars Must Be Visible (-1/4), Limited Power: Fate, Wisdom, Destiny Only (-1/2), Requires A Roll (Skill roll; -1/2); Real Cost: 5
 
SPELLS
All of the following spells have the standard spell limitations (Requires A Roll (Skill roll, -1/2), Concentration (1/2 DCV; -1/4), Extra Time (Delayed Phase, -1/4), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4), Real Spell (-1/4), Side Effects (-1/4)) in addition to any listed Limitations.  Constant powers and Skills bought as spells also have Cost Endurance (Only to Activate, -1/4) limitation and Time Limit (varies) advantage.
 
Astral Bolt
This spell allows the Astromancer to hurl a shimmering bolt of silver light crafted from pure cosmic energy from his hand.  This astral energy affects all forms of intangible and ethereal creatures, whether they be ethereal, air elementals, spirits, etc. 
Apprentice: Blast 2d6, Affects Desolid (Any); Beam (-1/4); Skill -1, END 1, Range 150m Journeyman: Blast 4d6, Affects Desolid (Any); Beam (-1/4); Skill -3, END 3, Range 300m Master: Blast 6d6, Affects Desolid (Any); Beam (-1/4); Skill -4, END 4, Range 450m Grandmaster: Blast 8d6, Affects Desolid (Any); Beam (-1/4); Skill -6, END 6, Range 600m Archmage: Blast 10d6, Affects Desolid (Any); Beam (-1/4); Skill -7, END 7, Range 750m  
Fortune
This spells allows the Astromancer to protect her allies from magical attacks for 24 hours.  While under the influence of this spell,  the target gains a bonus to their DCV against any Real Spell that requires a To Hit roll.
Apprentice: +1 DCV, Usable By Other (+1/4), Time Limit (1 Day; +1 3/4); Only Against Real Spells (-1 1/2); Skill -1, END 1, Range Touch Journeyman: +2 DCV, Usable By Other (+1/4), Time Limit (1 Day; +1 3/4); Only Against Real Spells (-1 1/2); Skill -3, END 3, Range Touch Master: +3 DCV, Usable By Other (+1/4), Time Limit (1 Day; +1 3/4); Only Against Real Spells (-1 1/2); Skill -4, END 4, Range Touch Grand Master: +4 DCV, Usable By Other (+1/4), Time Limit (1 Day; +1 3/4); Only Against Real Spells (-1 1/2); Skill -6, END 6, Range Touch Archmage: +5 DCV, Usable By Other (+1/4), Time Limit (1 Day; +1 3/4); Only Against Real Spells (-1 1/2); Skill -7, END 7, Range Touch *The Only Against Real Spells (-1 1/2) limitation may seem excessive, and for some campaigns it may be,  however I rarely use villainous spellcasters as enemies.  In my last campaign, less than 3% of enemies used Real Spells in combat.
Lesser Incantation of Mars
The Astromancer calls upon the martial power of the planet Mars to grant himself proficiency with melee weapons and skill in combat for a few minutes.
Apprentice: +1 with HTH Combat plus WF: Common Melee Weapons, Time Limit (1 Minute; +1/2); Skill -2, END 2, Range Self Journeyman: +2 with HTH Combat plus WF: Common Melee Weapons, Time Limit (2 Minutes; +1/2); Skill -3, END 3, Range Self Master: +3 with HTH Combat plus WF: Common Melee Weapons, Time Limit (3 Minutes; +1/2); Skill -5, END 5, Range Self Grand Master: +4 with HTH Combat plus WF: Common Melee Weapons, Time Limit (4 Minutes; +1/2); Skill -6, END 6, Range Self Archmage: +5 with HTH Combat plus WF: Common Melee Weapons, Time Limit (5 Minutes; +3/4); Skill -8, END 8, Range Self Lesser Incantation of Sagittarius
The Astromancer calls upon the unerring aim of the Zodiac Sagittarius to grant herself proficiency with missile weapons and skill in combat for a few minutes.
Apprentice: +1 with Ranged Combat plus WF: Common Missile Weapons, Time Limit (1 Minute; +1/2); Skill -2, END 2, Range Self Journeyman: +2 with Ranged Combat plus WF: Common Missile Weapons, Time Limit (2 Minutes; +1/2); Skill -3, END 3, Range Self Master: +3 with Ranged Combat plus WF: Common Missile Weapons, Time Limit (3 Minutes; +1/2); Skill -5, END 5, Range Self Grand Master: +4 with Ranged Combat plus WF: Common Missile Weapons, Time Limit (4 Minutes; +1/2); Skill -6, END 6, Range Self Archmage: +5 with Ranged Combat plus WF: Common Missile Weapons, Time Limit (5 Minutes; +3/4); Skill -8, END 8, Range Self  
Air Sign
Mastery of the Air Sign allows the Astromancer to call upon the powers of Zephyrion, the Air Moon, to summon and control winds, bending them to a number of purposes:
Wild Wind creates a swirling ball of winds that the caster can hurl at targets, where it explodes in a powerful burst of intensely strong winds that will hurl every human-sized targets in a random direction.  Depending on the terrain, this can deal devastating damage as targets are thrown into walls or each other. Wind Wings creates miniature tornado around the caster, lifting them off the ground and propelling them through the air. Dispel Barriers counters and dispels magical barriers of earth and stone. The Astromancer may only activate one of these 3 powers with each casting of the spell.
 
Apprentice (Multipower, 15-point reserve); Skill -1, END 1, Range 150m or Self
Wild Wind :  Blast 1d6, Area Of Effect (4m Radius; +1/4), Knockback x8 (+1 1/2); Does No Damage (-1) Wind Wings:  Flight 6m, Time Limit (20 Minutes; +1) Dispel Barriers:  Dispel Magical Earth/Stone Walls 5d6 Journeyman (Multipower, 30-point reserve); Skill -3, END 3, Range 300m or Self
Wild Wind :  Blast 2d6, Area Of Effect (6m Radius; +1/4), Knockback x8 (+1 1/2); Does No Damage (-1) Wind Wings:  Flight 12m, Time Limit (20 Minutes; +1) Dispel Barriers:  Dispel Magical Earth/Stone Walls 10d6 Master (Multipower, 45-point reserve); Skill -4, END 4, Range 450m or Self
Wild Wind :  Blast 3d6, Area Of Effect (8m Radius; +1/2), Knockback x8 (+1 1/2); Does No Damage (-1) Wind Wings:  Flight 20m, Time Limit (20 Minutes; +1) Dispel Barriers:  Dispel Magical Earth/Stone Walls 15d6 Grand Master (Multipower, 60-point reserve); Skill -6, END 6, Range 600m or Self
Wild Wind :  Blast 3 1/2d6, Area Of Effect (16m Radius; +3/4), Knockback x8 (+1 1/2); Does No Damage (-1) Wind Wings:  Flight 20m, Time Limit (1 Hour; +1 1/4) Dispel Barriers:  Dispel Magical Earth/Stone Walls 20d6 Archmage (Multipower, 75-point reserve); Skill -7, END 7, Range 750m or Self
Wild Wind :  Blast 4d6, Area Of Effect (24m Radius; +1), Knockback x8 (+1 1/2); Does No Damage (-1) Wind Wings:  Flight 20m,  x8 Noncombat, Time Limit (1 Hour; +1 1/4) Dispel Barriers:  Dispel Magical Earth/Stone Walls 25d6

Re-reading the Dive for Cover rules has me thinking.
 
You can Dive to avoid any attack?  Like unlimited OCV is negated by a simple DEX roll at -1?
 
Not sure I would allow that.

This is brilliant and I am ashamed I did not think of it. 
I am indeed mixing terms. I wanted the power to both be difficult to dodge and difficult to dive for cover from. 
Its a shadowy attack that looks like its in several places at once, making it difficult to detect the real one. 
 
The character is a shadow mage of sorts. And I wanted to create a shadow blast that can both be used at range and to smack attackers in meele. But that is for the multipower. I was wondering more about how to make the difficult to dodge/ dive for cover to work. 
In fact how do you put penalties on other characters dex rolls in general without having to go into transform? Which is more expensive than just having a power that kills the target. 

+4 OCV (only when opponent is dodging) ;D
 
 
There's a Dodge roll?

+4 OCV (only when opponent is dodging) ;D
 
 
There's a Dodge roll?

+4 OCV (only when opponent is dodging) ;D
 
 
There's a Dodge roll?

+4 OCV (only when opponent is dodging) ;D
 
 
There's a Dodge roll?

The problem with anything involving Time Limit is that it artificially bloats the Active Point value of the power without providing an advantage over the base power (since it's there to make the disadvantage work as desired). 
I really would just set it as "Usable for up to five consecutive minutes, then needs hour to recharge (-1)" and be done with it. 

90 seconds!? But that's like over 7 turns!? Of course they're tired. ;D ;D ;D
 

You don't need an END Reserve. You need a power that works for 5 minutes then shuts down for an hour.
 
Khas' Gun:  (Total: 80 Active Cost, 25 Real Cost) Blast 8d6, Time Limit (5 Minutes; +1) (80 Active Points); 16 clips of 1 Continuing Charge lasting 5 Minutes (Increased Reloading Time: 1 Hour; -1 1/4), OAF (-1) (Real Cost: 25)
 
Works for five minutes then shuts down for an hour.
 
Lucius Alexander
 
I don' t need a palindromedary, I just need a tagline that references one.
 
 
 
 
 
 

RE:
 
Endurance tracking:
 
My current youth group is the only time I've _ever_ had issues getting someone to comprehend tracking END, and even then it's just the younger ones.  I mean, players have no problem tracking STUN, BODY, and until this one group, track END.  It's not like it's totally foreign if you can track the other two, right?  My suspicion is the "youth" part: they're in a hurry to do amazing things in their magical new world.
 
My solution was this:
 

 
Combined with this:
 
 

 
 
Yes, as an American deep in rural farm country, I was startled to find a dozen 45 cm plastic rulers in my local office supply store (I mean local; the nearest chain place is ninety miles from me).  The ones I found were wider and thinner than the one pictured, and they had a narrow little slot running down almost the full length (presumably some sort of cutting guide?)  At any rate, I tucked A paper rivet through each slot and folded one tab one toward the center and the other tab toward and up around the edge of the centimeter side, making something of a pointer.  I explained to them that they put the pointer on their starting END (mercifully, the highest END was dead-on 45) and when they did anything, they slid the pointer down to indicate their current END score. 
 
Not only did it work, but they want one for tracking STUN, too.  
 
I don't think the math bothered them; I don't think that they were unaware that things cost END.  I think they got wrapped up and forgot to stop and do it.  This, being a bit more in-your-face, seems to have stopped the problem cold.  They have taken to moving the counter as if it were the most important part of the game.   Unexpected bonus:  I can tell at a casual glance about where anyone's END is at any given moment.
 
 
 
 

This has been a serious enough issue with a significant enough sub-section of player, so yes, this is real in my experience. Watching eyes glaze over as you start to say "Add this and then subtract this" is a thing. As ghost-angel noted, many are just fine with the concept "low to hit, high for damage" and just will say, "I rolled X" and look to the GM or table to explain if that was "low enough" but they don't care about why, nor do they want to do any calculations. Now, if the players are the type to want to learn rules because they tend to seek system mastery and want to make "good decisions" because they understand the rules... then really, I've never seen any of those people have a problem with it. The issue is that many I game with do not think like this. They would likely prefer a very rules light session of storytelling... they are more into the story, not the game... in fact some actively dislike the "game" aspect of it, but are intuitively really, really GOOD at role playing. (My wife is one of these.) 
 
In some ways, I really like gaming with these types. They make decisions based on the story and their characters personality and the situation, not based on what abilities or damage classes they can deal, or what maneuvers are optimized for the situation, or whatever. Some players like this can even be really solid tacticians, just good at making quick, intelligent interpretations of the scenario and having cool, logical ideas to address the situation... but not based on game mechanics at all. 
 
Mostly I've just learned to quickly interpret their descriptions into the most advantageous HERO terms, and say something like, "Ok, that sounds like an acrobatic roll to setup a better shot at their back... roll X... then roll Y... cool... here's what happens" and go with it.

I don't mind interesting match ups and I understand that some extreme characters (like The Flash) have to toss realism and consistency out the window in order for there to be a threat by non-speedsters, but it still has to feel consistent.
 
If Spiderman is facing a completely normal 3 year old boy and gets KO'd by an angry swat on the knee - nobody is going to enjoy that story.
 
So, creepy circus themed freaks just need a moment of backstory enhancement to justify supernatural or superhuman ability.  They have to have a reason they can hit a bullet-dodging Spiderman.
 
I recall an equally jarring episode of Spiderman where he was facing the Punisher that had a mix of clever and stupid writing.  At one point the punisher punches himself in the chest which confuses Spiderman even though his danger sense is going off.  The sleep gas explodes from his chest compartment and it's a great surprise move.
 
Later and this next part was unforgivably !@#$ writing by Marvel Comics - Punisher is blasting ineffectually at the agile Spiderman and somehow as Spiderman flips through the air the Punisher shoots both of his webshooters off his wrists.
 
Spiderman complains he's been caught mid-leap and can't do anything to dodge.  Oh, I don't know, you could move your wrists one !@#$ing inch to the side??!! 
 
So. Bad.
 
I just want some narrative consistency.  It doesn't have to be perfect nor especially scientific, but sometimes the writers are painfully lazy and just a single tenuous excuse on how character X can now (temporarily perhaps) face character Y would go a long way.

It was pretty bad in the 70s and 80s.  I recall one episode of The Hulk where an elderly woman fought the Hulk to a stand still using Aikido.
 
See, it doesn't matter that the Hulk is a 1000 pound monster that moves with terrifying speed and violence.  You just have to sidestep and use his own energy against him....
 
I took a year of Aikido at the University of Hawaii and I promise you - this is fiction of the worst sort.
 
A well executed Judo or Aikido move will let you do something to an opponent with a fraction of the strength to do it without technique.  But this fraction is on the order of 1/2 or 1/4.
 
It is not the 1/50,000 you would need to do something to the Hulk.

Montana - that was his name - thanks!
 
Who did Spidey fight in the early days? 
 
Amazing Fantasy #15 - a burglar
Issue #1  - Fantastic Four; Chameleon
#2 - Vulture, Tinkerer
#3 - Doc Ock
#4 - Sandman
#5 - Dr. Doom (not a straight-up fight)
#6 - Lizard
#7 - Vulture again
#8 - a robot; Human Torch
#9 - Electro (thug with blast and flash)
#10 - The Enforcers
#11 & 12 - Doc Ock's back
#13 - Mysterio (SFX guy with a fishbowl on his head)
#14 - Green Goblin (pumpkin bombs and flying broomstick) guest stars Hulk
#15 - Kraven (Chamelon in the background)
#16 - Daredevil and Ringmaster
#17 - Green Goblin (Torch guest stars)
#18 - Sandman
#19 - Sandman, Enforcers, Torch
#20 - Scorpion
 
A lot of "thug with a schtick" enemies in Spidey's early days.  He was an untrained kid with spider-powers.
 
How many of those opponents should be able to connect with a 12 DCV/35 DEX Spider-Man?

1, I would say that EITHER PS: Physician or Sci: Medical Science would be necessary. You can of course pile on a ton more skills, but that's all that is truly "necessary."
2. Paramedics. Again, you can and probably should pile on a lot more, but Paramedics on top of the above is all you need to be a general practitioner.
3. Basically you have to ask, what in game terms does this stuff do? I would probably build something like this:
MD Black Bag:  (Total: 12 Active Cost, 4 Real Cost) +3 with all Medical (12 Active Points); OAF (Requires Multiple Foci or functions at reduced effectiveness; -3/4), Gestures (Requires both hands; -1/2), Extra Time (Full Phase, Only to Activate, -1/4), Concentration (1/2 DCV; -1/4) (Real Cost: 4)
 
Lucius Alexander
 
The  palindromedary suggests a Diagnosis power built as "Detect medical condition."
 
 
 

It's my opinion that rulebook\sourcebook art is the secret sauce\silver bullet of RPGs.
To the point I think they might matter more than the rules.
 
 

This seems like the biggest dichotomy between "new" and "old" gamers. We like crunch and wanted to learn it. System mastery and rules exploits were more like points of pride. And the sheer joy of not being tied to a class\level or a clan or an OCC or whatever the heck else they liked to call them was huge.
New folks seem to be more of a, "rules get in the way", sort of bent, in addition to the narrative focus.
I feel more like Scott Ruggels, I think, the rules exist to give the various tactical (and other) scenarios structure and you're engaging (as players and as characters) with the scenario.
It's not that fighting\combat was the point of the game but more so that it wasn't looked at as a distraction from the "real" game (ie, the story).
 
That's my probably my bias talking though.
 
Back on topic: Pregens are the main thing for teaching. I think. Just a nice clean and balanced example for folks to look at and start to decipher.
 
With the hope being that once they realize you can adjust, like, ALLLLLL of those bits on your sheet they'll get the Hero bug and want to dive right in.
 
 
 
It certainly seems fine to me. Every game needs a core mechanic (probably) and 3d roll low is one, so...good enough.
 
 
 
Yes, mostly I feel the unlimited flexibility\build your own stuff gets presented up front as being good and valuable. And...it is.
But I think it's a distraction from learning the game part of the game and until you learn the game part of the game the character building stuff kinda exists in a vacuum.
What's Power Defense? Do I want it? Do I need it? Should I have it for this game?
Is this attack "good"? Is it "too powerful"?
All of that stuff is, I think, hard to grok for new folks because it's...well, Hero.
Good\bad\powerful are all relative.
But you can't really teach folks by saying, "it could be" and "it depends on the game\setting\scenario" over and over.
 
Pregens that are working balanced examples get around most of that. Which is why I suspect essentially every single thread I've seen about introducing folks to Hero suggests that, eh?
 
Mostly I just mean I think players have a certain limited amount of attention span to give stuff and if most of that attention span is taken up by looking at an insanely overwhelming character creation\powers section until they give up then it'll be hard to get them to reenage on the system aspects.
 
Of course this is all generally speaking and IMO and all of that. Gamers are still gamers and do still like learning games and rules and playing them.
 
It's just funny to me that chargen (the point-build system mechanics) is the heart of Hero but when teaching folks the system I think it should be strongly deemphasized to prevent brainlock.
 
Pregens.
3d roll under.
Many default tactical options that aren't just the player trying to connive the GM in to giving them a situational bonus
Probably Stun\Bod and Normal\Killing.
I'd say I'm in the Speed Chart = Hero camp as well.
 
Those all seem core Hero to me and are the elements that can be well separated from the chargen stuff.
 
And I think ghost-angel's point about Special Effects and Mechanics being separate is also true but I don't think it's....particularly playable as an aspect of the system. Like it's very central to Hero but also not really something you can teach as part of the system without getting a bit lost.
Maybe he's got examples and I'm missing something there tho.
 
 
 
 
 
 

It's my opinion that rulebook\sourcebook art is the secret sauce\silver bullet of RPGs.
To the point I think they might matter more than the rules.
 
 

Since it seems the sticking point is explaining how Attack Rolls (which fundamentally work exactly like Skill Rolls) work; let's try.
 
Attack Skill = 11+OCV.
Literally forget everything else about OCV, DCV, and Combat. Just have them write down Attack Skill, 15-
Edit: forgot, you only ever need to do this once, at character creation. Like you only ever really calculate you skill rolls once, at character creation.
 
Skill Rolls: How much you roll under your Skill is how much you succeed by. If you have a Lockpick Skill of 14- and you roll a 10, you succeeded by 4. What does that mean? Well, the GM assigned a difficulty of 2 to the Lock. So, any roll that succeeds by 2 or more unlocks. (in Hero Combat Terms, the Lock has a DCV of 2, and your Lockpick Roll hit a DCV of 4 or lower, the explanations go both ways, because it's literally the same math.)
 
Moving back to Combat; You make an Attack Roll, you roll a 9, you have succeeded by 6 on your Attack Roll. What does that mean? Well, DCV is just a target difficulty, like with Skills. Your target has a Difficulty of 5, you hit if you succeed by 5 or more.
 
Modifiers:
Attack Modifiers adjust the success level of the Attack Roll, just like Skill Modifiers adjust the success level of the Skill Roll. You can either add this onto the Skill Roll directly, or you can add it to the Success Level after the roll - the math is the same. If you have +1 to OCV you can either say your Attack Skill goes up to 16- or just add 1 to your Success Roll.
 
Defense Modifiers adjust the target number, normally Skill Challenges have static target numbers (the Lock does not become more difficult or less difficult, typically, one attempt to the next), but Combat is fluid and sometimes positions change and the Target Number moves. Still - you're just adjsuting the target number, either yours or the GM adjusting the NPCs. And while this is typically yet another number to keep track of in combat, it's not especially unique to Hero - D&D has plenty of spells that adjust the AC modifier on the fly (heck, even as a reaction in the same Action sequence).
 
Once you strip out the, poorly presented IMO, formula in Hero and literally treat Attacking like any other Skill Challenge you only need to teach one mathematical idea. In or out of combat, Attack Rolls are just Combat Skill Challenges and Skills are just Non-Combat Attack Challenges.

^  ^  ^  ^  ^  THIS!  ^  ^  ^  ^  ^  ^  ^ 

It's my opinion that rulebook\sourcebook art is the secret sauce\silver bullet of RPGs.
To the point I think they might matter more than the rules.
 
 

It's my opinion that rulebook\sourcebook art is the secret sauce\silver bullet of RPGs.
To the point I think they might matter more than the rules.
 
 

It's an interesting question and kinda what I was wondering about in the Sell me on Hero thread.
Because how much we need (and still keeping it Hero) is kinda about that, right?
 
Defining characteristics of Hero for me would be things like: Endless point-buy options based on the various Powers and....maybe hex-based combats with a lot of standard combat options?
 
3d roll low doesn't seem super Hero-y to me. Or particularly important to the system (I know other folks do not agree with this).
Point-based builds don't seem super Hero-y to me. In that there are plenty of other systems doing that.
 
Flexible character creation often seems like a red herring to me. In theory it's infinitely flexible but in practice, in actual games, it generally isn't, and often isn't relevant even then.
If we're playing Fantasy Hero and I wanna play a guy with a sword\Aragorn\generic warrior dude then I'm probs just gonna buy some very standard stuff and not try to talk the GM in to letting me have a Cosmic VPP (Only for Sword Tricks) and creating my own specialized intricate martial maneuvers or whatever.
 
So, particularly in terms of just teaching the mechanics of task and combat resolution, it would come down to Core Mechanic (3d roll low, not unique to Hero but the basis of learning the game and doing stuff in it) and probably all the default combat options (except I don't think those are particularly worth teaching right off the bat because new folks won't have a frame to relate the OCV\DCV stuff to).
 
Stun\Bod and Normal\Killing are pretty distinctly Hero as well. And often quite confusing for new folks. Probably worth time spending time on during teaching sessions but considering you can do away with Stun in Fantasy Hero maybe it's not the most Hero of Hero bits to include right off.
I mean why does damage need to be so crunchy, right? Can't we just PLAY already?
 
I dunno, it's hard to answer because for me the crunch is a part of the appeal but also the crunch is what makes it hard and intimidating to new folks. The more crunch gets peeled off the more it's Hero Lite or something.
 
 
 
 

One of the fundamental problems HERO has is that it offers many ways to do things. 
I could build a Dizzy-ray as a Drain DEX.  I could build a Dizzy-field as a Change Environment that forces a DEX roll or you fall.  I could build a Dizzy-ray as a Mind Control resisted by CON with the order "Move Randomly or fall down".  I could build a Dizzy-field as AOE NND (Environmental Movement: Dizzy) Drain DCV. 
 
Until you know what an attack will be built, you can't know how to build the appropriate defense. 
 
So ask your GM how they'll build a dizzy effect, then take the appropriate defense once you know the attack.