Toxxus

I think this is true to a degree and a negative reputation that hasn't been dealt with to another degree.
 
Because the system is so open ended it lends itself to unnecessary complexity.
 
With my current Saturday group I've been easing them into the rules one by one as their comfort grows.  For the early sessions we hand-waved END tracking and several other factors for the sake of simplicity.
 
D&D 5e which has absolutely exploded due to its streamlined changes AND hitting the free marketing jackpot with Critical Role switching to their system isn't THAT much simpler if the GM intends to match it.
HERO presents it's primary stats, previously figured stats and combat stats in one big block.  It's a wall of text and intimidating.
D&D has almost exactly the same number of things to track, but they're dispersed and packaged more neatly not really less in number.
 
HERO - STR,DEX,CON,INT,EGO,PRE
D&D -   STR,DEX,CON,INT,WIS,CHA
 
HERO - PD, ED, REC, END, STUN
D&D - AC, Hit Dice, Exhaustion Levels, Spell Slots, X per short rest, X per long rest
 
HERO - OCV, DCV, MOCV, MDCV
D&D - To Hit Bonus from Stats, Proficiency Bonus, Saving Throw 1, Saving Throw 2 - 6
 
Where I REALLY see players struggle is in building their own custom powers.  It's like playing D&D where the spell book is a math test.

To mitigate this difference in systems I have been handing the players 5pts per session +/- 1 point based on goal progression.  This allows characters to advance at a pace that feels more commensurate with D&D style games.
 
My current Saturday group is in book 5 of 6 of the War for the Crown adventure path and they have gone from 125pts to 270pts.  This is working out pretty well in terms of difficulty with the tier 3 monsters they are encountering.

Killer Shrike has converted older editions and his website has TONs of good information.
http://www.killershrike.com/
 
You'll find direct conversions of D&D to HERO somewhat tricky to do because some of the D&D spells are overpowered as !@#$ for their level and the points based nature of HERO makes those spells have to be downgraded substantially.
 
The classic cheese spells of D&D 5th edition (banish, hypnotic pattern, force wall, force cage) can be recreated roughly in HERO, but they won't be as crazily overpowered as their counter-parts.
 
I've done a lot of on-the-fly conversions using some rough rule of thumbs such as:
Armor class: Converts directly to Resistant PD / Resistant ED in HERO.  Chainmail adds 6 to AC (16) so in HERO it is 6pts of rPD/rED.  Plate Armor adds 8 to AC (18) so it is 8pts of rPD/rED. Add the DEX bonus part of AC to DCV.  Add the shield bonus part of AC to DCV. Example:  You have an NPC with a D&D AC of 20 (10pts above starting value of 10) wearing chainmail and a shield.  Chainmail = 6pts rPD/rED and the NPC gets +2 DCV for the shield and +2 DCV for DEX. Spell Levels: Level 1 = 30 active points (max).  This goes up by 7.5 pts per level in a medium-magic setting.  You could raise it by 10 or more per level in a high magic setting.  Ex:  Magic Missile (1 pt NND RKA, Autofire, Single Hex, Accurate, Does Body) Level 2 = 37 active points. Ex:  Hold Person - Mental Paralysis 1d6 (+1 DEF). Level 3 = 45 active points. Ex:  The classic Fireball - 2d6 RKA with an 8 meter AoE Level 4 = 52 active points. Level 5 = 60 active points. Ex:  Cone of Cold - 2d6 RKA - Area of Effect Cone - Armor Piercing Level 6 = 67 active points. Level 7 = 75 active points. Level 8 = 82 active points. Level 9 = 90 active points. Ex:  Meteor Swarm - 2.5d6 RKA - 8 meter AoE - Autofire Saving Throws: One approach - Add a -1 limitation to all spells that they are either completely negated or their damage is reduced by half if the target ties or wins a characteristic roll vs. casters spell casting ability. Zapperon has a Magic Skill of 15 or less and he blasts Ser Rogerio with Cone of Cold.  Ser Rogerio must make a Constitution roll (13 or less for him) and make the roll by the same amount or more than Zapperon to take 1/2 damage. Other Options: To retain a more Saving Throw feel of D&D compare the spellcasters OCV to the targets Characteristic / 3. Ex:  Zapperon has an OCV of 7 and Ser Rogerio has a Constitution of 18  (18/3 = 6) so Zapperon will need to roll a 12 or less (11 + 7 OCV - 6 DCV) to do full damage to Ser Rogerio. Reverse rolls for a more "Saving Throw" feel. Ex:  Zapperon has an OCV of 7 and Ser Rogerio has a Constitution of 18 (18/3 = 6) so Ser Rogerio will need to make a CON save of 10 or less (11 + 6 for CON - 7 for OCV) to resist 1/2 the damage of the spell. Weapon Damage:  Use the weapon charts.  It doesn't conver well. Attack Bonus:  Remove the STR bonus from an NPCs attack bonus and add that to OCV. Hope that helps a bit. 
 
 
 
 

If you like that campaign style you will find the Pathfinder adventure path War for the Crown to be particularly interesting.
 
It thoroughly mixes in royal balls, senatorial intrigue, exploration and a modest chunk of combat.  It is a very nice change of pace from dungeon crawl heavy runs like Dungeon of the Mad Mage.

To mitigate this difference in systems I have been handing the players 5pts per session +/- 1 point based on goal progression.  This allows characters to advance at a pace that feels more commensurate with D&D style games.
 
My current Saturday group is in book 5 of 6 of the War for the Crown adventure path and they have gone from 125pts to 270pts.  This is working out pretty well in terms of difficulty with the tier 3 monsters they are encountering.

So 1 PIP is both cheaper and 100% reliable vs. the more expensive and only 50% reliable 1/2d6 ??
 
That makes no sense at all.  I would houserule that instantly.

5th edition really simplified the game to the point where normals could play it.
 
Additionally, the original players had enough time to grow up, raise families and have kids that were now old enough to play it with them.
 
Add to that the absolute smashing success that Critical Role turned into and it exploded beyond anyone's expectations.

Firstly, I like the rule and this is largely tongue-in-cheek.  I am myself a black belt and have broken many boards and concrete blocks over the years and even a brick once.
 
Secondly, martial artists do these things using the following skills (in order of importance)
1-  Deception:  Most of the things they are breaking are either very breakable (pine vs. oak) or arranged in a way to maximize breakability (concrete slabs with spacers on the outer edges).
2-  Fitness:  A huge part of being a functional martial artist is being stronger and faster than your untrained counter-parts.  Lose the fitness and your many skills mean almost nothing at all.
3-  Conditioning:  By slamming your fists, shins and knuckles into hard objects on a repeat basis you eventually increase bone density and this helps a lot when it comes to not breaking your bones on the aforementioned objects.
 
Still, replace a stack of lame pine boards (I've broken 2 at once holding them by my finger tips while hitting with my free hand) with a single 1" thick piece of Oak and you'd see nothing but broken hands.
 
It's cheap stage magic folks and I say that as a former member of the cheap stage magicians guild. 

HERO Designer is a GMs dream.  You can construct characters for your players very quickly and build out your other NPCs at a greatly enhanced pace.

I would cut back on exercise completely while combining a large intake of carbs, fat and alcohol.
 
Deep dish supreme pizzas and beer - several times a day - will have them buoyant in no time...
 

If you've been playing D&D 5th Ed for several years (especially the dumbed-down Adventurer's League version) then here are some things you'll get from Fantasy HERO:
1-  Hit locations - These really spice up the randomness of combat.
2-  Realistic Armor Interactions - Armor makes you safer at the cost of being slower, clumsier and easier to hit.
3-  Monsters and Enemies are scary - The unlimited build potential for villains means players can't rely on their innate knowledge of the Monster Manual to know what is happening.  Each creature can be a terrifying and unique thing with custom powers.
4-  Character Creation is INCREDIBLY open-ended.  There are endless character concepts you just can't do in D&D.  In HERO - You can do them.  My Current saturday group:  Fire sorceress (pretty straight forward), a witcher built on the Witcher 3 model, Udyr from League of Legends, an Air Bender, a dwarven explosives expert and a dragon born priest with powers based on cold
5-  Combat overall feels more engaging with a larger number of moves and a limited number of hit points.  Did you take an arrow - in the eye?  You're down and dying.  Weapons are actually scary.
 
The only REAL drawback about HERO that my players continue to gripe about is that character creation is painfully open-ended.  They know what they want, but not how to model it.
 
My two tables alone have resulted in at least 3-4 additional sales of Hero Designer.  Players love being able to make their character the way they imagine it and not being constrained by classes.
 

"A character who is Stunned or recovering from being Stunned can take no action, take no Recoveries (except a free post-Segment 12 Recovery), and is unable to move."
 
They cannot logically be treated "the same" or you would never get to recover from being stunned.  Clearly that is not the intent.
Similarly, I doubt the intent was that you can only recover from being stunned during the free post-Segment 12 Recovery.
 
Even still they are not treated the same for the reasons Hugh points out above.
 
Tactical Power Build:
1pt NND - Mega-Scaled to planetary - defense is not already being stunned or wearing a Legion of Evil synaptic regulator, invisible power effects = "A strange malady has afflicted the world.  Anyone who suffers a stunning blow or fall - never recovers.  They are trapped in their stunned state until they die from lack of food & water.".
 
 
 
 

To eliminate the rolling you might set the threshold equal to their REC score so that if the damage they take is equal to or less than their REC score they can recover from being stunned and only punishment in excess of REC extends the stunned duration.

It's right there in the wording.  They are obviously different things.
 
Consider this:  If being stunned means you can take no Recoveries - then how do you recover from being stunned?  The only solution to this is that they are, in fact, separate game terms.
Unless someone wants to argue that being stunned is a permanent condition.
 
Syllogistically speaking you are choosing between two choices given the wording:
 
A character who is Stunned can take no Recoveries.
Recovering from being Stunned is a Recovery.
Conclusion:  A Stunned character cannot Recover from being Stunned.
 
OR - And I would argue more sensibly
 
A character who is Stunned can take no Recoveries.
Recovering from being Stunned is NOT a Recovery.
Conclusion:  A Stunned character can recover from being stunned.

In modern times the 11 is unacceptable due to lack of diversity.
 
Only the 10 is allowed.

In modern times the 11 is unacceptable due to lack of diversity.
 
Only the 10 is allowed.

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.

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.

In modern times the 11 is unacceptable due to lack of diversity.
 
Only the 10 is allowed.

11 will always be a friend of mine...

My son is now 14.  He is heartily sick of my repeated response to the question of who would win between two characters...."Whoever the writer thinks will make the best story".  He has however started using it with his friends....
 

Doc

The problem with this topic is that it's trying to pin internal consistency across a genre that is inherently inconsistent; no two writers are going to keep the character 100% consistent unless forced to, and over time dozens and dozens of writers have had their hand at stories with comic characters. Any given story is probably going to be consistent, but once another writer takes over, it's not the same characters in anything but name and costume.

Disney Ordered To Pay Reparations To Longtime Star Wars Fans
 

I wouldn't buy multiple blasts.  I suggest upping the trigger advantage level so you can have multiple triggers (when removed or when Toy Boy triggers it).  The ability of the damage to hit both the original target and someone who tries to pull the dart off is covered by Sticky, imo.
 
I wouldn't bother with the cosmetic transformation either.  It's just the special effects of the suction cup based weapon.
 
Generally, I would recommend towards the simplest solution possible.  Over-complicating power builds is a common malady.