Crayon

32 minutes ago, Ninja-Bear said:

That’s what I thought. The options can come later if and when you want them. How about breaking up a simple crime gang? The Thugs can be normals and skilled normals. The Boss can be just a competent normal adjusted to suit your tastes and don’t worry about points balancing out either for him (or her if so inclined). I’d gladly help if you want.

That sounds about exactly what I need, something to learn the game. Everyone on here has been super helpful I just still dont really know what to start making a campaign with or where to start. Nothing is very clear in that sense. I may just be slow though lol

2 minutes ago, Tjack said:

   Maybe I missed it but what type of campaign are you shooting for?  I realize that a game will mutate in all kind of interesting ways over time but what comic/TV show/movie do you envision this looking like at the start?

A group fighting crime basically. Something simple. The heroes being along the line of Black Widow, Jason Bourne, James Bond etc.

7 minutes ago, Greywind said:

Where to start with a campaign:

 

The characters. Get them fleshed out enough so that you have an idea of who and what they are, what their abilities are, what their skills are.

 

The first adventure: Focusing on the characters, give a task that allows each of them a time in the spotlight. It does help to have a general idea of where you as the GM want the campaign to go. Will it have a definite end? Will it be open-ended? Will the adventures be interconnected, like a TV show where the episodes build off each other, or will it just be a series of stand-alone stories?

Ok, I was thinking something shorter and basic to start so we can get an idea of how the game works, and then try something a little more advanced after.

2 minutes ago, LoneWolf said:

 

The original poster is specifically asking about characteristic limits.  The fact that some people do not like or use them does not mean they do not have a place in the game.  Even if you don’t use characteristic limits knowing what is considered “Normal Human” is still useful.  Knowing that 99.99% of the population has a STR of less than 20 gives me a framework to build characters.  Without that framework how am I supposed to know how much STR I need for my concept?  If I want to build a character like Mr. T from the A Team, knowing that 20 STR is the maximum normal human STR lets me realize that an 18 STR is actually pretty strong.  And that a 23 STR is incredible.   Without this reference the player may assume that then need a 25-30 STR to be considered strong.

 

While characteristic maximums are an optional rule they are probably the single most common characteristic limit that is used in most heroic games.   This is exactly what the original poster was asking about.

 

Having some guidelines for a campaign is usually a good thing, especially for a first game.  Without any sort of guidelines the characters are probably going to be all over the place which will often lead to some of the players being disappointed with their characters.   It also makes it easier for the GM to write up opponents that are going to challenge all the characters.  When one character can throw around a DC 15 attack and the other is only doing 7 it is going to be hard for the GM to create an scenario that challenges all the characters. 

Everyone has been very helpful haha! My other question now would fall into the skills/perks/talents and also the gear/powers section. What typically be useful? Like lets a PC wants to specify in being a computer whiz/hacker. Would not having the Hacker skill make him unable to do hacking or does it just boost it a bunch? Or is that all decided from the GM?

I still dont know where as the GM I am supposed to start at making a campaign, so im trying to learn what I can but the BR doesnt seem to be super helpful in that sense. I learn in the way of WHY the HOW works if that makes sense. Like I said in the original post, our starting campaign is going to be along the lines of a group of “heroes” that go around and fight crime, help save people around the city, etc. My general idea of characters was around the area of Black Widow, Jason Bourne, and James Bond kind of style. Nothing that unrealistic but not super normal either.

11 minutes ago, Christopher R Taylor said:

Its going to depend a lot on what kind of game you run (will it be super realistic, or James Bond, or even Bollywood?) what characteristics you expect from a character or what the campaign might limit.  I'll give you some basic information on characteristics here from my experience as a GM and the game as it is played over 40 years:

 

First off, the first six or "primary" characteristics.

 

-Strength (STR) is what you think it is: raw muscle power, lifting capacity, how much damage you’ll do to something when you strike it, and so on.  The average normal person has around 8 STR, the starting level for heroes is 10.  23 is realistic human maximum, the most anyone in history has achieved.  This pattern is the same for every one of the "primary" Characteristics.

 

-Dexterity (DEX) is also what you think it is: quickness, agility, and balance.

-Constitution (CON) is a measure of a character’s general health and resilience.

-Intelligence (INT) is what you think it is: reasoning ability, recall, and general brainpower. It also affects Perception; how likely your character is to notice something important.

-Ego (EGO) is strength of will and mental toughness.  It also represents how your character responds when attacked by a Mental Power like Telepathy or Mind Control.

-Presence (PRE) is a character’s ability to keep their cool when the people around them begin to panic. It also represents how well your character can impress, inspire, and even intimidate other characters.

 

For these stats, consider 5 to be feeble, 13 to be athletic or talented (high school athlete), 18 to be very athletic and talented (olympic level ability), and anything 20 or higher to be incredibly remarkable in a normal human.

Now for the other 11 "secondary" characteristics.  These get even more subjective because of their nature.

 

The "secondary" characteristics each vary in their values:

 

-OCV, DCV, OMCV, DMCV start at base 3.  These represent how well a character attacks or defends from attack, avoiding a hit.  MCV is mental combat (mind control, telepathy), CV is just regular fighting (guns, fists).  This starts at base 3 and while humans can achieve remarkable levels of OCV, most of that is represented by reducing range levels and special maneuvers.  Base CV shouldn't be higher than 6 in most normal person, so that a regular person has a reasonable chance to hit the PCs, even if small.  Because of the bell curve and the way CVs work with a 3d6 roll anything higher than that moves into the nearly automatic hit or miss category on normals.

 

-Physical Defense (PD) and Energy Defense (ED) represent how resistant your character is to taking damage from physical and energy attacks, respectively. In Hero, a successful attack is applied to the character’s defenses before determining how much damage is taken. The higher the PD or ED, the less damage the character takes.  Base 2 is normal for all characters for PD and ED, and a normal human probably won't get past 8 in either.

 

-Speed (SPD) is a measure of how often a character acts in combat. Each combat Turn is divided into twelve Segments; the SPD score determines how many (and which) of those Segments a character acts on. Speed is really expensive.  Again, the base is 2 and normal humans with extreme skill and agility won't get past 4 very often, and probably never exceed 5.

 

-Recovery (REC) represents how quickly a character recovers when they are knocked out or exhausted. The REC score is added to the character’s STUN and END whenever the character takes a Segment to recover.  This is base 4, and its hard to quantify in the real world but 8 is probably a good guide for what normal humans won't ever exceed

 

-Endurance (END) is a measure of how long a character can continue to act before becoming exhausted. Whenever a character uses Strength or a ability such as running, they expend END. When a character runs out of END, they must rest (recover) to get back into the fight.  Everyone starts at 20 END, and again this is tough to quantify, but probably 50 is the most a normal human will reach.

 

-Body (BODY) is one of the two kinds of ‘hit points’ in Hero. It represents serious, long-term damage--how much punishment a character can take before they (begin to) die.  Normal humans start at a base 10, and since Body is determined by physical structure and willpower its easier to quantify, but 23 is probably normal human maximum

 

-Stun (STUN) is the other type of ‘hit points’ in Hero; it represents how much damage a character can take before being knocked unconscious. In many games, characters will rarely take BODY damage after defenses are applied, but characters will take STUN damage all the time.  Like END, the base is 20 and probably 50 is the maximum a normal human might reach.

Ok this helps a ton. Another question that your comment opened up is about how the phases work. I was trying to understand it in the BR but im still lost.

So i have asked a few questions on here already and i have some more. i will be the GM and my group started their characters tonight (didnt finish). we have really no idea what they should have for characters and where to go with it. i also have no idea where to start with making a campaign. we were skimming through through the BR but are still lost. its going to be a heroic campaign in modern of a group of “heroes” that fight crime (bank robberies, muggings, etc.)

another question would be, what do people generally have for characteristic level limits? like what is the highest you will allow STR or END in a heroic playthrough? 

So me and my friend are getting into this and I want to know what the best way to do that is. I bought the BR, the Character Creation book, and the Combat and Adventuring book. I started to read the BR but do I have read all of the books in their entirety?

1 minute ago, assault said:

 

What genre?

Modern day era

What is a good premade campaign that will be good for first time? or would it be better to create our own? there will be 6 players and then the gm. thanks in advance