mlud

Thanks for all the information. I love learning about this game. I think you're right Monolith--it would take a certain player who would be content to have his weaker character "stand around" while the heavy weights are going at it. I know I wouldn't want to be the one stuck with the weak, supporting character. For some people who want to stay true to the comic, I think Uncle Shecky has a possible solution: have one person play multiple characters: that way, his heavyweight can wade in while his supporting player stands around, dodges, and prepares to deliver his one speciality attack. I'll also take the advice of SuperPheemy--keep it simple in the beginning until my friends and I learn the ropes. Thanks again everyone.

Thanks for the quick reply. I understand the need for balance and thus to keep hero characters at the same point cap (varying things like speed, etc.). The way I've been talking about this game to my friends is with the line "you can do anything in this game you've seen characters in the comic do." Thus, in a comic that features a team, there are members of the team who are "weaker" than other members of the team. For example, there is a friend in the group who wants to play if he can play an original Avengers team. In such a recreation, you would have "weak" clones like the Wasp and Ant-man in the company of "heavyweight" clones like Thor, Iron Man, and the Hulk. But your suggesting that each person on that Avengers clone team still have the same point cap, but to make them appear like they do in the comics, you would obviously vary the individual characteristics (Hulk clone has a lot more strength than Ant-man clone, but Ant-man clone has purchased more speed than Hulk clone). Right? To play a team that has weak and strong characters (with the same point cap), wouldn't it also be the player's responsibility not to throw the weaker characters into the battle first, using them instead in a supporting fashion after the heavyweights on the team engage the enemy? That way the weaker characters, like a Blue Beetle clone, don't get squished; instead they provide backup for the Martian Manhunter clones? mlud

As a brand new newbie to the Hero System, I've been spending a lot of time reading through the 5th ed. rules and Champions, but I'm unclear as to this point: when you set up a game, is there just one point level for all characters or can characters of varying power levels have a different number of points assigned to them when they're built? In other words, if you wanted to play a character like Superman going up against someone like the Joker, would both of them be restricted to the same point cap (e.g., 300 pts), or would Superman be allowed to be built with more points to reflect the incredible difference between he and the Joker? I wasn't sure how you let characters be somewhat true to their known power levels if every character has to be built with the same number of points. mlud

Thanks! Thanks for the answers Monolith. I'm sure I'll have more questions soon.

I am a brand new newbie to the HERO System and I'm trying to get a handle on character costs. Specifically, on pg. 189 of Champions, the Sapphire sheet lists: Running: 6"/12" and Flight: 15"/30". I know the flight for 15" was paid for with the Power-Riding, but I don't understand where the 30" is coming from--is that her maximum range, and if so, where is that paid for? I have the same question about the Running--where is the 12" coming from and where is its cost? Finally, on pg. 196, Devastator has 10+20 Value for STR--does the 10 refer to his unarmored STR and the 20 refer to his STR when he has his battle armor on (or is it 30 STR when he has his battle armor on)? I apologize for the utter newbieness of these questions, but I've never played RPG's before, and I just found out about HEROs a week ago. I'm in the process of getting my friends to put their Heroclix down and take a look at what seems to be an infinitely more realistic system to have comic book-like battles. Thanks, mlud