How to Play HERO (in two pages)

[Christopher]

I wrote this little introduction in the powers of the Hero System and where each power stands in the grand sheme. Was partially inspired by your two pages. Thought I link it here, as it is a beginner resources as well:

http://www.herogames.com/forums/index.php?/topic/85482-power-guide/

[Chris Goodwin]

Hi, I'm a new player and I was wondering if you could explain damage classes and how they work in the simplest terms please....

One Damage Class is equivalent to 1d6 of unmodified Normal Damage; three Damage Classes are equivalent to 1d6 of Killing Damage.

[Christougher]

Hi, I'm a new player and I was wondering if you could explain damage classes and how they work in the simplest terms please....

 

Seems like your question was answered, but that's still a good thing to add to my document.  Any other questions or bits you think new players would want to know?

 

Chris.

[Christougher]

After a nudge on another thread, I'm going to try and fire this one back up.

 

And maybe add a couple more 'in Two Pages' ideas:  'How to Build a HERO Character', and 'How to Run a HERO Game'.  Now soliciting ideas for same, might break them out into separate threads.

 

Chris.

[Pegasus40218]

As someone relatively new to HERO who is trying to GM, two pages about how to identify unbalanced builds would be helpful.  (I have a group of min-maxers and have trouble identifying unbalanced builds until I see them in play.)

[Greywind]

Easiest way to get feedback on that is to post your players' characters on the board.

[Pegasus40218]

We're getting ready to start a new campaign (after several months of Pathfinder)...I'm trying something a little different this time around.  To get my players to focus on concept, complications, and cooperation I'm giving the FATE Core system a try to get things started.  Once we have concepts and some background and setting material put together, we're going to build the characters using HERO and start play...Once we have the builds I'll post them for review.

[Christougher]

As someone relatively new to HERO who is trying to GM, two pages about how to identify unbalanced builds would be helpful.  (I have a group of min-maxers and have trouble identifying unbalanced builds until I see them in play.)

 

You'll find many flavors of a Rule of X / Rule of Effectiveness, even one of my own, elsewhere on the forums.  They all work, but you don't have to even go that far.  Choose or create a villain of similar type, and compare them on various data points - Damage, Combat Value, Speed, whatever else.  If the numbers are close or equal, with some ups and downs, the character is probably okay; if the numbers are very different or all higher, you might have an issue.

 

My rule of X is to simply add various data points together (weighting some of them first) to get a number; if another character is twelve below or twenty over it gets addressed, but a couple in either direction is okay.  And since someone is bound to ask, my formula is: (SPD*2 + OCV + DCs + DCV + (PD+ED)/4 + STUN/10).  Damage Reduction gets applied to Stun.  It doesn't try to be perfect, just a snapshot that can be used for comparison.

 

Chris.

[bigdamnhero]

Good stuff! When I run convention/demo games, what works for me (YMMV of course) is to cover this verbally rather than giving them something else to read. I start by handing out character sheets with the "text" side up and the stats side down, and have them read the background, description, Complications, etc. while I'm setting up my screen, powering up the laptop, etc. Then I give a 5-10 minute verbal "tour" of the character sheet that covers a lot of what you have here.

 

Get used to rolling 3d6, finding the total, and how much lower it is than a given target number. This is the default roll for most things, including skills and attack rolls.

Yes! Teach them Skill Rolls first:

"Take this number, subtract the total of 3 dice, tell me how much you made or missed it by. That's the core Hero mechanic, and we'll use it again for attack rolls when we get to combat."

 

A Score(Value) of 8-10 is 'average human', a score of 20 is 'maximum human', above that is 'superhuman'.

I used to say it like this...until I had a player who thought his 25 STR meant he was Superman. Now I say:

"8-10 is average human, 15 is fairly studly, 20 is the normal max for most humans, 20-30 is Legendary, and above that is superhuman."

 

If there is a 'Cost' listed, ignore it for now.

If you want them to ignore it, then just leave it off the character sheet altogether. It's amazing how much it simplifies the page if you leave the costs off - makes it much more accessible.

 

Prefixes like AK, KS, PS or SS can be ignored...

Then don't use them.   Just use Knowledge: ___, Profession: ____ and Science: ____.

 

If your actual numbered Phases aren't listed, there's a chart for that. Once a Phase starts, people act from highest DEX to lowest.

I have a spreadsheet on my end populated by SPD & DEX. So I explain it like you do, but then say:

"If that's confusing, don't sweat it; I have all that charted out here, so it's your action when I point at you and say "What do you do?""

 

Most of them figure it out quick enough, but it takes the burden off them and eliminates the inevitable: "Who goes on Phase 5? Anyone...?"

 

Attack rolls are affected by your attack skill(Offensive Combat Value aka OCV) and the opponents defense skill(Defensive Combat Value aka DCV). A quick way to figure it is OCV + 11 - 3d6 = DCV hit (or lower). Those levels you saw earlier may apply here.

I'm a big fan of creating an "Attacks Table" on each character sheet that lists each of their main attacks, with Attack Roll (OCV+11 + any modifiers) how many CSLs they have with that attack, their DCV while doing it (with any modifiers from Maneuver, Concentration, etc), how much Damage it does, END/Charges, and other Notes. Puts everything in one place instead of them having to search for "how many skill levels do I have with this attack?" Takes a little time to build, but vastly speeds up play IMX. Looks like this:

 

Attacks                 Atk         Skill        DCV       Damage       END       Notes

Basic Attack        19-         +0           7             2½d6             1            

Razor Arrow       19-         +4           7             3d6 K, AP      [8]         

Gas Arrow           19-         +4           7             6d6 NND      [4]          AVAD: No need to breath

Boxing Cross       20-         +2           9             4½d6             1            

Judo Throw         18-         +2           8             2½d6 +v/10 1             23 STR to Hold

Block                    21-         +2           9             ---                  1             or Dodge @ DCV 10

 

 

Only things I don't see covered -

 

Movement: I list distances for 1/2 Move, Full Move, and Noncombat Move:

"A 1/2 Move takes half your Phase, a Full Move takes your entire Phase. Noncombat means you're going full out without worrying about attacking or defending."

 

Presence Attacks:

"Next to your Presence is a number of dice listed for Presence Attacks, which is when you're trying to use your force of personality and awesomeness to make your enemies cover, rally your followers, etc. It's a free action you can use anytime on your Phase, and you get bonus dice for the situation, such as if you just knocked their Big Guy through a wall, or penalty dice if he just knocked YOU through a wall."

[bigdamnhero]

As someone relatively new to HERO who is trying to GM, two pages about how to identify unbalanced builds would be helpful.  (I have a group of min-maxers and have trouble identifying unbalanced builds until I see them in play.)

There's no easy answer, but you can catch a lot of them by thinking your way though: How will my NPCs defend against this? How much damage will this do to my Bad Guys?

 

For example, NND may be just fine if the defense is reasonably common, but if it's something they're hardly ever going to encounter then things could get unbalanced pretty quickly. Once you understand the effect it's going to have on your NPCs, then you can decide whether to ban the power or limit it somehow - such as by increasing the cost of the Advantage, or stipulating that it only works under certain conditions - or make sure all your important NPCs have the necessary defense. (Tho players hate it when you nerf their cool attack like this, so it's generally better if you can find some sort of compromise.)

 

Similarly: Teleportation Usable As Attack is a fun power in a superhero campaign where flight is reasonably common - but it's a Game Killer in a heroic campaign where 30m falls will cripple most NPCs.

 

Remember that those caution & stop signs in the book are there for a good reason!

[Christopher R Taylor]

When we count body on dice in our group we count the number of dice, add any sixes, and subtract any ones.  Its a pretty simple system, although I highly recommend purchasing some Hero Dice (they are slightly larger than some people prefer but they make counting body easier for many people and have a fancy hero symbol for 1).

[Chris Goodwin]

I really want mine to start with pregenerated characters and an adventure to run them in.  Instead of just saying here's how you roll to hit, I want them to have a (simplified) character sheet in front of them, with a sample combat prefigured to run for some of them.  With things like "If Xandros the Warrior attacks Yoric the Orc:  Xandros' OCV is 6, while Yoric's DCV is 4.  That means Xandros needs 13 or less to hit Yoric.  Roll 3d6, if you roll 13 or less then Xandros hits; his STR is 15, and he wields a broadsword, so his damage is..."  

[bigdamnhero]

Agreed Chris: walking people through a simple combat is way better than trying to explain it to them in the abstract.