Post originally by Deacon Blues at 2004-01-17 20:12:53
Converted from Phorums BB System

Like most of the others who've posted here, I liked the personal tone of your review. So, there.

I was trying to recall my first experiences with the HERO System (late 4th edition, back when the core book was the Champions tome, or the Big Blue Book) and how I got over the hurdle of ALL THOSE NUMBERS to get comfortable with the character generation process.

The answer's pretty simple:

(1) Keep experimenting with it. "I wonder what these D&D spells would look like in Hero." "How would you reproduce a paladin's ability to do X?" "What modifiers would I have to stack on to simulate dragon's breath?" And so on. Do that every six months or so, for stretches of two months at a time, for ten years. Then, if you're anything like me, you'll reach the point where you can do it in your head.

(2) Keep in touch with the online community. They always point out easier ways to do things, more interesting ways to do things, and even rules tidbits that I'd forgotten about or never really learned. You know how long I was just subtracting Advantage mods from Limitations mods, instead of doing the math from the Advantage end first, getting the Active cost, and then dividing by the Limitation mods to get the Real cost, and then ... oy. And don't even get me started on Multipowers.

You've been given the keys to the ship that steers the Universe, so take your time at the controls. And don't panic.