Character Creation: Hero Kids

THE TWELFTH GAME OF XMAS, TWENTY-TWENTY-TWO, IS HERO KIDS,
WITCH GIRL ADVENTURES,
YARR!,
ROCKOPOLIS,
THEN BROKEN EARTH,
GOOD SOCIETY,
THEN MOONPUNK,
VISIGOTHS VS. MALL GOTHS,
PIRATES OF PUGMIRE,
THE TROUBLESHOOTERS,
THEN STAR-CROSSED,
AND THE FIRST GAME WAS THE ONE RING 2ND ED!

(Flourish!)

The Game: Hero Kids
The Publisher: Hero Forge
Degree of Familiarity: None
Books Required: Just the one

The "twelfth" slot in the song is usually "lords a-leaping," and so I wanted a light, basic fantasy game. Doesn't get a heck of a lot lighter! 

Hero Kids usually gets recommended when people ask for a game they can play with younger children. It's by no means the only such game, but it's definitely got production values and space in the market, that's for sure. (I don't see people recommend FirstFable often, but y'know a) it was never really promoted like it was supposed to be and b) the author is reportedly problematic.)

Reading it...I dunno. It looks perfectly playable. It's a simple roll d6s vs. d6s, highest single die wins, ties go to the attack, but that right there is my first niggle - everything is presented in terms of combat. And I don't know, is that a stereotype or a trope that should continue in RPGs? Does the foundation of the game have to revolve around fighting? 

(I mean, it doesn't, obviously, but here it does, and in a lot of RPGs across the spectrum of genre, age, and complexity, it does.)

Well, anyway, making a character is pretty darned straightforward, so I'm gonna try to make a lord what leaps. Chargen starts by asking me to consider what sort of hero? Well, if I want to lean into the "lord" thing, then I'm probably a princeling or a bored noble sneaking out of a gilded cage (figuratively speaking) to go on adventures. As such, my character has probably been trained to fight in a stilted kind of way, but might not have a lot of practical chops. 

I get four dice to split up into Ranged, Melee, Magic, and Armor, but the first die I put into Ranged or Magic costs two. As such, I'm gonna leave Magic at 0...hmm. So I can either have Melee 2, Armor 2; or I can have Ranged 1, Melee or Armor 2; or Ranged 2 and Melee or Armor 2. 

Well, let's be risky and assume my character can't exactly sneak out of the palace (or whatever) wearing armor, so I'll leave Armor at 0. That lets me put two into Melee and one into Ranged.

And now I get two "normal attacks", one for Melee and one for Ranged. I'll say my Ranged is Arrow Shot, and my Melee one is Daring Riposte. 

Special Action...hrm. The ones on the example characters are just variations on "attack more people." How about Defensive Stance: Shift a die from Melee to Armor for one turn?

Bonus Ability! This is a passive ability, and I know what I want here. Normally characters can move past allies in combat, but not enemies. Because I am a Leaper, I can, uh, do both.

Equipment and skills...this is pretty much just "what's logical to have." I don't think any special inventory stuff, other than my bow and my rapier. For skills, though, I think he should have Knowledge and Acrobatics. 

That's all but the details. My character's name is Bertram, but when he's sneaking out to go adventure with the common folk, he goes by Martreb (he thinks that's very clever). Lean, well-fed, clean (when he leaves the palace), probably an embarrassing haircut that he hides under a hood.

And that's pretty much it. Happy New Year!