(The following has been reposted from the HERO TIME website.)
Hello! This shall be the first article in a series that explains Hero Time and how it is played. That way, you can hit the ground running whenever I release the rulebook!
First and foremost, there should be an explanation of what type of game this is.
Hero Time is a role-playing game, often abbreviated “RPG”. Whenever I say this in the circles I run in, people just look at me confused, so a definition is certainly in order.
When you were little, did you ever play a game of make-believe or something similar? For that, you and your friends would pretend to be whatever you wanted to be, and you made up a story to go along with it. The role-playing game is almost a direct evolution of that. The two are very similar, but the role-playing game is far more developed and, it must be admitted, complicated.
The phrase can be broken down into two terms: “role-playing” and “game”. “Role-playing” refer to your active participation in several areas: the character you are playing as, the function you serve in the group (damage-dealer, healer, damage-absorber, etc.), and your character’s class (i.e. job). The “game” refers to the medium itself. There are players and rules, but the object isn’t exactly to “win”. The players may or may not achieve their desired result, but ultimately, it’s about the journey and not the destination. The end goal is to have a good time.
The game is guided by a referee known as a “gamemaster”. He is in charge of making the game run well and guiding the overall story that the players are going through. Each time he and the players gather together to play the game, it is known as a “session”. Typically, each one lasts 4 to 5 hours (though it could be shorter) and occurs at regular intervals, like once every few weeks or a month. Gathering together physically is still the most popular method of playing, but there has been an explosion of tools that enable people to do this over the internet.
Most of the time, the gamemaster creates a series of connected adventures that are collectively referred to as a “campaign”. A campaign can last as long as he and the players want it to; it can be finished in two sessions, or it could last for years. If he so chooses, the gamemaster could also use adventures made by other people, known as “adventure modules” (or “quests”, as I call them in HERO TIME). Most of them only last for two or three sessions, but some “one-shots” can be finished in just one. The most dramatic examples of this are entire campaigns that were made so the gamemaster can focusing on running the games and not planning them.
As for how you actually play them, RPGs are a little different than most games. When you play a board game, you pull the box out of the closet, unfold the board, lay out the instruction manual, then set up the cards and all the little pieces. For RPGs, you have one big book known as the “Core Rulebook” (or “Core Book”, as is increasingly common), and that bad boy is like your instruction manual. You also use dice, but often you require a special set of them that is sold separately. Add in some character sheets (pieces of paper describing the character you’re playing as) and some scrap paper to write on, and you’re ready to begin. Maps and tiny figurines known as “miniatures” are a standard part of the experience, but when it comes down to it, all other knick-knacks are optional.
In addition to telling you how to play, the rulebook describes the world, or “setting”, that you are playing inside. For example, the “Hero Time Core Book” spends about 25 pages exploring the kingdoms, history, and cosmology of the world of Virbis. However, I’ve seen books with up to 135 pages detailing their worlds!
Once the gamemaster has the rulebook and the players have everything they need, the game can begin!
That is all. Until next time!
–Neal