Yeah, so welcome to City of Heroes for tabletop: CoHd20. If you’re a tabletop roleplaying gamer, you probably have some inkling of what to expect from this. If you only know the City of Heroes MMORPG, hopefully you will find this a worthy addition to your gaming arsenal. Either way, let’s have fun.
To play this game, you will need a friend. Ideally more than one, but it’s not impossible for two people to play. One player assumes the role of Game Master (GM). The other creates a character to play. If there are additional players, they also create characters for themselves. There is only one GM. The GM is the “engine” of a tabletop roleplaying game. The GM describes the setting, controls any non-player characters (NPCs, such as contacts and opponents), and acts as an arbiter of the rules. You will use those rules, plus various dice, to resolve questions of combat and other skill checks.
The CoHd20 Rules assume that at least one person at the table, preferably the GM, is familiar with tabletop gaming. In particular, Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. The rules around character creation, Ability Scores and their modifiers, Proficiency Bonus, leveling experience, and the d20 combat mechanics are all explained there. Go get it, it’s free. While it’s worth it to read through that entire PDF, you should pay close attention to the section How to Play (including its subsections) on pages 4 and 5, and Chapter 9: Combat. If you’re feeling ambitious, you can also read through the D&D 5th Edition SRD, although much of that content is more specific to that game’s setting and trappings.
If no one at the table has ever played a tabletop RPG, you may be in for a challenge. But don’t let that stop you. Everyone was new to this kind of gaming at one point. The best thing to do is dive in, let yourself make mistakes, and learn.