I don’t know if it’s the same one, but the first HERO character design program didn’t work on Apple products. Is it safe to assume that this is different?
Well...there sort of is. In almost every sourcebook, like FantasyHERO, StarHERO, and the like, the main races are stayted out with what is called a “package deal”. That will show the average stat mods and additional abilities for an adult of that species that varies from the human norm (the all 10s on the basic sheet). So an elf might have minuses to Str and Con, physical defense, but bonuses to Int, perception rolls with eyesight and hearing, silent movement, ranged combat, and maybe even some minor innate magic. They might also have vulnerabilities. More “fey” elves might take damage from weapons made of certain materials.
In addition, you can also find NPCs for “scientist”, “thug”, “cop” and so forth, which are supposed to be modern norms, and the villain/organization/ sourcebooks & adventures will stat out all kinds of agents, minions and foes that you can easily use as-is, reskin, or tweak.
(Of course, checking the math is always a good idea, because typos DO occur.)
Since the game is classless, you won’t find classes per se, but you can easily make package deals for those as well*. That’s what I did when I designed a D&D HERO campaign. A “space marine” might get skill points in zero-g combat, piloting, and some armed & unarmed martial arts. A “wizard” might know a variety of languages, alchemy, and have a certain bonus to his proficiency manipulating magical forces.
And the same goes for gear. A lot of HERO sourcebooks give you lists of already statted-out gear...and will do so with transparency. So you won’t only know that a 2 handed sword does 2d6 HKA and costs 7 points to buy, you’ll know exactly WHY (obvious accessible focus, etc.) so tweaking or DIY-from-scratch is easier.
* Actually, there may be some professional package deals in the sourcebooks. I haven’t looked in a while.
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