Recently bought this game as someone who had almost zero interest in Star Wars until Andor came along.

Listening to the A More Civilized Age playthrough with the creator cemented that I absolutely needed to have this game in my back pocket for when my group finally indulges my need to write collective fanfiction for my new favourite show.

So retro!

Heroic Tales hits several sweet spots for me:

1. It is d6 based, making it accessible and easy to play.

2. it is a dice pool system.

3. It is non-class based. The characters you build aren't limited by an archetype or cliche. 

4. Skills are customizable. As you build your character, they truly become what you want them and can be as specialized or as general as you like.

It is also imminently hackable, and I am in the process of writing my own collection of bestiary, skills list, magic items list, and conditions. These have all integrated seamlessly in play without so much as a hiccup and are progressing very quickly due to how easy it is to create content.

The resolution mechanic is wonderfully elegant, getting out of the way so that gameplay doesn't stall or drag. Fights are lean and quick, again not getting bogged down by an over-emphasis on crunch. The system of advantage and disadvantage is very straightforward, as is the system of bonuses (which is not modifiers, but an increase or decrease in the dice pool).

It may seem that the system would be lacking due to its brevity, but the fact is that it is efficient and to the point, rather than simple. I have been running it with my high school students and everyone has had a blast, many commenting how much they enjoy this system. This particular group tends to focus a lot on roleplay, and Heroic Tales supports this wonderfully. We have tried several other systems in the past, and many of them fall apart once you venture away from the niche intended style; that is not the case here. And since we must play during lunch due to transportation and schedules, we can get a ton done in a short amount of time because of how efficient the system is.

There is information for character progression, which gives me hope that we can sustain a longer campaign with Heroic Tales. Of note is the fact that the skill that FAILS the most is the one to improve, which truly encourages non-reliance on a maxed-out aspect but rather a focus on trying new things.

All in all, what began as a search for a system suited to quick one-shots has led to the discovery of my current goto system for play with those who don't want a large amount of crunch or the need to parse a large tome of rules. I would readily recommend Heroic Tales to anyone, regardless of their familiarity with RPGs.