[zarlor]

Well, the side tangents do keep the thread bumped up near the top so a few more eyes might see it and maybe help figure out if it's decent enough or useful enough to get stickied, I suppose. The hard part is that the above makes sense to me, but is it clear and concise (I'm horrible with the latter) enough for someone new to data files to be able to at least get started with the non-coding parts without feeling too intimidated by it?

I would also add that the Hero system without electronic assistance just for dealing with character creation and advancement alone is downright unthinkable, in my book! My group likes crunchy rule systems (it was like pulling teeth to get them to play Savage Worlds until they realized it's actually a pretty crunchy system in a nicely done "simple rules" wrapper!) but the Hero system was just too much for most of us. One of the guys loves it, the rest of us won't even touch it unless the guy who loves it just HAS to run a game, and even then most of the guys just make him do all of the work.

Oddly breaking through on Savage Worlds has almost turned the group into the opposite direction. While SW is now the usual "go to" ruleset the group has pretty openly taken to really enjoying some of the lighter rules like Fate Core and some Apocalypse World spin-off systems. Go figure.