Character Roster

Spiff has something in his print and play accessories. I don't remember what exactly it includes, but it might be what you are looking for

I've tried the "favorite superhero" approach myself. Normally, I'd just lay out the first ten heroes in the base game (minus Absolute Zero, plus Expatriette, since she's fairly easy to play), but I had good luck with a friend who answered "Scarlet Witch" and really took to playing Nightmist as her first character. So don't discount the gamers around you!

I usually ask for favorite superheroes, too, though if I don't think that's a good approach for the player I usually simply offer Legacy, Tachyon, Haka, or Wraith. That approach backfired on me last night when the answer I got was "Spider-Man," though. Uh...

So if I'm not mistaken, the ultimate collector's case will include a list (with complexity) of all the heroes and villains. Anybody else remember that?

I use the favorite hero approach with people who are somewhat new to gaming.

With people who are experienced but not with Sentinels I usually ask them what playing style they prefer (attack, glass cannon, support, mixed)

In general, I describe the more introductory characters as who they are and let folks pick someone that catches their attention. For example, "Haka is an ancient Maori warrior who loves beating down evil. In his off time, he's a kindergarten teacher." or "Fanatic is an avenging angel, with the wings, sword, and attitude to prove it."

This lets the player make a correlation in their head, if they want, but avoids outright comparing characters as that doesn't tend (in my experience) to go as well (as theirs expectations that the Sentinels character _is_ going to be like the character they have in their head.

It also helps (again, in my experience) to put them into the thematic nature of the game.

If folks are more hard-core gamers, I'll include some mechanical descriptions so they have an idea of how the deck feels (as fabikw described). For example, I had some folks ask for a demo who were talking about being Magic players. One person said they love control decks, so I talked about Visionary and they jumped at the chance.

Yes I believe that is correct.

I usually hand the boxes over to a newer person and ask them the 'super hero you like' question, then if I can find a good match I'll pul out the deck(s) and give them a short synopsis of the deck's main mechanic. Sometimes I'll stick to the base set to have it not be as overwhelming though.

I keep my foil cards separate in a card binder, and plan to use those for this purpose!

This is the quick-reference sheet (avail. on my site) that my group uses as a menu to choose decks whenever we play.  There are so many available decks by now, having a visual aid like this really helps.  I'm not sure how much it'll help someone who doesn't already know who all the people in the pictures are, though.

Man, I've GOTTA adopt this method. I currently have my foils sleeved and stored in the box they came in, so they're separate and cared for since they're special. Problem is, it takes a while to look for a specific hero.

A 4 pocket per page card book is perfect.  Mine are sorted by team mostly, and time to pick heroes has dropped substantially since I started doing it that way.

Good idea. That seems like it would be the most compact. I think I'll go with this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ULTRA-PRO-4-POCKET-PRO-BINDER-BLACK-20-PAGES-160-CARDS-/192082798891?hash=item2cb906e92b:g:EToAAOxyjxlTMMNG

A while back I put together a set of one-line summaries of the SotM heroes to let new folks pick their character without automatically going down the "who's your favorite hero?" route.  It also highlights which one I recommend for novice players:

SEESOME’S SUMMARIES

One-line Guides to the Sentinels of the Multiverse Heroes

ABSOLUTE ZERO - Thermodynamic Hero. His cryo-suit keeps him alive & lets him manipulate cold and fire.

ARGENT ADEPT - A magical bard. His instruments can do almost anything when he has the right melodies.

BUNKER* - A military tank-suit. He builds up devastating weapon combos, but they can take time to deploy.

CAPTAIN COSMIC - Wielder of an alien crystal. He creates temporary energy constructs to aid his allies.

CHRONO-RANGER - A time-traveling old-west bounty-hunter. Six-guns or blasters, whatever does the job.

EXPATRIETTE* - An expert sharpshooter. She uses her guns, RPGs, & high-tech ammo instead of powers.

FANATIC* - An angelic warrior. She wields divine powers, which can damage her as well as her enemies.

GUISE - A metafictional goofball. He can take over the powers and equipment of other heroes.

HAKA* - An immortal brawler. His abilities can prevent damage, heal himself, & boost his attacks.

KNYFE* - A secret agent with energy blades. Her military & espionage training give her tactical advantages.

LEGACY* - A patriotic hero. He has flight & super-strength, but his greatest power is inspiring his team.

MISTER FIXER - A martial arts master and auto mechanic. He has a wide variety of improvised weapons.

NATURALIST - A shifter. He can become a gazelle, rhino, or crocodile; each with different abilities.

NIGHTMIST - Mistress of black magic. She dishes out lots of Infernal damage -- to herself as well as others

OMNITRON-X - A robot from the future. It can upgrade itself with various offensive & defensive mods.

PARSE - An archer who can sense hidden patterns. Her powers detect and exploit enemy weaknesses.

RA* - An archaeologist who wields the Staff of Ra. His firebolts deal large amounts of damage.

SCHOLAR - A mystic. He uses the Philosopher’s Stone to heal himself, alter his body, and redirect damage.

SETBACK - An unlucky hero. His risky behavior can turn misfortunes into boosts when his luck changes.

SKY-SCRAPER - A size-shifting alien. She can shrink & use gadgets to disrupt enemies or grow to bash them.  

TACHYON* - A speedster. She starts weak, but her attacks get more powerful as her velocity increases.

TEMPEST* - An aquatic alien. M’kk uses weather-control powers to damage all enemies or aid teammates.

THE SENTINELS - A mini-team of four heroes. Weak individually, together they have a multitude of abilities.

THE WRAITH* - A dark vigilante. Her gadgets deal damage, shield herself, and control the battlefield.

UNITY - A technopath. She can turn scrap metal into robot golems with a wide variety of powers.

VISIONARY - A psychic. She can control environments and enemies, or just hit them with mental blasts.

* = Best choices for beginning players

I wouldn't describe the Sentinels as having "a multitude of abilities."  Most of their deck involves dealing or mitigating damage, with some card draw.  Writhe's powers and signature card are the only things that extend beyond that.  I find them one of the least versatile heroes in the game.

Yeah, that's fair.  When I originally whote that, I hadn't played the sentinels all that much.  I do love playing Team S, but yeah they're mostly damage dealing and mitigation.  Today, I'd probably write something along the lines of "A mini-team of four heroes. Weak individually, but they can work together to combine their actions."

What's going to be weird is describing the Void Guard. They're not so weak individually anymore, but good luck trying to explain that to a new player :/

Void Guard- The Sentinels team after each takes control of a OblivAeon Shard. Each one gains incredible power, becoming capable solo heroes in each's own right.

Well said!

For the purposes of introducing a completely new player/someone unfamiliar with Sentinels lore to the game, I'd actually take the reverse approach: List the four Void Guard characters by their role/abilities, and then you can list The Sentinels as a "these four heroes working together."

Using a real comic example: Each member of the Fantastic 4 has <X> power and contributes <Y> as a character. The Fantastic 4 is them working together as a team.