Extra Effort

Often, heroes are called upon to perform feats beyond even their amazing abilities. This calls for extra effort. Players can use extra effort to improve a hero’s abilities in exchange for the hero suffering some fatigue.

USING EXTRA EFFORT

Extra effort is a free action and can be performed at any time during the hero’s action (but is limited to once per round). A hero using extra effort gains one of the following benefits:

Check bonus: +2 bonus on a single ability, skill, or power check. This does not include attack rolls.

Increase carrying capacity: +5 effective Strength for determining the hero’s carrying capacity for one round.

Increase power: Increase a power by 2 levels for one round. Permanent powers cannot be improved in this way.

Power stunt: Temporarily a character can use a skill or power in an unusual way for which it was not originally intended, but is not too much of a stretch. Power stunts cannot be applied to Permanent powers via extra effort.

Willpower: Gain an immediate additional saving throw against a power with a lasting effect, such as Mind Control. You get this save even if the lasting power has a continuous duration (which doesn’t normally allow for additional saves at all). If you’re mind-controlled, the fatigue from the extra effort doesn’t affect you until you’re free of it.

Surge: Gain an additional 1/2 round action, before or after your normal actions for the round (your choice). Using this extra action does not change your place in the initiative order. You can use an action gained from extra effort to start or complete a full-round action in conjunction with your normal actions for the round.

FATIGUE FROM EXTRA EFFORT

At the beginning of the round immediately after extra effort, the hero becomes fatigued according to the chart. If you spend a hero point at the start of the round following extra effort to shake off the fatigue, the hero suffers no adverse effects.​