Hero Points
ADDITIONAL XP
At the end of any gaming session Hero Points can be spent to acquire 5% of the total XP need to reach the next level.
INSPIRATION
Once per game session, you can spend a hero point to get a sudden inspiration in the form of a hint, clue, or bit of help from the GM. It might be a way out of the villain’s fiendish deathtrap, a vital clue for solving a mystery, or an idea about the villain’s weakness. It’s up to the GM exactly how much help the players get from inspiration. Gamemasters may even wish to expand the “inspiration” facet of hero points to allow players greater control over the environment of the game, effectively allowing them to “edit” a scene to grant their heroes an advantage. For example, a hero is fighting a villain with plant-based powers. The player deduces the villain may be vulnerable to defoliants, so she asks the GM if there are any chemicals in the wizard's lab she can throw together to create a defoliant. The Gamemaster requires the player to spend a hero point and says the right chemicals are close at hand. How much players are allowed to “edit” circumstances is up to the individual Gamemaster, but generally hero points should not be allowed to change any event that has already occurred or any detail already explained in-game. For example, players cannot “edit” away damage or the effects of powers (hero points already allow this to a limited degree). The GM may also veto uses of editing that ruin the adventure or make things too easy on the players. Inspiration is intended to give the players more input into the story and allow their heroes chances to succeed, but it shouldn’t be used as a replacement for planning and cleverness, just a way to enhance them.
ESCAPE DEATH
Spending a hero point automatically stabilizes a dying character (you or someone you are assisting), although this doesn’t protect the character from further damage. Stabilization, in this instance, moves the character to 1 hit point. The character still suffers the effect of having been unconscious (prone and other effects that may apply). Being stabilized in such a way counts as a full-round action.
RECOVER
You can spend a hero point to recover faster. A hero point allows you to immediately shake off a condition.
CANCEL FATIGUE
Any time you would suffer fatigue (including the use of extra effort), you can spend a hero point and reduce the amount of fatigue by one level even retroactively.
DODGE
You can spend a hero point to on a bonus to your Armor Class of 5.
INSTANT COUNTER
You can spend a hero point to attempt to counter a power or attack used against you. To counter a power/attack a character must spend their next full round engaged in the activity. The attack is rendered harmless. If damage dice have been rolled, the power/attack can no longer be countered.
HEROIC FEAT
You can spend a hero point to gain the benefits of a skill/power you don’t already have for one round. You must be capable of using the skill/power (example: a non-mage may not gain spellcasting ability, however, a mage may be able to go beyond his/her limits for casting). If the skill/power has another skill/power as a prerequisite, you must have the prerequisite to gain the benefit of the more advanced skill/power. For skill/power improved/acquired in levels, you gain the benefit of one level of the power by spending a hero point (ex: cast magic missile, if not otherwise in your spellbook, at level 2). The GM can veto any performance of a skill/power acquired with a hero point if considered inappropriate for the game.
IMPROVE ROLL
One hero point allows you to re-roll any die roll you make and take the better of the two rolls. On a result of 1 through 10 on the second roll, add (or subtract) 10 to the result, an 11 or higher remains as-is (so the second roll is always a result of 11+). You must spend the hero point to improve a roll before the GM announces the result of your roll. You cannot spend hero points on die rolls made by the GM or other players without special circumstances. This power may only be used on an attack roll if the character rolls a "1" on their initial attack roll. In this event, the character is allowed a second roll without the +10.
SPECIAL POWER
Each Class has a special set of unique powers customized for them. You may spend a hero point to activate one of these powers. Beyond the class powers, there is a set of powers specifically set aside for the appointed leader, if there is one, of the group. The leader must choose which power set he/she has access to.
Earning Hero Points
In many stories, heroes often confront the villain(s) and deal with various setbacks. Perhaps the villain defeats them in the first couple encounters. Maybe one or more of the heroes have to overcome a personal problem. The villain may have a secret the heroes need to discover, and so forth. By the end of the story, the heroes have overcome these challenges and they’re ready to take on the villain. Our gamereflects this kind of story structure through the awarding of hero points. The heroes gain additional hero points as an adventure progresses. When the going gets tough, the heroes get tougher, because they get hero points to help them overcome future challenges. Heroes get hero points from setbacks, complications, acts of heroism, roleplaying, stunts, and instances of Gamemaster fiat.
GAMEMASTER FIAT
Players earn hero points when the Gamemaster “bends” the rules of the game in favor of the bad guys. The GM essentially gets to “cheat” on behalf of the villain(s), but the heroes get hero points when this happens. Some uses for GM Fiat include:
Giving a non-player character the benefit of a hero point.
Allowing a villain to escape an encounter automatically. Circumstances conspire to allow the villain to get away: debris blocks pursuit, the villain goes missing in an explosion or falls to a mysterious “death,” and so forth.
Have a hero automatically fail a saving throw against a particular hazard, like a villain’s trap, to help further the plot.
Have the heroes automatically surprised by an opponent at the start of an encounter.
Cause some additional problem for the heroes.
Essentially, bringing a complication into play can be seen a use of GM Fiat (see Complications).
COMPLICATIONS
See the Complications section for details.
ROLEPLAYING
Consider the occasions when a hero’s rousing speech or clever quips make us cheer or smile. When a player provides similar dialogue in the game: something that makes everyone at the table laugh or applaud, award the player a hero point. This doesn’t have to be limited to just dialogue; a player who provides a fantastic description of a hero’s action, or helps entertain the group in some other way can also qualify for a hero point. Sometimes heroes manage to pull off stunts that make us go “wow!” When a hero in the game does the same thing - performing a cool stunt and impressing everyone at the table - the player gets a hero point. Note this applies to stunts performed using extra effort and spending the hero point you get for performing a cool stunt to eliminate the fatigue from the extra effort is allowed, so especially cool power stunts and such can become “freebies” if the GM awards a hero point for them.
HEROISM
You earn hero points for acts of heroism, the kind of things we expect from legendary heroes. To qualify for a hero point, the act must be truly heroic and self-sacrificing. Beating up on a group of thugs who are no real threat isn’t heroism, but taking a hit for a friend is. Rescuing people from a burning building is heroism. Being willing to surrender to a villain in order to save the lives of hostages is heroism. Allowing a villain to get away so you can catch a runaway monster before it kills is heroism. The GM decides if a particular act is suitably heroic, and should provide the players with plenty of opportunities for heroism. Note that some complications also provide opportunities for heroism.
SETBACKS
Setbacks are when things just aren’t going the hero’s way. When a hero suffers a significant failure, the player gets a hero point. Generally, a “significant failure” is a failed skill check or saving throw with the worst possible result: a Climb check where the hero falls, a Constitution save where the hero is knocked out, a Dexterity save that leaves the hero helpless, a Wisdom save where the hero is mind-controlled, and so forth. The GM decides if a particular failure is significant or not. Generally, routine failures, like missing an attack roll or suffering some lesser effect from a failed save, is not significant enough to count as a setback and earn a hero point. A newly acquired hero point cannot be used to eliminate the setback that granted it. So you can’t suffer a significant failure and then spend the hero point you get to avoid failing, and you can’t get knocked out by a bad Constitution save and spend the hero point immediately to try and wake up. You can spend hero points you already have, but if you overcome a setback by spending a hero point you don’t gain a hero point for that setback, since it isn’t really a setback!
TEAM BALANCING
At the beginning of a gaming session, the party may average their total levels. Any character that is below the average receives 2 Hero Points for each FULL level they are below the average.
Whether it’s luck, talent, or sheer determination, heroes have something setting them apart from everyone else, allowing them to perform amazing deeds under the most difficult circumstances. In our game that something is hero points. Spending a hero point can make the difference between success and failure. When you’re entrusted with the safety of the world that means a lot! Hero points allow players to “edit” the plot of the adventure and the rules of the game to a degree. They give heroes the ability to do the amazing things heroes do, but with certain limits, and they encourage players to make the sort of choices heroes do in the movies, in order to get more hero points. Heroes receive 1 hero point at the start of each game session. During the adventure they get opportunities to earn more hero points. Players can use various tokens (poker chips, glass beads, etc.) to keep track of their hero points, handing them over to the Gamemaster when they spend them. The Gamemaster can likewise give out tokens when awarding hero points to the players. Unspent hero points carry over to the next adventure. Additionally, if there are characters of a variety of levels playing, the mean level should be found (rounding down). Any character below the mean receives 2 hero points per level of difference to the mean.
Unless otherwise noted, spending a hero point is a reaction, taking no time. You can spend as many hero points as you have, but only one hero point on any given benefit per round. You can spend hero points for any of the following things.
Example: Rath needs 1,000 XP to go from level 1 to level 2. Rath spends a Hero Point to acquire 50 XP at the end of the gaming session. Tess needs 20,000 XP to go from level 8 to level 9. At the end of the same gaming session, Tess spends a Hero Point to acquire 1,000 XP. It doesn't matter how much XP eiother character had at the end of the session.
A good rule of thumb with Gamemaster Fiat is any time the GM effectively grants a non-player character the benefits of a hero point or the equivalent, the affected hero or heroes get a hero point in exchange.
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