We're implementing a system of hero points. This permits individuals who assist the DM do grunt work excel at the table for their efforts. In future you will gain options to customise your character by earning hero points.
Hero Points
Hero Points are earned for out-of-character service to the group. The challenges faced by the group presume that some hero points will be spent every session by one or more characters to succeed and/or survive.
Earning Hero Points
Hero Points may be earned for the following tasks.
1 Session's Chronicle and post to wiki (Chronicler)
1 Session's Treasury and post to wiki (Treasurer)
Sculpt 1 model (Artisan)
Paint 2 medium sized models (or equivalent) (Artisan)
Create one work of art at DM request (Artisan)
Create one NPC/creature statblock at the request of the DM and using standard statblock format (Master at Arms)
Bringing Dinner for the group (Any)
Other tasks as offered by (or negotiated with) the DM. (Specific players)
Donate needed items, (Models, game aids, supplements) (Any)
Right of First Refusal
Players with an assigned role have the first opportunity to fulfill any limited role.
Maximum
No character may have more than five hero points at any time. Any hero points in excess of this become brownie points.
Using Hero Points
Hero points can be spent at any time and do not require an action to use (although the actions they modify consume part of your character's turn as normal). You cannot spend more than 1 hero point during a single round of combat. Whenever a hero point is spent, it can have any one of the following effects.
Act Out of Turn: You can spend a hero point to take your turn immediately. Treat this as a readied action, moving your initiative to just before the currently acting creature. You may only take a move or a standard action on this turn.
Bonus: If used before a roll is made, a hero point grants you a +8 luck bonus to any one d20 roll. If used after a roll is made, this bonus is reduced to +4. You can use a hero point to grant this bonus to another character, as long as you are in the same location and your character can reasonably affect the outcome of the roll (such as distracting a monster, shouting words of encouragement, or otherwise aiding another with the check). Hero points spent to aid another character grant only half the listed bonus (+4 before the roll, +2 after the roll).
Extra Action: You can spend a hero point on your turn to gain an additional standard or move action this turn.
Inspiration: If you feel stuck at one point in the adventure, you can spend a hero point and petition the GM for a hint about what to do next. If the GM feels that there is no information to be gained, the hero point is not spent.
Recall: You can spend a hero point to recall a spell you have already cast or to gain another use of a special ability that is otherwise limited. This should only be used on spells and abilities possessed by your character that recharge on a daily basis.
Reroll: You may spend a hero point to reroll any one d20 roll you just made. You must take the results of the second roll, even if it is worse.
Recover: At the end of your turn you may spend a hero point to dispel/negate/or otherwise remove one condition. Applicable conditions include: Slow, Stunned, Sleep, Sickened, Shaken, Fatigued, Bleed
- If you are suffering bleed damage you suffer 10 less damage per round or 2 less ability point damage
- If you are paralyzed you improve to slowed
- If you are exhausted you improve to fatigued
- If you are frightened or panicked you improved to shaken
- If you are nauseated you improve to sickened
- if you are at least 10th level you may remove Petrification or Baleful Polymorph
Spell Boost:
You may use one hero point to recover one spell for each level you are able to cast exactly as though you had used a pearl of power. If you are a sorcerer or other spontenous caster you recieve one additional use per day for each spell level, these uses may not exceed your starting spells per day.
Special: You can petition the GM to allow a hero point to be used to attempt nearly anything that would normally be almost impossible. Such uses are not guaranteed and should be considered carefully by the GM. Possibilities include casting a single spell that is one level higher than you could normally cast (or a 1st-level spell if you are not a spellcaster), making an attack that blinds a foe or bypasses its damage reduction entirely, or attempting to use Diplomacy to convince a raging dragon to give up its attack. Regardless of the desired action, the attempt should be accompanied by a difficult check or penalty on the attack roll. No additional hero points may be spent on such an attempt, either by the character or her allies.
Cheat Death: A character can spend 2 hero points to cheat death. How this plays out is up to the GM, but generally the character is left alive, with negative hit points but stable. For example, a character is about to be slain by a critical hit from an arrow. If the character spends 2 hero points, the GM decides that the arrow pierced the character's holy symbol, reducing the damage enough to prevent him from being killed, and that he made his stabilization roll at the end of his turn. Cheating death is the only way for a character to spend more than 1 hero point in a turn. The character can spend hero points in this way to prevent the death of a familiar, animal companion, eidolon, or special mount, but not another character or NPC.
Speed up item creation
Spend one hero point to halve the time taken on an item.
Buy Brownie Points
Brownie points may be purchased with hero points. You may not purchase hero points with brownie points. Brownie points are worth exactly one brownie. Use of brownie points is subject to brownie availability, we will do everything in our power to honour advance requests.
The future of Hero Points
Taking a cue from the Inritius Alliance Boon's system we will be using Hero points to buy unusual character traits. In this way people who play the most unique characters will be those who contribute to the experience most heavily. Characters should still be roughly equivalent in their power for level. All rules would still be subject to approval by the DM.
In upcoming campaigns hero points (in addition to the above listed uses) may be used to purchase access to races, feats, classes, prestige classes, archetypes, spells, and magic items not listed in the core book. Under this scheme characters would have access only to core rulebook rules and though the use of hero points would be able to customize their characters via the wider panoply of sourcebooks available.
Overview:
| Type | Cost | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Non-core Paizo content from the PRD | low cost eg. 0.5 hero points | |
| 3rd party open-content for PFRPG | medium cost eg. 1 hero point | Must be added to Wiki |
| WotC closed-content from 3.0/3.5 could be adapted to PFRPG | medium cost eg. 1 hero points | Must be adapted and added to wiki |
| Player proposed rules (including non core-items) | high cost eg. 2 hero points | Must be added to Wiki |
| Closed content from any other closed-content source | extreme cost eg. 3 hero points | Must be adapted and added to wiki |
Most content would be a one off purchase, Classes would purchases 1-5 levels at a time, Any magic item the party acquires via adventuring would be free from hero point cost, making duplicates of said item may spread the hero point cost over all owners.
