HERO in 2 PAGES

So, you’ve just seen the HERO System Rulebooks, and they’re over seven hundred pages!
Don’t Panic!
Take a deep breath, relax, and read this. Because Everything you need to know to understand and play HERO
System Can be boiled down to two pages!

Dice Rolls Your GM will tell you what you need to spend Character Points
Hero System uses two kinds of dice rolls. on and how many Character Points you have to spend. If you do
not take Complications, you gain less than your total Character
The first is a Success Roll. In a Success Roll, you roll under a Points, up to the Campaign Limit - Typically 20-30% of your total
number on 3d6 (three six-sided dice). A total of 18 is always a Character Points. You are generally given a total and, of that total,
failure; a total of 3 is always a success. Success Rolls are displayed a sub-total of how many come from complications.
as X-, such as 12- for “Roll 12 or under on 3d6”. The lower you roll
under, the better. Experience Points are spent in the same way as Character Points
and may be spent on anything you wish, within the campaign
The second is an Effect Roll. In an Effect Roll, Xd6 is rolled - That limits. For example, you probably can’t buy a Fireball spell in
is, an arbitrary number (3, 5, 8, whatever) of six-sided dice. Effect a modern espionage campaign, or a firearm in a high fantasy
rolls may be counted in two ways: campaign - Or, likely, a spaceship in either.
Counting the BODY: Count the number of dice. Subtract You can also buy off Complications, provided you clear it with
any 1’s rolled; add +1 for any 6’s. the GM. This can simulate such things as buying a cybernetic
Counting the Total: Simply total the die roll. prosthetic for that missing eye; spending time reconciling with a
1/2 d6 is half the result of a d6. For BODY, that means a roll of Rival; working to improve a Negative Reputation or just working
4-6 is +1 and 1-3 is 0. For a Total roll, 1-2 is +1, 3-4 is +2 and 5-6 hard to improve a Money-based Complication (perhaps clearing
is +3. a debt or advancing your paycheck in your “day job”).

+1 is just that - “Add +1 to the Total”. Effects of +1 adds no BODY.

Counting Killing BODY Damage is the only exception. Characteristics
A Characteristic Success Roll is 9 + (that Characteristic / 5),
rounded off. Thus, a Characteristic of 10 has a Success Roll of 11-.
Damage STR, DEX, CON, INT, EGO and PRE all have Success Rolls. Most
Damage types are Normal Damage and Killing Damage. people have 5-8 in these Characteristics, but heroes start at 10.
Normal Damage, as you may expect, is an Effect Roll for the
BODY (health) damage done and is totaled for the STUN (exactly STRength is your character’s physical power and ability to lift
what it sounds like) damage. and carry things. It also has a HTH Attack with a Normal BODY
Roll of STR / 5, rounded off.
Killing Damage is the only case where you count the Total for
Killing BODY damage; this is multiplied by 1/2 d6 for STUN. DEXterity is your character’s reaction time, agility, grace and,
well, dexterity. It also gives you an Initiative for combat.
Both Normal and Killing damage may be lethal; however, Killing
damage typically represents the effects of weapons made to kill, CONstitution is how tough and healthy you character is. It also
rather than stun - Swords, guns, knives and lasers rather than protects against being Stunned.
fists, clubs, concussion grenades or non-explosive bursts of fire. It INTelligence is how quickly your character is able to perceive
is more likely to kill than Normal Damage. Some attacks do only things. It is the basis of PERception Rolls.
STUN damage, which can’t kill. EGO is your character’s mental force of will and stability.
Some non-damage powers call for Effect Rolls where you only PREsence is how impressive your character is. High PREsence
count the BODY and ignore the Total – This is how you tell characters may inspire courage, terror, a desire to follow or the
how hard it is for the Entangled enemy to chop through your glamour of a skilled actor. Low PREsence characters are generally
Spiderweb spell, for example. In some other cases, you don’t use unimpressive and may not be taken seriously or as seriously.
BODY, and just count the Total.
Combat Value (CV): CV comes in Offensive and Defensive
flavours. OCV is added to an 11- Success Roll to hit targets; the
Character Points amount you roll under is the DCV you “Hit”. That is, with an
Campaigns are usually divided into Superheroic (high-powered OCV of 5 and a roll of 9, you “hit” 11 + 5 - 9 a DCV of 7 or less.
Character Points games, where Points buy nearly everything, That’s sufficient to hit NormalGuy, but Martial Arts Man won’t be
including equipment) and Heroic (lower-powered, more realistic impressed.
games, where things like common equipment only costs money).

Summary by Bill Keyes, Narf T. Mouse, and Steven S. Long.

Mike Welker (Order #15535510)
 There’s also a Mental (MCV/OMCV/DMCV) flavour of CV. It’s Martial Arts
pretty much the same, except you’re trying to hit them with your Various maneuvers you can use to alter how you
brain, and not in a literal sense. deal damage and what your attack does. OCV/DCV
SPEED is how many times you act, out of a twelve Segment bonuses and penalties; Damage bonuses; different
Turn. Aside from that, don’t worry about it; the book has a handy effects, such as Grabbing limbs or making the Target
chart. Just mark down which Segments you can act (an Action fall. You get default maneuvers which you can use
Phase) and forget about it. The GM will call out “Anyone move in with any weapon or hand-to-hand.
Segment 4?” and, if you have a “4” in your “Phases” list, say “Me!” Maneuvers include everything from boxing to fencing to special
and tell him your DEX. Done. forces training, or any kind of armed or unarmed combat skill.
DEFense reduces damage. PD reduces Physical Damage, like You can also buy Weapon Elements, to use your extra maneuvers
punches, kicks, clubs and a softball upside the head. ED reduces with various weapons.
Energy Damage, like fireballs, tasers or suddenly being hit with Martial Arts cost 3-5 Character Points per maneuver and, as a
a cold blast. That is all Normal Damage. For Killing Damage, like general rule, you should buy at least 10 Character Points worth.
bullets, swords, axes, disintegration beams, lightning strikes or
lasers, there’s Resistant DEFenses - rPD and rED. Resistant
Defense is bought with the power of the same name. Powers
Powers are the special abilities of your character. They may be
RECovery is how much ENDurance and STUN you recover per magical, divine, super-science or ordinary, everyday things, like
Turn and how much BODY you regain per month. an AK-47. Of course, that last is only ordinary and every-day for
ENDurance is fuel for your Powers - in HERO System terms, that some people – And a larger number of characters.
includes anything from running, to punching someone in the What most Powers do can be simplified down to one of three
face, to optic blasts to flying. categories: an Effect Roll (most Powers); an absolute effect (like
BODY is how close you are to death - Higher is better. If your Invisibility); or a value (like Flight, 20m).
character reaches “Negative BODY” - That is, the opposite of their The cost of a Power is increased with Advantages (Such as No
total normal body - They die. Thus, if you’ve bought 14 BODY and Gravity Penalty +1/2) and decreased with Limitations (Such as
your character reachs -14 BODY, they are dead. If your character OAF -1). To calculate, which only has to be done once, take the
reaches 0 BODY, they lose 1 BODY at the end of each Turn. cost of a power and multiply it by 1 + Advantages. That’s the Active
STUN is how close you are to being unconscious. High numbers Points (AP). Then, take the AP and divide it by 1 + Limitations.
are good; low numbers are bad. Losing more STUN from That’s the Real Points (RP). That’s what you pay. Most campaigns
one attack than your CON means you have to spend a Phase will limit how many AP a power can have.
recovering; running out of STUN means you’re unconscious. Flight 20m, No Gravity Penalty (+1/2); OAF (Gravity Staff;
Negative numbers means you’re “More unconscious”. -1) 20 * 1.5 = 30 AP / 2.0 = 15 RP.
All characters have a base of 12 meters of Running, 4m of Or;
Swimming and 4m of Leaping (full forward and 1/2 upward).
Flight 20m, Difficult To Dispel (x2 Active Points; +1/4), No
You can sell off any Characteristic, down to 0 or 1 (generally). Gravity Penalty (+1/2); OAF (Gravity Staff; -1), Costs END
To Maintain (Full END Cost; -1/2), Incantations (-1/4) 20 *
1.75 = 35 AP / 2.75 = 12.72 = 13.
Skills
Essentially, buy a Success Roll for something. Buying CV for
0.6-0.9 round up; 0.1 to 0.4 rounds down; 0.5 rounds in favour
HTH or Ranged Combat, groups of weapons or a single weapon
of the player.
(OCV only) is also a skill. Buying MCV uses a different cost setup,
but is essentially the same. Simple and done. There are shortcut charts in the rules which
allow you to ignore most math, and if you don’t want to do math
at all, a 2-year Hero Designer contract gets you software which
Perks is point-and-click and does all the math for you. I’ve found it
Things it’s nice to have, like Police Authority, Noble rank, Money, absurdly simple to use.
Contacts, Followers, Vehicles and Bases and etc..

Complications
Talents Things that complicate your life (and you potentially draw
Almost sorta-Powers, all of which don’t cost ENDurance. Things strength from), like people you look out for, a negative reputation,
like Absolute Time Sense, Eidetic Memory (you don’t forget), physical and psychological complications (Blind In One Eye or
Striking Appearance (Beautiful, Ugly, Dangerous, Harmless, Code Of Honor), social complications, being Hunted or having a
etc.), Ambidexterity, Deadly Blow, or Weapon Master... Rivalry by/with someone, and so on.

The end. Yes, that’s all there is to it. The rest is gravy.

Mike Welker (Order #15535510)