HERO System Low Heroic Protocols
aka “Old School Hero”
by Chris Goodwin Introduction Character Creation All Powers Cost Double Minimum Required Limitations Power Sources Power Slots Characteristics, Skills, Etc. As Powers Power Skill Perks Luck and Unluck Complications Equipment Power Levels Money Combat Criticals These Rules Apply To NPCs, Too
Introduction
These are “low” in the same sense as low fantasy. They don’t apply in games specifically deemed as cinematicheroic (which would use Normal Characteristic Maxima) or superheroic (which don’t); those games run as normal. These rules apply to spells in Fantasy Hero games, postapocalyptic mutations, psionic powers in psi campaigns, alien powers in Star Hero, chi abilities, a Jedi’s use of the Force, and so on and so forth. These rules have come about because the author sensed that something had changed in the play of the game, especially in lowpowered heroic genres. It seemed that the Powers rules were being used more and more, to represent character tricks or special ability builds, and that this was taking over the game. This results in a subtle but definite difference in feel in the play of these games, beginning sometime during the 4th edition HERO System era. These house rules are intended to create a feel similar to the low powered, heroic genres from the 3rd edition days (such as Danger International, Justice Inc., and so forth). Low heroic isn’t necessarily a power level; it’s more of a style of play. It’s possible to have low heroic characters with 300+ total points, even with super powers, wearing costumes, fighting crime, and the like. It’s about emphasizing that Powers are something special, that having them means you’re tapped into the sources of power within the setting whether those are magic, theForce, chipowered martial arts, gunfu, or whatever. It’s also about emphasizing simpler builds and a bigger reliance on special effects and player intent when creating a Power. This document is written with the HERO System 6th Edition in mind, but should be completely usable with 4th or 5th editions.
Character Creation
The biggest change is this:All Powers Cost Double
Exactly what it says on the tin. All Powers have their Real Cost doubled; this is because
Powers have a tendency to “punch above their weight” in games where they are otherwise rare. All Powers cost 1 END per 5 Active Points in the Power; to reduce END Cost is a +¼
Advantage for each halving, and to get a Power to 0 END Cost you have to buy enough levels of Reduced END Cost to get to .5 END or lower.
Minimum Required Limitations
All Powers are required to take a minimum of 1 worth of Limitations from the following list: Always On, Charges (see note), Concentration, Costs Endurance, Extra Time, Focus, Inaccurate, Increased Endurance Cost, No Conscious Control, Perceivable, Physical Manifestation, Range Limitations, Requires A Roll, Requires Multiple Users, Restrainable, Side Effects, Time Limit (see note). Note: In instances where Charges and Time Limit become Advantages, they don't count toward the 1 worth of minimum required Limitations. These Advantages, as well as any Reduced Endurance Cost taken, must be offset by additional Limitations from the required list equal to the cost of those Advantages. Some other rules might be in effect as well, depending on genre; for instance, in a low Psi Hero game, every +¼ worth of the Invisible Power Effects Advantage might reduce the minimum required Limitation value by ¼. The required Limitations rule may vary by campaign; it is a general rule for my games, and its alteration or absence will be called out if applicable.
Power Sources
Powers are only allowed for characters with concepts that specifically call for them, such as wizards, mutants in a postapocalyptic game, and so forth. (Specifically: abilities built as Powers such as incidental or environmental effects, brick tricks or fighter tricks, etc., are disallowed unless explicitly permitted within the setting. Though some of these may be permitted as Power Skills; see below under Power Skill.) The GM will decide what sources of power are available in the setting (i.e. magic, psionics, etc.), and will note these accordingly in the campaign description. Usually there will be at most oneper setting; some settings, such as the Cold War era (Danger International) might have none, while some might have more than one.
Power Slots
Operating Powers use the “active power slots” rule from Delayed Effect. Every character has a number of Powers they can have active at one time, equal to the appropriate Characteristic/5. (This includes Persistent 0 END abilities, Delayed Effect abilities, those with Trigger, active powers, and so forth; note that to use an Instant Power the character must have at least one slot unused, but dropping or deactivating a Power is an action that takes no time, and can be done even when it's not your Phase.) The Characteristic used would differ for each campaign; it might be INT for Fantasy Hero spells, EGO for Psi Hero characters, CON for mutants, and the like. Increasing this is done with a Talent called Additional Active Powers, costing 3 points for +1, 5 points for +2, or 3 points per additional +1; each level provides +1 active power slot. (Each level is built as +5 to the appropriate Characteristic, with a 1 Only For Increasing Active Powers; this is considered a Talent and not a Power. Don’t use the Advantage listed under Delayed Effect.) The GM might set an absolute maximum on how many total active slots a character can have. It’s possible the GM might set up a custom Characteristic to use for this, as well. In some campaigns, this rule might not be used.Characteristics, Skills, Etc. As Powers
Characteristics, Skills, or Talents with Advantages and/or Limitations are considered Powers and have their cost doubled, and must take Limitations from the list. These abilities are considered separately from a character’s unmodified Characteristics as regards reaching Normal Characteristic Maxima (in other words, a character with 13 STR, and an additional +30 STR with Advantages and Limitations, could still buy an additional 7 STR up to NCM at normal cost). For these purposes, Running, Swimming, and Leaping, up to Normal Characteristic Maxima, are not considered Powers. Luck is considered a Talent with a Normal Maxima level of 3d6. Characteristics above NCM, including Running, Swimming, and Leaping, as well as Luck, aren’t necessarily automatically considered Powers if bought above NCM, but their cost is doubled as per standard Characteristic Maxima rules. The following Talents are considered Powers, and if allowed, cost double: Combat Luck, Danger Sense, Deadly Blow, Weaponmaster. These abilities may or may not be required to take additional Limitations. Other Talents may be added to this list on a case by case basis. Penalty Skill Levels, if allowed, cost double. They are not required to take additional Limitations (but are considered Powers if they do, though the cost is never more than doubled). Martial Art forms will be built as full templates, with related knowledge skills and the like, and are available at the sole discretion of the GM. Additional Martial Arts Damage Classes are considered Powers.
Additional Skill Enhancers after the first cost double.
Power Skill
Most types of Power Skill are defined by the setting: Magic Skill, Item Enchantment Skill, Psionic Skill, and the like. As mentioned above, a Power Skill: Tricks might be allowed, at GM’s discretion (the type of tricks would vary by type; the most likely type might be Dirty Tricks for combat). This Skill would allow Power Stunts as described in the HERO System rules. Note that a missed Tricks roll doesn’t necessarily mean that the stunt failed; it is more likely that it means the opportunity wasn’t there.Perks
The Optional Wealth Rules are not used (but see below under Money). Vehicles and Bases will, if applicable (such as in a military action game) most likely be issued as part of the campaign, so there is no need to pay points for them; in the event the characters do pay points, remember to include the doubled costs of their Powers (likewise for Followers).Luck and Unluck
When a Luck Roll is called for, roll the character’s Luck dice as normal, and check for 6’s. When an Unluck Roll is called for, roll the character’s Unluck dice as normal and check for 1’s. If the character has both Luck and Unluck, roll both; levels of the type called for are cancelled out by levels of the other. (In some instances, especially for a combined Luck/Unluck Roll, the GM may add additional dice to each side, on a one for one basis; up to 3d6 might be added to each in this way.) If one type of either Luck or Unluck is rolled frequently by a character during the game, the GM should feel free to have the next one rolled include its opposite if possessed by the character, or to add extra dice and call for a combined Luck/Unluck roll.
Complications
Low Heroic games will generally call for 5075 points of Complications; the Complications are mandatory in order to gain the points. I will generally use the pre6th edition style notation; Low Heroic characters might be built on 75 to 100 points plus Complications, depending on power level. There will otherwise be no Complication caps nor "Matching Complications" level. Avoid the “super” Complications (Accidental Change, Dependence, Susceptibility, Vulnerability) unless your conception specifically calls for it. (For instance, you're a werewolf (Vulnerability: 2x STUN and BODY from silver) or a merfolk (Dependence: Immersion In Water.)Equipment
Normal equipment does not cost points. Specialized, illegal, or high powered equipment (including magic items) might cost points, at the doubled cost, or it might cost money (a lot!) or otherwise be handled during play. Items built by the character during play (through use ofInvention Skill, through being enchanted, and so on) do not cost points, but do cost money, time, and materials ingame. Frameworks are permitted only to represent a particular ability or device that has multiple “settings”, such as a blaster with “stun” and “vaporize”. It is also possible that, during play, a character might practice one of his abilities to be used in different ways; this could certainly be an area where a Multipower is permitted. The costs of the reserve and slots are based on the doubled cost of the Powers.
Power Levels
Max DC, Max DEF, and Active Points are mostly irrelevant. Weapons and armor are made available in the setting, and are already limited based on their builds. You can buy up your Strength as well as buying Combat Skill Levels (you can still use two levels to add +1 DC, just not on a specialized basis via a Talent). Whether you can find the items you’re looking for, on the other hand… Typically, a character can start with up to 3 rPD/rED armor, and one weapon for each Weapon Familiarity + Skill Level he has (normal weapons based on the setting; swords are not considered normal weapons for a modern setting, for instance). For each Professional Skill the character has, he can start with some appropriate basic equipment for the profession. A character with Transport Familiarity can start with a normal vehicle appropriate to the setting. Characters begin play with whatever other equipment is reasonable and appropriate, based on their other Skills, Perks, and the like. As mentioned above, the Optional Wealth System is not used; this is also a game, not an accounting exercise, so money will be somewhat fluid.Money
Characters with a regular job have a Money Roll of 8; their Professional Skill(s), relevant Knowledge Skills, and other Skills such as KS: Money Management Techniques, PS: Accounting, and the like, can act as Complementary Skills. If the campaign permits characters to be working at a regular job (i.e. enough of their time is not front and center during play, or there are time skips of weeks or more, or if the character is roleplaying doing their job), the character can make a Money Roll. At the beginning of the session (or whenever the GM deems appropriate), on a successful roll the character has effectively one pay period’s worth of pay; on a critical success make a Luck Roll, with a windfall depending on the levels of Luck. On a failure, the character has barely enough to meet their obligations, and on a critical failure make an Unluck check. Levels of Unluck can cause the character to be short of money or terminated from their job! This does not affect freelance jobs or paid tasks the characters accept during play; if they are hired for an amount of money to perform a task, and they perform the task, they get the money. (Assuming the client doesn’t try to doublecross them, that is…) For extended down time, if the character has a regular job, just assume the character succeeds normally on all of their rolls, and gets paid normally.Characters can begin with extra money: 1 point for one pay period worth, 2 points for two pay periods, 3 points for one level higher on the Time Scale worth of pay periods; +1 point for twice as many pay periods, +2 points for bumping it up one level. The GM will feel free to say no to ridiculous amounts of money (let’s say, a year’s worth is max). Also note that if you’re going to pay points for money the GM will make you pay money for all of your equipment...
Combat
Impairing/Disabling Wounds, Bleeding, Hit Locations, and Knockdown are all used. Knockback might be used for certain situations (explosions, vehicle vs. pedestrian collisions, dragon breath, maybe a few others). Haymakers will not be used. The rule about max doubling the DC of HKAs is in effect.Criticals
The critical hits rule is as follows: on a critical hit (half or less of what the character needs, or a natural 3 if the chance to hit is 5 or better), the character can make a Luck Roll. Each level of Luck gained means the character can choose one of the following: the attack does maximum damage, the attack bypasses armor, the attacker can choose the hit location. (If less than a 3 is needed to hit, and the character rolls a natural 3, make a Luck Roll; each level of Luck increases the character’s effective chance to hit by +1, and if the chance is increased to 3 or greater he hits with a normal hit. The GM might feel free to roll Unluck in this instance as well, or make a combined Luck/Unluck Roll with additional dice if the attacker has no Unluck. Regardless of what he rolls, a character can’t achieve a critical hit if his chance to hit is a 4 or worse.) Correspondingly, the critical miss rule is also used. On a critical miss (1718), roll Unluck dice with the following results: 1 level means the character fumbles the weapon (by dropping it or otherwise making it unready); 2 levels means the weapon was damaged in some way (usually through a jam or misfire); 3 levels means the attacker hit the wrong target (himself or a friendly target, depending on the attack). A character that maintains his weapons regularly and checks them before combat can mitigate one level of Unluck for each of these. If a PC is attacked with a critical hit or a critical failure, their own Luck and/or Unluck can come into play as well. A critical hit never results in a negative effect for the character (not even “too much of a good thing”), nor a critical miss a positive effect. For noncombat actions, critical successes and failures can trigger Luck and Unluck checks with similar kinds of consequences.These Rules Apply To NPCs, Too
PCs, NPCs, DNPCs, villains, monsters, opponents, enemies, allies. These rules apply equally to all.
