ANY HERO ONE SYSTEM! HERO SYSTEM SIXTH EDITION the Best Has Just Gotten Even Better! the HERO System

ANY HERO

ONE SYSTEM!

The best has just gotten even better! The HERO System 6th Edition brings new levels of ﬂexibility and creativity to the acclaimed HERO System, allowing players to create any sort of character, power, gadget, spell, vehicle, monster, or weapon they can think of. Whatever you want to do, in any genre, setting, or time period, the HERO System 6th Edition rules let you do it!

The 6th Edition rules come in two Core Rulebooks, Character

Creation and Combat And Adventuring. Together these two

books feature: H The full HERO System rules, revised and updated for greater consistency, ﬂexibility, creativity, and ease of use

H Options for nearly every element and aspect of the HERO
System so you can better create and deﬁne characters, campaigns, powers, and everything else to suit your style of play

H Hundreds of example powers, gadgets, abilities, weapons, and spells for all genres, plus a dozen example characters

H A detailed, comprehensive index So what are you waiting for? It’s time to Be a Hero!

HERO

GAMES

ISBN: 978-1-58366-120-8 DOJHERO1001 $39.99 US www.herogames.com

VOLUME ONE

CHARACTER CREATION

HERO SySTEm 6TH EDITION

VOlumE 1: CHARACTER CREATION

DeDication

Special Thanks: No project this big and complex arises in a vacuum. The main driving force behind the creation of every edition of the HERO System other than the first has been the fans — the gamers who play HERO games, who use HERO to create their characters and campaigns, and who endlessly discuss HERO’s fascinating permutations and possibilities. It is to them that we, as always, extend our thanks.
In particular we’d like to express our appreciation to the many fans who took time during the 2008-2009 period to participate in the discussion of potential rules changes on the 6th Edition Discussion forum on the Hero Games website. While RPGs aren’t designed by committee, there’s no doubt that receiving so much enthusiastic feedback from the HERO fans made the 6th Edition even better than it would have been. administrative and clerical tasks, makes our travel arrangements, takes care of all sorts of little behind-the-scenes problems, and generally isn’t thanked nearly as often as she should be. Thanks, Tina. Jason helps Tina, does some writing, does a thousand other things that need doing, and serves as company morale officer. In sum and in short: the three of them take care of all the aggravating, annoying little duties that have to be taken care of, freeing me to do the fun stuff — write and design games. I can’t even begin to express how grateful I am to them for letting me do my dream job.
Second, my special thanks to SETAC, the Sixth Edition Technical Advisory Committee, a group of dedicated fans who were kind enough to take time out of their busy lives to offer input and feedback on specific issues, review draft manuscripts, and otherwise help me shape “6E” into the best version of the HERO System yet: Gary Denney, Robert Dorf, Gordon Feiner, Chris Goodwin, Derek Hiemforth, Bill Keyes, James Jandebeur, John Lees, Denver Mason, Dave Mattingly, David E. McGuire, Hugh Neilson, Deric Page, and Geoff Speare. Special thanks also to Hapless Joe, who sacrificed so much for the cause, time and again.

To Andy, who was taken from us far too soon.

HERO SyStEm 6th eDition Writing anD Design

Steven S. Long

original HERO SyStEm Design

George MacDonald and Steve Peterson

HERO SyStEm 4th eDition Design

George MacDonald,
Steve Peterson, and Rob Bell

layout anD graphic Design

Fred Hicks

cover Design

Andy Mathews, Albert Deschesne, and Fred Hicks

Steve’s Special Thanks: Beyond the

general thanks which must of course be extended to HERO’s fans, there are few people who deserve special recognition.
First and foremost among them are my partners in crime these past few years: Darren Watts, Tina Walters, Jason Walters, and the still-secret Secret Masters. If not for them, DOJ wouldn’t exist and the HERO System would have ceased publication years ago. Darren mans the home ofﬁce, pays the bills, talks to printers and distributors, ﬁelds the phone calls, and does all the other day-to-day chores that must be done to keep a game publishing business running. Tina manages our warehouse and Online Store, handles countless

interior artWork

Brett Barkley, Christopher Burdett, Storn Cook, Anthony Cournoyer,
Andrew Dobell, Brian & Brendon Fraim,
Melissa Gay, John Grigni,
Sam Kennedy, Ted Kim, Ian McEwan, Christian N. St. Pierre, Frank Torrealba, Jason Williford, and Patrick Zircher

Third, thanks to my local gaming group: John Losey, Dean Nicholson, and especially Brad Barrett, who’s been a great “sounding board” for all sorts of game design issues over the years. Thanks for thousands of hours of fantastic gaming fun, guys, and here’s to thousands more to come.

And fROm CRyptiC StudiOS

Aléjandro Garza, Joshua Guglielmo, Chris Legaspi, and Imario Susilo

You’re all Heroes!

HERO System™® is DOJ, Inc.’s trademark for its roleplaying system. HERO System Copyright © 1984, 1989, 2002, 2009 by DOJ, Inc. d/b/a Hero Games. All rights reserved.
Champions, Dark Champions, and all associated characters © 1981-2009 Cryptic Studios, Inc. All rights reserved. “Champions” and “Dark Champions” are trademarks of Cryptic Studios, Inc. “Champions” and “Dark Champions” are used under license from Cryptic Studios, Inc.
Fantasy Hero Copyright © 2003 by DOJ, Inc. d/b/a Hero Games. All rights reserved. Pulp Hero Copyright © 2005 by DOJ, Inc. d/b/a Hero Games. All rights reserved.

d/b/a Hero Games. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or computerization, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher: DOJ, Inc., 226 E. 54th Street, #605, New York, NY 10022-48541. Printed in China. First printing August 2009. Produced and distributed by DOJ, Inc. d/b/a Hero Games. Stock Number: DOJHERO1001 ISBN Number: 978-1-58366-120-8

TABLE OF CONTENTS

VOLUME 1:
CHARACTER CREATION
VOLUME 2:
COMBAT AND ADVENTURING

INTRODuCTION

CHAPTER FIVE: POWERS

CHAPTER ONE: ENTERING COmBAT

BeFore coMBat ................................................ 6 COMBAT AND NONCOMBAT TIME....................... 6 SENSES IN THE HERO SYSTEM........................... 7 Perception Rolls.............................................. 7 Sense Groups................................................. 8 Perception Roll Modiﬁers............................... 11 Affecting And Using Senses........................... 13 entering coMBat........................................... 15 GAME SCALE................................................... 15 COMBAT TIME................................................. 16 Time Chart................................................... 18 BEGINNING COMBAT........................................ 18 Actions......................................................... 18 Who Goes First? ........................................... 19 Holding An Action ......................................... 20 Aborting An Action........................................ 21 The Actions Table......................................... 23 MOVEMENT..................................................... 24 Normal Movement ........................................ 28 Powered Movement...................................... 28 Vehicle Movement ........................................ 30 Mounted Movement...................................... 30 Aerial Mounted Combat................................. 32 Movement Skill Levels................................... 32 author’s introDuction.................................. 6 introDuction ................................................... 7 THE HERO SYSTEM PHILOSOPHY ....................... 8 Basic rules anD concepts .......................... 12
Dice And Dice Rolling.................................... 12 Scale And Movement.................................... 12

Character Points And Rounding ..................... 12

CHARACTER CREATION.................................... 13 COMBAT ......................................................... 14 WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO PLAY ....................... 15 character sheet........................................... 16

converting characters to the 6th eDition 20

glossary ........................................................ 22 poWers.......................................................... 118 BUYING POWERS........................................... 118 Balancing Powers....................................... 120 SPECIAL EFFECTS.......................................... 120

Sensing Powers And Special Effects ............ 124

POWER DESCRIPTIONS.................................. 127 Duration..................................................... 127 Target........................................................ 129 Range........................................................ 129 Endurance Cost.......................................... 130 USING POWERS............................................. 131 POWER CATEGORIES ..................................... 134 ADJUSTMENT POWERS ................................. 135 ATTACK POWERS........................................... 144 AUTOMATON POWERS................................... 145 BODY-AFFECTING POWERS............................ 146 DEFENSE POWERS ........................................ 146 MENTAL POWERS.......................................... 148 MOVEMENT POWERS .................................... 155 SENSE-AFFECTING POWERS.......................... 159 SENSORY POWERS........................................ 160 SIZE POWERS................................................ 160 SPECIAL POWERS.......................................... 161 STANDARD POWERS...................................... 161 poWer Descriptions ................................... 165

CHAPTER ONE: CHARACTER CREATION BASICS

character creation Basics ........................ 28 CHARACTER POINTS........................................ 28 HEROIC VERSUS SUPERHEROIC....................... 29 WHAT NOT TO SPEND POINTS ON.................... 31 RESTRICTIONS ON SPENDING POINTS .............. 32 character conception ................................ 33 TYPES OF CHARACTERS .................................. 34 TEMPLATES..................................................... 36 CHECKLIST FOR CHARACTER CREATION........... 38

CHAPTER TWO: FIGHTING
CHAPTER TWO: CHARACTERISTICS

characteristics............................................ 40
Movement.................................................... 41 Characteristic Rolls....................................... 41 EXPLANATION OF CHARACTERISTICS ............... 41 OTHER CONSIDERATIONS ................................ 47 Reducing Characteristics............................... 47 Limited Characteristics.................................. 47 Characteristics Comparisons ......................... 49 CHARACTERISTIC MAXIMA............................... 50 Other Maxima............................................... 51
Fighting........................................................... 34
How Combat Works ...................................... 34 ATTACK ROLLS AND COMBAT VALUE................ 35 The Basic Attack Roll .................................... 35 Calculating OCV and DCV.............................. 36 Mental Combat............................................. 39 coMBat MoDiFiers......................................... 40 EXPLANATION OF COMBAT MODIFIERS............. 40

CHAPTER SIX: POWER ADVANTAGES

poWer MoDiFiers......................................... 312 poWer aDvantages...................................... 313 BUYING POWER ADVANTAGES........................ 313 Naked Power Advantages............................ 314 USING POWER ADVANTAGES.......................... 316 POWER ADVANTAGE DESCRIPTIONS............... 318

CHAPTER THREE:
COmBAT AND mARTIAl mANEuVERS

coMBat Maneuvers....................................... 54

stanDarD coMBat Maneuvers .................... 57

optional coMBat Maneuvers...................... 84 Martial Maneuvers...................................... 90

CHAPTER SEVEN: POWER lImITATIONS

poWer liMitations....................................... 364
The Effect Of Limitations ............................. 365

How Limitations Affect A Power’s Cost......... 365

Partially-Limited Powers.............................. 366 Which Limitation Do I Want?........................ 366 POWER LIMITATION DESCRIPTIONS................ 367

CHAPTER THREE: SKIllS

skills .............................................................. 54
Buying Skills................................................. 54 Skill Rolls ..................................................... 55 Skill Versus Skill Contests.............................. 57 Complementary Skills.................................... 57 Skill Modiﬁers............................................... 58 Everyman Skills ............................................ 60 Extraordinary Skills ....................................... 60 THE SKILL LIST................................................ 61 Skill Types.................................................... 62 SKILL DESCRIPTIONS....................................... 63 SKILL ENHANCERS .......................................... 96

CHAPTER FOuR: DAmAGE AND ITS EFFECTS

DeterMining DaMage .................................... 96
How Many Dice Do I Roll? ............................. 96 Damage Class.............................................. 96 Normal Damage Attacks................................ 98 Killing Damage Attacks ................................. 98 ADDING DAMAGE ............................................ 99 Methods Of Adding Damage.......................... 99

Adding Damage To Attacks

With Advantages..................................... 100 taking DaMage............................................. 103
Normal Damage Attacks.............................. 103 Killing Damage Attacks ............................... 103

Minimum Damage From Injuries.................. 103

Attack Modiﬁers ......................................... 104 EFFECTS OF DAMAGE.................................... 104 Stunning .................................................... 104 Knockout.................................................... 106 Injury ......................................................... 107 Death......................................................... 107

optional eFFects oF DaMage .................... 108

WOUNDING ................................................... 108 HIT LOCATION ............................................... 108 Placed Shots .............................................. 109 Impairing.................................................... 111 Disabling.................................................... 111 KNOCKDOWN................................................ 112 BLEEDING ..................................................... 113 KNOCKBACK ................................................. 114

CHAPTER EIGHT: POWER FRAmEWORKS

poWer FraMeWorks.................................... 398 GENERAL RULES ........................................... 398 MULTIPOWER................................................ 402 Buying A Multipower................................... 402 Using Multipowers ...................................... 408 VARIABLE POWER POOL ................................ 409

Buying A Variable Power Pool...................... 409

Buying Power Pool Slots.............................. 411

Distributing Power Pool Points..................... 411

CHAPTER FOuR: PERKS AND TAlENTS

perQuisites (perks)....................................... 98 talents ......................................................... 108

CHAPTER NINE: CHARACTER COmPlICATIONS

character coMplications......................... 414

Matching Complications Points.................... 414 Using Complications In The Campaign ......... 416 Changing Or Buying Off Complications......... 417

COMPLICATION DESCRIPTIONS...................... 418

CHAPTER TEN: EXAmPlE CHARACTERS

Randall Irons........................................... 436 Average Individuals.................................. 437 appenDiX........................................................ 441 LARGE AND SMALL CHARACTERS.................. 442 HEAVY CHARACTERS..................................... 446 TALENT CREATION......................................... 447 DOUBLING QUICK-REFERENCE TABLE............. 448 other DaMage eFFects............................... 118 CRITICAL HITS............................................... 118 MYSTERY DAMAGE........................................ 118 STUN DAMAGE IN HEROIC CAMPAIGNS .......... 119 HEALING AND RECOVERING DAMAGE............. 121

The Role And Place Of Healing .................... 121

Optional Healing Rules ................................ 122 Recovery.................................................... 122
VEHICLE COMBAT.......................................... 194 Vehicle Movement ...................................... 194 Hitting A Vehicle ......................................... 195

Vehicle And Passenger Attacks.................... 195

Weapons anD arMor................................... 198 WEAPONS..................................................... 198

General Rules For Building Weapons............ 198

Hand-To-Hand Weapons............................. 201

Muscle-Powered Ranged Weapons.............. 206

Firearms .................................................... 207 Explosives .................................................. 210 Poisons...................................................... 210 ARMOR......................................................... 210 Buying Armor ............................................. 210 Shields....................................................... 211

CHAPTER NINE: GAmEmASTERING

gaMeMastering........................................... 266 CREATING THE CAMPAIGN ............................. 267 Campaign Ground Rules.............................. 267

Choosing And Creating The Setting.............. 267

THE PLAYER CHARACTERS............................. 270

Participating In The Character Creation Process..................... 270 Controlling Character Power And Growth...... 272 Incorporating Complications Into The Story... 274

RUNNING THE CAMPAIGN............................... 275

Episodic Versus Serial Campaigns ............... 275

Storytelling................................................. 276 Use And Abuse Of The Rules....................... 277

Playing To The Player Characters................. 277 The Limits Of Genre Simulation.................... 278

gaMeMastering the hero systeM............ 280

THE 3D6 BELL CURVE.................................... 280 COMBAT BALANCE AND EFFECTIVENESS........ 282

Point And Effectiveness Ceilings .................. 282 Combat And Non-Combat Abilities............... 285

THE HERO SYSTEM’S DEFINITIONAL POINTS... 285 heroic action points.................................. 287 HEROIC ACTION POINTS BASICS..................... 287

Acquiring Heroic Action Points..................... 287

Using Heroic Action Points........................... 287

Spending Heroic Action Points..................... 289

ALTERING THE BASICS................................... 291 eXperience points....................................... 292
Spending Experience Points ........................ 292 Assigned Experience Points......................... 293

Experience In Superheroic Campaigns ......... 293

Final aDvice.................................................. 294

CHAPTER FIVE:
OTHER COmBAT RulES AND EFFECTS

other coMBat eFFects ............................... 124 OPTIONAL COMBAT RULES............................ 127 recovery....................................................... 129 enDurance.................................................... 131 OPTIONAL LONG TERM ENDURANCE LOSS..... 132 PUSHING....................................................... 133 presence attacks ....................................... 135

CHAPTER EIGHT:
THE HERO SySTEm GENRE By GENRE

coMic Book superheroes:

chaMpions................................................ 214

Campaign Guidelines And Standards ........... 214 Genre Conventions And Features................. 214

Character Archetypes.................................. 216 Subgenres.................................................. 218 Sample Characters ..................................... 220 Taurus.................................................... 220 Eagle-Eye................................................ 222 Hardpoint................................................ 224 Maelstrom............................................... 226 cyBerpunk: cyBer hero............................. 228

Character Archetypes.................................. 230 Sample Character....................................... 231 Slash ...................................................... 231
Fantasy: Fantasy hero .............................. 233

Character Archetypes.................................. 235 Subgenres.................................................. 236 Sample Characters ..................................... 237 Darien the Bold........................................ 237 Belakar................................................... 237
Martial arts: ninJa hero.......................... 240

Character Archetypes.................................. 240 Subgenres.................................................. 242 Sample Character....................................... 243 Yeung Li ................................................. 243

MoDern-Day action-aDventure:

Dark chaMpions...................................... 245

Character Archetypes.................................. 246 Subgenres.................................................. 247 Sample Characters ..................................... 248 The Verdict.............................................. 248 Alena Drake ............................................ 250 the pulp era: pulp hero............................ 252