4ctf Hero Points instead of treasure problems

I'm very interested in using hero points instead of giving out treasure sometimes in my D&D campaign. However, there's a problem with the conversion mechanism.

As it stands, it's much more beneficial to take the hero points to increase ability scores and AC.

It's much, MUCH cheaper to use the hero points than the treasure, and you get a better effect, such as:
a) the effect can't be destroyed like an item
b) it can't be stolen like an item
c) it stacks with future investments in the same ability, unlike an item

How do I change the conversion chart to account for this?

And don't give me any nonsense about how it's ok that it's cheaper to achieve the same effect via hero points, because the book is supposed to be (and seems to be on other levels) balanced with the core rules.

I think the problem is most substantial at low levels, when you're only acquiring one or two super powers, in which case the exchange is indeed pretty cheap. We could have tried to price every super power individually for a gp-equivalent, but that would've taken too much space, and would've been too complicated. We tried to make the system fairly easy to use, but there will be hang-ups.

One of the main problems is if a character uses all the hero points toward one power. Take two examples:

1. The PC wants +10 Strength, which costs 15 Hero Points. So, he gives up 60,000gp worth of potential wealth. If you were to make a magic item that granted +10 strength, it would cost 100,000gp, so yes, the PC gets a bargain here. However, in order to buy this power, the PC needs to be at least 12th level, with a suggested wealth of 88,000 gp. So sure, he gets a 30 Strength, but he'll have a hard time hitting magical monsters with damage reduction. Still, though, this is a good bargain for him.

2. The PC wants +6 Strength and +4 Constitution, which also costs 15 Hero Points. However, a +6 strength item would cost 36K, and the +4 Con item would cost 16K, for a total cost of 52K. In this case, the PC loses out slightly. The more powers the PC gains, the greater the disparity between magic item value and super power value.

Thus, the easiest solution would be to say that a PC cannot use more than 75% of the Hero Points he can gain from this ability on a single power.

I'd price super powers as no space items. They don't take up any item slots, and can't be taken away - just like the magic tatoos mentioned in the DMG. Therefore, they cost twice as much as normal.

So if I want a +6 STR item and a separate +4 CON item, I pay 36k plus 16k for 52k. However, if I want an item that gives both +6 STR and +4 CON, then I pay 36k plus 32k (16*2), for 66k. If I want an item that takes up no space at all, like an Ioun Stone, then I'm paying 104k. Super powers are going to be most like completely no space items.

RW-

Groovy. I like the idea of it being better for stacking and worse for combining.

This ruling won't be difficult to enforce- my players don't pick their magic items, so they don't pick their powers. I'll pick ones that fit their characters.

Thanks for the assistance.

BTW, this book, does, in fact, r0><0r my b0><orz.

That was one mental image I did _not_ want to see. Rocking your boxers?