How have you used Hero points?

[Beale Knight]

Beale Knight brought AU's system to our table. We modified it a little, just to restrict the # of points.

They have been used very little, but mostly because folks forget. BK has taken to setting out a small folded notecard in front of him during combat. It looks like a place marker for a dinner and reads "Action points".

Great little reminder.

We did finally burn a few in our last session! Extra Attacks kick butt and makes DMs grumble. So do raging Bull's Strength-end barbarians, even without Action Points!

 

[Ron]

I used hero points back in the 1980s in the James Bond rpg, where I think they were originally designed. They work great, but it will depend of the kind of campaign you are running.

 

[shilsen]

Just started an Eberron campaign where we'll be using action points as written, plus a couple of options I added (esp. the "Please Save my Ass" option, where you use three action points and something very lucky - and very arbitrary - happens).

 

[diaglo]

I used hero points back in the 1980s in the James Bond rpg, where I think they were originally designed. They work great, but it will depend of the kind of campaign you are running.

and the CB1 and CB2 modules for 1edADnD.

and so on...

the idea of hero points has been around for some time now.

 

[Eremite]

My version:

- Fate Points: automatic natural 20 or end combat at -8 hit points rather than death. Start with 3; gain 1 more per level.
- Action points: spend one to get a reroll or to force an enemy to reroll. Acquisition of these is otherwise governed by the rules appearing in Eberron.

Yes, higher powered I know, particularly coupled with 42 point PB.

 

[Quasqueton]

It's interesting to see all the variety of "Hero Points" players (and game designers) come up with. So convoluted and complicated, usually.

I use "Luck Points" in my game. You get one Luck Point per character level, and they do not "regenerate". Spend an LP to reroll one die. You can make the decision to spend & reroll after knowing the results of the first roll ("Nope, a 6 does not save"; "OK, I'll spend an LP.") And you can spend & reroll as much as you want ("No, an 8 does not save either"; "Damn! I'll spend another.")

I would prefer a PC or party to survive by spending luck than have death or TPK due to one or several bad rolls. NPCs and monsters do not have LPs. Only PCs.

Quasqueton

 

[Vrecknidj]

I've been using Hero Points for about 3 years now. Characters of level 1 to 12 get 5 hero points per level. At 13th, they start getting 9. Hero Points can be used to roll extra d6 to add points to a d20 roll (at 7th level, they roll 2d6 and take the higher, at 13th, they roll 3d6 and take the highest). They can also be used to activate Hero Cards.

I made up 50 or so Hero Cards, each has an in-game effect, varying from turning threats into crits, to automatically stabilizing, to functioning as if with the Diehard feat, to all kinds of other things. Each one has a point cost, and players can "buy" them at the beginning of a session, by spending hero points. Each can also be played, for another cost of hero points. My players have just loved having these. Often, when some character does something great, but not deserving of XP, I'll grant a free hero card instead. It's been a blast.

Dave

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

We used to use Hero Points like so:

If you spent them in a "heroic" fashion, you would get them back... sometimes, if it was particularly heroic, you would get even MORE back... you would roll d10 and add it to every roll you made during a round. They could also be used to "dodge"-- if you got hit and the hit would kill you, you rolled a d10 and could add it to your AC... if it was high enough, the hit would then miss you.

They. Were. Broken.

They totally unbalanced the game and made things absolutely ridiculous.

So, we've switched them to d6s... and the use is much more limited (ie, you can't apply it to ALL rolls in a single round)... if you roll poorly and the DM has not declared the result of the roll, you can roll a d6 to add to it in hopes of bumping it over the edge... and you can spend a hero point for an extra action at the end of a round..

For the most part, I think they are broken, broken things and I wish we never would have introduced them. They are nice sometimes... but, for the most part, annoying. The game stays much more simple if you just avoid them at all costs...

...and, if you adopt them... make sure your players know that if they get Hero Points... the bad guys get Villian Points.

 

[Nightchilde-2]

We use them as written in Eberron. Mmmm. Eberron.

 

[Driddle]

I've used hero points to buy an extra slice of pizza when I'm out of cash.