Hero System Rules Supplement

Powers

• Defence Powers
• Mental Powers
• Astral Travel
• Barrier
• Clinging
• Damage Negation
• Darkness
• Density Increase
• Endurance Reserve
• Extra-Dimensional Movement
• Flash
• Flight
• Growth
• Hand-to-Hand Attack
• Healing
• Killing Attack
• Knockback Resistance
• Leaping
• Luck
• Mental Defence
• Mind Control
• Reflection
• Regeneration
• Resistant Protection
• Running
• Shrinking
• Swimming
• Swinging
• Telepathy
• Teleportation
• Transfer
• Tunnelling

Defence Powers

Defence Powers with different special effects (such as armour and a force field) do not stack. Instead, the best Defence Power is applied against the attack.

Mental Powers

Altering the effect of an established Mental Power (such as searching for the answer to a question using Telepathy, changing the appearance of a Mental Illusion, or changing a command using Mind Control) takes a move action.

Characters affected by a Mental Power that allows a Breakout Roll make that roll immediately as an Action that Takes No Time, rather than waiting until their next Phase. If they fail, they can attempt another Breakroll Roll after 1 Turn. In addition, another character can use a move action to interact with an affected character and give them another Breakout Roll as an Action that Takes No Time.

Astral Travel

Type: Mental Power, Sensory Power
Duration: Constant
Target: Self Only
Range: Self
Costs Endurance: Yes
Cost: 80 points

A character with this power can travel around the world in an astral form. The character can travel anywhere in the world they can visualise as a move action. An astral form is invisible and desolidified: it can be sensed using mental awareness, and attacked by mental powers and attacks that affect desolified. While using this power, the character's sight and hearing group senses function normally, but the smell/taste and touch group senses do not. Characters may use Astral Travel to establish Line of Sight for other Mental Powers.

Expanded Travel Area: this adder allows the character to travel beyond the world.

Leaves Physical Body Behind (-0.25): the character's physical body remains wherever it was when the Astral Travel power was first used. The physical body cannot move while the Astral Travel power is active, and has DCV 0. The character returns to their body when stunned or knocked out.
Cannot Use Normal Senses While Travelling (-0.25): the character cannot use their physical body's senses while the Astral Travel power is active.
Cannot Automatically Return by Conscious Choice (-0.25): the character cannot automatically return to their physical body by turning off the Astral Travel power. They must return to the physical location of their body, and must look for their body if it has been moved. They still automatically return when stunned or knocked out.

Barrier

All Barriers (including walls) reduce the DC of an attack by their Defence and BODY. If the attack makes a hole in the Barrier, you subtract the Defence and BODY of the Barrier from the BODY rolled for the attack to determine how many DC the attack that penetrates the Barrier retains.

Two-Way Transparent (+0.25, +0.5): all attacks against a particular defence pass through the Barrier unhindered. The Barrier must offer no protection (0 defence) against the category of attack to which it is transparent. This is an advantage since it's assumed the character will make the Barrier transparent to their own attack powers: if that's not the case the GM might consider reducing the value, or even making Two-Way Transparent a disadvantage.

Clinging

Characters with Clinging can use their Clinging STR to resist Knockback from a given direction as a free action instead of a move action.

Damage Negation

Characters cannot purchase Damage Negation.

Darkness

Use the Area of Effect advantage to increase the area affected by Darkness.

Density Increase

Cost: 4 points for +1 STR, +1 KB Resistance, and x2 mass, with +1 PD and +1 ED for every 12 points.

Endurance Reserve

Cost: 2 points for +1 REC

An Endurance Reserve provides a source of energy for Powers that is independent of the character's personal reserves. The Endurance Reserve has a separate Recovery score to the character, which is used to determine the frequency of safe use for Powers fuelled by the Endurance Reserve. Endurance Reserves can be exhausted by overuse, but doing so does not cause Stun to the character. Instead, once a Power that can be used 1/scene draws on the Endurance Reserve, the Reserve is exhausted until the scene ends.

Extra-Dimensional Movement

All characters with this Power automatically have the Dimensional Travel Skill as an additional Everyperson Skill. This Skill determines how quickly and carefully characters arrive at their destination.

Flash

The target's sense group is disabled for as many phases as the damage of the Flash less the target's Flash Defence (if any).

Flight

Cost: 2 points for +1m of Flight

Growth

For every level of difference in size between an attacker and the character, the attacker gains a +2 OCV bonus and a +2 bonus on PER checks.

Hand-to-Hand Attack

Cost: 5 points for +1 DC melee damage

Healing

Characters keep track of each individual injury or wound they receive. Healing can be applied to each injury separately.

The default re-use duration is 1 month. The Decreased Re-Use Duration advantage reduces the span of time by one step on the time chart for each +0.25. A re-use duration of 1 day is a +0.5 advantage; 1 hour is a +1 advantage; and 1 turn is +2 advantage.

Simplified Healing heals 1 BODY for every 3 STUN healed.

Killing Attack

Characters cannot purchase Killing Attack. Instead, take the +0.5 advantage Attack Versus Resistant Defence on a normal damage attack power. Killing Attacks do as much Knockback as Normal Attacks.

Knockback Resistance

Cost: 2 points for +1 Knockback Resistance

Leaping

Cost: 1 point for +1m of Leaping

Luck

Characters cannot purchase Luck.

Mental Defence

Mental Defence is a Characteristic. It resists all Mental Powers and Presence Attacks.

Mind Control

Mind Control automatically comes with telepathic link: No Telepathic Link is a -0.25 disadvantage.

Reflection

Cost: 40 points to Reflect attack at attacker, +20 points to Reflect attack at any target, +40 points to abort to Reflection

Characters can Reflect attacks not directly targeted at them if they have the Deflection power.

Regeneration

Resistant Protection

Characters cannot purchase Resistant Protection. Instead, take the +0.5 advantage Resistant on the relevant defence.

Running

Cost: 2 points for +1m of Running

Shrinking

Cost: 10 points for 1 level of Shrinking

Characters with Shrinking do not automatically take Knockback when hit by an attack. They take damage from Knockback like any other character.

For every level of difference in size between an attacker and the character, the character gains a +2 DCV penalty and a +2 bonus to the TN for PER checks to sense them.

At 5 levels of Shrinking (6cm tall), ordinary-sized human hands and feet become the equivalent of Area Of Effect attacks against the character. At 7 levels of Shrinking (1cm tall), the character's physical senses cease to interact with other ordinary-sized characters unless bought with the +0.25 advantage Not Affected By Shrinking.

Swimming

Cost: 1 point for +1m of Swimming

Swinging

Cost: 1 point for +1m of Swinging

Telepathy

Characters can have Telepathy as either an active or a passive sense.

Active Telepathy is described in the 6th Edition rulebook.

Passive Telepathy is "tuning in" to the alpha waves naturally projected by a thinking mind. Only surface thoughts and deep hidden thoughts are projected: you cannot read another character's memory or subconscious using passive Telepathy. The character using passive Telepathy must hit the desired target's MCV and takes the same range penalties as Mind Scan (that is, based on the number of minds). You cannot use passive Telepathy through Mind Scan, because Mind Scan is an active sense: you must use active Telepathy instead. Passive Telepathy is fully invisible even to Mental Awareness.

Telepathy costs the same amount (5 points for 1 effect) whether or not it is bought as an active or a passive sense. You must buy Telepathy twice if you want to use both modes.

Teleportation

Cost: 2 points for +1m of Teleportation

Transfer

Type: Adjustment Power, Attack Power
Duration: Instant
Target: Target's DCV
Range: No
Costs Endurance: Yes
Cost: 15 points for every 1 effect of Transfer

A character with Transfer can temporarily take points from the target and give those points to themselves or a third character (the recipient). In effect, Transfer combines the effects of Drain (on the target) and Aid (on the recipient). To use Transfer, the character must succeed on an attack roll against the target (and the recipient, if a third character). The maximum effect of the Transfer is two times the effect of the Transfer. The Transferred points return to the target at the rate of 1 point per Turn.

Only Transfer to Others (-0.25): This form of Transfer cannot give points to the character with the power.
Only Transfer to Self (-0.25): This form of Transfer cannot give points to anyone except the character with the power.

Tunnelling

Cost: 6 points to Tunnel 1m through 1 PD materials, +2 points for +1m, +2 points for +1 PD

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