The bottom line is, we all want to have a good time and the further along in the story we get, the less tolerant we are going to be if something really stupid happens. No one wants to die to a slip and fall from a 100 foot cliff on the last five feet of ascent and no one wants to die because they had the misfortune of rolling three critical failures in a row (seemingly impossible but it happens!). Hero Points are designed to mitigate those “stupid” moments when one bad roll or one poor decision ends months worth of hard work and a great personal story.
Dungeons and Dragons, fifth edition, uses a little optional rule called “Inspiration” to reward players for good role-playing. Inspiration can be awarded by the Dungeon Master, and players then can use them later to modify a future upcoming crucial die roll. However, typically a player can only have one inspiration at a time and must declare they are using it BEFORE they make a roll thus “wasting” it if the roll was already good enough without help. Because of this, I personally find “inspiration,” as written, to be woefully inadequate so I am implementing a home-brew rule that I call “Hero Points” instead. This article explains what Hero Points are, how you can earn them and how you can spend them.
In my campaigns, Hero Points can be awarded for more than good role-play. Hero Points can be awarded any time I, as the DM, decide that your actions, roleplay, sense of comedic timing, or whatever, made the night more enjoyable for everyone.
Said something funny that made everyone bust up laughing? Here, have a couple Hero Points. Came up with a clever idea to get around a trap or pitfall that I never thought of? Here, have a couple Hero Points. Do something really heroic and yet risky to save the day? Roll a die and give yourself 1d6 Hero Points as a reward. Those are just some examples.
Sometimes Hero Points will be awarded right on the spot such as when someone says something funny that gets everyone laughing. Other times I may make a private note of some action that will award you Hero Points at the end of the session but would be too big of a tip off to announce now. As an example:
So Tom, little did your party know this at the time but thanks to you talking everyone out of opening the big treasure chest marked “Do not Disturb” you unwittingly saved your party from being devoured by a giant Mimic! You get 1d6 hero points for saving your friends ass.
Hero Points can be saved up and banked and they carry over from adventure to adventure. In fact, I even allow Hero Points to be carried over in death to a new character should your character fall and you have to start a new one. After all, the points are really rewarding YOU as a player for making gaming with us more enjoyable. I just want to encourage fun players to stick around.
So how do you use Hero Points? Here are some of the ways you can use Hero Points:
- To increase or decrease a die roll made by yourself by one point for each Hero Point spent. (e.g. Need to roll a 15 to hit the Bugbear but only rolled a 12? You can spend three Hero Points and your miss turns into a hit!)
- To increase or decrease a die roll made by a monster (the DM) by one point for every hero point spent. (e.g. How many Hero Points do I need to spend to make him miss me?”)
- To increase or decrease the amount of damage dealt by or taken to yourself on a one for one exchange. (e.g. You take eight points of damage which would bring you to 0 hit points. You may use one or more Hero Points to reduce the damage so you survive the hit. Conversely you can increase the damage done to finish a wounded foe off).
- To increase or decrease a die roll made by a friend by one point for every TWO Hero Points spent. (e.g. Michael rolls a 14 but needs a 15 and is out of Hero Points. A friend can spend two of their Hero Points if they desire to help Michael make a hit).
- To negotiate a hint from the DM. (e.g. I don’t see how the hell we’re supposed to get out of this mess. How many Hero Points would it cost us to get a hint about what we’re supposed to do??)
You may not use Hero Points to make a non critical hit into a critical hit (e.g. you cannot spend a Hero Point to make a 19 into a 20 and count it as a critical strike).
You also may not use Hero Points to increase a monsters damage to do more harm to another character because you have a personal grudge. Hero Points can only be used to help you or your party (not harm them).
There may be a few more situations you can earn or use Hero Points that I’ve forgotten but feel free to ask any time you think Hero Points might be applicable and I’ll make a ruling. This system is designed so that the longer you play, the more Hero Points you accumulate and the more outlandish things you can get away with or survive because of your contributions to the group from past sessions.