Hero Points

Your character in Secret War isn't just some random nobody caught up in the action. They're a hero, whether or not they know that yet. They're somebody who has the potential to go beyond the average person and do incredible things. This isn't some supernatural or metaphysical trait, necessarily. Not all heroes are chosen ones destined by fate. Sometimes, being a hero just means being the one who will stand up in the face of adversity and say "this far, and no further."

Gaining Hero Points

• Each character begins the game with 1 permanent hero point.

• Every time you complete a chapter, you are awarded 1 hero point.

• Every time you complete a personal Aspiration or plot from your backstory, you are awarded 1 hero point.

• If your character engages in particularly heroic or dramatic action, they gain 1 hero point for the remainder of the scene. This has to be a "fist-pump" moment where you do something awesome that will be talked about in the future. Simply saving an innocent won't cut it. But deciding to launch yourself through a stained-glass window into the villain's lair to surprise them and distract them single-handedly while the rest of your team finishes setting up the trap for said boss would definitely qualify.

• If your character indulges in their vice, they gain 1 hero point for the remainder of the current scene and the entire following scene.

• If your character fulfills their virtue, they are awarded 1 permanent hero point.

Using Hero Points

Spending a Hero Point is a free action. You can spend a hero point at any point. You don't have to even be conscious to use a hero point, as hero points can represent fortune and fate as much as they can represent active decisions on the part of your character.

When you spend a hero point, you gain one of the following benefits:

• Act Out of Turn - you can spend a hero point to act immediately. Your initiative changes to the current value, and you have your turn immediately following the current one. You can also grant this bonus to another character, so long as you are in the same location and your character can reasonably affect the outcome of the current encounter.

• Anima Surge - you can spend a hero point to fully restore your anima pool, or a related pool (such as a terror pool for horrors and nethermancers). 

• Cheat Death - when your character would die, you can spend a hero point to be restored to 1 Wound Point. You are stable and conscious but Wounded and still on death's door. 

• Extra Action - you gain 1 more action to use on the current round.

• Inspiration - If you feel stuck at one point in the adventure, you can spend a hero point and ask the GM for a hint about what to do next.  If the GM feels that there is no information to be gained, the hero point is not spent.

• Reroll - You can spend a hero point to reroll any one d20 roll you just made. When you use a hero point in this manner, it's a fortune effect.