Because of this fact, and the fact that Hero Points may be used for emergency damage reduction, Hero Point pools are almost as important as ability scores when it comes to judging a character's power.Ĭharacters are defined in terms of Attributes, Powers (with any attendant Bonuses and Limitations), Skills, Advantages, and Disadvantages, all purchased with Hero Points. Any Hero Points not spent during character creation (see below) and any awarded during play may be spent to boost the APs of any ability for one action up to an amount not exceeding twice the starting APs. (Obviously, he'd go with Acrobatics in this case.)Īn important variable that comes into play is the Hero Point. So, for example, if a character has 6 APs of Dexterity and 8 APs of Acrobatics, the player would not add them together for a total Acrobatics score of 14 APs rather, he would choose to use either Dexterity or Acrobatics. ![]() Thankfully, BoH:SE alleviates this problem a bit by giving a Success Roll or RAP bonus to the higher of two opposed scores falling in the same column.Īnother side effect of the exponential scale is that for the most part, Powers and Skills do not add to Attribute APs rather, they substitute for them. For example, while the human Strength scale runs from 1-6, the table groups together 1-2, 3-4, and 5-6 on the same rows and columns. One drawback to the tables, however, is the fact that each row and column covers a range of values, thereby exacerbating the AP compression inherent in the exponential scale. This means that the roll, the target number, and the result are all completely transparent once the correct columns and rows have been determined on the Action and Result Tables. Modifiers, where applicable, are applied to the AV, OV, EV, or RV, or are applied as table column shifts. ![]() (In other words, if you can hit with an 11 or less, your skill does not enhance your chance for a better result.) This means that unlike games such as Feng Shui, BoH:SE requires called shots to simulate skill-based effectiveness. This is meant to simulate astoundingly skillful actions, but it becomes completely luck-based for any target numbers 11 or under. Rolls that exceed both the target number and 11 on the Action Table will result in lower OVs - and thus higher RAPs - on the Result Table. If the action is successful, the acting character's Effect Value (EV) is compared against the defending character's Resistance Value (RV) on the Result Table to determine the Result APs (RAPs), which are the numerical value of the success. (More on Initiative in a moment.) To determine the success of an action, the Acting Value (AV) is cross-referenced against the Opposing Value (OV) on the Action Table to determine the target number for the 2d10 roll. This isn't a game-killer by any means, but it's a little awkward not having the same human range for every attribute to use as an easy universal benchmark.Īlmost all MEGS rolls aside from Initiative are 2d10 added together with no modifiers. Also, the exponential scale results in more concretely scalable Attributes like Strength having a smaller human range than more nebulous Attributes like Intelligence and Dexterity. The attendant disadvantages are the relative lack of differentiation between normal humans and the inability of the scale to model "close" scores - if Wonder Man is second only to Thor in Strength, then using the BoH/MEGS system, he's either half as strong or exactly as strong as Thor. This has the advantage of modeling a wide range of APs on a manageable scale, from the most mundane person on the street to planet-juggling superhumans. This means, for example, that a hero with a Strength of 5 is twice as strong as one with a Strength of 4. So, this time around, the rules get top billing.)Įvery ability in Blood of Heroes is measured in Action Points (APs), with every AP doubling the previous level. ![]() However, with all due respect to the writers, I doubt the majority of people buying this book do so for the new non-DC setting. ( Note: Ordinarily, I cover the setting first. But is the resulting book worth your money? Let's find out. In Blood of Heroes: Special Edition (hereafter "BoH:SE"), Pulsar Games has combined the rules and setting information from both books into a single repackaged, re-edited whole. The first edition of Blood of Heroes took a critical beating that was mitigated somewhat with the release of the Sidekick Sourcebook supplement. Blood of Heroes: Special Edition is the post-DC Heroes, post-Mayfair incarnation of MEGS, a.k.a.
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