Hero Dice

The Storyteller loves stories, mystery, romance, drama, and acts of daring. To represent his favor or disfavor, as well as the heroic nature of the party, there is a pool of “Hero Dice”. You can spend 1 Hero Dice to add 1d6 to any d20 roll. If you do this on a critical failure, it is no longer a critical failure (i.e not an automatic failure).

You may do this either before you roll, or after you roll (even after the result is known) but before play continues.

There are two kinds of Hero Dice pools: yours and the party’s. You can only spend 1 Hero Dice on a given action, unless otherwise stated. Hero Dice pools reset at the beginning of each session.

The bonus from a Hero Dice can stack with anything other than other Hero Dice.

Any player can spend 2 Hero Dice to reduce Absolute damage to normal damage or attempt a save with an Absolute bonus. This can be done before or after the result of the dice roll is known. This can only be used by players, not NPCs, and represents The Storyteller’s favor, their unwillingness to let the story end, or just dumb luck.

Deeper Rules

• “No, I’m Making This Save!”: If a player has already added 1 Hero Dice to saving throw but still failed, it is acceptable to allow them to spend 1 more Hero Die to activate a Heroic Save.

There are two “pools” of dice you as a player can use. One is your “personal” one that only you can use; the other is the “party’s”, which is governed by the consensus of all players. Your personal pool can never go above a total of 10 Hero Dice. Any Hero Dice gained over that maximum just go to the party’s pool. The party’s pool has no maximum size. To use Hero Dice from the party’s pool, you must have unanimous agreement. Any time you are awarded Hero Dice for something, it goes to your personal pool unless otherwise stated. Hero Dice pools reset at the beginning of each session.

• Starting Hero Dice: At the start of each session, each player gets 5 Hero Dice in their personal pool and the party’s Hero Dice pool gets 2 Hero Dice for each player in there.
• GM Hero Dice: The GM starts with 2 Hero Dice per player.
• Rest: If you are out of Hero Dice and take a short rest, you recover up to 3 Hero Dice in your personal pool (if you were below that value). If you take a long rest, you recover up to 5 in your personal pool (if you were below that value).
• Good Roleplaying: A GM can reward players or the party in general for good roleplaying, dramatic actions, creative problem-solving, and staying true to their oaths. A GM should be liberal with their awarding of such dice as it helps them move the game in a positive direction. Reaching certain plot milestones should also be rewarded with Hero Dice!

Certain abilities say you get to add a “free Hero Die” to a roll. This is just an extra d6 that doesn’t come from your pool. Free Hero Dice don’t stack with other Hero Dice (free or otherwise). A Free Hero Die is a Hero Die, and thus stacks with everything other than hero dice.

GMs get hero dice too! These can be used to spice up encounters but should not be used if the enemies are “winning” (mostly use these if the enemy is “boring” or “too weak”). The exception to this is for particularly strong or important NPCs; use those like they were normal player characters!

This GM pool of Hero Dice starts at 2 per player and has no maximum limit. A GM cannot gain additional Hero Dice to this pool. Like other Hero Dice pools, the GM Hero Dice pool resets at the beginning of each session.