As a general rule, a character may use as many Powers as he wants to in the same Phase, provided he (a) has the time to activate all of them, (b) can afford to pay END for all of them, and (c) has the Framework points to allocate to them if they’re in a Power Framework. For example, a character could use Flight while operating his Resistant Protection that costs END and firing an Attack Power at a target, all in the same Phase (assuming he could afford the END). However, there are specific rules for using multiple powers to attack in the same Phase; see 6E2 73.
Unless the GM rules otherwise, a character cannot use an offensive power on himself. For example, he can’t attack himself with his own Blast so he can use his Absorption to Absorb from it.
Full POWER
A character doesn’t have to use a Power at its maximum potential. He can use any amount of his Power, from zero to the number of Active Points he has in the Power. For instance, a superhero with 50 Character Points in Blast can do up to 10d6 damage at a cost of 5 END. He could choose to do only 8d6 and spend only 4 END.
A character must use all of a Power’s Advan- tages and Limitations each time he uses the Power (unless a specific rule indicates otherwise). For example, if a character buys his Blast 10d6 with the Power Advantage Armor Piercing, the Blast is always Armor Piercing, even if reduced to 8d6.
A character does not have to use all of a power’s Adders, unless the GM rules otherwise. For example, if a character has Flight 40m, x16 Noncombat, he can choose to fly only 40m and not use his extra Noncombat Movement multiples. However, he must still pay END based on the Active Points of the Power used (with Adders).
ACTIVATING POWERS
Unless a Power’s description says otherwise, activating or “turning on” a Power is a Zero Phase Action, even if activating it causes or requires physical changes in the character, his powers, or his equipment. For example, even if a character activates his Powers by transforming from a human into a man-beast, converting his clothes into a suit of powered armor, or reconfiguring a gadget into another type of gadget, they still only take a Zero Phase Action to activate — the fact that he physically transforms himself or some- thing else doesn’t change the required activation time. Characters who want to alter their clothing without using another Power should buy Instant
Change as defined under Transform (example
powers, 6E1 307). In some cases — such as when a Power has the Limitations Extra Time or Only
In Alternate Identity — activating a Power may
take longer (typically a Full Phase, but sometimes more). Turning a Power off and switching slots in a Power Framework are also Zero Phase Actions.
Even though activating a Power is a Zero Phase Action, unless the GM rules otherwise a
character may not both activate and deactivate a given power in a Phase (nor may he switch slots in a Power Framework more than once in a Phase). For example, a character cannot start his Phase solid, Hold his Phase, become Desolidified when someone attacks him, then become solid again and attack — having chosen to turn on his Desolidification this Phase, he can’t turn it off during this Phase as well. (Movement Powers are a common-sense exception; a character can turn on a Movement Power, move from Point A to Point B, and then turn the power off to stop moving.) However, the GM may choose to allow a character to do this as a campaign ground rule, as a one- time thing in appropriate circumstances, or as a trick occasionally pulled with the assistance of an appropriate Power Skill roll.
A character can activate as many powers in a given Phase as he wants to, unless the GM rules otherwise or some Limitation or other rule restricts this.
attack actions
Some Powers, such as Aid and Healing, are described as constituting, requiring, or taking an Attack Action, or requiring an Attack Roll. Unless a Power’s description says otherwise, this means that when the character uses the Power, he must take an Attack Action and make an Attack Roll (if the roll does not succeed, he fails to use the Power). As an Attack Action, this ends the charac- ter’s Phase. As always, the GM may change this if he feels it would be appropriate and not unbal- ancing to do so (such as when the character uses the Power on himself, or on a willing target). skill rolls
A character never has to buy a Skill to use a Power he’s paid Character Points for (unless some Limitation on the Power requires the use of a Skill). For example, in a Heroic Fantasy campaign, where characters normally get their weapons for free, they buy the ability to use weapons with the
Weapon Familiarity Skill. But if a character chose
to pay Character Points for a sword, he could use it without having to pay for Weapon Familiarity — having paid Character Points for his sword, he automatically knows how to use it. However, the ability to use a power or equipment a character pays Character Points for only extends to that one power or device. For example, the character described above suffers Unfamiliar Weapon penal- ties when he uses any sword other than the one he paid for unless he buys WF: Blades.
CASuAl uSE OF POWERS
At the GM’s option, a character can make
Casual Use of a Power or ability that he uses as
an attack (defenses, movement, and other Powers can’t be used Casually). This means the character uses the Power without conscious effort as a Zero Phase Action (or in some cases even as an Action that takes no time). Only Powers and related abilities can be used Casually; a character cannot, for example, perform a Casual Haymaker, Casual Martial Strike, or Casual Block.
The GM determines whether a Power or ability can be used Casually; inability to use a Power Casually is typically a -0 Limitation. If a Power has Limitations that make it take more time or special effort to use (such as Concentration, Gestures, or especially Extra Time), typically a character cannot use it Casually; the Casual Use rules aren’t intended to negate or bypass the Limitations on a Power.
When a character uses a Power Casually, he uses it at half effect (or even less, if he prefers). For example, a character with STR 40 has a “Casual STR” of 20; a character with a Blast 12d6 has a “Casual Blast” of 6d6. Using a Power Casually costs END, but the character only pays for the amount of the Power he’s using (i.e., he pays half the END he’d pay for using it at full strength).
Unless the GM permits otherwise, a character can only use a Power Casually once per Segment, and can only make Casual Use of a single Power in a Segment. After using a Power Casually in a Segment, the character can then use that same Power again in that same Segment for its usual purposes (even the same purpose he used it Casu- ally for). However, he must pay the standard END cost for using the Power again.
A Power can only be used Casually against an unresisting target (such as a door or wall) or to escape from a Grab, Entangle, or the like. The GM can permit other uses, such as allowing a character to effortlessly carry objects using his Casual STR. But he should never allow a character to Casually use a Power to attack or harm another character, or to reduce the Knockback or other negative effects he suffers from most attacks.
Example: Ironclad has 60 STR. He’s chasing
Fenris, who runs through a door and slams it shut behind him. Not wanting to slow down to open the door, Ironclad uses his Casual STR — 30 STR — to smash through it. He rolls 7 BODY on his 6d6, easily enough to smash through the 3 PD, 3 BODY door. This costs him 3 END but takes no time. Since he didn’t have to slow down he catches up to Fenris in that same Phase and punches him with his full 60 STR. He can use his STR again this way, but he has to pay 6 END for doing so. Kasdrevan the wizard has a Fire Blast spell (RKA 2d6). He’s caught in a 4 BODY, 4 PD/4ED Entangle and decides to try to use his Fire Blast spell Casually to get out as quickly as possible. He rolls RKA 1d6 but only gets 3 BODY, not enough to get past the Entangle’s ED and damage it. That costs him 1 END, but didn’t use up his Phase. Since he failed, he now tries his Fire Blast at full power, which constitutes an Attack Action and will thus end his Phase (unless he does really well on his damage roll; see 6E2 124).
If desired, the GM can extend this rule to trivial uses of Powers, such as a character using his Fire Blast to light candles. Depending on the situation the GM may allow a character to do this automatically, or he may require the character to succeed with a Power Skill roll.
volume 1: character creation n chapter Five 133
THE STANDARD EFFECT RulE
You use dice to determine the effects of many Powers. This may frustrate you, since you’ll some- times get disappointingly low rolls, and counting the dice takes time during the game. At the GM’s option, you can apply the Standard Effect Rule (“SER”) to any Power. The Standard Effect Rule is that the Power does a flat 3 points of effect per die automatically for a +0 Advantage (for Powers such as Flash, where you count the BODY on the dice, this becomes a flat 1 BODY per die). This rule allows you to predict the effects of a power with much greater precision.
Example: Arkelos has a Severe Transform spell 7d6 (turn humans to frogs). Rather than depend on the vagaries of the dice, he opts to apply the
Standard Effect Rule (+0) Advantage to the spell.
Now he knows that he’ll always do 21 BODY worth of effect with the spell (enough to instantly transmute a typical person into a frog).
At the GM’s option, you can apply the Stan- dard Effect Rule to only part of a Power. That means part of it has a fixed result, while the rest is determined randomly and added to the fixed portion. For example, Arkelos could have a Major Transform 4d6+9.
If a character applies the Standard Effect Rule to a power, he cannot switch back and forth between the “standard” effect and the rolled effect. He can only use it as a Standard Effect.
A half die counts as +1 point for the Standard Effect Rule. A +1 point likewise counts as +1 point (or, if the GM prefers, as +0 points). Just add that final one point to the total of the attack based on the dice. Ignore a -1 point, treating the dice as if they had no subtractor (for example, the SER damage for an RKA 3d6-1 would be 9 BODY).
If a character applies the Standard Effect Rule to all of a Power that allows a character to add STR to increase damage (such as an HA or HKA), it applies to any STR added to the power as well. If the SER only applies to part of the power (say, half the dice, such as an HKA 4d6 defined as 2d6+6), maintain the ratio — determine the total dice (from Power + STR), and apply the SER to the same portion of the STR as the Power. The GM may alter this approach if it doesn’t make sense for a particular character, or if Limitations (such as No STR Bonus) apply to some of the dice.
THE ABSOluTE EFFECT RulE
As discussed on 6E1 11, the HERO System has few, if any, “absolutes.” There’s no guaranteed way to hit another character with an attack, no foolproof way to avoid an attack, no total immu- nity to any phenomenon or type of attack. Not only are absolutes potentially unbalancing to game play, but even in genre fiction where they suppos- edly exist, often one point of the story is to find a way around the absolute (so it wasn’t actually an absolute at all).
However, all that being said, some GMs find that they want to allow certain absolutes in their games for various reasons. To do that in the HERO
System, you use the optional Absolute Effects Rule
to create abilities that provide effective absolute
effects. What this means is that, while the rules
for an ability do not specifically say, for example, “this power always hits” or “this power provides complete protection from fire, regardless of the damage rolled,” you can effectively achieve abso- lutism based on the campaign’s parameters and standards. All you have to do is build the ability to cover the vast majority of circumstances.
For example, suppose that most swords in the campaign do 1½d6 Killing Damage. The biggest sword, with all possible bonuses and modi- fiers, could do 4d6 Killing Damage. On 4d6, the maximum roll would be 24 BODY. Therefore, an ability that provides 24 Resistant PD against BODY (possibly with Advantages like Hardened)
effectively makes a character immune to damage
from swords. Sure, a giant with a giant-sized sword might do enough damage to get through the defense, or an enchanted blade might slice right through the magical barrier, but for the vast majority of situations, this ability offers total invul- nerability to swords.
Once you have an ability that effectively creates the absolute effect desired, the GM declares that, by campaign ground rules, the ability has a true
absolute effect. (You should include the phrase
“Absolute Effect Rule” in the ability’s write-up to make this clear.) Using the example above, if the 24 Resistant PD ability has the Absolute Effect Rule applied to it by the GM, it now provides absolute invulnerability to sword damage. It doesn’t matter if a sword does 53 BODY — it can’t affect the character, because the ability makes him totally immune to damage done by swords. Simi- larly, the Absolute Effect Rule could create a power that always hits its intended target (no matter the caster’s and target’s respective CVs, or any negative modifiers on the Attack Roll) or that always kills its target (no matter how much defense or BODY the target has).
The Absolute Effects Rule is, of course, completely optional. The GM can use it or not, as he sees fit.