Introduction
Hero Points are PF2e's official permission slip to survive bad luck, swing critical moments, and occasionally tell the dice, "No, try again, but with less personal betrayal." They are simple on paper: start with one, hold up to three, spend one for a reroll, or spend all for Heroic Recovery.
The hard part is table discipline, and it runs in both directions. Players hoard them too long. GMs forget to award them, or quietly hand every one to whoever talks loudest. Someone remembers Heroic Recovery only after the character sheet is already being mourned. This guide covers the spend side and the award side together, because a table only gets the intended experience when both halves are working.
Use it with dying and death, dying and recovery, checks and DCs, and actions and activities.
The Core Rules
| Hero Point Rule | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Start each session with 1 ● | Every PC begins with a safety valve. Do not forget it at session start. |
| Maximum of 3 ● | Spending before the cap prevents wasted awards. |
| Spend 1 for a reroll ● | You must use the second result. It is a fortune effect, so a second Hero Point cannot be added to the same check. |
| Spend all for Heroic Recovery ● | The premier use when death is close. |
| Points reset each session ● | Hoarded points vanish, so use them before the curtain drops. |
Spending is not an action, and it works even when a character is otherwise unable to act. That is what makes Heroic Recovery possible in the first place, but it also means players should treat Hero Points as part of the active rules kit rather than a forgotten decoration beside the character portrait. You can also spend one on behalf of a familiar or animal companion, which matters more often than people expect for a witch's familiar scouting into danger or a ranger's companion eating a critical hit.
There is one small social rule attached. Player Core asks that when you spend a Hero Point, you describe to the other players what your character actually does with it. The point represents a deed beyond normal expectations, so it deserves a sentence. "I reroll" is legal and joyless.
The GM Workflow
Awarding is a procedure, not a mood. Six questions cover almost every session.
| Step | GM question | Good practice |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Did everyone start with a point? | Check at the start of the session, especially after missed sessions or online setup. |
| 2 | What does this campaign reward? | Name the table values: courage, teamwork, investigation, restraint, sacrifice, humor, tactical rescue, or dramatic character choice. |
| 3 | Who has received one recently? | Track distribution so awards do not drift toward the loudest player. |
| 4 | Is the scene unusually punishing? | Award more actively during high-pressure sessions with severe encounters, horror, war, or dangerous exploration. |
| 5 | Did someone make another player shine? | Reward support, setup, aid, protection, and spotlight-sharing. |
| 6 | Is this actually a GM mistake? | Fix bad information, unclear stakes, or unfair rulings directly instead of paying them off with a point. |
GM Core suggests keeping a physical Hero Point token on the table as a tactile reminder to hand them out, and explicitly permits asking players to flag when they think someone's action merits one. Both are cheap fixes for the most common failure mode, which is simply forgetting.
When To Spend One For A Reroll
The best rerolls are not about improving your average turn. They are about protecting the session from one disastrous failure.
| Reroll Situation | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Failed recovery check near death ● | Strong use, though Heroic Recovery may be better if available. |
| Critical failure on a dangerous save ● | Preventing the worst result is often worth the point. |
| Encounter-deciding Strike or spell attack ● | Good if the outcome changes enemy actions, not just damage pride. |
| Key skill check under time pressure ● | Great for hazards, chase scenes, negotiations, and mission-critical tasks. |
| Mild inconvenience roll ● | Spend only if the session is near the end or you are capped. |
| Fishing for a higher number after a success ● | Usually bad. A success is already doing work. |
Remember that the second result stands whether you like it or not, and no other fortune effect can stack onto the same check. That is why the strongest use is disaster prevention rather than upside chasing: PF2e's four degrees of success mean the gap between a failure and a critical failure is often larger than the gap between a success and a critical success.
Heroic Recovery
Heroic Recovery is the reason Hero Points deserve special attention in any dying and death discussion. A dying character with at least 1 Hero Point can spend all of them at the start of their turn or when their dying value would increase. They lose the dying condition entirely and stabilize at 0 Hit Points.
The wounded interaction is the part tables get wrong. Losing dying this way does not give you the wounded condition and does not increase it. It also does not remove or reduce a wounded condition you already had. So a character who was already wounded 1 comes back still wounded 1, and the next time they drop, that penalty is waiting for them.
| Death Spiral Moment | Hero Point Call |
|---|---|
| Dying value would increase ● | Pause and ask whether the player wants Heroic Recovery. |
| Start of the dying character's turn ● | Make the recovery choice visible before rolling past it. |
| Character has no Hero Points ● | The party needs healing, Medicine, control, or rescue immediately. |
| Character is stabilized but still at 0 HP ● | They are alive, unconscious, still wounded if they already were, and still vulnerable to the scene. |
Heroic Recovery is not a full reset. The character is stabilized, not suddenly ready to duel the boss with a dramatic hair flip. The party still has to solve position, enemy pressure, persistent damage, and healing.
Spend Or Save?
| Current Hero Points | Best Habit |
|---|---|
| 0 ● | Play tighter and value defensive actions. The safety valve is gone. |
| 1 ● | Usually save it for death prevention or a major roll. |
| 2 ● | You have room to spend one while keeping Heroic Recovery possible. |
| 3 ● | Spend one soon if a meaningful roll appears, because more awards will be wasted. |
| Last hour of session ● | Spend more aggressively. Points do not retire with a pension. |
The middle state is the sweet spot. At 2 Hero Points, a player can reroll a serious check and still keep one point as survival insurance, because Heroic Recovery only needs a minimum of one. At 3, reluctance becomes waste. At 0, every risky action deserves a second look.
Player Core Foundation
Player Core owns the spend side: rerolls, Heroic Recovery, the cap, and the session reset. For GM purposes that produces two design jobs.
First, remind players when the session clock makes hoarding pointless. Second, build sessions where spending a point feels like something. A Hero Point spent to stop a death spiral, land a fight-changing spell, disable a dangerous hazard, protect an ally, or crack a major clue feels very different from spending one because every third door has a mystery penalty attached.
GM Award Pacing
GM Core gives every PC a Hero Point at the start of the session and then expects more during play, and it puts a number on it: roughly 1 Hero Point per hour of play after the first, which works out to about 3 extra points across a 4-hour session. If you want a more over-the-top game, or the party is facing incredible odds and showing real bravery, a faster rate such as 1 every 30 minutes is explicitly supported, as is a faster rate for shorter sessions.
Awards also attach to accomplishments. GM Core ties moderate and major accomplishments to a Hero Point as well as XP, usually going to the character who was instrumental in achieving it. Use that as a floor, not a ceiling.
| Award Habit | Table Result |
|---|---|
| Award at visible scene beats ● | Players understand what heroic play looks like at this table. |
| Spread awards across players ● | Spotlight does not collapse onto the loudest character. |
| Reward useful risk, not just success ● | Players take bold actions without needing every gamble to work. |
| Notice the small ones too ● | A killing blow on a tough foe or a well-navigated social challenge is a fine reason, even if it is not world-shattering. |
| Award only jokes ● | Funny tables are good; comedy monoculture is less good. |
| Forget awards for three hours ● | The system's safety valve gets tighter than intended. |
Watch for the moment when everybody at the table celebrates or sits back in awe of what a character just did. That is the cue GM Core gives for awarding a point.
Award Rhythm
| Rhythm | Best use | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Start-of-session only | Short sessions, low-complexity tables, new groups learning the rules | Can make Hero Points feel scarce and encourage hoarding. |
| Major beat awards | Story scenes, milestone discoveries, boss fights, rescues, big choices | Easy to forget quieter support moments. |
| Spotlight rotation | Tables where some players speak less often | Do not make awards feel like attendance stickers. Tie them to real table contribution. |
| High-pressure pacing | Horror, severe exploration, war, resource-starved sessions | More points can preserve heroic tone without lowering every danger. |
| Player nomination | Groups with strong trust and good table awareness | Needs guardrails so it does not become popularity voting. |
There is no perfect rhythm for every table. The key is visible consistency. Players should understand what the campaign notices.
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Award Menu
Use a wide menu so Hero Points do not become a damage-only prize.
| Award trigger | What it reinforces |
|---|---|
| Saving an ally at real risk | Heroic rescue and party care. |
| A brave last stand or protecting innocents | The core heroic fantasy the rules name directly. |
| Accepting a meaningful complication | Character-driven play without self-sabotage. |
| Solving a clue or social knot | Investigation, listening, and noncombat competence. |
| A smart strategy or spell that saves the day | Preparation and tactical thinking over raw numbers. |
| Making another PC's plan work | Teamwork and spotlight-sharing. |
| Showing mercy when it costs something | Campaign tone and moral stakes. |
| Using background or ancestry in a meaningful scene | Character identity as play, not biography wallpaper. |
| Creative equipment or spell use | Preparation, equipment, and tactical problem-solving. |
| Choosing restraint in a volatile scene | Intrigue, diplomacy, and long-term consequences. |
| Turning a failure into better story | Momentum without erasing consequence. |
Campaign Tone And What To Reward
The menu above is generic. Narrow it to what your campaign is actually about, then be consistent, and players will learn the table's values by watching awards happen.
| Campaign tone | Reward more often for |
|---|---|
| Heroic fantasy | Rescue, courage, mercy, public sacrifice, protecting innocents. |
| Intrigue | Bargains, restraint, secrets, hard-won favors, reputation-aware choices. |
| Horror | Pushing forward, protecting others, telling the truth, resisting panic. |
| Wilderness exploration | Preparation, navigation, tool use, risk assessment, costly discovery. |
| War campaign | Command decisions, holding morale, tactical rescue, protecting civilians, accepting hard tradeoffs. |
| Dungeon crawl | Scouting, hazard play, resource discipline, teamwork, clever retreat. |
| Mythic play | Legendary risks, symbolic choices, protecting ideals, changing the battlefield of the story. |
GM Core frames this as an invitation rather than a constraint. Hero Points are one of the few reward levers that can reinforce your personal style of running the game and what this specific group values, so name that at session zero.
Distribution Problems
Use a visible token or a note so you remember to award points, and watch who has received them. If the same player always earns them, broaden what you reward: planning, support, roleplay, investigation, tactical rescue, mercy, sacrifice, or making another character's moment better. GM Core says plainly to try to ensure every PC has opportunities to earn points and to avoid granting all of them to a single character.
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| Loudest player gets most awards | Track recipients and reward quieter forms of contribution. |
| Damage dealer gets most awards | Reward support, scouting, restraint, clue work, and protection. |
| GM forgets awards | Put a token on the table or a reminder on the GM screen. |
| Players hoard forever | Remind them of session reset and award cadence. |
| Awards feel arbitrary | Explain the table value being rewarded in one sentence. |
| Awards feel patronizing | Tie them to real stakes, not "you showed up and said a thing." |
Spending Reminders For GMs
The GM should not tell players how to spend every point, but reminders are fair when the rule or session state is easy to forget.
| Moment | Helpful reminder |
|---|---|
| Session is close to ending | Unspent points reset, so big rolls deserve consideration. |
| Character is near death | Heroic Recovery exists for exactly this kind of cliff edge. |
| Player has 3 points | Future awards may be wasted until they spend one. |
| Roll has major consequence | This is the kind of roll Hero Points are for. |
| New player forgets | Briefly explain the option without pressuring the choice. |
| Campaign is very deadly | Remind the table that Hero Points are part of the survival economy, not optional decoration. |
Class Moments That Deserve Attention
Hero Points are universal, and Player Core 2 does not change how they work. What it changes is when they feel urgent, because several of its classes have best moments that are not damage rolls.
| Class | Hero Point Pattern |
|---|---|
| Swashbuckler ● | Panache pursuit, stylish skill risks, and finisher moments justify both rerolls and awards. |
| Investigator ● | A clue, deduction, Recall Knowledge roll, or social read can make one check carry the whole scene. |
| Alchemist ● | Limited items mean a bomb, elixir, or rescue tool delivered at the right moment is worth protecting. |
| Oracle ● | Curse pressure, saves, healing, and divine choices collide at dramatic points. |
| Champion ● | Defensive heroes often earn points by taking a risk that protects someone else. |
| Monk ● | Mobility, positioning, and restraint turn a dangerous map into an opportunity. |
| Cleric ● | Healing, divine saves, and rescue turns can be worth a point when failure cascades. |
| Commander ● | Team-facing turns justify rerolls when the whole plan depends on coordination. |
| New ancestries ● | Movement, senses, poison, terrain, or cultural choices that solve a problem visibly. |
This does not mean classes get automatic points just for using a class ability. Reward the moment, risk, choice, or table impact. "I used my normal turn" is not a Hero Point invoice.
Skill And Scene Uses
Hero Points are excellent on checks that decide whether the scene changes.
| Scene Type | Strong Hero Point Use |
|---|---|
| Medicine emergency ● | Stabilizing, treating dangerous aftermath, or preventing a recovery spiral. |
| Diplomacy negotiation ● | A failed request could close a major path or start a fight. |
| Performance scene ● | Worth it when the performance changes social access, morale, or stakes. |
| Hazard or exploration check ● | Reroll when failure costs HP, time, position, or resources. |
| Low-pressure recall check ● | Usually save the point unless the answer controls the plan. |
Use checks and DCs and skill check DCs when the table needs a clean difficulty framework.
Hero Points And Encounter Pressure
Hero Points are not encounter balance by themselves, but they change how severe pressure feels. In encounter building, a severe fight with visible stakes, good intelligence, and full Hero Points lands very differently from a severe ambush after bad information and no recovery. If the adventure stacks hard fights, dangerous hazards, or heavy dying and death pressure, award points fast enough that the campaign still feels heroic. That is exactly the case GM Core describes when it sanctions the faster award rate.
Quick Reference
| Trigger | Award a point when |
|---|---|
| Heroic risk | A dangerous choice fits the campaign tone. |
| Major accomplishment | An objective is completed, an ally saved, a faction shifted. Moderate and major accomplishments usually earn one. |
| Notable but smaller moment | A killing blow on a tough foe or a social challenge navigated well. |
| Table-positive play | Generosity, clever teamwork, strong character choice. |
| Hard session pressure | The adventure is unusually punishing; speed up the rate. |
| Between sessions | Something meaningful happened in downtime, play-by-post, or a solo scene. |
Common Mistakes
Saving all Hero Points forever. They reset each session. A point that never leaves the sheet did not protect anyone.
Spending on low-stakes rolls early. If the result only saves a minute of table time, think twice.
Forgetting Heroic Recovery. This is the big one. Pause when dying would increase.
Assuming Heroic Recovery clears wounded. It stops you gaining or increasing wounded from that loss of dying. An existing wounded value stays exactly where it was.
Only awarding points to the funniest player. Humor is good. A reward economy based only on punchlines gets strange fast.
Only awarding damage. Damage is not the only heroic contribution. Often it is just Tuesday with sharper punctuation.
Forgetting quiet players. Track awards and notice support, planning, restraint, and listening.
Using Hero Points as an apology. If the GM made a bad ruling, fix the ruling. Do not throw a point at the table and hope it composts into trust.
Making awards secretive. Players should learn what the campaign values by watching awards happen.
Ignoring the cap. At 3 Hero Points, future awards disappear. Spend before that happens.
Best Links
Start with PF2e rules, then read dying and death, dying and recovery, checks and DCs, skill check DCs, three-action economy, Medicine, encounter building, hazards, first session, session zero, GM guides, and GM screen reference.
Hot Take
Hero Points are not candy and they are not a collectible. They are the table telling players what kind of courage this campaign notices, and they expire at midnight. Spend them before the session ends, before the cap wastes an award, or before the dying rules start writing your character's final review.
Return to the PF2e rules guide or the main PF2e guide hub.
