Hero System Combat for Pathfinder Players

The following is a very brief overview of combat for Pathfinder players.

Turns, Phases, and Segments

A "turn" in Hero System is 12 seconds long. This is roughly analogous to a round in Pathfinder (which is 6 seconds long).

Each turn in Hero System is divided into 12 "segments", which are each one second long. A "phase" in Hero is a segment in which a character gets to act.

Movement and Attacks

Movement and attacking work similarly to Pathfinder. In any given phase, a character may move once, then attack, or move twice.

Attacks of Opportunity

Hero System doesn't have a built-in mechanic for attacks of opportunity, although it would be possible to implement them with a triggered power.

Held Actions

You may hold an action either to trigger at a condition (equivalent to a readied action in Pathfinder), or wait until a time of your choice, like delaying an action in Pathfinder. You may never act more than once in a single phase.

Aborting actions (acting out of turn defensively)

You may abort your next action in order to take a half-phase defensive action, such as using a defensive power (throwing up a barrier, raising defenses, etc), blocking, or diving for cover.

Other Action types

• Block - Make an attack against the enemy's OCV (not DCV). On a success, you block the attack. After a successful block, if you share a segment with your enemy's next attack, you automatically act first regardless of the enemy's DEX. If you aborted an action to block, you don't get this benefit (however, if you held an action, you do). You may block multiple times at a cumulative -2 penalty until your next phase.

• Dodge - Forego your attack for a +3 to DCV.

• Dive for cover - This maneuver allows you to get away from AOE attacks. Choose a point within a half-move away and make a DEX roll with a -1 penalty for each 2m moved. If you succeed, you avoid the AOE effect, but are prone. If you fail, you are prone, but do not dodge the attack automatically. Dive for Cover isn't used for non-AOE ranged attacks (such as a gunshot) or melee attacks. In those cases, you would use Dodge instead.