Super Talents

One of the ways to divide the amateurs from the true professionals is through the use of super-talents. As described by HERO this is the use of Powers with modifiers to build superior forms of talents and skills. One of the most obvious examples would be Shapeshift (Disguise) and Clinging (Climbing); however, the true uses of this is unlimited.

Because these are so powerful and potentially unbalancing, they will also carry the cost of more controlled GM-oversight and may be reigned if they are are the subject of abuse. Still, I will be going over some the basics and providing some example talents that high-priced thieves may want to study.

Well, not exactly; although from the base HERO rules it can look very close. The big difference is that a Super Talent uses a completely different set of rules to govern their use. Take for example Superleap. If someone simply buys the power in HERO they get to increase their natural leaping ability and just need to make a hit-roll to land in the proper hex. However that level of leaping doesn't fit into the high fantasy genre, but it can be made to fit.

Instead of the leaping ability being a sure thing or beyond the capabilities of even the most talked about heroes — a power like Super leap is instead saddled with a series of advantages and limitations that more reflect a “very good heroic leap” instead of a super heroic leap. The most obvious are requiring a skill roll, in this case Acrobatics and maybe even hand or foot holds for pure vertical ascensions. This will allow someone to very quickly reach platforms as long as they make their roll and have some hand and foot holds that they are “using” along the way.

This is not the same as magic, which in some ways breaks the physical laws by interposing their own laws. Nobody with a Super talent will be able to do something that a normal person could not do given enough time, skill, and tools. Instead, a super talent is just another tool that helps divide the good from the very good. That top 1% that is so far ahead of the 1% just below them.

• Must be tied to a skill (-1 per 10 AP of the power).
• Must be purchased to 0 END to represent this is only a skill extension.
• Can only be used to extend the base skill.

A Drain on the lock works, but easier is using Desolidification. When desolidification is coupled with the limitation that it can only go through a surface barred by a locked surface it gives the thief the perfect ability to enter a room without anyone being the wiser. Then use how much they made their skill by as a negative modifier to anyone's perception check to notice the results of their entry. Therefore, people with this skill very well high won't be spotted by your average guards.

The easiest way to do this is using the Shapeshift power with the limitation on the variance of the change. Limit it to less that 10% shift in the mass and volume. This still gives one of the better super-talents as a thief can just disappear into a crowd with just a little work.

Invisibility tied to de-solidification works well to make sure that you not only cannot be found, but can pass without trace. Another power to consider is teleportation with the vanishing modifiers. This allows a thief to cross a brightly lit courtyard by simply moving through the shadows.

Drains work well because they can disable a trap without setting it off.

There are really two ways to do this. The simplest is to just use Clinging with a required skill roll of Climbing and a partial limitation that it is really only Climbing. This allows someone to move at their ground speed up surfaces, which is much faster than other climbers. However, because it is only Climbing a character cannot buy more than double their base strength in Clinging than they possess. A skilled Climber is difficult to pry off, but not impossible.

The second method are for those that want to be able to quickly reach summits, but spend more time being acrobatic than a true climber. To accomplish this purchase Flight with a requires Climbing roll and Must be along surface limitation. This will allow someone to very quickly move up a surface, but not be able to hold on if something is tugging them off. Intuition

This is built with Danger Sense and a -1 Only by experience limitation. This represents giving each player a Danger Sense roll in those situations where their vast experience will come into play. A magician may sense a magical trap, a thief when they are being followed, an ambush for a warrior, and a host of others. The exact nature of this intuition is determined when hashed out by the GM and player. It is possible for the limitation to be larger if the situation is tighter.

This allows a character to keep full knowledge of any battlefield situation while they are engaged fully in combat themselves. They do this through minor movements and subtle shifts of their attention during lulls in their fights. A fighter will this super talent will almost never be caught unawares during combat. In HERO terms this combines 360-degree vision with bonuses to perception rolls. Combined with Concentration this gives an edge to those that can better understand the subtle ebbs and flows of massed combat.