Hero Tokens

Core Gameplay
9/5/2025

Hero Tokens

In all great heroic stories, luck favors the protagonists, giving them that little bit of extra fortune they need to win the day. In these stories, fate is often on the side of the righteous.

To represent that tiny bit of karma, players have access to hero tokens, a special resource that they can rely on when all else fails.

Hero tokens are a group resource that is tracked by the players and kept in a pool that is accessible to all their characters. They can be tracked using poker chips, stones, or other markers or numerically on a piece of paper or written off to the side in a virtual tabletop.

Earning hero tokens

At the start of a new game session, the heroes have a number of hero tokens equal to the number of heroes in the party.

The heroes can earn more tokens through play by taking big risks to save others. A hero who leaps off a cliff to get the bottom and aid a friend, who crosses a burning bridge to save a stray cat, or who wagers their most prized treasure as part of a negotiation to get shelter for a group of refugees earns a hero token for the group. The Director has the final say in what acts earn hero tokens.

Players can also be awarded hero tokens as part of a test’s outcome when they succeed in a task with a reward (see Tests).

Spending hero tokens

Whenever hero tokens are available, you can spend them in the follow ways. You can only spend one hero token on your turn or per test:

  • You can spend a hero token to gain two surges.

  • You can spend a hero token when you fail a saving throw to succeed on it instead.

  • When you fail a test or succeed on a test with a consequence, you can spend a hero token to turn the failure into a success and to lose any consequence suffered.

  • You can spend 2 hero tokens on your turn or whenever you take damage (no action required) to regain Stamina equal to your Recovery value without spending a Recovery.

Unless the Director decides otherwise, unused hero tokens disappear at the end of a session. A Director may lift this restriction if the heroes end a session with more hero tokens than they had at the start