TEXT: HERO SYSTEM 5TH EDITION
  DOING DAMAGE
  Normal Damage Attacks
  For Normal Damage (like punches,  clubs, 
  Energy Blasts), the total on the dice is the amount of 
  STUN damage the attack does. To determine how 
  much BODY damage it does, look at the numbers 
  rolled on the dice:  a 1 is 0 BODY; a 2-5 is 1 BODY, 
  and a 6 is 2 BODY. Th us, a 6d6 Normal Damage 
  attack which rolls 6, 5, 4, 4, 2, and 1 does 22 STUN 
  and 6 BODY. Th e number of BODY done is usually 
  close to the number of dice rolled.
  Killing Damage Attacks
  For Killing Damage (like claws, knives, and 
  bullets), the total on the dice is the amount of 
  BODY the attack does. To determine the STUN 
  done, the character rolls a STUN Multiplier — 1d6-
  1 (minimum of 1)  — and multiplies the result by 
  the amount of BODY done. For example, suppose 
  an RKA 3d6 rolls 3 + 4 + 5 = 12. Th at’s 12 BODY 
  damage. Th en you roll another die for the STUN 
  Multiplier. If it comes up 5, the Multiplier is (5 - 1 
  =) 4, so the attack does 48 STUN (4 x 12).
  TAKING DAMAGE
  Th ere are two types of defenses:  Normal 
  (which only apply against Normal Damage) and 
  Resistant (which apply against Normal and Killing 
  Damage). Normal Defenses include a character’s 
  natural PD and ED; Resistant Defenses include 
  Armor, Force Fields, and PD and ED for which a 
  character has bought Damage Resistance. In Heroic 
  campaigns, Resistant Defense usually indicates 
  some form of armor.
  Th e HERO System also distinguishes between 
  physical damage (such as punches, bullets, swords, 
  falling, clubs, and so forth) and energy damage (such 
  as ﬁ re, lasers, Energy Blasts, and the like). Defenses 
  usually only protect against one type of damage 
  or the other — for example, a character’s Physical 
  Defense (PD) only works against physical attacks, 
  and his Energy Defense (ED) against energy attacks.
  1.  If the attack does Normal Damage 
  (ﬁ sts, clubs, Energy Blasts):
  a.  Add all applicable forms of Defense — both 
  Normal and Resistant — together to determine 
  the character’s total Defense.
  b.  Subtract the character’s total Defense from the 
  STUN damage done by the attack. Th e remain-
  der is how much STUN damage he suﬀ ers.
  c.  Subtract the character’s total Defense from the 
  BODY damage done by the attack. Th e remain-
  der is how much BODY damage he suﬀ ers.
  2.  If the attack does Killing Damage 
  (claws, blades, guns):
  a.  Determine how much of the character’s 
  Defense is Resistant (meaning it protects against 
  Killing Damage). Armor, Damage Resistance, 
  Force Field, and Force Wall provide Resistant 
  Defense; so does armor the character wears 
  (chainmail or plate armor, for example).
  b.  Subtract the character’s Resistant Defense 
  from the BODY damage done by the attack. 
  Th e remainder is how much BODY damage he 
  suﬀ ers.
  i.  A character’s Normal Defenses, includ-
  ing his PD and ED (unless modiﬁ ed by 
  Damage Resistance), do not reduce the 
  BODY from Killing Damage, even if he 
  has Resistant Defenses.
  c.  If the character has no Resistant Defenses, he 
  takes all the STUN damage done by the attack.
  d.  If the character has any Resistant Defenses, add 
  all applicable forms of Defense — both Normal 
  and Resistant — together to determine his total 
  Defense. Subtract his total Defense from the 
  STUN damage done by the attack. Th e remainder 
  is how much STUN damage he suﬀ ers.
  3.  If the attack does No Normal Defense 
  (NND) damage:
  a.  If the character has the applicable defense, 
  he takes no damage at all.
  b.  If the character does not have the applicable 
  defense, he takes all the damage.
  Some Advantages, such as Armor Piercing or 
  Hardened, may aﬀ ect how damage applies to defenses.
  NORMAL DAMAGE
  Each die for 
  Normal Attack
  BODY done
  1
  0 (zero)
  2-5
  1
  6
  2
  COMBAT
  SUMMARY
  ATTACK ROLLS
  Here’s how to calculate 
  your Attack Roll (your 
  chance to hit on 3d6):
  11 + attacker’s OCV 
  - defender’s DCV
  For example, if the 
  attacker is OCV 8 and 
  the defender is DCV 6, 
  the Attack Roll is:  11 + 
  8 - 6 = 13 or less on 3d6.
  A roll of 3 always hits; a 
  roll of 18 always misses.
  OCV = DEX/3, plus 
  applicable Combat Skill 
  Levels and modiﬁ ers
  DCV = DEX/3, plus 
  applicable Combat Skill 
  Levels and modiﬁ ers
  RANGE MODIFIER
   
  OCV
  Range 
  Modiﬁ er
  0-4” 
  -0
  5-8” 
  -2
  9-16” 
  -4
  17-32” 
  -6
  33-64” 
  -8
  65-128” 
  -10
  ...and so forth
  ACTIONS
  In his Phase in combat, 
  a character can:
  —Move his full inches 
  of movement (1” = 2 m)
  —Move up to half his 
  inches of movement and 
  attack (attack must be 
  last; making an attack 
  ends the Phase)
  —Take a Recovery
  —Perform some other 
  action, maneuver, or 
  the like.
  page 1 
  
  HERO SYSTEM 5TH EDITION
  EFFECTS OF DAMAGE
  Th ere are four major eﬀ ects of damage:  Stun-
  ning; Knockout; Injury; and Death.
  Stunning
  If the amount of STUN damage a character 
  suﬀ ers from a single attack (aft er subtracting his 
  defenses) is less than his CON, he suﬀ ers no addi-
  tional eﬀ ect — he just loses the STUN.
  If the amount of STUN damage a character 
  suﬀ ers from a single attack (aft er subtracting his 
  defenses) is greater than his CON, he loses the 
  STUN and is Stunned. A Stunned character’s DCV 
  instantly drops to to ½. At the end of the Segment, 
  any of his Powers which are not Persistent, and any 
  Skill Levels of any type, turn oﬀ . Th e character can 
  do nothing until he recovers from being Stunned 
  (though he still gets his free Post-Segment 12 
  Recovery).
  Recovering From Being Stunned
  A Stunned character must take a moment to 
  clear his head. Th is is called recovering from being 
  Stunned.
  Recovering from being Stunned requires a 
  Full Phase, and is the only thing the character 
  can do during that Phase. A character can recover 
  from being Stunned in the Segment in which he 
  was Stunned if he had a Phase in that Segment 
  and had not yet acted that Phase. When he recov-
  ers from being Stunned, the character’s DCV 
  returns to normal, but he doesn’t gain back any of 
  his lost STUN.
  If a character has to recover from being 
  Stunned in his Phase, but takes damage in that Seg-
  ment prior to when his Phase begins, he cannot 
  recover from being Stunned that Phase. He must 
  try to do so on his next Phase instead.
  Knockout
  If the amount of STUN damage a character 
  suﬀ ers from a single attack or multiple attacks 
  (aft er subtracting his defenses) is greater than his 
  STUN, he is Knocked Out. A character who is 
  Knocked Out has OCV 0, DCV 0, and ECV 0, and 
  any attack that hits him does 2x STUN. At the end 
  of the Segment, any of his Powers which are not 
  Persistent turn oﬀ .
  To regain consciousness, a Knocked Out char-
  acter must take Recoveries (see sidebar) — in fact, 
  that’s all he can do until he wakes up (though he 
  cannot take a Recovery in the same Segment when 
  he was Knocked Out, even if he has a Phase). But 
  if he’s deeply unconscious, he may not get to take 
  a Recovery every Phase (see accompanying table). 
  When the character’s Recoveries make his STUN 
  total positive, he wakes up and can take whatever 
  Actions he wants to. However, his END total in this 
  situation equals his current STUN total; he’s put all 
  of his energy into waking up.
  Injury
  Characters who take BODY damage suﬀ er 
  appropriate injuries based on the attack being used 
  — cuts, broken bones, wounds, burns, and other 
  such unpleasantries.
  Death
  A character at or below 0 BODY is dying. He 
  loses 1 BODY each Turn (at the end of Segment 
  12). Death occurs when, either due to attacks or to 
  loss of BODY per Turn, he has lost twice his origi-
  nal BODY (i.e., when he reaches a negative BODY 
  score equal to his starting positive BODY).
  KNOCKBACK
  In some types of combat, attacks are so power-
  ful they knock the characters all over the battleﬁ eld. 
  To reﬂ ect this, characters can do Knockback (KB). 
  Knockback is most appropriate for Superheroic 
  campaigns.
  To determine how much Knockback a char-
  acter suﬀ ers from being hit, the attacker rolls 2d6 
  (+1d6 if the attack is Armor Piercing, does Killing 
  Damage, uses Martial Arts, or the target uses Cling-
  ing; -1d6 if the target is in the air or in zero grav-
  ity). He subtracts the total rolled from the amount 
  of BODY rolled on the attack dice.
  If the result is negative, no Knockback occurs; 
  the defender remains where he was standing before 
  the attack.
  If the result is 0, the character is Knocked 
  Down. 
  If the result is positive, the target is Knocked 
  Back that many inches. If he hits a solid object 
  (like a wall or a tree), he takes a number of dice of 
  Normal Damage equal to the inches of Knockback. 
  If he hits nothing, he lands on the ground and takes 
  half that much Normal Damage.
  A character who’s Knocked Down or Knocked 
  Back is “prone.” While prone he has half DCV. He 
  must spend a Half Phase in his next Phase getting 
  to his feet or reorienting himself, which restores his 
  DCV to normal. 
  RECOVERY TIME
  STUN Total 
  How Often Character Recovers
  -0 to -10 
  Every Phase and Post-Segment 12
  -11 to -20 
  Post-Segment 12 only
  -21 to -30 
  Once a minute only
  -31 or more 
  GM’s option (a long time)
  TAKING
  RECOVERIES
  Characters use REC 
  to regain STUN and 
  END. Th is is known as 
  “Recovering” or “taking 
  a Recovery.” When a 
  character Recovers, add 
  his REC to his current 
  STUN and END totals.
  Characters get to 
  Recover in two situa-
  tions. First, aft er Seg-
  ment 12 each Turn, 
  all characters (even 
  Stunned ones) get a 
  free Post-Segment 12 
  Recovery. Th is Recovery 
  occurs automatically 
  (unless the character is 
  holding his breath or 
  deeply unconscious).
  Second, a character may 
  choose to take a Recov-
  ery as his Action in any 
  of his Phases. Taking a 
  Recovery is a Full Phase 
  Action, reduces the 
  character’s DCV by half, 
  and occurs at the end 
  of the Segment (aft er all 
  other characters who 
  have a Phase that Seg-
  ment have acted).
  If a character takes 
  damage from an 
  attack in the Segment 
  in which he takes a 
  Recovery, the Recovery 
  fails; he gets no STUN 
  or END back and has 
  wasted his Phase. 
  HOLDING AND 
  ABORTING
  A character can Hold his 
  Phase (or a Half Phase) to 
  act later, or in a later Seg-
  ment. If two characters 
  want to act at the same 
  time, determine who goes 
  ﬁ rst with competing DEX 
  Rolls.
  A character can Abort his 
  next Phase to act before 
  he normally would, but 
  only to take a defensive 
  action (like Dodging). He 
  cannot Abort right aft er 
  making an attack (he 
  must wait until the next 
  Segment).
  ENDURANCE IN COMBAT
  STR costs 1 END per 10 STR used. Powers cost 1 END per 10 Active Points used.
  page 2 
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Hero System/Hero System Two-Page Combat Summary.pdf