Optional Rule by Fred Hicks

Okay, so, 10 Heroic Traits does not a sufficiently large grab-bag make, for me. The ones provided on page 21 are awesome, but not in large enough quantities.

So, I'm going to break them down, make a few deductions, and propose a "Grab Bag" of things which you can select to build your own Heroic Trait. I fully believe that John intends this to be possible by implication, but I wanna make it explicit.

So, on that basis, let me observe the following rules on how this list is arrived at:

• +2 bonuses to skills only happen for Arete, Craft, and Sport abilities.
• Battle abilities do not get +2 bonuses, but instead enjoy more restricted bonuses, through range, damage, and positioning.

Make two selections from the grab bag. You can't double dip, so you can't take the same item from the list twice. That said, some combinations may stack in certain situations, such as Fleet-Footed netting someone a total of +4 to their positioning outside.

Ability Boosts

• +2 to Insight rolls
• +2 to Grace rolls
• +2 to Might rolls
• +2 to Spirit rolls
• +2 to Heal rolls
• +2 to Lore rolls
• +2 to Music rolls
• +2 to Orate rolls
• +2 to Athletics rolls
• +2 to Cunning rolls
• +2 to Hunt rolls
• +2 to Wrestle rolls

Range Increases

• +1 Range for melee weapons (Sword = 1,2; Spear = 2,3)
• +1 Range for missile weapons (Bow = 5-7; Javelin = 2-5)

Damage Increases

• +1 damage to beasts
• +1 damage to humans
• +1 damage to monsters

Positioning Bonuses

• +2 to positioning roll when fighting beasts
• +2 to positioning roll when fighting monsters
• +2 to positioning roll when fighting humans
• +2 to positioning roll when fighting inside
• +2 to positioning roll when fighting outside
• +2 to positioning roll in bright conditions
• +2 to positioning roll in dim conditions
• +2 to positioning roll in dark conditions

I believe there may be other combinations, but these are the ones I could most safely derive from the ten examples offered. I would also consider combining the 'when...' or 'in...' clauses under Positioning Bonuses together with, say, the Range Increases in order to give a +2 range increase under unusual circumstances, for example, but that may be a stretch. Damage is sufficiently potent that I don't forsee it ever offering +2, though I will suppose that there are other groupings one could use besides beasts/humans/monsters.

Examples:

Honey-Voiced
+2 to Music rolls
+2 to Orate rolls

Shadows' Friend
+2 to Cunning rolls
+2 to positioning in dark conditions

Strong-Hearted
+2 to Spirit rolls
+2 to Might rolls

Of Clever Words
+2 Insight
+2 to positioning roll in any non-physical, non-combat battle

Story Dancer
+2 to Lore rolls
+2 to Grace rolls