I saw it the other way actually--CRPGs have rules and such. Hero points let you go, "This is important to my character and/or to their destiny," allowing you to bend the rules slightly to fit what's important to your character rather than always just going with the rules and what you roll and such.<br/><br/>Plus you only get 1 hero point per level (or for good RP) and can have a maximum of 3 at any one time, so I don't see them as making characters substantially "more powerful than needed", and more as a way to reward good RP and give people another incentive (apart from the obvious) to be descriptive and more immersive.