Agreed. A hero point is a characters chance to affect the story, to not be the hostage of fortune, to say 'Its important to me that it goes this way'.
We always narrate hero points expenditure, to explain how the character 'beat the odds'. If a player comes out with a cool, or fun explanation then he might be in line for some of those discretionary 1-3 HPs at the end of the episode, which balances the cost.
One tip is that I have been spending more prep time recently with the character's sheets beforehand to tailor the opposition, so as to provide a challenge. If your players hero point expenditure is constantly depriving the story of drama because they are able to 'escape' every tight corner, you might want to provide some tougher opposition in your climatic scenes.
ALternatively remember that significant Narrator characters can have hero points. Their main use is to allow you as narrator to likewise say, this outcome is too important to a good story to just be in the hands of fortune. Of course you have to narrate their lucky escape too.
"They were seven in all, and therewithal both sides rushed into the fight. Thorarin slew a house-carle of Thorbiorn's, and Alfgeir another, and there fell also a housecarle of Thorarin's; but no weapons would bite on Odd Katlason. Now the goodwife Aud calls out on her women to part them, and they cast clothes over the weapons." The Story Of The Ere-Dwellers Chapter 18
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