Paranormal

[Lixivious]

 What would be considered the max obtainable characteristics for paranormals? I'm mostly concerned with the individuals who train to reach their abilities and not those who use gadgets.

[Lucius]

 

How do you define "paranormal?"

 

In any case, I suspect you can ask six different players and get seven opinions.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary usually has two

[SteelCold]

If its a super soldier or martial artist type then its usually ten points past what is considered the normal characteristics for humans. (30 for STR, 5 for SPD etc.)

[Hyper-Man]

Ditto on the 30 for STR, DEX, CON, etc..

I would say 6 for SPD as I've seen a really good write up for Bruce Lee that had a 30 DEX and 6 SPD and seemed quite legit.

 

Batman and Captain America are typically the definitions of this in their respective comic book universes.  Cap just happens to get a huge portion of that 'max human potential' from the super solder serum (not to say he doesn't train hard too, but that's more to refine skill than to stay in-shape).  Bats just puts in the work.  He may not be quite as strong or have as quick reflexes as Cap he is about as close as someone without a "serum" can get (*based on their various cross company encounters).

[Lixivious]

How do you define "paranormal?"

 

In any case, I suspect you can ask six different players and get seven opinions.

 

I was thinking paranormal as defined in the Stronghold supplement. I was hoping their might have been a write up on it somewhere.

 

By Hyper-Man:

 

Ditto on the 30 for STR, DEX, CON, etc..

I would say 6 for SPD as I've seen a really good write up for Bruce Lee that had a 30 DEX and 6 SPD and seemed quite legit.

 

Batman and Captain America are typically the definitions of this in their respective comic book universes.  Cap just happens to get a huge portion of that 'max human potential' from the super solder serum (not to say he doesn't train hard too, but that's more to refine skill than to stay in-shape).  Bats just puts in the work.  He may not be quite as strong or have as quick reflexes as Cap he is about as close as someone without a "serum" can get (*based on their various cross company encounters).

 

 

I just read in CC that the peak that humanity has to offer is Legendary, which is 2x to 3x a Noteworthy Normal, so I think those stats you listed are right on. For my group I need to drop Green Dragon's SPD from 7 to 6.

[Dr. MID-Nite]

STR 30 can lift a ton and that's clearly superhuman. I'd say somewhere between STR 20-23 for upper level human potential.

[Hyper-Man]

From 6e1

 

A character’s lifting capacity is indicated on the Strength Table. It represents the maximum amount of weight he can just manage to lift off the ground, stagger with for a step or two, then drop.

 

25 STR lists the lifting example as "Sportscar, horse and rider". 

 

Lifting a Horse and rider seems pretty close to what Cap does while selling War Bonds in the States before visiting Germany (Lifting a Motorcycle and girls without breaking a sweat).  That sure seems to indicate to me that he has MORE than a 25 STR. I have no problem having Bats top out around a 25 STR.  He could bulk up more but would probably do so at the loss of DEX or SPD.

[bubba smith]

to me paranormal means low [street] level super

[Lord Liaden]

Champions Universe 5E presented a chart of "Characteristics Standards" for human beings, on p. 28, which listed the maximum in each Characteristic that a purely human being could possibly achieve through genetics and training. Anything beyond that is by definition "superhuman" and requires an extraordinary justification, e.g. mutagenic augmentation or non-human ancestry. The 6E Character Creation book updates those Char. standards for Sixth Edition, on pp. 48-49.

 

Note that even those maximums are of "legendary" status, achievable only by rare, truly exceptional individuals. For example, a STR near 30 would be the neighborhood of Captain America, Tarzan, Conan, or Doc Savage.

[SteelCold]

I thought that the character standard charts in both 5e and 6e were meant more like guidelines than strict rules such as "Look, that guy lifting that moped must be as strong as Hercules or something." or "Wow, she solved that Rubik's Cube in five minutes, must be as smart as Einstein."

[massey]

That sort of thing is also genre-specific.  Human limits are going to be different in a very realistic game versus a comedic anime genre.  I wouldn't have any trouble giving Zangief higher than a 30 Str.

[Comic]

There's a story Franko Columbu tells about when he and Arnold were young body builders, drunk one night, walking the length of a street and lifting and turning parked cars in a zig-zag with their bumpers touching, so no one would be able to drive them away in the morning.

 

I have a picture of my grandfather-in-law, in his prime, at a "cow-lifting contest": the cows stood on a platform, and the 'lifter' was to raise the platform a minimum of one foot from just below shoulder height to full shoulder height. This was of course meant as a joke, what with the two-cow minimum. He lifted four, because he didn't get that it was supposed to be a joke.

 

I'd say 30 is about the strength a human might exhibit at the 'lift off the floor and stagger a couple of feet' level, for a few months, at their prime. But I'd call that pushed strength; what Captain America has are the vestiges of the transformation that made him something else; what Bruce Wayne, with advanced chemistry and biology degrees and the resources of Wayne Enterprises has? That's not natural, either.

[massey]

There's a story Franko Columbu tells about when he and Arnold were young body builders, drunk one night, walking the length of a street and lifting and turning parked cars in a zig-zag with their bumpers touching, so no one would be able to drive them away in the morning.

 

I have a picture of my grandfather-in-law, in his prime, at a "cow-lifting contest": the cows stood on a platform, and the 'lifter' was to raise the platform a minimum of one foot from just below shoulder height to full shoulder height. This was of course meant as a joke, what with the two-cow minimum. He lifted four, because he didn't get that it was supposed to be a joke.

 

I'd say 30 is about the strength a human might exhibit at the 'lift off the floor and stagger a couple of feet' level, for a few months, at their prime. But I'd call that pushed strength; what Captain America has are the vestiges of the transformation that made him something else; what Bruce Wayne, with advanced chemistry and biology degrees and the resources of Wayne Enterprises has? That's not natural, either.

 

I'd say that pushing is more "mom lifts car off of her trapped baby".  Generally it isn't something that normal humans would do, certainly not for a cow lifting contest.  Besides, we're dealing with cinematic humans in an adventure game.  They shouldn't be limited by the abilities of normal boring people in real life.

[Lord Liaden]

I thought that the character standard charts in both 5e and 6e were meant more like guidelines than strict rules such as "Look, that guy lifting that moped must be as strong as Hercules or something." or "Wow, she solved that Rubik's Cube in five minutes, must be as smart as Einstein."

 

Of course, every campaign can and should set its own standards, and people will have their own ideas as to what's appropriate. But if the OP is looking for an "official" HERO-based standard, those charts are as close as it gets.

 

The likelihood of a group of us HERO gamers coming to a concensus as to what's appropriate, let alone "realistic," historically isn't high.

[Lucius]

 

To me, paranormal usually implies psionics.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Paranormal Palindromedary