Adding Damage to Advantaged Powers

[Ninja-Bear]

Hello Herodom,

 

As the title says, help me to understand how to add DC to advantages Powers particularly weapons in Heroic. My group never really use these rules but I would like to learn these now. Btw I’m using 6th.

 

Now understand the basics such as how to add DC from STR min to unadvantaged Powers.  I.e if my guard has 13 STR and is wielding a dagger STR min 8 1D6-1 (2DC) he can add 1 DC to increase for a total of 1D6 (3DC). Now if the dagger is AP can he add any DC? Add how much if the guardsman has 15 STR?

 

 

[Tryskhell]

TLDR : In the AP dagger case, you gain a step of damage at STR 15, 21, 28, 35, 41 etc... 

 

Okay so :

 

A DC is 5 Active Points worth of damage. In an unadvantaged NStun attack (blast, hth...), this is exactly 1d6, and 3d6 for an unadvantaged Killing attack. 

 

Armor Piercing is a +1/4 advantage (IIRC), this means that in order to add damage to it, you need 1.25 DC (1 + 1*(1/4)), or 6.25 Active Points worth of damage. Because there is a 0.25, the "price" of DCs is weird : while the power might be worth 12 Active Points (exactly 12.5, but averaged down), each additional step (+1 > +1/2d6 > +1d6...) is worth 7, then 6, then 7 Active Point, and so on. 

 

As you may know, STR min reduces the effective STR that can be used to increase damage by its value. 13 - 8 = 5. This is 5 Active Points worth of bonus damage, not enough to increase the damage to 1d6. 

 

If the guardsman now has 15 STR, you can go 15 - 8 = 7. Now this is definitely enough for additional damage. 

 

So, to sum it up, you gain 1 step of damage every 7 STR, alternating 6, above 8 (that's 15, 21, 28...). 

 

The calculation is slightly less weird if you take the STR in one big bunch and divide by 6.25, discarding decimals :

 

(STR - STR min) / (5 * (1 + total advantage worth) = how many "advantaged DCs" you gain

 

In your case :

 

>with 13 STR :

(13 - 8 ) / (5 * 1.25) = X

5 / 6.25 = 0.8

You discard decimals, so that's 0 DC. 

 

>with 15 STR :

(15 - 8 ) / (5 * 1.25) = X

7 / 6.25 = 1.12

So that's 1 DC, or +1

 

For this calculation, additional DCs from martial maneuvers and the like are counted as 5 STR each :

 

A +1 DC with 13 STR :

(18 - 8 ) / (5 * 1.25) = X

10 / 6.25 = 1.6

So, again, +1.

 

I hope I helped a little bit! 

[Hugh Neilson]

It's probably easier to multiply STR by the advantage.  +1/4 advantage means +4 DC costs 25 points, so you need +25 STR/4 =6.25, so:

 

Add 1d6 = 6 STR

Add 2d6 = 12 STR

Add 3d6 = 19 STR

Add 4d6 = 25 STR

 

I find this tougher for adding DCs like Martial maneuvers, where you need 1,2,3,5 DC to add +4d6, so:

 

Add 1d6 = 1 DC

Add 2d6 = 2 DC

Add 3d6 = 4 DC

Add 4d6 = 5 DC

 

What if it's a +1/2 advantage?  Well

 

Add 1d6 = 7 STR or 1 DC

Add 2d6 = 15 STR or 3 DC

Add 3d6 = 22 STR or 4 DC

Add 4d6 = 30 STR or 6 DC

 

If I am running a character who uses advantaged weaponry, I'd list out the increases.  For a group, charts for the various advantages, and just listing the weapons in each chart, might simplify things.

 

FAQ:

 

Q: WAAH - there are dead points when I need extra STR/an extra DC does nothing.

A:  Suck it up, buttercup - d20 has "dead levels" where certain abilities don't advance and sweet spots where rounding makes +1 more advantageous too.

[HeroGM]

Isn't there a table for this on vol2?

[Tryskhell]

2 hours ago, HeroGM said:

Isn't there a table for this on vol2?

 

There is, on page 101, but it's not really exact, and goes only up to +1 advantage

 

[mbmcgregor]

You can buy an expanded table in the store for $1 .. up to 140 DC and +3 worth of advantages.  

 

 

Edited March 11, 2021 by mbmcgregor
Typo

[Ninja-Bear]

7 hours ago, HeroGM said:

Isn't there a table for this on vol2?

Yes there is and well it still confused me 1DC at +1/4 adv  for KA grants you a +1 pip. I’m like huh? Did I miss something?

[Ninja-Bear]

9 hours ago, Hugh Neilson said:

It's probably easier to multiply STR by the advantage.  +1/4 advantage means +4 DC costs 25 points, so you need +25 STR/4 =6.25, so:

 

Add 1d6 = 6 STR

Add 2d6 = 12 STR

Add 3d6 = 19 STR

Add 4d6 = 25 STR

 

I find this tougher for adding DCs like Martial maneuvers, where you need 1,2,3,5 DC to add +4d6, so:

 

Add 1d6 = 1 DC

Add 2d6 = 2 DC

Add 3d6 = 4 DC

Add 4d6 = 5 DC

 

What if it's a +1/2 advantage?  Well

 

Add 1d6 = 7 STR or 1 DC

Add 2d6 = 15 STR or 3 DC

Add 3d6 = 22 STR or 4 DC

Add 4d6 = 30 STR or 6 DC

I was doing that in my head but wasn’t sure if it was “correct”. That’s the the easiest way in my mind to calculate it.

[Ninja-Bear]

Thanks for all the help! I think I got it now. Man I was overly complicating things.

[Ninja-Bear]

Rechecked the Damage Class chart in vol 2 and for +1/4 ADV 1 DC you get 1/2d6. You guys think Steve is being generous?

[Hugh Neilson]

hmmm...I rounded, but I suppose the technical answer is that you get the highest amount you could afford, and no more.

 

So 5 STR gets 3 x 1.25 = 3.75 points, or 1/2d6.  6 STR gets the same as you need 6.25.

 

On that basis, with a +1/4 advantage, it would be

 

0-3 STR - no extra DCs

4-6 STR + 1/2d6 Normal

7 - 9 STR +1 d6 (1 KA DC)

10 - 12 STR +1 1/2 d6

13 - 16 STR +2d6 (2 KA DC)

17 - 18 STR +2 1/2 d6

19 - 22 STR +3 d6 (+1d6 KA)

23 - 24 STR +3 1/2 d6

25 - 28 STR +4 d6 (+1d6+1 KA)

 

And so on - 4d6 is [25+0 to 25+3]

 

 

[HeroGM]

6 hours ago, Ninja-Bear said:

Rechecked the Damage Class chart in vol 2 and for +1/4 ADV 1 DC you get 1/2d6. You guys think Steve is being generous?

 

Rounds in players favor

[Hugh Neilson]

Well, so much for much of the above discussion...

 

6e v2 p99

 

Quote

For purposes of these rules, there’s no such thing as a “half Damage Class.” Characters can only add damage in whole DCs (though in the case of Killing Damage and Advantaged attacks, some steps on the Damage Class tables may involve halfdice). For example, a character cannot use one Combat Skill Level to add “half a Damage Class,” because there’s no such thing as a half Damage Class. Similarly, when a character calculates the damage bonus from velocity, or the effect of using STR to add damage by exceeding a weapon’s STR Minimum, the normal HERO System rounding rules do not apply. A character has to have a full 6m/10m of movement (depending on the Maneuver used), or full 5 extra points of STR, to get +1 DC — anything less than that has no effect.

 

[Ninja-Bear]

6 hours ago, Hugh Neilson said:

Well, so much for much of the above discussion...

 

6e v2 p99

 

 

And that’s what confused me about the chart. It seemed to break the rule.