Vehicle stats issues

[Guest Bladetooth]

IÕm rather new to Hero, so it may just be me, but I may have found a few issues with some vehicle characteristics in the base book. Please excuse me for intruding if these things have an errata already, but when I looked, I didnÕt find one. Also, I could just be misunderstanding something, so please cut me some slack.

 

First, the chart lists a Harley Davidson Motorcycle as having a STRength of 15. This might be suitable for setting carrying capacity, or it might be relevant for how much the vehicle can tow with its tires, I donÕt know...

 

But I know what itÕs not good for. It only takes 4 horsepower to lift 300 kilograms at 1 meter/second (given the proper gears); which, according to lift requirements, needs a STRength of 19. Why do I care about this? Because I want to attach a winch to a motorcycle for the sake of using the cycleÕs engine to pull it up a cliff. ItÕs clearly obvious that a Harley Davidson motorcycle can lift its own weight, as well as a rider or two and its own baggage. So am I using the listed stat for an unintended purpose, and if so, what stat should I use for winching, what for the cycleÕs carrying capacity, and what for its towing capacity?

 

Also, according to the same chart, it lists a PorscheÕs maximum non-combat speed as 448" per turn, with 5 turns representing a minute. This works out to barely over 2 miles per hour! Unless the inches represent game board distance (which they could), there are some serious issues here. At any rate, how should I be calculating from real world speeds into stats?

[Steve Long]

First, I'm moving this to the discussion section because it's not really a rules question, and others may wish to chime in.

 

Second, the Vehicle Table in the core rulebook is, of necessity, just a summary covering the basics; it's not based on copious research (or, sadly, free test drives performed by me ). If you want fully detailed rules on how to build vehicles, check out The Ultimate Vehicle. If the 50 sample vehicles in TUV aren't enough for you, pick up The HERO System Vehicle Sourcebook, which ships from the printer tomorrow. It's got another 140-some vehicles, carefully researched, with options for many, many more.

 

Third, for winches, check out the sample equipment section in TUV; that should solve your problem. TUV also has some notes for converting real-world speeds into game terms.

 

Fourth, you're misinterpreting the rules for movement as they pertain to the Porsche (and thus, probably other things as well). The Porsche, moving at a full speed of 448" per Turn, moves 2240" per minute, or 134,400 per hour, which equates to about 167 mph (1 mile = 804.5").

 

Glad to have you on board with the HERO System! We hope you have a lot of fun playing.

[Lord Liaden]

Just in case the point wasn't clear from Steve's general response, in HERO game mechanic terms 1" refers to an inch-wide hex on a tabletop game map (although you don't need to use maps to play), which is equivalent to two meters in real-world measurement.

[Killer Shrike]

Hehe; the Fred Flinstone Porche model

 

"Gee Fred, that car looks really fast!";

 

"Yep Barney, it gets 2 mph in the turns, up to 4 on a strait away with good traction and can go up to 8 miles per hour downhill! You can go all the way from Tallarocky to Sandy Eggo in just under 32 days of straight driving if you stick to the highway and avoid traffic!"

 

 

So welcome to the HERO System. A winch would likely be a seperate Power with Stretching and maybe some extra STR.

 

As far as mph, if you are in a pinch and dont have a chart or time to figure it out just divide the total inches per turn by 2.666666666~ and it will give you a ball park miles per hour.

[misterdeath]

Originally posted by Killer Shrike

Hehe; the Fred Flinstone Porche model

 

"Gee Fred, that car looks really fast!";

 

"Yep Barney, it gets 2 mph in the turns, up to 4 on a strait away with good traction and can go up to 8 miles per hour downhill! You can go all the way from Tallarocky to Sandy Eggo in just under 32 days of straight driving if you stick to the highway and avoid traffic!"

 

 

Um, they made that car. It was called the Chevette.

 

D

[Pattern Ghost]

Originally posted by misterdeath

Um, they made that car. It was called the Chevette.

 

D

 

 

I thought it was the Metro (aka Suzuki Swift...)

[misterdeath]

Originally posted by Pattern Ghost

I thought it was the Metro (aka Suzuki Swift...)

 

Perhaps the most misnamed car ever.

 

Swift my ass.

 

I was in college, and my buddy had a Chevette. We were going out somewhere, and the car was having issues going up the hill.

 

So, I said in a loud clear voice, "Activate Fred Flinstone Drive".

 

"Wha?"

 

"Jam your feet through the floorboards and run."

 

He hit me pretty hard for that...

 

D

[Guest Kolava]

On a related note: how would you build a Fred Flintstone drive into a vehicle, one that used the driver's running speed or some fraction thereof?

[caris]

Originally posted by Kolava

On a related note: how would you build a Fred Flintstone drive into a vehicle, one that used the driver's running speed or some fraction thereof?

 

by inches in the appropriate movement type, and apply a limit on the movement to represent that it can only do up to what the person powering it can achieve, that is how they build bicycles.

[BobGreenwade]

The "Flintstone Drive" only requires the driver's Running to get started. I'd build it as 12" of Ground Movement (if SPD 4; 16" if SPD 3) with a -1/2 Limitation that it can only go as fast as the driver, in scale inches per Turn.

 

(I think we're getting about ready for the Cave Hero genre book... )

[Bengal]

Originally posted by BobGreenwade

(I think we're getting about ready for the Cave Hero genre book... )

 

You know, I haven't had a good gaming session of Ice Age Mammoth Hunters for quite some time.