DEX Averages

[Blue]

Re: DEX Averages

 

Brick: 18-20

Martial Artist: 23-30

Speedster: 27-33

Energy Projector: 20-27

 

My own PCs tend to be on the lower end of these figures. My NPCs are all over these ranges. And other Players' characters are all over the map! I try to guide them, but ultimately I let them have what they want if it's not gamebreaking.

[Kristopher]

Re: DEX Averages

 

Now that's just rude. If you go with the scale that says 30 DEX is peak human, and you assume that your PCs are that epic, and that Speedsters have a superpower raising them up, it's reasonable.

 

Higher than I'd go, usually, but it's okay.

 

I keep forgetting that goofy thing about 30 being "peak human" for most of the primary characteristics. Feh.

[MitchellS]

Re: DEX Averages

 

In our Legacy Universe campaign (with characters averaging 485 points) the breakdowns are:

 

Brick:

Midknight: 26 Dex, 6 speed.

 

Energy Projector:

Crimson Pulse: 27 Dex, 6 Speed

Maple Leaf: 25 Dex, 5 Speed

Titanium Mist: 21 Dex, 5 Speed

Quiver: 24 Dex, 6 Speed

 

Speedster:

Mach: 33 Dex, 8 Speed.

[Gary]

Re: DEX Averages

 

As high as the GM lets me get away with.

[Derek Hiemforth]

Re: DEX Averages

 

Brick: DEX 18-23, SPD 4-5

Mentalist: EGO 20-26, SPD 4-5

Energy Projector: DEX 23-26, SPD 5-6

Martial Artist: DEX 26-29, SPD 6-7

Speedster: DEX 29-35, SPD 7-9

[Sean Waters]

Re: DEX Averages

 

Brick 10-15

Blaster 14-20

Martial Artist 18-24

Speedster 20-26

 

Yes, I know they are low. As Gm I consciously chose these values. I wanted heroes that were still in the Dex ranges of normal humans.

I just don't see Cyclops or Scarlet Witch type characters in the "olympic level" Dex range.

 

I've adjusted the dex ranges of all the official villians accordingly.

 

It works out pretty well.

 

Strongly agree with this aproach - and Speed tends to get artificially inflated too. Usually only MAs and speedsters break the human normal barrier. Even at speed 4 you are acting twice as fast as a normal human.

[lapsedgamer]

Re: DEX Averages

 

Oh, I don't know about that. I was once stalking Kerri Strugg (the little cutie who won an olympic gold medal in '96), but then she broke my heart by issuing a restraining order against me. So I broke her jaw with a tire iron.

 

She couldn't have that good a Dex, 'cause I know that I don't (I'm a klutz), but I was able to hit her 3 or 4 times before those cops saw me and I had to run off. She don't dodge for crap. If she had an 18+ Dex, then I'd only be hitting her on like an 8 or less. Maybe I just rolled really well, but I didn't miss her once.

 

In this example I would say that, though Ms. Strugg is a higly trained gymnast with a DEX score approaching the human max (20), she is--not to our knowledge--a trained combatant. That makes a big difference. She has a high DEX, the Acrobatics skill and hella levels with that skill. Her SPD is probably 2 just like most people because SPD is sort of like a measure combat reaction time. She stands just as much chance of freezing up in a fight as anyone else.

 

I said that 20 was human max bacause I feel that that is the max for normals. Heroes and superheroes get some leeway. In my mind, I still don't think that most stats can rise to 30 without some explanation other than intense training . I would make an exception for DEX and INT, maybe EGO and PRE, for certain concepts. I would set the Champions max at 25 for primary characteristics and keep 4 as the limit for SPD.

 

That being said, superheroes would generally have to have at least an 18 DEX and 4 SPD. Thay have trained to some extent in the combat application of their abilities and seek actively seek out combat and stressful situations, so they have a bump up on the common man. The genre assumes that most supers, even those who are not combat monsters, can hold their own with thugs, cops and even "normal" special forces types.

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: DEX Averages

 

In this example I would say that' date=' though Ms. Strugg is a higly trained gymnast with a DEX score approaching the human max (20), she is--not to our knowledge--a trained combatant. That makes a big difference. She has a high DEX, the Acrobatics skill and hella levels with that skill. Her SPD is probably 2 just like most people because SPD is sort of like a measure combat reaction time. She stands just as much chance of freezing up in a fight as anyone else. [/quote']

 

This only works from a game mechanics perspective if we assume she was surprised OOC, and stunned by the first hit (and possibly each succesive one). Combat trained or not, a Hero character with 20 DEX has DCV 7.

[Hawksmoor]

Re: DEX Averages

 

Actually' date=' I blame this more on the original decision (way back in 1st edition) to stat every super out with higher than normal DEX. If typical Bricks in st Ed had been written up at DEX 8-11 (rather than 17-20), and every other archetype dropped about 9 or 10 DEX as well, we would have DEX 13-18 EP's. and DEX 18 - 26 Martial Artists/speedsters, with 30 DEX being extreme. And the game would play exactly as it does now, since all OCV's and DCV's ould fall by about 3, except for agents and normals. Dex inflation basically soaks up 30 points from the average Super without changing how they compare against each other, but making it much harder for normals to attack them or avoid their attacks.[/quote']

 

It is the last part that makes the Dex worth it. It keeps agents from being TOO much of a threat.

 

BTW

 

I almost exactly mirror Eosin. Which is fitting since we both learned and played at the same locale.

 

Hawksmoor

[JmOz]

Re: DEX Averages

 

My local games look like this as well. 350 Speedsters are allowed an 8 SPD though.

 

I would allow it to, those ranges is just where 90% would exist

 

Also Mentlaists should be mentioned

 

Dex 17-23/Speed 5-6

[Savinien]

Re: DEX Averages

 

Strongly agree with this aproach - and Speed tends to get artificially inflated too. Usually only MAs and speedsters break the human normal barrier. Even at speed 4 you are acting twice as fast as a normal human.

 

I'm here, too. SPD is 2/3 Normal; 4 max human-based/bricks

5 - Gadgeteers/MA

6 - Reserved for Speedsters

[Rapier]

Re: DEX Averages

 

Strongly agree with this aproach - and Speed tends to get artificially inflated too. Usually only MAs and speedsters break the human normal barrier. Even at speed 4 you are acting twice as fast as a normal human.

I'm roughly new to Hero (circa 1991), so I don't have quite the history with the system of some of y'alls. When I started playing the slowest brick had a DEX of 18...and it was REALLY, REALLY low.

 

I guess I just kind of went with it all these years. All of our characters tend to dump a LOT of points into DEX. Recently, we semi-retired our Champions campaign and moved to Hero (a Buffy the Vampire Hero kind of game). I was really surprised by what we found. The fastest character has a SPD of 5 and a DEX of 26. Most SPDs are 3 and DEXs around 15 - 18. The big surprise was that it didn't seem to affect our combats at all. We hit just as often.

 

I mean, it makes sense, like some have stated...if you move the whole range (for heroes and villains) from Hero DEX 23, Villain DEX 25 to Hero DEX 15, Villain DEX 17...the Hit Rolls are the same.

 

It would take some real concerted effort at this point to move the Champs characters but I see a real merit in lowering the average DEX of characters (both PCs and NPCs) across the campaign. It certainly would free up a lot more points for skills etc.

[bwdemon]

Re: DEX Averages

 

Over a variety of games, including point values ranging from 200-350:

 

Brick = 15-24

Martial Artist = 20-30

Speedster = 26-36

Energy Projector = 18-27

 

We've had occasional upward spikes in "tweener" characters (e.g. martial artist/brick) or high-powered types (shamelessly unjustifiable powergaming) and a couple of numbers that would fall off of the low end, but those ranges are fairly typical.

[lapsedgamer]

Re: DEX Averages

 

This only works from a game mechanics perspective if we assume she was surprised OOC' date=' and stunned by the first hit (and possibly each succesive one). Combat trained or not, a Hero character with 20 DEX has DCV 7.[/quote']

Right. I was more joking than serious, but it is not icompletely impossible for a guy with 8 DEX, 2 SPD to beat up someone with 18 DEX, 2 SPD especially with that free first shot. A crowbar is what probably +3D6. Give the guy normal STR and he's dishing out 41/2 or 5d6, and most stalkers push or haymaker from surprise. Don't ask me why I know that, just go with it. She has very little in the way of defenses, so....

 

On a more serious note, I agree with the concept of DEX inflation, but I think the published characters set the bar. If I remember correctly, really good trained mercs and SWAT types have 15 DEX, 3 SPD, or more In comics, even people like the young Kitty Pryde and Terra from The Teen Titans get more actions than the red shirts employed by the villians.

[Vondy]

Re: DEX Averages

 

Brick 10-15

Blaster 14-20

Martial Artist 18-24

Speedster 20-26

 

Yes, I know they are low. As Gm I consciously chose these values. I wanted heroes that were still in the Dex ranges of normal humans.

I just don't see Cyclops or Scarlet Witch type characters in the "olympic level" Dex range.

 

I've adjusted the dex ranges of all the official villians accordingly.

 

It works out pretty well.

 

I run mine low as well. Its really just a matter of taste. I prefer games with a more iron age type of power level, though morality tends not to be somewhat lighter than a normal iron age game would suggest. I guess you'd call my games, more "grounded" supers with narrow, but often potent power builds.

 

Brick DX 14-18

Blaster DX 16-20

Martial Artist 18-24

Speedster 21-27

 

SPD scores tend to run 3-5. Some martial artists hit 6 and some speedy types hit 7. I do allow lightning reflexes beyond these levels with some small amount of oversight.

 

The reality, though, is that he ranges are relative to the game in question, the method of interpretation, and the style of play. I prefer a grittier, more down to earth style of game, but if I ran a silver age style game I would raise the ranges to accomodate what are, essentially, different genre conventions.

[JohnOSpencer]

Re: DEX Averages

 

My current party has and average DEX of 20 with a low of 19 and a high of 21.

 

My average(for NPCs) is:

Brick 15-23

Blaster 18-26

Martial Artist 20-30

Speedster 20-30

 

 

John Spencer

[Enforcer84]

Re: DEX Averages

 

Yours seem to mimic mine.

Me too. He stole from us. It's the only logical explination. We must destroy him.

[Trebuchet]

Re: DEX Averages

 

Let's see:

 

Cyberknight (Powered Armor brick/EB) DEX 20

Eagle Eye (MA) DEX 29

Le Magister (Sorcerer/EB) DEX 20

Prodigy (Mentalist) DEX & EGO both 23

Sidestep (Demibrick) DEX 23

Silhouette (Brick) DEX 23

Vesuvius (EB/Demibrick) DEX 23

Thunderbird (EB) DEX 23)

Zl'f (MA) DEX 43

 

Average team DEX: 25.3

Average team DEX w/o Zl'f: 23.0

 

Zl'f kind of skews the grade curve.

[assault]

Re: DEX Averages

 

My general standards are:

Mentalists, Energy Projectors: 20-26

Martial Artists: 20-30

Speedsters: 23-33

Bricks: 20-33

 

Yes, you read that right.

 

Superman is a viable character conception in my campaigns.

 

I am considering a lower powered game, where nearly everybody except the Speedsters and some Bricks will have 20 Dex (or less). Likewise, nearly everybody will have 4 Spd (or less), apart from the same exceptions.

[Kid Chaos]

Re: DEX Averages

 

For my campaign it breaks down somewhere around here...

 

Agents: 11-17/2-4

Bricks: 14-17/3-4

Energy Projectors: 17-23/5-6

Martial Artists: 20-26/6-7

Mentalist: 17-23/5-6

Speedster: 23-32/7-8

 

 

So basically a lot like many of the lower Dex spectrum games. There are of course exceptions to those rules.

[TheEmerged]

Re: DEX Averages

 

Of the 4 PC's, two clock in at 23, one at 21, and the other is a multiformer with scores between 18 and 36 depending on her current mode. All have SPD 6 except for 2 of the multiformer's modes (at 4 & 8).

 

Of course, like someone else mentioned I prefer the higher DEX scores because it helps seperate novas from baseline humans (aka "supers" from "normals") -- and what really matters is how they compare to the rest of the campaign. I stick to the rule that superhuman begins at 30 pretty strongly as well, so 23 being a common nova DEX score isn't that outlandish.

 

For NPC's, I tend to classify them into 5 "levels" -- with #5 being forces of nature like my 3000-pt Doctor Destroyer rewrite, #4 being 850-1500 pts, #3 being 500-850pts, #2 being 350-500 (where the PC's start off), and #1 being 250-350 pts (where 6 of 7 novas belong pointwise).

 

Instead of hard numbers, I created some ballparks. For DEX, it starts with Velocirator at 60 DEX, defined as the absolute highest DEX in the campaign world (she's also the lone 12 SPD in the campaign) -- a Level 4 character. Not far below her at 53 comes Arachnaman (a Spider-man one-off), who has a 10 SPD. Coming next at 42 DEX and 8 SPD is Victory (a Wonder Woman parody), a couple other high-end speedsters, and one particular Level 1 character for whom that's the sole power. Most speedsters actually clock in around 30-36 DEX and 8 SPD. Most non-speedster novas above Level 1 have a DEX between 21 and 28 and a SPD of 6; at level 1 scores of 18-23 and SPD 5 are common.

[Christougher]

Re: DEX Averages

 

Operating from memory here, but..

Bricks 18-23

Martial Artists 20-30

Speedsters 23-35(45)

Energy Projectors 20-35

 

In a 250 point game.

 

I built an EP with a 35 DEX (essentially game cap) and no levels, expecting that to be enough CV to live on. I was dead average in terms of CVs for the game.