Hero Philosophy - SPEED

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Hero Philosophy - SPEED

 

The biggest problem I see with these approaches is that the characters are actually getting extra benefit regardless (Taking a normal action on a Phase not normally available to their 'regular SPD'; SPD 4+2* taking a full action on Phase 2).

 

If you make the higher SPD Phases only available for the limited actions what happens when the higher and regular SPD's don't match up on the chart?

 

I generally resolve the lack of matchup by deciding in advance what the actual phases will be and how they will be divided. For example, if you have 4 SPD + 2 SPD only for X, then your 4 SPD would normally move in 3, 6, 9 and 12, and 6 would be 2,4,6,8,10,12.

 

I'd probably compromise this to Ph 2 (Limited), Ph 4, Ph 6, Ph 8 (Limited), Ph 10, Ph 12. This uses the higher SPD to set the phases, but limits the ones that come up before the base SPD would get to act, and delaying regular action phases.

 

The only time you really need to bother with the problems extra SPD causes is when someone uses an adjustment power.

 

I use "the character moves on the later of his next phase under the old SPD and his next phase under the new SPD.". if his SPD changes again before he gets an action, the "next phase" from his pre-adjusted SPD is the "old SPD" phase.

 

If you want (say) +1 SPD on 11-' date=' the easiest way to do it is just roll the 11- PS12, and apply it for the following turn then roll again.[/quote']

 

I use this approach to buy SPD gradually. +1 SPD, 8-, 3 points, and work through the various activation levels.

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Hero Philosophy - SPEED

 

I've been tinkering with the idea of getting rid of the speed chart and instead going with something like this (it's not all worked out yet, just a general idea):

 

Each Character get's his SPD value in "tokens" each round. SPD 4 = 4 Tokens, SPD 8 = 8 tokens.

 

Then once combat begins we start working through the characters based on their DEX value. Highest to Lowest.

 

When your DEX score comes up the player can chose to act by "spending a token", if you chose not to act, then you save the token for actions later on.

 

Once we've passed by your DEX score, if you want to do an "interrupt" or "Abort" you have to spend another "Token", but you can do this at any time (as long as you have "tokens". But the person you are interrupting can pay another "token" to still beat you. Then you can spend another one if you want to beat them. Sort of like Bidding at an auction, although all bids are spent.

 

The goal would basically be that even with a 8 SPD you might not act 8 times, maybe only twice, but with those two actions would be super important because you out "bid" the other character who was trying to act to make sure you succeeded in those two actions.

 

Or something like that. I still have to work out the details.

 

The goal would be to let everyone act, but the higher your SPD the more "screen time" you would have, the more options you have to act or prevent others from acting, etc...

 

It might go something like this. SPD 7 Hero vs. SPD 3 Goon.

 

1)SPD 7 Character attacks Goon as normal(spends 1 token)

2)SPD 2 Goon shoots at Hero (spends 1 token)

3)Hero tries to dodge out of the way (spends 1 token)

4)Goon tries to out shoot the hero's dodge (spends 1 token)

5)Hero spends another token to out dodge the Goon's out shoot attempt. (Spend 1 token)

6)Goon doesn't spend any more tokens. Shoots as normal, Hero dodges as normal.

7) Hero attacks Goon (Spends 1 Token)

8)Goon tries to Dodge (Spends 1 token) (Goon has now spent all his tokens, Hero has spent 4 of his 7)

9) Hero Spends a token to Out shoot Goons Dodge (spend 1 token)

10)Hero attacks Goon as normal, Goon doesn't get his Dodge bonus.

11)Hero Attacks Goon as normal (spend 1 token)

12)Hero Attacks Goon as Normal (spends 1 token) (Hero has now spent all 7 of his tokens)

 

Start next turn, if the goon is still standing.

 

In this combat the SPD 3 Goon only got two attacks against the Hero, and the SPD 7 Hero only got 4 attacks against the Goon.

 

It would end up something like that. It makes each action/token worth a bit more and would make combat a bit more interactive. SPD would come to represent how fluid you are in combat, how quick you are able to adjust to the situation and counter your opponents attacks.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Any such system tends to provide a significant opportunity to that higher SPD character. Consider:

 

It might go something like this. SPD 7 Hero vs. SPD 3 Goon.

 

1)SPD 7 Character attacks Goon as normal(spends 1 token)

 

EDIT: Hero shifts all levels to OCV and added damage.

 

2)SPD 2 Goon shoots at Hero (spends 1 token)

3)Hero tries to dodge out of the way (spends 1 token)

 

EDIT: and shift all levels to DCV and reallocate Multipower from attack slot to Force Field slot

 

4)Goon tries to out shoot the hero's dodge (spends 1 token)

5)Hero spends another token to out dodge the Goon's out shoot attempt. (Spend 1 token)

6)Goon doesn't spend any more tokens. Shoots as normal, Hero dodges as normal.

7) Hero attacks Goon (Spends 1 Token)

 

EDIT: Hero shifts MP back to attack power, and moves all levels back to OCV and added damage.

 

8)Goon tries to Dodge (Spends 1 token) (Goon has now spent all his tokens, Hero has spent 4 of his 7)

9) Hero Spends a token to Out shoot Goons Dodge (spend 1 token)

10)Hero attacks Goon as normal, Goon doesn't get his Dodge bonus.

11)Hero Attacks Goon as normal (spend 1 token)

 

EDIT: With all levels on OCV and added damage.

 

12)Hero Attacks Goon as Normal (spends 1 token) (Hero has now spent all 7 of his tokens)

 

EDIT: Still with all levels on OCV and added damage.

 

High SPD characters with multipowers should always slap a force field or similar slot in there. They should not buy DEX - buy levels so you can have OCV or DCV. As long as you can outbid the opponent, your levels will always be just where you need them.

[CTaylor]

Re: Hero Philosophy - SPEED

 

The game system Aces & Eights dumps all the usual systems and breaks everything down into 10ths of second actions which happen simulntaneously. Cocking your gun: 3 counts (3 tenths of a second). Aiming: 2 counts. Changing to another target: depends on the arc you change along, can be up to 10 counts. Moving is in counts, you move five feet every x count, depending on crawling, walking, trotting, running, and so on.

 

Its an interesting system, you start with initiative rolls (adjusted by DEX) then everything just happens when you get to the appropriate count, but if you thought Hero combat was slow whoa nelly is this system slow. It's like watching a gunfight in super, super slow motion, one frame per second. Sped up it would move and behave like a real fight but in game time its just astonishingly session-devouring.

 

Call of Cthulhu has a system I've long considered using for Hero, where half phases take place at half your DEX and are handled separately. You do your first half phase action in order of DEX, then your second half phase action when half your dex comes up. Half move on DEX 24, fire on DEX 12. That seems like a decent system, because it reduces the "teleport around the map" effect and if two people move on the same phase you can react to someone's action before they take another.

[sinanju]

Re: Hero Philosophy - SPEED

 

The WWII miniatures game Crossfire has a really cool approach to combat that I think could be really interesting if it could be modeled in Champions (or other RPGs).

 

There are no fixed turns in Crossfire. Instead, one player gets the first initiative, and he (the active player) can activate each of his units (moving, firing, etc) as many times as he likes in any order he likes. He can also have his units do recon by fire or fire on known enemy units (if any). If a unit's attack fails, that unit cannot move again on that turn. If an enemy unit successfully fires on one of the active player's units--usually reaction fire when they come into sight, but possibly also in an ambush--the active player loses the initiative and the other player begins moving his units...until he, in turn, loses the initiative.

 

Lather, rinse, repeat.

 

There are some interesting consequences of this approach. For one, if the defending player places his units poorly, it's possible that the active player's units may be able to cross the entire table and achieve their objective without ever losing the initiative as they remain out of line of sight of the enemy. Sucks to be the defending general in that case.

 

For another, it means the players have to worry about seizing and holding the initiative with a series of successful actions; there's no artificial "turn" sequence. If you use your units properly--you keep the pressure on, make effective attacks, maneuver carefully, and luck is on your side in the die rolls, you can roll up your enemy before he ever manages to mount an effective resistance. Kinda like real warfare.

 

If I were porting it into an RPG I'd probably use SPD or DEX to determine who (or which side) gets the first move, though once combat is joined I don't know that these would make any difference. (In an ambush, of course, the ambusher gets the first move.)

 

Then, as long as that character (or that side) are successful in attacking (hitting and doing enough stun to at least CON stun the enemy), or moving without being hit by reaction fire, they'd continue to act. As soon as one of those things happen, initiative switches to the other side.

[IndianaJoe3]

Re: Hero Philosophy - SPEED

 

The biggest problem I see with these approaches is that the characters are actually getting extra benefit regardless (Taking a normal action on a Phase not normally available to their 'regular SPD'; SPD 4+2* taking a full action on Phase 2).

 

If you make the higher SPD Phases only available for the limited actions what happens when the higher and regular SPD's don't match up on the chart?

 

You could require that the, "extra" SPD be an even multiple of the character's base SPD. They can use their even-numbered phases for any action, but the odd-numbered phases can only be used for the special action. (Yes, this can get expensive at higher SPDs.)

[Sean Waters]

Re: Hero Philosophy - SPEED

 

New speed systems are difficult to implement without massively altering game balance.

 

Deadlands had a speed system where you drew a number of cards equal to the number of actions you got that turn (which was determined by a roll), and then you counted down through the deck, taking (or holding) your actions as they came up.

 

Nice in that it is a lot less predictable: someone might be SPD 4 but get all their actions before their SPD 6 opponent.

 

OTOH, the current Hero system, whilst highly structured, gains unpredictability due tot he system of being able to hold actions, at least to an extent.

 

I wrote, or half wrote, a system a while back. You start a count at zero, going up. The first action starts on 10, but you roll initiative (which falls in the range -10 to +10) and add that to your first action point, so you take your first action at 0 to 20.

 

Actions then had a 10 point 'time cost' BUT that was modified by how well you accomplished the last thing you did. Say you succeeded with a margin of success of 3, you took your next action in 7 counts, not 10. That meant that someone who was good at fighting, for instance, could put together some very decent combinations. Actions that took extra time would have an associated extra cost (haymaker might add 10, so a base count of 20). You just kept counting up until the action stopped.

 

Relating that to Hero, I suppose you could use your SPD to reduce the next count (you'd probably have to up the count to 15 or even 20 per action). You could take recoveries whenever you got to 100 (or 200 or 300) if you upped it to 20 per action.

 

A zero phase action might have a count of 1 (but not affected by SPD).

 

That also potentially opens up a new category of advantages: fast actions: say +1/4 allows you to reduce the count for that action to 15 (assuming 20 per action) and +1/2 to 10. For +1 it becomes a zero phase action.

 

Hmm...

[CTaylor]

Re: Hero Philosophy - SPEED

 

I agree, I would certainly never want to replace the Speed system in Hero, it has a very interesting effect on combat and simulates special combat training better than any I've seen in dozens of game systems. For those who want greater variety in the system, some randomness could be introduced, such as taking cards with everyone's name on them, putting one in for each speed each character has, then shuffling them up but I'd avoid that simply because the speed 3 guy could end up acting 3 times before anyone else. Plus, the predictability of speed helps simulate actual combat experiences, such as timing someone's actions and then moving to disrupt that.

[Guest steamteck]

Re: Hero Philosophy - SPEED

 

For unpredictability, we have everyone add 1d6 to their DEX for order of move within a phase.

 

I have a question for anyone who runs a high speed game? Do normal humans/minions within the listed normal human levels of speed of, 4 or less, become almost irrelevant? In our games even a four or five is devastating against these sorts of people. It seems something like an seven/eight would make normals seem like warm statues. it would give a completely different feel to combat I'd think.

[Markdoc]

Re: Hero Philosophy - SPEED

 

Well... I didn't say a difference of 3 SPD.... I said an extra 1 SPD... maybe 2. But yes, the intent is that the "starring" character in this episode will be more active. Often that will mean more roleplaying, yes. But mostly, it's intended to mean more impact on the outcome of the encounter.

 

For example, if the heroes are confronting Baron Montrose about his evil scheme of undead creation that resulted in Delphinia's family crypt being violated, it seems dramatically appropriate for Delphinia to be at the center of determining the outcome of that encounter. That can, of course, mean Delphinia taking center stage in a dialogue sense, with cool soliloquies and "You unkilled my father... prepare to die!" moments. But it doesn't have to... maybe Delphinia is more the grim silent type. But the point is that Baron Montrose's unspeakable mining of his realm's dead for disposable foot soliders was Delphinia's subplot... so it's only appropriate that Delphinia's performance in its key scenes drives that subplot more than the performance of other characters does (as their performance is more key to their subplots than hers is).

 

I'd be much more inclined to do that by giving good lines from the villain to Delphinia to answer, and playing to the character's strengths and knowledge, rather than simply arbitrarily bumping her SPD up a notch or two.

 

cheers, Mark

[Kenn]

Re: Hero Philosophy - SPEED

 

I generally resolve the lack of matchup by deciding in advance what the actual phases will be and how they will be divided. For example, if you have 4 SPD + 2 SPD only for X, then your 4 SPD would normally move in 3, 6, 9 and 12, and 6 would be 2,4,6,8,10,12.

 

I'd probably compromise this to Ph 2 (Limited), Ph 4, Ph 6, Ph 8 (Limited), Ph 10, Ph 12. This uses the higher SPD to set the phases, but limits the ones that come up before the base SPD would get to act, and delaying regular action phases.

 

The one and only character I've ever had to worry about this with this ALMOST what I did. Since the character in question has a fairly low DEX (by campaign standards) anyway, I let him keep his 3 and 9 instead of bumping him to those to 4 and 10. But the limited phases are still 2 and 8.

[Sean Waters]

Re: Hero Philosophy - SPEED

 

On extra SPD for to an extent it does not matter which phases you pick - so long as you are consistent:

 

Say you are normally SPD 5 (3,5,8,10,12) but +1 for mental attacks.

 

Treat the character as SPD 6 (2,4,6,8,10,12) but star one of the phases - it can only even be used then for a mental attack and nothing else. I suppose people would generally pick phase 10, in this example (or the phase immediately before phase 12 in any other) as generally being the least restrictive, and of course this could be horribly abused (+1 SPD only to do nothing: -2...for 3 points you get to move a segment earlier than you normally would), but it looks about right.

 

Actually that's pretty good

[Vox]

Re: Hero Philosophy - SPEED

 

Treat the character as SPD 6 (2' date='4,6,8,10,12) but star one of the phases - it can only even be used then for a mental attack and nothing else.[/quote']

 

This is precisely what I was talking about.

 

~Gabriel

[Drell]

Re: Hero Philosophy - SPEED

 

Lately, I've been thinking about running a game where SPD is meant to simulate screen time (rather than physical speed or combat savvy, etc.). Because that's often what it feels like in actual play... characters with higher SPDs are "on stage" more often.

 

Give all the PCs the same SPD by default (something like 3 for a mainstream heroic game, 4 for a higher-powered heroic game, 5 for a supers game, etc.). Then give the "star" of that week's episode another point or two of SPD to reflect that he's the focus right now. Obviously, this would vary from story to story, and possibly even from scene to scene, and all the characters would get their chance to be the featured character at various times...

 

That's absolutely brilliant. Great idea!

[CTaylor]

Re: Hero Philosophy - SPEED

 

I've found that if you give people extra speed for x (martial arts, spells, what have you) it works much, much better if they are some easily figured factor such as 3 speed +3 for shooting guns, or what have you. Not 5 speed +2 for martial arts. Much easier to figure out the phases you move on etc.

 

I like the "star of the scene" bonus speed, if it was easier to work out phases. Its worth thinking about for certain events or special occasions.

[Sean Waters]

Re: Hero Philosophy - SPEED

 

I've found that if you give people extra speed for x (martial arts, spells, what have you) it works much, much better if they are some easily figured factor such as 3 speed +3 for shooting guns, or what have you. Not 5 speed +2 for martial arts. Much easier to figure out the phases you move on etc.

 

........................

 

Non sequiturially, you always have to bear in mind that you only really use SPD in combat and, generally, in combat, you are doing combat stuff, so +X SPD 'Only for something I'd be doing in combat anyway' is not much of a restriction. It is some restriction, just not much.

[Alibear]

Re: Hero Philosophy - SPEED

 

If it was only speed to do Martial Arts then I'd only allow that speed to be used for maneuvers the player bought in his MA.

 

No diving for cover, no rolling with the blow etc.

[Psylint]

Re: Hero Philosophy - SPEED

 

I'm a low speed advocate. In fact, I prefer all characteristics above "fit normal" to be justified by concept in some way. It's a concept protection measure.

 

The numbers are meaningless without context. A 20rpd Brick is an invulnerable tank in a campaign that maxes out at 6 DC's. Whereas a 40 rpd Brick in a campaign where everyone throws at least 25 DC's is soon broken.

 

Lower speeds allow speedster types to have their rightful "I get to act more often and change strategy more quickly than you" without it being impossible for lower speed characters to gain the advantage of things like going first after a successful block. It also ensures that taking a recovery mid Turn is an at least somewhat risky proposition. It also allows effects with continuing duration, drains, et. al to have a more tactical impact. When most are operating at speed 6 or higher, I find few combats last much more than a Turn.

[Fearghus]

Re: Hero Philosophy - SPEED

 

The thing that always bugged me about speed was the effect that it has on movement. a Brick that bought his running up to 12 but only has a speed of 2 can not give chase to a character with a move of 6 but a speed of 5 even though on paper he runs twice as fast...

 

If you have allot of actions and take a half move with every one of them... a slower character (even one with a high move) can't do anything simply because he spends every action he has closing the distance. So speed trumps movement every time.

 

Number of actions you can take should be separated from how far you can move. I take care of this in my games by simply having a house rule... no character can move farther than twice (2X) their non-combat move in one round. This makes it so to be a good speedster you need to spend points on both speed and movement.

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Hero Philosophy - SPEED

 

....

 

Number of actions you can take should be separated from how far you can move. I take care of this in my games by simply having a house rule... no character can move farther than twice (2X) their non-combat move in one round. This makes it so to be a good speedster you need to spend points on both speed and movement.

 

You lost me on this part.

 

What do you mean by 'one round'?

1 Phase or 1 Turn?

 

I've made a beginning version of DCU's Flash on 350 points with only a 6 SPD (all the other JLA members are built with 4 SPD) but he can still get from New York to Los Angeles in a matter of minutes with high non-combat movement.

 

Are you purposely trying to make it nearly impossible to model this type of character?

[lemming]

Re: Hero Philosophy - SPEED

 

We noted that weird speed effect on movement, but only did stuff about it for heroic games by costing run speed/turn and doubling the cost after 24"/turn.

 

Running inches per phase was (inches per turn)/SPD.

[Guest steamteck]

Re: Hero Philosophy - SPEED

 

The way speed and movement functions always worked fine for me. seemed like a logical feature not a flaw.

[Sean Waters]

Re: Hero Philosophy - SPEED

 

You lost me on this part.

 

What do you mean by 'one round'?

1 Phase or 1 Turn?

 

I've made a beginning version of DCU's Flash on 350 points with only a 6 SPD (all the other JLA members are built with 4 SPD) but he can still get from New York to Los Angeles in a matter of minutes with high non-combat movement.

 

Are you purposely trying to make it nearly impossible to model this type of character?

 

1 turn.

 

It doesn;t make it impossible to model a speedster, it just balances the cost of movement - but I think there are other ways to do it.

 

For example, buy your move PER TURN (we perhaps halve or even quarter current movement costs) then divide your move your SPD. You have a move per phase and a balanced move cost.

 

NCM still makes travelling vast distances practical, as it would before. it might cost another 5 or 10 points at most.

 

I'd make another amendment too: your maximum velocity for adding damage from move through maneouvres would be calculated from move per turn: say you buy 60 inches of move per turn (the equivalent of a 30" move if you halve costs, of 15" if you quarter them) and you have a SPD of 6: that is 10" per phase. With a SPD of 2 it would be 15" per phase.

 

Nonetheless you have the same actual velocity, so base move through damage on a proportion of max move: say 1/4 : a max velocity move through for a character with a 60" per turn move would be based on 1/4 the velocity (15"): you take a -3 to hit and do + 5d6 damage no matter what your SPD.

[torchwolf]

Re: Hero Philosophy - SPEED

 

Yet Another Combat Chart:

 

Impulse action system for HERO System (10 Impulses per second)

 

_______________________Impulse Cost__________

SPD__Seconds / Phase____Full Phase__Half Phase__Phases per 12 seconds

1____12 seconds_________120_______60_________1

2____6 seconds___________60_______30_________2

3____4 seconds___________40_______20_________3

4____3 seconds___________30_______15_________4

5____2.4 seconds_________24_______12_________5

6____2 seconds___________20_______10_________6

7____1.714 seconds_______17________9 (8.5)_____7.059 [6.667]

8____1.5 seconds_________15________8 (7.5)_____8 [7.5]

9____1.333 seconds_______13________7 (6.5)_____9.231 [8.571]

10___1.2 seconds_________12________6_________10

11___1.091 seconds_______11________6 (5.5)____10.909 [10]

12___1 second___________10________5__________12

 

Speeds above SPD 12:

13___0.923 seconds_______9_________5 (4.5)____13.333 [12]

14___0.857 seconds_______8_________4_________15

15___0.8 seconds_________7_________4 (3.5)____17.143 [15]

16___0.75 seconds________6_________3_________20

17___0.706 seconds_______5_________3 (2.5)____24 [20]

18___0.667 seconds_______4_________2_________30

19___0.632 seconds_______3_________2 (1.5)____40 [30]

20___0.6 seconds_________2_________1_________60

 

 

Seconds / Phase:

* The current Speed Chart would translate like this into seconds per Phase. As you can see the Impulse Cost is derived from this.

 

 

Impulse Cost:

* The number of Impulses required before the character can take another action (unless aborting). Effects of an action are considered to apply 1 Impulse after it is initiated (i.e., an attack started on Impulse 57 would hit/take effect on Impulse 58); this is also true for actions which are aborted to or uses a held action (i.e., a character who notices the attack started in Impulse 57 aborts to dodging, and would be considered to be dodging in Impulse 58). This also apply to 0-Phase actions.

* If a character aborts to an action, the number of Impulses before he can take another action is counted from the Impulse of his last action; use the Impulse Cost for a Full Phase.

* If a character holds an action, the interval changes from the point the character does decide to take the action (this will also take effect 1 Impulse after the action is initiated; the character's next action will be calculated from 1 Impulse after his action, whenever it takes place).

* Post-Segment 12 Recoveries now occur Post-Impulse 120 instead (alternatively, you can proportionate REC over all 120 Impulses, or you may want to assign Post-Impulse 120 Recoveries to Post-Impulse 100 instead. This would only increase the efficiency of REC by 17 percent, and 100, 200, 300 might be easier to remember than 120, 240, 360, etc.).

* Values in parenthesis for half-phases are given in case you prefer using fractions for greater exactness (easier if you use a spreadsheet to map the combat order).

 

EXCEPTION: Any actions requiring an extra segment are considered to take effect after (Impulses equal half of the Impulse Cost of the action, rounded up) after it is initiated.

 

VARIANT: A GM may prefer to have a declared action occur at some other point than the next Impulse. If so, consider that an action should occur at some point within half the Impulses listed (as per Full or Half Phase actions); otherwise, the time flow becomes imbalanced unless you also alter the Impulse Costs (and also alter the exception for extra-segment actions).

 

 

Phases per 12 seconds:

* This is what a character's relative Speed would be using the HERO System Speed Chart.

* Values in brackets are the effective Speeds of characters using the rounded-off values for Half-Phases.

 

 

Speeds above 12:

* As you can see on the chart, this system breaks down progressively when trying to represent Speeds above 13. The only way around this that I can think of is by using fractions. You can work it out yourself if you need it (if anyone's interested I can post it).

 

 

NOTE: In any case, many actions (especially those which are primarily Movement Actions) are considered to occur simultaneously with Attack actions; the Phase system in the current rules are simply a way of managing how much a character can accomplish in a given time as well as representing his reaction speed.

 

NOTE 2: This system is NOT playtested in full. Use at your own risk without testing it first.

 

Considerations of using this system instead of the Speed Chart:

 

Pros:

1)You don't need a Speed Chart.

2)You can track combat continuously using real time units instead of breaking it up into game units. Theoretically, this allows for a greater sense of “flow” during combat. There are no Turns, nor Phases (except for administering actions).

3)You can integrate this with segmented movement (each 10 Impulses, a character moves as far as he would during 1 segment).

4)This system represents reasonably closely how much a character can accomplish in a given time using the current Speed Chart; you can use this without converting characters – all that is needed is listing the Impulse Costs for a given Speed.

 

Cons:

1)You probably need a Combat Record Sheet listing a lot of Impulses (possibly 1000 or more). This will likely slow down combat unless you are using a spreadsheet or similar.

2)The problem of characters with a high speed “front-loading” several actions is not resolved (that is, fast characters taking several actions in a row without slower ones having a chance to take one), though the use of held actions will tend to alleviate this.

3)Speeds above 12 (especially above 15) are not well represented using this system. Also, characters with speeds above 12 gain an increasing disadvantage since the 1-Impulse delay affect them more.

 

pdf below includes above (correctly formatted), 3 variant Impulse Cost charts, plus an appendix cheat-sheet for using segmented movement.

[SteveZilla]

Re: Hero Philosophy - SPEED

 

1 turn.

 

It doesn;t make it impossible to model a speedster, it just balances the cost of movement - but I think there are other ways to do it.

 

For example, buy your move PER TURN (we perhaps halve or even quarter current movement costs) then divide your move your SPD. You have a move per phase and a balanced move cost.

 

NCM still makes travelling vast distances practical, as it would before. it might cost another 5 or 10 points at most.

 

What about Megascale?

 

I'd make another amendment too: your maximum velocity for adding damage from move through maneouvres would be calculated from move per turn:

 

Just because a character can move that fast (full movement over the turn) doesn't mean they are. How would you calculate the damage from velocity in a system where on previous phases they have made turns, stood still, even possibly been unconcious?

 

...say you buy 60 inches of move per turn (the equivalent of a 30" move if you halve costs' date=' of 15" if you quarter them) and you have a SPD of 6: that is 10" per phase. With a SPD of 2 it would be 15" per phase.[/quote']

 

Wouldn't the SPD 2 move 30"? 60"/SPD2=30"?

[megaplayboy]

Re: Hero Philosophy - SPEED

 

Why not something like this?

Base the SPD of the PCs on the "level" of the PCs:

Heroic--speed 3

Epic Heroic/low level supers--speed 4

Standard supers--speed 5

Veteran Supers--speed 6

Cosmic Supers--speed 7

 

Note that, since "legendary" humans can have a speed 7, there can still be some running around in a cosmic-level game.

 

Master and mega villains might enjoy the benefit of some extra actions per turn, depending.

Generally I think there's not much problem with a 1 point variation from the norm, most of the games I've played in have had a SPD 4-7 range for superheroic, with higher level ones going 5-8 or even 6-9+. The low SPD characters tend to be overshadowed sometimes, though.

 

One of the problems with equalizing speed is that it tends to screw over martial artists, who tend to rely on hitting tougher opponents more often than their opponents hit them...without a SPD edge, they basically are going to lose in the long run...heck, some bricks may even recover whatever stun they took by the time phase 3 of the next turn rolls around.