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Quickly figuring out movement rates


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Okay, so, in HERO, this is the one thing that has stymied me the most: quickly figuring out movement rates. I am aware that the system looks more intimidating to newbies because of of its highly detailed nature, and that most of this is front-loaded, and in play it's not all that complicated.

 

However, one thing that has always tripped me up is figuring out movement rates in real-world terms, on the fly. I want to easily know how fast my character can move, but between combat speed and noncom speed being measured in inches, then meters, with Speed factoring in, etc., I just wonder if any of you vets have any tricks for quickly figuring out someone's speed.

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Re: Quickly figuring out movement rates

 

"On the fly," MPH or KPH matters much less than things like meters per Phase, so I'm not that clear on why it's important to figure out quickly on the fly instead of just noting your max speed on your character sheet. :)

 

But for a quick estimate you can often do in your head, MPH is roughly (Meters Per Turn/5).

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Re: Quickly figuring out movement rates

 

Well, 6th edition measures movement rates in Meters per phase, so it's pretty straight forward. With older versions of Hero you just have to remember to double the inches of movement to get meters of movement.

 

Take a characters meters of movement, multiply it by their non-combat factor (x2, x4, x8 whatever) then multiply that by their Speed score and that will give you the number of meters they can move per Turn (every 12 seconds)

 

Multiply Meters per Turn by 5 and this gives Meters per Minute.

 

Multiply Meters per Minute by 60 and this gives Meters per hour.

 

Divide Meters per hour by 1000 and this gives Kilometers per hour.

 

Multiply Meters per hour by .621 and this gives Miles per hour.

 

The formula can look like this: [(M*X)Y]5*60 then divide the entire thing by 1000. However if you just take Turns per minute (5) times Minutes per hour (60) 300 divided by meters per kilometer (1000) you get 0.3. You can take the [(M*X)Y] and multiply it by 0.3 and get the same result. Note that "M" is the characters Meters of movement (just convert Inches to Meters by multiplying their "inches" of movement by 2). "X" is the characters Non-combat multiplyer and "Y" is the characters Speed score.

 

For example, we have a character with 10 meters (5") of movement with a standard x2 non-combat multiplier. This gives him 20 meters per phase. Multiply by the characters Speed (4) gives us 80 meters per Turn. Multiply this by 5 Turns per minute, this gives us 400 meters per minute. Multiplied by 60 minutes in an hour, this gives us 24,000 meters per hour, which is of course, 24 Kilometers per hour.

 

Now take 80 meters per turn (10m times 2, times 4) and multiply it by 0.3 and this also gives us 24, which is how many KPH the character can run. Multiplied by .621 gives us 14.9 (essentially 15) miles per hour.

 

So to summerize, Meters times non-combat multiplier, times Speed times 0.3 gives us KPH.

 

Simple enough?

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Re: Quickly figuring out movement rates

 

Are you aiming for MPH or KPH?

 

MPH!

 

"On the fly," MPH or KPH matters much less than things like meters per Phase, so I'm not that clear on why it's important to figure out quickly on the fly instead of just noting your max speed on your character sheet. :)

 

But for a quick estimate you can often do in your head, MPH is roughly (Meters Per Turn/5).

 

Well, in the types of games I play, speed is likely to fluctuate based on power boosts and such, but you're right. I suppose it's less important to have it on the fly and more just being able to easily figure it out.

 

Well' date=' 6th edition measures movement rates in Meters per phase, so it's pretty straight forward. With older versions of Hero you just have to remember to [i']double[/i] the inches of movement to get meters of movement.

 

Take a characters meters of movement, multiply it by their non-combat factor (x2, x4, x8 whatever) then multiply that by their Speed score and that will give you the number of meters they can move per Turn (every 12 seconds)

 

Multiply Meters per Turn by 5 and this gives Meters per Minute.

 

Multiply Meters per Minute by 60 and this gives Meters per hour.

 

Divide Meters per hour by 1000 and this gives Kilometers per hour.

 

Multiply Meters per hour by .621 and this gives Miles per hour.

 

The formula can look like this: [(M*X)Y]5*60 then divide the entire thing by 1000. However if you just take Turns per minute (5) times Minutes per hour (60) 300 divided by meters per kilometer (1000) you get 0.3. You can take the [(M*X)Y] and multiply it by 0.3 and get the same result. Note that "M" is the characters Meters of movement (just convert Inches to Meters by multiplying their "inches" of movement by 2). "X" is the characters Non-combat multiplyer and "Y" is the characters Speed score.

 

For example, we have a character with 10 meters (5") of movement with a standard x2 non-combat multiplier. This gives him 20 meters per phase. Multiply by the characters Speed (4) gives us 80 meters per Turn. Multiply this by 5 Turns per minute, this gives us 400 meters per minute. Multiplied by 60 minutes in an hour, this gives us 24,000 meters per hour, which is of course, 24 Kilometers per hour.

 

Now take 80 meters per turn (10m times 2, times 4) and multiply it by 0.3 and this also gives us 24, which is how many KPH the character can run. Multiplied by .621 gives us 14.9 (essentially 15) miles per hour.

 

So to summerize, Meters times non-combat multiplier, times Speed times 0.3 gives us KPH.

 

Simple enough?

 

Simple enough? No, but I am terrible at math. However, I can do this stuff. Thank you guys!

 

I'm really looking forward to Champions Complete. I haven't been able to get 6E2, but I have 6E1, so since it seems CC will contain the complete rules, I can use that and the setting and reference examples in 6E1 when I need to! It's a win-win.

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Re: Quickly figuring out movement rates

 

I haven't been able to get 6E2.

 

It's available from the Hero store. Granted, it costs about forty bucks.

 

I'm still trying to figure out why you need MPH, or why anyone would use the old Imperial system if they didn't have to.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Give me an inch and I'll take a palindromedary

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Re: Quickly figuring out movement rates

 

I'm still trying to figure out why you need MPH, or why anyone would use the old Imperial system if they didn't have to.

 

It's easier for me to have a sense of how fast something is going if I can think of it in terms of real world speed measurements, rather than something like "1000 meters per turn". Just helpful for me, is all. :)

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Re: Quickly figuring out movement rates

 

It's easier for me to have a sense of how fast something is going if I can think of it in terms of real world speed measurements' date=' rather than something like "1000 meters per turn". Just helpful for me, is all. :)[/quote']

 

Uhh.... A meter is a real world measurement.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Perplexed on a palindromedary

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Re: Quickly figuring out movement rates

 

Uhh.... A meter is a real world measurement.

 

Obviously, but so is a shaku or a stone and yet if I ask the average American how many shaku tall they are or how many stone they weigh they will stare at me blankly :)

 

If you are used to MPH, you have a solid frame of reference when speeds are put in those terms.

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Re: Quickly figuring out movement rates

 

Obviously, but so is a shaku or a stone and yet if I ask the average American how many shaku tall they are or how many stone they weigh they will stare at me blankly :)

 

If you are used to MPH, you have a solid frame of reference when speeds are put in those terms.

 

Noah: "What's a cubit?"

God: "Let's see ... I used to know what a cubit was ..."

 

But, yeah, I'm in the same boat. KPH doesn't tell me squat.

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Re: Quickly figuring out movement rates

 

I focus on two values:

Turn Combat Speed:

Movement times SPD

 

From that you can calculate NCM and the further stuff.

 

Movement per hour:

As a mile is 1,609 meters, it goes like this:

[Combat Speed]

times

[NCM multiples]

times

[300] (5 turns per minute and 60 minutes per hour)

divided by

[1609] (meters to miles)

 

you can shorten the last to part (times 300, divided by 1609) too a single step:

[Turn Combat Speed]

times

[NCM-Multiplier]

times

[0.186]

 

and most often the NCM is simply 2, so it can be a short as:

[Turn Combat Speed]

times

[0.372]

 

 

There is however a big caveeat:

A Character needs the recovery to actually hold this speed! That is why meters/turn is such an important step. If at all you modify that value or built a seperate power good at sustained Turn Velcoity (high NCM + reduced endurance or maybe megascaled Movement).

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Re: Quickly figuring out movement rates

 

Or, you know, if you'd like a prayer of doing the math in your head... Meters Per Turn/5. :winkgrin:

 

Is it exact? No. But it's close enough for government work. :)

 

Seems like a whole lot of the folks who've responded missed the part where she said she wanted a way to "quickly" figure it out "on the fly"...

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Re: Quickly figuring out movement rates

 

Or, you know, if you'd like a prayer of doing the math in your head... Meters Per Turn/5. :winkgrin:

 

Is it exact? No. But it's close enough for government work. :)

 

Seems like a whole lot of the folks who've responded missed the part where she said she wanted a way to "quickly" figure it out "on the fly"...

 

I don't think there is anything wrong with breaking it down. If you notice in my post, I give the long explanation of how you get to KPH, then I give the short way to get to KPH. Yes, there is a decimal in there, but that's what calculators were made for. There's no shame in using one. I do all the time.

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Re: Quickly figuring out movement rates

 

I don't think there is anything wrong with breaking it down. If you notice in my post' date=' I give the long explanation of how you get to KPH, then I give the short way to get to KPH. Yes, there is a decimal in there, but that's what calculators were made for. There's no shame in using one. I do all the time.[/quote']

 

It just struck me funny that the OP asked for a simple shortcut, and several people gave her exact formulae. There's nothing "wrong" with it... I just figured that info was already in the book if that was what she wanted. :)

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Re: Quickly figuring out movement rates

 

Or, you know, if you'd like a prayer of doing the math in your head... Meters Per Turn/5. :winkgrin:

 

Is it exact? No. But it's close enough for government work. :)

 

Seems like a whole lot of the folks who've responded missed the part where she said she wanted a way to "quickly" figure it out "on the fly"...

 

Well, if you strap an iPad on the back of the fly, it's EASY!

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