Character Ability Guidelines Table

[Steve]

I've been looking at the Character Ability Guidelines Table on page 35 of 6E1 and suddenly find myself wondering if I've been interpreting them correctly all these years.

 

1) For DC, does the number factor in damage bonuses from Talents like Deadly Blow/Weaponmaster, or using skill levels to add to damage? It doesn't seem to from the text.

2) The same question as in #1, only for Active Points. It sounds like a Heroic character could be built with a 50 Active Point attack, use skill levels or a Talent like Deadly Blow to increase the effective Active Points, yet still be within the guidelines?

3) For Def and rDef, does rDef get included in Def? A character with an 8 PD wearing 5rPD armor has an effective total Def of 13, which seems to be above the guidelines.

[Steve Long]

1. The DCs listed cover "[t]he typical range of Damage Classes in characters' attacks" -- which would include Deadly Blow, Weaponmaster, Martial Maneuvers, CSLs, and anything else a character typically uses to boost his DCs. But as always, how the GM wants to interpret and use the Character Ability Guidelines Table is up to him.

 

2. Same as #1.

 

3. In the case of Def/rDef, "Def" means the character's total defenses, while "rDef" indicates how many points of those total defenses are likely to be Resistant. So for a Competent Normal, the guidelines suggest that he have 4-8 PD and ED, with no more than 2-4 points' worth of each being Resistant. But once again, these are guidelines, and how the GM wants to interpret and use them is up to him. For example, I think most GMs running Fantasy Hero campaigns, including me, regard those guidelines as applying to a character's innate defenses, and allow him to wear armor that adds to them.