LLH in the DC Heroes RPG System: Strength
Strength is one of three Physical Attributes (DEX, STR, and BODY). It has the role of the "Effect Attribute". If you want to do/hit something, strength tells you how hard you will hit. "Strength represents a character's ability to lift weight and withstand diress."
The Third Edition of the DC Heroes RPG System describes the scale of Strength.
1-2: A normal person who can lift 200 pounds above his or her head.
3-4: A person with exceptional human strength, equivalent to that of professional weight lifters. Lifting range: 400-800 pounds.
5-6: This is the level of maximum human strength. Lifting range: 900-1600 pounds.
7-8: This is super-human strength capable of bending a steel crowbar. Lifting range: 3-6 tons.
9-10: A person with strength of sufficient force to demolish a concrete barrier. Lifting range: 12-25 tons.
11-12: The power of the individual's strength can rupture a steel wall. Lifting range: 50-100 tons.
13-15: The individual can summon enough strength to crush titanium without real effort or throw a car a half-mile (this can be done at a 15.) Lifting range: 200-800 tons.
16-18: At this level of strength, most barriers, natural or man-made, cannot stop this individual as he can easily demolish a fortified bunker. Lifting range: 1600-6400 tons.
19-21: This individual possesses strength equivalent to that of the giants of ancient legend. Lifting range: 12,800-51,200 tons.
22-24: At this level, the individual possesses god-like strength. Lifting range: 102,400-409,600 tons.
25-27: Beings with strength in this range have Titan-level prowess. Lifting range: 819,200-3,276,800 tons.
28-30+: This is entity-level strength. Small celestial bodies are obliterated with the exercise of this level of strength. Lifting range: 6,533,600-13,107,200 tons.
A couple of comments about strength.
1) I think the descriptions of the lower levels of strength are a bit off. I'll bet money that the "average person" cannot lift 200 pounds over their head . I think of 1-2 = normal person, 3-4 = athlete, 5=6 = weightlifter to max. Therefore, at the lower levels, I don't feel there's a problem playing fast and loose with strength. Hey, heroes have to be heroic. I don't see much of a problem with a "normal" human having a STR = 3 for combat purposes.
2) Once again, Martial Arts can be used as a substitute for Strength, so having low STR doesn't doom character like Tiffany to "hitting like a princess".
Now, the Legionnaires and their strength levels as initially listed.
STR only
6: Karen
5: Julia, Stacy
3: Brittany, Charles, Fran, Jamie, Jane, Mack, Sandi *
2: Daria, Jodie, Quinn, Tiffany, Tom *, Trent
Comments:
I believe that Julia's power should be a lot higher. I think that her version of strength is "always on". She should have a STR = 9 or 10. In which case, a fight with the Legionnaires using Julia's full strength would result in bodies flying across the (bar)room.
Stacy's strength is probably her "default strength". There are other versions of her (half-feline, full Nightbreed) which have higher levels of strength.
The asterisks (*) indicate that Tom and Sandi have "power off/on" versions of strength that are higher.
The STR = 3 of Charles, Fran, and Sandi can be justified by their powers. Mack is probably buff enough to justify a STR = 3 without hand waiving. Jamie and Jane are STR = 3 for dramatic purposes which reflect their dedication to physical fitness and that they just "hit strong". (We can keep Tiffany at STR = 2, because she's a Martial Artist and her EV with that skill is > 2.)
The Third Edition of the DC Heroes RPG System describes the scale of Strength.
1-2: A normal person who can lift 200 pounds above his or her head.
3-4: A person with exceptional human strength, equivalent to that of professional weight lifters. Lifting range: 400-800 pounds.
5-6: This is the level of maximum human strength. Lifting range: 900-1600 pounds.
7-8: This is super-human strength capable of bending a steel crowbar. Lifting range: 3-6 tons.
9-10: A person with strength of sufficient force to demolish a concrete barrier. Lifting range: 12-25 tons.
11-12: The power of the individual's strength can rupture a steel wall. Lifting range: 50-100 tons.
13-15: The individual can summon enough strength to crush titanium without real effort or throw a car a half-mile (this can be done at a 15.) Lifting range: 200-800 tons.
16-18: At this level of strength, most barriers, natural or man-made, cannot stop this individual as he can easily demolish a fortified bunker. Lifting range: 1600-6400 tons.
19-21: This individual possesses strength equivalent to that of the giants of ancient legend. Lifting range: 12,800-51,200 tons.
22-24: At this level, the individual possesses god-like strength. Lifting range: 102,400-409,600 tons.
25-27: Beings with strength in this range have Titan-level prowess. Lifting range: 819,200-3,276,800 tons.
28-30+: This is entity-level strength. Small celestial bodies are obliterated with the exercise of this level of strength. Lifting range: 6,533,600-13,107,200 tons.
A couple of comments about strength.
1) I think the descriptions of the lower levels of strength are a bit off. I'll bet money that the "average person" cannot lift 200 pounds over their head . I think of 1-2 = normal person, 3-4 = athlete, 5=6 = weightlifter to max. Therefore, at the lower levels, I don't feel there's a problem playing fast and loose with strength. Hey, heroes have to be heroic. I don't see much of a problem with a "normal" human having a STR = 3 for combat purposes.
2) Once again, Martial Arts can be used as a substitute for Strength, so having low STR doesn't doom character like Tiffany to "hitting like a princess".
Now, the Legionnaires and their strength levels as initially listed.
STR only
6: Karen
5: Julia, Stacy
3: Brittany, Charles, Fran, Jamie, Jane, Mack, Sandi *
2: Daria, Jodie, Quinn, Tiffany, Tom *, Trent
Comments:
I believe that Julia's power should be a lot higher. I think that her version of strength is "always on". She should have a STR = 9 or 10. In which case, a fight with the Legionnaires using Julia's full strength would result in bodies flying across the (bar)room.
Stacy's strength is probably her "default strength". There are other versions of her (half-feline, full Nightbreed) which have higher levels of strength.
The asterisks (*) indicate that Tom and Sandi have "power off/on" versions of strength that are higher.
The STR = 3 of Charles, Fran, and Sandi can be justified by their powers. Mack is probably buff enough to justify a STR = 3 without hand waiving. Jamie and Jane are STR = 3 for dramatic purposes which reflect their dedication to physical fitness and that they just "hit strong". (We can keep Tiffany at STR = 2, because she's a Martial Artist and her EV with that skill is > 2.)
Okay so if strength represents the ability to lift weight and withstand duress, shouldn't it be included with body when figuring the amount of punishment a character can take when they're hit? I mean, in a real fight one isn't just going to rely on one's Hardbody alone- that person is going to brace himself or herself when blocking a punch or kick. I think there are even some rules in the DC role playing game concerning that.
ReplyDeleteBODY probably has that "bracing ability" baked in. I think (but am not sure, I'd have to check the rules) you can use Martial Arts as a resistance value if you really want to avoid taking a punch. There are lots of attack types in DCH - we saw Critical Blow, Multi-Attack, Team Attacks and almost saw a Devastating Attack in the last writeup. The only defense type we really saw was Dodge, so I'll have to look into both Martial Arts and active defenses further.
DeleteFrom "Blood of Heroes" which uses the old DC roleplaying game rules and powers minus the DC characters—
DeleteBracing
As an Automatic Action that takes up a Character's Movement, A Character may state that he is bracing. When doing so, his APs of STR are subtracted from the APs of any successful Knockback he receives caused by any Physical Attacks he can see coming.
Your point about Stacy's strength - oh, yeah. in her other forms, she's extremely strong.
ReplyDeleteI wrote up Sandi's strength (her physical and mental stats, in general) to reflect what you mentioned before on the 'triplication' effect that her powers have had on her, even without using her primary ability of triplicating her own physical form. It seems as if she has a 'residual effect' that has increased her basic physical/mental capacities to a noticeable extent. I can see Sandi lifting a car tire or mountain bike without thinking or noticing the weight.
As for Julia's strength - I was going for a level that showed that she could resist the hyper-speed levels that she can attain WITHOUT using the Speed Force, without going crazy about it. Her wings, however, were stated as having superhuman strength of her own; in her Wiki entry, it's mentioned that when using her wings, she can lift twenty tone/strike with them with that weight level. Her wings allow her to lift/strike at a level of 10 - but on her own, she's just in the lower range of 5 (1,000 pounds max, can lift 400 pounds without effort.) Bodies won't be flying in that barroom if Julia cuts loose - but she will be dropping people left and right as they run up on her.