GENERAL RULES

I have a few changes to the rule set provided in the DC Adventures Heroʼs Handbook. They may have any effect on the stats for existing characters or Archetypes. Simply make any necessary adjustments, reallocating points as necessary.

GROUND SPEED AND STRENGTH

The game rules stipulate that all normal characters (those without the Speed power or other form of movement power) have a ground speed of 0 Rank (30 feet per Round). In order to move any faster, the character must purchase the Speed Power. In my campaign, high levels of Strength grant an increase in ground speed, while low levels of Strength lower your ground speed. For every three Ranks of Strength above 0, increase the characterʼs ground speed by 1 Rank. Also, for purposes of measuring who would win in a race or other similar test of ground speed not requiring a Check, each 1 Rank of Strength increases the ground speed by 1/3 of an AP in real world measures. So for example, Rank 0 Strength grants a ground speed of 30 feet per Round (0 Rank Speed), Rank 1 Strength grants 40 feet per Round, Rank 2 Strength grants 50 feet per Round, and 3 Strength grants 60 feet per Round (1 Rank of Speed).

STRENGTH-BASED GROUND SPEED TABLESTRENGTH-BASED GROUND SPEED TABLESTRENGTH-BASED GROUND SPEED TABLESTRENGTH-BASED GROUND SPEED TABLE

Strength Rank

Ground Speed

Running Swimming

-3 -1 15 feet 6 feet

-2 -1 20 feet 9 feet

-1 -1 25 feet 12 feet

0 0 30 feet 15 feet

1 0 40 feet 20 feet

2 0 50 feet 25 feet

3 1 60 feet 30 feet

4 1 80 feet 40 feet

5 1 100 feet 50 feet

...and so on....and so on....and so on....and so on.

Any use of the Ranks and Measures Table to solve a calculation (miles per hour, etc) use the Rank below the x/3 Rank Level as the starting Rank. After solving the formula, insert the x/3 back into the AP. So our Strength 1 hero, wanting to know his speed in miles per hour, starts at 0 Rank, adds 9 to find the speed of 2 miles per hour, then adds in his 1/3 between 2 and 4 miles per hour to find his actual speed of 2 2/3 miles per hour.

The above would mean that Batman has a ground speed of 80 feet per Round, while Superman would have a ground speed of 2,080 feet per Round (163 mph) before applying his Speed Power.

STRENGTH AND OTHER FORMS OF MOVEMENT

Of course, ground speed determines other movement abilities. Climbing and Swimming have a speed of ground speed -2 Ranks. However, Strength now also has a more powerful effect on Jumping. Normal characters (Strength 0) start with the ability to jump -1 Ranks of distance (15 feet) for a running long jump. Each +3 Ranks of Strength improves this jumping distance by 1 Rank, and each -3 Ranks of Strengths worsens this distance by 1 Rank. Divide that measured distance by 2 for a standing long jump, by 5 for a running vertical jump, and by 10 for a standing vertical jump.

STRENGTH-BASED LEAPING IN FEETSTRENGTH-BASED LEAPING IN FEETSTRENGTH-BASED LEAPING IN FEETSTRENGTH-BASED LEAPING IN FEETSTRENGTH-BASED LEAPING IN FEET

Strength Rank

Running Long Jump

Standing Long Jump

Running Vertical Jump

Standing Vertical Jump

-3 6 3 1.2 0.6

-2 9 5 1.8 0.9

-1 12 6 2.4 1.2

0 15 8 3 2

1 20 10 4 2

2 25 13 5 3

3 30 15 6 3

4 40 20 8 4

5 50 25 10 5

6 60 30 12 6

...and so on....and so on....and so on....and so on....and so on.

Based on the above, Batman can jump 40 feet at a running long jump, while Superman can leap 1,200 feet on a running long jump or 240 feet on a running vertical jump.

The various movement Powers (Speed, Swimming, Leaping) use the Strength-based abilities as their base, rather than a flat 0 Rank. This makes us have to recalculate how fast Supermanʼs Speed 15 lets him travel. Starting at Rank 6 ground speed, that makes his ground speed Rank 21, or over 2 million miles per hour. Since this doesnʼt match the comics, the Gamemaster may force Supermanʼs player to reduce Supermanʼs Speed Rank by 6, and allow him to spend those points elsewhere.

Based on the above, some GMʼs may consider Strength to have acquired more value than a cost of 2 points per Rank warrants. Such GMʼs can increase the cost of Strength to 3 points per Rank to justify this. Others may only allow the above rules to apply if the character takes an Advantage for all Strength called Strength-Based Movement for +1 points per Rank.

Athletics Checks for Jumping

DC ADVENTURES JAYSON’S HOUSE RULES

You can increase your jumping distance by making an Athletics Check. Every two degrees of success grants a +1 Rank to the jumping distance (a single degree grants half that distance, or 1/2 Rank). Conversely, Every two degrees of failure reduce the jumping distance by 1 Rank, and so on.

COMBAT IS DEADLY

Yes, I know that the authors designed this system for simulating comic book action, and that in comics characters rarely die. I want a more realistic version of combat, so Iʼve adjusted the rules a bit. If you want to use this optional rule, replace the Damage Resistance Check Table on page 93 of the Heroʼs Handbook with this one:

DAMAGE RESISTANCE CHECKDAMAGE RESISTANCE CHECK

TOUGHNESS VS. [DAMAGE RANK + 15]TOUGHNESS VS. [DAMAGE RANK + 15]

Success No Effect

Failure (One Degree) Target suffers -1 Circumstance to Toughness vs. Damage

Failure (Two Degrees) Dazed plus Target suffers -1 Circumstance to Toughness vs. Damage

Failure (Three Degrees) Staggered plus Target suffers -1 Circumstance to Toughness vs. Damage. If Staggered again, apply Fourth Degree of effect.

Failure (Four Degrees) Incapacitated. If Incapacitated Again, apply Fifth Degree of Effect.

Failure (Five Degrees) Dying (See Heroʼs Handbook, page 19, Combined Conditions. If Incapacitated of Dying again, apply Sixth Degree of effect.

Failure (Six Degrees) Dead.

As per the real world, swift medical attention may revive a dead character. For a normal person (Stamina 0), the character can be revived up to 4 minutes (5 Ranks of time) after death with a successful Treatment Check. The first two minutes give the person applying his Treatment Check a -2 Circumstance, the remaining two minutes a -5. Dead characters revived this way are Dying (pg. 19). For every three levels of Stamina, increase this time by 1 Rank (and use the x/3 rule described in Ground Speed and Strength for intermediate increments of time). The Circumstance Modifiers apply for each half-increment of that time. So someone trying to restore Superman from death (after Doomsdayʼs rampage, for example) has more time due to Supermanʼs Stamina of 14. The medic has a full 9 Ranks of time plus some to save Superman (a total of an hour and twenty minutes). He has a -2 Circumstance for the first 40 minutes, and a -5 Circumstance for the rest of the time.

BROKEN AND BLEEDING

Any time an NPC hits another character (PC or NPC with an attack that scores a Critical Hit, the result is an Added Effect. Specifically, the target suffers a severe injury Complication. Some example Complications are listed below. Each level represents a degree of failure on a Resistance Check.

Example Complications

Sprains and BreaksSprains and BreaksSprains and Breaks

Name Affliction Recovery Time

Sprain Impaired 1 day

Minor Break Disabled 1 week

Major Break Debilitated 1 month

Bleeding or BurnedBleeding or BurnedBleeding or Burned

Name Affliction 1 Affliction 2

Slow Bleed / Small Burn

Impaired Fortitude Check vs. DC 15 on Damage Chart.

Normal Bleed / Bad Burn

Disabled Fortitude Check at -2 Circumstance vs. DC 15 on Damage Chart.

Gushing Bleed / Severe Burn

Debilitated Fortitude Check at -5 Circumstance vs. DC 15 on Damage Chart.

THE VEHICLES SKILL

The character must specify the type of craft that he can drive / pilot. The categories are Riding, Ground, Water, Air, Space and Exotic. This covers the use of common vehicles (common, that is, to everyday characters in that campaign). Uncommon vehicles suffer a -2 Circumstance modifier, while Rare vehicles suffer a -5 Circumstance Modifier. To offset these Circumstance Modifiers, I have added a new Advantage: Improved Vehicle. See the Improved Vehicle Advantage below for more information. Riding covers all beasts of burden which a character can ride. The character must choose the species of animal at character creation. Riding does not include the ability to tame an animal, only to control a tame animal.   If the animal is agitated (Unfavorable), the roll has a -2 Circumstance.  If panicked or otherwise in extreme emotion (Hostile), the roll has a -5 Circumstance.  Likewise, if the animal has a Favorable or Helpful attitude, you get a +2 or a +5 Circumstance modifier to your roll.  This is on top of the Circumstance modifiers for riding unusual or rare animals.  You can use the Persuasion Skill to calm the animal down (at -5 Circumstance if you do not understand the animalʼs language and do not have the correct form of Expertise: Animal Husbandry, and -2 if you have one but not the other).

DC ADVENTURES JAYSON’S HOUSE RULES

  For taming animals, take Expertise: Animal Husbandry for the appropriate species of animal.  You suffer a -2 unless you can speak the animalʼs language.

You are able to operate unusual vehicles. For one Rank, you can operate Uncommon vehicles of a given category with no penalty, and Rare vehicles at -2 Circumstance Modifier. For a second Rank, you can operate both Uncommon and Rare vehicles in that category at no penalty. You must purchase this Advantage separately for each category of vehicle.

ABILITIES CIRCUMSTANCE MODIFIERS

As written, the rules allow for Batman to render Superman incapacitated with a lucky string of rolls. Of course, unless Batman is packing kryptonite, this makes no sense. To correct this, I propose the following Ability Circumstance Modifier.

ABILITY CIRCUMSTANCE MODIFIER TABLEABILITY CIRCUMSTANCE MODIFIER TABLE

Rank Difference Circumstance Modifier

11 or more higher than defender Automatic Success

7 to 10 higher than defender +5

4 to 6 higher than defender +2

-3 to +3 that of defender None

4 to 6 lower than defender -2

7 to 10 lower than defender -5

11 or more lower than defender Automatic Failure

Compare the Rank of the attacker and the Rank of the target (not including Skills and Advantages). If the difference between them is under 4, there is no modifier. However, if the difference is between 4 and 6 inclusive, the attacker receives a +/-2 Circumstance Modifier. For a difference of between 7 and 10, he receives a +/-5 Circumstance Modifier. For a difference of 11 or more, we enter into automatic success/failure territory. See the below Ability Circumstance Modifier Table for details. Note that this only applies to checks that require a roll. It also applies before adding in Advantage Modifiers and Skills. Finally, it applies to Attack Checks and Resistance Checks. This means that no matter how skilled a character gets, he simply cannot harm someone who is out of his league.

THE PERSUASION SKILL

Changing a Personʼs Attitude The DC for changing a personʼs attitude is the targetʼs Awareness Rank +10, not a flat 15.  Different people are harder to persuade than others.  Also, their current attitude influences the roll. 

IMPROVED VEHICLE SKILL-RANKED [2]

  Use the Attitudes chart not just for attitudes towards a character, but towards an idea or a course of action.  When making a Persuasion Check, use both the targetʼs attitude towards you and towards the topic as modifiers in the roll.   For example, Batman tries to convince Superman to trust Lex Luthor.  Superman feels Helpful (+5) towards Batman in general, but Hostile (-5) towards trusting Luthor.  Thus, Batmanʼs roll is unmodified.  He makes a Persuasion roll at 1d20+12 vs Supermanʼs Will of 15 plus 10, for a DC of 25.  Batman rolls an 11, for a total of 23; a miss.  Batman will have to work a little harder to convince Superman to trust Lex.

Persuasion Checks First, the basic rule for Persuasion Checks have not changed: the participants make opposed Persuasion Checks, highest roll wins. This remains true in bartering, negotiations with a third party mediating, issuing commands, etc. Convincing someone to give you a cup of coffee is a Persuasion Check. Convincing someone to lay down his life is also a Persuasion Check. However, it takes more to convince someone of the second request than the first. By a lot. To convince someone to do, say or believe something, you need good arguments. Sometimes lots of them. An Argument, in game terms, is any statement which a character uses to build his case for a Conclusion. You can usually sum it up in one sentence, though a character may be more long-winded. A Conclusion is the main thrust of the Persuasion check. In other terms, a Conclusion represents what you want (agreement), and an Argument represents why your target should give it to you. Before your character can make his Conclusion Persuasion Check, he must make some number of Argument Persuasion Checks. These serve like a Team Attack to benefit the Conclusion, with a +2 Circumstance Bonus for each Argument that garners one total degree of success, a +5 Circumstance Bonus for each Argument that garners three or more total degrees of success, and a -2 Circumstance Bonus for each Argument that garners two or more total degrees of failure.

ARGUMENT TABLEARGUMENT TABLE

Weight Arguments

Light 0

Moderate 2

Heavy 5

Very Heavy 10

Nearly Unsupportable 20+

How much Argument you have to provide in order to reach your Conclusion depends on the weight of the Conclusion and the opponentʼs Attitude towards it. The Argument Table shows the average number of Arguments you typically need to have in order to convince your target based on the weight of the request. You will find a description of each Conclusion weight below. Use these examples to help you determine the number of

DC ADVENTURES JAYSON’S HOUSE RULES

Arguments your target will have to accept before your character can attempt to get the target to accept the conclusion.

Light: Any simple request that requires minimal threat to a personʼs happiness or well-being. Asking a stranger for directions is a Light Persuasion Check.Moderate: Any request that requires some threat to a personʼs happiness or well-being. Asking a guard to turn a blind eye as you walk past might be a Moderate Persuasion Check, depending on the circumstances.Heavy: Any request that requires serious threat to a personʼs happiness or well-being. Asking an honest man to risk ruining his reputation by framing his best friend for a crime, or asking a member of a community to stand up to that community to right some injustice at the risk of getting ostracized might count as Heavy Persuasion Checks, depending on the circumstances.Very Heavy: Any request that requires certain threat to a personʼs happiness or well-being. Asking a stranger to fight someone to the death to protect you, or to give up their deeply-held faith to fight for a cause that faith opposes might count as Very Heavy Persuasion Checks, depending on the circumstances.Nearly Unsupportable: Any request that requires someone to risk everything they hold dear. Convincing Captain America to run a suicide mission to steal and activate the United Statesʼ arsenal of nuclear missiles and aim them at US targets would require a Nearly Unsupportable Persuasion Check.

You can alter the number of needed arguments in one of three ways. First, if you have Fascinate with Persuasion, you can reduce the number of arguments by one level of weight. Second, if you have Expertise in a related topic, you can reduce the number of arguments by one weight level. Finally, an attitude of Hostile increases the number of arguments by one weight, while an attitude of Helpful reduces it by one weight.

NEW POWER

INTANGIBLE GENERAL

Action: Free Range: Personal

Duration: Sustained Cost: 2 Points per Rank

This Power replaces Insubstantial; you cannot have Intangible and Insubstantial at the same time.

The Power Rank represents the maximum Rank of Toughness through which the character can pass. So a Rank 7 Intangible can pass through Iron (Toughness 7) but not Reinforced Concrete (Toughness 8).

Movement through an object slows the character down. The difference in the Ranks -5 equals the distance per Round that the character can move. So a difference of 0 Rank means the character has -5 Speed (6 inches per round), while a difference of 6 means the character can move 30 feet per Round.

The character uses the Intangible Rank instead of his Toughness to defend against attacks, even if the Intangible Rank is lower. The Rank of Intangible also subtracts from the Ranks of any attacks (including Strength) unless that attack has the Affects Corporeal Extra. If the attacker has an attack with the Effect Affects

Incorporeal, the attack ignores the Ranks of Intangible and applies to Toughness instead.

You must hold your breath while passing through solid objects unless you have Immunity to Suffocation, or else you suffocate. All rules that apply to solidifying within a solid object for the Incorporeal Insubstantial power apply to Intangible.

Unlike Insubstantial, Intangible does not require the character to take a vulnerability to a form of attack. If the character does have such a vulnerability, that Flaw has a -1 / Rank reduction to the cost of the power.

DC ADVENTURES JAYSON’S HOUSE RULES