HEROIC: D6 Supers - Attributes Update

So as I sit down to make characters for this playtest, I realize something that I really wanted to change and forgot to, but am unsure if it would work.

The idea is to fold Strength and Endurance into one stat called Body.  This leaves us with Fighting, Agility and Body as our physical stats.

What this also means is that Super Strength as a power replaces Body for ALL Strength related tasks, including damage.  Now the only issue becomes this, well how much can one person lift if they don't have Super Strength?  Now I don't know about you, but I have never seen a Superhero comic where there was great drama for a hero lifting anything under a ton.  Maybe that comic exists, but I've never seen it.  So that leaves me thinking, we don't really need to know how much a hero can lift, except when they are either super strong (a power) or super weak (a hindrance), so is a "regular Joe" lifting chart really needed?

Now I can already see issues that could crop up like, needing to have more dice in Super Strength for it to be effective in combat, though you could simply rule that for damage purposes you add the two together (Super Strength + Body) or that if your Super Strength is less than your Body, use Body for hand-to-hand damage, or even for every 2D in Super Strength you have, you add +1D to Body Damage.

Actually that last one appeals to me the most.

Could also use that for resisting damage as well.

Not a perfect solution but easily one that can be used.

So, now we have our Body entry like this;

BODY

A measure of the raw physicality of the character, including his endurance, his ability to resist damage and his over all physical fitness.  It also determines the base amount of dice used in a hand-to-hand attack.

Rank    Benchmark

1          Reduced or impaired ability

2          Minimal ability or exercise

3          Occasional exercise

4          Moderate exercise

5          Regular exercise

6          Intensive exercise, limit of human ability

7          Enhanced ability

8          Enhanced and trained ability

9          Rarely tires, great fortitude

10        Never tires

SUPER STRENGTH

For each 2D you have in Super Strength, add +1D to all Body related calculations regarding Damage (dealing and taking) and for any Skill that relates directly to raw physical power.

Rank    Benchmark

1          1 Ton

2          10 Tons

3          100 Tons

4          1000 Tons

5          5000 Tons

6          10,000 Tons

7          50,000 Tons

8          100,000 Tons

9          500,000 Tons

10        1,000,000 Tons

SKILLS

BODY SKILLS

Climbing - The hero knows how to scale a vertical surface. She can move up the surface at her normal movement rate (barring environmental factors) with this skill; otherwise she moves at half her normal rate.  Specializations include rock climbing, indoor wall climbing, rope climbing, wall-crawling, etc…

Feat-of-Strength – When a hero has to push themselves or dig down deep and get that burning car off their teammate, or hold up the crumbling building, etc… this is the skill that is used.  Note it does not increase the amount the character can lift.  Specializations are things like carrying, dead-lifting and pressing.

Leaping – This skill governs leaping over pits, chasms, or other obstacle gaps, as well as jumping up and grabbing an outcropping. Specializations include things like long jump, high jump and such.

Resistance – Need to resist the effects of a poison?  Need to see if that power nullifying field is stronger than you?  Need to hold out against an alien plague?  This is the skill.  Specializations are toxins, diseases and energies.

Running – When you need to go a little faster or last a little longer in the race, this is the skill for you.  Specializations include sprinting, marathon and pacing.

Stamina – When all else fails and you have pushed yourself to your limits, this is when stamina is called into question.  Specializations are Pushing and Exhaustion.

Swimming – This skill helps the hero float as well as move quickly through water. For every round the hero wants to float or cover some distance, she must make a swimming roll.  Specializations include long distance, short distance, diving and treading.

Wrestling – The only hand-to-hand style that doesn’t use Fighting as its base.  Wrestling is used primarily for grappling attacks (see Combat for more details) and specializations include specific maneuvers.

The change to Body also means the need to change one of the Active Defenses, specifically Soak.

ACTIVE DEFENSE

Soak
(Fighting + Agility + Body)/3 round up

I am now very sleepy, so I will get back to this later, but I think I am on to something here.

More tomorrow, but right now sleep!

Cheers!