RPGClix Basics

RPGClix is a merging of “Rules” and Heroclix miniatures and scaled maps. The idea is to add a fun tactical part to the fairly vague MSHRPG rules, and also provide a use for the 1,000’s of useless plastic pieces known as Heroclix, which lack a decent rules set with which to use them with. The players should have a sheet of laminated paper or small whiteboard and a dry-erase marker, or a small notepad. Each player should have a miniature to represent their character, and a token or stone to use for marking the map. The judge should also have a dry-erase marker and a small whiteboard or piece of laminated paper, as well as miniatures for the bad guys. As of this writing there are 30+ Heroclix maps depicting just about any scene you can imagine, in addition several of the newer maps have a blank grid on the flip side. With a laminated map and a dry erase you can depict most anything.

THE ROUND

Once the Judge initiates Combat the game slows down into increments called Rounds. A round consists of each combatant activating in a certain order.

Initiative:

The order in which characters act is determined by rolling for Initiative. Unlike the Players Rulebook, we will determine Initiative individually, for each combatant. The Initiative modifiers from the Players Rulebook for high Intuition still apply.

• Shift-0 – Poor - -1 • Typical - Good - +0 • Excellent – Remarkable - +1 • Incredible – Amazing - +2 • Monstrous – Unearthly - +3 • Shift-X - +4 • Shift-Y – Class 1000 - +8 • Class 5000 - +10

Before rolling for Initiative each person should write down in short hand what they plan on doing. Players may confer with each other, but the Judge shouldn’t reveal what the villains are planning to the players. Everyone reveals their intended actions for the rounds activation, if a player is planning on moving somewhere they should indicate the square they intend to end up in by placing their token in the square. Pre-initiative rolls are made (this is typically any Dodge rolls, explained later). Initiative is then rolled, and the order should be jotted down in shorthand. Actions are then resolved in the order in which the Initiative falls.

A player or non-player may change their course of action after Initiative is rolled by making a Green Agility FEAT roll. Even after making that roll all actions performed are subject to a -1CS modifier.

A quick recap:

1) Write down (declare) actions 2) Reveal actions and place tokens on the map indicating where characters want to move 3) Resolve any Dodge attempts 4) Roll for initiative 5) Resolve each action in order

Rolling for initiative each round can be time consuming. So if you are dealing with a mob of weaker opponents you are probably better off rolling once for all of them. It’s also helpful to use a board with markers for each character, then sliding them around to represent the order for that round.

ACTIONS

There are 3 types of actions a character can perform on their turn: Quick, Standard and Tough.

• A character may perform a quick action once per round no matter what. • A character may double his movement rate as a tough action. • A character may move up to his movement rate and perform a standard action. • A character may not move and perform a tough action. If a character performs a tough action he may not move for the rest of the round.

Some examples of Quick actions:

• Reload a gun with the Guns or Law Enforcement talent • Throw a switch • Open an unlocked door • Unsheathe a sword • Drop a weapon • Adjust facing • Regenerating • Human Torch flaming on • Invisible Woman turning Invisible • Kang raising his personal Force Field • Nightcrawler teleporting • Jean Grey telepathically telling her team to duck

Some examples of Standard actions:

• Close Combat Attack • Ranged Combat Attack • Reload a gun without the Guns or Law Enforcement talent • Get into or out of a Car • Pick up an object • Break down a wall/door/barrier • Ant-Man shrinking • Giant-Man growing • Deal grappling damage on a held target • Spider-Man making a web wall • Starfox using his Emotion control power • Invisible Woman putting up a Force Field • Moon Knight sliding down 100’ of swing line • Mystique changing shape • Dr. Strange discharging an eldritch bolt • Mr. Fantastic stretching up to his Monstrous rank • Professor Xavier psychically attacking an enemy

Some examples of Tough actions:

• Initiate a Grapple • Perform a Grab • Perform a full Strength Leap • Take an aimed shot • Evading • Blocking • Escaping • Charging • Attempt a multiple attack Fighting FEAT • Bruce Banner transforming into • Karnak studying an opponent for a weakness • summoning a lightning bolt • Cloak opening a portal and teleporting away • Karma possessing an enemy • Dr. Strange casting a spell • Ulik creating a local Earthquake with his fist-pounders • Moving double your movement rate

Individual powers should have their action type agreed upon prior to playing.

MOVEMENT

Movement (Endurance Based):

• Feeble - 1 squares • Poor - 2 Squares • Typical - 3 squares • Good - 4 squares • Excellent - 5 squares • Remarkable + - 6 squares

An agility of Remarkable or greater adds one square to the movement per CS greater then or equal to Remarkable, up to a maximum of +3.

• Remarkable - +1 square • Incredible - +2 square • Amazing + - +3 square

Example: Sabretooth has Remarkable Endurance and Remarkable Agility. His Movement is 6 + 1 for a total of 7 Movement.

Example: Spider-Man has Incredible Endurance and Amazing Agility. His movement is 6 (capped at 6) + 3 (for Amazing rank Agility) or 9 Movement.

These values apply to walking (running) on land. Assuming a character is a competent swimmer water based rates should be no more then a 2 square movement rate.

The original rules scale movement strictly off of Endurance. The result is slow bruisers like Juggernaut end up being speedsters in combat.

A character may also possess a movement power that allows for a rate of speed that exceeds his normal base speed. If the character rolls up a power for a mode of transport he already has (typically Lightning Speed / Hyper-Running) and its rank would result in movement less then his base rate then increase the rank of the power until it exceeds his normal movement. This rule doesn’t apply to alternate transportation such as flying, digging, and swimming.

Example: Sneaker-Man has Incredible Endurance and Amazing Agility. His movement is 9. He rolls up Hyper-Running at Good rank, this is actually less then his base movement of 9, he can increase it to Excellent and he can now use his power rank in place of his normal movement rate allowing him to move 12 squares (or 24 with a tough action).

Example: Shrew Master has Incredible Endurance and Amazing Agility. His movement is 9. He rolls up Hyper-Digging at Good rank, although this is actually less then his movement of 9 it isn’t running so the Good rank stays. This allows Shrew Master to move through normal soil (Good strength material) at 8 squares (or 16 with a tough action).

Movement (Powers):

• Feeble - 2 squares • Poor - 4 squares • Typical - 6 squares • Good - 8 squares • Excellent - 12 squares • Remarkable - 20 squares • Incredible - 30 squares • Amazing - 45 squares • Monstrous - 65 squares • Unearthly - 90 squares • Shift-X - 125 squares

An Agility FEAT is required to turn or perform a standard action. The Agility FEAT is matched up against the current speed.

Example: Aurora has Shift-X Flight. She has Excellent agility, if she is flying at Good speed a Green FEAT roll against her Excellent agility is required. If she is flying at Excellent speed a Yellow roll is required, at Remarkable speed a Red FEAT is needed. If she is flying at Typical speed no roll is required. If she is flying at Incredible speed she must concentrate on flying and can't make sharp turns or perform other actions.

Example: Quicksilver has Shift-X land speed and Unearthly agility. Once he accelerates to even Shift-X speed he can perform actions with a Red FEAT roll against his Unearthly agility. Pretty bad ass.

Super-speed and Map based combat:

At some point a characters effective speed may exceed the boundaries of the map and the area where the non-speedsters are fighting. Obviously the movement doesn’t need to be plotted out square by square, the player only needs to indicate any attacks he is taking during his move and where he intends to end his round. Remember to make the proper FEAT roll as stated above if necessary. Super-speed is rarely handled accurately in comics either; most fights and plots could be ended rather quickly by the Flash using a steel screwdriver to all villains’ eye sockets within a 100 mile radius.

ATTACKING AND DEFENDING

Damage in Close Combat:

Attacking with items and weapons: A character (barring powers) will inflict damage equal to his Strength rank. If the character is attacking with a weapon with material strength greater then his Strength then the damage is increased to the lower boundary of the next highest rank above his Strength. If the material strength is less then Strength then the higher boundary of the material rank is used, this is useful if you don't want to obliterate somebody but simply knock them out.

Example: and his Monstrous strength wants to take out some common thugs, he hurls a 2 square wide lamppost at them, dealing the Excellent max rank damage (25). Had he walked up and punched one in the face, the unfortunate thug would likely be a bloody paste.

Example: Daredevil has Good strength, his trusty billy club is made of Incredible material. It deals the lower end of the next highest rank above his Good Strength (Excellent 16 in this case).

Charging :

A character may move double his full movement value and attack if he can trace a straight line, unimpeded by other characters or objects between him and his intended target. A judge may allow a Charge through debris but may require an Agility FEAT to succeed. For every 4 squares the attacker passes through, add a +1CS to the Fighting roll made to hit, to a maximum of +3CS. In addition for each square moved through, add 1 to the damage done (usually the higher of Endurance or any Body Armor the character is wearing barring a special power). If the character performing the Charge has taken damage this round he must also make a Green Agility FEAT to gain the benefits of the Charge. Other situations may arise that will block the Charge and render it illegal. This can include, a wall being put up, or the target no longer being there. If this is the case the attacker may make a Green Agility FEAT to change actions in order to avoid running into the barrier or harmlessly passing through the square where his target used to be. If the target is no longer there, the charging character continues in a straight line until his speed value is met, even if this means hitting walls, running off cliffs, etc.

Example: Juggernaut declares he is Charging Nightcrawler. Nightcrawler declares that he is Teleporting up to a catwalk and pulling a power switch. Juggernaut rolls a 3 for initiative, Nightcrawler a 7. Nightcrawlers Teleport goes off first, he ports and pulls the power switch shutting off the electrical field holding Cyclops hostage. Juggernaut must make an Agility FEAT to change actions. Unfortunately Juggernaut's Poor agility means he'll need to roll a 51 or better to succeed. He fails, and runs 4 squares past where Fuzzy Elf used to be, hitting a Good strength wall along the way which crumbles before Juggernauts Unearthly Endurance. Had he hit an Adamantium wall (unlikely) he would have inflicted his own damage upon himself (fortunately for Juggs his Class 1000 Force Field makes the 108 damage moot).

Multiple Attacks:

The core rules provide for some loose rules about making multiple close combat attacks. The idea is , or being able to take out multiple nameless minions in a few panels. Each attack must target a different character. It’s represented in these rules as a Tough action

• 2 Attacks is a Remarkable intensity Fighting FEAT • 3 Attacks is an Amazing intensity Fighting FEAT • 4 Attacks is an Unearthly intensity Fighting FEAT

A white result means the attacker can’t make an attack this round. Following the rules for opposed FEAT rolls, Excellent fighting would require a Yellow or better result to make 2 attacks, Good fighting can’t even attempt it, and Incredible Fighting succeeds automatically. A character with Incredible Fighting can try a triple attack and hope for a great roll, or automatically succeed at a double attack. A character with Unearthly fighting can automatically make 3 close attacks without rolling, etc.

A character still rolls each attack individually and at a -1CS penalty to each attack.

The idea is potentially sacrificing accuracy for more total damage and chances at Stuns and Slams. Some Martial Arts talents may alter these rules.

Example: Shang-Chi is surrounded by 4 thugs Huey, Duey, Louie and Phil. His Amazing fighting lets him attempt to attack up to 3 adjacent enemies. He rolls a 62, a Yellow result. He can make 3 attacks, at only a -1CS penalty to each roll. He hits all three on the subsequent rolls, slamming two of them.

Leaving Adjacency:

Leaving adjacency with a non-stunned opponent(s) is an Agility FEAT. If a character wants to leave adjacency he makes an Agility FEAT roll, he gets a +1 CS if all the opponents he is leaving have gone already this round. A white result means the opposing characters may make close combat attacks against the character as free actions. A green result means the leaving engagement attacks are at -2 CS. A Yellow or Red means no opponents can make the free attacks. A character with a movement speed power may substitute the power rank for his Agility when making this roll.

Ranged Combat:

Throwing Shit: The following lists the maximum range a character can throw an object, the distance is based on Strength.

• Feeble - 1 squares • Poor - 2 squares • Typical - 3 squares • Good - 4 squares • Excellent - 6 squares • Remarkable - 8 squares • Incredible - 10 squares • Amazing - 12 squares • Monstrous - 14 squares • Unearthly - 18 squares • Shift-X – 25 squares • Shift-Y – 35 squares

This assumes the item is of a weight equal to the characters maximum strength. It also assumes the item in question is reasonably aerodynamic and we are dealing with Earth gravity. If the object is lighter then the weight of the characters Strength then the character can throw it further, the average person can lift a vacuum cleaner, and throw it, but not as far as a baseball. For each rank lighter then the characters Strength rank add one CS to the distance up to a maximum of +3 CS.

Example: has Remarkable strength, enabling him to lift around one ton. He hoists a small car and can throw it up to 8 squares. The judge decides a car isn't too aerodynamic and reduces the range to 6, and states that if Beast can make a Yellow Strength FEAT roll he can put the extra "umpfh!" into the throw to get it 8 squares.

Example: Spider-Man has Incredible Strength, enabling him to lift around 10 tons. He hoists a mail box weighing about 600 lbs. (Excellent) he can throw it 14 squares. His Incredible rank +2 CS from the 2 ranks lower that the mailboxes weight is. “You’ve got mail!”

Shooting People: The following tables list the range in squares for ranged attacks and the area of effect for radius style attacks and effects. Various powers and weapons in the source books list a range class (A-E). It’s savagely inconsistent but typically things like firearms use A, teleportation might use E.

Range

Rank Range A Range B Range C Range D Range E Feeble Contact Contact 1 area 10 feet 2 miles Poor 2 sq. 2 sq. 10 areas 1 area 25 miles Typical 4 sq. 8 sq. 1 mile 4 areas 250 miles Good 6 sq. 20 sq. 3 miles 16 areas 2500 miles Excellent 8 sq. 60 sq. 6 miles 64 areas 25,000 miles Remarkable 11 sq. 1 mile 12 miles 6 miles 250,000 miles Incredible 16 sq. 2 miles 25 miles 250 miles 2.5 million miles Amazing 25 sq. 3 miles 50 miles 1000 miles 25 million miles Monstrous 50 sq. 6 miles 120 miles 4000 miles 250 million miles Unearthly 90 sq. 10 miles 250 miles 16K miles 2.5 billion miles

90 squares may seem a bit far, but we are talking about the here. Characters with range that epic are typically limited more by what they can see then the distance of the effect. A character like Firelord has Monstrous energy generation, he typically engages in space combat firing blasts at things hundreds of feet apart that are moving very quickly.

For any ranged attack past its range reduce the Attackers Agility by -1CS when rolling to hit. For non-energy weapons also reduce the damage by -1CS for each rank further then the range. A ranged attack typically shouldn’t be allowed more then one rank past its range. Ranged modifiers are summarized as follows:

• If the target is one rank out of range reduce the Attackers Agility by -1CS.

• If the target has moved this turn reduce the Attackers Agility by -1CS.

• If the attacker is making an Aimed Shot increase the Attackers Agility by +1CS.

• If the target is closer then ½ the maximum range from the attacking character, but not adjacent, then increase the Attackers Agility by +1CS.

• If the target is adjacent to friendly character reduce the Attackers Agility by -1CS

• If the line of fire passes through hindering terrain reduce the Attackers Agility by -1CS.

• If the target is obscured by smoke or fog reduce the Attackers Agility by -2CS.

• If the attacker is on higher ground increase the Attackers Agility by +1CS.

• If the target is adjacent then reduce the Attackers Agility by -2 CS.

A character adjacent to an active opposing character can’t shoot out of adjacency.

Defensive Actions (Dodging, Blocking, and Evading):

Dodging: Dodging is used only against Charging attacks and Ranged combat attacks being made against the character. Dodging is a Quick Action that is resolved before Initiative is rolled. The roll determines the CS modifier of any one Charge or Ranged Attack made against that character this round. The dodger must declare the target enemy before the dice are rolled. A failed Dodge roll means the character has used a Standard action and may only perform a move action this Round.

Example: Daredevil with his Incredible Agility and Acrobatics talent has Amazing Dodging. He is scrapping with his buddy The Jester. Daredevil declares he is Dodging Jester in addition to cracking the Jester in the face with his billy club. Jester declares that he is going to throw a yo-yo at Hornhead then leap 3 squares up into a rafter. Before initiative is rolled Daredevil makes a Dodge roll, and rolls a 70; a yellow result! This will give Jester a -4CS to his Agility bringing him from Good to Shift-0. Initiative is rolled, Jester gets a 9, Daredevil only a 4. The Jester now has a tough decision to make, trying to hit DD with a pitiful attack or attempt to make an Agility FEAT roll to change actions. He decides to go for the glory, he will need a 66 or better just to hit.

Example: has been hired to take out the Lizard and they are engaged in combat. Lizard has grabbed a hold of a mailbox and is about to throw it at Paladin, each declare a Dodge and attack (Paladin with his Stun Gun, Lizard with a mailbox). Each roll their Dodge roll before Initiative is rolled, the Lizard with his Incredible Agility gets a Yellow result. Paladin isn't quite as nimble and fails. Lizard also wins Initiative. Lizard is at a huge advantage this round, as he gets to attack with no chance of retaliation from Paladin.

So wouldn’t you always Dodge? Well for extremely quick characters, and those with Acrobatics the answer is probably yes. Dodging is less useful when involved in a Slugfest (Close Combat), as shooting is less likely. Keep in mind though; one bad roll and your round will be lost. Even the Amazing Spider-Man needs a 25 or better to Dodge, a quarter of the time the Dodge will not have any affect and leave Spidey with nothing to do but move.

Evading: Evasion is used by a character to avoid blows in Close Combat. Evading is a Tough action. Evading is a Fighting FEAT. The number of blows a character can attempt to evade is determined by their Agility. An Evading character who rolled a higher Initiative then the attacker gets a +1CS to his Evasion roll; this reflects the character being prepared for the incoming blow. This bonus can only be used against one attack each round.

• Feeble - Typical: 1 • Good - Excellent: 2 • Remarkable - Incredible: 3 • Amazing - Monstrous: 4 • Unearthly: 5

For each Evasion attempt past the first the Evader suffers a cumulative -1CS to the Fighting FEAT roll. A character may choose to only Evade some attacks and let the others go normally, in order to avoid a white result and an auto-hit. It is important to note that you must declare your intent to Evade an attack before the attack roll is made.

Example: Iron Fist is battling 3 Ninjas who have surrounded him. He declares that he is evading this round; the Ninjas all declare that they are attacking Iron Fist. Danny rolls a 6 for Init, the Ninjas roll 1, 3 and 9 respectively. Iron Fist must attempt to Evade at least one attack this turn. He declines to Evade the first Ninja attack (since he won't get the Init bonus). The Ninja rolls a 12 and misses. The next Ninja attacks and has an initiative less then Iron Fist. Iron Fist attempts to Evade (with a +1CS to his already Incredible Fighting), and rolls a Yellow success, Iron Fist scores a +1CS should he choose to attack this particular Ninja next round. Since Iron Fist also sports a Remarkable Agility he can Evade another attack, this time at a -1CS roll. This reduces Iron Fists Fighting to Remarkable, but his Martial Arts talents boost it back up to Incredible. He gets a Green result evading any hit the third Ninja might score. As a new round begins Iron Fist declares he is attacking the second Ninja, taking advantage of his +1CS bonus from the prior round. It’s a bad day to be a ninja.

Characters with very high Fighting and Agility can effectively Evade all day. To illustrate this imagine Spider-Man battling the , he pretty much toys with him and hopes to distract him enough to finally score a knock-out blow. Captain America takes on hordes of goons, typically evading blows and then taking them down.

Blocking: Blocking works like Evading only instead of moving out of the way the character uses Strength/Shield/Bracelets to reduce the damage done by an attack. Use the higher of the defending characters Strength or the Material Strength of the Shield/Bracelets/Weapon when determining how much to reduce the damage by. But always use the characters Strength to make the Blocking FEAT roll. It is important to note that you must declare your intent to Block an attack before the attack roll is made.

In summary:

• Determine the rank of the block (higher of Strength or Material Strength) • Roll a Strength FEAT and check the result • Reduce the damage done by the rank of the block with the FEAT result applied

The character may still be Stunned or Slammed by the attack. If the attacker misses completely, and the blocker got anything other then a white result on his blocking roll the blocking character may make a Yellow Fighting FEAT to attempt to adjust and prepare to strike the off balance attacker, the blocker then may make his attack roll as normal. Attempting this roll means the defender may not block anymore attacks this round. If the blocker fails to hit with this “counterattack” or fails the adjustment roll, then all other attackers get +2CS to hit the blocker, this reflects the character slipping or dropping his defenses. Again the number of blocking attempts a character can make is determined by Agility using the same chart as Evading. Blocking does not use the initiative bonus modifier from Evasion.

Example: Captain America is fighting off the Serpent Society. and Bushmaster are adjacent to Cap. Prior to Initiative actions are revealed, Cap declares he is Blocking this round. Bushmaster declares an Attack on Cap and Anaconda declares a Grabbing attempt on Cap’s trusty shield. Initiative is as follows, Bushmaster, Cap and finally Anaconda. Cap makes his Blocking roll using a Strength FEAT, he gets a Green result. This is a -4CS to Cap’s Class 1000 shield damage reduction, this equates to Unearthly reduction of damage. Bushmaster can hit as hard as he wants, and roll a 100, but he isn’t getting through that shield. Since Bushmaster is using Edged combat he can’t even Slam Cap. Anaconda is up next, she is attempting to grab Captain Americas shield, this can’t be Blocked. She rolls a 75, a Green result, and since her Strength is greater then Captain America’s she has successfully gotten the shield from him.

Example: is fending off the , Jack Monroe. Prior to initiative actions are revealed, Taskmaster is Blocking with his knock-off Captain America shield and Nomad is going to try and kick Taskmaster in the head. Nomad wins Initative, and rolls to hit; rolling a pitiful 5. Never one to pass up a cheap shot, Taskmaster scored a Green result on his Blocking roll, and decides to attempt to swing at Nomad with his replica Swordsman sword. Taskmaster has Amazing fighting, he also has Weapon Specialist with the sword giving him an Unearthly rank while swinging. First he must make a Yellow fighting FEAT roll, he rolls a 62; with his Amazing fighting this is barely a Yellow. Taskmaster now swings to hit Nomad with his Unearthly sword fighting skill; a 75, which is another Yellow result for 16 edged damage and a possible stun.

Dodging, Blocking, Evading, or None of the above: The decision on whether to use any of the defensive combat tricks depends on many factors, the build and statistics of the character being assaulted, the power level of the attacker(s), the number of attackers, and the current health of the character.

Generally dodging is good for agile characters looking to close in on stationary ranged attackers (Daredevil tumbling and diving through a hail of gunfire to close in on some machine gun toting mobsters). A brick like Power Man would likely fail his Dodge roll and find himself unable to do anything that round but wander forward with no defensive benefit.

Generally evasion is good when dealing with multiple attackers and a defending character that is light on health and high on fighting. If 4 sword wielding ninjas are surrounding a character then that is 4 chances at a lucky red FEAT result and a Kill check. Evasion negates the hit no matter how high the attackers roll was. The threat of the auto-hit is enough to keep it from being overused and from being used by characters with poor hand to hand skills.

Generally blocking is good for “brick” type characters and characters with cool shields. Blocking is good for prolonging an encounter for a weaker character until his teammates can come to his aid. For characters with great fighting prowess it can frustrate attackers to no end, resulting in their attacks doing no damage and a counter attack by the blocker. Grappling and grabbing a “turtling” blocker is an effective way to neutralize this.

Stuns, Slams and Kills

A Stagger result translates as follows. The Staggered character may only take a ½ speed move or a Standard action during his next activation.

A Stun is treated as in the original rules, with a character unable to act for X rounds.

Grand Slam operates a little differently; a Grand Slammed target is sent flying according to the Attackers Strength on the Thrown Objects table above. Use the material strength of whatever the Slammed target hits to reduce the distance.

Example: Thor manages to connect on the with a Yellow Blunt Attack result. Thor has a higher Endurance then the Wrecker and hence the Wrecker is subject to Slams and Stuns from Thor. The Wrecker rolls a miserable 2 on his Slam (?) result roll. The battle field looks something like this.

------1------2------3 *123456789012345678901234567890 A##############WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW B##TW####CC####W##############W C##############W##############W D##############WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

The Wrecker is sent a whopping 18 squares back, likely stopping before then upon hitting a wall or other person or barrier. Checking the line the Wrecker will follow we see he’ll pass through a Remarkable car for 2 squares (taking an additional 30 damage) and possibly a Good cinder block wall. Hitting the car reduces the overall distance by 8. At that point Wrecker has traveled 4 squares, making the distance left equal to (18-4-8) 6. As the Wrecker enters the second square of Remarkable car material his movement is reduced by another 8, this brings us to 0. The wrecker ends up in the square B10. The damage for hitting a barrier is only applied once, not for each square you travel through.

The original rules gloss over this with an impossible to implement use of areas and FEAT rolls. The coolest part of super hero style combat is sending some idiot flying through a wall or window. This implementation requires a little math but ends up being fairly comic book “realistic”.

Body Armor

Body Armor versus : If a weapons material strength is greater then the body armor rank and the attack succeeds then the body armor is reduced 1CS for each column difference in material strength with respect to reducing damage. This may still not allow damage to get through.

Example: The Black Knight inflicts 16 points of Edged Weapon damage with his Unearthly Strength Ebony Blade. He has just struck a Dreadnought which has Amazing titanium Body Armor against physical attacks. Since the Ebony blade is 2CS stronger then the Amazing titanium Body Armor the Body Armor reduction is reduced to Remarkable (30). It’s still not enough to get through and the Dreadnought takes no damage.

Example: Hercules chuckles a bit and cracks the Dreadnaught with his Class 1000 Material Strength Golden Mace. He connects for the low end of Shift-X damage, or 126 points of damage. In addition since he is using a weapon of such epic hardness the pitiful Amazing body armor is reduced by the difference in ranks between Amazing and Class 1000, six. A -6CS to the Amazing body armor puts it at Poor. 126 – 4 = 122. The Dreadnaught eats 122 points of damage! It’s good to be the Prince of Power!

Example: Wolverine is the best at what he does, and what he does is wreck Sentinels. Wolverine scores a hit on a Sentinel with his Monstrous claws that have Class 1000 Material Strength. The Mark II Sentinel has Incredible Body Armor against physical attacks. Wolverine’s claws reduce the Incredible Body Armor’s effectiveness by -7CS which drags it all the way Shift-0. The Sentinel feels the full 75 points of Wolverines fury.

Example: Wolverine is scrapping with Ultron-6 on Battleworld. He manages to hit the U-Daddy with his Class 1000 Material Strength claws for 75 damage. Unfortunately for our favorite Canadian Ultron-6 has Class 1000 Body Armor versus Physical Attacks. The Body Armor is not reduced, and the 75 damage is easily absorbed by the 1000 points of reduction.

Pyro and areas versus squares

Various sourcebooks switch between using rank (Poor, Typical, etc.) and Areas (and sometimes even feet) to describe power effects (ranges and areas of effect). Generally an Area is a little bigger then a square. A 4 square block is approximately equal to an Area. The distance of a power listed in areas is roughly doubled into squares, so Spider-Man’s web-shooters with a listed range of 3 areas are good for 6 squares.

Some powers in supplements such as the Gamers Handbook series list a power as having a rank in distance, intensity and in the area of effect. It’s terribly inconsistent and should be squared away before using a character. Jotting down the numbers for each in squares prior to combat should save some time and bookkeeping. In cases where nothing is specified the Judge may want to assume a 4 square area of effect as the standard amount, yellow and red FEATs can be made to increase this to 6 and 8 respectively.

Examples:

################ ################# ################# ################ ################# ################# ################ ################# #########F####### ################ ################# ########FFF###### ################ ################# #######FFFFF##### #P####FF######## ####P############ ######FFFFFFF#### ######FF######## ################# ##P##FFFFfFFFF### ################ ##FFFFWWWWWWWWW## ######FFFFFFF#### ################ ###C##W#######W## #######FFFFF##### ################ ################# ########FFF###### ################ ################# #########F####### ################ ################# ################# ################ ################# #################

On the left Pyro (P) has thrown up a fire wall of four squares (one area). Since the power guide only specifies the maximum distance that the generation of the energy or matter can occur but not the actual mass of the matter or energy created per round we’ll assume a standard of 4 squares per standard action.

In the example in the middle Pyro has put up a 4 square long wall of fire butting up against a building to block Cyclops off from him. A yellow power FEAT can be used to make 6, a red FEAT for 8.

Pyro has Remarkable rank fire control and can at maximum control a 5 square radius of fire. The example on the right shows a radius effect of fire 5 squares big. The little “f” represents the center of Pyro’s target. Counting that square as 1, and counting outward (every other diagonal as 2) it forms a semi-rounded set of squares.

The mass is assumed to be one square high. In theory the character could make a 2 square wide and 2 square high mass; this is left to the judge’s discretion and geometry skills.

Area of Effect

Rank Name Radius Area Volume Feeble 0 sq. 3 sq. ft. 3 cu. ft. Poor. 1 sq. 12 sq. ft 25 cu. ft. Typical 1 sq. 200 sq. ft. 200 cu. ft. Good 2 sq. 314 sq. ft. 3,140 cu. ft. Excellent 3 sq. 707 sq. ft. 10,600 cu. ft. Remarkable 5 sq. 1,256 sq. ft. 25,120 cu. ft. Incredible 7 sq. 2,826 sq. ft. 85,000 cu. ft. Amazing 10 sq. 7,850 sq. ft. 392,000 cu. ft. Monstrous 15 sq. 31,400 sq. ft. 3,140,000 cu. ft. Unearthly 25 sq. 125,600 sq. ft. 25,120,000 cu. ft.

Talents

Several talents in the Player’s Book translate a little differently in these rules, notably the Martial Arts packages.

Martial Arts A: This is the “defensive” MA package. It operates as listed and in addition gives a +1 CS modifier to your first Dodge or Blocking roll in a round.

Martial Arts B: Operates as normal.

Martial Arts C: This is effectively wrestling. Why it gives a bonus for avoiding ranged weapons is beyond me. It doesn’t give a Dodge bonus in these rules.

Martial Arts D, E, and Wrestling: Operate as normal.

There is no Oriental Weapons talent. It’s a dumb-ass idea. Why take a Talent in Sword when you can just take Oriental Weapons and say you have a ninja sword? Blunt Weapons and Sharp Weapons are similarly discouraged as they are simply “stackers”, they stack up with other Talents like Weapon Master and Weapon Specialist to produce obscene values.

Bows, Thrown Weapons, Guns, Weapon Master, Marksman, and Weapon Specialist remain however there are some changes.

Weapon Specialist: Grants a +1 CS to use of the specified weapon. It also grants a +1 initiative bonus while in combat with the weapon. The weapon select should be fairly specific. Rapier, not just sword is an example of a specialized weapon. Pistol is not specific enough, but something like Glock 9mm, or .44 Magnum revolver would qualify.

Weapon Master: Grants a +1 CS to the use of all weapons requiring a Fighting FEAT to use.

Marksman: Grants a +1 CS to the use of all non-thrown weapons requiring an Agility FEAT to use. Ignore the adjacent friendly modifier when taking an aimed shot with a weapon with sighting capabilities. This talent requires the Guns talent.

Thrown Weapons: Grants a +1 CS while using thrown weapons, or while throwing objects.

Guns: A character without this talent is -2 CS to fire a gun, reloading is a standard action. Taking the Talent allows the character to reload as a quick action, and grants a +1 CS to hit with guns.

Automatic Weapons (NEW) : This talent requires the Guns talent. It allows the character to utilize the burst feature of automatic weapons.

Bows: A character without this talent is -4 CS to fire a Bow. It’s just that hard to use. Taking the talent gives the character a +1 CS to his Agility roll to hit. Agility, modified by Talents, determines the multiple arrow tricks effectiveness – Yellow FEAT means 2 arrows, Red FEAT means 3 arrows. Each additional arrow reduces the Agility of the attack by 1 CS. So the second arrow is -1 CS and the third arrow is -2 CS.

Example: is a master archer, he is up on a rafter reigning arrows on some AIM Scientists who are trying to protect M.O.D.O.K.. Hawkeye has a Remarkable agility, the Bow talent and Weapon Specialist (Compound Longbow) he’s also a Marksman. There are 3 AIM dudes and Hawkeye intends to hit them all. The AIM agents are firing blasters at Hawkeye. Hawkeye wins initiative in part to his bonus, and his action goes off first. First Hawkeye makes his multi-shot roll, his Remarkable Agility, plus Marksman, plus Bows, plus Weapon Specialist gives him Monstrous rank for this FEAT. He rolls an 89, a red result! The first attack against an AIM agent is Unearthly (Monstrous + Height advantage), he rolls a 33 hitting the agent and taking him out with 20 edged damage. The second is Monstrous, and Hawkeye rolls a 40, hitting and taking out the second agent. The third is Amazing, and Hawkeye chooses to use an explosive arrow, he rolls a 67; bull’s-eye! The agent takes Amazing damage and the computer they are guarding is damaged as well. Green who?

Really the bow and arrow is useless compared to a gun, however the fact remains that from Hawkeye to Green Arrow, from Arsenal to Rambo versus the Russian gunship, bows are just plain cool. The rules paint them as far more effective then they should be in reality.

Law Enforcement: Removes the Gun penalty and allows reloading as a quick action. It also grants basic knowledge of the law and FEAT rolls on law questions with no penalty.