Jump to content

Super Strength


1d8+DB

Recommended Posts

So I'm  thinking of stating  a character for  'Elder Godlike'.  

The idea is  a strong, durable  hero (heroine), probably equivalent to Captain America.

So,  using  the Basic Lift rules  from GURPS I've figured that a character with a  STR of   50-60  should be be  able to  'power-lift' a jeep. The rules  are kinda vague  as to what levels of STR do what. 

Does that sound about right? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Captain America certainly has peak human strength but lifting a Jeep should be beyond him.  For comparison, my villain Aurochs has a STR of "only" 40, enough to barely lift a small missile or trainer plane but not enough to hoist a VW Beetle overhead.  I would use the BGB object SIZ chart to determine how strong your prospective hero will be.

http://www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/c/captainamerica.htm

Captain America max lift 800 pounds.

Edited by seneschal
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not really familiar with the rules of Elder Godlike - how closely do they track to SuperWorld?  Because I developed stats for just about every popular character from the summer of '84 obsessive-compulsive detail and can probably dig them out if you'd like.

!i!

carbon copy logo smallest.jpg  ...developer of White Rabbit Green

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, seneschal said:

Captain America certainly has peak human strength but lifting a Jeep should be beyond him.

They have changed Cap over the years from peak human Strength to low Superhuman.

2 hours ago, seneschal said:

Captain America max lift 800 pounds.

800 pounds would be a high SIZ 30 using the Superworld/RQ3 SIZ table. So CAP'S STR could be somewhere in the low 20s. Interestingly enough 22 is slightly above human max, and would just allow a 10% chance of lifting 800 pounds. 

3 hours ago, 1d8+DB said:

The rules  are kinda vague  as to what levels of STR do what. 

There was a SIZ table used in Superworld and RQ3 that, combined with the Resistance table would help a lot here. The formula is 2^(SIZ/8)*25 kg or 55 lbs.

That works out to SIZ 16 being 100 kg/220lbs and then doubling every 8 points.

An old army Jeep had a curb weight of between 2450 and 2700 lbs (SIZ 43-45), depending on the model. So a character would need a STR in mid 30s to have any chance of lifting one, and like seneschal noted, that should be beyond Cap's abilities. 

 

  • Like 1

Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks. 

 

I guess Cap wasn't a good example. There's a gap  in comics between those characters who are just slightly superhuman,  Captain America  (and I guess maybe Batman),  and those who can frisbee fling  a jeep into orbit (Hulk/Superman). 

I'm   thinking though that   a STR between  40 and 55 might be in the range I'm looking.   Really, really strong, but still unable to  toss tanks  around. 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, 1d8+DB said:

I guess Cap wasn't a good example. There's a gap  in comics between those characters who are just slightly superhuman,  Captain America  (and I guess maybe Batman),  and those who can frisbee fling  a jeep into orbit (Hulk/Superman). 

 

1 hour ago, 1d8+DB said:

I'm   thinking though that   a STR between  40 and 55 might be in the range I'm looking.   Really, really strong, but still unable to  toss tanks  around. 

There are some heroes in that mid-range. It's just that most of them are not as well known, or not know for thier strength. Here is alink to the strength scale for Marvel Heroes: https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Strength_Scale

Using Superworld:

SIZ 40= 800 kg or 1760 pounds

SIZ 55= 2934 kg or 6456 pounds, and probably strong enough to lift a jeep (or most cars) nearly every time.

 

BTW, should I put a SIZ spreadsheet in the downloads section for reference? I find it really helpful for determining the SIZ, STR and CON of creatures and items. I find it much easier to scale up an animal from the stats of an existing , similar animal than to just guess, and the results tend to be more consistent ,too.

Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/12/2019 at 3:14 AM, seneschal said:

Many strong-but-can't-lift-cars characters are better known for their secondary powers or special skills.  What can your hero do that stronger characters can't?

Yup. and many who can as well. Spider-Man is actually very strong, currently being in the 25 ton range, which is something like SIZ 78, yet his is mostly know for web-slinging, web-shooting, and amazing agility. He rarely lift's cars, but is certainly capable of it.

Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, Atgxtg said:

Yup. and many who can as well. Spider-Man is actually very strong, currently being in the 25 ton range, which is something like SIZ 78, yet his is mostly know for web-slinging, web-shooting, and amazing agility. He rarely lift's cars, but is certainly capable of it.

And that, for me, is the problem with BRP-style Super Heroes.

You have STR 90, so you can pick up SIZ 78 vehicles. that means that you have a massive damage bonus and can punch through almost anyone in one blow. Spider Man can't do that, yeah, he is strong, but he is not Hulk or Thing strong.

Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. 

www.soltakss.com/index.html

Jonstown Compendium author. Find my contributions here

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, soltakss said:

And that, for me, is the problem with BRP-style Super Heroes.

You have STR 90, so you can pick up SIZ 78 vehicles. that means that you have a massive damage bonus and can punch through almost anyone in one blow. Spider Man can't do that, yeah, he is strong, but he is not Hulk or Thing strong.

Yup. That was why Superworld used hit points in a different way, with people being knocked out rather than killed. Even so, BRPS generally "girtty realsim" bent does not work all that well for Superheros.

Mind you the x4 force = +1d6 damage bonus progression doesn't help either, and alterting that would address a few problems, such as large animals. A tiger only bites with about 30% more force than a human, but he does a lot more damage in BRP thanks to a +3D6 or +4D6 db. Now recently Cahsoium has been reducing SIZ to address this, hence the smaller horses, but I think that is tackling the problem at the wrong end.  I think smoothing out the db in die steps instead of full dice would fit better. If that +3D6 db were changed to +1D10 or so, a lot of things would work out better.

 

Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/11/2019 at 10:24 PM, 1d8+DB said:

Thanks. 

 

I guess Cap wasn't a good example. There's a gap  in comics between those characters who are just slightly superhuman,  Captain America  (and I guess maybe Batman),  and those who can frisbee fling  a jeep into orbit (Hulk/Superman). 

I'm   thinking though that   a STR between  40 and 55 might be in the range I'm looking.   Really, really strong, but still unable to  toss tanks  around. 

 

 

When do we get to see your write-up?  🙂

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/17/2019 at 3:12 PM, seneschal said:

When do we get to see your write-up?  🙂

Ola Gavron,  Polish Partisan and Wild Talent

 

 

                                                                             Eldritch Points

STR 12 (+20 Enhanced STR) 32                    3

DEX 12

INT 9

CON 12

SIZ 15

POW 9

EDU 13

APP 15

SAN 40

HP 13

DB +2d6

 

Other Talents: Damage Resistance 12               4

 

Skills: Conceal 22%, Craft : Trap 15%, Dodge 36%, Drive 36%, Fist/Punch 59%, Handgun 34%,

Hide 13%, History (Polish) 35%, Listen 40%, Navigate (Galicia) 36%, Own Language: Polish 65%,

Language: German 24%, Language: Russian 19%, Rifle 31%, Spot Hidden 31%, and Throw 38%.

 

Went with a  character build the emphasized  durability over raw strength:  perhaps better for facing down squads of Nazi soldiers in the Galician woods! Actual starting builds for  'Achtung!  Cthulhu' are  only 5 points,  so she's little more powerful than most: a definite threat  to her country's occupiers.

Edited by 1d8+DB
Added some material
Link to comment
Share on other sites

STR 32 is plenty to slap around a group of goons.  Damage resistance 12 is pretty good but she's not completely bulletproof is she?  So she's got to fight smart and sneaky, take 'em by surprise and not have scruples against fighting dirty if she has to.  Very pulpy!  With her POW 9 and APP 15 she's got a winning enough manner to pull a fast one but isn't so attractive that she can't blend into a crowd.

Edited by seneschal
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...