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85 MPH Unarmed Attack


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I’m creating a superhero with Flight. I want him to be able to body slam his foes. According to the vehicular chase rules on page 216 a car does 1d6 points per level of speed, but I’m not sure what a level of speed is. Can anyone clarify? Thanks.

"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales."

"When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than any talent for abstract, positive thinking."

~Albert Einstein~

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Good question, and as far as I can figure, almost impossible to work out exactly!

Mostly because Speed Rate is an 'abstract value' which doesn't seem to translate across vehicles in a simple formula.

It might be some kind of bell curve...

Taking examples from the book...

Horses have a Move of 12 but a Speed Rate of 2

My guestimate says Horses walk at just over 2mph with a gallop (x5 Move) being about 11mph. Which seems a little slow. Unless my maths is terrible, which is possible...

But that would make a Modern Sedan with a Speed Rate of 12, Move 72, at 67mph (with the x5 Move for running!) which also seems a little slow, but possible...

Which twisted confusions makes a Speed Rate approximately equal to Move 6, or 5.6(ish) mph (at x5 Move for running) 1.12 mph(walking).

So much for clarity ;)

Just did a search on the forum and found this http://basicroleplaying.com/showthread.php/1962-Vehicles-and-Chases?highlight=speed

Edited by MrJealousy
update with search

Mr Jealousy has returned to reality!

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I always go back to the WoW boxset and the SuperWorld book (along with the designer's notes from Different Worlds #23) when it comes to superhero campaigns.

Are you more interested in building/finding a crunchy formula for Speed in BRP? Or just a consistent method for a Smash attack?

With the WoW version, the attacker took about half the damage he dished out with a Smash attack. Which is okay if you have a lot of armor, but if you fumble that attack.... =O

I will dig up that issue when I get back from work this evening, if you are interested. I know it was based on SIZ and levels of Flight.

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Thanks, I appreciate the responses.

Yes, any advice would be welcome. I don't have SuperWorld or WoW. Actually, I wouldn't mind doing both (building a formula for speed and creating a consistent method for a smash attack). And the idea of this super suffering damage from his own attack is perfect as far as I'm concerned (I like the superhero genre but I prefer a gritty more realistic RPGs). Thanks again.

Edited by LivingTriskele

"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales."

"When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than any talent for abstract, positive thinking."

~Albert Einstein~

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I took a quick glance at the BGB, I don't see anything about Smash attacks. Does it cover them at all?

Anyway, the details about Smash attacks, from the DW article:

Starting ability with a Smash attack is 10% (I house-ruled this to 25%), and it can be increased either in creation of the character or through experience like any other skill. Roll 1D6 for every 5 SIZ points of the attacker or fraction thereof to determine the damage to the target. Characters with a SIZ of 1 or less do not get this damage. Roll 1D6 for every 10 SIZ points of the attacker for damage to the attacker. In addition, a character using Flight may add 1D6 for every 3 levels of Flight he has over the minimum necessary for flying; a character using Speed may add 1D6 for every level of Speed he has. In both cases this damage applies both to attacker and target.

Unlike all other forms of attack, a character may make a full move and then strike with a smash. A character must move at lesat 4m in a straight line for every 1D6 of damage done in a smash.

There is some room here for interpretation, but Smash attacks are more intended for last ditch/desperate attacks most of the time, IMHO. Oh, I house-ruled a fumbled Smash attack as doing full damage to the attacker alone, with a Dodge roll to take half damage instead. There are those fumble charts in the BGB, so you might want to look at using those. Imagine smashing into an ally during a battle? Whoops!

Anyway, I'm not sure how useful this will be for you, but at least some things to consider as you build your character.

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Thanks! I have the feeling I'm going to have to define Speed Rates to make this work. I'm actually considering transcribing the characters we used in a one-shot Mutants & Masterminds game to BRP... We'll see how that goes...

"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales."

"When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than any talent for abstract, positive thinking."

~Albert Einstein~

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I don't have SuperWorld or WoW. And the idea of this super suffering damage from his own attack is perfect as far as I'm concerned

LT, you can get the WOW (including the original Superworld) from the link below my "Being cheeky" sig.

http://www.basicrps.com/core/BRP_quick_start.pdf A sense of humour and an imagination go a long way in roleplaying. ;)
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Awesome! Thanks!

"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales."

"When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than any talent for abstract, positive thinking."

~Albert Einstein~

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I would not make it more complex as it is needed. Flight of 85mph I would rate as Speed Rate 12. Since speed and chase rules are more abstract in BRP, I would not make too much fuzz about an exact Rate-to-MPH formula.

Using Speed Rate instead of mph makes things easier if your hero does chases and makes ramming attacks, so I personally would ignore the mph value at all.

Additionally I would judge every level of Super Speed adds one to the Speed Rate of 12.

And even if it's not in the BGB, make it a setting rule ;) and you're all good!

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