a vile deception

[Misfit KotLD]

Try the gymnastics and acrobatics skills.

[Misfit KotLD]

The rules are there though.

[Misfit KotLD]

Oh, we can have a whole other discussion on the rules being usable and sensible, but his outrage is that the rules were not there.

[Severus Snape]

Might I make a small suggestion?

Leaping is the act of physically propelling yourself either upwards or forwards with enough force to span a given distance. In order to actually leap, one needs to have the physical strength to do so, as well as the physical prowess to land properly and not hurt yourself. But how to check for this in DR (or the rest of the megaverse, for that matter)?

I believe that you can't just say "Well, roll PP and see if you can leap that far". What if the distance is 30 feet? I also believe that you can't just say "Well, roll PS and see if you can leap that far". What if the landing is on a patch of ice on the ledge of a cliff? There has to be a way to involve both of these attributes without rolling multiple times, right?

Here's what I suggest (and this is without looking through the rest of PB's books to find any leaping rules):

1. Leaping distance is equal to 1/2 of the PS attribute for forward leaps with no less than a 5 foot running start.
2. Leaping distance is equal to 1/3 of the PS attribute for forward leaps with either no or less than a 5 foot running start.
3. Leaping distance is equal to 1/4 of the PS attribute for leaps straight up.
4. All leaping checks are done based on a PP check (with applicable PP modifiers). GM's could, if they feel so inclined, allow PS modifiers equal to 1/8 - 1/4 of the PS bonus for damage (example: someone has a +8 bonus to damage, so they may get a +1 or +2 bonus to the leaping check).

Now, for examples of the above. Say a character has a PS of 20 and a PP of 15. Based on the above rules, said character would be able to leap up to 10 feet forward with a running start, 6.75 feet forward with little or no running start (I rounded up - sue me), or 5 feet straight up. I don't think that this seems unreasonable. A 10 foot running long jump is not out of the question (although leaping straight up 5 feet may be, but you never know). With this system, the character would not have any PP bonuses to the leaping check, but may be entitled to a +1 bonus based on the damage bonus for PS.

I realize that based on these rules that characters with Superhuman or Supernatural PS are going to be able to leap amazingly large distances. I mean, someone with a SNPS of around 100 could leap about 25 feet straight upward, or up to 50 feet across with a running start. Granted, this isn't Heroes Unlimited, so we're not talking about a comic book world. It's not perfect, but it works.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Any ideas on how to improve this system?

[The Beast]

Stat checks should be %-based, not d20-based. Otherwise you'll be cheating your players.

[Severus Snape]

those rules seem well enough.
but what if the pp in question is over 20? do all his checks automatically succeed?

No. A natural 20 is still a failure.

Stat checks should be %-based, not d20-based. Otherwise you'll be cheating your players.

Good point. After thinking about it for a moment, someone with a PP of 30 would just literally pick up the die and toss it and probably not pay attention to it. Granted, this doesn't take penalties into account, but 95+% of the time the roll will succeed. The problem with this is going to be that there isn't a formal "Jumping/Leaping" proficiency, so I'm going to use the one I statted earlier as the basis for one. I therefore, after careful consideration, give you the following:

Jumping/Leaping
Fairly self-explanatory, this is the act of physically propelling oneself either forward or upwards, in an attempt to reach another point. Characters may either take a running start to jump/leap, or they may attempt to jump/leap from a standing position. Distances for jumping/leaping are as follows:

1. Leaping distance (in feet) is equal to 1/2 of the PS attribute for forward leaps with no less than a 5 foot running start.
2. Leaping distance (in feet) is equal to 1/3 of the PS attribute for forward leaps with either no or less than a 5 foot running start.
3. Leaping distance (in feet) is equal to 1/4 of the PS attribute for leaps straight up.

Characters who do not take Jumping/Leaping as a proficiency may still attempt to jump or leap, but the chance for success is much less than those who do. The base chance for jumping/leaping is 60%. Characters may add their PP bonus to this amount to increase their chances (for example, a character with a PP of 19 would have a 62% chance - 60% base chance, +2% for the PP bonus). If characters do not take Jumping/Leaping as a proficiency the base chance % only increases by +1% per level (to a maximum of 98%).

Characters have the option of taking Jumping/Leaping as a formal proficiency. Should they do so, the base chance for success is 75%, with the chance increasing by +2% per level (to a maximum of 98%). Bonuses due to high PP scores are still applicable.

GM's may, as an option, allow characters a bonus to the base chance for high PS scores. The bonus should not be more than 1/8 - 1/4 of the PS bonus for increased damage. For example, a character who has a PS of 23 has a +8 bonus to damage; this character should receive a bonus of no more than +1 or +2.


How is this? Is this better?

[Severus Snape]

It's all good. At least by having both systems, players and GM's can choose which one they want to go with for their games.

[The Beast]

Stat checks should be %-based, not d20-based. Otherwise you'll be cheating your players.

What if they do not have the relevant % skill to test though. If it's a life or death situation or a task such as leaping or lifting something heavy then I'm taking the d20 option.

Uh, everyone has stats. 8 of them to be precise.

[The Beast]

Stat checks should be %-based, not d20-based. Otherwise you'll be cheating your players.

What if they do not have the relevant % skill to test though. If it's a life or death situation or a task such as leaping or lifting something heavy then I'm taking the d20 option.

Uh, everyone has stats. 8 of them to be precise.

Thats what I meant. everyone has stats to test but not the skills to test against.

I'm not following your logic. I'm saying that instead of using a d20 for your stat checks, you use d%, and multiply the stat appropriately for the difficulty. I found this method posted on the forums a few years ago. I haven't found it again, I think it was eaten by reg. Once I get back to the states I can see if I can find it in my notes.

[The Beast]

Can you give me an example I look forward to it! Cos I want to use stats. Maybe I'm going into thick mode here but what do I multiply the stat by? The example above doesnt multiply the stat, it plucks up a percentage chance out of thin air (no offence to the man that did it as its still a good system) and says you can add your relevant stat bonuses to it. Therefore, yet again making most stats useless unless you have 16 or more in them.

Like I said, I'm nowhere near my notes, so it'll be a couple months before I can find them and repost them.