DC Heroes RPG – New Rules – Gadgetry & Equipment

Context

This is a technical article for the DC Heroes RPG.

For a list of all articles like this one, see the Guide to new DC Heroes RPG rules.

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Index

• Words between /slashes/ in Gadgets statistics.
• Maximum discount on Equipment from Drawbacks.
• Capital-E Equipment vs. small-e equipment.
• Weapons Theorem Rules.
• Bows.
• EV for Gadgets
• Recommended Strength (Rec. STR) attribute.
• Multiple attack Descriptors.
• Realistic Genre Gadgetry Rules.
• Scrounging-based Gadgetry.
• Stealth penalties.

Words between /slashes/ in Gadgets statistics

For many Gadgets (especially power armour ) you’ll see notation such as /BODY/.

It’s an old trick that was used back in the days of raw text display to denote that a word is in italics. Thus, when you see /STR/ or /BODY/ those are actually italicised Attributes, and would be written in the rulesbook STR or BODY. You have to imagine that the letters align their vertical lines with the slashes, see?

Though our work is no longer displayed in raw text, we have kept this notation. Italics do not really pop out on older and/or smaller displays and could thus be missed by some readers.

Maximum discount on Equipment from Drawbacks

Commentators: Interrobang75, Ethan Roe, Sébastien Andrivet.

A Gadget may never have its cost reduced by Drawbacks to lower than one-half (fractions rounded up) of its cost without those Drawbacks. A 33-Hero-Point Gadget with two 10-point Drawbacks, therefore, would have a final cost of 17 Hero Points.

This rule was present in the third edition of DC Heroes. It vanished from Blood of Heroes: Special Edition, which likely was an error.

Capital-E Equipment vs. small-e equipment

Author: Sébastien Andrivet
Helper(s): Roy Cowan

There are two sorts of gear in DC Heroes.

1. Gadgets and Equipment that gets bought via Hero Points and/or Skill usage.
2. Gear that is procured via ordinary means – for instance bought at the store or just picked up.

The two might even have the exact same game stats. One Character might have his signature .357 magnum revolver bought with Hero Points, but unless this weapon performs in an extraordinary manner another Character might just buy a similar .357 revolver and tote it around, or steal it from a defeated opponent.

This stops being true for one-of-a-kind equipment (such as an Iron Man suit of power armour ). But in a sufficiently high-tech setting power armour might well be available for sale, loaned by allied organisations, etc.

And yet, most GMs are not going to tell players their Characters can’t buy (or steal…) cell phones (Radio Communication, Data Storage, etc.), cars (Running, STR, etc.) unless they pay the HP costs for balance reasons.

Proposed approach

A common approach is to consider that HPs-bought Equipment has some degree of narrative immunity. That is it might be confiscated, stolen, might fail its R#, etc.. But ultimately it will not leave the Character’s side for long as it is a part of their signature style and image.

It will always be recovered, rebuilt, repaired, replaced, etc.. Even if that involves some amazing coincidences or unexplained off-screen events. The player paid for it, and it’s part of the character concept. Vintage James Bond always has his Walther PPK, even though he might go through perils where he’s disarmed for a while.

By contrast, equipment not paid for in Hero Points is disposable and alterable for any or no reason, at the GM’s whim. As any soldier knows, being in the field is rough on gear, even milspec.

If, in a 1970s Urban Gangland game, the protagonists are ambushed by Uzi-toting, leather-clad, long-haired irredeemably brutal youths (with earrings !), it’s entirely okay for the car they were in to be shot to pieces as they hug cover.

However, if said motorcar were a signature piece of gear strongly associated with the characters (like Starsky and Hutch’s white-swooshed red 1976 Ford Torino ), it would somehow escape all but cosmetic damage. If it does get more seriously damaged, it will be fully repaired by the next episode without any fanfare, cost, dice roll or difficulty.

Likewise, the GM might arbitrarily raise the R# of not-bought-with-HPs equipment due to environmental conditions (such as exposure to sand, immunity, dust, etc.), whereas equipment-bought-with-HPs will stubbornly keep their R# since that’s what the player paid for.

However

However, don’t get carried away. Equipment bought with HPs comes with a significant cost break compared to intrinsic abilities, especially if it can be Taken Away.

This should be reflected in play by being inconvenient (having the Running Power via your truck, and having the Running Power period, should be two very different things), Equipment getting confiscated (say, when the Characters are captured) or unavailable (say, the Character was in the shower when the aliens attack), etc.

Gaming groups with an interest in fair pricing may wish to adjust the cost divisors for equipment to reflect this. For instance, if the GM seldom if ever has NPC attempts to Take Away equipment in combat (or it almost always fails), reducing the divisor to 3 or even 2.5 might be more fair for the group.

Weapons Theorem Rules

Authors: Dr Peter S Piispanen & John Colagioia
Helper(s): Roy Cowan

This material is now obsoleted by the Enhance Power. It’s kept around for those who preferred the old approach.

• Melee weapons either have Claws, Claws Being, or EV depending on the type of damage.
• Ranged weapons either have EV, Projectile Weapons or any other ranged offensive Power as appropriate.
• Weapons with Claws, Projectile Weapons, or other Powers use the Power’s APs as EV.
• Melee Weapons with their own EV have the Bonus that any APs of EV above 2 can be added to the user’s STR or Martial Artist EV using normal math (not AP math) when those values are substituted for the weapon’s EV. This adds +1FC to the cost of EV.
• The EV Bonus add-on to STR/Martial Artist has a maximum possible combined EV of the weapon’s BODY+1 APs. If used at this level the weapon will break immediately unless it has the Hardened Defenses Advantage.
• With Hardened Defenses, the maximum possible combined EV is BODY+2 APs, which will immediately break the weapon. Use of an EV at BODY+1 APs will result in damage to the weapons as per the Result Table (using combined EV versus the weapon’s BODY), with the weapon remaining operations until at a Current Body condition of 0 or less.
• Weapons used for Blocking will take damage if the incoming EV exceeds the Body of the blocking object. The blocking weapon is then broken immediately unless it possesses Hardened Defenses in which case it takes damage as per the Result Table.
• A melee weapon may have a higher EV than its BODY although this would be very rare. If such a weapon’s EV is further increased by use of STR/Martial Artist as above it will immediately break. Furthermore, the STR/Martial Artist score must be within 3 APs of the weapon’s base EV or it will not add at all; if it is within 3 APs it will add in the using AP math, not normal math.
• Though thrown weapons are not covered by the above rules, the above melee weapons rules can also be extended to thrown weapons at the GM’s choice. Optional rules for bows can be found on WORG.

Example 1: A sword with BODY: 08 and EV: 04 is swung by a person with STR: 03. The sword’s EV will be: STR + (base EV-2) = 3 + (4-2) = 5 APs. Thus the Big Guy attacks with 5 APs of EV due to his higher-than-normal STR.

Example 2: As above, but with STR: 07. The maximum possible EV would be (7+ (4-2)) 9 APs. If he chose to use the full EV of 9 APs it would break the Sword since it does not have Hardened Defenses, but any EV up to the Body of the Sword (8 in this case) is usable without damaging it.

Example 3: A character with STR: 12 uses the above sword. With full STR, he still only has an EV of 9 (BODY+1 of Sword) and the weapon is destroyed in the process.

Example 4: A character with STR: 12 picks up the legendary spear (EV: 5, BODY: 20). He can utilize the highest possible combined EV of 15 without any damage to the spear.

Example 5: A person with STR: 03 uses a Molecular-Strand Garrote (Body: 01, EV: 50). He decides not to use his higher-than-normal STR and instead rely on the weapon’s base EV alone. If he had decided to use his full STR he would have destroyed the weapon in the process (EV: 50 vs BODY: 01 on the Result Table) and would have gotten no EV increase since his STR is well below the 3 AP cut-off noted under paragraph 8 above.

Bows

The relevant stuff (and in particular the Bow Advantage) is in our Archery in DCH article.

EV for Gadgets

See the “Claws and EV” pricing discussion in the New Powers for DC Heroes RPG part #1 document.

Recommended Strength (Rec. STR) attribute

Recommended Strength (Rec. STR) is an optional characteristic that can be assigned to a Gadget – usually a weapon.

If a person with a STR Attribute lower than the stated Recommended Strength attempts to wield the Gadget, the OV of their actions using the Gadget is raised by one Column Shift for each AP of Strength under the Recommended Strength threshold. Range penalties will also be worsened by one Genre.

Recommended Strength can be indicated for a specific manner of wielding the Gadget. The typical example being using a machinegun like a rifle, rather than using it prone and from a bipod.

Recommended Strength is points-neutral, and is considered a reflection of the Gadget’s appearance. It might become a problem if the wielder’s STR is Drained or otherwise lowered, but then it might also prevent foes from using it against them.

Multiple attack Descriptors

The Descriptors for attacks are discussed in our New Rules – Miscellanea article. They’re chiefly here to determine which defenses apply against which attacks.

Weapons could have multiple Descriptors. For instance a halberd with an axe blade (front), spear head (top) and hammer head (back) can do slashing attacks, piercing attacks and blunt attacks.

Weapons with multiple Descriptors are thus better able to exploit weakness and vulnerabilities. For instance if the enemy’s body armour is less reliable against some Descriptors.

Costs

The first Descriptor is free, but others are considered an Advantage of the weapons.

Logistics

Whether the attack is Physical/Mental/Mystical, and whether it is Kinetic/Energy/Neither/Both is determined by the Power that the Gadget or Artefact is using to attack.

The free Descriptor, and any paid Descriptors beyond the free one, are those beyond the categorisation above.

So our example halberd has an Enhance Power (or Claws, or EV) that is defined as Physical and Kinetic. As the free Descriptor, the gadgeteer picks Slashing, and then the Piercing and Blunt Descriptors are bought and added to the Gadget.

Scrounging-based Gadgetry

Some campaigns may take place in a setting where traditional purchase of parts for a Gadget isn’t an option, such as a post-apocalyptic wasteland or a country in the throes of societal collapse due to civil war.

Likewise, some gadgeteers may not have immediate access to many goods or services, either as a temporary circumstance like being in an isolated, resource-poor locale or as a on-going issue such as lack of funds forcing them to rely on whatever makeshift components they can beg, borrow, or steal.

In these cases a gadgeteer may have to Scrounge for necessary parts rather than making a standard Wealth Check. The Scrounging Check uses the same OV/RV as a standard Gadget-building Wealth Check, but the AV/EV is equal to the character’s APs of Gadgetry and the RAPs are compared against the Scrounging Table.

The base time for a Scrounging Check is two days (16 APs) as the character makes a scrounging run through the surrounding area to find the necessary parts. Each AP of time added to the base time reduces the OV/RV by 1 CS, while each AP of time subtracted from the base time add 1CS to the OV/RV.

The GM may include additional modifiers as appropriate. Trying to kit-bash a car when a large junkyard is in the vicinity might reduce the OV/RV by 2CS, while trying to find the necessary parts in a desert wasteland where there is nothing more than the occasional rickety shack or stripped frame of a very old vehicle might add 3CS to the OV/RV.

Scrounging Table

Stealth penalties

Some equipment, often body armour, makes it more difficult to be stealthy.

Gadgets and equipment can therefore have the Stealth Penalty Drawback, which is explained in the Body Armour Chapter Zero document.

From a technical standpoint, this is simply a Power Loss Drawback (BoH:SE p51) applied to a FC 3 ability (namely Thief (Stealth)).

Therefore, each AP of reduction is a 1 pt Drawback.

The Stealth penalty distinguishes an OV penalty and a RV penalty, for granularity. Therefore each AP of OV penalty is a 0.5pt Drawback, and each AP of RV penalty is a 0.5pt Drawback, with the total being rounded up.

Note that this costing assumes that attempting Stealth checks is a Rare occurrence. The assumption being that Characters in heavier armour are less likely to sneak around in the first place. In some games, the GM might consider it Common rather than Rare. Say, if there are a lot of group-wide Stealth checks.

Compiled, formatted, edited, etc. by Roy Cowan.

Helper(s): Eric Langendorff, Adam Fuqua, Sébastien Andrivet.