Double-scale DC Heroes RPG

Double the scale, double the fun !


Game system: DC Heroes Role-Playing Game

Context

This is a first draft for community discussion, which isn’t complete.

In a double-scale game (“DSDCH”), the eight ideas behind DC Heroes are adjusted thus.


Advertisement


Idea One: Attribute Points

In a double-scale game, the quantity under consideration doubles every two APs rather than with every AP. When adding a single AP, multiply by 1.5 and round down.

Modified Effect Chart for those who are interested

Technically, adding one AP to a quantity multiplies it by 1.4125. Yes, many of you spontaneously assumed a multiplier of 1.4142, but this is actually 1000 raised to the .05th. See the FAQ – Answers from the designers article if this difference of 0.0017 is disturbing to your essence.

This results in the following (simplified) Effect Chart. See Blood of Heroes: Special Edition p.134 for more about the Effect Chart.

APs 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Multiplier 1.5 2 3 4 6 8 10 15 20 30 45 60 90 125 180 250 350 500 725 1000
Real 1.41 2 2.82 3.98 5.62 7.94 11.22 15.85 22.39 31.62 44.67 63.1 89.13 125.89 177.83 251.19 354.81 501.19 707.95 1000

“Multiplier” is an approximative value for simplicity’s sake. ”Real” is the actual value to two decimals, for those people who really like numbers. Ignore it if you don’t.

Designer’s note

This is sometimes called the “*1.5 scale” or “*1.41 scale”, but “doubles with every two APs” is simpler. This type of scale gets used in, say, TORG.

Since you’re reading this you’re probably an experienced DCH hand. So you already know that, in practice, the exact multipliers aren’t really used. People just look at the “APs And The World” chapter’s tables.


Advertisement


Idea Three: Attributes

As a result, double every AP score to work on the new scale. So yes, iconic Superman is back to his STR of 50 like in ye olden days (and a BODY of 36, if we stick to his iconic Mayfair stats).

This means that the granularity has doubled. Thus, characters who could either have been a 05 or a 06 in the old scale can now simply be an 11, as the halfway point between 05*2 and 06*2.

Likewise, on the *2 scale we have weapons with an EV of 04 and weapons with an EV of 05. But on the *1.5 scale we can have an intermediary category of weapons with an EV of 09 (halfway between 04*2 and 05*2).

Human-scale STR and BODY

This gain in granularity allows us in turn to recompress the human scale for high-end STR and BODY.

In DCH there’s a scale issue where strongmen must be stronger than athletes and Batman must be stronger than strongmen, so we end up with many characters being absurdly strong and durable. Here the issue is avoided but people still get distinct scores. In fact they are *more* distinct thanks to single-AP Columns (more latter).

DCH STR DSDCH STR DSDCH weight
01 02 100 lbs. 
02 – Average Joe 03 140 lbs.
02 – Athletic 04 200 lbs.
03 – Strong 05 280 lbs.
04 – Heroic 06 400 lbs.
05 – Batman 07 560 lbs.
Low 06 08 800 lbs.

More space thus appears for “Enhanced Human” and “Class 1” characters. This range has three STR scores (9, 10, 11) in DSDCH.

This in turn leads to a new BODY scale. Note that the EV of weapons doesn’t get compressed, unlike human-scale STR and BODY. So weapons are more dangerous in street-level games.

The compressed BODY scale also mitigates the issues with BODY scores often being above STR scores for human-scale characters.

DCH BODY DSDCH BODY
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In the same vein it allows for avoiding inflation at the highest end of the Martial Artist Skill to turn the 1-11 space into a 1-20 scale rather than a 1-22 one.


Idea Three: Rolling The Dice

In double-scale DCH, you roll 2d20. Because all the things are doubled.

If at least one d20 produces a natural 7, you can roll again and add that to the result of the previous roll. This is the replacement for rolling doubles.

Rolling a pair of ones remains an automatic failure. Though this is less likely on 2d20 than on 2d10.

All values for roll-under and roll-over thresholds are doubled. Thus, a Reliability Number of R#3 would become a R#6. The Resistance Number for a MIF of pink rubber duckies  is no longer 5, but 10.

The few instances of straight bonuses to the Dice Roll are also doubled. Chiefly, that means the Dart Bonus for equipment. In fact, one could offer more options – a +1 bonus for two projectiles, and a +2 bonus for four projectiles.


Idea Four: Action Table

The double-scale Action Table now has each AP as its own Column, and as its own Line. Rolling 2d20 instead of 2d10 gives us enough of a numbers space that there can be significant differences in probabilities for each AP.

Column Shifts that result from an Action Check now start with a roll of 22 rather than 11. They are counted in the same way than before.

The Action Table

In this spreadsheet for now .

A priori Column Shifts

The main difference is in applying “canned” Column Shifts. These are the shifts that are set before the roll takes place. Typical examples are using Combat Manoeuvres, or the Universal Modifier Table.

Each such Column Shift is now translated as 4 APs. So if something is deemed Difficult on the Universal Modifier, the +2CS penalty to the OV becomes a 8 APs increase in the OV.

This of course allows for more granular manoeuvres, if desired. For instance, a by-the-book Critical Blow Manoeuvre is +2 CS OV, -3CS RV. On the double scale this becomes a +8 OV, -12 RV modifier.

This means that there is now room for a Master Blow Manoeuvre which represents a +4 OV, -6 RV modifier. Or even a Telling Blow Manoeuvre at +2 OV, – 3RV. If that’s your thing.

Designer’s note

The downside of this approach is that it loses the Columns, now that each AP is its own Column.

This makes everything more granular, but Columns made sense for superhuman APs. In the comics, there isn’t *that* much of a difference between a STR 16 and a STR 18 (32 and 36 on the *1.5 scale) and having on the same Column made sense. On the other hand, I’m not convinced it’s actually *useful*…

…except for making the tables smaller. That was an advantage.


Idea Five: Result Table

To be computed. It’s real boring to do and right now I have a nausea problem.


Idea Seven: Hero Points

All the things are doubled, and so Hero Points totals are doubled too. This allows to keep the Dice Action costs intact. On the other hand, Hero Points fees that aren’t about boosting a Dice Action must be doubled.

For simplicity’s sake, here’s a modified Genre Table.

Genre Name Humour Action Mock-Real Gritty Real
Killing Combat Never No Yes Yes Yes
Dice Action 1 1 3 5 8
Last Ditch 1 1 2 3 5
Desperation 20 30 40 50 60
Pushing Unlim. Unlim. Unlim. 5 APs 2 APs
Expenditure Double Double Double 15 APs 10 APs
Recovery 18 APs 30 APs 31 APs 32 APs 34 APs

As you can see, the ratios are intact (it takes as many HPs to LDD a single RAP as before), but the fixed quantities are doubled (doing a Desperation costs twice as much since you have twice as many Hero Points).


APs And The World – human-friendly values

Here are the tables people will actually use.

There have been two recalibrations :

  1. The quantities of US Dollars for 0 APs has doubled. This is because we’re now working using 2010 USD rather than 1985 USD. 2010 was picked since the cumulative inflation rate since 1985 was about 100%.
  2. The quantity of information for 0 APs have doubled. 1KB of text is about two paragraphs. This makes the table simpler to use with now-dominant computer science units.

Imperial version

APs Weight Distance Time US Dollars Volume Data
0 50 lbs. 10 ft. 4 seconds $50 1 cubic foot 1 KB
1 75 lbs. 15 ft. 6 seconds $70
2 100 lbs. 20 ft. 8 seconds $100 2 cubic feet
3 150lbs. 30 ft. 11 seconds $140
4 200 lbs. 40 ft. 16 seconds $200 4 cubic feet 4KB
5 300 lbs. 60 ft. 22 seconds $280
6 400 lbs. 25 yards 30 seconds $400 8 cubic feet
7 600 lbs. 35 yards 45 seconds $550
8 800 lbs. 50 yards 1 minute $800 16 cubic feet
9 1,100 lbs. 75 yards 1 mn 30s $1K
10 1,600 lbs. 100 yards 2 mn $1.5K 32 cubic feet 32KB
11 1 ton 150 yards 3 mn $2K
12 1.5 tons 200 yards 4 mn $3K 64 cubic feet 64 KB
13 2 tons 300 yards 6 mn $4K
14 3 tons 400 yards 8 mn $6K 125 cubic feet 128 KB
15 4 tons 600 yards 12 mn $8K
16 6 tons 800 yards Quarter-hour $10K 250 cubic feet 256 KB
17 8 tons 1,000 yards 23 mn $12K
18 12 tons 1 mile Half an hour $25K 500 cubic feet 512 KB
19 16 tons 1.5 miles 45 mn $35K
20 25 tons 2 miles An hour $50K 1,000 cubic feet 1 MB
21 35 tons 3 miles 1.5 hours $75K
22 50 tons 4 miles 2 hours $100K 2,000 cubic feet 2 MB
23 75 tons 6 miles 3 hours $150K
24 100 tons 9 miles 4.5 hours $200K 4,000 cubic feet 4 MB
25 150 tons 12 miles 6 hours $275K
26 200 tons 15 miles 9 hours $400K 8,000 cubic feet 8 MB
27 275 tons 22 miles 12 hours Half a mil
28 400 tons 30 miles 18 hours $800K 16,000 cubic feet 16 MB
29 550 tons 45 miles A day $1M
30 800 tons 60 miles 1.5 days $1.5M 32,000 cubic feet 32 MB
31 1,000 tons 90 miles 2 days $2M 48 MB
32 1,500 tons 125 miles 3 days $3M 64,000 cubic feet 64 MB
33 2,200 tons 175 miles 4 days $4M
34 3,000 tons 250 miles 6 days $6M 125,000 cubic feet 128 MB
35 4,500 tons 350 miles 8 days $9M
36 6,000 tons 500 miles 11 days $12M 250,000 cubic feet 256 MB
37 9,000 tons 700 miles 16 days $18M
38 12,000 tons 1,000 miles 23 days $25M 500,000 cubic feet 512 MB
39 18,000 tons 1,400 miles A month $35M
40 25,000 tons 2,000 miles 1.5 months $50M 1M cubic feet 1 GB
41 35,000 tons 2,800 miles 2 months $70M
42 50,000 tons 4,000 miles 3 months $100M 2M cubic feet 2GB
43 75,000 tons 5,500 miles 4 months $140M
44 100,000 tons 7,800 miles 6 months $200M 4M cubic feet 4 GB
45 150,000 tons 11,000 miles 8 months $280M 5.5M cubic feet
46 200,000 tons 15,000 miles A year $400M 8 GB
47 275,000 tons 22,000 miles 18 months $560M 11M cubic feet
48 400,000 tons 31,000 miles 2 years $800M 16 GB
49 600,000 tons 44,000 miles 3 years $1B 22M cubic feet
50 800,000 tons 62,000 miles 4 years $1.5B 30M cubic feet 32GB

Metric version

APs Weight Distance Time US Dollars Volume Data
0 20 kg. 3 m. 4 seconds $50 30 litres 1 KB
1 30 kg. 4.5 m. 6 seconds $70 40 litres
2 45 kg. 6 m. 8 seconds $100 55 litres
3 60 kg. 9 m. 11 seconds $140 80 litres
4 90 kg. 12 m. 16 seconds $200 110 litres 4KB
5 120 kg. 18 m. 22 seconds $280 150 litres
6 180 kg. 25 m. 30 seconds $400 225 litres
7 250 kg. 35 m. 45 seconds $550 300 litres
8 350 kg. 50 m. 1 minute $800 450 litres
9 500 kg. 75 m. 1 mn 30s $1K 650 litres
10 700 kg. 100 m. 2 mn $1.5K 900 litres 32KB
11 1 tonne 150 m. 3 mn $2K 1,200 litres
12 1.5 tonnes 200 m. 4 mn $3K 1,800 litres 64 KB
13 2 tonnes 300 m. 6 mn $4K 2,500 litres
14 3 tonnes 400 m. 8 mn $6K 3,500 litres 128 KB
15 4 tonnes 600 m. 12 mn $8K 5,000 litres
16 5.5 tonnes 800 m. Quarter-hour $10K 7,000 litres 256 KB
17 8 tonnes 1 km. 23 mn $12K 10 m3
18 11 tonnes 1.5 km. Half an hour $25K 15 m3 512 KB
19 16 tonnes 2 km. 45 mn $35K 20 m3
20 23 tonnes 3 km. An hour $50K 28 m3 1 MB
21 30 tonnes 4.5 km. 1.5 hours $75K 40 m3
22 45 tonnes 6 km. 2 hours $100K 55 m3 2 MB
23 65 tonnes 9 km. 3 hours $150K 80 m3
24 90 tonnes 12 km. 4.5 hours $200K 110 m3t 4 MB
25 125 tonnes 18 km. 6 hours $275K 160 m3
26 180 tonnes 25 km. 9 hours $400K 225 m3 8 MB
27 250 tonnes 35 km. 12 hours Half a mil 320 m3
28 360 tonnes 50 km. 18 hours $800K 450 m3 16 MB
29 500 tonness 75 km. A day $1M 630 m3
30 700 tonness 100 km. 1.5 days $1.5M 900 m3 32 MB
31 1 kilotonne 150 km. 2 days $2M 1,200 m3 48 MB
32 1.5 kilotonnes 200 km. 3 days $3M 1,800 m3 64 MB
33 2 kilotonnes 300 km. 4 days $4M 2,500 m3
34 3 kilotonnes 400 km. 6 days $6M 3,600 m3 128 MB
35 4 kilotonnes 600 km. 8 days $9M 5,000 m3
36 5.5 kilotonnes 800 km. 11 days $12M 7,500 m3 256 MB
37 8 kilotonnes 1,100 km. 16 days $18M 10,000 m3
38 11 kilotonnes 1,600 km. 23 days $25M 15,000 m3 512 MB
39 16 kilotonnes 2,200 km. A month $35M 20,000 m3
40 23 kilotonnes 3,200 km. 1.5 months $50M 30,000 m3 1 GB
41 30 kilotonnes 4,400 km. 2 months $70M 40,000 m3
42 45 kilotonnes 6,300 km. 3 months $100M 60,000 m3 2GB
43 65 kilotonnes 9,000 km. 4 months $140M 80,000 m3
44 90 kilotonnes 12,500 km. 6 months $200M 120,0000 m3 4 GB
45 125 kilotonnes 18,000 km. 8 months $280M 160,000 m3
46 180 kilotonnes 25,000 km. A year $400M 225,000 m3 8 GB
47 250 kilotonnes 35,000 km. 18 months $560M 320,000 m3
48 360 kilotonnes 50,000 km. 2 years $800M 450,000 m3 16 GB
49 500 kilotonnes 70,000 km. 3 years $1B 630,000 m3
50 700 kilotonnes 100,000 km. 4 years $1.5B 0.9 km3 32GB

APs And The World – full version

And here’s the table with the exact values.

APs Weight (lbs.) Weight (kg.) Distance (m.) Distance (feet) Distance (miles) Time Dollars Cubic feet Litres Data (KB)
0 50 23 3.2 10 0 00:00:04 50 1 28 1
1 71 32 4.5 15 0 00:00:06 71 1.4 40 1.4
2 100 45 6.3 21 0 00:00:08 100 2 56 2
3 141 64 8.9 29 0.01 00:00:11 141 2.8 80 2.8
4 199 90 12.6 41 0.01 00:00:16 199 4 113 4
5 281 128 17.8 58 0.01 00:00:22 281 5.6 159 5.6
6 397 180 25.1 82 0.02 00:00:32 397 7.9 225 8
7 561 254 35.5 116 0.02 00:00:45 561 11.2 318 11.2
8 792 359 50.1 164 0.03 00:01:03 792 15.8 449 16
9 1,119 508 70.7 232 0.04 00:01:30 1,119 22.4 634 22.4
10 1,581 717 99.9 328 0.06 00:02:06 1,581 31.6 895 32
11 2,233 1,013 141.2 463 0.09 00:02:59 2,233 44.7 1,265 44.7
12 3,155 1,431 199.4 654 0.12 00:04:12 3,155 63.1 1,787 64
13 4,456 2,021 281.6 924 0.18 00:05:57 4,456 89.1 2,524 89.1
14 6,295 2,855 397.8 1,305 0.25 00:08:24 6,295 125.9 3,565 128
15 8,891 4,033 561.9 1,844 0.35 00:11:51 8,891 177.8 5,036 177.8
16 12,559 5,697 793.8 2,604 0.49 00:16:45 12,559 251.2 7,113 256
17 17,741 8,047 1,121.20 3,679 0.7 00:23:39 17,741 354.8 10,047 354.8
18 25,059 11,367 1,583.80 5,196 0.98 00:33:25 25,059 501.2 14,192 512
19 35,397 16,056 2,237.10 7,340 1.39 00:47:12 35,397 707.9 20,047 707.9
Weight (US tons) Weight (tonnes) Distance (km) Distance (feet) Distance (miles) Time (hours) Time (days) Dollars Cubic feet Cubic metres Data (MB)
20 25 23 3.2 10,367 1.96 1:06: 50,000 1,000.00 28 1.0
21 35 32 4.5 14,644 2.77 1:34: 70,627 1,412.50 40 1.4
22 50 45 6.3 20,686 3.92 2:13: 99,763 1,995.30 56 2.0
23 70 64 8.9 29,219 5.53 3:07: 140,919 2,818.40 80 2.8
24 100 90 12.6 41,274 7.82 4:25: 199,054 3,981.10 113 4.0
25 141 128 17.8 58,300 11.04 6:14: 281,171 5,623.40 159 5.6
26 199 180 25.1 82,352 15.6 8:49: 397,164 7,943.30 225 8.0
27 281 254 35.5 116,325 22.03 12:28: 561,009 11,220.20 318 11.2
28 396 359 50.1 164,313 31.12 17:36: 792,447 15,848.90 449 16.0
29 560 508 70.7 232,098 43.96 24:52: 1.0 1,119,361 22,387.20 634 22.4
30 791 717 99.9 327,848 62.09 35:08: 1.5 1,581,139 31,622.80 895 32.0
31 1,117 1,013 141.2 463,097 87.71 49:37: 2.1 2,233,418 44,668.40 1,265 44.7
32 1,577 1,431 199.4 654,142 123.89 70:06: 2.9 3,154,787 63,095.70 1,787 64.0
33 2,228 2,021 281.6 924,000 175 99:01: 4.1 4,456,255 89,125.10 2,524 89.1
34 3,147 2,855 397.8 1,305,185 247.19 139:52: 5.8 6,294,627 125,892.50 3,565 128.0
35 4,446 4,033 561.9 1,843,623 349.17 197:35: 8.2 8,891,397 177,827.90 5,036 177.8
36 6,280 5,697 793.8 2,604,187 493.22 279:05: 11.6 12,559,432 251,188.60 7,113 256.0
37 8,870 8,047 1,121.20 3,678,512 696.69 394:14: 16.4 17,740,669 354,813.40 10,047 354.8
38 12,530 11,367 1,583.80 5,196,036 984.1 556:52: 23.2 25,059,362 501,187.20 14,192 512.0
39 17,699 16,056 2,237.10 7,339,595 1,390.07 786:36: 32.8 35,397,289 707,945.80 20,047 707.9
Weight (US tons) Weight (Kt) Distance (km) Distance (miles) Time (days) Time (months) Dollars Cubic feet Cubic metres Data (GB)
40 25,000 23 3,160 1,963.53 46.3 1.5 50,000,000 1,000,000.00 28,317 1.0
41 35,313 32 4,464 2,773.56 65.4 2.1 70,626,877 1,412,537.50 39,999 1.4
42 49,882 45 6,305 3,917.76 92.3 3 99,763,116 1,995,262.30 56,499 2.0
43 70,460 64 8,906 5,533.99 130.4 4.3 140,919,147 2,818,382.90 79,808 2.8
44 99,527 90 12,580 7,816.97 184.2 6.1 199,053,585 3,981,071.70 112,731 4.0
45 140,585 127 17,770 11,041.76 260.2 8.5 281,170,663 5,623,413.30 159,237 5.6
46 198,582 180 25,101 15,596.90 367.6 12.1 397,164,117 7,943,282.30 224,928 8.0
47 280,505 254 35,456 22,031.20 519.2 17.1 561,009,227 11,220,184.50 317,720 11.2
48 396,223 359 50,083 31,119.90 733.4 24.1 792,446,596 15,848,931.90 448,791 16.0
49 559,680 508 70,744 43,958.03 1036 34 1,119,360,569 22,387,211.40 633,934 22.4
50 790,569 717 99,928 62,092.36 1463.4 48.1 1,581,138,830 31,622,776.60 895,456 32.0

By Sébastien Andrivet, with a copyright and everything. No, wait, *two* copyrights. Possibly more.

Writeup completed on the 20th of March, 2017.