We are rolling right along; there are only twenty pages left to go. Let's continue our review of Perception rolls. As I mentioned last time, a PER roll is a normal roll of 3D6 where the goal is to roll 9 + INT/5 or less. So, an average person with an INT of 10 would need an 11 or less. Enhanced Senses can affect this roll; for example, Wolverine would have Enhanced Senses for his sense of smell. Range modifiers apply to PER rolls just as they do to attack rolls: -1 to the roll per 3" of distance between the character and whatever they are attempting to perceive. At night, PER rolls related to sight get a -1 per 1" of distance unless the character has Enhanced Senses that allow them to see clearly at night, such as UV Vision. As a rule of thumb, the combat modifiers can be applied to PER rolls as well (for example, seeing a very small target would take a penalty to the roll due to the target's size).
The next paragraph discusses how different types of PER rolls can be adjudicated; Hearing PER rolls won't be as accurate for targeting someone as a Sight PER roll. And the last sentence says that Sight PER rolls at night are at a base of -3. This directly contradicts the previous paragraph's note that it's -1 per 1" of distance. I would ignore that final sentence and stick to the range modifier version myself.
Don't overdo PER rolls; some things are just plain obvious. However, PER rolls do have a use in combat; if you're in a fight with Megaman and his henchman Ratfink is sneaking up behind you, a PER roll might help you avoid a sneak attack from the dastardly villain. However, don't use PER rolls too often; it will slow down the game.
Okay, now we move to Characteristic rolls. These are just the same as PER rolls; you roll 3D6 and the target number is 9 + the characteristic's value divided by 5. So, a STR roll (you're trying to lift a bus, for example) would be targeting 9 + STR/5. If your STR is 40, then the roll would be 9 + 40/5, or 9 + 8, or 17 or less. A DEX roll with a DEX of 20 would be 9 + 20/5, or 13 or less.
There are a few examples given of how Characteristic rolls might be used. Are you falling out of a building and trying to grab a ledge to save yourself? Make a DEX roll to break your fall. Are you trying to make some sort of scientific breakthrough? Make an INT roll. Are you trying to stay stoic under torture? Make an EGO roll. There are other possibilities as well, although I have a hard time seeing where you might need to make a Comeliness roll. As with PER rolls, don't overdo them, and use common sense. If the Thing is trying to lift a bag of cement, he doesn't need to make a roll to do it.
Now we get into Movement. The very first sentence says, 'Champions is best played on a floor or tabletop.' What floor would that be? Tabletop is definitely preferred; I'm not crawling around on the floor, not at my age. Regardless, putting a map of the setting and counters or minis on it will make visualizing the combat much, much easier. Especially with superhero combat, which can have wide ranges as characters zip around the battlefield. It's not absolutely required, but it's definitely and highly recommended.
The types of movement mentioned here are running, swimming, flying, gliding, leaping, and teleporting. That pretty much covers all the basic superhero modes of movement. There's also tunneling, but that's got its own rules from the power description earlier in the book.
In general, everyone has a base movement distance depending on how they are trying to move. Everyone has 6" of running and 2" of swimming, unless they have a Physical Limitation that restricts them from doing either of those. Everyone has leaping, as well, based on their STR score. In a phase, a character can do a partial move or a full move as they choose. A full move is any distance greater than 1/2 your movement distance; for the basic 6" running, that means if you move 4", that's a full move action and you can't do anything else until your next phase unless you are doing a Move By or a Move Through combat action.
If you move 1/2 or less of your full distance, that's a partial move and you can still make an attack or some other kind of action in the phase. Most actions are listed as taking a '1/2 move' to do, including many of the combat maneuvers. The only ones that take up more than a 1/2 move are Haymaker, Kick, Move Through, and Move By. All movement costs END at a rate of 1 END per 5" of movement. Noncombat movement (we'll get to that) doesn't cost additional END.
Alright, so we start with the most basic: Ground Movement. This is your Running speed. As mentioned earlier, you start with a base of 6" per phase. If you start and end your phase out of combat, you can actually double that speed. If you enter or come out of combat in a phase, you can't use noncombat movement. To add Running speed costs 2 points per 1" of additional movement, so bumping your base running speed to 10" would cost you 8 points. Running can be pushed like a power at up to 5 extra inches of speed at an END cost of 2 points per additional inch.
Swimming is basically the same as running, except obviously you're in water, and your base speed is 2" per phase unless you buy enhanced swimming speed. In all other ways, swimming uses the same rules as running.
Flight is the next most-common means of movement for superheroes. Flight can be pushed just like any other END-using power, at a cost of 2 END per additional inch of flight speed, up to a total of 5 additional inches and 10 END. However, flying has something called a Turn Mode. This defines how often you can make a 60° turn in the air. Your character's Turn Mode is defined by your total flight distance divided by five. So when you are flying, you can make your first turn at any time in your flight path. However, once you do that first 60° turn, you can't turn any further until you have traveled a number of inches equal to your Turn Mode. So, if Starburst's flight distance for the phase is 15", his Turn Mode is 3". Starburst can start his flight phase traveling 8", then turns; he can't turn again until he has traveled an additional 3". There's a rule where you can only make a maximum of five evenly-spaced turns during a phase, and that takes us to the end of the page. What that means, though, is you can't do a full 360° turn in a single phase in the air. You can do it on the ground; ground and swimming movement have no Turn Mode.
Well, that was exciting. Another page done, and we're going to continue with movement next time. Until then, same Bat-time, same Bat-blog.
Wouldn't that be funny to see Batman writing a crimefighting blog?
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