DC ADVENTURES JAYSON’S HOUSE RULES

GENERAL RULES
Of course, ground speed determines other movement
abilities. Climbing and Swimming have a speed of ground speed -2
I have a few changes to the rule set provided in the DC
Ranks. However, Strength now also has a more powerful effect on
Adventures Heroʼs Handbook. They may have any effect on the
Jumping.
stats for existing characters or Archetypes. Simply make any
Normal characters (Strength 0) start with the ability to
necessary adjustments, reallocating points as necessary.
jump -1 Ranks of distance (15 feet) for a running long jump. Each
+3 Ranks of Strength improves this jumping distance by 1 Rank,
GROUND SPEED AND STRENGTH and each -3 Ranks of Strengths worsens this distance by 1 Rank.
Divide that measured distance by 2 for a standing long jump, by 5
The game rules stipulate that all normal characters (those for a running vertical jump, and by 10 for a standing vertical jump.
without the Speed power or other form of movement power) have a
ground speed of 0 Rank (30 feet per Round). In order to move any
faster, the character must purchase the Speed Power. STRENGTH-BASED LEAPING IN FEET
In my campaign, high levels of Strength grant an increase
in ground speed, while low levels of Strength lower your ground Strength Running Standing Running Standing
speed. For every three Ranks of Strength above 0, increase the Rank Long Long Vertical Vertical
characterʼs ground speed by 1 Rank. Jump Jump Jump Jump
Also, for purposes of measuring who would win in a race
or other similar test of ground speed not requiring a Check, each 1 -3 6 3 1.2 0.6

Rank of Strength increases the ground speed by 1/3 of an AP in real

-2 9 5 1.8 0.9
world measures. So for example, Rank 0 Strength grants a ground
speed of 30 feet per Round (0 Rank Speed), Rank 1 Strength -1 12 6 2.4 1.2
grants 40 feet per Round, Rank 2 Strength grants 50 feet per
Round, and 3 Strength grants 60 feet per Round (1 Rank of Speed). 0 15 8 3 2

1 20 10 4 2
STRENGTH-BASED GROUND SPEED TABLE
2 25 13 5 3

Strength Ground Running Swimming

3 30 15 6 3
Rank Speed
4 40 20 8 4
-3 -1 15 feet 6 feet
5 50 25 10 5
-2 -1 20 feet 9 feet
6 60 30 12 6
-1 -1 25 feet 12 feet

0 0 30 feet 15 feet ...and so on.

1 0 40 feet 20 feet
Based on the above, Batman can jump 40 feet at a
2 0 50 feet 25 feet running long jump, while Superman can leap 1,200 feet on a
running long jump or 240 feet on a running vertical jump.
3 1 60 feet 30 feet
The various movement Powers (Speed, Swimming,
4 1 80 feet 40 feet
Leaping) use the Strength-based abilities as their base, rather than
5 1 100 feet 50 feet a flat 0 Rank. This makes us have to recalculate how fast
Supermanʼs Speed 15 lets him travel. Starting at Rank 6 ground
...and so on. speed, that makes his ground speed Rank 21, or over 2 million
miles per hour. Since this doesnʼt match the comics, the
Any use of the Ranks and Measures Table to solve a Gamemaster may force Supermanʼs player to reduce Supermanʼs
calculation (miles per hour, etc) use the Rank below the x/3 Rank Speed Rank by 6, and allow him to spend those points elsewhere.
Level as the starting Rank. After solving the formula, insert the x/3
back into the AP. So our Strength 1 hero, wanting to know his Based on the above, some GMʼs may consider Strength to
speed in miles per hour, starts at 0 Rank, adds 9 to find the speed have acquired more value than a cost of 2 points per Rank
of 2 miles per hour, then adds in his 1/3 between 2 and 4 miles per warrants. Such GMʼs can increase the cost of Strength to 3 points
hour to find his actual speed of 2 2/3 miles per hour. per Rank to justify this. Others may only allow the above rules to
apply if the character takes an Advantage for all Strength called
The above would mean that Batman has a ground speed Strength-Based Movement for +1 points per Rank.
of 80 feet per Round, while Superman would have a ground speed
of 2,080 feet per Round (163 mph) before applying his Speed
Power. Athletics Checks for Jumping

STRENGTH AND OTHER FORMS OF MOVEMENT

DC ADVENTURES
You can increase your jumping distance by making an
Any time an NPC hits another character (PC or NPC with
Athletics Check. Every two degrees of success grants a +1 Rank to
the jumping distance (a single degree grants half that distance, or
1/2 Rank). Conversely, Every two degrees of failure reduce the
jumping distance by 1 Rank, and so on.
JAYSON’S HOUSE RULES
an attack that scores a Critical Hit, the result is an Added Effect.
Specifically, the target suffers a severe injury Complication. Some
example Complications are listed below. Each level represents a
degree of failure on a Resistance Check.

Example Complications
COMBAT IS DEADLY
Sprains and Breaks
Yes, I know that the authors designed this system for
Name Affliction Recovery Time
simulating comic book action, and that in comics characters rarely
die. I want a more realistic version of combat, so Iʼve adjusted the
Sprain Impaired 1 day
rules a bit.
If you want to use this optional rule, replace the Damage
Minor Break Disabled 1 week
Resistance Check Table on page 93 of the Heroʼs Handbook with
this one:
Major Break Debilitated 1 month

DAMAGE RESISTANCE CHECK

Bleeding or Burned
TOUGHNESS VS. [DAMAGE RANK + 15]
Name Affliction 1 Affliction 2
Success No Effect

Failure (One Degree) Target suffers -1 Circumstance to Toughness Slow Bleed / Small Impaired Fortitude Check vs.
vs. Damage Burn DC 15 on Damage
Chart.
Failure (Two Degrees) Dazed plus Target suffers -1 Circumstance to
Toughness vs. Damage
Normal Bleed / Bad Disabled Fortitude Check at
Failure (Three Degrees) Staggered plus Target suffers -1 Burn -2 Circumstance
Circumstance to Toughness vs. Damage. If vs. DC 15 on
Staggered again, apply Fourth Degree of
effect.
Damage Chart.

Failure (Four Degrees) Incapacitated. If Incapacitated Again, apply Gushing Bleed / Debilitated Fortitude Check at
Fifth Degree of Effect. Severe Burn -5 Circumstance
vs. DC 15 on
Failure (Five Degrees) Dying (See Heroʼs Handbook, page 19,
Combined Conditions. If Incapacitated of Damage Chart.
Dying again, apply Sixth Degree of effect.

Failure (Six Degrees) Dead. THE VEHICLES SKILL

The character must specify the type of craft that he can

As per the real world, swift medical attention may revive a
drive / pilot. The categories are Riding, Ground, Water, Air, Space
dead character. For a normal person (Stamina 0), the character
and Exotic. This covers the use of common vehicles (common, that
can be revived up to 4 minutes (5 Ranks of time) after death with a
is, to everyday characters in that campaign). Uncommon vehicles
successful Treatment Check. The first two minutes give the person
suffer a -2 Circumstance modifier, while Rare vehicles suffer a -5
applying his Treatment Check a -2 Circumstance, the remaining two
Circumstance Modifier.
minutes a -5. Dead characters revived this way are Dying (pg. 19).
To offset these Circumstance Modifiers, I have added a
For every three levels of Stamina, increase this time by 1
new Advantage: Improved Vehicle. See the Improved Vehicle
Rank (and use the x/3 rule described in Ground Speed and
Advantage below for more information.
Strength for intermediate increments of time). The Circumstance
Riding covers all beasts of burden which a character can
Modifiers apply for each half-increment of that time. So someone
ride. The character must choose the species of animal at character
trying to restore Superman from death (after Doomsdayʼs rampage,
creation. Riding does not include the ability to tame an animal, only
for example) has more time due to Supermanʼs Stamina of 14. The
to control a tame animal. 
medic has a full 9 Ranks of time plus some to save Superman (a
  If the animal is agitated (Unfavorable), the roll has a -2
total of an hour and twenty minutes). He has a -2 Circumstance for
Circumstance.  If panicked or otherwise in extreme emotion
the first 40 minutes, and a -5 Circumstance for the rest of the time.
(Hostile), the roll has a -5 Circumstance.  Likewise, if the animal has
a Favorable or Helpful attitude, you get a +2 or a +5 Circumstance
modifier to your roll.  This is on top of the Circumstance modifiers
for riding unusual or rare animals.  You can use the Persuasion Skill
to calm the animal down (at -5 Circumstance if you do not
BROKEN AND BLEEDING understand the animalʼs language and do not have the correct form
of Expertise: Animal Husbandry, and -2 if you have one but not the
other).
DC ADVENTURES JAYSON’S HOUSE RULES
  For taming animals, take Expertise: Animal Husbandry for   Use the Attitudes chart not just for attitudes towards a
the appropriate species of animal.  You suffer a -2 unless you can character, but towards an idea or a course of action.  When making
speak the animalʼs language. a Persuasion Check, use both the targetʼs attitude towards you and
towards the topic as modifiers in the roll. 
  For example, Batman tries to convince Superman to trust
Lex Luthor.  Superman feels Helpful (+5) towards Batman in
IMPROVED VEHICLE SKILL-RANKED [2] general, but Hostile (-5) towards trusting Luthor.  Thus, Batmanʼs
roll is unmodified.  He makes a Persuasion roll at 1d20+12 vs
Supermanʼs Will of 15 plus 10, for a DC of 25.  Batman rolls an 11,
You are able to operate unusual vehicles. For one Rank, you can for a total of 23; a miss.  Batman will have to work a little harder to
operate Uncommon vehicles of a given category with no penalty, convince Superman to trust Lex.
and Rare vehicles at -2 Circumstance Modifier. For a second Rank,
you can operate both Uncommon and Rare vehicles in that Persuasion Checks
category at no penalty. You must purchase this Advantage First, the basic rule for Persuasion Checks have not
separately for each category of vehicle. changed: the participants make opposed Persuasion Checks,
highest roll wins. This remains true in bartering, negotiations with a
ABILITIES CIRCUMSTANCE MODIFIERS third party mediating, issuing commands, etc.
Convincing someone to give you a cup of coffee is a
As written, the rules allow for Batman to render Superman Persuasion Check. Convincing someone to lay down his life is also
incapacitated with a lucky string of rolls. Of course, unless Batman a Persuasion Check. However, it takes more to convince someone
is packing kryptonite, this makes no sense. To correct this, I of the second request than the first. By a lot.
propose the following Ability Circumstance Modifier. To convince someone to do, say or believe something,
you need good arguments. Sometimes lots of them. An Argument,
in game terms, is any statement which a character uses to build his
ABILITY CIRCUMSTANCE MODIFIER TABLE case for a Conclusion. You can usually sum it up in one sentence,
though a character may be more long-winded.
Rank Difference Circumstance Modifier A Conclusion is the main thrust of the Persuasion check.
11 or more higher than defender Automatic Success
In other terms, a Conclusion represents what you want
(agreement), and an Argument represents why your target should
7 to 10 higher than defender +5 give it to you.
Before your character can make his Conclusion
4 to 6 higher than defender +2 Persuasion Check, he must make some number of Argument
Persuasion Checks. These serve like a Team Attack to benefit the
-3 to +3 that of defender None
Conclusion, with a +2 Circumstance Bonus for each Argument that
4 to 6 lower than defender -2 garners one total degree of success, a +5 Circumstance Bonus for
each Argument that garners three or more total degrees of success,
7 to 10 lower than defender -5 and a -2 Circumstance Bonus for each Argument that garners two
or more total degrees of failure.
11 or more lower than defender Automatic Failure

ARGUMENT TABLE
Compare the Rank of the attacker and the Rank of the target (not
including Skills and Advantages). If the difference between them is Weight Arguments
under 4, there is no modifier. However, if the difference is between
4 and 6 inclusive, the attacker receives a +/-2 Circumstance Light 0
Modifier. For a difference of between 7 and 10, he receives a +/-5
Circumstance Modifier. For a difference of 11 or more, we enter into Moderate 2
automatic success/failure territory. See the below Ability
Circumstance Modifier Table for details. Heavy 5
Note that this only applies to checks that require a roll. It
also applies before adding in Advantage Modifiers and Skills. Very Heavy 10
Finally, it applies to Attack Checks and Resistance Checks. This
means that no matter how skilled a character gets, he simply cannot Nearly Unsupportable 20+
harm someone who is out of his league.

How much Argument you have to provide in order to reach
your Conclusion depends on the weight of the Conclusion and the
opponentʼs Attitude towards it. The Argument Table shows the
THE PERSUASION SKILL
average number of Arguments you typically need to have in order to
convince your target based on the weight of the request.
Changing a Personʼs Attitude

The DC for changing a personʼs attitude is the targetʼs
You will find a description of each Conclusion weight
Awareness Rank +10, not a flat 15.  Different people are harder to
below. Use these examples to help you determine the number of
persuade than others.  Also, their current attitude influences the roll. 
DC ADVENTURES JAYSON’S HOUSE RULES
Arguments your target will have to accept before your character can Incorporeal, the attack ignores the Ranks of Intangible and applies
attempt to get the target to accept the conclusion. to Toughness instead.

Light: Any simple request that requires minimal threat to a You must hold your breath while passing through solid objects
personʼs happiness or well-being. Asking a stranger for directions is unless you have Immunity to Suffocation, or else you suffocate. All
a Light Persuasion Check. rules that apply to solidifying within a solid object for the Incorporeal
Moderate: Any request that requires some threat to a personʼs Insubstantial power apply to Intangible.
happiness or well-being. Asking a guard to turn a blind eye as you
walk past might be a Moderate Persuasion Check, depending on Unlike Insubstantial, Intangible does not require the character to
the circumstances. take a vulnerability to a form of attack. If the character does have
Heavy: Any request that requires serious threat to a personʼs such a vulnerability, that Flaw has a -1 / Rank reduction to the cost
happiness or well-being. Asking an honest man to risk ruining his of the power.
reputation by framing his best friend for a crime, or asking a
member of a community to stand up to that community to right
some injustice at the risk of getting ostracized might count as Heavy
Persuasion Checks, depending on the circumstances.
Very Heavy: Any request that requires certain threat to a personʼs
happiness or well-being. Asking a stranger to fight someone to the
death to protect you, or to give up their deeply-held faith to fight for
a cause that faith opposes might count as Very Heavy Persuasion
Checks, depending on the circumstances.
Nearly Unsupportable: Any request that requires someone to risk
everything they hold dear. Convincing Captain America to run a
suicide mission to steal and activate the United Statesʼ arsenal of
nuclear missiles and aim them at US targets would require a Nearly
Unsupportable Persuasion Check.

You can alter the number of needed arguments in one of

three ways. First, if you have Fascinate with Persuasion, you can
reduce the number of arguments by one level of weight. Second, if
you have Expertise in a related topic, you can reduce the number of
arguments by one weight level. Finally, an attitude of Hostile
increases the number of arguments by one weight, while an attitude
of Helpful reduces it by one weight.

NEW POWER

INTANGIBLE GENERAL

Action: Free Range: Personal

Duration: Sustained Cost: 2 Points per Rank

This Power replaces Insubstantial; you cannot have Intangible and

Insubstantial at the same time.

The Power Rank represents the maximum Rank of Toughness

through which the character can pass. So a Rank 7 Intangible can
pass through Iron (Toughness 7) but not Reinforced Concrete
(Toughness 8).

Movement through an object slows the character down. The

difference in the Ranks -5 equals the distance per Round that the
character can move. So a difference of 0 Rank means the
character has -5 Speed (6 inches per round), while a difference of 6
means the character can move 30 feet per Round.

The character uses the Intangible Rank instead of his Toughness to

defend against attacks, even if the Intangible Rank is lower. The
Rank of Intangible also subtracts from the Ranks of any attacks
(including Strength) unless that attack has the Affects Corporeal
Extra. If the attacker has an attack with the Effect Affects