Combat Examples
Emerald vs. the Thugs
Though the SPPF is rarely called in to help the regular police force, it does happen. The rest of the police force is busy, and Emerald receives a call that three thugs are holding up a bank nearby. She flies over as a streak of green light and lands on the roof of the bank building. Looking through the skylight, she assesses the situation. The three bank robbers, armed with pistols, have six hostages on the ground while two tellers stuff money into a paper sack. Two of the thugs have their guns pointed at the hostages while the other is threatening the tellers to get them to hurry up. When the call came in, Emerald was a couple of blocks away. She was easily able to fly over as her Flight of 2 allows her to move up 3 city blocks. Round 1 Emerald knows she needs to take these thugs out quickly, before they hurt any of the hostages. She could just bust in through the skylight, but that would rain shards of glass down onto the hostages below so she decides to take the less dramatic route and flies down, busting through the front door and blasts one of the henchmen with a beam of light from her hands, her Laser ability. The gunmen are startled. The GM rules that Emerald Gets the Drop on the robbers. This means that she may very well be able to act without the robbers reacting. Emerald's player is doing an Overpower. The GM goes ahead and rolls Overpower for the thugs (henchmen act as one unit) just in case Emerald isn't able to completely Get the Drop. Emerald rolls her Force Heroic Trait (4) plus her Laser Aspect (2) as a ranged attack. That's 6 six-sided dice. She gets 1, 1, 1, 2, 3, and 6. Not a good roll but because she's a Parahuman, the 6 counts as 2 successes. The GM rolls for the thugs, Force HT of 2 plus 1 for their pistol. That's 3 six-sided dice and gets a 3, 3, 4. Only one success. Emerald wins the Overpower with one success. Emerald's laser blast hits one of the robbers square in the chest, knocking him out. The other robbers are so surprised, they aren't even able to fire their guns. Emeralds miles at the other two and says, "you should probably give up now boys." Because Emerald got 2 successes and the thugs only got one, the player subtracts the thugs' successes from Emerald's, leaving her with a 1 Success Advantage. Looking on the MEC chart along the top like, Emerald has a Force of 4 and the thugs have a Resistance of 0. The result is 3x which means Emerald could apply up to 3 successes as damage. Unfortunately, she only got 1 success, so she applies it to the thug. Fortunately the robber is knocked out with only the 1 Brawl wound. Because she was able to knock out one of the henchmen, the others' actions didn't even happen in the narrative thanks to Emerald Getting the Drop. Round 2
Of course the bank robbers aren't the smartest apples on the tree and aren't gonna give up but they are going to try to run. "Shit," the leader says, "let's go!" as they both head toward the back door and the getaway car. "Where you going? The party's just getting started!" Emerald quips back, firing a laser at another of the robbers. In this round, Emerald is making another Overpower attack at one of the robbers. Meanwhile the robbers are trying to run and get the back door open, which is an Interact action. Emerald again rolls her Force HT (4) + her Laser (2) for six dice. She gets 1, 2, 4, 5, 5, 6. The 5, 5 and 6 are one success each so she gets 3 successes. The robbers aren't that bright and fumble with the door. They have a Knowledge (which is usually what is used to Interact) of 0. While they do have an Aspect of 1 (Intimidating), it doesn't apply so they don't make any rolls at all. Emerald fires one blast from one of her hands, hitting the thug trying to open the door and a second blast from her other hand takes out the second thug. Not only does she disable both of the remaining robbers, but she does so in a sufficiently impressive manner. Again looking on the MEC chart, Emerald's Force of 4 vs. the thugs' Resistance of 0 means she can assign up to 3 of her successes as damage. She applies one success as damage to each robber, taking one robber out with each success. That leaves her with 1 Overkill success which, if one of the robbers was still up she could use to make a Cinematic move, instead the player just describes it as how cool Emerald looked taking out both thugs at once.
Emerald vs. Blitz
Now for more of a challenge. Bltiz, the WWII electrically-enhanced Nazi super-soldier has been causing mischief. Emerald has tracked him to is Evil Lair (tm), a rather large abandoned warehouse in New Dallas' Industry District. Blitz was stashing the latest target of his heist, a sliver of the Golden Apple of Hespirides. "Werner," Emeralds shouts from across the warehouse floor. "You know the drill. You're under arrest. I mean, stealing manzana slices? That's a new low, even for you." Blitz turns to her, flowing a bit off of the ground, with electricity crackling up and down his aging body. He shouts something at her in German, likely something racist. The time for subtlety is over, and it's clear that Blitz isn't going to come quietly. Round 1
The two heroes both unleash blasts of their respective energy types in an attempt to take the other one out quickly. Lasers fly from Emerald's hand and a huge bolt of electricity arcs through the air toward our hero. Both Parahumans are going to try to Overpower the other, hoping to make this combat short and sweet. Emerald is using her laser, so she rolls her Force Heroic Trait (4) + her Laser Aspect (2). That's six dice. She gets 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6..three successes (remember for Parahumans, sixes count as 2 successes). Emerald has fought Blitz before and knows that this is going to be rough, so the player spends one of Emerald's Luck Points to reroll all of the dice that didn't roll a success (so that's 4 dice) and gets 4, 4, 4, 4. Since every two 4s count as one success her that gives her two additional success so a total of 5 successes. Blitz is one tough cookie so she's going to need all the successes she can get. Blitz rolls his Force Heroic Trait (5) plus his Electrobolt (5) for a total of ten dice. He gets 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 6. That's..an awful roll. The GM spends one of Blitz's Luck to reroll those 9 dice that didn't get anything. Much better. Blitz's final roll is 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6 for a total of 8 successes. Blitz wins with 3 Overkill successes Blitz moves out of the way of Emerald's blast, while his own blast of electricity zaps the hero, causing her Coherent Light Field to ripple with green energy. The Gm consults the MEC chart. Emerald's Resilience is 2 and her Coherent Light Field will add in to this (it's basically a force field) giving her a total of 4 vs. Blitz's Force HT of 5. This results in a 1, meaning Blitz has to spend one of his three successes on damage. The remaining 2 successes the GM can use for a Cinematic Move. This is an Advantage and the GM rules that Emerald gets hit so hard she is knocked through the nearby wall. However due to the successes Emerald's player rolls, Emerald takes no additional damage for being knocked through the warehouse's wall. Round 2
"You presume to arrest me? When will you learn of my superiority? I've been at this a long time, child." Blitz says as he floats towards Emerald menacingly, arcs of electricity sputtering onto the ground. Emerald stands, wiping a trickle of blood from her lip. "Didn't we beat that 'superiority' thing out of you guys in the 40s?" Emerald knows she's gotta come up with something good, and fast or Blitz is going to really hurt her. She chooses to bide her time and goes defensive, relying on her coherent light field and natural toughness to protect her. Meanwhile, Blitz presses the attack, letting loose another blast. Emerald takes the Defense action. She rolls her Resilience (2) plus her Coherent Light Field (2). She's hoping to bide her time until she can figure out some way to take Blitz out. She rolls 4 dice. 1, 1, 3, 6. The player goes ahead and spends that 2nd Luck point to reroll the dice that didn't get a success and rolls 2, 4, 5. The final roll is 2, 4, 5, 6..three successes. Bltiz isn't messing around. He fires his Electrobolt again. Force HT 5 plus Electrobolt 5 = 10 dice. 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6...that's a total of five successes. 2 more than Emerald got. Looking on the MEC chart again, he deals 1 Brawl damage (Emerald has taken two Brawl and has two Brawl left). He has one die left over that he could normally use as Overkill, but since Overkill successes are halved against someone Defending, he has 0 successes (remember to always round down) for Overkill. Round 3
Emerald's coherent light field again lights up as the massive bolt strikes her. She's got to end this. She decides to Flash Blitz's eyes, hoping to blind him for a bit. Meanwhile, Bltiz electricity from nearby sources begins arcing towards Blitz, who has now moved outside. Emerald knows that he's charging up for a bigger blast. Emerald is taking an Overpower action. Emerald is going to use her Flash ability. As it's a Burst ability she can only use it a few times each combat. She rolls her Force Heroic Trait (4) plus her Flash (3) for seven dice. She gets 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6. The two 4s count as one success. The two fives count as one each. The six counts as two successes for a total 5 successes. Blitz is making use of his Charge Up Quirk to enhance his next roll. This is an Interact action, which is normally uses Knowledge. Blitz's Knowledge HT is 4 and the GM decides that his Tactics (2) would probably add in so Blitz rolls 6 dice. 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6. Blitz gets 2 successes. As Blitz begins drawing power, Emerald glows with with a short but intense light burst. Blitz tries to cover his eyes, but not quickly enough, the blinding green light making it harder for him to hit Emerald next round. With a great crackle, the electricity that was arcing towards Blitz dissipates. Emerald's player checks the MEC. Her Force HT of 4 vs. Blitz's Resilience of 2 and his Superior Body of 2 means she looks under Resilience 4 on the chart. She can only spend 1 of her 3 Overkill on damage, which she does and Blitz takes 1 Brawl Damage. However, Emerald can use this to make a Cinematic Move at the Advantage level. Her flash has momentarily blinded Blitz, who will suffer a Major Penalty to his Electrobolt (-2 dice) if he tries to use it against her again. Best of all, she stopped Blitz from Charging Up Round 4
Emerald knows she needs to finish this...and fast. Emerald uses the fact that she knows she's probably not going to win to activate her Fury, which she has specified as "against all odds" as the contingency. She hits Blitz with a last-ditch effort blast. Meanwhile Blitz blasts out blindly with his Electrobolt, hoping to hit. Again, both characters are using Overpower. Emerald uses her Force HT (4) and her Laser Aspect (2) and rolls 6 dice. Since she's using a Fury, 3s and 4s count as successes. She rolls and gets 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 5...three successes. Blitz has a Major Penalty due to the Flash to his Electrobolt so the GM rolls his Force (5) + Electrobolt (5) - 2 dice for the penalty for 8 dice. He gets 1, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5....3 successes. Neither side is successful. The two Parahumans fire at each other in a spectacular light show, but miss one another. Blitz shakes off the blindness and yells "It's over." Round 5
The flash seemed to work well last time, so Emerald spouts "You can't hit what you can't see, old man" and Flashes again. Blitz goes with what works best for him....electrobolt! Both characters are attempting to Overpower each other. Emerald's player rolls her Force HT (4) plus Flash (3). 1, 1, 2, 4, 6, 6, 6. Six successes. The GM rolls Blitz's Force (5) and Electrobolt (5) and gets 1,1 , 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6...5 successes. Emerald deals 1 Brawl damage, but with no Overkill isn't able to blind Blitz again. Both characters at this point have taken Brawl damage. Round 6
Blitz grunts in pain, but manages not to be blinded this time. "Foolish bitch," he shouts, firing a bolt of electricity at Emerald. "Language, " she says as she fires back at him. Once again, the two are attempting to Overpower one another. Emerald rolls Force (4) plus Laser (2). 1, 2, 2, 2, 5, 6...three successes. Blitz rolls Force (5) plus Electrobolt (5). 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6...8 successes. Blitz has 5 Overkill successes. Looking at the MEC chart Blitz must deal 1 Brawl damage (Emerald has now taken 3 Brawl damage) and he can perform a Cinematic Move with 4 leftover successes for a Major Advantage. He goes with Brutal Attack and deals +1 Brawl damage, meaning Emerald has now taken a total of 4 Brawl damage and has no Brawl Damage left. Because Blitz dealt enough damage to equal half of Emerald's full Brawl damage of 4 she also takes one Critical Wound (and she only has 2). This isn't looking good for our hero...one more hit and she's out cold. Round 6
Emerald is probably screwed and she knows it. She could probably fly away but that would be cowardly. Emerald's muscles are jerky and she feels awful but she's going to stick it out. She is going to (hopefully) go full defensive. Meanwhile, Blitz is going to take another shot. Emerald chooses the Defense action, however, she is going to use her Follow Up (you get one for "free" each Encounter) which basically means that she can use the dice pool she used last round. In this case, while her Laser may not have hit, it might have thrown Blitz off just enough. Her dice pool is again 6 (vs. 4 if she had just used her Resilience + Coherent Light Field). She rolls and gets 1, 1, 4, 4, 4, 5. 2 successes. Blitz lets loose and the GM rolls Force HT (5) plus Electrobolt (5). He gets 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6...6 successes! That's enough to deal an additional Wound to Emerald, taking her last Critical Wound and knocking her out. Additionally, Blitz has 3 Overkill left for a Cinematic Move but it hardly matters as Emerald is out. Evil wins the day...
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