The Problem of Momentum, or Knockback Rules in Victorious
Somehow in the whirlwind of the kickstarter and submission of manuscripts and editing, the Knockback rules for Victorious seem to have gone astray. The following will remedy this, and provide something else to be stuck in the rules whenever another printing of the Victorious rule book comes along.
Knockback:
This is an optional rule to be used in Victorious combats. It does provide more of the superheroic flair to battles between the SuperMankind and as such is encouraged to give verisimilitude to your chronicles. Whenever a hero(ine) is struck in combat and takes damage, the character will make a Constitution saving throw with the Challenge Level being the number of hit points of damage that are inflicted upon the victim. That is, HPs of damage that get past any and all defenses. In such a case, a failed saving throw means the struck character is thrown back a number of feet equal to the hit points of inflicted damage x 5.
Example: The villainous Gruesome punches the dashing hero Gauntlet. He inflicts damage, but only 4 hit points gets through to the hero. Gauntlet’s player then makes a Constitution saving throw and adjusts the target number by +4 (damage). Gauntlet fails his roll, and is thus thrown back 20 feet (4X5=20). If there are any friends, foes, or items behind him, they may be struck by Gauntlet’s flying form and damaged as if struck by flying debris (GM’s decision).
Please note that a character can buy Invulnerability to Knockback, so that number will go against the HP of damage insofar as Knockback is concerned. If someone’s Invulnerability bonus is higher than the HP/Knockback number, then no save is required and the character stands her ground!
The victim of Knockback will of course land in a prone position unless either Acrobatics or Super-Movement: Flight is used. The use of the Acrobatics skill is described in the Victorious rulebook, and Flight uses the same die roll to avoid landing on one’s face and instead using momentum to fly in an arc and back towards the foe.
This system will inevitably result in characters being thrown around into buildings, bystanders, and each other. As such, it will mean that combats will take longer than usual, but if you want the thrill of smashing a villain through the bricks of the Bank of London or hammered into the Hudson river, then using the Knockback rules can’t be beat!