Forums of the Megaverse®

I've been trying to come up with a perception roll check for Heroes Unlimited using a twenty sided or percentage roll. Any suggestions on how to develop this. Currently I use an intelligence roll but most my players don't have that skill. This forces me to give out more detail to players than I like about the situations.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Well you could use the official rules from either Nightbane or RUE which boils down to a d20 roll and you set the difficulty so harder rolls would require a higher die roll. In my head I've been toying with the idea of making it a d% roll so it would be easier to have competing skill checks (ie: vs prowl, concealment, palming, ect) instead of using the current method (character with the skill rolls their skill and then converts their skill to a d20 bonus and rolls again). This is what I've been thinking of doing:

Perception skill starts at the character's IQ attribute number, + IQ bonus (if any), + 5% per additional level. So if you're IQ is a 12 and you're level 3, your skill would be 22%. If it's a 30 and you're level 1, your skill is a 45%. Then you take the perception bonuses (aside from IQ, because it's already added in) and multiply it by 5 (because 20 goes into 100 five times). I wouldn't add it into the skill at this point though, because some bonuses are for visual perception checks, some could be for audio. You just add the bonus in when it's appropriate. Finally, this would be an automatic skill for all characters (like literacy, basic math, and driving are) so player won't feel cheated that they have to take the skill.

At this point it's a simple "roll against the other character, highest successful roll wins" check whenever you get to a point of having contested skill checks. So using the genius above, if he's watching out for a burglar with a prowl of 65% as long as the burglar rolls between 46% and 65% he'll automatically succeed since the genius would fail if he rolls above 45%. But if the burglar rolls too low, he'll still succeed at prowling, yet the genius would have a chance of catching him now.

Really great suggestions, thank you.

I treat perception as a general saving throw. 5-8 easy, 9-12 moderate, 13-16 challenging challenging 17-20 nearly impossible.
note that some characters have prowl. It is a % roll. If the prowl is a success then the roll for perception jumps to 17-20 with no bonus unless the character has investigation or some similar skill that would allow for evidence to be found.

That is the best, most logical way to run it in my mind. It works very well and is very fair when it is Player Vs. Player.

We've used the Nightbane method a few times, but I just don't find it that helpful all the time. Too often a plot can come to a halt if no one makes the Perception check. Here's my unofficial mental checklist of how to run Perception.

0. Is a character Prowling and rolled under their Skill %? They are unseen then. A successful prowl doesn't need to get harder by having an opposed roll. Note, if the "target" has a power that either makes Prowling harder (ie: night vision or extraordinary hearing), I might apply a penalty to the Prowl retroactively, or just declare it ineffective when it comes into contact with the super-sense target.

And now the list..

1. Does the hero have a super-sense?: If so, I interact with the power. Some have %s listed in them, so I use those, or follow the wording. I want powers to be useful at all times, so I'll err on the side of the power functioning to aid in noticing the clue / detail.
2. Is the clue hidden or obscured?: If yes, I listen to how the players describe searching the seen. If they're just looking around, and don't have an appropriate skill to uncover things with this kind of scan, they don't find the clue. If they have a skill (ie: Intelligence), I'll have them roll that. I might also word my description of the scene carefully, to give them description clues that there might be more here to find.
3. Is the clue not hidden, just representing a smaller chance to find?: Typically, they find it, because that makes the game move forward. If it's not critical, I might roll under a standard chance die kind of roll, with a % based on how likely it is for them to find it (ie: easy 80%, hard 60%, very hard 40%, incredibly difficulty 20%, nigh impossible 01%).

Beast's suggestion is nice, but I would argue to make Perception a base of 25+5% per level, + IQ bonuses and Education bonuses. I would also allow several super-powers to gain a Perception skill bonus (extraordinary senses range of powers).

EDIT: One item I find useful to remember when thinking about Perception it time. If the heroes have time, searching a room should yield clues. If they're in a rush, some kind of Perception mechanic could be helpful. This also rewards the players for thinking, and trying to uncover mysteries or exploring the plans of the villain.

Mine sounds complicated to write down in words, but it's pretty simple in action.
Beginning with my basic rules for opposed rolls

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are 3 states for each character Empowered, Skilled, Unskilled.

Empowered means you have a successful use of a relevant super power.
Skilled means you have a successful use of a relevant skill check, or a failed use of a relevant super power*
Unskilled means you have failed a skill check, or don't have a relevant skill in the first place.

The GM can modify your state based on circumstance. Such as taking your time vs being rushed. Having specialized tools. Having advanced preparation. Being placed on high alert. Ect.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Empowered vs Empowered = Level Check [Experience wins the day]
Empowered vs Skilled = Empowered wins
Empowered vs Unskilled = Empowered wins

Skilled vs Skilled = Level Check
Skilled vs Unskilled = Skilled Wins

Unskilled vs Unskilled = Level Check

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So for examples

Average Thug hides his gun in his apartment. He doesn't have any relevant skill or power that would aid in concealment. So his attempt to hide the weapon is considered unskilled. Your character has X-ray vision. You are going to find the gun. No roll necessary.

A villain has tripped an alarm in your base. You don't have any relevant super powers, however you have detect ambush, the GM decides that is a relevant skill. You succeed on your roll and are considered skilled. Since an alarm has been tripped and you are on high alert the GM decides that you have an advantage and are considered Empowered. However the Villain is invisible, and is considered Empowered as well. With both of you on equal footing, it is time for a level check, it is up to experience to win the day.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our current HU2 perception rules are based on the Nightbane rules with some modification.