Leaping Tall Buildings and Throwing Trucks
Jumping
A character can propel his/her body into the air at a rate per phase equal to his/her Carrying Capacity minus the weight of any cargo carried, divided by 100 inches. Thus, an average, unencumbered man (with Carrying Capacity = 175) jumps at a speed of 1.75 inches per phase. A character may jump slower than his/her maxiumum speed at will, but the number of phases he/she is airborne (see below) cannot exceed his/her rate per phase; at least, not in normal gravity.
A character jumping can remain airborne, moving his/her jumping rate per phase, for a number of phases equal to Carrying Capacity minus cargo weight, divided by the weight of his/her own body. To stay airborne for more than half this amount of time, the character must make a Running Jump. This requires him/her, before jumping, to run a distance on the ground equal to at least one-half of the total distance the jump will carry him/her. A running jump may be impossible to achieve if the character's ground movement rate is insufficient. Without a running jump, a standing broad jump is performed, which allows the character to remain in the air for up to 1/2 the maximum number of phases calculated above. A character jumping straight up (or nearly straight up) will reach apogee and start back down again after 1/4 of his/her maximum number of phases. Both this and the rate per phase must be specified at the start of the jump; once airborne, there's no way of changing it.
Characters with Size Change: Smaller should calculate their jumping parameters as if they were still normal-sized. (Though this, of course, depends on the specifics of the power. -B.)
Each jump requires an Agility save on 1d20 in order to acheive the proper trajectory. Failure indicates that he/she missed the destination he/she was trying for. (The Common Agility skill Jump covers this. On failed rolls, exactly how far off and in which direction is up to the GM, but should be based on by how much/little the save was missed. -B.)
Only when jumping can a character extend his/her action over multiple phases. When the jump occurs, the character retains any remaining part of his action--which is effectively saved--up until the end of the turn. If the jump continues into the next turn, Initiative is re-rolled and the jumper continues moving at his/her jumping rate per phase starting on the first action on that next turn. (Uh...right. I never really understood this paragraph, so I'll pretend it didn't happen. Sure a character can save an action after jumping--you can do that while running, too. Only the last sentence seems to be useful, though the book said "...his first action on that next turn." I'm using "the" instead, implying the first action phase need not be the jumper's, since I can't see why someone would freeze in mid-air if others go first. -B.)
When the character lands or hits an obstruction, treat it exactly like Falling, with the character's velocity per turn equalling the total distance jumped, up to a maximum velocity of 1000 inches per turn. Falling is always resolved between-turns at the end of the turn in which impact occurs. (Ignore this paragraph, too. I'm not going to dole out damage every time someone jumps--if your legs are strong enough to send you up, they can stand it when you come back down. Not entirely realistic, perhaps, but I've always held to the philosophy that having a power implies protection from its effects, and "super-jumping" qualifies, in my opinion. The exceptions, of course, are if an obstacle is struck or the jump is somehow uncontrolled, in which cases falling damage is appropriate, though the maxiumum "effective velocity" for damage is 288 inches/turn, not 1000, regardless of actual jump-speed, which can be greater. -B.)
Throwing
The maximum distance a character can throw any object equals his/her Carrying Capacity minus the weight of the projectile, divided by 10 inches. For projectiles, actual velocity takes precedence over range. If damage to the projectile itself needs to be calculated, it can be resolved as per Falling, with the projectile's velocity per turn equalling the distance it was thrown, up to a maximum 1000 inch per turn effective velocity.
I don't use distance thrown when calculating velocity, since it means you take more damage the farther away you are--this is clearly not right. Instead, I use the distance it can be thrown (max. 1000"), since it's more a measure of how hard something was hurled (i.e., the force behind it). When dealing with damage from the thrown object, use the Brawling Weapons and Velocity Damage Bonus rules/tables in the Weapons section. I also use this as the damage to the object, instead of Falling Damage as suggested above. -B.
Catching
To catch a falling object (or person) requires an Agility save on 1d20 and a Carrying Capacity in excess of the weight in pounds of the falling object. If caught in the air, falling damage is completely negated. If caught at ground level, subtract the Carrying Capacity of the catcher divided by 50 (round up) from the damage total. If damage remains, it is taken by the character/object with fewer Basic Hits, or shared if they are equal.
In my campaigns, falling damage is not negated simply by catching someone/thing "in the air" (though the height of the fall would be less, certainly), and the catcher and caught both take the leftover damage, regardless of their relative Basic Hits.
