Noob question about Cap's Shield.

So TSR states that Cap's shield can stop up to 90 points of damage. My questions are as follows:

1) How does this block occur? Is it automatic (when the player says I'm blocking this turn with the shield) or does a FEAT roll need to be made?

2) TSR states Cap can hit multiple targets and have the shield return to him. Are these two seperate AGILITY FEAT rolls (one for the multiple targets and one for the return ricochet)?

It seems to me like Cap should get a roll for each incoming ranged attack to see if he can block it with his shield EVEN if he did not declare the he was specifically blocking this turn. I mean, up until recently, how man times has Cap been hit by a bullet?

Captain America generally leads with or otherwise has his shield ready for blocking pretty much all the time, he's cautious like that. Considering he's the ultimate specialist in the use of a shield for defense and offense and has such a high rank in Fighting he's almost always guaranteed two attack/actions in a turn anyway he likely devotes one of those to a blocking action with the shield and the other to his attack. Some GM might consider it an automatic block simply because they consider the shield a part of him (in the comics they often reference Cap using the shield like a part of his natural body).

As far as the ricochet/return throw goes, most probably treat it as a single feat roll, similar to how they treat the multiple ricochet attacks by Cyclops as a single feat check to plot it all out ahead of time. Cap just studies the situation and works out how to throw the shield to hit all its targets and come back to him.

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To ‘Block’ an Attack Cap’n’ America does need to FEAT roll.... Normally, a Character of his stats would only be able to effectively Block an EX:20 to RM:30 intensity Attack without suffering damage to his HP.......

Cap’n’ America may even be able to Block RM:30 into IN:40 intensity Attacks since his Strength is borderline into RM:30....

The CL3000 Shield normally reduces the Effect of that attack... Reducing a KILL Score to a Stun... And reducing Slams into Staggors....... Basically, he can reduce the Color Shift of an Attack from RED to Yellow, and Yellow to Green, and Green to White....... And who cares about White to Blue???

For Blocking Full Auto Machine Gun Fire is handled like one ‘BIG’ single attack.... Most GM’s handle Machine Guns as Single Shot, Burst, and Full Auto.....

Single Shot is GD:10 to EX:20... Maybe RM:30 and even IN:40 depending upon Caliber, Magnum.... etc.
Burst Firing is [+1CS] to Damage and Intensity.... EX:20, RM:30, into IN:40 and even AM:50.
Full Auto is [+2CS] to Damage and Intensity..... RM:30, IN:40, into AM:50 and even MN:75.

Some players get really technical to justify the damage a Machine Gun can put out..... Its ‘Lethal’ and that’s really all that matters....... A Character can be KILLED with a FB:02 intensity attack which can score a ‘KILL’ result....... Like shooting a tiny sewing needle through the vital organs....



Cap’n America gets an additional 90 Points of Blocking Strength added to his EX:20 muscle power.... Basically allowing him to ‘Block’ an UN:+110 intensity Attack (90 + 20 = 110) with a Green or Yellow Score......

With a Blue (Failing) Score he will take the full impact of the Attack.... Minus his ‘Armor’ from the Attack.... His Armor is TY:06 to EX:20 for resisting various attacks...

With a White he can ‘Block’ an Attack at [-1CS]...... Basically, MN:75 Attacks and he will take Damage and take the effect of a KILL, Stun, or Slam.

With a RED Blocking FEAT he will up shift to SX:150........ Allowing him to Block or Deflect a fuggen ruthless Attack......... His Shield doesn’t really need to be CL3000 Material. He can do the same FEAT with a SY:200 Shield.... Any Shield Cap’n America may use needs to be at least 1 Rank greater than his MAX Blocking power.



For throwing the Shield at Multiple Targets is done on a Single Agility FEAT [+1CS] ‘or’ The Throw can be handled on his unaided Fighting Rank...... Either way he has AM:50 ‘Skill’ allowing him to hit a maximum of 5 adjacent targets...... (Just Drop the Zero)

Blue: Fails.... He Throws / Misses / and the Shield has no boomerang effect.... He has to run and get it.
White: Fails.... He Throws / Misses / and the Shield does have the boomerang effect.
Green: Hit 3 Targets with GD:10 Damage to Each target... Or 2 at 15 Damage to each.... Or 1 at RM:30.
Yellow: Hit up to 5 Targets... RM:30 Damage is normally divided to each Target.... TY:06 Damage each.
RED: Hit 5 Targets at full RM:30 impact..... And the Shield does have the boomerang effect.



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Shrapper,

Good questions about Cap...nothing n00b about them! :D Here's my (personal) take on how it should work:

1) It's NOT automatic. I would say that the player would have to state that they were blocking in a given turn. If they weren't, then you could give them the opportunity to block on a YELLOW feat;

2) Yes and no, that's two separate Feats..one to hit each Multiple target--but none for the return;

Here's the logic: Look at Cap's Agility and Shield-related Talents. Within the envelope of the meta-game, using my theory above, Cap achieves a GREEN Feat with the Shield 74% of the time, a YELLOW on 44% of his rolls. He's not going to miss very bloody often, given those odds. In question 1, even if somebody gets the drop on him (in game-terms: the player wasn't stating a BLOCKING action), chances are pretty good (though not ironclad) that he'll still be able to block an attack on him (just like you said you would expect). In example 2, maybe somebody can correct me in this, but I've NEVER seen Cap either fumble his Shield nor have it not return to him. That's why I would waive the "return" Feat. To me, the Multiple rolls to hit multiple tagets seems academic...unless you want Cap to be an unstoppable force in your game. :D

That's just my take, though. Other Judges likely run it much differently.

The Rook

Blue feats... god i hate the homebrew table. Anyways.

Cap's richochet throw is resolved on one throw, as it's Cap's power stunt. He can hit multiple targets using one of his declared attacks, which he could easilly get 3 in a round automatically with his fighting being AM and getting the weapon specialist talent. Cap shouldn't get penalized for having to use all of his attacks to resolve the ricochet throw when he's been shown to perform multuiple actions after the shield is
thrown and before it returns.

And Cap is pretty much the best fighter on the planet, especially with his shield. I think the comics show this fairly often.