Values and Measures

**Values and Measures**

At the heart of the *Torg*system is the concept of *values*and *measures*. A *value*refers to a quantity measured in a way which can be used in the game, such as a weight value of time value of distance value of 4 and so on. A *measure* *is a measurement from the real world,* such as , one minute, six meters and so on. Values and measures can be converted back and forth so that real world values can be expressed in game terms and so that players will know what a particular value in the game means in terms they can easily understand. Most game systems use either a consistent scale for their attributes—each point of an attribute represents a specific amount of real-world measure—or they have no scale at all. The problem with such systems is that while they work fine in a limited setting (fantasy, horror, etc.) they either fall apart when bigger things are introduced, or they require huge numbers to represent the top end of the scale. For example, if a dagger does “one die of damage,” how many dice do you roll for the main cannon of the Death Star? *Torg*solves this problem by the use of a **logarithmic** scale. **A logarithmic scale is one like the** Richter scale, or the Decibel scale, where each point represents a greater proportional amount than the point before. For example, a level four earthquake is far more than twice as powerful as a level two earthquake, because each point on the Richter scale is 10 times as large as the point before.

**Alternate** Scale Descriptions

In the first edition of the *Torg*rulebook, the Difficulty Number Scale used some different labels to describe the various difficulty levels. Since some products published for *Torg*use those labels, their equivalents in this rulebook are provided here:

**DIFFICULTY NUMBER SCALE**

**Description** Difficulty Odds      Modifier

Very Easy                   3            80%           -5

Easy                           5            75%           -3

Average                      8            50%           0

Complicated             10             30%         +2

Difficult                     12            20%          +4

Hard                         13            15%          +5

Very Hard                 15             5%           +7

Extremely Hard        18              —          +10

Incredible                  22             —          +14

Nearly Impossible    25              —          +17

The Richter scale works that way because earthquakes can range so greatly in size. *Torg*’s scale is not “each point is a factor of like the Richter scale; instead, every **five** **points is a factor of 10. This allows** finer resolution at the low end (so all humans don’t look exactly alike) but still keeps the top end from being impossible to handle. The *Torg*scale is consistent from one type of measurement to another, so that a given value always has the same real-world measure, whether it’s expressed as time (in seconds), distance (in meters per round), or weight (in kilograms). The *Torg Value Chart*shows how values and measures are related. A value of 10 for example is always a measure of 100, regardless of whether we’re measuring seconds, meters, kilograms or any other type of measurement. The accompanying *Benchmark Chart*provides a number of examples for the value of several different real world objects and measurements. These can be used to make a quick estimate for the game value of something when an exact measure isn’t known but its relationship to something on the Benchmark Chart is known or can be guessed. For example, the Benchmark Chart says that a brown bear has a weight value of 12. The weight value of an animal described as being twice as large as a brown bear could then be estimated without ever having to know how many kilograms a brown bear or the larger animal actually weighs.

**Converting Measures**

The *Torg*Value Chart uses seconds, kilograms and meters as its default units. But what if you need to find the value of something in a different set of units, such as minutes, pounds or miles? Fortunately you don’t have to do a lot of math to convert those measures. That work has already been done for you with the *Measure Conversion Chart*. To use the Measure Conversion Chart, simply find the value of the measure you have, regardless of what units it’s in. Then, add the listed modifier to convert it to the appropriate game value (which automatically converts the measure into seconds, meters, or kilograms.) Remember, adding a negative number is like subtracting.

When trying to find the value of measures that fall in between the cracks on the Value Chart, the listed measure is the upper bound for that value. For instance, a value of 10 has a measure of 100, while a value of 11 has a measure of 150. All measures greater than 100 and less than or equal to 150 have a value of 11.

**TORG VALUE CHART**

**Value** Measure   Value     Measure    Value      Measure      Value        Measure

0               1          26        150,000       52           25 billion         78         4 quadrillion

1            1.5          27        250,000       53           40 billion         79         6 quadrillion

2            2.5          28        400,000       54           60 billion         80       10 quadrillion

3              4           29        600,000       55         100 billion         81       15 quadrillion

4              6           30        1 million       56         150 billion         82       25 quadrillion

5            10           31     1.5 million       57         250 billion         83       40 quadrillion

6            15           32     2.5 million       58         400 billion         84       60 quadrillion

7            25           33        4 million       59         600 billion         85     100 quadrillion

8            40           34        6 million       60            1 trillion          86     150 quadrillion

9            60           35      10 million       61          1.5 trillion         87     250 quadrillion

10          100           36      15 million       62          2.5 trillion         88     400 quadrillion

11          150           37      25 million       63             4 trillion         89     600 quadrillion

12          250           38      40 million       64             6 trillion         90          1 quintillion

13          400           39      60 million       65           10 trillion         90       1.5 quintillion

14          600           40    100 million       66           15 trillion         92       2.5 quintillion

15       1,000           41    150 million       67           25 trillion         93          4 quintillion

16       1,500           42    250 million       68           40 trillion         94          6 quintillion

17       2,500           43    400 million       69           60 trillion         95        10 quintillion

18       4,000           44    600 million       70         100 trillion         96        15 quintillion

19       6,000           45         1 billion       71         150 trillion         97        25 quintillion

20     10,000           46      1.5 billion       72         250 trillion         98        40 quintillion

21     15,000           47      2.5 billion       73         400 trillion         99        60 quintillion

22     25,000           48         4 billion       74         600 trillion       100      100 quintillion

23     40,000           49         6 billion       75      1 quadrillion

24     60,000           50       10 billion       76   1.5 quadrillion

25   100,000           51       15 billion       77   2.5 quadrillion

**Example:**A gamemaster is writing up a magic spell. He wants the spell to have duration of 25 minutes. What is the value of 25 minutes? On the Value Chart, a measure of 25 has a value of 7, and the “minutes” modifier on the Conversion Chart is +9; 7 plus 9 gives us a value of 16. So the duration value of the spell is 16.

**Example:**A character is trying to lift a couch, which the gamemaster says weights about . On the Value Chart, a measure of 160 equals a value of 12. “Pounds” have a -2 modifier, so the game value of the couch is (12 - 2) 10. If the character can lift a weight value of 10, she can lift the couch.

If instead you want to convert a game value into one of these other units, the modifier on the Measure Conversion Chart is subtracted from the game value. Remember, subtracting a negative number is like adding. If the result is a negative number, it means that the value is less than one of whatever unit you’re converting to.

The Value and Conversion charts can also be used as a sort of mini-calculator to transfer between measures, say to find out approximately how many seconds there are in six days or how many pounds there are in .

**Example:**How many seconds in six days? 6 has a value of 4 and “days” is a +25 modifier, which is a value of 29. The measure of 29 is 600,000 so there are approximately 600,000 seconds in six days. (The actual number of seconds in six days is 518.400, which is pretty close to the result of using the Value Chart.)

Converting from kilograms to pounds is just as easy since like seconds, kilogram is a basic unit of the Value Chart. is a value of 14. The modifier for “pounds” is -2 which when we subtract gives us (14 - (-2) = 14 + 2) 16, which is a measure of 1500. (The actual conversion is .)

If you need to know the *Toughness*of an object, a good starting point is its weight. Find the game value of the weight, modifying downward if the object is delicate, upward if it is armored or particularly tough to damage. Humans, for example, are quite variable, so their average *Toughness*could be anywhere between

of their weight value.

**MEASURE CONVERSION CHART**

**Measure is in units of Value Modifier**

Seconds 0

Minutes +9

Hours +18

Days +25

Weeks +29

Months +32

Years +38

Meters per round 0

MPH +3

KMH +2

Kilograms 0

Pounds -2

Tons +15

Meters 0

Feet -3

Kilometers +15

Miles +16

### **TORG BENCHMARK CHART** Edit

**Measuring Success**

For many actions, as long as the action total equals or exceeds the difficulty number the action is successful. But there are times where the *result points*of the action are important in gauging success. Combat and character interactions (*charm, persuasion, trick, etc.*) in particular regularly involve the use of result points. For all tasks involving the use of result points, there are three tables provided which explain the outcome of successful actions. The *Interaction Results Table*covers the use of *charm, persuasion, test, trick,* taunt, intimidation *and the*maneuver *skills.* The *Combat Results Table*is used to determine the amount of damage inflicted in combat. And the third table, the *General and Push Results Table*, covers everything else that might make use of result points. In each of the three tables, the S in the Result Points columns means “same”, as in the action or effect total was the **same**as the difficulty number. Another way to think of it is that it means the same thing as zero result points.

**General Results Table**

The General Results Table is used by a large number of skills. The *quality*of a success, also known as a *success* level,*is noted by a descriptive word:*Minimal, Average, Good, Superior *or* *Spectacular. Minimal*implies that the character just barely succeeded, avoiding failure by the skin of his teeth. *Average*is, well, average; no extra description is warranted.*Good*success sometimes merits a more detailed description, particularly if the character faced difficult odds. A success deserves special emphasis; the task was performed faster, better or with more precision than expected. For a*Spectacular*success, things go so fabulously well that the gamemaster should give the character some kind of fringe benefits for his amazing performance. The Speed and Power columns of the table are used whenever a character attempts to exceed one of their *limit values*, as listed in Chapter One, with a *push*. Some other game mechanics, such as spell design, also make use of the columns but they are primarily used for pushes.