Situation Modifier
Using lubricant (oil, soap, butter, blood) +1 to +3
Puffing up the chest +1 to +2
Dislocating limbs (see text) +3
Breaking Bonds
In situations where a character prefers to break his bonds rather than slip out of them, Contortionist still helps him. For every 2 points by which his Contortionist roll succeeds he may add +1d6 to his STR (either normal STR, or STR from a Martial Escape maneuver) for purposes of breaking the bonds.
Example: Xiu Kwan, a lin kuei assassin, has
Contortionist 14-. A group of South China Sea pirates has captured him and tied him up with ropes. He decides to impress them by breaking his bonds. His STR is 20. He rolls his Contor- tionist roll and gets an 8. Since he made his roll by 6, he may add +3d6, so he rolls 7d6 to break the ropes.
Injuries While Escaping
In some situations, such as when a character is tied up with wire or tight cords, the character may cut himself or rub his wrists or ankles raw while trying to escape. The GM must decide if this occurs, though it’s most likely to happen if the character fails a Contortionist roll. In some situ- ations, this type of injury could cause 1 point of BODY damage, but usually it’s just painful without doing BODY damage. Such injuries impose a -1 to -2 modifier to further attempts to use Contortionist until they heal. However, as noted above, the blood may act as a lubricant that provides bonuses to the character’s attempt to slip out of his restraints.
Locked Restraints
In some situations, a character’s ability to contort his body is not, by itself, enough to let him escape — the retraint may have locks he cannot break or that are impossible to slip out of. Some handcuffs (particularly rigid varieties) and plas- ticuffs fit this description. In this situation, the character either (a) has to get the key somehow; (b) use Lockpicking on the lock (Contortionist can help him reach the lock, but he may suffer negative modifiers for positioning, lack of lockpicking tools, and so forth); and/or (c) cut the restraint somehow. Plasticuffs are fairly easy to cut with any knife or similar sharp objects, and some ropes can be worn through or cut through by rubbing them against rocks or reasonably sharp objects. Handcuffs and straitjackets, on the other hand, may be difficult or impossible to cut through.
Escaping From Grabs
A character with Contortionist can also try to escape constraints — Grabs, in other words — during combat. Any Phase after an opponent Grabs a character with this Skill, he can use Con- tortionist to help himself break out. When he tries to break free, he should make a Contortionist roll. If the roll succeeds, he adds +1d6 to his STR dice for every 1 point by which the roll succeeds (if he makes the roll exactly, at the GM’s option he still may add 1d6 to his STR). Thus, a character who made his Contortionist roll by 4 would get to add 4d6 to his STR dice, only for the purpose of escap- ing the Grab. Using Contortionist this way takes no time (the character may take more time to improve his chances), but the character may only attempt it once per Phase.
Example: Ogre Grabs the superhero Zigzag
during a battle. Knowing his puny 10 STR will never overcome Ogre’s might, Zigzag uses his Contortionist skill. He rolls a 9, making the roll by 6. He can now roll 2d6 (for STR) + 6d6 (for Contortionist) = 8d6. Ogre, with a 60 STR, rolls 12d6. The dice are thrown; Zigzag gets 8 BODY and Ogre gets 11. Pity.
FITTING INTO NARROW AREAS
The other major use for Contortionist is to fit into small, narrow, and/or cramped spaces that ordinary humans cannot fit into — everything from small steamer trunks, to cracks between tim- bers in a collapsed mineshaft, to kitchen cabinets, to squeezing between jailbars. The accompanying text box lists the modifier for any attempt to fit into a small space.
If a character with Contortionist is in a col- lapsing structure (such as a building or mineshaft after an explosion), he may use Contortionist to find and fit into a protected area between portions of collapsing debris (for example, a pocket of air created by two beams that collapsed against each other and prop up other debris). It’s up to the GM whether the character takes any damage while get- ting into this “safe zone,” and what modifiers, if any, apply to his Contortionist roll.
Similarly, Contortionist can allow a character to reach an area or object most persons cannot. The character could fit his arm through a tiny grating to reach something on the other side, for example, or could contort his tied-up body to reach the lock on the back side of the straitjacket he’s been put in (though he needs Lockpicking to open the lock). Modifiers in this situation should be determined by the GM; they will usually range from +0 to -3.
REMAINING STILL
Sometimes a character needs to remain abso-
lutely still for long periods of time. Perhaps he’s
lying in wait for game animals (or to ambush an enemy) and doesn’t want to give away his position, or maybe he’s just found himself trapped in a mon- ster’s lair where the least little noise will wake the creature up. To remain absolutely still for 1 Turn requires an unmodified Contortionist roll; for each step down the Time Chart impose a -2 penalty. While remaining still a character can perform no other physical Actions (not even speaking), but he can still think, use Mental Powers, or the like.
EQUIPMENT
Contortionist doesn’t involve or require any equipment; it’s purely a personal Skill.
POWERS AND CONTORTIONIST
Several Powers interact with Contortionist in unusual ways.
Body-Altering Powers
A character who can change his shape or size via Growth, Multiform, Shape Shift, Shrinking, or the like may be able to use that Power to escape restraints, Entangles, and the like without the need for Contortionist.
Entangle
The basic HERO System rules assume a char- acter cannot use Contortionist to escape from an Entangle. This represents Entangles like glue bombs, ice blocks, sticky webbing, and magi- cal energy fetters — no matter how a character squirms and contorts his body, he cannot get out of them by agility alone. His only resort is to try to smash out of them using STR, a Martial Maneuver with the Exert element devoted to “escape,” or an appropriate attack. (Contortionist can add to his STR for these purposes, as described above.)
Characters can use Contortionist to escape Entangles with other special effects — rope, chains, handcuffs, wireguns, and the like
— though it might be difficult. You can represent this with a Limitation, Escapable With Con-
tortionist. For a -1 Limitation, a character can
escape an Entangle by making a normal Con- tortionist roll. This might represent poorly-tied ropes, weak wireguns, or the like.
For a -½ Limitation, a character can escape an Entangle by making a Contortionist roll at a -1 to -3 penalty (the GM determines the appropriate penalty, based on special effects and the circum- stances). This might represent normal handcuffs (see the example in the sidebar on page 168 of The
HERO System 5th Edition, Revised rulebook), an average-quality wiregun, typical chains, or the like.
For a -¼ Limitation, a character can escape an Entangle by making a Contortionist roll at a -4 to -6 penalty (the GM determines the appropriate penalty, based on special effects and the circum- stances). This might represent high-tech handcuffs, a quality wiregun, some limited or poor-quality types of glue bombs or ice blocks, tight and well- made chains, and the like.
In any case, using Contortionist to escape an Entangle normally requires a Full Phase. For ¼ more Limitation, this only requires a Half-Phase Action. For each ¼ less Limitation (or ¼ more Advantage), the character buying the Entangle can extend the time it normally takes to contort out of it by one step down the Time Chart (1 Turn, 1 Minute, and so forth). However, these are average times; the GM may modify them based on special effects, how much the character makes his roll by, the circumstances, common sense, dramatic sense, and other factors.
Characters can also escape some types of Entangles, such as chains, with Lockpicking rather than Contortionist (assuming the character can