Towards Tribute Alpha

If you've read this post, you know that I plan to create two versions of Tribute- a simple version called "Alpha", and a more detailed version called "Omega".  The primary difference I expect Alpha to have is the lack of the 12 Function Elements. Effects will be more freeform than they will be in Omega. 

Writing these two versions isn't a matter of just writing a simple game then making it more complicated- if I want them to be compatible, I need to have Omega done first, so I can simplify it for Alpha. I need to know how I'm handling things so I can generalize the rules. 

In the coming posts, I plan to start putting up the Element rules I'm working on for Tribute Omega. Each of the current (34) Elements will have its own post containing only its rules, which I'll try to keep to one page worth of information (in 9 point Font).  As I write each of them up, I'll make each Element's entry in the Summary of the Elements post into a hyperlink to its rules page. Each entry will serve as a reference that will be edited in the future if and when it needs to change.

I expect this process to create a lot of changes to what I've previously explained regarding the Elements. I will be trying to make things more elegant, and shore up issues as I find them. I may need to change, combine, or alter the Elements, so be warned. It might get messy.  

I'll continue to post about other game issues throughout the process as they come up.

Thanks for reading.

Tweaking the Core Mechanic.

I've had to alter the core mechanic to address an issue. I won't link to the old mechanic to prevent confusion, but the current version is at the end of this post. The only thing that's changed is how Profit and Waste are calculated. If you just want to know how things have changed, skip to The Changes, below. 

 

I like the way the core mechanic originally turned out, except for one issue that kept nagging at me. In situations where you had to roll high to succeed, you were more likely to get a lot of Profit even if you barely rolled high enough to meet or exceed the opposition's roll. 

Example:  Using a d6 Reality Level, assume you need a +5 to deliver your Effect. You have 4 FOCUS Dice and 3 BURDEN Dice. You're highly skilled, but your opposition is stronger and rolled well. 

To meet this roll, you'd need to get a 6 on your highest FOCUS die, and a 1 on your highest BURDEN Die. This means that you would automatically get 3 Profit on your Test if you succeeded, because every FOCUS die would meet or exceed the BURDEN roll of 1. 

So fighting stronger opponents would make it less likely to hit, but more likely to kill them in one blow. David and Goliath notwithstanding, it doesn't feel right for every genre. 

With the help of zedturtle on RPGnet (again), and Bloody Stupid Johnson on TheRPGSite, I think the problem is solved. 

Both of them suggested that instead of determining Profit and Waste based on the highest die in the opposite pool, that you find Profit by comparing to the FOCUS die that you use for determining success and failure. Similarly, you'd find Waste based on the BURDEN die that helps to determine success and failure. This has the side effect of making it more likely to get both Profit and Waste on a Test, which can mitigate the issue. 

Bloody Stupid Johnson further suggested that you be allowed to choose which FOCUS and BURDEN dice you'd use for success and failure. For example,  if you rolled [3,4,5,6] on your FOCUS dice, you'd get to choose between using 6 and getting no Profit, and using 3, and getting 3 Profit, or anything in between.  It wouldn't be an arbitrary decision, obviously, you'd choose the most optimal option. 

This would mean that in order to succeed sometimes, you'd have to choose to take more Waste and less Profit.  

Further, it solved the problem- you'd be less likely to get Profit on a Test that you needed to roll high on, and vice versa. 

This was very cool so far, but I realized that in situations where you needed to roll a high Attribute modifier,  such as +5 on d6s, the rest of your BURDEN dice would be Waste. This is because to get a +5 on d6s, you'd need FOCUS [6] and BURDEN [1]. Every value on a d6 meets or exceeds 1, so any extra BURDEN dice would automatically be Waste.  

Doing it this way just reversed my initial problem, and I wanted a chance for an unqualified success on a difficult roll. Sure,  Profit and Waste can cancel each other out, but you can't always rely on that, especially when you have more BURDEN than FOCUS. Sometimes Waste would be a foregone conclusion, and I wanted to avoid that. 

So I altered things so that you determine Profit and Waste based on the dice that exceed the dice you choose, rather than allowing dice that meet or exceed the values you choose. 

This means that if you rolled FOCUS [3,4,5,6] and BURDEN [1,1] and you needed a +5, you could get it with no Waste. There's no chance of Profit when you need a maximum roll, but that's acceptable. The opposed rolls in the system allow for more situations where you will be able to Profit against a more powerful foe. 

My favorite aspect of this version of the mechanic is that when fighting stronger foes, you're more likely to deal less of an Effect to them, and when you're fighting weaker ones, you're more likely to deal more of an Effect. That's exactly how I wanted the game to work. 

So, without further ado, here's the new core mechanic. Again, the basics are the same, but calculating Profit and Waste are different. 

The Basic Mechanic, for Review

Making Tests

When you make a Test with no modifiers for aptitude, situation, or handicaps,

1. Roll 1 white "FOCUS" die, and 1 black "BURDEN" die.

2. Subtract the rolled value of the black BURDEN die from the value of the white FOCUS die.

3. Add the final value of your test to your appropriate Attribute's Rank.

4. Compare the result to your opposition's Result.

5. If your result is higher you Win the test, if your Result is lower you Fail, and if your results are equal, you Match.  When you Win, only you apply your Effect, and when you Match, both parties get to apply their Effects.

FOCUS Dice

When you are above average at something or the situation make something easier, you receive up to 5 additional white FOCUS dice. Add these dice to the 1 that you would otherwise roll for an unmodified test . This gives a possible total of 6 white dice. Roll them and choose any die you like as your FOCUS die, and then perform steps 2-5 as you would for a Test without modification.There is an incentive to choose the lowest value you can that allows for success because of the way Profit works.

BURDEN Dice

When you are below average at something or the situation makes something harder, you receive up to 5 additional black BURDEN Dice. Add these dice to the 1 that you would otherwise roll for an unmodified test. This gives a possible total of 6 black dice. Roll them and choose any value you like as your BURDEN die, and then perform steps 2-5 as you would for a Test without Modification.There is an incentive to choose the highest value you can that allows for success because of the way Waste works.

You can have up to 6 FOCUS dice and 6 BURDEN Dice at once, for a total of 12 dice to be rolled.

The Changes

Profit

When you roll a Test, choose any FOCUS die that you like to serve as your FOCUS die for determining success or failure. There is an incentive to choose the lowest value that allows you to succeed.   

Any other FOCUS dice with values that exceed the chosen die are considered Profit. Dice that match are not Profit.

Profit can be added to the Rank of any Features in the Effect you're Testing. When an Effect has multiple Features, you can divide your Profit dice among those Features any way you like.

Profit can't raise an Effect or Feature of an Effect's final Rank beyond 5.

Profit can also be used to activate certain bonus Effects altogether, such as knocking a foe backwards when hitting them with a club. 

Finally, Profit can be given to the opposition, where it serves as Waste. This is the only option for using Profit when you Fail. The GM can use it for his or her NPCs or activate negative events in the environment. 
 
Waste

When you roll a Test, choose any BURDEN die that you like to serve as your BURDEN die for determining success or failure. There is an incentive to choose the highest value that allows you to succeed.   

Any other BURDEN dice with values that exceed the chosen die are considered Waste. Dice that match are not Waste.

Waste is subtracted from the Rank of any Features in the Effect you're Testing. When an Effect has multiple Features, you can divide your Waste dice among those Features any way you like.

Waste can't lower an Effect or Feature of an Effect's final Rank below 0 (Non-existent).

Waste can also be used to activate negative Effects or complications in the scene such as breaking the table that you're fighting on top of, or starting a fire.


Finally, Waste can be given to the opposition, where it serves as Profit. This is the only option for using Waste when you Fail. The GM can use it for his or her NPCs or activate positive events in the environment. 


Getting Both

It is possible to receive both Profit and Waste to your action. Profit can cancel Waste out on a 1 for 1 basis at your option, but you can also apply both to separate Features of Effects. An example of this might be adding profit to the damaging Feature of an Attack, but subtracting from its duration or taking a consequence.

Handling Effects that use multiple Attributes.

As discussed previously on the blog, all Tests you make use one or more Attributes. The choice of which Attribute is applied is based on which Attribute governs a given Function.  For example, when you have an Effect that has a VOID Function, you add your FORCE Attribute to the final modifier that the Dice give you in order to determine whether you Win or Fail the Test.

This is straightforward for Effects that contain Functions that all use the same Attribute, but what about Effects that use different Attributes? Let's say you have the following Effect:

FOCUS [3d]: SHIELD "Body": { BLOCK ATTACK of "Body" [3]. ATTACK "Body": { VOID "Body" of "Attacker" on Contact via CHANNEL ("Fire") [2].} }

This is a flaming SHIELD Power that attempts to deal damage to anyone who comes in Contact with it.  BLOCK is governed by COUNTER, and VOID is governed by FORCE. 

To make a Test like this, you'd simply roll your FOCUS dice along with any BURDEN Dice the Test called for (a default of 1), and find your Attribute modifier as usual.  Then you'd apply this modifier to each Attribute used in the Effect separately to determine whether each set of Features using those Attributes went off properly. In this example, you'd apply the modifier to your COUNTER Attribute to determine whether the BLOCK worked, and then apply the same modifier to your FORCE Attribute to determine whether the VOID worked. 

Example:  Ardos has a spell up- the SHIELD described above. It's drawing on the COUNTER and FORCE of his mind. His mind's COUNTER is +1 and his mind FORCE is +3. When he is attacked by a club-wielding dwarf-troll, he rolls his 3 FOCUS dice against the Attack and gets (FOCUS 6,2,1 and BURDEN 2). This gives a +4 Attribute modifier and 1 Profit.  

The GM is delivering a simple VOID "Body" Effect, and the dwarf-troll rolls a modified +6 when he adds his FORCE in.

Adding his roll of +4 to his COUNTER of +1, Ardos gets a +5 for his BLOCK Feature. It isn't good enough to work. He then adds his roll to his FORCE of +3, for a result of +7 for the ATTACK Feature. 

The Troll has his own SHIELD in the form of his hide, so the GM rolls his defense- separately because it is the result of a separate Effect. He gets a +5, so the +7 VOID Effect gets through.  Ardos adds his Profit to the VOID Effect. 

The end result is that the SHIELD doesn't hinder the blow of the club, but the dwarf-troll pays a price for his aggression. 

To recap, when an Effect has Features that use different Attributes, roll once, and apply the same modifier to all of the Attributes being used. Then spread the Profit and Waste between the Effect's Feature's as desired. Only when Effects are truly separate should you roll separately.

I hope this is all clear, but if not, feel free to ask.

Tribute Benchmarks Table

This post contains the Tribute benchmark table I spent the weekend working on. Development on the game started with a similar table I made a few years back. I have no idea how the table will render on a mobile device, so it's probably best to view it on a computer.

I ended up working on this one as a side effect of trying to figure out how RELAY worked in the game.

I had a long talk with another game designer and friend of mine, Barak Blackburn. He wrote Capes, Cowls, and Villains Foul which is a very exciting light supers RPG meant to emulate the feel of comic books. Check it out. 

 

Anyway, Barak was helping me with movement issues in my game, and he was strongly promoting the idea that I not include benchmarks in Tribute. His case was that if I included them they would become a straitjacket for some GMs, and that some players wouldn't be able to see past them when playing the game. I considered what he said, but I decided to include them anyway. I'm of the mindset that if there's an elegant way to give concrete information about something in game, it's preferable to abstractions that are prone to confusion. I guess I'm more engineer than artist.

I think that in the long run benchmarks will enhance play rather than hindering it. In no particular order, having them allows:

• People other than me to stat up things that other people will agree with. The internet becomes a sourcebook.
• Concrete measurement and use of a game mat, if desired.
• The same stats to have different consequences at different reality levels.
• The dice to inform game play with actual measurements, such as how far an object flies.

Still, I fully intend to see Tribute used to model completely alien concepts and worlds with no ties to our own reality. I just want to set a good baseline in modeling reality first. Once you know how to do that, you can do the stranger stuff- you can "eff" the ineffable, and hopefully have everyone at the table agree on what things mean.

Credit Where it's Due

The Mayfair Exponential Game System, or MEGS, is often cited as a brilliant way of allowing characters with a range of capabilities to interact meaningfully. I'm blatantly ripping it off (with credit) for Tribute. I made a few changes, but the principle is the same.

In MEGS, everything you interact with is given a Rank, and a given Rank can correspond to a value, such as 100 lbs. In DC Heroes, the supers version of the system, every +1 to rank represents a x2 increase in the actual value you're talking about, such that if Rank 0 represented 100 lbs., Rank 1 would represent 200 lbs., Rank 2 would represent 400 lbs. and so on.

Multiplication of actual values is done by adding their Ranks together. Division is done by Subtracting their Ranks. This works like an old-fashioned slide rule, and is very handy for things like calculating the distance you can throw an object (Your Rank - the Rank of the object's mass= Rank of the distance), etc.

Another game using the system, Underground, which I haven't seen, uses a different progression whereby each +1 to Rank represents about a 1.26 multiplier. This means that every +3 equals roughly a doubling, every +7 equals multiplying by 5, and +10 equals multiplying by 10.  The same rules for multiplication and division apply.

Tribute is using the latter progression. My values for the various benchmarks are different because of the needs of the system, and I use metric measurements because they make more sense to me and make for a neater table. To convert from metric, you can assume that 1 meter equals about a yard, and 1 kg equals about 2 lbs. This is about estimation, not exact values.

Making sense of the Table:

The only firm benchmark on this table is the "Number of Men" Rating.  The use of the word "Men" is intended the way Tolkien used it- to represent a member of the human species of either sex, and does not refer to the male sex specifically. One "Man" is a mythological human who is average in everything.

 It's a useful benchmark for things that don't easily lend themselves to concrete measurement in other units. Rank 5 "FORCE of Mind" means that you have the Intellect of 3 average people combined.

Number of Men is also useful for finding out the effective rank of a group of collaborators. Simply add the Number of Men of all parties, find the corresponding Rank, and make a check with the leader's FOCUS and the total BURDEN of all participants.

The other benchmark values are strongly approximated (especially when it comes to Time and Data)- they are rounded to the nearest neat unit when possible, and are then put onto the "# of Men" progression. This means that when it's possible to shift from seconds to minutes, for example, the progression moves on from 1 minute rather than continuing to use seconds. The results are somewhat different than they would otherwise be, but again, this table is meant to allow you to estimate conversions between benchmarks and Ranks, and not to find exact values. The apparent precision in the table should never be considered to be written in stone. When using this Table with benchmarks and a value falls between two Ranks, use the lower of the two Ranks. A given Rank represents a range of results from the listed value to just before the next higher one.

The table's built on the assumption of a d4 Reality die (a range of -3 to +3). After all, games that use a d4 will be the ones most concerned with accuracy in benchmarks.

Values get fuzzier the further you get from mundane human range. For example, it's possible even in a mundane reality level for a unique human being to throw a football (Rank -15 mass) 300 meters (Rank 28 distance), which exceeds World Records (non-NFL) by 2 Ranks. The record was allegedly set in 1934 by George Lansborough at 195 meters.

I wanted to keep values conservative, but it wasn't possible if I wanted other human ranges to work right.  Still, if the Guinness Book of World Records is to be believed, it's somewhat conceivable. Especially if you remember that Rank 5 is meant to represent a World Class Attribute, and getting such a roll would require a lot of FOCUS in throwing, little to no BURDEN, a perfect roll, and full activation of a +5 DRIVE. Sports legendry in the making.

As you read the table, keep in mind the following rules. The game will assume the following:

Rank 0: Average human capability or measurement. As a result on the dice, it represents a casual effort for a normal human.

Rank 3: The highest an average human can roll on a Mundane Reality Level (d4s) Test without an activated DRIVE (which can add up to +5 to your Attribute Rank)

Rank 5: The realistic human maximum Attribute Rank. This is an optional cap to Attributes for humans.

Rank 8: The maximum that an average human can roll with d4s and an activated DRIVE of 5, or the highest value that a human with maximum Attributes without DRIVE can roll.

Rank 13: The highest amount that a human with maximum Attributes can roll with an activated DRIVE of 5.

Table 1: Tribute Benchmarks

Rank	# of Men	Mass	Mass Example	Distance	Time	Volume	Language	Data
-10	1/10	1.25 kg		.05 m	.1 sec	.2 m3	1 letter	1 bytes
-9	1/8	1.5 kg		.06 m	.125 sec	.25 m3	1.25 letters	1.25 bytes
-8	1/6	2 kg		.08 m	.15 sec	.3 m3	1.5 letters	1.5 bytes
-7	1/5	2.5 kg		.1 m	.2 sec	.4 m3	2 letters	2 bytes
-6	1/4	3 kg		.125 m	.25 sec	.5 m3	2.5 letters	2.5 bytes
-5	1/3	4 kg	Human Head	.15 m	.3 sec	.6 m3	3 letters	3 bytes
-4	2/5	5 kg		.2 m	.4 sec	.8 m3	4 letters	4 bytes
-3	1/2	6 kg		.25 m	.5 sec	1 m3	5 letters	5 bytes
-2	6/10	8 kg	Koala	.3 m	.6 sec	1.25 m3	6 letters	6 bytes
-1	8/10	10 kg	Farm Sack of Potatoes	.4 m	.8 sec	1.5 m3	8 letters	8 Bytes
0	1	12.5 kg	Cooking gas cylinder	.5 m	1 sec	2 m3	1 word	10 bytes
1	1 1/4	15 kg	Stowable Travel suitcase	.6 m	1.25 sec	2.5 m3	1 1/4 words	12.5 bytes
2	1 1/2	20 kg	Suit of plate armor	.8 m	1.5 sec	3 m3	1 1/2 words	15 bytes
3	2	25 kg	Industrial bag of laundry	1 m	2 sec	4 m3	2 words	20 bytes
4	2 1/2	30 kg	9 -year-old child	1.25 m	2.5 sec	5 m3	2 and 1/2 words	25 bytes
5	3	40 kg	Medium ship's anchor	1.5 m	3 sec	6 m3	3 words	30 bytes
6	4	50 kg	Small Adult Sheep	2 m	4 sec	8 m3	4 words	40 bytes
7	5	60 kg		2.5 m	5 sec	10 m3	5 words	50 bytes
8	6	80 kg	Human Adult	3 m	6 sec	12 1/2 m3	6 words	60 bytes
9	8	100 kg		4 m	8 sec	15 m3	8 words	80 bytes
10	10	125 kg		5 m	10 sec	20 m3	10 words	100 bytes
11	12 1/2	150 kg		6 m	12.5 sec	25 m3	12 1/2 words	125 bytes
12	15	200 kg		8 m	15 sec	30 m3	15 words	150 bytes
13	20	250 kg		10 m	20 sec	40 m3	20 words	200 bytes
14	25	300 kg	Big Male Lion	12.5 m	25 sec	50 m3	25 words	250 bytes
15	30	400 kg		15 m	30 sec	60 m3	30 words	300 bytes
16	40	500 kg	Cessna 150, horse	20 m	40 sec	80 m3	40 words	400 bytes
17	50	600kg		25 m	50 sec	100 m3	50 words	500 bytes
18	60	800 kg		30 m	1 min	125 m3	60 words	600 bytes
19	80	1 t		40 m	1.25 min	150 m3	80 words	800 bytes
20	100	1.25 t		50 m	1.5 min	200 m3	100 words	1 KB
21	125	1.5 t	Sedan Car	60 m	2 min	250 m3	125 words	1.25 KB
22	150	2 t	Light Truck	80 m	2.5 min	300 m3	150 words	1.5 KB
23	200	2.5 t		100 m	3 min	400 m3	200 words	2 KB
24	250	3 t		125 m	4 min	500 m3	250 words	2.5 KB
25	300	4 t		150 m	5 min	600 m3	300 words	3 KB
26	400	5 t		200 m	6 min	800 m3	400 words	4 KB
27	500	6 t		250 m	8 min	1 km3	500 words	5 KB
28	600	8 t		300 m	10 min	1.25 km3	600 words	6 KB
29	800	10 t		400 m	12 1/2 min	1.5 km3	800 words	8 KB
30	1,000	12.5 t		500 m	15 min	2 km3	1,000 words	10 KB
31	1,250	15 t		600 m	20 min	2.5 km3	1,250 words	12.5 KB
32	1,500	20 t		800 m	25 min	3 km3	1,500 words	15 KB
33	2,000	25 t		1 km	30 min	4 km3	2,000 words	20 KB
34	2,500	30 t		1.25 km	40 min	5 km3	2,500 words	25 KB
35	3,000	40 t		1.5  km	50 min	6 km3	3,000 words	30 KB
36	4,000	50 t		2 km	1 hour	8 km3	4,000 words	40 KB
37	5,000	60 t		2.5  km	1 1/4 hours	10 km3	5,000 words	50 KB
38	6,000	80 t		3 km	1 1/2 hours	12 1/2 km3	6,000 words	60 KB
39	8,000	100 t	Blue Whale	4 km	2 hours	15 km3	8,000 words	80 KB
40	10,000	125 t		5 km	2 1/2 hours	20 km3	10,000 words	100 KB
41	12,500	150 t	Spruce Goose (Plane)	6 km	3 hours	25 km3	12,500 words	125 KB
42	15,000	200 t	Statue of Liberty	8 km	4 hours	30 km3	15,000 words	150 KB
43	20,000	250 t		10 km	5 hours	40 km3	20,000 words	200 KB
44	25,000	300 t		12.5 km	6 hours	50 km3	25,000 words	250 KB
45	30,000	400 t		15 km	8 hours	60 km3	30,000 words	300 KB
46	40,000	500 t		20 km	10 hours	80 km3	40,000 words	400 KB
47	50,000	600 t		25 km	12.5 hours	100 km3	50,000 words	500 KB
48	60,000	800 t		30 km	15 hours	125 km3	60,000 words	600 KB
49	80,000	1,000 t		40 km	20 hours	150 km3	80,0000 words	800 KB
50	100,000	1,200 t		50 km	1 Day	200 km3	100,000 words	1 MB
51	125,000	1,500 t		60 km	1.25 days	250 km3	125,000 words	1.25 MB
52	150,000	2,000 t		80 km	1.5 days	300 km3	150,000 words	1.5 MB
53	200,000	2,500 t		100 km	2 days	400 km3	200,000 words	2 MB
54	250,000	3,000 t		125 km	2.5 days	500 km3	250,000 words	2.5 MB
55	300,000	4,000 t		150 km	3 days	600 km3	300,000 words	3 MB
56	400,000	5,000 t		200 km	4 days	800 km3	400,000 words	4 MB
57	500,000	6,000 t		250 km	5 days	1,000 km3	500,000 words	5 MB
58	600,000	8,000 t		300 km	6 days	1,250 km3	600,000 words	6 MB
59	800,000	10,000 t	Eiffel Tower	400 km	8 days	1,500 km3	800,000 words	8 MB
60	1,000,000	12,500 t		500 km	10 days	2,000 km3	1,000,000 words	10 MB
61	1,250,000	15,000 t		600 km	12.5 days	2,500 km3	1,250,000 words	12.5 MB
62	1,500,000	20,000 t		800 km	15 days	3,000 km3	1,500,000 words	15 MB
63	2,000,000	30,000 t		1,000 km	20 days	4,000 km3	2,000,000 words	20 MB
64	2,500,000	40,000 t		1,250 km	1 month	5,000 km3	2,500,000 words	25 MB
65	3,000,000	50,000 t		1,500 km	1.5 months	6,000 km3	3,000,000 words	30 MB
66	4,000,000	60,000 t		2,000 km	2 Months	8,000 km3	4,000,000 words	40 MB
67	5,000,000	80,000 t		2,500 km	2.5 months	10,000 km3	5,000,000 words	50 MB
68	6,000,000	100,000 t	Nimitz Aircraft Carrier	3,000 km	3 months	12,500 km3	6,000,000 words	60 MB
69	8,000,000	125,000 t		4,000 km	4 months	15,000 km3	8,000,000 words	80 MB
70	10,000,000	150,000 t		5,000 km	5 months	20,000 km3	10,000,000 words	100 MB
71	12,500,000	200,000 t		6,000 km	6 months	25,000 km3	12,500,000 words	125 MB
72	15,000,000	250,000 t		8,000 km	8 months	30,000 km3	15,000,000 words	150 MB
73	20,000,000	300,000 t		10,000 km	10 months	40,000 km3	20,000,000 words	200 MB
74	25,000,000	400,000 t		12,500 km	1 year	50,000 km3	25,000,000 words	250 MB
75	30,000,000	500,000 t		15,000 km	1.25 year	60,000 km3	30,000,000 words	300 MB
76	40,000,000	600,000 t		20,000 km	1.5 years	80,000 km3	40,000,000 words	400 MB
77	50,000,000	800,000 t		25,000 km	2 years	100,000 km3	50,000,000 words	500 MB
78	60,000,000	1,000,000 t		30,000 km	2.5 years	125,000 km3	60,000,000 words	600 MB
79	80,000,000	1,250,000 t		40,000 km	3 years	150,000 km3	80,000,000 words	800 MB
80	100,000,000	1,500,000 t		50,000 km	4 years	200,000 km3	100,000,000 words	1 GB
81	125,000,000	2,000,000 t		60,000 km	5 years	250,000 km3	125,000,000 words	1.25 GB
82	150,000,000	2,500,000 t		80,000 km	6 years	300,000 km3	150,000,000 words	1.5 GB
83	200,000,000	3,000,000 t		100,000 km	8 years	400,000 km3	200,000,000 words	2 GB
84	250,000,000	4,000,000 t		125,000 km	10 years	500,000 km3	250,000,000 words	2.5 GB
85	300,000,000	5,000,000 t		150,000 km	12.5 years	600,000 km3	300,000,000 words	3 GB
86	400,000,000	6,000,000 t		200,000 km	15 years	800,000 km3	400,000,000 words	4 GB
87	500,000,000	8,000,000 t		250,000 km	20 years	1,000,000 km3	500,000,000 words	5 GB
88	600,000,000	10,000,000 t		300,000 km (1 light-second)	25 years	1,250,000 km3	600,000,000 words	6 GB
89	800,000,000	12,500,000 t		400,000 km  (1.25 light-seconds)	30 years	1,500,000 km3	800,000,000 words	8 GB
90	1,000,000,000	15,000,000 t		500,000 km (1.5 light-seconds)	40 years	2,000,000 km3	1,000,000,000 words	10 GB
91	1,250,000,000	20,000,000 t		600,000 km (2 light-seconds)	50 years	2,500,000 km3	1,250,000,000 words	12.5 GB
92	1,500,000,000	25,000,000 t		800,000 km (2.5 light-seconds)	60 years	3,000,000 km3	1,500,000,000 words	15 GB
93	2,000,000,000	30,000,000 t		1,000,000 km (3 light-seconds)	80 years	4,000,000 km3	2,000,000,000 words	20 GB
94	2,500,000,000	40,000,000 t		1,250,000 km (4 light-seconds)	100 years	5,000,000 km3	2,500,000,000 words	25 GB
95	3,000,000,000	50,000,000 t		1,500,000 km (5 light-seconds)	125 years	6,000,000 km3	3,000,000,000 words	30 GB
96	4,000,000,000	60,000,000 t		2,000,000 km (6 light-seconds)	150 years	8,000,000 km3	4,000,000,000 words	40 GB
97	5,000,000,000	1,000,000,000 t		2,500,000 km (8 light-seconds)	200 years	10,000,000 km3	5,000,000,000 words	50 GB
98	6,000,000,000	1,250,000,000 t		3,000,000 km (10 light-seconds)	250 years	12,500,000 km3	6,000,000,000 words	60 GB
99	8,000,000,000	1,500,000,000 t		4,000,000 km (12.5 light-seconds)	300 years	15,000,000 km3	8,000,000,000 words	80 GB
100	10,000,000,000	2,000,000,000 t		5,000,000 km (15 light-seconds)	400 years	20,000,000 km3	10,000,000,000 words	100 GB

The Volume column is in red because I'm not sure about which value should line up with 0. I chose 2 m³ because it's a rough estimation of a human body occupying space on a battlemat.

Benchmarking things on your own

Benchmarking is straightforward. You can take a statement like "He has the strength of 10 Men" and find its Rank on the table. Of course, you can use numerical values if they line up to what the table measures.

Google Search has a feature wherein you can type something like "34 lbs. in kg" and it will calculate the result for you. That has proven very useful. 

If you want to create a new column on the table, start with a fact that has a number attached to it like "The average person can...". Decide whether this fact refers to an average person's casual effort (Rank 0), Decent Effort (Rank 3), Extreme Effort (Rank 8) or somewhere in between. Place the rating provided in that space, and calculate the other values based on it, using the Number of Men progression. It's best to round the value you're placing to the nearest Number of Men value for consistency.

Going off the Scale

Say your character wants to throw the Earth at the Moon. What would she need to roll?

Look up the mass of the object. Google says that Earth's mass  is 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 metric tons.

1. Find the largest Rank that is close to the first few digits. In this case, it's Rank 98.
2. Count the zeros in the nearest Rank on the table. Mass for Rank 98 has 9 zeros.
3. Count the zeros in the value of the object's mass. There are 21 zeros in the Earth's mass.
4. Subtract 9 from 21 to find how many more zeros the Earth's mass has. The result is 12.
5. Multiply your Result (12) by 10 to find out how much higher than 98 the Earth's Mass Rank is. It's 120 higher than 98.
6. Add 120 to 98 to find the roll you'd need to achieve to move the Earth half a meter per second (rank 0).  The Rank for this is 218.  
7. Throwing it all the way to the Moon is another matter. The Moon's distance on average is about Rank 89 (384403 km). You'd need to roll 89 points higher on the roll (Rank 307) to throw the Earth to the Moon within the space of a second. 

Ignoring the gravity of the sun, a collision would eventually happen even with Rank 218 (An object in motion stays in motion...). It just might take a very long time. You probably wouldn't have to do all of this for most situations. I plan to include expanded tables in an appendix in the book.

Thanks for reading.  If you have any questions or ideas for benchmarks that I should add to the table, feel free to leave them in the comments.