Now that the essential mechanics have been discussed, it is time to detail the basic nature of the world where all of the various characters (PC and NPC alike) interact. In short, all of the action takes place in a grand multiverse of possibility; a multiverse being defined as a multitude of dimensions. In fact, the Universal Heroes game recognizes seven physical dimensions: three of space, three of time, and a seventh – one that seems to have certain mental aspects.

How these seven physical dimensions work and interact can be something of a mystery, but this will be detailed to some extent later. However, the major point that needs to be discussed right now is how characters can move about within these seven dimensions. There are all manner of ways a body can get from point A to point B, the simplest of which involves, you guessed it, walking there.

Ground Movement

The standard means of going places since time immemorial, walking allows for the crossing of horizontal spaces. A character can, in about a minute, cross one area of space. The base unit for space in the Universal Heroes, an area is 44 cubic yards (meaning that this 44 yards extends in all directions). This, of course, assumed that said character is not in any hurry, and is simply having a pleasant stroll or determined walk.

However, this does not always apply, and a character may need to run to the scene of some crime or another (or, if a villain, from it). If running, a character can cross a number of areas per turn – the basic unit of time in the Universal heroes game (equal to six seconds) – that is determined by his Str (lrw) rank. These speeds are detailed on table 6:

Table 6: Speed / Acceleration Rates

Endurance	Speed / Acceleration
Feeble	One area / two turns
Poor	One area / turn
Typical - Excellent	Two areas / turn
Remarkable +	Three areas / turn

Swimming

Similar to walking, swimming allows a body to easily get from one point to another, but swimming refers to moving across a body of water, as opposed to a field or city street. When swimming, a character can simply tread water, an action allowing him to move at the base walking rate (one area per minute). Or, if necessary, a character can put his all into the swim, and move at a rate equal to one area per turn – ten times faster!

Unlike walking, however, drowning is a serious issue with a swimmer. People can hold their breath for a number of turns equal to their End (sta) rank. If a character must hold his breath longer than this, he must pass a green End (sta) FEAT the first round after this, a yellow one the second round, and a red FEAT the third round after running out of air. When these FEATs fail, a body falls unconscious, and begins to drown (see life, death, and karma for more on this subject).

Table 7: Land / Water Speeds

Rank	MPH	Areas / Turn
Feeble	15	1
Poor	30	2
Typical	45	3
Good	60	4
Excellent	75	5
Remarkable	90	6
Incredible	105	7
Amazing	120	8
Monstrous	135	9
Unearthly	150	10
Shift X	180	12
Shift Y	210	14
Shift Z	240	16
Class 1k	480	32
Class 3k	750 (Mach 1)	50
Class 5k	1500 (Mach 2)	100

Vertical Movement

Often, walking or swimming just won't get a body where he needs to be, as a bevy of important locations lie up in the clouds, whether they be on mountain tops or in skyscrapers. Whether he is using stairs, ladders, fire escapes, or is simply climbing a vertical surface (with requisite hand holds or the appropriate equipment), a character can only move vertically at a rate equal to one story - approximately thirteen feet - per round. This applies to vertical movement in either direction – up or down.

A big problem with vertical movement, though, is falling; it seems that people are always being pushed off of extreme heights to their doom. If he cannot find convenient hand-holds to break his fall, a falling character will accelerate to his fate at the following rate:

Table 8: Falling Rates

Time Falling	Falling Speed
One turn	3 stories / turn
Two turns	6 stories / turn
Three turns	10 stories / turn
Four + turns	20 stories / turn

When hitting the end of a fall, a body may be severely hurt, depending on his abilities. You see, when a person hits the ground after a fall, the damage to him (and whatever he hit) is figured as if it were a charging attack, with the m.s. of the item on the ground struck acting as the body armor of the 'target'; see the combat section for more on this phenomenon. This demonstrates how normal humans die so easily from a fall while super heroes occasionally do not – especially if they're tough enough...

Flight

Thanks to either powers or equipment, many people have the ability to fly. A flying character typically moves at rates of travel much greater than those who are landlocked, so to speak. The top speeds of such fliers are determined by the gear or powers that allow them to do so in the first place. However, when a character first gets going, he is bound by his body's ability to accelerate, this is dependent on his End (sta) rank, and one's rate of acceleration is determined on table 6.

In other words, one may fly at over two hundred miles per hour – 15 areas per turn - but if he only has Good End (sta), it'll take him over 7 turns to get up to top speed; some powers may counter this acceleration limitation, though, and are so noted. On the other hand, if a flying body wishes to decelerate, he may do so by simply halving his current speed each turn, thus quickly bringing himself to a complete stop.

Landing is good idea at this point. This is simply the ending of flight, most likely by decelerating to sensible speeds and touching down on a runway, helipad, etc... FEAT rolls aren't needed while landing, unless a character tries to land while travelling at more than three areas per turn; then, he needs to pass a yellow agility FEAT roll.

A variant form of flight, gliding, should also be mentioned here. Unpowered flight, gliding allows a character to ride air currents at the listed flight speed, but his altitude drops one story per turn unless he passes a yellow agility FEAT (or gliding power rank) roll every turn in the air. Similarly, a character can't gain altitude while gliding unless he passes a red Agility (or gliding rank) FEAT roll; this involves carefully moving a glider around in air currents, and is tricky, to say the least.

Table 9: Flight Speeds

Rank	MPH	Areas / Turn
Feeble	30	2
Poor	60	6
Good	120	8
Excellent	150	10
Remarkable	225	15
Incredible	300	20
Amazing	375	25
Monstrous	450	30
Unearthly	600	40
Shift X	750	50
Shift Y	1500	100
Shift Z	3750	210
Class 1k	25000	1667
Class 3k	light speed	!
Class 5k	faster than light speed	!

Leaping

An odd form of movement indeed, this involves a body jumping vast distances in a single bound, and cannot be done without the proper power or technology to make it possible. Basically, persons so equipped can leap up or forward a number of feet that is equal to their power rank number. For instance, one with Unearthly leaping ability can jump up 100 feet into the air, or 100 feet in front of himself.

Also, characters with this special ability can leap down (as a controlled fall) a number of feet that is equal to their power rank number times 1.5. Our Unearthly leaper, then, may jump down 150 feet without injury. This, of course, assumed that the leaping character is landing on his feet; if this isn't the case, treat his landing as per a normal fall – which tends to hurt somewhat...

(revise super leaping ... it seems it could be more)

Teleportation

While the previous forms of movement require a body to physically cross the space between the origin and end point of their travels, teleportation does not. This form of movement, regardless of how it functions, involves a character effectively ceasing to exist at one point in space and then instantly beginning to exist at another. A teleporter has a great range of movement, as is shown on table 10, here:

Table 10: Teleportation Ranges

Rank	Range in Miles
Feeble	2.5
Poor	25
Typical	250
Good	2,500
Excellent	25,000
Remarkable	250,000
Incredible	2.5 million
Amazing	25 million
Monstrous	250 million
Unearthly	2.5 billion
Shift X	25 billion
Shift Y	250 billion
Shift Z	2.5 trillion
Class 1k	One light year
Class 3k	10 light years
Class 5k	100 light years

However, while teleporters can cross a vast distance in the blink of an eye, all of them face the risk of teleporting into a solid object. If he don't exactly know the area being teleported into, a body may inadvertently transport himself into something. This causes damage equal to the m.s. of the object, and a person so damaged must immediately roll an End (res) FEAT vs. the intensity of this damage.

If this roll is successful, this teleporter can successfully teleport to safety, but if not, he will immediately pass out, and begin to lose End ranks at a rate of one per turn. If deep within a solid object, such as a mountain or a thick wall, this may spell the end of our teleporter, as nobody may know where he wound up after his little trip.

Turning

The above guidelines, though sensible, simply refer to a character moving in a straight line. When a moving character changes direction, however, there are a few considerations one must keep in mind. For one thing, folks traveling on the ground at top speeds must reduce their speed by half when making any significant turn (one over 90 degrees). If this isn't done, the character will lose control of his movement unless he can pass a red agility (bal) FEAT roll.

Similarly, in the air, a flying character or object will lose one area of movement in any turn where he turns in mid-air. A minor inconvenience, but this allows for safe flying; if this speed loss is ignored, the character must pass the FEAT roll above or lose control of his plane. Any airborne turn greater than 90 degrees requires an agility FEAT to accomplish; if this FEAT fails, the flier simply moves on in his original direction.

Clutter

When flying close to the ground or low in a city, or when running in a crowded area or some such, an area is full of what is called clutter. It may be people, crates, trees, or anything else, but all moving characters risk striking clutter if they don't slow down when clutter is in the area. Flying characters can only go safely at velocities shown on table 9, while the ground bound should lower their speed by –1 CS.

If the speedy characters fail to follow these safety guidelines, they must pass a yellow agility FEAT when attempting any action, no matter how minor, lest they inadvertently crash into someone or something. This, of course, is why people aren't supposed to read their newspaper while driving...

Maps and Ranged Movement

Though it is not required, players of the Universal Heroes game may wish to have a map handy with which to detail their actions and movements. When a game Judge makes a map, he should do so at a scale of two inches to an area, allowing for a detailed showing of all the action. This may seem small, especially when one is used to the map scale of other games, but a heroic fight tends to spread out all over the place.

A map this size is good for general use, but the Judge is free to make his own at any size he prefers. Just make sure to mark off each area as such on the map with dotted or dashed lines, so players know how far they can move their characters in a given turn. Of course, instead of going with a generic area mapping, one can instead used a concept known as ranged movement.

This allows a player to use a ruler to measure out his exact movements, a method that has both good and bad points. Good in that it is far easier to track a character's exact movements, but bad in that it is harder for N/PCs to be anywhere in a given area at a given point in time, which can put a small crimp in a game Judge's plans. Either way works well, however.

As far as pointers go for one's heroes go, virtually anything can be used. Any die, coin, or other knick-knack can fill this function nicely. Some people do make small, paper cut-and-fold stand up 'figures', usually triangular, with the front of the fold-up figure representing exactly where the character is. Some players even buy miniatures from their RPG supplier, painting them up to look like their characters.

Of course, the scale of the map may alter the usefulness of these items. If the Judge uses a map of Manhattan, it will be of miniature scale, indeed, and it may be difficult to pinpoint exactly what street out of the twelve one's figure is standing on is actually occupied by the hero. To each his own, however, and for those that go forward with their map techniques, good luck to you! Trust us, you'll need it!