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The Book Itself
As I stated before, my copy is in pdf form. It is all color and clocks in at 137 pages. The artwork is of wonderful quality and reminds me of modern era DC cartoons such as Teen Titans and Justice League. I don’t think I could find a better look or better feel than from the artwork in BASH! Being full color the cover artwork and the interior artwork are all on the same level and gives a consistent style to the game. The text and layout are basic two-column RPG style, and I didn’t notice many glaring errors that needed edited or proofread. I noticed on the back cover is a chart that reminds me of the action chart from TSR’s FASERIP Marvel RPG; this makes me excited as I loved FASERIP Marvel back in the day, and if BASH! emulates that style I will be very happy.
Chapter Breakdown
Introduction (Pages 1-2)
The Introduction gives a basic overview of what role-playing is, what BASH! is, what has changed from the previous editions, and provides a list of the games key terms. It would seem that there are three main changes from the previous edition of BASH! First, players no longer have to use Energy to power their abilities, unless they have a certain limitation. Next, weapons no longer add to damage, instead they have a set multiplier. And lastly range and area are now figured differently. < br />< br /> The key terms section seems to have a lot of listings that are common to experienced gamers. I notice there are a lot of terms with the word multiplier in them. Hopefully this game does not get into too much math. I personally am sick of Supers games requiring lots of math (even if basic) and requiring me to build everything one may come upon.
Chapter One: Character Creation (Pages 3-14)
BASH! uses only three main stats, Brawn, Agility, and Mind, reminding me of Tri-stat. These stats are on a scale of 0 (meaning far below average with some form of impairment) to 5 (being the best of the best). The game is made to be played in any power level of supers the GM could want and four main power levels are given. The power levels are Mystery Men, Street Level, World Class, and Cosmic. Each level gives players a certain amount of points to build their characters from 20, 25, 40, and 60+ respectively. After deciding on stat levels (each point in a stat costing 2 character points) in step one the players have the option of choosing a weakness for their PCs. There are three types of weaknesses to choose from Negating Weakness such as Kryptonite, Damaging Weakness such as Iceman against fire, and Devastating Weakness which can be added to the previous two weaknesses to create a particularly nasty limitation.
Step two of creation is giving the characters their powers. This section begins by basically stating that it is up to the players and the GM to add the flavor text to their abilities. How did the PC manifest his or her powers? What type of energy fuels their attack and how is it different from another PC’s power of the same type? This leads me to believe that the author expects a healthy dose of GM fiat in the way powers affect each other and what they are capable of doing. This is a-okay in my book and I hope the rest of the game continues with this idea.
Back to powers, all powers fall under one of seven categories. These categories are: Movement, Combat, Perception, Mental, Intense Training, Mastery, and Bio-Manipulation. Intense training states that it is the only category that “normal” people can have. Most of the categories are self-explanatory and there is a whole page that is a list of all the powers and which category they are under. The list seems like it covers most comic powers I can think of without going into a ridiculously exhaustive list like some supers games have a habit of doing. The list also states how many points the powers cost; I am unsure from looking at the charts whether the point list is per level or the max amount of points that can go into a power. The powers section states that every power has a base cost of 1 point per level, but limitations and enhancements alter this cost. Perhaps the list on the chart is how much it could cost based on common limits and enhancements? Perhaps this will be better explained in the powers actual listings.
Instead of going into the powers’ listings yet, the book goes into step three of character creation, skills. There are two types of skills Mental and Physical. Mental skills use the Mind stat as their “multiplier” base and the number of mental skills the character can have, and Physical skills use Agility. There are two very interesting ideas in the rules for skills. One is that for every skill you have you gain a specialty in that skill which allows you to roll twice and take the better result. The other is that the appropriate stat gives you slots for taking skills; a player may put the same skill in multiple slots to take extra specialties or to upgrade their multiplier in the skill, which makes them better at it. The skill list comes in at around 25 skills (I include Language as a skill, though a player does not have to use slots on languages which are figured differently). This seems like a good solid list and is quite compact compared to a lot of other supers or any other genre RPGs for that matter.
Step four is to choose Advantages and Disadvantages. Both advantages and disadvantages have a small list and any advantage taken must be balanced out with a disadvantage. These cover small quirks about the character such as having good luck or having an arch-enemy. At first I wondered why weaknesses were not considered a disadvantage, but after reading through the list, I believe the point is that weaknesses are much more troubling and in-grain to the characters being; whereas, disadvantages are more situational and less of a problem in the long run.
Step five goes into Hero Points and Setbacks. Hero Points allow the PCs to affect the outcome of the game by altering dice rolls whether through luck, planning or pure determination. Setbacks are sort of the opposite allowing the GM to cause problems for the PC. These Hero Points and Setbacks also allow a person to play a character of higher or lower Power Level than the type of game that is being played. If the PC has more points than they are given an equal amount of Setbacks for each point they went over and if they have less they are given Hero Points equal to the difference. This idea sounds like a good way to balance out the different characters people will want to play, and relies on GM fiat as to how different characters’ point levels can be.
The final step of creation is for the player to decide his PC’s Mental Malfunction. What makes the character think differently than a normal human? What is their Super Mentality? What drives the character to be a super hero and risk their own lives for the sake of others?
My initial thoughts on character creation are that it is quick, simple, and does not rely on large amounts of numbers. This is a breath of fresh air after years of games like HERO, GURPS Supers, Mutants and Masterminds, and even the time consuming creation of Heroes Unlimited. So far I feel this game is hitting a spot close to FASERIP Marvel, an itch that I’ve wanted scratched for some time now.
Chapter Two: Playing the Game (Pages 15-35)
Ah finally the base mechanic of the game! In BASH! all rolls are done on 2d6 with doubles allowing you to roll an extra die. If the extra die is the same number another is rolled and so on till the extra die comes up a different number. The dice are then added together and multiplied by the appropriate stat. Wait a minute that sounds like a decent amount of math for some people; that’s where the chart comes in. The dice roll chart on the back of the book can handle all of the multiplying for you. One row is the multiplier the other the number you rolled; just follow the chart and it will tell you your finishing roll. For those of you quick with basic math, no chart is needed. I find that this allows the game to stay at a fast pace whether you are good with math or not. By the way, difficulties for tasks are in increments of 10 ranging from 10-50. If it is a character versus another character it is a contested roll with higher roll winning.
Combat turns in BASH! are called pages and each action for a particular character is called a panel. For the most part each character gets one action per page, though things like certain movement powers can alter this. Each character acts in order of Priority, which can be figured in a few ways. One is for characters to go in order of Agility, another is to make every roll an Agility roll for each combat with higher going first, and lastly to makes things even more random you can make an Agility roll every page.
Combat is done through contested rolls. This game uses an active defense style. Characters have both a Defense rating and a Mental Defense Rating used to contest an opponent’s attacks. A higher defense roll causes an attack to miss. If an attack hits, Damage is also actively “defended” against with a soak roll. For the most part all characters have 100 hits, minions have less. Any damage above the soak roll is applied against the target’s hits. This seems like a lot of rolling, but with the simplicity of how the rolls are handled and the dice roll chart, if needed, makes me think it would become very fast in actual play.
Next we learn of Hero Dice, not to be confused with Hero Points which can buy Hero Dice on a 5 for 1 ratio. Hero Dice are the truly tide turning ability of a super hero. Hero Dice can be used as a sort of “Take 20” rule, it can snap a character out of being stunned or knocked out restoring some hits, and allow a character to reactively use a power in an instance where the PC might not have been prepared. Hero Dice can also allow a character not in a scene to show up when needed, it can allow the player to add an extra die to any roll, it can allow the PC to use a new power by using an already known power in an innovative way, and can be changed back into 5 Hero Points. Each PC starts with 1 Hero Dice each Issue (session).
The chapter continues with rules for special situations like called shots, disarming, wrestling and grappling, teamwork, and collateral damage. It also has a few paragraphs on describing equipment and rules for improvised weapons. An interesting section is the rules for Pushing Yourself. These rules allow a PC to trade in hits for pushing the limits of their powers, skills, stats and gaining HERO Dice in situations of great strain. This allows for those times you have seen your favorite hero accomplish something that was normally outside of their capabilities.
The chapter finishes out with rules for extended checks, super vehicles, vehicle chase/combat rules and rules for making a team’s headquarters. The extended checks rules remind me of a sort of simplified Skill Challenge from Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition. Vehicles and the Vehicle combat rules all seem to follow the same rules as the rest of the game. Creating a vehicle is a lot like creating a PC, except there are different Advantage and Disadvantage lists. The same with headquarters; they seem to follow the same style of creation as a PC just with different lists specialized for them.
Chapter Three: Powers (Pages 36-58)
The powers chapter begins with a list of the limitations you can add to a power. Adding a limitation lowers the cost of a power by 1 point. In most instances a power should have only one limitation; however, if it has more they do not lower the cost anymore than by one.
Next are enhancements that allow you add extras to a power’s ability at the cost of a point or two. Most enhancements cost one point, with some exceptions of enhancements with increasing potential. Neither Limitation nor Enhancements are very long lists; they seem to cover just enough stuff to manipulate most powers if needed. They are not nearly as long as say the power alterations one can do in HERO or Mutant and Masterminds. The goal of the game seems to be to stay away from the complexity of most modern supers RPGs; so far I believe it is accomplishing this goal.
The rest of the chapter is the write ups for each power which go into detail about what a power does and how it works. It also answered my previous question on what the points listing represented in the powers charts. The listing is the total amount of points one can put in a power. So when a list states 1-5 points, it means that you can put 1 in it for level one or go up to 5 levels for 5 points. Much more simple than a varying range on level cost.
The Narrator’s Section
Chapter Four: Narrator’s Section (Pages 60-72)
Chapter Four begins with basic advice on running a supers campaign. It is all good advice, but for experienced RPG players it’s all the same type of comments we’ve seen before. Not to say its badly written or not good advice, the section reads very well and has some wonderful advice, especially for new players.
There are some very handy Random Encounter tables for the GM to use if they are stuck on an idea or just need something to fill in a hole. These charts allow for the creation of situations to throw the heroes into ranging from bank robbers to locating the missing child of a hero. Rolling on the charts quickly I have already been given the idea to have the PCs come across a monster movie being filmed, but do the Heroes realize it’s a movie set?
Next is some advice on role-playing villains. What motivates them? How does their motivation make them act different form the normal bad guy? The section not only goes into their Role-playing aspects, but also adds villain specific advantages and disadvantages along with rules for Villain Dice and Minions. Villain Dice work basically the same as Hero Dice except for villains and their situations. Minions have fewer hits than normal heroes and villains and also do not actively roll for their Defense or Soak instead having an average “roll” which is a static number. The chapter ends with several write-ups of minions including animals.
Chapter Five: Settings (Pages 73-102)
Chapter Five explains the many different styles of settings that can be used in a supers campaign. It goes into detail on their basic tropes, examples of setting specific rules, and gives examples of characters and minions that could be used in each setting. Each type of setting also lists the usual scale that would work for the setting and lists recommended reading and viewing for that type of setting. The types of settings in the chapter are:
- Modern Age
- Pulp Heroes
- Golden Age
- Silver Age
- BronzeAge
- Iron Age
- Super Teens
- Science Fiction
- Fantasy
- Cosmic
- Crossovers
Appendix: Hero & Villain Archetypes By Scale (Pages 103-122)
This appendix is several write-ups of characters for each type of power level. These make great NPC write-ups or pre-generated characters for players who don’t want or have time to make their own.
Appendix: Alternate Game Mechanics (Pages 123-128)
In this appendix optional rules for the BASH! system are given. These range from using different sided dice or playing cards, how to use maps and miniatures, using static values for soak and defense and rules for PCs’ Fame. The basic game also does not include an advancement system, there is an optional subsystem in this appendix for using experience points and allowing players to advance their characters.
Index and Extras (129-132)
The index is two pages and made finding specific areas very easy while reading through the book. There is also a character sheet and a Quick Build Sheet. The Quick Build Sheet has all the charts and lists needed to make character creation a breeze and has lists of every power, skill, advantage, disadvantage, limitations and enhancements all on one page.
Overall
I am highly impressed with BASH! It is a quick and easy read and is a throwback to the days of FASERIP Marvel. It is all too common for the modern supers RPG to be a complex toolkit requiring lots of math and for the players and GM to have to create everything for their setting. BASH! seems to be a good medium between the truly light supers games and the complex. The rules are very simple and quick, while still maintaining some aspect of the more complex toolkit games so popular now. It does this by relying on GM fiat and storytelling to fill in all the trappings and fluff around a character instead of relying on rules to explain everything. This game is perfect for those gamers who like supers, but want to play quickly and not worry about the math or mechanics behind every single ability or choice.
Ratings
Style is getting a 4. The artwork is wonderful and gives a sense of modern comic book looks. The rules are written in a very cohesive manner and the layout is pleasing to the eye while being easy to follow.
Substance is getting a 4 also. Though the book is only 130 odd pages it gives everything needed to role-play in a supers setting without being full of unnecessary material. The book is well divided between the rules of play, advice for GMs, and setting and adventure ideas.
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