Basic Action Super Heroes!

My group has been jonesing for a Mass Effect campaign for a while, and although there's more than enough (a dizzying array, actually) of info out on the Wiki, I've been hesitant to commit the time to convert it to a number crunchy system.

Then I picked up BASH Sci-Fi. Having already played and enjoyed BASH UE (set in WWII), I was curious enough to buy Sci-Fi to see how it would handle the Mass Effect universe (which is rather rich and detailed for a video game). The very first test of how to use the system to model the use of kinetic barriers, armor, and various personal weapons showed me that BASH would actually handle this almost "out of the box".

SO, I just wanted to say thanks a ton to BASHMAN for such a great and insanely versatile product!

You're welcome! Would you believe I've never even played Mass Effect?

Really? Well, despite the horrifying ball-dropping done by the BioWare team on the ending in the third installment, the games themselves are enjoyable, engaging (and I'm by no means a fan of shooter games) and the universe itself just BEGS to be played in an RPG context. It's one of those great confluences of a good story, great characters, visuals, fantastic music and.. oh.. the game is pretty good, too.

Like I said, I was kind of shocked at how easily BASH could model the combat dynamics without getting bogged down in crunch. I used the basic light/med/heavy armor, added the personal force fields and ran them against the average and maximum damage for a pistol and sniper rifle (high tech level dmg) fired by a minion (no exploding dice) and it was dead on.. a minion can't one shot a hero even with a sniper rifle, but it WILL make for a lousy day for the light armor guy, and even the heavy armor guy will be looking for cover until his shields recharge (2 panels without taking damage)

akira0238 wrote:Really? Well, despite the horrifying ball-dropping done by the BioWare team on the ending in the third installment, the games themselves are enjoyable, engaging (and I'm by no means a fan of shooter games) and the universe itself just BEGS to be played in an RPG context. It's one of those great confluences of a good story, great characters, visuals, fantastic music and.. oh.. the game is pretty good, too.

Like I said, I was kind of shocked at how easily BASH could model the combat dynamics without getting bogged down in crunch. I used the basic light/med/heavy armor, added the personal force fields and ran them against the average and maximum damage for a pistol and sniper rifle (high tech level dmg) fired by a minion (no exploding dice) and it was dead on.. a minion can't one shot a hero even with a sniper rifle, but it WILL make for a lousy day for the light armor guy, and even the heavy armor guy will be looking for cover until his shields recharge (2 panels without taking damage)

Welcome to BASH, Akira0238! I have to agree with you about the awesome usefulness of BASH:Sci-Fi. I too have very little knowledge of Mass Effect but it does sound like an interesting setting for sci-fi games! My brother read a series of books about space soldiers that were outfitted with personal force fields and loved them. I might look into this as a setting. Thanks!

Thanks, MrJupiter! I've been lurking for quite a few months now, picking up pointers while running a BASH UE game.

There's a slew of info on the ME universe on the wiki, including some good synopses of the main plotline (don't read it if you're going to play the game.. it'll spoil the fun!) also of the universe in general and the major alien species. To me, the aliens really brought the whole thing to life. From the jellyfish-like Hanar who speak with excessive precision and politeness (even to the point of referring to themselves in the third person out of humility), the plodding elephantine Elcor who speak in monotone and therefore must preface each statement with the intended emotional inflection ("Delighted welcome: Human it is good to see you") or the slightly manic Salarians (your companion, Dr. Mordin, a genius geneticist and special operative has a propensity to break out in Gilbert & Sullivan on occasion)

and yes, I was able to quickly model each species in BASH! I am one happy nerd!

Now, on to the ship to ship combat..

Glad you are liking the system. If you want to "spread the word" on other gaming forums, that would be great!

There's a discussion on rpgnet right now, actually. I threw the idea out there, with the option to use the "half-step" attributes from BASH UE for those seeking a more granular game. Personally, I want to test it out using the RAW first and see if the additional crunch contribute anything positive to the game or not.

Well I was talking about BASH! Sci-Fi, since that's what I thought the discussion was on.

akira0238 wrote:There's a discussion on rpgnet right now, actually. I threw the idea out there, with the option to use the "half-step" attributes from BASH UE for those seeking a more granular game. Personally, I want to test it out using the RAW first and see if the additional crunch contribute anything positive to the game or not.

That's cool. I had written a BAM article about using half-stats (i.e. Brawn 1.5), but have found that the Heightened power (also introduced in that issue or now found in the latest BASH: Ultimate Edition) works much better. I just thought I'd point that out from my own gaming experience.

MrJupiter wrote:That's cool. I had written a BAM article about using half-stats (i.e. Brawn 1.5), but have found that the Heightened power (also introduced in that issue or now found in the latest BASH: Ultimate Edition) works much better. I just thought I'd point that out from my own gaming experience.

oh ho! Very good, sir, I will be sure to utilize that if we wind up feeling the need for more granularity. Personally, I think it'll run just fine without it, but you never know until the Players get their hands on the campaign!

Just an update on the campaign. Three players (will be four, eventually). A Turian sniper, exiled from the Hierarchy for cowardice under fire; a Quarian machinist on his pilgrimage; and a human biotic dishonorably discharged from the Alliance all working as security 'consultants' for Elanus Risk Control Services. Thus far I've had them working on the Citadel investigating a smuggling ring. Still working on how to translate some of the biotic/tech powers without making them over or underpowered and also how to handle experience/credit awards in a balanced way. I want these guys to be able to improve weapons, armor and powers as well as stats and skills, but want to make sure the progression isn't too fast or slow.

Sounds like fun. Would you post some of the characters for it?

Regards,
Walt