Planning a Cosmic Level one shot

[urbwar]

For the next Recess event (a 2 day one since the one they hold around this time wasn't doable), I'm planning to run another BASH one shot. Someone over at NerdNYC finally got ION Guard, and really wants to play one. So, since I ran a Golden Age one shot last time, I figure why not go to the other end of the spectrum, and run a Cosmic-level game.

I'm thinking 4-5 characters, with 1-2 of them being ION Guard characters.. They will all be aliens, so I finally gave in and bought the pdf of BASH Sci-Fi from RPGNow (If I had more cash, I'd have ordered the bundle from IPR, but oh well).

I even have an idea for a bad guy, thanks to a thread Kevperrine started on rpg.net. It's a being along the lines of Thanos, who wants to wipe out the universe because he's fallen in love with what he believes to be the physical manifestation of Death (or in this case, the Void). So he wipes out a planet, killing everyone there. Then, he creates these leeches (ala Starro) that reanimates the corpses, creating an army to unleash on the rest of the universe. The players get to stop him

I figure with the aid of BASH Sci-Fi, I can plot out some space battles between the heroes and starships (not just pesky little starfighters), have them save a world or 2, battle reanimated servitors of this being (some who have been "enhanced", and finally, take on the big bad himself.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone has run any cosmic level games before (besides BASHMAN, though I'd love to read any comments he has on his experience running such games)

Also, a question of BASHMAN: Do the ship battle rules from Sci-Fi account for cosmic beings? Or do I need to come up with some stuff.

Suggestions for character concepts would be cool too. I plan on one being a riff on Space Ghost/Star Phantom, and possible DC's Captain Comet. Maybe an alien in the vein of Superman. Suggestions for ION Guard types are welcome

[urbwar]

Some initial character ideas:

S'lar: S'lar is a member of the S'avok, a species of intelligent, snake-like beings. He is a member of the ION Guard, and wears his ION Fist on his tail. He is a well respected member of the ION Guard, and is beloved by his own people.

Major Meteor: Meteor's parents were exposed to strange radiation after they found a meteor that had crashed to Earth one dark evening. This meteor emitted some type of radiation, and when their son was born, he was more than human. He was one of Earth's first mutants. Gifted with great powers, he became a hero in the 1950's. After becoming disillusioned by humanity the Cold War and the McArthy hearings, He left Earth, and headed out into the stars. He has since used his powers to aid all those in need, becoming a legend amongst the races of the galaxy.

[BASHMAN]

OKay for your question on Ships- the BASH! SF ships aren't equivilent of cosmic beings- but the "Space Squares" in SF are equivilent to "Grids" in UE.

Basically if you're running a space combat, I'd probably take the Battleship from the WWII section of the book, and give if Flight [Enhancement: Space]. If you want the ship to be... REALLY big, you can give it more than 5 levels in Size.

How many points were you planning on creating characters for in this game? 60? More? I'd love to see the builds when you're done.

One thing I'll say about running cosmic characters- their abilities will very GREATLY. One guy may be able to shove the moon out orbit. An attack that could barely hurt him, would incinerate anybody else in your cosmic party. So it is important that combat isn't the "main" aspect of the stories. Cosmic stories are often much more character driven. Getting Galactus to stop is often more by role-playing with him than by beating him down to zero Hits. See "Victory without Violence" from Chapter 2- but think of it on a Cosmic Scale.

[BASHMAN]

I have also run the ship to ship combat right out of BASH! SF for a sci-fi super game- where I basically treated the BASH! SF "Ship Scale" of stats as super scale. So a ship with B4 would be equivilent to someone having a B4. Some powers work different, however, so you got to be a bit selective in what aspects of BASH! SF you use and which of UE you use. For instance, in UE ships would roll to soak damage, and in SF they soak a set amount.

[urbwar]

OKay for your question on Ships- the BASH! SF ships aren't equivilent of cosmic beings- but the "Space Squares" in SF are equivilent to "Grids" in UE.

Thanks, that is good to know

Basically if you're running a space combat, I'd probably take the Battleship from the WWII section of the book, and give if Flight [Enhancement: Space]. If you want the ship to be... REALLY big, you can give it more than 5 levels in Size.

You think using those stats is better than the ones from Sci-fi? I was likely going to run

How many points were you planning on creating characters for in this game? 60? More? I'd love to see the builds when you're done.

I was planning on the base power level being 60. As ION Guard suggests 50 for the characters, if S'Lar only comes out to 50, then I'll make sure to give out the appropriate amount of Hero Points. Though I'm thinking maybe for this just giving them more than one Hero Die (maybe 2-3)

What did you think of the 2 initial concepts I posted?

One thing I'll say about running cosmic characters- their abilities will very GREATLY. One guy may be able to shove the moon out orbit. An attack that could barely hurt him, would incinerate anybody else in your cosmic party. So it is important that combat isn't the "main" aspect of the stories. Cosmic stories are often much more character driven. Getting Galactus to stop is often more by role-playing with him than by beating him down to zero Hits. See "Victory without Violence" from Chapter 2- but think of it on a Cosmic Scale.

Well, the villain I have in mind isn't like Galactus. His goal is to wipe out all living things, and resurrect them as undead servants (Cross Thanos with Starro, and that's the bad guy). So while beating him down isn't the only option, it will be one of them. I can see a knock down, drag out fight between our heroes and this villain along the lines of Superman/Supergirl taking on Darkseid at the end of Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.

I wonder if maybe I should set it at World Class instead, and just give some Cosmic powers to the characters. I left my book at work, so reading the pdf on my laptop is a pain. But this is why I asked for advice, so I can get it "right", It might be more of a sci-fi game with some cosmic overtones, considering the tone I am looking for. I'm going for more action, less problem solving, but if the characters come up with a non violent way to resolve the situation, I'd let them run with it

[urbwar]

I have also run the ship to ship combat right out of BASH! SF for a sci-fi super game- where I basically treated the BASH! SF "Ship Scale" of stats as super scale. So a ship with B4 would be equivilent to someone having a B4. Some powers work different, however, so you got to be a bit selective in what aspects of BASH! SF you use and which of UE you use. For instance, in UE ships would roll to soak damage, and in SF they soak a set amount.

So the Battle Star ship with a Defense of 20 would soak 20 in sci-fi, but normally in UE, it would roll based on it's Brawn being 5, correct? I might just go with the set defense to save time (plus it means ships might get taken out faster, depending on how much damage is being dished out)

[BASHMAN]

Right. You can do static soaks for ships, too- just figure them differently. The formula for SF to UE would be as follows for soaks:

5xSize + 5xArmor/Shields +5xBrawn

So a size 3 ship with 2pts in Shields and a Brawn of 4 would soak 15+10+20= 45 Dmg per hit. If you wanted to roll soak for it, it would soak x6+15 Dmg.

[BASHMAN]

Also, Ships in UE would have Hits, and ships in SF don't. They have breaches. You need to decide which you'd rather use- Hits or Breaches. I'd go with Breaches myself, as this makes a Fighter much easier to take out than a Cruiser, etc.

[urbwar]

Right. You can do static soaks for ships, too- just figure them differently. The formula for SF to UE would be as follows for soaks:

5xSize + 5xArmor/Shields +5xBrawn

So a size 3 ship with 2pts in Shields and a Brawn of 4 would soak 15+10+20= 45 Dmg per hit. If you wanted to roll soak for it, it would soak x6+15 Dmg.

*, that is alot of soak! That could take awhile to break through, even with a special attack of 5!

[urbwar]

Also, Ships in UE would have Hits, and ships in SF don't. They have breaches. You need to decide which you'd rather use- Hits or Breaches. I'd go with Breaches myself, as this makes a Fighter much easier to take out than a Cruiser, etc.

I still haven't ready through that part of Sci-Fi yet. A breach is the amount of damage you need to do after it's armor in order to take it out? Is it cumulative, or needs to be done in one shot?

[kevperrine]

I still haven't ready through that part of Sci-Fi yet.

Hey urbwar?
How did your Cosmic One-Shot go? I'm Narrating my first BASH! game in awhile this coming weekend. I'm doing a cosmic style Green Lantern type thing.

Any suggestions on adventure?
More importantly. Are there any specific things I need to remember, re-read or pay attention to... or make sure to have the players understand when running a Cosmic one-shot?

Any advice or ideas starters folks?
thanks!
-kev-

[urbwar]

Kev,

I ran that awhile ago. It's in the Actual Play forum. You posted comments on it too, remember? It was called Plague of Darkness

[kevperrine]

Kev,

I ran that awhile ago. It's in the Actual Play forum. You posted comments on it too, remember? It was called Plague of Darkness

Totally. heheh...
And I've re-read those notes. I was just wondering if, now, in retrospect with some distance if you had anything *new* you can think of to offer.

I salivate for ideas sometimes. hehe
-kev-

[urbwar]

The only thing I can offer is that I didn't do a good job making the characters really cosmic. There were a bit underpowered (Pulsar's special attack should had a few more levels to make it truly cosmic. D'Anar should have had more Cosmic Might in order to really move a planet out of orbit; same with Major Meteor's TK).

Past that, I can't think of anything. Since I play fast and loose with the rules, I don't know if there were any mechanical issues (beyond what I listed for character abilities). I let the story rule, not the game rules. That's what made that game so fun for both the players and myself.