Basic Action Super Heroes!

I'm planning on running a couple games at my local gaming convention next coming up soon, A Call of Cthulu style game, and possibly 5 Minutes to Midnight, I'm a bit concerned about the 4 hour time limit and I was considering using the Static Soak and Defense values alternate mechanics. Has anybody used these before? Do they significantly speed up game play? The CoC style game is at mystery men level, and of course 5 Minutes to Midnight is Street level, if that's relevant.

Sure it will speed things up. I was suprised how much faster things go when I didn't roll for minions but just used their static scores. It also simplifies things for people who've never played BASH before.

That being said, never underestimate the joy of rolling dice! If I were doing it, I'd stick with the rolls.

Having run 2 one shots with 4 hour time limits, I've had no problem with time. Both games actually ended early (1 15 minutes early, the other 30 or so minutes early).

I find BASH is perfect for one shots, because the rules flow pretty easy in play, even combat (though multiple character fights with multiple NPC's can take longer if they don't use team work).

Well 5M2M was written with the default static soak values, even for heroes. And yes, it is faster to do it that way (and more lethal)