Basic and Support Powers

[Sijo]

BASH is, rules-wise, a pretty easy game. But as time passes, more and more Traits keep getting invented. This is my second version of the Powers List, which I hope will help when designing or adapting a character.

First, buy the Powers from one of the Categories listed in Table One. (More than one Category may be used if it fits the character concept.) These are:
Intense Training
Bio-Manipulation
Mental
Mastery
Cosmic

If you feel the character still needs more powers to “round it out” buy them from the categories listed under Table Two. These are:
Offensive
Defensive
Movement
Perception
Utility

I borrowed some ideas from the Awesome Powers books for the second table. Namely, I divided the Combat Category into Offensive and Defensive powers, and I added the Utility Category to cover all the Powers that had no official Category assigned yet.

Another change I made was arranging the Powers by point cost, from highest to lowest. This is because the more expensive powers also tend to be the most useful.

All page references are to Ultimate Powers unless stated otherwise.

Table 1: Basic Powers

Intense Training
Skillful p52 1-5 pts, Personal
Martial Arts Mastery p51 1-3 pts, Personal
Attack Weak Point p51 2 pts
Disarm Expert p51 2 pts
Offhand Shooting p52 2 pts
Paired Weapons p52 2 pts
Swift Strike p52 2 pts
Weapon Technique p52 1-2 pts, Personal
Double Taps p51 1 pt
Fleet of Foot p51 1 pt, Personal
Heightened p51 1 pt

Bio-Manipulation
Copycat p56 2-10 pts
Density Increase p58 2-6 pts
Duplication p56 1-5 pts
Growing p57 1-5 pts, Sustained
Healing p59 1-5 pts, Concentration
Imbue (AP vol. 1, p4) 1-5 pts, Usable On Others, Maintained, Fading
Shrinking p59 1-5 pts, Sustained
Size p58 & 60, 1-5 pts, Always On
Skill Mimic p56 1-5pts
Stretching p60 1-5 pts, Sustained
Astral Projection p57 4 pts
Shape-Shifting p59 4 pts
Mimic p59 3-4 pts, Maintained
Boost p55 1-3 pts, Situational
Extra Limbs p57 1-3 pts, Sustained
Ghost Form p57 1-3 pts, Maintained
Changeling p56 2 pts

Mental
Mind Control p49 5 pts, Maintained
Restore p50 2-5 pts, Range, Area
Mind Blast p50 1-5 pts, Ranged, Concentration
Mind Spikes p50 1-5 pts, Personal, Sustained
Telekinesis p50 1-5 pts, Range 5 Squares, Maintained
Invisibility p49 1/3/5 pts, Personal, Maintained
Memory Tampering p49 4 pts
Danger Sense p48 3 pts, Personal
Clairvoyance p48 1-3 pts, Concentration*
Illusion p49 1-5 pts; Range, Burst, Variable
Mind Shield p49 1-3 pts, Personal, Sustained
Telepath p50 1-3 pts, Sustained
Daze p48 2 pts, Range, Area
Omni-Linguist p50 2 pts, Personal, Sustained
Confusion p48 1-2 pts, Range, Area
Omni-Reader p50 1pt, Personal, Sustained
Suggestion p50 1 pt, Concentration

Mastery
Animation p53 1-5 pts; Concentration
Conjuring p52 1-5 pts
Summoning p53 1-5 pts, Concentration
Transmutation p53 1-5 pts
X Mastery p54 1-5 pts, Maintained, Concentration
Sense X p53 1 pt

Cosmic
Life p101 10+ pts
Time & Space p103 10+ pts
Cosmic Grace p99 5+ pts
Cosmic Might p99 5+ pts
Cosmic Thought p99 5+ pts
Creation p99 5+ pts
Fate p100 5+ pts
Omnipotence p102 5+ pts, Variable
Omniscience 5+ pts

Table 2: Support Powers

Offensive
Damage Field p45 2-6 pts, Area
Continual Damage p44 1-5 pts, Range, Area
Damage Aura p44 1-5 pts, Personal, Area
Damage Shield p45 1-5 pts, Range, Area, Concentration
Immobilization p45 1-5 pts, Range, Area
Nullify p46 1-5 pts, Range, Area
Push p46 1-5 pts, Range, Area
Special Attack p46 1-5 pts, Range, Area
Weaken p46 1-5 pts, Range, Area
Slow p46 1 pt, Range, Area

Defensive
Force Field p45 1-5 pts, Range, Area, Concentration
Immunity p46 1-5 pts, Personal, Sustained
Resistance p46 1-5 pts, Personal, Sustained
Armor p44 1-3 pts, Personal, Sustained
Deflect p45 1-3 pts, Sustained

Movement Powers (Personal)
Gateway p43 2-11 pts, Maintained
Teleportation p43 1-10 pts
Super Speed p42 3 or 5 pts, Tiring
Burrowing p43 1-5 pts, Sustained
Flight p41 1-5 pts, Maintained
Super Jump p42 1-5 pts
Super Running p42 1-5 pts, Maintained
Super Swimming p43 1-5 pts, Sustained
Bouncing p41 3 pts
Dimensional Teleportation p44 1 or 3 pts
Swinging p43 2 pts, Maintained
Clinging p41 1 pt, Sustained
Gliding p41 1 pt, Sustained
Hovering p41 1 pt, Sustained
Water Walking p44 1 pt, Maintained

Perception (Personal)
Scan p47 1-5 pts, Concentration
Super Senses p47 1-5 pts, Sustained
X-Ray Vision p47 3 pts, Maintained
Keen Senses p47 1 pt, Sustained

Utility
Karma Battery (AP #7, pg 13) 1-5 pts /Fast Learner (AP vol. 8 page 22) 1-5 pts
Karmic Credit (AP #7, pg 15) 1-5 pts
Luck Pool (AP #7, pg 16) 1-5 pts
Reverse Fortune (AP #7, pg 12) 1-5 pts
Absorption (AP vol. 1 p4) 4 pts
Curse of Unluck (AP #7, pg 11) 4 pts
Defy the Odds (AP #7, pg 15) 4 pts
Energy Battery (AP vol. 2 p27) 4 pts
Luck Storing (AP #7, pg 16) 1-3 +1 pts
Trample (AP vol. 1 p4) 3 pts
Detachable Limbs (AP vol. 2, p32) 1-3 pts
Serendipity (AP #7, pg 16) 2 pts
Uncanny Intuition (AP #7, pg 16) 2 pts
Invasive Broadcast (AP vol 2, p33 / AP vol 6 p30) 1 pt
Skillful Phasing (AP vol. 3 pg 14) 1pt
Impossible Balance (AP vol. 8, pg 14) 1 pt
Expert Marksman (AP vol. 8, pg 16) 1 pt
Gun Fu (AP vol. 8, pg 16) 2 pts
Living Weapon (AP vol. 8, 16) 2 pts
Rapid Reload (AP vol. 8, pg 17) 1 pt
Sword Surgeon (AP vol. 8, pg 17) 2 pts
Tenacity (AP vol. 8, pg 21) 2 pts
Valiant Defender (AP vol. 8, pg 21) 2 Pts Note: Tiring
Brilliant Commander (AP vol. 8, pg 21) 2 pts Requirement: Leadership Advantage
Weapon Bind (AP vol. 8, pg 21) 1 pt
Specialist (AP vol. 8, pg 25) 1 pt

Optional Rule: Limited Power Stunts- Technically, in the BASH system any Power can imitate any other with a Power Stunt (or a Power Trick) as long as the Narrator agrees it is possible. But sometimes, it can be hard to decide. To make it easier, the following Rule can be used: Only Powers from the Basic Powers table can be used for Power Stunts/Tricks. Conversely, only Powers from the Support Powers table can be imitated.

[MrJupiter]

Great list, BTW. If I understand your optional rule for limited Power Stunts you mean that, for instance, a character must have the Telekinesis basic power in order to 'stunt' the Push power (an offensive, Support Power). The character could not use Telekinesis to 'stunt' another power from the Basic Powers list.

Overall this seems quite solid, though one might be able to make a case for using TK powers to Boost their effective Brawn in order to lift something or someone that is Immune to Telekinesis (they are telekinetically manipulating their own body's cell structure in order to move that other 'thing' as if with super strength). Alternately, someone could try to use their Illusion power to effectively become Invisible (though this is arguably a weaker example, as making something appear to disappear, is as much of an illusion as making something appear that really isn't -- I think that I was just grasping at straws with that one).

[Sijo]

Correct; my aim here is first, to aid with character design, and second, to simplify the use of power stunts. But it's still up to the Narrator to decide what works on his or her campaign.

In a campaign with the optional rule above, if a player wants an effect he can't stunt, he can always buy the Basic Power itself, possibly with Limitations. This is specially suitable for campaigns with the Experience Points option. For example, your Telekinetic can just buy Boost Brawn and set its Condition to be "when using TK on himself."

[BASHMAN]

I'm thinking there will be times where this option won't necessarily work. Like if someone with a really high Brawn tries to use a Stunt to compress coal into a diamond, that'd be Transmutation (in the volume dealing with Powerhouse characters, it will discuss Strength Stunts).

[Sijo]

This rule is for those Narrators who might feel that not all Power Stunts from the comics made sense; let's face it, the science in comics back then was very loose, for example even if we assumed that you can squeeze coal into a diamond, you'd need more than a fistful or else you'd end up with a *very tiny* diamond.

Still, I'm not entirely happy with it myself, I agree it needs more flexibility. I just haven't hit on the right method yet.

[Sijo]

After some consideration, I came up with a new version of the Limited Power Stunts rule:

If a Narrator needs help defining what Stunts can be performed by each Power, but still wants to give his players room for creativity, use the following guide: A Power can only imitate other Powers from the same Category. This costs 1 Hero Die and last one scene. Example: Detective Elastic needs to disguise himself. He has the Stretching power. He spends a Hero Die and uses it to imitate Changeling, another Biomanipulation power, justifying it as contorting his features to change his appearance.

Powers from any Category may be imitated as Power Tricks: for 1 Hero Point, you get *one* use of the Power. Example: Scarlet Speedster needs to go through a wall. He spends a Hero Point and uses his Super Speed (movement power) to imitate Ghost Form 3 (biomanipulation) by vibrating his molecules into an intangible state. Once he crosses the wall, the effect ends and he becomes solid again.

Overall, Power Stunts are more practical to use than Power Tricks.

If a character absolutely *has* to stunt a Power from a different category (to save a life, for instance) he can do it by using the Going For Broke Pushing Yourself rules eg. spending 50 Hits.

Note: In campaigns that use Power Suites, replace "category" with "suite".

Also note that in all cases, the player must explain how the stunt works, and the Narrator must approve it.