Basic Action Super Heroes!

In BASH, Special Equipment and Gadgets cost Character Points. This limits the amount a character can have, but also ensures it can be recovered if damaged or stolen over time.

But what about Standard Equipment? Since it costs no points- and there's no Money System in BASH- what's to keep a player from saying, "my character owns one of every piece of equipment!" and carrying them along all the time?

I think some rules, or at least guidelines, are needed here.

Starting Equipment

The Narrator should limit starting characters in the following ways:

Weapons: a character can only attack with a weapon once per panel, even if he's holding one on each hand (this can be increased with certain advantages and Powers like Super Speed, but even then, he will have a penalty to combat rolls) so a character should only be allowed to start with two weapons at most (more if it has the Extra Limbs Power.) You can exchange weapons in one panel as long as you do it *before* you attack.

Armor: Obviously a character can only wear one armor suit at a time. One shield can also be carried. Or one on each arm, but any arm carrying a shield cannot attack and use the shield's protection at the same time.

Utility Items: These vary greatly depending on size. Some, like lock-picks, are of negligible size. On the other hand, a parachute requires a backpack. Also, don't forget most costumes are skintight- with no pockets to carry anything! The Narrator should ask the player what items he or she wants and how it plans to carry them before approving them.

In addition to the above, any restrictions regarding legality or availability of technology still apply, of course.

Standard Equipment in Combat

Unlike Gadgets, most equipment has no Soak or Hits; any successful hit will destroy them. And since no points were spent, this loss is permanent.

However, a Called Shot is required to hit a foe in battle in order to do this (the attacker also has the option of knocking away or stealing the item instead, if he so wishes.) Out of combat, a piece of equipment can be destroyed without any rolls.

By this same token, nothing prevents the character from picking up a new weapon, armor or other item he or she finds (as long as he or she doesn't blatantly steal them in front of witnesses. Most people won't care if you take away a villains' weapon, but the police might have questions...) They may even keep a secret stash to store such things. (This should be added to the character sheet, but costs no points.)

Something to note: Awesome Powers 6 has some equipment that *does* cost character points. So a Bazooka for example costs a Character Point to have. Similarly a bullet-proof suit that counts as 1 level of Armor, or a shield that gives 2 ranks of Deflect costs 1 Character Point.

I would also note that the limits on 1 attack per round would also be negatted by Off-Hand shooting, Double Taps , Swift-Strike an various other Intense Training powers designed for this purpose.

But it is a good idea to have some common-sense limits on equipment (in fact it is the reason I added Equipment Enhancements and LImitations, and also added some equipment having a Character Point cost, to make things a bit more balanced).

I treat any Equipment with a CP cost as Special (even if it doesn't have Enhancements) for purposes of character balance.

Equipment and Conjuring

Of course, the Conjuring (and Transmutation) Powers can be used to create temporary Equipment. Most Equipment can be created with just Level 1, and if it is not a modern or Hi-Tech device, no Mind Check is needed (ex. you would not need a roll to create a sword, but would for a gun.)

On the other hand, Special Equipment (or any Equipment with a point cost, such as explosives) should be treated as "fantastic objects" and so require two more levels of Conjuration to make (thus, usually level 3).

Conjured Equipment lasts until destroyed, dispelled, or the creator loses consciousness.