Basic Action Super Heroes!

One thing that bugs me in BASH is that with most actions I can't make them better during play. If I can't hit with an attack I just need to roll better. This power simulates maneuvers very easily.

Combat Maneuvers 2pts per level, Max levels
Each level of Combat Maneuvers allows you to add +1x to any one Brawn, Agility, or Mind based roll per page. If you have multiple levels you can add the multipliers to the same or different rolls. You must add the multiplier before the roll is made.

Example: Tactician has 2 levels in Combat Maneuvers. He rolls to hit with a punch and hits. He decides to add +1x to his Brawn for rolling the damage with the punch. He is then attacked by 2 foes. One is super strong, so Tactician adds his other +1x for the turn to his Agility for rolling defense against that attack. He does not get a +1x to his defense against the other foe. Next turn he can use the bonuses again.

You could also get what you want with boost powers.
For example in my System Crash writeup, he has
Boost Brawn 2 (Strength) Tiring
Boost Brawn 2 (Soak) Tiring
Boost Agility 2 (To Hit) Tiring
Boost Agility 2 (Defense) Tiring
for a total of 4 character points. With the tiring limitation, System Crash has to pick and choose which boosts he currently has up.

Taking boost with variable enhancement would also work, For Master Wu, BASHMAN suggested that I give him Boost 2 (Variable, Only to Use Martial Arts).

Both Master Wu and System Crash are posted on the same page:
http://bashtalk.org/modules.php?name=Fo ... sc&start=0

Another option is take weapon technique power with the variable enhancement.

I don't read variable as working like that. It would make it easier if it did.

but then I would buy resistance, variable and be able to be resistant to whatever attack is being thrown at me

What about situational modifiers to peoples chances to do things. Page 16 of BUE has a list of mods for different situations that can include flanking, height bonuses or other 'tactical' benefits.

I also allow players to use skills in combat to set up modifiers for themselves, by rolling the skill and taking the roll/ 10 as a positive modifier to their action roll:

- Want to make yourself harder to hit as you handspring across the warehouse? roll Athletics / Acrobatics - for every full 10 points of your roll, gain a +1 Dice bonus to Defense for the action.
- Want to attack from Ambush? Roll Stealth/ Hiding, apply the same bonus as above to your chance to hit for your next shot.
- Want to arrange your team to improve tactical advantage before a fight, roll Military/ Tactics - apply bonus to each team member's Priority.

My players love it, except when the bad guys do the same thing back, which is only fair of course. Best thing is, it makes the combats MUCH more descriptive than 'I'll punch him again.'

It also makes for more fun if you are not using figures and a battlemat or terrain, which we only pull out for big set piece battles.

dugfromthearth wrote:I don't read variable as working like that. It would make it easier if it did.

but then I would buy resistance, variable and be able to be resistant to whatever attack is being thrown at me

I agree with you on this application of Variable, and would note that the rules do say "With the Narrator's permission". Taking the Immunity 1 power and making it Variable would allow the character complete imperviousness to any one damage type (though he would be vulnerable to every other attack type that Page). It still feels a little bit like a cheat. I'd probably let it go if the player added another limitation that locked that Immunity in for at least two or three pages before it could be changed to another immunity type.

Baelor wrote:What about situational modifiers to peoples chances to do things. Page 16 of BUE has a list of mods for different situations that can include flanking, height bonuses or other 'tactical' benefits.

I also allow players to use skills in combat to set up modifiers for themselves, by rolling the skill and taking the roll/ 10 as a positive modifier to their action roll:

- Want to make yourself harder to hit as you handspring across the warehouse? roll Athletics / Acrobatics - for every full 10 points of your roll, gain a +1 Dice bonus to Defense for the action.
- Want to attack from Ambush? Roll Stealth/ Hiding, apply the same bonus as above to your chance to hit for your next shot.
- Want to arrange your team to improve tactical advantage before a fight, roll Military/ Tactics - apply bonus to each team member's Priority.

My players love it, except when the bad guys do the same thing back, which is only fair of course. Best thing is, it makes the combats MUCH more descriptive than 'I'll punch him again.'

It also makes for more fun if you are not using figures and a battlemat or terrain, which we only pull out for big set piece battles.

Baelor, I really like this idea of using the result of a successful skill roll to add a 'tactical' benefit to actions taken by a character.

Thanks MrJupiter, it does handle a lot of situations.

I have used it to let an agile hero to gain a bonus to defense from running along a series of supermarket aisles with people shooting at him at the other end of the market. I like it because it puts the degree to which the action is successful into the hands of the hero doing the action. So the agile hero roles his Athletics/ Running to add a bonus to his Defense for cover from intermittent cover of the aisles.

Players have even spend Hero Points on these rolls because they get caught up in wanting it to really stand out [What I think of as a 'Neo Moment' from the movie 'The Matrix.'

I can definitely see the cool factor this adds to a combat. These are great.

I do like the idea of using the skills as modifiers. It adds description and options. I assume you limit them to one skill use per turn?

Two concerns
- it could add a lot of rolling to combat
- it makes the skills valuable in combat which they were not before, but they use a different point system. It makes taking non-combat skills which used to be "free" now mean you do not get a combat useful skill. Acrobatics is not worth more than construction in a fight.

One skill use per turn. And there isn't always opportunity.

As for your concerns:
- We haven't found it to slow things down, but your mileage may vary. We have found that it generally enhances combat, rather than slowing it down.
- AS for the skills in combat - anybody could do the same without the skill, at their stat -1 as a multiplier. The skill just makes them more effective at it.

As for non-combat skills, they are no less useful than they were. And 'combat skills', as you term them, were useful in situations like combat before [Acrobatics to run along the narrow building ledge to get to the big bad, or stealth to sneak up on her, etc].

Skills that are 'non-combat' are as useful as ever. How useful is acrobatics when you are trying to assess the structural stability of the bridge the Hulk just smashed. And the actual cost of them is the same as any skill - free ranks up to the number of your Mind or Agility, buy Skillful for more.

I could go on about allowing non-combat skill use in a fight , but ultimately the issue is not one of balance, but of style.

None of my group are min-maxers, so I am lucky that I don't have to deal with someone who thinks that way. If I did, I might change my mind. But to be honest, I don't think so. It just works better this way - at least for us.