Basic Action Super Heroes!

Damage Reduction 1-3, personal, sustained
Your body absorbs physical energy. Physical attacks against you suffer a -2 dice penalty per level of Damage Reduction. This power cannot be used with Armor.


So instead of you being tougher, the foe's attack gets weaker. Not as good against weak foes as it is against tough foes.

Just a bit of variety

I have a question, dug, and please understand that I'm not trying to bait you with this.

You've posted a dozen or more variant rules here, most with the full expression that you haven't used them but are just tinkering with the system. Is it possible that the rules-medium nature of BASH just doesn't suit you? If I wanted lists of detailed options, I have a couple supers games that are great for that.

But I love BASH because it's just detailed enough and then you can fiat and power stunt the rest of it.

I was just wondering about the method behind the madness here. Really not trying to cause offense or pick a fight.

What interests me in BASH is not the specific powers listed like x-ray vision and deflect, but the general rules system.

Boost gives a +1 to a stat for 1 effect or 1 circumstance. It is a hugely general power. Listing specific uses of boost is not creating more rules, it is just ideas on how it can be used.

Armor and Deflect are basically just Boost that let you go over the 5pt limit to 8pts

Now this suggestion is -2 dice modifier to foe for 1pt when they attack you. This power exists for their to hit roll as Confusion. I am basically switching "to hit" with "damage" to make the rule more general.

To me changing from a specific Confusion power with 1pt for -2 to hit, to a general 1pt for -2 to one of a foe's abilities when it attacks you - that is actually making BASH more rules light/medium. It is more in the style of special attack or boost.

Now other suggestions are modifying existing powers. But these are not making them more complex, they are solving problems I see with the power.

Ideally I would like to see BASH as 10 or so powers with advantages and limitations that allow you to create the others: Damaging Attack, Healing, Sense, Boost, Move, Stance, Weaken, maybe a few others.

I see BASH as a really cool core system with some specific power choices made by the creator. I love the core system while I question some of the specific power choices.

That's cool. I personally wouldn't want to see that, as I think that would drain all the color out of the game. There's enough generic effects-based systems out there and honestly, if I wanted one, trimming BASH wouldn't be it. But if you're having fun, then it's all good. Carry on!

I don't mind seeing Dug flex his creativity on here. I especially like it when he shows his methodology (i.e. modeling this power on confusion).

Don't forget that making new powers is also something that people should be encouraged to do. I wrote something up for this that I was saving for Awesome Powers, but I may do it in the next issue of BAM! since it seems like something a lot of people would like to see.

Dug has already figured out the easiest way to make a new power- which is to take an existing one and alter it a bit. I like seeing what he can come up with. I don't see this as some sort of critique of the game at all.

I should add that making a lot of suggestions is not a sign of how much I dislike the system but rather how much I like it.

I would not put this much thought into a system I did not like a lot.

Again, that's all cool. I wasn't trying to condemn what you were doing. I was just seeing an awful lot of tinkering coming out awfully fast.

I get this. I'm the designer of a successful effects-based system myself and people tinker with that too. And it's fun to see what people come up with. And, it's worth noting that I think your thought processes are sound - I suspect most of what I'd read would be fair and balanced in-game. So nice work there.

The only counter-point I was trying to convey (and I've brought it up in other threads as well) is that I love the leanness of the system and would be personally hesitant to add too much to it. As I said above, if I wanted minutiae, I'd play M&M3, which is a sexy game in its own way.

If Chris announced that he was coming out with a book that doubled the number of powers and tripled the number of modifiers in the game, I'd be a little sad (I'd still buy it, cuz I'm a fanboi like that). After all, I have so many characters that demonstrate the flexibility of the system already. I'd be asking myself: why do we need all this?

But this just seems to be a matter of different wants out of the game system, and fortunately, both our approaches are valid, so it's all good.

I would be sad if he doubled the number of powers. I'd like to see the number of powers cut in half.

But I would be happy if he tripled the number of advantages and limitations.

I am sad when I see a character of just basic powers with no limitations or advantages and then it just says "fire blast" and there is no sense of fire to it. Or laser, or whatever.

I want a lean core system that you tweak slightly to flavor it for your character.