My Ideas for New Traits

[Sijo]

Yeah I imagined that the Champion Adv might be too strong since it is based off of Arch-Villain, which is not intended for PCs. Still, that's why I post here, to get feedback.

I still believe something like this is necessary, tough. Major heroes who fight Arch-Villains on their own despite not logically having the power to are a thing in the comics- and I know that's why we have Hero Points and Hero Dice, to compensate. I just feel they still need a little more oomph if for ex. Captain America is going to fight Thanos by himself.

[Sijo]

Wow, it's been a while since I posted my ideas. Here's a couple more:

New Campaign Level: Adventurer- Points: 6. Suggested spread: 6 points for stats, 0 for Powers. This level is meant for "normal" heroes without Powers- and who are still, somehow, tougher and luckier than most people. In BASH, normal humans count as minions, but Adventurers get the full Hero benefits, such as 100 Hits and a Hero Die. The typical example is a detective, especially one without formal training.

New Enhancement: [No Additional Shortcomings, +1]- This is an enhancement for Powers with the Gadget Limitation. Such a Gadget requires no extra shortcomings such as Easily Taken or Ammo. It still counts as a Gadget- it has Soak and Hits, so it can be destroyed, and can be taken away if the owner is incapacitated. Armor is usually like this.

New Enhancement: No Weight Increase- This enhancement is meant for the Density Increase Power. You may use your levels in the Power without increasing your weight [perhaps you simply become harder]. This is an enhancement because it prevents you from damaging surfaces you stand on, you won't sink in the water, etc. With The Narrator's permission, this can be applied to Growing and Size: Larger as well, resulting in some strangely light giants. [Inflation?]

[MrJupiter]

Adventurer: That lowly hero who strives to bring justice where any other normal, sane person would decide that its just not worth it!

Lol, this is the absolute lowest rung on the ladder of heroism. Still, 100 Hits, CP free equipment, and advantages does give them quite an edge compared to your typical bystander. I like it!

The idea of a gadget unhampered by any the built-in limitations sounds like a reasonable and justified option. Just because Sword-Man's mystical long sword has a Gadget Weakness to acid damage doesn't mean that it can't also be taken by an opponent: it just can't be "Easily Taken" from him. So too could someone have a gadget that just doesn't have any such impairments (Easily Taken, Ammunition, Fragile Gadget Weakness and whatnot). Maybe consider shrinking the enhancement's name to just [No Shortcomings].

With Density Increase already costing so much, I'm inclined to agree that at least having the option to mitigate the weight penalty is welcomed. Maybe this hero's particular Density Increase ability somehow shunts a large portion of the extra mass into some kind of extra-dimensional space, or generates a displacement field to somehow spread the weight out over a greater surface area and help keep the from crashing through the bystander's kitchen floor!

[pawsplay]

I think a Gadget with no additional limitations just isn't a Gadget. The power is just defined as being gadget-based, like the Armor example in the book.

I'm not saying the Density Increase example is bad or anything, but I would probably just treat it as Shapechange with linked Armor. Or Armor with linked Boost. Or something.

[Sijo]

I came up with the Gadget: no Shortcomings enhancement because I keep running into examples of Powers that were obviously Gadgets -they could be damaged separately from the host, or taken away when he was KO- and yet lacked any of the listed Shortcomings; the closest I could find was Fragile, and that may sound weird in some cases [like Fragile Armor]. Of course, we might just treat it as an Alteration instead [since its a combination of a Limitation and an Enhancement, for a total of +0]

The Density Enhancement is just a case of easier Description. Sure you can buy all the benefits of Density Increase via Shape Shifting- ...but not the bad ones: in addition to the weight increase, there's the Defense Penalty. Of course, you might pretend to be a very agile massive character, but it's still kind of "if you want a light but slow character, why not just use No Weight Increase?"

[MrJupiter]

pawsplay, while I can see your point about substituting some combinations of Armor, Shape-Shifting, Boost, and whatnot with the Density Increase power as a more straightforward means to provide a hardened form that isn't necessarily as massive, I would point out that the mechanics of how that power are applied (i.e. the Result Bonus, Defense Dice Penalty, and even Weight) are very unique factors. For those who like a little more granularity in their BASH games, having an enhancement to mitigate one of these negative qualities (or even a limitation to further compound one of them) is suitable.

On the Gadget issue, I would point out that BASH is one of those games that is well suited to the idea of complexity and detail: perhaps more so than other rules-light games. Choosing to infer that one or two of a character’s powers are a result of some item is a fun and quick means of flavouring your hero without all the perils of tracking that object’s Hits or whereabouts.

Again, for granularity’s sake, if you choose to have an item be the source of a power or two but still have the vulnerability of it being taken or damaged to the point of non-function, then taking the Gadget limitation is still valuable. This enhancement, described by Sijo, simply negates the 1 CP savings removes the need for a quality that further hinders it (Easily Taken, Fragile, Ammunition, and Gadget Weakness).

[Solarblast]

Interesting, the D20 Amazing Adventures has a Gadgeteer class that has two options, one is the Intelligence based version where you make the Gadgets yourself, another is a Charisma based version where you have someone make gadgets for you. The first option allows you to make changes in the field whereas the second option allows you to get the Gadgets cheaper.

Just thought I would bring that up.

[MrJupiter]

Interesting, the D20 Amazing Adventures has a Gadgeteer class that has two options, one is the Intelligence based version where you make the Gadgets yourself, another is a Charisma based version where you have someone make gadgets for you. The first option allows you to make changes in the field whereas the second option allows you to get the Gadgets cheaper.

Just thought I would bring that up.

Yes, this would make a great variant to the Gadgeteer advantage. You might not have the gadget-making knowhow to build your gear, but you know someone that does. This person might be a supportive relative, friend, or significant other, or even someone with a great debt owed to you (or just some smart, reliable person you are able to routinely coerce into service). This outsourced gadgeteer is no more Contact, they are someone you rely upon to outfit your hero and maintain equipment. You might have to foot the bill for the required parts, or perform some other service as payment, but this person is an essential and integral asset for your crime-fighting exploits; and if anything were to happen to this individual...

What would be a great title for such an alternate advantage? Also, how might the mechanics work, since spending Hero Points/Dice for outsourced labour doesn't gel well for this?

[ElSijo]

How about this?

Gadget Source: A person (or group of persons) is willing to provide you with gadgets for some reason (money, because you saved their lives, etc.) Once per Issue, you may ask for a specific device. No rolls are needed but you must wait an amount of time (defined by the Narrator) until its ready. Then you must pick it up. The device is a Power with a Gadget Limitation (max Level decided by the Narrator.) The Gadget may be lost or damaged normally but as long as you do not lose this special contact you will always get another next issue.

[MrJupiter]

Yes, GADGET SOURCE. That's brilliant! Like Gadgeteer, you come into a game's Issue with an allotment of gadgets already assigned (show up to the table with Narrator-approved devices), as per the advantage predecessor. You then make a call to your resident specialist when your current gear is found lacking, and request for some new, kit-bashed piece of equipment. The only hinderance involved would be the time required to make the upgrade or ready the hardware, with the new gear or augment appearing in, or being installed by, the next Scene.

Probably adding new equipment, or enhancing devices, without deleting or hindering some of your current gear ("Sorry, this gadget requires the power supply of your life-support system, taking it offline for the time being"), will cost the hero in terms of Setbacks (sinced the hero is now over their point level) or, perhaps, the player has already planned for this by having innitially built their character with fewer character points than the campaing level is targeted at (i.e. a 35 CP hero in a 40 CP game).