DRAGONFLY’S HOUSE RULES! FOR BASH UE BENCHMARKS FOR BASH UE Determining attributes for characters in games like Dungeons & Dragons is usually easy enough. You simply roll a set of numbers and assign them to the various Abilities. Point-build systems offer more flexibility but are also potentially more confusing, forcing players to think more about what the numbers mean as they struggle to assign values. What Strength score, for instance, makes sense for a lithe human swordswoman? Should I go with a Strength 24? That gives her a nice damage bonus, but it might also break concept if I imagined the character as something other than muscle-bound to an extreme. Such decisions abound in any role-playing game, but they are magnified in point-build systems, where players have more control over crafting their characters. TRANLATING STATS FROM OTHER GAMES TO BASH UE Gauging Stats, Powers, and abilities in BASH UE might be even more difficult than in other games for two reasons. First, the mechanics, while brilliant and innovative, involve values that are somewhat dissimilar from those of traditional table-top RPGs. Dungeons & Dragons, the most widely-played RPG of all time, uses an Ability mechanic, where 10 is human average and 18 is the maximum for starting human characters. Through level advancement, human characters can have their Abilities increased to a maximum of 23. Being derived from Dungeons & Dragons, Mutants and Masterminds used a similar model for Abilities in its 1 st and 2 nd editions. The HERO System employs a similar range of values, with average Characteristics set at 10, and the maximum for “normal” humans at least softly set at 20. Translating these values to BASH UE, with its unique use of Multipliers to quantify Stat values, can be somewhat daunting to players used to more traditional systems. I use the following tables to help my players understand what BASH UE values equate to in Dungeons & Dragons, Mutants and Masterminds, and even the HERO System. My hope is that this will aid them during character generation. It is important to note that we use the Heightened power as presented in BAM #5. This power adds a certain level of granularity to BASH UE Stats, and that fact is reflected in some of the tables below. Options, however, are provided for other styles of play.
Transcript
DRAGONFLY’S HOUSE RULES! FOR BASH UE
BENCHMARKS FOR BASH UE Determining attributes for characters in games
like Dungeons & Dragons is usually easy
enough. You simply roll a set of numbers and
assign them to the various Abilities. Point-build
systems offer more flexibility but are also
potentially more confusing, forcing players to
think more about what the numbers mean as
they struggle to assign values. What Strength
score, for instance, makes sense for a lithe
human swordswoman? Should I go with a
Strength 24? That gives her a nice damage
bonus, but it might also break concept if I
imagined the character as something other than
muscle-bound to an extreme. Such decisions
abound in any role-playing game, but they are
magnified in point-build systems, where players
have more control over crafting their
characters.
TRANLATING STATS FROM OTHER GAMES TO BASH UE
Gauging Stats, Powers, and abilities in BASH UE
might be even more difficult than in other
games for two reasons. First, the mechanics,
while brilliant and innovative, involve values
that are somewhat dissimilar from those of
traditional table-top RPGs. Dungeons &
Dragons, the most widely-played RPG of all
time, uses an Ability mechanic, where 10 is
human average and 18 is the maximum for
starting human characters. Through level
advancement, human characters can have their
Abilities increased to a maximum of 23. Being
derived from Dungeons & Dragons, Mutants
and Masterminds used a similar model for
Abilities in its 1st and 2nd editions. The HERO
System employs a similar range of values, with
average Characteristics set at 10, and the
maximum for “normal” humans at least softly
set at 20.
Translating these values to BASH UE, with its
unique use of Multipliers to quantify Stat
values, can be somewhat daunting to players
used to more traditional systems. I use the
following tables to help my players understand
what BASH UE values equate to in Dungeons &
Dragons, Mutants and Masterminds, and even
the HERO System. My hope is that this will aid
them during character generation.
It is important to note that we use the
Heightened power as presented in BAM #5. This
power adds a certain level of granularity to
BASH UE Stats, and that fact is reflected in some
of the tables below. Options, however, are
provided for other styles of play.
DRAGONFLY’S HOUSE RULES! FOR BASH UE
CONVERSION TABLE: HIGH GRANULARITY
D20/HERO STAT BASH UE STAT
1-2 x0
3-4 x0+1
5-6 x0+2
7-8 x0+3
9-10 x1
11-12 x1+1
13-14 x1+2
15-16 x1+3
17-18 x2
19-20 x2+1
21-22 x2+2
23-25 x2+3
Some players prefer a simplified use of
Heightened that grants a flat +3 Result Bonus to
the Stat modified by the power. The following
table should be used in those cases.
CONVERSION TABLE: MEDIUM GRANULARITY
D20/HERO STAT BASH UE STAT
0-6 x0
7-8 x0+3
9-10 x1
11-16 x1+3
17-22 x2
23-25 x2+3
Other groups prefer not to use Heightened at
all. The following table might be of use to you, if
you find yourself in this camp.
CONVERSION TABLE: LOW GRANULARITY
D20/HERO STAT BASH UE STAT
0-8 x0
9-16 X1
17-25 x2
ASSIGNING VALUES IN A WORLD OF SUPERS
The other reason why assigning Stats in BASH
UE might be hard on players is because it’s a
superhero game. As with all such games, the
range of possibilities is so vast that players can
often get lost in the options. Besides,
aficionados of the comic book genre have all
sorts of opinions regarding how strong, fast,
smart, hard-hitting, or resilient their favorite
comic book character is. It’s probably important
for narrator and players to be on the same page
with regards to what the numbers mean in their
particular campaign. Otherwise, the game can
lose cohesion pretty quickly.
The following tables provide benchmarks for
superhero gaming by providing values for iconic
comic book characters from Marvel Comics and
DC Comics. These are, of course, subject to my
particular interpretation of these characters, so
individual narrators should “season-to-taste” if
they are going to use these tables at all.
Furthermore, it should be noted that while I’ve
used the Heightened power as it appears in
BAM #5 for these benchmarks, I’ve opted for
DRAGONFLY’S HOUSE RULES! FOR BASH UE
the “medium granularity” application of that
power, which grants a flat +3 Result Modifier to
the Stat in question. The reason for this is that
fiddling with +1, +2, or +3 Result Bonus’ on a
table like this would make the project unwieldy.
More discerning narrators could tweak these
values to enhance the level of granularity.
Narrators who don’t use Heightened could
simply collapse categories with like multipliers.
BRAWN
MARVEL COMICS VALUE DC COMICS
X0
Bruce Banner Doctor Strange
Firestar Giant-Man / Ant-Man
Human Torch II Invisible Woman Mister Fantastic
Phoenix
Professor X Scarlet Witch
Wasp
X1
Changeling
Fire
Ice
Raven
Robin III
Zatanna
Cyclops Iceman
Nightcrawler
Quicksilver Shadowcat
Storm
X1+3
Black Canary II Blue Beetle II Booster Gold Doctor Fate II
Flash III Green Arrow
Green Lantern II Lex Luthor
Angel Daredevil Hawkeye
Wolverine
X2 Nightwing
Black Panther Captain America
X2+3 Batman
Beast X3 Starfire
Spider-Man X3+3 Cyborg
Colossus
Iron Man Rogue
X4 Aquaman
She-Hulk Sub-Mariner
Thing X4+3
Thor X5 Martian Manhunter
Wonder Woman
Hulk Silver Surfer
X5+3 Captain Marvel
Superman
AGILITY
MARVEL COMICS VALUE DC COMICS
X0
Bruce Banner
Colossus
Doctor Strange Hulk
Professor X
X1 Raven
Cyclops Firestar
Giant-Man / Ant-Man Iceman
Invisible Woman Iron Man Phoenix
Rogue Scarlet Witch
She-Hulk Thing
X1+3
Booster Gold Changeling
Cyborg Fire Ice
Lex Luthor Zatanna
Angel
Hawkeye Human Torch II
Shadowcat Storm
Sub-Mariner Thor Wasp
X2
Black Canary II Blue Beetle II Doctor Fate II Green Arrow
Green Lantern II Martian Manhunter
Robin III Starfire
Black Panther
Captain America Daredevil Wolverine
X2+3
Aquaman Batman
Nightwing
Beast Mister Fantastic
Nightcrawler X3 Wonder Woman
Spider-Man X3+3 Captain Marvel
Superman
X4
Quicksilver X4+3
X5
Silver Surfer X5+3 Flash III
DRAGONFLY’S HOUSE RULES! FOR BASH UE
MIND
MARVEL COMICS VALUE DC COMICS
Hulk X0
X1
Colossus
Firestar Rogue
X1+3 Ice
Angel
Hawkeye Human Torch II
Nightcrawler Quicksilver
Thor
X2
Aquaman Captain Marvel
Changeling Fire
Green Arrow
Green Lantern II Starfire
Captain America Cyclops Iceman
Invisible Woman She-Hulk
Storm Sub-Mariner
Thing Wasp
Wolverine
X2+3
Black Canary II Cyborg Flash III
Martian Manhunter Nightwing Robin III
Wonder Woman Zatanna
Scarlet Witch
Shadowcat Silver Surfer
X3
Black Panther Bruce Banner
Daredevil Spider-Man
X3+3
Blue Beetle II
Raven
Superman
Beast
Giant-Man / Ant-Man X4
Iron Man Phoenix
Professor X X4+3
Batman Doctor Fate II
X5 Lex Luthor
Doctor Strange Mister Fantastic
X5+3
DRAGONFLY’S HOUSE RULES! FOR BASH UE
DAMAGE
MARVEL COMICS STAT DC COMICS
x0
x0+3
x1
x1+3
x2 Robin III’s punch (standard)
Daredevil’s Billy Club (standard) *x2+13+ x2+3 Black Canary II’s punch (standard)
Robin III’s combat staff (standard) *x2+8+
Daredevil’s punch (standard) x3 Robin III’s punch (offensive)
Nightwing’s punch (standard)
Captain America’s punch (standard)
Daredevil’s Billy Club (offensive) *x3+13+ x3+3
Black Canary II’s punch (offensive) Robin III’s combat staff (offensive) *x3+8+
EXPANDED WEAPONS AND ARMOR RULES There is nothing wrong with the weapon Stats
presented in BASH UE. They are perfectly
adequate for most superhero fare, which is
what the game is designed to emulate. Some
gaming groups, however, might benefit from
slightly more defined weapon write-ups.
I went through three steps to provide that for
my players. First, I decided to apply the logic of
the Heightened power to the weapon and
armor rules. This allows for more granularity in
terms of damage and defense, without really
changing the system. Second, I created a
system to convert damage from the HERO
System to BASH UE. Why the HERO System?
Because I think its game designers have put a
great deal of thought into their weapon
lists, and because I am very familiar with the
system, having played it for over 20 years.
Finally, I converted most of the weapons on
the HERO System basic equipment list over to
BASH UE. I went through a similar (albeit far
less structured) process to convert HERO
System armors over to BASH UE.
In most cases, damage for the converted HERO
System weapons pretty well matched the
damages already appearing in BASH UE. BASH
UE pistols, for instance, do x2 damage.
Although some of the converted pistols do as
much as x3 damage, they tend to hover around
the x2 range, with the average being x2.4 or so.
The only glaring exception occurred with rapid
fire weapons. This is because HERO System
uses a multiple damage roll mechanic to model
such weapons, while BASH UE uses a single
DRAGONFLY’S HOUSE RULES! FOR BASH UE
damage roll mechanic. As a consequence,
converted rapid-fire weapons end up with
damage values far below what appears in the
BASH UE rulebook. To correct this I simply
added a +2 DM to all converted rapid-fire
weapons.
You can find the results of my work below. I
also provide the conversion system for anybody
who might be interested in the Appendix to this
document.
MUSCLE-POWERED RANGED WEAPONS
BOWS
Bow (heavy) x2+3
Bow (light) x1+3
Bow (medium) x2
Crossbow (heavy) x2+3
Crossbow (light) x2
Longbow (heavy) x3
Longbow (light) x2
Longbow (medium) x2+3
SIDEARMS
REVOLVERS
.357 M Colt Python x2+3
.38 Derringer x1+3
.38 S&W Model 10 x1+3
.44 M Llama Super Comanche x3
.45 Colt Peacemaker x2+3
SEMI-AUTOMATIC PISTOLS
.22 LR High Standard Trophy x1
.30 Luger P-08 x2
.380 A Walther PPK/S x1+3
.44 Automag x3
.45 ACP Colt M1911/M1911A1 x2+3
.50 AE Desert Eagle x3+3
9mm Browning Hi Power x2
RIFLES AND ASSAULT WEAPONS
SUBMACHINE GUNS
.45 ACP Ingram MAC-10 x4+3
.45 ACP Thompson M-1928 x4+3
9mm H&K MP5 x4
9mm Uzi x4
RIFLES
.30-06 M-1 Garand x3+3
.30-06 Springfield M1903 x3+3
.450 M H&H African x4
7.62R SVD Dragunov x3+3
ASSAULT RIFLES
.30 M-2 Carbine x4+3
5.56mm Colt M16/M16A1 x5
7.62mm FN-FAL x5+3
7.62mm R AK-47/AKM-47 x5
SHOTGUNS
12 gauge Shot x3
12 gauge Slug x4
ARTILLERY AND EXPLOSIVES
HEAVY WEAPONS
.50 M2HB HMG x6+3
57mm M18 Recoilless Rifle x7
7.62mm M60 LMG x5+3
M72A3 LAW Rocket x7+3
EXPLOSIVES
Dynamite (1 stick) x2+3
Dynamite (2 sticks) x3
Dynamite (4 sticks) x4
Fragmentation Grenade x3
Heavy Bomb x6+3
Howitzer Round x6
Mortar Round x5
Plastic Explosive (1 block) x6
DRAGONFLY’S HOUSE RULES! FOR BASH UE
MELEE WEAPONS
WEAPON
Axe (battle) x3
Axe (great) x3+3
Axe (hand) x1+3
Baton x1+3
Club (great) x3
Club (war) x2+3
Club x2
Dagger x1
Hammer (small) x1
Hammer (war) x2
Hammer x1+3
Javelin x2
Knife x1
Mace (great) x3
Mace (small) x1+3
Mace x2
Pole Arm x3
Spear (long) x3
Spear (medium) x2+3
Spear (short) x2
Sword (bastard) x2+3
Sword (great) x3
Sword (long) x2
Sword (short) x1+3
ARMOR
ARMOR VALUE
ANCIENT ARMOR
MODERN ARMOR
SUPER SKIN
x0+1 Cloth
x0+2 Leather
x0+3 Boiled Leather
x1 Brigandine
x1+1 Scale
x1+2 Chain Soft Body Armor
x1+3 Plate and Chain
x2 Full Plate Stone Skin
x2+1 Hard Body Armor
x2+2
x2+3 Advanced Body Armor
x3 Advanced Polymers
Metal Skin
x3+1
x3+2
x3+3 Plasteel
DRAGONFLY’S HOUSE RULES! FOR BASH UE
ALTERNATE LIFTING RULES
In one of my favorite moments in comic book history, the Molecule Man picks up a mountain range and drops it on the team of superheroes assembled by the Beyonder to fight in his Secret Wars. Being who he is, the Hulk catches the mountain and holds it up, while Reed Richards frantically jury rigs Iron Man’s armor to blast a hole large enough for the heroes to escape before being crushed. One of the things I loved about that moment was the tension. Strong as he was, the Hulk had to strain to hold up the mountain, and his success was hardly assured. In short, the moment was dramatic. These alternate lifting rules attempt to introduce that level of drama to the lifting dynamic in BASH UE. Currently in BASH UE, lifting is simply a function of a character’s Brawn score; either a character can lift something, or he can’t – no roll required. The following rules maintain an aspect of that mechanic, as there are minimum values that characters will always be able to lift according their Brawn. However, a lifting check mechanic is also introduced, allowing characters to lift beyond their limits in strenuous situations. THE RULES The Lifting Difficulty Table below lists weights along with corresponding Difficulty Numbers and real-world benchmarks. When a character wants to lift an object, the Narrator consults the table to determine an appropriate difficulty number. The character’s Brawn is then rolled to see if the attempt is successful. Not every lift attempt, however, requires a Brawn check. Characters have a Casual Lift value determined by their Brawn. Characters can lift any weight up to this value without rolling.
Similarly, characters also have a Maximum Lift value determined by their Brawn. Characters cannot lift weights in excess of their Maximum Lift regardless of what they roll. Casual Lift and Maximum Lift values are listed on the Character Lifting Capacity Table below. A Compressed Character Lifting Capacity Table is included for use by groups who do not use the Heightened power published in BAM #5.
