Playing the Game

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Chapter 3: Playing the Game

A stat can be increased (to a maximum of 5 or racial maximum) by spending 12XP x the current number.

*Buying or enhancing Mechanical powers also costs money in addition to experience points. A 1 1pt power or upgrade costs 1000 Credits in addition to xp. A 2pt power costs 3000 Credits. A 3pt power is 6000 Credits. A 4pt power costs 10,000 Credits. A 5pt power costs 15,000 Credits.

On the character sheet, there is a section to write down XP and XP spent. When XP is used to improve a character (not for a Hero die; see below), it is kept track of as spent XP. The point of this is so that the Narrator can judge what level of power the heroes are relative to their antagonists (Danger Level or DL).

Hero Dice

For 1 XP, you can acquire a Hero die. Hero dice can also be awarded for good play by the Narrator, or granted by certain abilities. A Hero die allows you to choose to roll another die on any dice roll (after seeing the result). If this die is the same as either of the other two, it counts as doubles, and permits another die! Example- on a x3 defense roll, Kyle got a 3 and a 4, for a 21.

But he needed a 30! So Kyle chose to spend an XP to roll another die. He got a 3, which counts as doubles with the other 3. So he rolls another die and gets a 2. His total roll on the dice is 36 and he survives where he may have perished! Alternately, a Hero die can be spent to instantly heal the Hero 10 Hits, even if s/he was unconscious or dying (the wound looked worse than it was, etc).

A Hero die could also be used to “defensively” turn on a power or move, even during someone else’s panel and even if you have already gone. For instance, if an enemy throws a grenade at you, you could use a Hero Die to put a Force Field around the grenade or run before it explodes. The XP used for a Hero die is lost, but does not count as a spent XP for record keeping.

If a Hero acts in a completely reprehensible, non-Heroic manner (i.e. killing prisoners who surrendered in good faith, scuttling a ship for the insurance money, etc), the Narrator can chose to take a Villain die for the action. A Villain die functions exactly as a Hero die, but is used by the Narrator to aid the roll of a Villain. If at the end of the issue, the Villain die has not been used, the character whose actions “earned” the Villain die for the Narrator receives -2 XP.

Combat Rules

The first thing to consider when things turn violent is Priority—who goes first, which is whoever has the highest Agility. If it is a tie, Heroes go first. Multiple Heroes with the same Agility go simultaneously. In battles, characters have different modes of attack. They are: hand to hand, ranged, thrown, and mental. All attacks except mental are made by rolling Agility against the opponent’s Agility. If the attack hits, proceed to determining damage. Mental attacks are usually made by rolling Mind against the opponent’s Mind.

Dice Mechanics and Doubles

The game is played with two standard six-sided dice. Whenever the result of a situation is not certain, the Narrator may call upon the players to roll the dice to determine the result. The Narrator must decide which of the three stats, Brawn, Agility, or Mind is most important in the given situation (in many situations, this is indicated by the rules). The player rolls the dice and multiplies the results by the number of that stat +any bonuses (for instance, many powers, such as Deflect, grant bonuses to certain rolls). If this character is in conflict with another, the Narrator (or player controlling that character) rolls the dice multiplied by their relevant attribute.

Whoever rolls the highest wins.

In situations where the character is not in conflict with another, but is still trying to use a skill or ability that is not certain of success, the player still rolls the dice as written above. However, in this case, the player is trying to beat a set number (decided by the Narrator) rather than an opposing dice roll. The standard numbers based on difficulty are: 10 (easy), 20 (standard), 30 (tough), 40 (heroic), 50 (nigh-impossible).

This doesn’t necessarily mean that characters with higher multipliers will always defeat those with lower multipliers. Sometimes, random chance has a part to play. When a player rolls “doubles” (two of the same number) on the dice, roll another d6 and add this to the result before multiplying. If this die matches the other two, roll and add again, until you get something that does not match. Example:

A player rolling at x3 rolls a pair of twos. He then rolls another two, then a six. Instead of 3x4=12, his end result is 3x12=36. As you can see, rolling doubles can make quite a difference between success and failure.

The Golden Rule: Heroes always win on a tie. If two Heroes are contesting each other, and tie, the winner is whoever is being more Heroic at that moment!

Experience Points

It is traditional that RPG characters get better with experience, and BASH! is no exception. After every story arc, the Narrator will award the players with experience points. A maximum of 5 XP is awarded to each player, based on performance and role-playing.

XP can be used to “buy” improvements to a character.

A new power can be purchased by spending 6XP x The power’s point cost.*

An old power can be improved one point or an enhancement added by spending 6XP.*

A new skill can be purchased by spending 3 XP.

A new advantage can be purchased for 10 XP.

A disadvantage can be removed for 20 XP.

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Mental attacks don’t usually do damage, but if they do, Mind is the base damage multiplier. Hand to hand and thrown attacks use Brawn as the base damage multiplier, plus any bonuses for a weapon. Ranged attacks, psionic attacks, and most effects that have a radius use Mind as the damage base, plus any bonuses for the weapon. This number is then multiplied by the result the dice rolled. The person struck by an attack subtracts the Soak value of their armor, usually 10/20/30/40. This is called ‘soaking’ damage.

If the damage roll exceeds the soak, the target loses a number of hits equal to the difference. E.g. a roll of 35 damage is soaked 20 by an opponent wearing light body armor. The target of the attack loses 15 hits of damage. Armor is only half as effective at soaking damage from psionic attacks, however. Thus, if the same person were hit for 20 points of psionic fire damage, he would take 10 damage rather than 0.

If the damage is less than the soak value, the person takes no damage, but still may have been knocked back a bit (see knock-back). Every hit that got through the soak is marked off on the character’s record. When his total hits equals zero or less, the character is out of commission, either unconscious or dying.

What Can I Do in a Single Combat Panel? There are four possible options:

1. Move, activate any number of non-combat powers you have energy to spend on, and attack or use a healing power.*

2. Move double the number of squares allowed for no extra energy

cost (but take no other action).

3. Attack or heal, and then move your allotted number of squares (but you cannot activate any powers).

4. Rest to regain 1 energy and move 2xAgility, or a Psionic character with Psionic Rejuvenation can make a check without moving to regain an amount equal to his Mind Stat (see power description for details).

*You can activate multiple powers at once if you choose. Thus, a person can fly with a jetpack, psionically sense the presence of enemies, and hurl a grenade at them all in one panel- but as soon as you attack (or heal), your panel is over.

Movement: A character normally moves by running in combat (if you were under fire, would you be walking?). A character’s normal rate of running is 3 squares per page per point of Agility.

A character can also move by jumping. A character can usually jump a number of squares equal to their Brawn, half of which can be vertical. Swimming is also possible. A character’s normal swimming speed is their Brawn in squares. Characters who can fly do so according to their Agility, based their flying power. Of course, all of these methods of movement can be enhanced with powers.

If a character does nothing but move during their page, they move at double speed.

Wounds: Injuries in combat take their toll, and reduce a character’s

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ability to succeed in physical tasks. Just because you survived the combat does not mean you will be up and about as if nothing had happened. You may have lasting injuries that impede your performance. These injuries are called wounds, and each wound you receive results in a -1 Dice penalty for any physical action.

A character is wounded when s/he takes damage (after soaking) equal to or greater his/her Brawn x10. This number is called the character’s wound threshold. For example, if a character with a Brawn of 1 took 23 damage after soaking, he would take 2 wounds (his wound threshold is 10, which goes into 23 twice).

If the same character had a Brawn of 2 he’d take 1 wound, and if he had a 3 or more, he’d still take damage, but the damage would not result in a wound.

With a Brawn of 1, his physical actions (until he is healed) would be at a -2 Dice penalty because he has suffered 2 wounds. A wound is healed when the amount of damage equal to your wound threshold is healed. So if the character were healed 10 points, one of his wounds would go away, leaving him with 1 wound.

The net effect of this system is that characters with higher Brawns are very hard to wound, even though they still die from taking damage like everyone else. Essentially, a big strong warrior is able to ignore pain more, and likely will be killed in combat before he receives an injury that can cripple his abilities (he dies on his feet). A person who is not very strong may indeed survive a blaster round, but will be severely weakened by it, making it even more difficult to defend himself as he takes wounds.

Ranged Attacks: From firing blasters to crossbows, ranged attacks allow you to put some distance between yourself and the enemy.

However, the further away you are from your enemy, the harder they are to hit. Every 10 squares of distance between you and your target gives you a -1 Dice penalty on your roll to hit. In a vehicle, the penalty is -1 Dice Penalty for every 50 squares or 5 grids.

Also, flying targets are harder to hit, because they move in 3 dimensions instead of 2. If you are on the ground, and your target is flying 10 squares or less, you have a -1 Dice penalty to hit, -2 if they are flying 20 squares or less, and -3 if they are flying 21 squares or more. If your target is flying, but you are also flying (whether by wings, jet-pack, or on a helicopter), this penalty is ignored.

Grenades and other explosive attacks are much easier to hit a target with because “close” is good enough. All you need to roll to hit with a grenade or similar explosive is a 10 for it to explode in the radius you want. If you miss, it will instead explode 1-3 squares away from the intended target in a random direction (1-2 in front, 3 left, 4 right, 5-6 behind the target). See “Explosions” for resolving damage from grenades and other explosives.

Cover in Combat: using buildings, trees, furniture, etc to make you more difficult to hit is called using cover. If a quarter of your body is concealed, you get a +1 Deflect bonus while you remain behind cover. If you are half concealed, you get a +2 Deflect bonus. If you are three-quarters concealed, you get a +3 Deflect bonus from the cover.

Knock-back: is when a character is struck back in combat. The amount of damage that got through makes no difference. If an attack does at least 50 damage, the target is knocked back 1 square. Every 10 points of damage beyond 50 knocks the opponent back another square. For instance, an attack that does 70 damage would knock an opponent back 3 squares.

Wrestling: Another thing to consider is wrestling. Characters may hold and squeeze in addition to punching and stabbing their enemies. To get a hold, the attacker must win an Agility contest with the opponent.

If s/he is successful, they make an immediate Brawn contest. If the opponent succeeds, he escapes, using his panel for that page.

If s/he succeeds by 10 or more, however, escaping does not use up his/her panel. If the attacker wins, the opponent takes Damage multiplied by the holder’s Brawn, which is soaked by rolling a Brawn contest (Armor does not soak wrestling damage). In order to free himself, the opponent must win a Brawn contest. Each panel, if the opponent fails, they continue to take damage. For instance, Brand the Barbarian with a Brawn of 4 is wrestling a thug with a Brawn of 3. After successfully grappling the thug by winning an Agility contest, they contest Brawn. Brand gets an 8x4= 32, and the thug gets a 7x3= 21. The thug takes 11 points of damage (not enough to wound him) and is stuck in the hold. The next page, Brand gets a 3x4= 12 and the thug gets a 5x3= 15. The thug has managed to break free (but uses his panel).

Vulnerability: Sometimes, a character will be left unable to defend himself properly- being blind, unaware of your opponent, or in some way restrained. In this case, when rolling to avoid being hit, the player takes a -4 Dice penalty. This results in a much lower chance to avoid being hit.

Size: Size describes how big something is. The higher the number, the bigger it is. A standard human, is considered size 0. Things smaller than humans have size represented as negative numbers.

Each point of size a character, monster, or vehicle has adds to its Brawn rolls and adds a 5 TR bonus to its soak and damage. Each point of size is likewise a Dice penalty on Agility rolls. Remember, adding a negative number is the same as subtraction, subtracting a negative number is the same as addition. Therefore, a size -1 creature has a +-1 Dice bonus on Agility dice rolls, but a -5 TR penalty on damage rolls and soak. Size has been taken into account when listing the damage soaking and average attack and average defense of creatures in the encounters section. Larger creatures strength is proportional to their size. Multiply the lifting capacity for their Brawn as follows: Size 1 x2, Size 2 x4, Size 3 x8.

Smaller creatures are likewise less able to lift things. Their size impacts their lifting capacity as follows: Size -1 = Half, Size -2 = Quarter, size -3 = One-Eighth.

Continual Damage: Acid, Poison, and several other effects do not do ordinary damage to their victims. Instead, they inflict a state

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surgeon must make a Physician/Diagnosis check with a difficulty of 20, followed by a Physician/Surgery check with a difficulty of 30.

Success on both roll indicates that the person will recover 20*Brawn Hits/Month. Success on only one roll indicates the person will recover 10*Brawn hits/month. Failure on both rolls indicates that the patient died during surgery. Thus, if Trask were dying, and in need of surgery, and Dr. Simon succeeded in both his Diagnosis and Surgery checks, Trask would heal 80 hits/month. A failure on either roll would result in Trask healing only 40 hits/month.

Intimidation: Sometimes enemies don’t want to have to harm each other—simply to scare the opponent. When a lion roars at an approaching stranger, or a gangster makes a veiled threat about the safety of a person’s loved ones, they are trying to use intimidation.

Typically Intimidation is made in lieu of attacking. Start by rolling a Stat check based on the type of intimidation used—an act of physical intimidation, such as the lion’s roar, is made by rolling Brawn (and adding any size modifiers as with any other Brawn check) or possibly Agility (as in the case of a martial artist showing off a flurry of moves to his opponent). An act of verbal intimidation is made by rolling Mind, or maybe using an appropriate skill—Streetwise, Deception, or Society could all be used for this. The opponent rolls a Mind check against this intimidation check—higher number wins, ties go to the Hero. Success indicates no effect. Failure means the target is scared—and has a -2 Dice penalty to all rolls made against the object of fear. This includes social interaction as well as combat. The state of fear lasts for the rest of that scene. Note:

Fearless characters are immune to the effects of Intimidation (and have a bonus to intimidate others themselves). Craven characters can be intimidated, but if their cowardice is triggered via damage, there is no additional effect—they are already scared.

Chase Scenes: Sometimes, the Heroes and Villains don’t want to fight it out— they just need to escape. If the escapee is pursued, they are in a chase scene. If the pursuer moves faster, s/he will eventually catch up, assuming that s/he does not run out of energy, get distracted by some obstacle, or lose the quarry’s trail. This requires a skill check (either running, riding, swimming, driving, starship operations, sailing, or pilot skill as appropriate). A speedy vehicle certainly helps, but it does not decide who will win the chase.

When rolling to pursue (or escape) an enemy, the characters roll their skill, and add their speed in squares (or grids or 10s of squares for vehicles) to the result. Add the quarry’s result to the number of squares (or grids, or blocks of 10 squares if dealing with vehicles) of distance that separated the two at the start of the chase. If the pursuer’s total exceeds the quarry’s, s/he has caught the target. If the target’s total has doubled the pursuer’s s/he has gotten away.

If the result is in between, roll again for the next page, adding the result to the one before. This turn-by-turn record of the chase is called the Chase Tally.

Obstacles are also problems in a chase, and often end them abruptly. The difficulty of avoiding an obstacle is a function of its size and how fast you are approaching it. The base difficulty based known as continual damage. When a victim has been struck by

a Continual Damage attack, the attacker rolls the damage—but instead of using armor and size to soak the damage, the victim rolls their Brawn against the damage (Adding their size as a Dice Bonus (or penalty for small creatures)). If the result of the Brawn roll equals or exceeds the damage, no damage is dealt and the effect ends. If the damage exceeds the Brawn roll, however, the victim takes the difference in damage. This process repeats every page until the result of the Brawn check equals or exceeds the damage, ending the effect.

Collateral damage: This is what happens to the scenery around a battlefield. Windows break, doors smash, and bulkheads melt.

Below are listed how many Hits an object can take before it is

In document BASH Sci-Fi Edition (Page 44-138)