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I would given a rating of 5/5 but the grimoire was so darn good that it makes this book seem not complete. Which it does actually mention in the book that magic is rare and that the focus is on swashbuckling, adventuring and similiar things but not on being a dedicated spell caster.( I did give a 4/5 though)
That said it does go into some detail on using special powers as spells and could easily be enough for most people to design a pure spell caster and enjoy the game as is. Other powers whether they be background or talent will allow you to design any kind or character in a low tech setting.
With a little work on the users part you could also make characters for other setting as well(super, cyberpunk, modern, etc.). by applying the same rules you would design a fireball,lightning bolt or ice blast you can apply a gadget limitation and create a blaster, super power or any other form.
I am actually upset that I bought the old Bash UE before purchasing this book as the rules are slightly different for some things but can make a huge impact on the game(how you soak damage and if enough wounds damage is taken at 1 time you can suffer dice roll penaties). Plus it is easier to adjust a game to a supers campaign set in a similiar world to ours from a low tech setting than vice versa. I am also starting to design for a sci fi setting as adding tech weapons are not that hard and making a sailing vessel into a startship is just as easy as adding a a couple of vehicle enhancements.
As a long time player of DnD I like the general setting presented in the book but with the simpler rules and fast action of the BASH system I am a convert to the BASH engine of RPGs for other genres as well.
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An excellent supplement that resembles the Awesome Powers supplements for BASH! UE and is fully compatible with them. There's an extensive list of Enhancements and Limitations, many drawn from various issues of Awesome Powers but brought together here under a single fantasy-themed umbrella. Whether you're running a fantasy campaign or a supers campaign featuring magical characters, I think this book will be great addition. Or if you're running a supers game with elemental-themed characters and you didn't pick up Awesome Powers #1, you can grab this for the general use Enhancements and Limitations as well as suggested write-ups for elemental powers to get your creative juices flowing. Last but not least, there are random tables for reincarnation, and a Vancian magic alternative casting system if you're itching for an OSR feel in your BASH Fantasy games. Plenty of goodness for any BASH fan.
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BASH is a great, simple system. The rules are clear. Characters are easy to build.
Essentially BASH is designed for super heroes, but the powers translate well enough into the SF realm. There is alwsys a scaling problem when a super system is used for other genres but SF fits in pretty well with the armour and weapons.
This hasn't been updated to match the latest edition of BASH, so keep that in mind.
I do recommend this. The system is simple and fun to play. Character gen is pretty quick.
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Great swashbuckling game. It takes the Barbarians of Lemuria rules and makes them better. Great additions for the genre. I did not feel anything was missing, quiet the contrary. There is so much here I could not decide If I wanted to do Pirates, Musketeers or anything else in between. But not only the rules are fantastic, there are also copious amounts of background information and plot ideas for the whole world. I mean that. Fictitious history, but still close enough to get you a good idea on how to run things in any particular area. There is even information on how to run a bit more fantastical campaign like Pirates of the Caribbean or Regime Diabolique. This is not only a rulebook, but a swashbuckling toolkit. Heartily recommended, my favorite swashbuckling game, such a fantastic work.
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I like the BASH! system and in general this is a good game, but I've lowered the score for two significant reasons. The PDF is not bookmarked, this is a massive strike against the functionality of a PDF at the gaming table. The second reason is that the game is missing information. The Control X, Master X, and Summon X powers are referenced several times in the product, notably in the spell schools and item creation rules, but those powers were left out of the book. Why neither of these issues have been fixed I can't imagine.
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AWESOME POWERS 4: FORCE & GRAVITY POWERS is a 25 page PDF document that I got as part of the Kickstarter campaign I pledge in and deals with two of something like 40 power suites funded (Force and Gravity powers). The book describes how these two, broad power groups each can be broken into specific facets (Kinetic Energy and Hard Light facets for Force powers, and High-G and Low-G facets for Gravity powers).
While the powers described in this suite are built from the core powers found in the BASH: ULTIMATE EDITION core rulebook, they quite often provide tailored rule descriptions designed to help perfectly represent the ideal of the super ability. Force Shield (on pg15) describes how it offers a +3 Dice Bonus against Burst and Cone attack damages. Inertial Dampener (on pg20) is basically the Immunity 1 (Movement) power but also confers a +2 Multiplier Bonus against Telekinesis-type influences used against the character.
It offers random power generation for Force and Gravity powers but also allowing you to combine these tables with those of all three of the previous AWESOME POWERS already released.
Also, rules are given for the various gravity environments that heroes might find themselves in (high-, low- and micro/zero-gravities). There are a number of new additions and clarifications/expansions to the Enhancements and Limitations of powers. The Non-Combatant disadvantage is a great inclusion for those heroes and villains that are better thinkers than fighters. Membership, a new advantage, is worth the $1.99 price of the PDF all by itself as it provides great rules for organizations and the perks/hindrances which they confer.
Want to recreate a number of GREEN LANTERN abilities for your hero? Look at the Force Blast, Force weapon, Tractor Beam, Force Field Projection, Force Flight and Sculpt Force powers. Want to model the Blob’s ability to stay put? Inertial Dampener. How about Gambit’s ability to infuse objects, like playing cards or his staff, with energy? Kinetic Charge might be the power that you’re looking for. Two sample characters, Gravitic and Mime, provide excellent examples of supers that embody each of these power types (Gravity and Force).
This book is an excellent resource for super power inspiration and for players that are inexperienced with the super hero gaming. Collect the series; you will not be disappointed!
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Force and Gravity powers are some of the more difficult comic book powers to model using effects-based, point-buy systems, and this supplement is packed with ideas on how to do that for BASH! Ultimate Edition. Also included are new organizational rules for heroic and villainous groups which expand nicely on the core book material, allowing you to distinguish between advantages (and drawbacks) which apply to your character individually and those which pertain to the group as a whole. Highly recommended.
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A add on to the rules giving ideas of how to use powers in different ways.
Not essential but could prove of use.
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A simple but deep Superhero game, not played it but having looked through it and converted characters from another system I like it.
Looking forward to running it.
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Another fine installment in the Awesome Powers series, full of teleportation, phasing and other spacially-related goodness!
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BASH! ULTIMATE EDITION is a great supers system that allows players to create finely tuned powers for their heroes. It's simple point-buy system allows you to sellect the rank of a given power and then modify how it works with Enhancements and Limitations. The possibilities are endless... and a little daunting at first.
What AWESOME POWERS does is package the myriad of potential options into a number of pre-made powers. This book, number two in the series, presents powers that are commonly found in super characters with robotic, cybornetic and powered armor backgrounds. These are fantastic. It offers 103 (mechanical powers if I counted correctly) divided into offensive (Electromagnetic Pulse, Mini-Missiles, Teleporting Ballistics), defensive (Ablative Armor, Density Phasing, Reinforced Skeleton) and utility groups (Computer Interface, Invasive Broadcast, Tool Array). Each power listed shows how it was made from the base powers found in the BASH:UE rulebook. Not only that but each power describes options for further customizing.
One of the other cool features of the AWESOME POWERS series is that each book provides random character generation tables. These were created in a manner that allows them to incorporate each of the previous books in the series (though you will need the latest book for the most up-to-date random chart available). While random character creation might not be for everyone, it does produce some very original character concepts. For instance by combining the random powers of this book with the elemental suites from AWESOME POWERS #1, you might create a hero you call HYDROMAX: a being comprised of living water that wears a powered-armor containment suit!
AWESOME POWERS 2, like the other, contains a lot of great art by Ade Smith and Danilo Moretti. The charts are very clean and nicely coloured. There are three sample characters included at the end of the book showing some examples of the various powers applied. This book is a few pages smaller than with AP#1 but, to be fair, this book covers two less power suites than its predecessor. You'll also find a few more Advantages, Disadvantages, Enhancements, and Limitations that will really come in handy for character creation duties.
There are a few typos in the book, but not too many. Also, on of the text boxes isn't large enough for the text it contains and so some of the last sentance is cut off. Still, despite these small nitpicks which brought my rating down from 5 to 4, AWESOME POWERS #2 is a fantastic addition to the BASH! ULTIMATE EDITION family! Go pick it up; players will love mining it for ideas.
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I haven't enjoyed reading a game this much since my Champions boxed set in 1982. In fact, I was having flashbacks. I got so excited, I dug up all my old characters and started writing them up for BASH! UE.
The system has a lot of variety but is a pretty simple point-buy process. Some of the powers could use a little more explanation, and there are some typos, but for the most part, it's great fun.
A great part of the appeal is the layout and the illustrations. Large type, easy to read; simple animation style images that really capture the feel of super-hero animation shows like Justice League and Avengers. I'd say this would be a great starter game for kids 12 and up. Probably younger with some guidance.
For an old school gamer like me, it was a breath of fresh air.
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This is a good simple system that does what it sets out to do. If you want to play a swasbuckling type campaign where it is possible to take out tons of mooks in a single action but still need to worry about both your dueling skills and you reputation then this should work for you.
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Very well done. A few typos and you could consider it not really 'necessary', but it does add some subtlety to some particular powers and has some new rules that are handy.
Despite my reservations I was very happy with it and look forward to future volumes.
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Very nice game! The rules tend to fall more into the quick-and-easy side for character creation and game play. It actually strikes me a little as "Hero or GURPS Light." Players have the ability to tailor their powers and skills but without the mind-numbing detail that many Supers game systems go into. Distinctions between superhuman and normal human attribute levels is included as well. For my taste, this game has enough detail without having too much. The presentation of the book is quite good as well I think, with simple and attractive artwork. There is also clear mechanisms for creating characters for different levels of superpowers from pulp low-powered heroes all the way up to Cosmic.
My only criticism is that there is not much in the way of a traditional character improvement system, and even at the lowest levels of power characters can start with a maximum point cost spent in several of what I would consider to be the "foundational" powers, like flight, armor, energy blast, etc. The author is honest however in stating that the game play favored by this system is one where the characters, just like in the comics, change little from issue to issue and only change after numerous adventures. Therefore in my opinion the system favors character change, growth, and development more from what happens during adventures, rather than accumulating and spending experience points. There is an experience point system in the rules, but you can tell that this is not a significant part of the game from the author's point of view. In some ways, frankly, I found it refreshing, especially in terms of a supers game.
All in all I really liked this product and found it to be EASILY worth the $9.99 I spent on it. I hope to see more supportive material for the system in the future. I would actually rate this as 4.5.
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