And another RPG bundle offer - Bash!
Bash is a superhero RPG I've been vaguely aware of for a while - basically, it's an attempt to write a superhero RPG that emphasises simple character generation rather than the complex procedures of most games in this genre. Supplements cover fantasy, SF, and other fun stuff:
https://bundleofholding.com/presents/BASH
"This collection features the BASH! RPG of fast and simple action from Basic Action Games. With BASH! (Basic Action Super Heroes), you can create characters and run four-color superheroic adventures within minutes. Easy to teach to novices and younger players, BASH! also works great for fantasy and spaceopera. The rulebooks and supplements in this bargain-priced collection permit any kind of action-packed adventure.
We provide each ebook complete in .PDF (Portable Document Format). Like all Bundle of Holding titles, these books have NO DRM (Digital Restrictions Management), and our customers are entitled to move them freely among all their ereaders.
Ten percent of each purchase (after gateway fees) goes to this offer's designated charity, Doctors Without Borders.
The total retail value of the titles in this offer at launch is US$84. Customers who pay just US$8.95 get all four titles in our Starter Collection (retail value $32) as DRM-free .PDF ebooks, including all three core BASH! rulebooks -- the Ultimate Edition of superheroic action, Fantasy, and Sci-Fi -- and the introductory superhero adventure To Stand Together.
Those who pay more than the threshold (average) price, which is set at $17.95 to start, also get our entire Bonus Collection with no less than thirteen more titles worth an additional $52, including nine Awesome Powers collections, with hundreds of power and dozens of ready-to-player heroes and villains; Crook Book #1 and Comic Character Cavalcade #1-2, with scads more characters; and the Watchmen-like street-level superhero adventure Five Minutes to Midnight. The whole offer gives you every major book in the BASH! line -- plenty to let your heroes fight through a whole Golden, Silver, or Iron Age of comic-book action.
At least one more title will be added later - When a title is added after launch, ALL customers who previously purchased the bundle automatically receive the newly added title, REGARDLESS of whether or not they paid more than average. This is their reward for buying early.
Pros, as far as I can see, are that it really is fairly easy to design a character, and the material in the bundle does give you a lot of stuff for any type of superhero game. Cons, characters seem to come out looking a little less 'polished" than in other systems. And my impression (without having played it) is that it won't play much faster than any other superhero RPG, which has always been one of the problems of this genre. Apart from that it looks OK, but the design isn't exactly inspired - the art in the first book is lowish resolution bitmapped graphics, but I can live with that; later books are better in that respect. I think it could do with a little attention from a better layout artist, but that's true of a LOT of RPGs.
This is one I'm certainly going to look at, and I think it's good value for money. Having said that, most people who play superhero games are probably already wedded to one or another system - Champions, GURPS Supers, and the rest - and may not want to try another, so it's probably aimed primarily at newcomers to the genre. If that doesn't apply to you it may be another story.
Also posted at http://ffutures.dreamwidth.org/2086021.html, where there are
comments. Please comment here or there using OpenID.
https://bundleofholding.com/presents/BASH
"This collection features the BASH! RPG of fast and simple action from Basic Action Games. With BASH! (Basic Action Super Heroes), you can create characters and run four-color superheroic adventures within minutes. Easy to teach to novices and younger players, BASH! also works great for fantasy and spaceopera. The rulebooks and supplements in this bargain-priced collection permit any kind of action-packed adventure.
We provide each ebook complete in .PDF (Portable Document Format). Like all Bundle of Holding titles, these books have NO DRM (Digital Restrictions Management), and our customers are entitled to move them freely among all their ereaders.
Ten percent of each purchase (after gateway fees) goes to this offer's designated charity, Doctors Without Borders.
The total retail value of the titles in this offer at launch is US$84. Customers who pay just US$8.95 get all four titles in our Starter Collection (retail value $32) as DRM-free .PDF ebooks, including all three core BASH! rulebooks -- the Ultimate Edition of superheroic action, Fantasy, and Sci-Fi -- and the introductory superhero adventure To Stand Together.
Those who pay more than the threshold (average) price, which is set at $17.95 to start, also get our entire Bonus Collection with no less than thirteen more titles worth an additional $52, including nine Awesome Powers collections, with hundreds of power and dozens of ready-to-player heroes and villains; Crook Book #1 and Comic Character Cavalcade #1-2, with scads more characters; and the Watchmen-like street-level superhero adventure Five Minutes to Midnight. The whole offer gives you every major book in the BASH! line -- plenty to let your heroes fight through a whole Golden, Silver, or Iron Age of comic-book action.
At least one more title will be added later - When a title is added after launch, ALL customers who previously purchased the bundle automatically receive the newly added title, REGARDLESS of whether or not they paid more than average. This is their reward for buying early.
Pros, as far as I can see, are that it really is fairly easy to design a character, and the material in the bundle does give you a lot of stuff for any type of superhero game. Cons, characters seem to come out looking a little less 'polished" than in other systems. And my impression (without having played it) is that it won't play much faster than any other superhero RPG, which has always been one of the problems of this genre. Apart from that it looks OK, but the design isn't exactly inspired - the art in the first book is lowish resolution bitmapped graphics, but I can live with that; later books are better in that respect. I think it could do with a little attention from a better layout artist, but that's true of a LOT of RPGs.
This is one I'm certainly going to look at, and I think it's good value for money. Having said that, most people who play superhero games are probably already wedded to one or another system - Champions, GURPS Supers, and the rest - and may not want to try another, so it's probably aimed primarily at newcomers to the genre. If that doesn't apply to you it may be another story.
Also posted at http://ffutures.dreamwidth.org/2086021.html, where there are
comments. Please comment here or there using OpenID.