In August 2017 we presented the BASH! Bundle featuring BASH! (Basic Action Super Heroes), the superheroic RPG with easy rules and fast action from Basic Action Games. The streamlined BASH! rules make it quick to make any sort of superhero from low-powered “mystery men” to cosmic heroes who defend the galaxy. Play in a variety of eras and settings, such as the Golden, Silver, or Iron Ages of comics, space-opera superheroes, and more. Dozens of premade archetypes let you quickly create heroes and villains so you can just pick up and play.
Chris Rutkowsky (Honor + Intrigue) designed BASH! in 2004 as an RPG that would appeal to kids, then discovered it worked well for all ages. “The rules are light and simple, yet expansive and precise. Most superhero RPGs are either too bogged down with details (describing every imaginable attack as a unique, separate power), or far too simplistic (telling players to just ‘make up their own powers and let the GM decide how many points it should be worth.’ We know how that often goes). BASH! gives a complete list of powers without requiring the players to learn complicated formulas or memorize charts. In short, you spend less time creating your hero, and more time playing your hero.”
Players roll 2D6 and multiply the result by their stat or power to get a result relative to their opponent’s or the difficulty of an unopposed task. If the roll is doubles, roll another die and add it before you multiply. The higher total wins.
This BASH! Bundle presented the 2009 Ultimate Edition rulebook, which streamlines the rules still further by eliminating Energy pools and figuring weapon effects differently. We also include the Fantasy and Sci-Fi Editions of the system as well as a huge range of character and power supplements. There were four titles in our Starter Collection (retail value $32), 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 paid more than the threshold (average) price also got our entire Bonus Collection with no less than fourteen more titles worth an additional $55, 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. After launch we added the simian revolutionary adventure Viva La GorillaVolution (retail $3) and, as a convenience to our customers, all six issues of the free BASH! fantzine, dramatically titled BAM! The whole offer included every major book in the BASH! line — plenty to let your heroes fight through a whole universe of comic-book action.
