Is anyone playing this? Anyone?
It's got a cool setting (all the superheroes and villains disappear, leaving their bases ripe for the plundering), it uses a modified version of Strange FATE so making powers is fairly easy, and there's tons of setting info to play with. Though you could just ignore the setting entirely and still have a damn good superhero system.
Other urls found in this thread:
baseraiders.com
baseraiders.com
baseraiders.com
actualplay.roleplayingpublicradio.com
actualplay.roleplayingpublicradio.com
userscloud.com
userscloud.com
userscloud.com
userscloud.com
userscloud.com
baseraiders.com
baseraiders.com
twitter.com
Do all the heroes and villains just turn into air for some mysterious reason or does dressing up in costumes and masks just go out of fashion?
Either way the premise is interesting enough that I'll look into it.
It's the result of a global Crisis-style event known in the setting as Ragnarok. The core book goes into great detail about the cultural and political ramifications of all the supers disappearing, if magical creatures, refugees from parallel doomed Earth's, and aliens get human rights (spoilers: they don't, and things really suck for non-human), and how base raiding is a federal offense, though the way anti-base raiding laws are enforced can be really inconsistent (there's a reason for this)
It's an alright setting, even if I kind of disagree with the core conceit. I backed it because I liked the idea of Superhero Dungeon Crawling, frankly though I don't much care for its implementation of FATE's rules.
I guess you could say I'm divided on the book.
Then take the fluff and apply it to the crunch from a better system like D&D 4e
Checked out a pirated version.
Got as far as the intro that decided to shit on the genre, then stopped.
A dumb thing I keep seeing in certain types of rpgs - a book that punches you in the face for liking the thing that got you to pick up the book in the first place.
And given that the system is Fate, it was going to have an uphill battle anyway.
Eh, to be fair. superhero comics can be a little up its own ass from time to time, but if you listen to some of the Actual Plays the creator recorded, you can tell he embraces the genre warts and all. Any who, here's an NPC I came up with a while back that'd be good for handing out base raiding jobs, especially ones involving magic.
Alias: Cryptomancer (seldom used since the creation of OpenSorcery)
(Medium Power character)
Name: John Zamora
Before Ragnarok, John was a hacker for a cause. The cause tended to change from week to week, but he wanted to fight against corruption and speak truth to power- even if that meant leaking a few secrets to the press. However, it was after Ragnarok that he dipped his toes into the waters of magic. During a sleepless night, he was browsing torrent sites when he came across an intriguing PDF scan of an ancient grimoire. On a whim, he downloaded the file and read it, finding himself fascinated by the text. He began binge-reading all he could find on the subject of magic, scouring countless deep web sites for what base raider groups called 'the real deal'. However, it was the early days of base raiding, and there wasn't much to read. Wanting more, he decided to take up base raiding on his own. Though he barely got out alive of his first job, he managed to get a couple tomes out of a sorceror's sanctum. But instead of just keeping the books for himself, he made scans of them and uploaded them so others could read it. This generated a lot of good will towards John, which gave him an idea. He called up a few of his hacker colleagues, got a server up and running, and established OpenSorcery. Originally intended to just be a database of digitized spellbooks and grimoires, it expanded to include a forum for self-taught sorcerors and professional practitioners to discuss working with magic, and even a resources site for raiders seeking help with magically-inclined bases.
It was then that John decided to stop base raiding and manage OpenSorcery full time. He put out what's now referred to as the 'OpenSorcery Manifesto': a short text document outlining OpenSorcery's mission: to teach everyone willing and able how to utilize magic and become empowered through the mystical arts. As John put it, with the superheroes gone, it was up to the civilians to protect the world from danger, and the best way to do that was to promote what he called 'arcane literacy'. The Manifesto's release was quickly noticed by the Underground and became quite a divisive subject: some thought John was an altruist, some thought he was just doing it for attention, and some thought he was just being foolish. However, nobody could deny that OpenSorcery had become something big, and they invited John to join them. Finding himself thrust into the spotlight and unsure, John asked the members of OpenSorcery if they were willing to work with the Underground. Though some hesitated, citing concerns about their privacy and possible censorship of OpenSorcery content, most viewed collaboration as the best way to fulfill the plan laid out in the Manifesto. So, John accepted the invitation and relocated to The Underground, making connections with some of the movers and shakers there. Now, he contracts out to other base raiders, requesting the retrieval of spellbooks and other bits of magical knowledge so he may archive it for everyone else to see.
Aspects
Magic User: eBook of Thoth
Background: Hacktivist
Conviction: Promote Arcane Literacy
Obsession: Arcane Knowledge Wants To Be Free
Aspect: Founder of OpenSorcery
Conviction: There's So Much Work To Be Done
Aspect: Always Question Authority
Complication: Mystics Hate Him! Technocrats Hate Him Too!
Skills
Great (+4): Computers
Good (+3): Computer Integrated Ritual Array (S),
Fair (+2): Wizrd App (E), Resolve,
Average: Empathy, Investigation
Unique and Strange Skills
Computer Integrated Ritual Array
Power Tier: Superhuman (-2 refresh)
Craft, Dismantle, Examine, Information, Repair, Research
Ritual
Major Delay
Room-Sized (As per Vintage Villainy)
Cost: 2 Skill points (6 trappings, -2 for Ritual, -2 for Major Delay, -3 for Room Sized)
A sprawling, tangled mess of occult paraphernalia and modified computers fills the workroom. The Computer Integrated Ritual Array (or CIRA for short) is proof of John's theory that arcane principles and computer programming have tangible parallels. Though it's essentially permanently located in John's basement (and taking up almost the entirety of said basement), it proves invaluable in John's work and functions like any ritual magic set up.
Wizrd App
Power Tier: Extraordinary (-1 Refresh)
Variable X 3
Spell
Minor Focus: Modified smartphone
Cost: 9 Skill points (Variable X3, -2 for Spell, -1 for Minor Focus)
Having been too slow on the draw with a spell more than a few times, John developed a program he could load into a phone that uses non-Euclidean geometric calculations and various ancient mathematical systems to do the brunt of the work for him, allowing him to cast spells with a single tap.
OpenSorcery Network
Power Tier: Extraordinary (-1 Refresh)
Esteem, Influence, Networking
Minor Complication: Mystics Hate Him! Technocrats Hate Him Too!
Conviction: There's So Much Work To Be Done
Cost: 1 Skill point (3 trappings, -1 for Minor Complication, -2 for Conviction)
As founder of OpenSorcery, John has amassed influenced within the Underground, perhaps even being on speaking terms with Iconoclast and Beatrice. As a result, he's able of calling favors in from OpenSorcery members, who are more than happy to help. However, not everyone approves of John's philosophy towards how the arcane arts are to be used. Veteran Mystics in particular strongly dislike John's work. They find his mixing of technology and magic obscene, and view his mission of giving the secrets of magic to the masses as a threat to their plans. The Technocrats despise John even more, as they find his willingness to 'corrupt' technology with something as chaotic as magic as the work of a dangerous fool.
I like the base looting rules, and the actual base/dungeon building rules.
I've stolen them and applied them to other dungeon delving games.
They work pretty well.
I'm not fan of Fate, but I would run this sort of setting in M&M.
I think the creator put up official guidelines for playing this in M&M...
Yup, here it is: baseraiders.com
There's also a Savage Worlds version: baseraiders.com
...and a Wild Talents version: baseraiders.com
>...and a Wild Talents version
Nice, thanks.
You probably should listen to the Base Raiders Actual Plays...one of them involves a base that was owned by a council of David Bowies but commandeered by an alchemist moonshiner using body parts from magical creatures to make his hooch more potent:
actualplay.roleplayingpublicradio.com
actualplay.roleplayingpublicradio.com
Here's some sample stuff from the game's blog,
Super Soldier Serum: Djinn
A recent arrival on the super power scene, Djinn is an alchemical ointment that is applied directly to the skin. Commonly it is mixed with henna and tattooed onto the person, leaving behind glowing markings. Relatively cheap as serums go, it gets its name from a unique property of the drug: after three applications, the user’s body builds up a tolerance to the drug, so further applications have no effect. The powers granted by Djinn tend to be permanent, but they are completely random. One use of the drug could grant you Mach 3 flight, while the next could grant you encyclopedic knowledge of cooking. Because there is no guarantee that a dose of Djinn will generate a useful power, the price stays relatively low. Djinn has gained a reputation as a “party power drug,” with college kids using it to get an ability that is relatively harmless. Surely, there is nothing harmful in a little fun…
In 1985, Cerulean battled a powerful genie named Marid whom he barely managed to defeat. Unable to destroy it, Cerulean bound the foe a mile underground in chains made of fourscore by fourscore by fourscore links. Each link would only be broken when the genie granted a wish. Soon after Ragnarok, an intrepid base raider found his way down to the cave and made the first wish: to be obscenely rich. Marid granted his wish by giving the base raider the recipe for Djinn. The truth behind the drug is that it creates a magical sympathetic connection between Marid and the user. Since each user is, in essence, wishing for powers when they use the drug, Marid is blind-granting wishes. The ointment’s magic, however, cannot change the genie’s limit of three wishes per person. Nonetheless, even with this restriction, Marid is rapidly approaching wish 512,000.
Example Djinn power
Dervish (6 skill points)
Power Tier: Superhuman(-2)
Time to gain power: One hour for tattoo application
Snag, Minor: User is effectively blind when traveling more than a mile with Dervish, as the whirlwind raises up too much dust and debris to see. Dodge, Move, Parry, Strike
Description: The user generates a personal whirlwind that surrounds and lifts the user half a foot above the ground. This whirlwind travels at super speeds, can deflect incoming damage, and grants the user the ability to attack either with the buffeting winds or with the debris caught up in the twister.
Way of the Bootlegging Phoenix (Strange, costs 5 skill points)
Power Tier: Superhuman (-2 Refresh)
Power Type: Adept training
Time to gain power: One month of training in the mountains with access to a moonshine distillery
Major Snag: Can’t fight sober
Major Transformation: Student of the Moonshine Phoenix
Dodge, Initiative [Physical], Move + Unusual: Wobbling Flight, Strike + Unusual: Inebriating Strike!, Menace
Description: A secret martial arts style created by North Carolina moonshiners during Prohibition, the Way of the Bootlegging Phoenix was a curious synthesis of alcoholism and animism. By getting mind-blastingly drunk on a special admixture of moonshine (Phoenx Fire), the martial artist learns to commune with one of the four Chinese Symbols, Ling Guang, the Vermilion Bird of the South. With enough training and booze, the student is capable of flight and making a person drunk through touch, and communing with Ling Guang with any form of alcohol. The fighting style fell out of favor when Prohibition ended, and was actively hunted down by the Ideal when they came to prominence. Avalon believed (probably reasonably) such power should not be in the hands of the permanently sauced. Very few bottles of Phoenix Fire still exist, but it’s possible to find a bottle at an abandoned distillery in the mountains or in a base. Just be careful how much you drink, else you’ll go blind.
Rust Bucket's Power Armor (13)
Power tier: Superhuman (-2 refresh)
Shoot, Notice, Fight: Move + unusual, Physical Force, Stress Cap Health, Resist Damage
Major Focus: Power Armor
Minor Snag: Cannot speak while using this Strange Skill.
Minor Delay: Putting on or removing armor takes 1 full round
Item based power: requires training
Description: The height of technology from Russia in the 1970s, the Dreadnaught Armor was designed to bring the fear of the Hammer and Sickle to the Americans. 10 feet tall and built like a tank, the red armor is seemingly impervious to all but the heaviest of artillery. Only 6 were ever constructed, but one suit fell into the hands of the villain known as Iron Curtain. After a few clashes with the Ideal, the armor was locked away, shuffled from base to base to collect dust. A bit rusty, the suit of armor is still in working order, from the servos and armor plating to the flight rockets and Tesla coil electricity blasters. The biggest downside to the armor is that it is completely voice controlled. Doing anything more complex then walking around means the operator has to focus solely on issuing the verbal commands to the suit, precluding the operator from talking to anyone else.
Super Soldier Serum: Lithium-22 Infusion
Created by a highly unethical scientist named Dr. Jacob Calloway. Lithium-22 Infusions are injected concoctions of saline solution, various chemical stabilizers, and an unstable, super-energetic lithium isotope that can only be made with a nuclear reactor and exotic matter. Dr. Calloway created a few batches of the serum to empower his goons so they could more effectively knock over research labs that had components he needed. Upon injection, the subject undergoes a painful bonding experience with the drug as it alters their DNA to turn them into a human dynamo, giving them the power to generate and control electricity. However, there tends to be side effects...
Example Lithium-22 Power:
Living Generator (10)
Move+Unusual (Flight via electromagnetism), Physical Force+Range+Unusual (Electromagnetism), Shoot+Range, Shoot+Range, Major Weakness: Submersion in Water, Minor Complication: Persistent Static Buildup
Time Stopper:(4)
Variable (Scene) + Unusual (Time Manipulation), Minor Snag: only powers that can be replicated by temporal manipulation can be chosen
post the pdf please
bump for this
Base Raiders - Death Traps Volume 1
userscloud.com
Base Raiders - New Superpowers - Vintage Villainy
userscloud.com
Base Raiders - New Superpowers - Boost Patches
userscloud.com
Base Raiders - Boiling Point
userscloud.com
Base Raiders - Core Rules
userscloud.com
Bump
While this thread is still here, how about we make a base?
baseraiders.com
For the sake of doing this on the, just post your idea and roll 1d100. First to get matching digit rolls has their idea locked in.
I'll start.
>The base is 5 miles underground, beneath a nondescript piece of flatland somewhere in rural Kansas.
...
GDI
Rolled 84 (1d100)
WHY WON'T THE DICE WORK? Is it because my tablet is automatically capitalizing the word Dice?
Bump.
So how exactly does Base Raiders play? Sell me on it. I run a superhero game weekly and having a new tool for doing lairs seems interesting.
It can play like a typical superhero RPG or as a superhero-themed dungeon crawler. There's plenty of Actual Plays if you want examples of gameplay. And since it's based on a version of FATE, it's pretty open-ended.
bump
baseraiders.com
Rules for making characters that start with no powers.