Looking for superhero rpg playtesters

[BTRC]

I'm busy working on the 2nd edition of EABA, and one of the major changes is the power creation system. One of the first game settings to be released is ASE, a dark and unusual superhero setting. So...I'm looking for experienced and/or curious system geeks and superhero rpg players to construct/deconstruct/demolish/critique the new power system and the ASE game setting in general. The playtest documents for ASE and EABA v2 can be found at the BTRC forums:

http://www.btrc.net/forum/6-eaba-v20-development

http://www.btrc.net/forum/18-ase

I believe you have to register to download anything, but it's free. The chapter 1 & 2 file gives the quick overview to see if it is something you are interested in pursuing further.

[Kap]

Checked the first link, saw no explanation of what EABA is...?

[Pattern Ghost]

EABA is clearly the European Algae Biomass Association!

[BTRC]

Checked the first link, saw no explanation of what EABA is...?

EABA is the universal "house system" used by BTRC. It's been around a while, but is in the process of being updated, hence the v2 thread on the BTRC forums. If you wander around the BTRC page you can follow the main EABA link to find out about the 1st edition rules and its supplements, and download samples of most of them. The full rundown on the game is at: http://www.btrc.net/eabav11

[Kap]

When are you coming out with "Papers & Paychecks"?

[Pattern Ghost]

BTRC=Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission?

[Doc Democracy]

Blacksburg Tactical Research Center is a little game company nestled in the Appalachian foothills, slowly and tediously handcrafting the finest role-playing games and supplements for a small audience of die-hard fans, and for new converts acquired through word-of- mouth advertising. We do it because we love the work. Though managing to get some non-game fiction published would be nice too...

Public information service....

[AndyStaples]

I don't particularly play superhero games, so I'm not the best for this, but I do rate EABA as a pretty good generic game system. As far as I know, it doesn't officially stand for anything, but some say it's End All Be All.

BTRC is basically Greg Porter (also known for Timelords, CORPS, etc).

Some Hero fans will know BTRC for Guns!Guns!Guns!, which features Hero conversion notes.

I've found EABA works best at grim and gritty levels. My players dislike it because combat can be very lethal.

EABA has a design-anything add-on, Stuff!, which can be used to build anything from a knife to a galaxy-spanning civilisation in game terms. It's a bit more complex in this than Hero, but nowhere near as complex as GURPS Vehicles. It also considers the volume of components, which Hero doesn't.

So, yeah, if you can help Greg out with some superhero input, I'd say go for it. EABA deserves to be far better known in the gaming community.

[Derek Hiemforth]

I don't particularly play superhero games, so I'm not the best for this, but I do rate EABA as a pretty good generic game system. As far as I know, it doesn't officially stand for anything, but some say it's End All Be All.

BTRC is basically Greg Porter (also known for Timelords, CORPS, etc).

Some Hero fans will know BTRC for Guns!Guns!Guns!, which features Hero conversion notes.

I've found EABA works best at grim and gritty levels. My players dislike it because combat can be very lethal.

EABA has a design-anything add-on, Stuff!, which can be used to build anything from a knife to a galaxy-spanning civilisation in game terms. It's a bit more complex in this than Hero, but nowhere near as complex as GURPS Vehicles. It also considers the volume of components, which Hero doesn't.

So, yeah, if you can help Greg out with some superhero input, I'd say go for it. EABA deserves to be far better known in the gaming community.

I was going to reply, but I see that AndyStaples here has kindly saved me the trouble. So, umm... This.

EABA is an excellent game. Were the HERO System to magically vanish from the face of the Earth somehow, EABA would be on my extremely short list of possible replacements as my game system of choice. I'll definitely take a look and toss in my .02.

[BTRC]

The original EABA would only handle low-level to medium-level superheroics, largely due to the lethality issue someone else mentioned. I am trying to give EABA v2 sufficient advanced combat options and a more flexible power design system so that it can be playable "out of the box" as a superhero game. This is one of the reasons the ASE superhero setting is probably going to be the first gameworld when EABA v2 comes out. Since EABA v1 works just fine for other genres and the v2 mechanics are almost identical, the powers and combat scaling of v2 make ASE the torture test for the new system.

I've played Hero since 1st edition Champions, so I figure people who know the ins and outs of a customizable system like this would be ideal for abusing the EABA system. For those who have not zipped over and looked at the v2 powers, it is probably one level more meta than Hero. There are no pre-defined "powers", just a list of effects and targets and defenses and modifiers. For instance, one of the sample powers posted is "Wiring", which would be like teleportation, but you can only do it through a conceptual conduit, like a wire or pipe. As a power design, it would look like this:

modifier	amount
base modifier	+10
framework: single power only	+0
framework: no mutability	+0
effect: increase	-3
effect: extradimensional movement	-8
defense: easy mundane	+4
conditional: requires an "exit" to turn off power	+3
conditional: +8 non-combat effect	-1
range: aura	+2
special effect	+1
adjustment: power is obvious	+0
power duration: an action	+0
drain: +1 per +6 power level	+0
modifier total (as a quantity)	x8
power efficiency	+6

I won't go into what all of these mean, but it gives you an idea of the "building block" nature of the system. You generate a modifier total which gives a non-linear increase in your "bang for buck" (minimizing modifier abuse). All of the "+0" modifiers are defaults, assumed to be the case unless you change them, so the power is really just the seven non-zero modifiers plus the base, which is used to adjust the power level of a campaign (you change the overall efficiency with it).

[Derek Hiemforth]

it is probably one level more meta than Hero. There are no pre-defined "powers", just a list of effects and targets and defenses and modifiers. For instance, one of the sample powers posted is "Wiring", which would be like teleportation, but you can only do it through a conceptual conduit, like a wire or pipe. As a power design, it would look like this:

modifier	amount
base modifier	+10
framework: single power only	+0
framework: no mutability	+0
effect: increase	-3
effect: extradimensional movement	-8
defense: easy mundane	+4
conditional: requires an "exit" to turn off power	+3
conditional: +8 non-combat effect	-1
range: aura	+2
special effect	+1
adjustment: power is obvious	+0
power duration: an action	+0
drain: +1 per +6 power level	+0
modifier total (as a quantity)	x8
power efficiency	+6

I won't go into what all of these mean, but it gives you an idea of the "building block" nature of the system. You generate a modifier total which gives a non-linear increase in your "bang for buck" (minimizing modifier abuse). All of the "+0" modifiers are defaults, assumed to be the case unless you change them, so the power is really just the seven non-zero modifiers plus the base, which is used to adjust the power level of a campaign (you change the overall efficiency with it).

This is really interesting! It reminds me a bit of an idea floating around back when Hero 4E was being done (and which obviously wasn't implemented), which was to boil the Powers down to five -- Attack, Defend, Move, Sense, and Change -- and then assemble all effects, including the existing powers, by combining those five, applying Advantages, applying Limitations, etc. I'm eager to see how you're implementing this!

[lemming]

Neat. If I didn't have 20 different projects going on at once, I'd give this a look.

[Pattern Ghost]

ASE:

Automotive Service Excellence
American Society of Echocardiography
Alliance to Save Energy
Association for Surgical Education
Acronyms Sans Explanation

/ducks


Seriously, though. Seems like an interesting system.

How long is the playtest? I'm a bit busy at the moment, but I may take a look when I'm less so.

[BTRC]

This is really interesting! It reminds me a bit of an idea floating around back when Hero 4E was being done (and which obviously wasn't implemented), which was to boil the Powers down to five -- Attack, Defend, Move, Sense, and Change -- and then assemble all effects, including the existing powers, by combining those five, applying Advantages, applying Limitations, etc. I'm eager to see how you're implementing this!

EABA v2 effects are (at the moment):

restore - repair something or try to bring it back to its undamaged value
enhance - alter the capabilities of something without changing its numerical value
increase - make something bigger (movement, a stat, size, etc.)
reduce - smaller
armor - protection
damage - damage
transfer - move a game quantity from one target to another

There are modifiers and variants and such, but those are the core "effects". So, healing would be:

effect: restore
target: lethal hits

An concussive blast might be:

effect: damage
target: non-lethal hits
defense: armor (on hits)
range: long (or whatever distance level you wanted)
usage: requires combat skill roll

And either could have all the sorts of things you would expect. A healer might want to have usage: gestures (laying on of hands) and usage: requires concentration, things to bump the efficiency up. While the blast might have increased accuracy, autofire, explosion or other combat gimcracks.

[BTRC]

ASE:
Acronyms Sans Explanation

Seriously, though. Seems like an interesting system.

How long is the playtest? I'm a bit busy at the moment, but I may take a look when I'm less so.

I like the "acronyms sans explanation" one. Clever. Anyways, since I have the dubious luxury of running the company, ASE (and EABA v2) will be ready when they are ready. But, the more feedback I get, the sooner that will be...