Flagship - The Independent Magazine for Gamers

1. Your company is called Basic Action Games. Why?

Well, I had it in my mind that I wanted to call the game BASH! and the anagram was Basic Action Super Heroes. I figured that Basic Action Games would make a good name, since it describes what we do—make games that are basically easy, but high on action.


2. It was your company's BASH! product that caught my eye, and caused me to abduct you for this interview. What, exactly, is BASH!?

Originally Basic Action Super Heroes, I changed it to Basic Action System Heroes recently, as I figured “Basic Action System” was s good name for the core mechanics. BASH! is a comic-book action role-playing game.


3. Why a super hero game product? Aren't there too many super hero products on the market, already?

That is a good question. At the time that I developed the rules, I was working at an after school program. I wanted to introduce kids to the rpg hobby, but I figured the fantasy genre ala D&D, etc focused too much on killing things and taking their stuff—something that the after school program would not have approved of! Naturally, the game genre that would be perfect would be Superheroes—they save people and their stuff, after all! But at the time, all the Supehero RPGs around were too complicated for kids. I won’t drop names, but some of these rules books could stop small-arms fire. There were also some “rules-lite” superhero games available for free on the web, but they just told people to “make up their own powers” with no rules for how they worked, or guidelines. I figured that I would make something that would be as complete as the Small Arms book, and as thin as the “make it all up” game.


4. The Basic Action Games website (http://www.bashrpg.com/) says that BASH! is "rules-lite." Does that equate to it being "fun-lite," too? Or can buyers of the products expect full scale fun, when they play BASH!?

No, it is definitely not “fun-lite”. In fact, because you spend less time looking up rules, you can actually spend more time on playing the game.


5. What inspired you to create BASH!, anyway, Chris?

I mentioned that I worked at an after school program. One of their rules was a ban on collectible card games, so it began with me making up a game where the kids drew their own monsters with stats, and battled each other. It solved the card problem, and gave the kids something creative to do. I figured the next step would be to get the kids to try role-playing.

When I was a kid, I really enjoyed the D&D Basic Set. I wanted something “like that”-- in the sense that it was easy to learn, with a small enough rules book that a kid could make sense of it. Realizing that dungeon-crawl fantasy was not an option, I wanted to make a game “like that”—the ease of play, the fun of character creation, and the emphasis on imagination over rules lawyeriness—for Superheroes.

Since the after school program required that all games also be educational, I decided to use a multiplication based dice-mechanic (see—they’re learning their multiplication tables while battling Dr. Destructo). The end result was BASH!


6. Speaking of being Chris, can you enlighten our readers as to just exactly which Chris, out of the zillions of Chrises in the universe, that you are?

I am Chris Rutkowsky, currently residing in Davis, California.


7. And when you're playing BASH!, are you still Chris Rutkowsky? Or do you transform into a super villain called Rotten Rotkowsky?

No, it is just Chris, but that’s not a bad idea…


8. Will anyone actually play BASH! with you, since you were involved in the design of the game? What I mean is, is it possible for someone who has never played BASH! before to beat someone like yourself, an experienced pro at the game? Or is BASH! even a game where winning and losing factor into the whole gaming equation?

The game is not about winning or losing—it is a role-playing game. The purpose is to have fun pretending to be a superhero. Although, I suppose as a Narrator in my weekly game when I take on the roles of the world’s mightiest villains, and the world’s mightiest heroes (the players) beat them up, I guess they are technically beating me. But that is part of the fun, the bad guys are supposed to lose.


9. I'll bet that BASH! has a steep learning curve. Does it have a steep learning curve, Rotten Rutkowsky? Don't make me resort to torture to get you to answer that question, Chris. Things will go a lot easier on you, if you just cooperate.

No, not very steep at all.


10. If gamers want to play a super powered moose in BASH!, can they do that, Chris? Or, what about a super evil badger? I guess what I'm asking is whether BASH! only covers humanoid type super heroes and super villains?

There is no mechanical differences based on your character’s shape. There are some powers you may want to buy, depending, like the badger would likely have Shrinking [always on] as a power, and the moose would likely have Growing [always on] as a power. The Moose might have Special Attack, purchased to represent his antlers or hooves, etc.. One of my favorite characters was a 2’ tall purple plush robotic teddy-bear named TD4000. So, yeah, you can come up with some really creative stuff!


11. We can play a super villain, can't we, Chris? Or does BASH! just deal with the do-gooders, the super heroes?

As the Narrator, you get to play ALL the villains. The rules are designed for the players to be the Heroes, but letting them be Anti-Heroes, or Villains won’t ruin the game. Essentially the only mechanical difference between Heroes and Villains is the Golden Rule: ties always go to the Hero.


12. Have you ever played the games City of Heroes, HeroClix, and Heroscape, and if so, how does playing BASH! compare with playing those games that pertain to super powered characters?

I have played City of Heroes, and I own a ton of HeroClix, but I don’t play the game, I just use them as miniatures. I don’t know if you can compare City of Heroes other than to say making a character in both is really fun. The game play itself is quite different, as in CoH you are moving around in real time, and can only get certain powers once you hit certain levels, but BASH! is turn-based, and you have access to any power you want when you make your character. Want to begin with a flying brick (tanker to CoH folks)? No problem…

Something also different is that you can have powers be useful for role-playing—like ESP, or Clairevoyance, or a Utility Belt, or the ability to control bats… These are things that require face to face and they are only limited by imagination. Computer games have the limitation that you only have a limited number of choices of things to do. In one of the above examples, a character who can control bats might use them to block out a light, to swarm around someone to confuse them, to have them carry a message like a carrier pidgeon, to have them eat all the mosquitoes in a certain area, etc. In a video game, assuming it were even an option, controlling bats would likely just be some form of attack where bats somehow do damage to a guy in a suit of power armor.

A face to face game also makes Players feel more like a part of the story, where MMORPGs have people do the same quests that everyone else had done—and so they actually never really get done. In an RPG when the players defeat Dr. Destructo, he goes to prison and plots his revenge—he doesn’t re-spawn for the next raid.


13. If you had it to do all over again, are there any things about BASH! that you would do different, and if so, what are they?

When I first put it out, BASH! was a one-man team, consisting of me. I did all the layout, editing, art coordination, Photoshop, website design, and writing of the book. I really wished that I hired some experts to make those go more smoothly. And now I am, with the intention of re-releasing the game at these higher production standards.


14. What kind of reaction have you gotten, thus far, from people who have tried BASH!?

Most people really like it once they’ve played it. Because I can run an entire Superheroic adventure in the time that it takes some rpgs to run a single combat, some veteran gamers really dig how fast & free it plays. Because it has a small learning curve, people who have never played rpgs before also really like it. I have been asked to autograph peoples’ books before, which was kind of a thrill.

Reviews have been very good to me. One of the reactions I frequently get is “I wish I’d heard of this sooner” or “this game deserves more attention,” which makes me feel good.

The game also has a pretty good following via the Yahoo Group which people make their own add-ons, conversions, etc. for the game. There have also been enough fan contributions to create a “Fan-zine” called BAM! (Basic Action Magazine) which has adventures, new powers, etc, contributed by BASH! fans.


15. You didn't threaten any of those people with your super powers, just to get them to say good things about BASH!, did you, Chris?

Laughs. No, I have to have eye contact for that power to work anyway…


16. Tell us a little more about the BASH! system. What are the meat and potatoes of this particular gaming system?

All characters have 3 stats. Brawn, Agility, and Mind. These are rated from 1-5, with a 1 being average, and a 5 being the pinnacle of superheroics. The characters also have powers rated 1-5. The mechanics of the game, is that when two characters are in conflict, they roll the dice (two ordinary six-sided dice you can swipe out of any board game in the house) and multiply the result by their Stat or Power. Whoever gets higher wins. If the dice roll shows “doubles”, you get to roll another die before multiplying. Simple, eh?


17. Is it possible to use BASH! to game with a character straight out of a comic book? If so, how do you do that?

Yes. I give advice in the back of the book on how to do conversions like this, as well. First, I check if that character has been given an official write-up by another rpg. This is good because all their stats & powers are already listed. Then, I look at the benchmarks for stats and compare them between the two systems. Seeing which stats of that game is most similar to BASH! I convert them over based on how close they are to the BASH! benchmarks. In one system this was as simple as dividing the listed stat by 10 (because the stats in that game ranged from 1 to 50), in another I took the square root of the listed stat, rounded up, and converted it that way (those stats ranked from 1-25, but at an exponential scale). With powers, I just figure what is most similar in BASH! to what is listed in that system, and give them that at a rating I felt appropriate.

For a character that does not have an official writeup in another game, I just eyeball it. If you are not “comic-book guy” then, Wikipedia’s listing of powers and abilities of characters is good for this.


18. I was browsing the Basic Action Games website, just now, and it appears that you've been holding out on me, Chris. There's more to Basic Action Games than you have, thus far, been forthcoming about. Don't make me stick this hot branding iron to your tongue, Rotten Rutkowsky. Spill the beans about some of your company's other game products!

Well, so far I have mainly been talking about Superheroes. We have a Superheroes supplement called “Megapolis: A City of Supers”. Also we have two additional stand-alone systems: BASH! Fantasy Edition and BASH! Sci-Fi Edition. Currently, there is a supplement to BASH! Fantasy out called Isle of the Forgotten Tomb. And of course there is BAM! the free fan-zine.


19. I was really hoping that you wouldn't say anything, Chris, since I already had the branding iron red hot. Damn you for your willingness to talk, Chris! Is there anything about Basic Action Games that you won't tell me?

Nothing comes to mind…


20. Your website advertises something called Megapolis as a sourcebook for BASH! What, exactly, is a sourcebook, anyway, and is Megapolis something that players just absolutely must have, in order to play BASH! in the first place?

A sourcebook is a book that gives the Narrator and Players a setting to play in, already created for them. This gives the Narrator less work to do in developing a cast of Heroes, Villains, plot hooks, and a city to set them in. Megapolis also has a few extra powers, write-ups for animals stats, and a “timeline of events” that can happen in the city as the campaign unfolds. Megapolis is not required to play—it just an aid to make the game easier for a BASH! Narrator to manage—or can actually be used as a setting for other games as well if you are only looking at substance instead of mechanics.


21. I know what you're thinking, Chris. You're thinking that I won't check the demo of Megapolis out. But, I'll have you to know that I'm downloading it right now. I'm about to catch you red-handed, aren't I? While I'm downloading the Megapolis demo (http://www.bashrpg.com/Megapolis.html), how about sharing with our readers why you chose the name Megapolis for this particular sourcebook?

Well, Metropolis was already taken. I guess the word “Megapolis” just sounds like “the big city” to me—which is where a lot of superheroes tend to roam.


22. Who did the artwork for BASH! and Megapolis, anyway? Or is that knowledge classified?

Most of it was Stock-Art from a company called Devil’s Workshop. They employed various artists to produce a variety of sets of superheroic artwork, and it looks really good.


23. If the editor of Flagship magazine, Carol Mulholland, wanted to role play a super powered chicken in the city of Megapolis, using the BASH! system, could she do that, without getting her tail feathers all ruffled, Chris? I don't want her mad as a wet hen, for the way that this interview turns out, so help me out here, Chris. Is there a super power in the BASH! system, by chance, that would allow our editor to meet all of her deadlines on time? Or would that just be asking too much from the BASH! system, Chris?

No problem at all. I could even stat one out right here:

Super Cluck—the bird of steel!
Brawn 4 Agility 3 Mind 1
Powers:
Glide (because chickens can’t fly) 1pt
Super Speed 4 (Really helps with those deadlines) 4pts
Shrinking 2 [Always On] (a chicken’ is about 1 foot tall) 1pt
Immunity: Fear (never say she’s too chicken) 1pt
Mental Malfunction: This hen goes mad whenever she gets wet. She has a great fear & loathing of water.
Skills: Investigation/Pecking for Clues, Athletics/Acrobatics, Stealth/Shadowing, Escapology/Chicken Wire
Advantage: Super Vehicle: The Chicken Coup, Disadvantage: Freak (she is a talking chicken)


24. I see that you guys also offer Island of the Forgotten Tomb, a Swashbuckling Adventure and Campaign Setting for BASH! Is that Blackbeard on the front cover of of this supplement? Or, is supplement the right word to describe Island of the Forgotten Tomb?

Yes, that is Blackbeard on the front. It is, in fact, a supplement to BASH! Fantasy Edition, and not a stand-alone product. You need to the BASH! Fantasy rules to play it. Of course, you can do swashbuckling in BASH! Fantasy without it [there is an appendix on subgenres and one of them is Swashbuckling], but this gives you a world to do it in, along with an adventure, fencing academies, ship to ship combat rules, and typical enemies and allies you might find in the swashbuckling genre.


25. If a gamer already has BASH! and Megapolis, why should they even consider buying BASH! Sci-Fi Edition? Just exactly how many times do you intend to milk the super cow, Chris?

Actually, BASH! Sci-Fi edition is not a superheroes product. It is a stand-alone science fiction role-playing game. Instead of superheroes, the players portray starship captains, psychics, robots, etc with spaceships, aliens, etc. It covers more than just “space opera”—cyberpunk, post apocalyptic, Victorian, and even Mecha genre get attention in there. Right now, I am using it to run a space pulp/science fantasy game, but I have used it to run games set long ago in far, far away galaxies where no man has gone before too.


26. Is there any truth to the rumor that I am starting that Basic Action Games also offers a fantasy edition, also?

Yes. Similar to the Sci-Fi game, BASH! Fantasy is done in Heroic Scale [as opposed to the Super-Heroic scale of BASH!]. In fact, BASH! Fantasy and Sci-Fi are completely compatible. BASH! Fantasy offers typical high fantasy, complete with character creation rules, fantasy races, equipment (including magical), magic, and also several subgenres [swashbuckling, samurais, even wild West].


27. Come clean, Chris. Was it your fantasy all along to do a fantasy edition for the BASH! system? You fantasize a lot, don't you, Rutkowsky?

Well, the rules for Superheroes seemed to work real well, I got to thinking about how it would work adapted to fantasy. I decided that it would work great, but I had to make a few changes (the scale of the benchmarks for stats, for instance—a 4 Brawn in BASH! Fantasy is equivalent to a 2 in BASH!).

As to fantasizing, it would be hard to be in this business without an active imagination!


28. Assuming that some Flagship readers might be interested in picking up a copy of your company's products, how would they go about obtaining a copy of them?

Well, PDFs can be purchased via rpgnow.com, drivethrurpg.com, e23.sjgames.com, and lulu.com. Printed copies of the books can be purchased via lulu.com.


29. Is there any kind of super pricing scheme for those who might want to purchase more than one of Basic Action Games' products in one fell swoop?

Yes. In PDF form, via rpgnow.com, people can buy package deals called “bundles” of BASH! Products, where there is a discount on each product. If you want physical books, you can contact me at mastermind@bashrpg.com and I will give you a discount rate on purchasing multiple books [or PDF versions to go w/ physical versions] that way as well. Rpgnow used to have a Print + PDF option, but they don’t have it anymore. Hopefully this feature will be restored.


30. You wake up in Megapolis one morning quite unexpectedly, Chris, to find yourself endowed with super powers. So, are you a super hero or a super villain? What super name do you go by? What powers do you have? What is your ultimate goal?

I am definitely a superhero. I can read minds, and see through other peoples’ eyes, stun, and sometimes take control of them [but only to save lives—my ethics would prevent me from doing it otherwise]. My name is Seer. My ultimate goal is to find the truth…


31. So, just for the record, what is a Rutkowsky, anyway, and are there more than one of you?

Rutkowskys are my family. I have 2 brothers and my parents of course (so there are 5 of us). My wife also bravely changed her last name from Williams!


32. Other than a game produced by Basic Action Games, what are some of your personal favorite games that you enjoy playing?

Well, I really like Basic set D&D, and so I also like Castles & Crusades produced by Troll Lord Games because it emulates that level of simplicity and fun. 7th Sea by AEG is another favorite of mine.


33. Are there any tips that you can offer to the legions of aspiring game designers out there, Mr. Rutkowsky?

Sure—if you have a great idea, don’t give up on it. Make sure whatever you are offering is something with a unique or special edge—you and your customers will appreciate it more. Also, before you try to go into business for yourself, you should build your name up a bit by doing some freelance work for another gaming company. If your stuff is good enough to get published by someone else, then it is good enough for you to publish yourself.


34. Do you ever encounter criticism of Basic Action Games' products, and if so, how do you deal with any hostile threats that emanate from the enraged segment of gamer society?

Of course we have criticisms, but I never consider them to be “hostile threats”. In general, I always look at them as feedback and a chance for me to improve the game. We often respond to these by putting out updated products to address these issues, or by printing the errata in BAM!


35. From your perspective high atop Mount Gamer, where do you see Basic Action Games going from here?

Now that is the question. Well we have a few things lined up. One is a partnership with Reality Deviants publications to adapt their Blood Throne setting for BASH! Fantasy Edition. We are working on a Pulp BASH! game now, and my home campaign of BASH! Sci-Fi looks like it might become a setting similar to Island of the Forgotten Tomb, which I plan to call “Rockets & Rapiers”—essentially it is Swashbuckling Space Pulp. Also on the burner is a Samurais adventure & setting. The adventure is called “Kirin’s Rescue” and takes place in a fantasy version of feudal Japan.
As for where the company itself is going, I foresee us making the move into more mainstream distribution—hobby shops, possibly book trade—this fall.


36. Just curious, but on a side note, Chris, what are some of your favorite foods and beverages that empower you to create games that are fun to play? They are fun to play, aren't they, Rutkowsky?

Favorite foods? I like a lot of things—I guess when I’m gaming though pizza or meatball subs are high on the list, washed down with coffee. And yes, the games are fun to play! It is a game where you don’t get bogged down in rules and “what your character can’t do” or “killer combos”.


37. Do you have an arch nemesis when you play BASH!, Chris, and if so, what other player is that, and can you tell us about the characters that they play using the BASH! system to befuddle your paltry characters with?

Not really—the game is not a competition—it is just about having fun. If we do that, we all win.


38. What age level do you recommend Basic Action Games' games for?

Well, it was originally designed for kids 10+, but I have played it with kids as young as 8. As long as the kids know (or are learning) their multiplication tables, they’re ready. However, it is still great fun playing with 30+ year olds too (some of whom like to use calculators).


39. Is there anything else about Basic Action Games that our readers need to know, which we haven't covered in this interview, yet?

Sure—our games Sci-Fi, and Fantasy are totally compatible and interchangeable with each other, and BASH! for Superheroes also uses the same mechanic (and includes guidelines for conversion to Heroic scale). Even though it is not sold as a “generic universal system” it can be used for a lot of things. Also our Yahoo group is great for people looking for help converting characters from their favorite comic, show, etc.


40. Wrapping up this interview, Chris, can you tell our readers what inspired you to start creating games in the first place, and can you give us a brief synopsis of how you managed to get from being inspired to actually start producing games with your own company?

Well, I really wanted to make games when I was about 12 and received my first D&D boxed set and Heroquest for Christmas. I really liked those games—but wanted to have the same thing with my favorite superheroes. Being completely unaware that such games already existed, I invented one—and even illustrated it myself with crayons!

I also began gaming with some older kids from my Karate class who had made up their own system which seemed so much better than D&D at the time. I was hung up on the “lack of realism” in class & level based games, and made my own “realistic” rpg where you had to roll every aspect of your character from race to eye color, and the character’s weight and height were functions of one another. I was convinced that this game (EPOCH) was the pinnacle of game design, and that one day it’d make me rich!

Then I went to graduate school, and didn’t really have as much time to tinker with it, and the only game group I played in was Basic D&D once a week at the time. This was also when I began working part time at an After school program. Gradually, my philosophy changed to “simpler is better” when it came to gaming, so when I decided to introduce the hobby to the kids at work as an activity, and realized that there was no simple supers game in print at the time, I decided to make one up (like I was 12 allover again). One night I decided to play test it with some of my adult friends and it was a huge hit. That’s when I decided to take the plunge to become a professional game designer, and haven’t looked back.