ALTERNATE LIFTING RULES FOR BASH UE
INTRODUCTION LIFTING DIFFICULTY TABLE
In one of my favorite moments in comic book history, the DIFFICULTY WEIGHT EXAMPLE
Molecule Man picks up a mountain range and drops it on the
3 10 lbs
team of superheroes assembled by the Beyonder to fight in
his Secret Wars. Being who he is, the Hulk catches the 4 20 lbs Shotput
mountain and holds it up, while Reed Richards frantically jury 5 30 lbs
rigs Iron Man’s armor to blast a hole big enough for the 6 40 lbs
heroes to escape before being crushed. One of the things I
7 50 lbs TV
loved about this moment was the tension. Strong as he was,
the Hulk had to strain to hold up the mountain, and his 8 100 lbs
success was hardly assured. In short, the moment was 9 200 lbs Man
dramatic. These rules attempt to introduce that level of 10 300 lbs
drama to the lifting dynamic in BASH UE.
15 400 lbs
Currently, in BASH UE, lifting is simply a function of a 16 500 lbs
character’s Brawn score; either a character can lift 17 900 lbs Motorcycle
something, or he can’t – no roll required. The following rules
18 1 ton
maintain an aspect of that mechanic, as there are minimum
values that a character will always be able to lift according to 22 2 ton Small Car
his or her Brawn. However, a lifting check mechanic is also 23 3 tons Truck
introduced, allowing characters to lift beyond their limits in 24 5 tons Truck
strenuous situations.
25 10 tons
THE RULES 30 20 tons Jet Fighter
The Lifting Difficulty Table below lists weights along with 31 30 tons
corresponding Difficulty Numbers and real-world 32 50 tons Tank
benchmarks. When a character wants to lift an object, the
33 100 tons
Narrator consults the table to determine an appropriate
difficulty number. The character’s Brawn is then rolled to see 37 200 tons
if the attempt is successful. 38 300 tons Large Plane
39 500 tons
Not every lift attempt, however, requires a Brawn check.
Characters have a Casual Lift value determined by their 40 1,000 tons Trawler
Brawn. Characters can lift any weight up to this value without 45 2,000 tons
rolling. 46 3,000 tons
47 5,000 tons
Similarly, characters also have a Maximum Lift value
determined by their Brawn. Characters cannot lift weights in 48 10,000 tons Destroyer
excess of their Maximum Lift regardless of what they roll. 52 20,000 tons
Casual Lift and Maximum Lift values are listed on the 53 30,000 tons Cruiser
Character Lifting Capacity Table below. An Expanded
54 50,000 tons
Character Lifting Capacity Table is included for use with the
Heightened power published in BAM #5. 55 100,000 tons
CHARACTER LIFTING CAPACITY TABLE EXPANDED LIFTING TABLE
BRAWN STANDARD CASUAL MAXIMUM BRAWN LIFT RANGE CASUAL MAXIMUM
LIFT RANGE LIFT LIFT LIFT LIFT
0 1-40 lbs 20 lbs 80 lbs x0 1-10 lbs 10 lbs 20 lbs
1 41-300 lbs 100 lbs 600 lbs. x0+1 11-20 lbs 20 lbs 40 lbs
2 301 lbs-1 ton 500 lbs 2 tons x0+2 21-30 lbs 30 lbs 60 lbs
3 2-10 tons 3 tons 30 tons x0+3 31-40 lbs 40 lbs 80 lbs
4 11-100 tons 30 tons 400 tons x1 41-50 lbs 50 lbs 100 lbs
5 101-1,000 tons 300 tons 5,000 tons x1+1 51-100 lbs 100 lbs 200 lbs
x1+2 101-200 lbs 200 lbs 400 lbs
x1+3 201-300 lbs 300 lbs 600 lbs
x2 301-400 lbs 400 lbs 800 lbs
x2+1 401-500 lbs 500 lbs 1,000 lbs
x2+2 501-900 lbs 900 lbs 1,800 lbs
x2+3 901 lbs - 1 ton 1 ton 2 tons
x3 2 tons 2 tons 6 tons
x3+1 3 tons 3 tons 9 tons
x3+2 4-5 tons 5 tons 15 tons
x3+3 6-10 tons 10 tons 30 tons
x4 11-20 tons 20 tons 80 tons
x4+1 21-30 tons 30 tons 120 tons
x4+2 31-50 tons 50 tons 200 tons
x4+3 51-100 tons 100 tons 400 tons
x5 101-200 tons 200 tons 1,000 tons
x5+1 201-300 tons 300 tons 1,500 tons
x5+2 301-500 tons 500 tons 2,500 tons
x5+3 501-1,000 tons 1,000 tons 5,000 tons
