Ross Payton

Sam

ple

file

STEFF. J. WORTHINGTON

BMBP-4672372/2

Doors

Electrical/Fibre Optic Network

Heating Ducts

Test Cells

Automated Fabricator

Fork-lift Trucks

LEVEL TWO

Power Sub-station

Teleporter Room

(Access from Level One Teleporter Room)

Security Office

& Check PointSecurity

Defense

Point

Cloning Facility

Machinery Workshop

Stairwell to Level 3

Freight Elevator to Level 3

Central Vat

ZOMBIE FACTORY

20ft

BECOME A HEROFind tHE sECREt BAsEs OF tHE Old HEROEs And villAins. lEARn tHEiR sECREts. CHAngE yOuRsElF. CHAngE tHE wORld.Every superhero and villain disappeared a year ago. Some of their secret labs, headquarters, and lairs were found, but many more remain hidden. Treasures, unique artifacts, and secret knowledge can be found in the bases, prizes worth risking death from the traps and guardians left behind.

A new class of ‘base raiders’ emerged to find and loot the abandoned bases. The secrets of gaining super-powers spread when base raiders sold, traded, or gave away what they found.

Now, anyone brave or foolish enough to find the black market can buy a knockoff super soldier drug or magical artifact to use in their own quest to become more than human.

The superhumans of today are not enforcers of an old status quo. They are visionaries, madmen, idealists, fanatics, heroes, villains, and base raiders. Join their ranks. Change yourself. Change the world.

FEAtuREsBase Raiders is a complete role playing game. It uses the FATE system (Spirit of the Century, Dresden Files, Kerberos Club) and adds new features like:

• A Superpowers System that allows characters to add, change, or remove superpowers. You may find ways to give yourself more powers during a mission but the side effects are unpredictable.

• A Base Creation System that allows players to collaborate with the GM to make unique bases for the party to explore.

• A Goals System so your character can change the world. Cure a deadly disease, take down a crime syndicate, or take over a country! The possibilities are endless. Sa

mpl

e file

Sam

ple

file

Sam

ple

file

Ross Payton

Slang Design

Sam

ple

file

Written by Ross PaytonThe Pilgrim was created by Danny Morgan and used with permission. Edited by Patrick Seth Williams and Thaddeus Stoklasa. Proofread by Peter Nielsen. Layout by Ross Payton and Jeff Tidball.

Illustrations:Ian MacLean Cover, 1, 59, 175, 199, 201, 203, 205, 207, 209, 211, 213, 215, 217, 227David Michael Wright 2, 19, 21, 47, 71Steffon Worthington 233, 237, 241, 243, 247Will Hayward 15, 16, 39, 154, 251Chris McCarver 51, 67, 78, 83, 92, 158, 180, 193Bryant Koshu 249David Faught 111, 138, 251Gerry Kissell 223, 229Chris Cirillo 34, 65, 89, 161, 167Ean Moody 101Kate Ashwin 147

Copyright 2013 Ross Payton

ISBN 978-0-9827265-2-5

First Edition 2013Printed in the United States

Thanks to my family for their support and to my friends for playtesting and proofreading the original version of this game, The Heroes of New Arcadia. I couldn’t have written this without Mom, Dad, Strader, Patrick Seth Wil-liams, Tom Church, Caleb Stokes, Aaron Carsten, Jason Ariciu, Thaddeus Stoklasa, and Andrew Grattendick.

The Kickstarter backers who made this book a reality have my eternal gratitude. You guys rock!

Sam

ple

file

Base RaideRs taBle of contents

ContentsForeword .............................................................................................. 8

Introduction ........................................................................................... 9

Then and Ragnarok ...................................................... 10

World War 2 ...................................................................................... 11

The Cold War ..................................................................................... 13

Before Ragnarok ................................................................................. 18

Ragnarok ........................................................................................... 21

The World Now ............................................................ 26

The Tell Alls ......................................................................................... 26

Today ................................................................................................. 27

Major Controversies ............................................................................. 30

Notable Places .................................................................................... 32

The Status Quo ............................................................. 36

The Government ................................................................................. 36

Corporations ...................................................................................... 40

Organized Crime ................................................................................ 42

The Underground .......................................................... 44

Origins of the Underground .................................................................. 44

Structure ............................................................................................. 44

Goals ................................................................................................. 45

Membership ........................................................................................ 46

Laws .................................................................................................. 47

Factions .............................................................................................. 47

Resources ........................................................................................... 49

Challenges ......................................................................................... 52

Sam

ple

file

Base RaideRs taBle of contents

Base Raiding ............................................................... 54

Historical Bases ................................................................................... 56

Base Construction ................................................................................ 58

The Bases Today .................................................................................. 64

Tradecraft ........................................................................................... 65

Exploring a Base ................................................................................. 68

Rewards ............................................................................................. 69

Gaining Superpowers .................................................... 70

DIY Superpowers ................................................................................. 72

How NOT to get Superpowers .............................................................. 73

The Black Market for Powers ................................................................. 73

The Internet ........................................................................................ 78

Types of Powers................................................................................... 79

Learning Magic ................................................................................... 84

Super Science and Technology .............................................................. 87

Playing the Game ......................................................... 90

The Basics ....................................................................................... 90

Character Creation .............................................................................. 93

Aspects ........................................................................................... 96

How Aspects Work ........................................................................... 97

Backgrounds ..................................................................................... 102

Archetypes ....................................................................................... 102

Skills ................................................................................................ 106

The Common Skills ......................................................................... 115

Trapping Descriptions ..................................................................... 116

Extras and Drawbacks .................................................................... 135

Drawbacks .................................................................................... 137

Sam

ple

file

Base RaideRs taBle of contents

Magic .............................................................................................. 140

Sample Unique Skills ....................................................................... 141

Sample Strange Skills ...................................................................... 143

Gifts .............................................................................................. 148

Character Goals ................................................................................ 151

Example Character ............................................................................ 155

Campaign Aspects ............................................................................ 157

Collateral Consequences .................................................................... 159

Advancement .................................................................................... 160

Running the Game ...................................................... 162

Time and Space ............................................................................. 162

Doing Things .................................................................................. 163

Conflicts ........................................................................................ 168

Advanced Power Interaction Rules ....................................................... 182

Base Building Rules ............................................................................ 187

Loot Rules ......................................................................................... 192

Rogue’s Gallery ......................................................... 196

Campaign advice ........................................................ 218

The Zombie Factory .................................................... 228

The Secret Life of Biomancer .............................................................. 228

Base Overview .................................................................................. 230

Level 1 ............................................................................................. 231

Level 2 ............................................................................................. 235

Level 3 ............................................................................................. 239

Level 4 ............................................................................................ 243

Level 5 ............................................................................................. 245

The Zombie Factory In Your Game ...................................................... 248

Sam

ple

file

ForeworD“The world is the will to power – and nothing besides!”

Friedrich Nietzsche

Superheroes are allergic to Nietzsche.I’m not talking about the vaguely fascist overtones of vigilantism in general. Hell, if you’re talking about late-

80’s, early-90’s, they LOVE that part of it. I’m talking about the Will to Power: the idea that the basic drive for human existence is the desire for more and better. Your average superhero doesn’t like that idea at all. They spend most of their time finding adherents to that philosophy they can punch and roast with optic blasts.

In the comics, bad guys want power and become super-villains when that pursuit inevitably goes wrong or, worse, is fulfilled. Meanwhile, good guys are good guys precisely because they don’t want to be.

Think about it. Radioactive spiders. Misplaced alien weaponry. One-of-a-kind super soldier serums. Just being “born this way.” The A-list of superheroes is absolutely crammed with, at best, bumblers that stumble into god-hood and, at worst, anthropomorphized freaks from another species, sucking on their Kryptonian silver spoons.

Even egocentric super-geniuses like Tony Stark need an invitation in the form of plot shrapnel before it’s acceptable to be better than human. Batman at least has to study and exercise to utilize his “superheroic” trust fund, but the very willingness to put effort into being exceptional stains his morals many shades darker than his peers. The Hulk, perhaps the greatest mass murderer in history, still gets a free pass because he never asked for those gamma rays. Anyone can be a hero so long as they aren’t a try-hard.

But if some guy wants to save his wife from a terminal illness? Madman. A scientist makes a prosthesis that allows workers to safely handle radioactive materials? Criminal. Someone dares to rise from humble beginnings and build a world empire that employs tens-of-thousands? He must be the devil himself.

Superheroes are only superheroes because they never wanted to be. Their goodness is measured primarily on how ungrateful they are for the privilege. Comics leave us rooting for whiny, woe-as-me gods that can barely stop bemoaning their luck long enough to stop a mugging.

Ross Payton recognized these hypocrites. And he killed them…or erased them, or whatever the hell Ragnarok did. Regardless, they’re gone now. Even their perverted sparring partners, corrupted by the audacity to want to be more, are off the playing field. All that’s left are puny humans… and all those nifty toys.

Base Raiders are superheroes for you and me. It’s superheroes for a world of smart phones and laser eye surgery and invisible clouds of ever-accessible information and TV robots that know what shows you like through digital mind reading. It’s a superheroes game for the generation that stopped being purely “human” twenty years ago and couldn’t be happier about it. It’s for the people that never met something they didn’t want to hack, customize, remix, or make better, including their own bodies. It’s a vision of superpowers tailor-made for a people that illegally download what they can’t afford, leak what they can’t abide, and won’t tolerate being told “no.”

The meta-human slate has finally been wiped clean. And maybe, just maybe, wanting in on the action doesn’t make you a monster. Maybe that death ray is better off in your hands than government black ops team or crimi-nal syndicate. And perhaps cancer patients could use some of that hoarded super-science more than some dead avenger’s secret clubhouse. After all, isn’t it about damn time your moral imperative took back the night? Is it so hard to believe that actually having to work for power might make you respect it more than the privileged elite?

There’s only one way to find out.Base Raiders isn’t a game for the weak, waiting endlessly for their superpower lotto tickets. It’s a game those

strong enough to fight for the heroes they must become. The power is out there. Take it.Or someone else will.

—Caleb Stokes

Sam

ple

file

IntroDuctIon

Base Raiders began as just another superhero campaign for my friends. Most existing settings had a plethora of high powered heroes and villains, which I did not want for my game. After all, if the players can always be bailed out by other superhumans, how heroic can they be? Also, if they faced the wrong villain, they would be guaranteed to lose, no matter what they did. I wanted a setting where the actions of the players meant more than any NPC. There are superhero settings that accomplish this, but usually by establishing that the player characters are among the first generation of superhumans. Thus, there is no history of heroes and villains fighting in colorful costumes or saving the world from cosmic threats. I wanted all the trappings of the superhero genre, like magic and super-science existing in the same world, alternate universes, mutants, aliens, robots, magical beings, and super soldier drugs. This meant my setting needed a history of superheroes and villains, but I didn’t actually want the previous generation being part of the game. So I got rid of them.

Base Raiders wipes the slate clean, removing all of the old superhumans, so the player characters can take center stage. A cosmic ‘event’, like one of those heavily promoted crossovers that has its own special logo causes every hero and villain to disappear. It leaves their toys behind though, tucked away in countless lairs, hideouts, headquarters, and bases. Eventually someone finds one of the power sources left behind and becomes the first in a new generation of superhumans. From that point on, it’s your game.

The entire history of the Base Raiders setting is designed to give players and gamemasters a broad palette to create any kind of superhero game they want. Every element is used to explain why there are so many aban-doned bases and why no one can stop normal people from gaining superpowers. That being said,feel free to rip out or change any part of the setting that doesn’t fit the game you have in mind. Not just the setting either. The rules are there for your enjoyment, so change or ignore any part of the rules you want.

I guarantee that the author of this game will not get mad if you change something. You can even run a game of Base Raiders in another system. Conversion guides will be available by the end of 2013 at baseraiders.com for Wild Talents, Mutants and Masterminds, and Savage Worlds.

The original campaign for Base Raiders was called The Heroes of New Arcadia. It took us over a year to finish it. During that year, the player characters went from being a group of self-empowered citizen vigilantes to world leaders and protectors of the entire universe. Heroes died, villains were stopped, and a good time was had by all. The campaign did not focus on raiding abandoned bases, but it did come up again and again. Dungeon crawling, of a sort, became an important trope in the campaign. Players did not want to raid bases just to gain more power or loot though. They raided specific bases because they had a reason, like investigat-ing Ragnarok or uncovering the base of a hero one of the player characters knew. These sessions were always memorable because they had more at stake than personal wealth and glory. Players cared about the outcome of the base raiding because it mattered to the story.

A good dungeon crawl is only partially about overcoming the guardians and traps. It’s also about the reward at the end. The loot. It could be a pile of gold coins, a magic sword, or a suit of robotic power armor. It doesn’t matter what it is. What matters is what the hero intends to do with the loot. Heroes use the gold to feed the needy, the magic sword to slay an evil dragon, or the suit of power armor to save the world. In Base Raiders, the loot can be anything you can imagine. What kind of story can you tell when you hand normal people the power to change anything in the world, even themselves? There’s only one way to find out. Enjoy!

—Ross Payton

Sam

ple

file