[BNW] Newbie questions

[Andrew Ross <arosslaw@earthlink.net>]

Hey howdy everyone. It seems I've once again found a neat game just as
it teeters on the verge of extinction, but as long as there's a mailing
list no game is truly dead, eh?

I didn't give BNW much of a look initially, but I was thinking of
restarting an old supers campaign of mine (sort of a variant of the
Strikeforce Morituri comic) where the characters are enhanced government
agents, each with a single type of power, and from what I'd heard it
sounded like BNW might work really well for such a game. So far, I've
liked what I've read.

Anyhow, I've got a few questions for those familiar with the rules:

Making New Packages: the rulebook gives VERY vague guidelines, but when
you've got one package that makes you bulletproof and lets you fire
energy blasts, and another that gives you a +5 bonus to one skill, it
seems hard to get a sense for what a "correct" package should offer.
Anyone come up with decent workable guidelines?

One thing that surprised me was that there is no mechanic for increasing
one's powers. Every blaster is as powerful as every other blaster, near
as I can tell. Anyone come up with ideas/ways for characters to improve
their powers?

One thing that made me give BNW a look was my enthusiasm for
Deadlands/HoE. I really like the Pinnacle system and heard BNW used a
variant. Which it does, to a degree, though the differences are
interesting. Even though BNW is a "supers" game of sorts, it seems the
characters are more fragile than a similar Deadlands character. An
average DL reg has 5 wounds in all locations, but only 2 in BNW. Ouch.
Also, everyone is smaller (size 5 in BNW as opposed to size 6 in DL). I
realize damage tends to be lower in BNW since you don't add the dice,
but am curious as to how people familiar with both DL and BNW view the
differences between the two systems.

For that matter, has anyone tried adapting the rules for either one to
the other? Deltas squaring off against Doomsayers or psykers could be
interesting.

Lastly, as I'm coming late to the party here, has there been any word of
BNW's fate yet? Last I heard it was on the auction block.

Thanks.

Andrew Ross (arosslaw@earthlink.net)