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What rule sets/settings have you ported into BRP?


sladethesniper

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When converting from d20 to BRP, something becomes funnily apparent. In d20, it is assumed that a 10th level character is absolutely heroic, a 20th level is superhuman and a 30th level character is near godlike...but when you convert to BRP, a lot of the stuff in d20 ceases to be relevant. Armor Class becomes dodge and parry, BAB and multiple attacks get parsed into specific weapon skills not huge swathes of weapon types, and multiple attacks, while possible are not nearly as common nor as reliable in D20. Skills in d20 vary wildly in utility in game, whereas in BRP, skills can almost be considered more important that powers/magic/equipment because they are so versatile. The greatest reduction in power from a d20 PC to becoming a BRP PC is the loss of the "hit points". This singular reduction from a pool of hundreds of hit points to usually less than 20 hit points remakes D20 characters from powerhouses into merely competent.

What I would probably do is to convert the levels into a pool of points, then spend those points on spells, skills and so on. That way, you could build a more powerful character that more accurately reflects the D20 power level.

While it can be argued from a mechanics standpoint that every character in D20 would have the equivalent of 30% in every skill automatically (using DC 10, a d20 roll -4 for being untrained gives 6/20 chance of success...which is 30%) I simply cannot abide by that...and besides the 1 rank/bonus = 5% is more elegant than the mathematical contortions of D20.

No, I wouldn't do that. BRP skills have a basic chance for a reason - if you don't have the skill then you have the basic chance of succeeding. If you use the skill categories and their bonuses then you often get a good chance of a skill anyway.

I would, however, look at the character classes and see which BRP skills they should have. In fact, I'd use a template for each class, in the same way as Professions get a template, but with special abilities included.

Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. 

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I only discovered BRP 2 years ago although I used RQ and Cthulhu from my original 80s collection. Having grown fed up with the Dark Heresy system I converted that to a D100 based game similar to BRP until I found the BGB and then converted to BRP entirely. Since than I did my own version of Only War, a Homebrew Steampunk, Home brew Muskets and Magic and recently a Zombie Guide/World War Z survival game.

I love the simplicity and complexity of BRP and my players like the way they use the same system for character gen never mind the setting.

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I was thinking for a long time about doing a somewhat-higher-fantasy version of Harn for some system. Harn is in commercial limbo, and has been seemingly for the last ten years. That doesn't make its following any less dedicated. Nonetheless, there are interesting things going on, and the lack of an overarcing meta-plot to the setting makes it a blank slate for players to write on.

IIRC, magic in Harn is rare and frequently mistrusted. Playing a mage would be rough for that reason.

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I looked back up to the top of the thread and saw that the OP had issues converting DC Adventures. Now supers in BRP (via the old Superworld rules) might well pose issues regardless. But I'm curious what problems you had and how you addressed them.

The biggest issue with DC Adventures is the scaling mechanic they used. I like linear system mechanics, and if there has to be a scale change, then make an actual scale change and not just try to sneak it in there in the normal scale.

I pretty much used all the optional rules in the Masterminds Manual, then used that as by baseline. The second biggest issue is that BRP is so deadly (compared to the normal comic books that are attempting to be emulated) and a punch from the average super-strong PC would be a killing blow. I incorporated a "pulling your punch" mechanic so that normals were not just splattered, but trying to incorporate anything beyond street level supers in a gritty campaign is, at least for me, difficult.

-STS

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The biggest issue with DC Adventures is the scaling mechanic they used. I like linear system mechanics, and if there has to be a scale change, then make an actual scale change and not just try to sneak it in there in the normal scale.

Just be glad you're not trying to translate the original DC Heroes. Superman with a STR 25 was 33,554,432 times as strong as a normal human with STR 2. Hard to imaging him being lower than a STR in three or even four figures.

The second biggest issue is that BRP is so deadly (compared to the normal comic books that are attempting to be emulated) and a punch from the average super-strong PC would be a killing blow. I incorporated a "pulling your punch" mechanic so that normals were not just splattered, but trying to incorporate anything beyond street level supers in a gritty campaign is, at least for me, difficult.

You would definitely have to buy out the store's entire stock of handwavium to avoid problems with some of the most powerful characters. A character who runs up and down the city streets at Mach 5 would require lots of the stuff. But one way to deal with the fragility of humans is to use the PCs' reputations to advantage. I'm amazed that anyone short of Darkseid would even bother trying to punch or shoot Superman. Surely they would know that all it does in annoy him (if even that -- he always had a surprisingly even keel). Superman would not really need to do anything to foil a bank robbery except show up -- you're a bank robber. He's Superman. One guess who's going to win this one.

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I managed to take out one of my older games: Silver Age Sentinels the late Guardians of Order's attempt at a superhero game. It was done in two flavors, tri-Stat and d20. The d20 port isn't that great.

I had it on PDF, so I printed out the Sentinel's d20 character sheet (the Sentinel is sort of a cross between Captain America and Superman -- the experiment did a lot more than augment his physique, also giving him Flight, Invulnerability, and "Atomic" attack powers. He has a STR of 96in d20 and a BAB equivalent of +13. He would definitely pose some of the handwavium issues we see in most supers campaigns. His Damage Bonus, if we take the straight score, would be +5D6. It could be worse....

The Tri-Stat version is a much better game, but probably an even more difficult conversion. Tri-Stat gives a single stat -- Body -- for all physical elements of a character. Superior strength and endurance are represented by Attributes that further define a character. IF you look at the Sentinel in Tri-Stat, you see that his Body stat is high but that he still has multiple levels in Super-Strength. This makes pure mathematical conversion a pipe dream.

Edited by Michael Hopcroft
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Well, like I said, big damage numbers don't bother me...my first RPG was Robotech by Palladium Books, so mega-damage and insta-death weapons are no big deal...so getting 10d6 punches won't hurt my feelings. The problem, I suspect is much more when super heroes carry the idiot ball and forget about their powers and when a player (not a writer) has the power of superman/batman/wolverine...the stories don't go was well as they do in comics. Replicating the feel of a comic book inside an RPG without very stringent alignment checks would seem to be beyond my capabilities as a GM.

-STS

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I used to play Paranoia. I don't remember the system being problematic, but I might not have the patience for it anymore, so I'd be interested in seeing your port.

The baggage was more to do with the setting and their impressions of the game. Most had never played it themselves.

Here is a link to the Paranoia stuff: http://grevsspace.wordpress.com/category/roleplaying/paranoia/

The oldest posts are at the bottom.

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My Blog: http://grevsspace.wordpress.com/

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It just occurred to me that I don't really remember how D20 characteristics scale to d100 characteristics. That could serve to alter things as the numbers get bigger. And I wonder whether the SAS conversion to d20 was deliberately nerfed for ease of play. The CoC conversion system doesn't provide any formula for that purpose, but somehow I don't think straight-on substitution would be the answer.

Anyone have a BRP spreadsheet that includes super-powers?

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The following scribd link is a good resource for checking the benchmarks for stats across various games systems. It doesn't include BRP (sadly, it's only real flaw), but since d20 and BRP both use 3d6 for the basic stats, I consider them both to be equivalent.

Converting over in a 1:1 ratio is how I do it...

STR in BRP is STR in D20

DEX in BRP is DEX in D20

INT in BRP is INT in D20

CON in BRP is CON in D20

APP in BRP is CHA in D20

POW in BRP can be seen as WIS in D20

SIZ is not used in D20, although you can convert to their scaling method (small, med, large, etc.)

SAN in BRP can be seen as WIS in D20

EDU is not used in D20

-STS

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The following scribd link is a good resource for checking the benchmarks for stats across various games systems. It doesn't include BRP (sadly, it's only real flaw), but since d20 and BRP both use 3d6 for the basic stats, I consider them both to be equivalent.

Converting over in a 1:1 ratio is how I do it...

STR in BRP is STR in D20

DEX in BRP is DEX in D20

INT in BRP is INT in D20

CON in BRP is CON in D20

APP in BRP is CHA in D20

POW in BRP can be seen as WIS in D20

SIZ is not used in D20, although you can convert to their scaling method (small, med, large, etc.)

SAN in BRP can be seen as WIS in D20

EDU is not used in D20

-STS

If I used that link straight it would put the Sentinel's strength in the range of several thousand. I don't think anything can survive being hit with a 100d6 damage bonus. Even the lowest conceivable roll of 100 would vaporize almost anything. But since its pasis is AD&D2 rather than d20 I suspect that might not be the best approach.

Edited by Michael Hopcroft
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In reading through the Powers section in BRP, it seems to really discourage bricks. If you want to be super strong you must add one point to the characteristic for one Power Point. Since you only start on average with about 105-110 and need attacks and defenses, you can't just pour everything you've got into STR. I don't think I've seen a published Superworld character with a STR above 65 (in the core set the most I've seen is 63, but Superworld seems to use a different scale for Damage Bonus).

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I think BRP would be a great system for Hârn. You could use Cthulhu: Dark Ages for inspiration, or Mythic Iceland (for the Ivinians), or Crusaders of the Amber Coast (for knights). I've also used Maelstrom (which is makes being a Grocer or a Laborer actually playable to some extent, and the magic system is perfect for Hârn and low-fantasy settings) and Dragon Warriors, both British games from the 1980s.

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Harn is a great simulationist system as it is, and the D100 percentile mechanic is pretty familiar for BRP players. It's just a tad too complex for my tastes as a GM, so BRP wins out there. If I was using the Harn setting I would use BRP mechanics although I would try and keep the Harn magic system as much as possible, it wouldn't be hard to port into BRP. The Harn setting material is excellent. I'd use BRP Merrie England, BRP Crusaders Of The Amber Coast, and BRP Mythic Iceland for character creation guidelines.

I also played a Shadow World scenario (written for ICE Rolemaster) with BRP, and it seemed to port across reasonably well. I think one of the charms of BRP is that you can do most gritty settings with it, its a great old school system that was well ahead of the others when it first came out.

Edited by Mankcam
spelling error

" Sure it's fun, but it is also well known that a D20 roll and an AC is no match against a hefty swing of a D100% and a D20 Hit Location Table!"

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  • 1 month later...

That sounds pretty cool. I wasn't thrilled with the way the BRP core book handled superpowers. Mutants and Masterminds does a much better job, but the D20 mechanics frustrate me at times.

Right now am making a supers game using mutants and masterminds 2nd edition, with some additional feats from d20 added, then converting the whole character to BRP. I don't know how well it will work in play, but mechanically, it seems to be working so far.
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I was not happy with the way that Superworld worked either. It is the only one of the multiple BRP products that just didn't feel right. I much prefer the way M&M did it (specifically 2nd edition) as a point buy system. I pointed out in one of the other threads that I find myself making characters in other systems to capture the feel of the setting, then porting them into BRP (everything's a skill!) and running the game that way.

Character creation in BRP is fine, but makes a lot of vanilla characters IMO, and I like having the flexibility to make a physical adept in Shadowrun, a Cyclone rider from Robotech, a 1/2 demon sorcerer from D&D and a superhero from M&M and run them all in BRP.

If you want, I can send you the basics of my M&M to BRP point buy system in a PM or an email.

-STS

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I'd love to take a look at it. Here's my email address. patrickclapham@gmail.com

I was not happy with the way that Superworld worked either. It is the only one of the multiple BRP products that just didn't feel right. I much prefer the way M&M did it (specifically 2nd edition) as a point buy system. I pointed out in one of the other threads that I find myself making characters in other systems to capture the feel of the setting, then porting them into BRP (everything's a skill!) and running the game that way.

Character creation in BRP is fine, but makes a lot of vanilla characters IMO, and I like having the flexibility to make a physical adept in Shadowrun, a Cyclone rider from Robotech, a 1/2 demon sorcerer from D&D and a superhero from M&M and run them all in BRP.

If you want, I can send you the basics of my M&M to BRP point buy system in a PM or an email.

-STS

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I haven't read or watched much Game of Thrones (no HBO and they try very hard to keep it away from everyone else -- the only way Netflix was able to distribute it at all was to buy a whole bunch of DVDs at retail price). I don't even really know whether I'd even enjoy the experience. But there's no denying it's immensely popular. So somehow I can see some people running similar campaigns in BRP. The system certainly reflects PC fragility.

From what I've heard there's a definite "fiddling while Westeros freezes" vibe it would appear. The world is approaching an inevitable catastrophe, and everyone is too wrapped up in silly power struggles to do anything about it. If they keep fighting each other, there may be nothing left to defend the world when the crisis fully manifests.

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