Ran my first game

[jimc]

So, I ran MW for the first time last weekend. I used some pre-generated characters that were all human, but I made them into different races. The people I play with are very used to D&D 3.5 and how that world works and I find that not having to explain a new world like The Southern Reaches or the Conan world lets me get into the action sooner. So, I am going to be running my one shots in the familiar Forgotten Realms. I am mainly only running one shot (5 - 7 hour) games once a month. 

 

I am streamlining the skills into just 5--Physical, Communication, Knowledge, Manipulation and Perception. I'd like the character sheet to fit on an index card. If I was running a campaign I would not do this but I find that for one shots, breaking them down into skills they would never use anyways is unnecessary. They are not leveling skills since each month is anew.

 

I am going to be using all of the 3.5 races. Dwarves will get bonuses to Physical, Gnomes - Knowledge, Halfling - Manipulation, Human - Communication, Elf - Perception. Half-Elves will get smaller bonuses to Perception and Communication, likewise with Half-Orcs, Physical and Communication. I will also have the classes from 3.5 but it is more for role-play purposes and will not really have much of a mechanics bonus other than weapon bonuses. I am not fond of classes. Basically, if I tell them they are playing a Half-Orc barbarian,  Halfling rogue or a stealthy Elf, they will know how to role-play it never mind what is on their character sheet. All players will have access to magic but if it says Sorcerer, Cleric,  Wizard etc..., on the sheet, they will have another index card with spells on it. Rangers will have good bow skills, Barbarians, two handed weapons etc...

 

The thing that is going to take the longest is converting spells. I am a D&D fan-boy and have gotten attached to the names of the spells. So, I am going to convert the 3.5 PH spells into magic points and or rename the ones from MW into D&D spell names.

 

I just got the Advanced Sorcery book so I will be adding those spells into the mix.

 

So, the session went well. everyone liked the combat system and we spent most of our time role-playing and I didn't really have to look up any rules at all except for what skill should be used and I am eliminating that. It sure felt like D&D. Besides the magic users, who have various spells to choose from, I can almost eliminate the character sheets so peoples eyes are on each other, not buried into the options on the sheet. 

[tooley1chris]

I would suggest looking at Rods Classic Fantasy for BRP. He did a fantastic job converting spells from D&D.

Nothing wrong with using forgotten realms materials. It's a rich world with tons of supplements for towns, cities, and "places of interest"

[Mankcam]

I heartily second you have a look at the BRP Classic Fantasy pdf, it pretty much is old school D&D tweaked for BRP rules, and exactly the kind of thing that would be useful here. There are no professional backgrounds, but instead you have the classes from D&D, complete with unique class abilities. The main reason for you to grab it however is that the magic system is heavily cloned from old school D&D, and that would be worth the pdf price alone for your particular needs.

I think there is an upcoming RQ6 version of Classic Fantasy, but there is nothing wrong with the BRP monograph version.

I like the idea of getting rid of skills and just going with characteristic rolls and skill category rolls. I would hate this for a campaign, but it is excellent for one-shots. I think if you used this in conjunction with some Mook rules you would find the game would play like a better version of Savage Worlds actually. There is probably a niche market for a 'BRP Lite' system like this, although its pretty easy to make it yourself.

Actually it would likely play like the game called 'Barebones Fantasy' which is a D100% based fantasy rpg which is pretty much a cross between a 'D&D Lite' and a 'BRP Lite'. Great for a beer n pretzels rpg game night, good superficial fun.

I like your idea of trying to eliminate character sheets for one-shots. Perhaps you could have a single page, probably double-sided printing, with all the PCs stats on it for the troupe, and that gets passed around as required. Maybe the only thing permanently in front of the players is a picture that depicts their character, that way the system itself becomes background.

Have fun, but if I were you, I would definately spend a few dollars on the BRP Classic Fantasy pdf and save yourself all the time porting over the D&D magic, as its ready to run in Classic Fantasy. There's some other goodies in the Classic Fantasy pdf as well, such as Classes, Fatigue levels, etc.

Have fun!

[jimc]

I think you guys just sold me on the Classic Fantasy pdf. I'll get it now.