Trifletraxor

Critical dodge giving a free attack and fumbled dodge increasing attackers success level by one (e.g. failure->success)

So how do you like your dodge sirs and madams?

Equal level or better dodge is needed to avoid an attack (the old RQ3 way)

Difference in success levels determine the outcome (successfull dodge against special attack results in damage equal to a normal attack - old RQ3 houserule)

OR something else?

SGL.

Working hard to get the first chapter (actually chapter 2) ready for playtesting within the announced deadline.

This will be the Core mechanics chapter - covering skill and stats, so probably not the most exciting one, and not really that many changes from what you are used to. Trying to follow the KISS principle as much as possible. No examples are included yet, they will be added last, trying to tell a story while sharing some light upon ShareWorld.

SGL.

Yup, couldn't agree more. They allready had great art and layout from RQ Deluxe Edition, but appearantly wasn't willing to pay for new use of the art.

SGL.

Welcome Adam!

Have you checked out the Middle Earth resources in the download section?

SGL.

But I got two! Even in Mister Apoc was just a temp thing. Not that I used it as a secret ID or anything. And that was by request in order to save the Earth from immanent destruction.

The earth was saved, but we lost two weeks of posts!

SGL.

I don't think the threadlock was needed. the thread never really got heated. There were a couple misunderstandings over the use of mild profanity, but for the most part that settled down once that was cleared up.

I agree.

Conrad might have gotten a bit carried away, but it wasn't like there were massive flame wars going on. Most of us have learned to disagree peacefully a long time ago. (A good thing too, considering how often everybody else is wrong around here! ;D)

Actually guys i think this forum needs a bit of passion. Its been how many years since we cracked the last record of 171. Really if people want to flame I reckon that we should sometimes let them go for it.

I don't really mind some flaming, but while the second profile did draw a smile from me, more direct flamewars are my preference. No one is allowed to have more than one profile. Except me, who has three!!!

SGL.

Two bannings and a threadlock later we are 'safe' from infantile ridicule, but now we have to worry about Big Beetle watching over us.

Actually, it was only the Smallpokss profile that has been banned, so Conrad will be back to deliver infantile ridicule. The threadlock was removed a couple of days ago, as the locked thread icon gnarred on my senses, but by then the thread had cooled down. This is not to say that the Big Beetle isn't allways watching though... Look around you. See any beetles? YES? Sent by the Big Beetle. NO? They're watching you from hiding...

Click-click-click!

Fine! I'll just take my dice and go home!

I was starting to think you had moved in here!

All BRP reviews ported over!

SGL.

All the BRP reviews except cjbowser's ones (have to wait till he's not online!) have been ported over to the CMS. The possibility of adding reviews have now been included for all the published products. Go ahead and write your reviews!

Star-rating will be avaiable when the next maintenance release for the forum software is released.

SGL.

In Search of the Trollslayer, written by Troy Wilhelmson, is the first full supplement for Basic Roleplaying published by Chaosium. The subtitle is A Heroic-Level Adventure for Basic Roleplaying, but an experienced group of normally designed characters will do well if you want to use your existing characters, or you can use the pregenerated characters in the back of the book. The scenario could easily be ported to any existing fantasy setting with little work needed, if you're not just playing it as a one-off. You should be able to complete it in one long or two short sessions.

The text at the back of the book promises us a classic beer-and-pretzel dungeon-crawl filled with monsters, traps and treasures. And that it delivers! It's pretty straight-forward hack'n'slash. Each room in the dungeon is given a good description for you to read to the players, which I like. There's also several pieces of art depicting rooms, enemies or items which also is a big plus. Looks like a fun scenario to game through. A well made "classic" dungeon crawl, but a bit simple which lead to some subtraction in score.

Final verdict: 4 beetles. :b1::b1::b2:

Berlin 61 is a 132 pages long espionage horror setting. This beetle review will first take a look at the content of the book, then the layout, and then end it all with a Triff says summary.

C O N T E N T :

Chapter 1: Introduction (page 5-8) :b1::b1::b2:

A short overview of the supplement and the setting.

Chapter 2: Berlin '61 (page 9-40) :b1::b1:

This is the "setting" chapter of the book. It describes the history and daily life in post-war Berlin in good detail, with an extra focus on the most well-known landmarks in the city to flavour your campaign. It also gives a very good description of the different organizations and fractions in the city (CIA, US Army, KGB, Red Army, Stasi, etc.), within the perspective of the setting.

Chapter 3: Mythos (page 41-70) :b1::b2:

Here a description of the mythology of the Kotothian pantheon of gods, together with descriptions and stats for a lot of supernatural creatures from the Kotothian mythology. The later part of this chapter feels like an attempt to make some CoC mythology up from scratch, which is not fully succesfull.

Chapter 4: Rules (page 71-92) :b1::b1:

This chapter covers character generation, new skills, some pulp adventure guidelines, and rules for creating James Bond-like gadgets with unusual or semi-supernatural abilities. They should probably never bee shown to the players, as they can surely be abused, but these rules present a great framework for the GM to work with.

Chapter 6? (should be 5!): Equipment (page 93-102) :b1::b2:

Rules for using the setting for a supers game, with some allready flesh-out NPCs. For those who like supers...

Chapter 6: Equipment (page 103-129) :b1::b1::b1:

The is where the book really shines. The author have obviously done a lot of research and shares a wealth of knowledge on the subject (his military background probably came in handy with this chapter). Everything from daily items and cost of living to detailed descriptions and tables for weapons, explosives, various body armors and helmets, gas masks, and any type of gear and equipments kits that can be of use in this setting. This chapter makes the book worth the cost alone. Great work Barnhart!

L A Y O U T ::b1::b1::b2:

Less illustrations than with the GORE edition, but greatly improved. The book have some nice pictures giving the book the perfect cold war and espionage feel. The text layout is also good.

T R I F F S A Y S :

I recommend the book to anyone who thinks an espionage or an espionage-horror setting in post-war Berlin sounds interesting. I would also recommend it to anyone who plays in settings during WW2 or the cold war period, if only just for the equipment chapter.

Final verdict: 5 beetles - :b1::b1:

Ashes to Ashes, written by Jeff Moeller aka neorxnawang forum, is the first fantasy setting that was released for BRP. With the subtitle: "Exploring the Darker Side of Human Nature", this dark post-acopalyptic fantasy setting is probably as far from the standard tolkienesque fantasy setting you can get. This beetle review will first take a look at the content of the book, the art and layout, and then a Triff says summary.

C O N T E N T :

Chapter 1: Introduction (page 3-4)

Chapter 2: History (page 5-8)

Chapter 3: The Present (page 9-11)

Chapter 4: The World (page 12-20)

- The first four chapter gives an overview of the setting and the World of Ashes to Ashes. It's all well written and interesting, and quite manages to convey the atmosphere of the setting.

Chapter 5: BRP Rule Variations (page 21-29)

Chapter 6: BRP Rule Variations - Magic (page 30-42)

- Chapter 5-6 deals with character generation, new skills, a new wealth tracking system, typical gear and the use of Magic in the World. I didnt' like the wealth tracking system that much, but the magic system is both simple and brilliant.

Chapter 7: Religion and the "Circle" (page 43-44)

Chapter 8: Inhabitants of the World (page 45-52)

Chapter 9: Organizations (page 53-69)

- Chapter 7-9 details the dominant religion, the various races that inhabit the World, and organizations the players can join. Again, well written and interesting to read. Only problem with the organisations is that they aren't really that fitting for player characters in a traditional adventure group.

Chapter 10: Gazetter (page 70-135)

- The biggest chunk of this monograph. The different regions of the known world is described in high detail, including an overview, history, geography, culture and daily life, resources, ways and traditions, leadership and governance, plot hooks, sites and features, important people and a map for each and every region. VERY well done.

Chapter 11: Points of Emphasis for Roleplaying (136-139)

- Some usefull tips on running the setting.

Chapter 12: Scenarios (page 140-171)

Chapter 13: Some Noteworthy Demons (page 172-176)

Chapter 14: Index (page 177)

- Chapter 12-14: Two scenarios, The Lord of Nothing and The Redoubt. Both are good, and give some necessary help in understanding what type of scenarios can be run in this setting. Some of the more imported demons are statted up (which is always good), and there's an index in the end.

L A Y O U T :

The layout could allways be better, but does the job. The art is mostly black and white photographs, not allways that good. The map is hexagon-based and colour, and creates quite a contrast to the B&W photos. I do not know exactly why, but I actually like the layout quite a bit.

T R I F F S A Y S :

I loved reading through this monograph. It is very well written, and describes a highly detailed, believable, original and interesting setting. The only cons I can see with this setting is that it will probably only appeal to a certain subset of roleplayers, as it's pretty dark and gritty.

Final verdict: 5 beetles - :b1::b1:

I would recommend this book to anyone who would like a great read, and highly recommend it to anyone who are interested in a really dark and gritty fantasy setting.

The rating thing is a confirmed bug for the software, to be fixed with the next maintenance release. So, we'll have to wait a bit longer for that one. But the review function should work. I'll port over all the reviews for the old review software, and then open all the products for new reviews afterwards.

Cheers,

Sverre.

I click on the pencil, see the drop down box with the star ratings, select a radio button, click 'vote now' and receive the message.

Okay, should be fixed now! Had to change some permissions 4 different places.

SGL.

EDIT: Still not working. Hmmm....

I can view the review, but receive the same error when trying to rate a book.

Do you get that message when clicking on the stars within the page that shows the blurb + review? (or the pencil? that's the edit button)

SGL.

To this day, smallpox is the only human infectious disease to have been eradicated.

Time to bury this thread.

SGL.

PS: Not heavy-handed? I just did a 2nd profile ban! Consider yourselves warned and scorned! This-is-the beetle-pens!!!

Click-click!

I'd say that there's a clear difference between Hard Sci-Fi and Science Fantasy, but for RPG purposes there's also a considerable overlap. Unless one goes to the extremes of either direction, supplements would probably work with both genres.

SGL.

Nope... But as the dice roller is no longer an issue, maybe that should be added as an option?

SGL.

Any opinions about the possible new review function?

SGL.

Why is it that monograph writers always make distinctions between monographs?

It's all monographs, isn't it?

Cheeky today, aren't we Conrad?

SGL.

These Norwegian 'scientists' will also likely not be surprised when Cthulhu rises from the deep, I would surmise, saying they knew the Kraken was there all along.

What? Are you pulling my leg? You know he's down there!

SGL.

[Neigh!] Give me some carrots. [Neigh!]

SGL.

This is not a "discovery". That shrimp is a pretty common one, and it's allready well known that there's lots of life beneath the ice sheet in Antarctica. If the camera cable had been longer, so they could have filmed up beneath the sheet, they would have seen a lot more.

Norwegian scientists have had a lot of fun with this "news" story.

SGL.

As you might have noticed, the old smileys are back and the quickreply function have been amped up some levels. Hopefully the ugly smileys will stay away.

I'm currently working on getting a review function up and running again. The old review software was not compatible with the new forum software, and the beta version that is supposed to be compatible is full of bugs. I've been trying to tweak the CMS to take over this function, and made one testrun for Fractured worlds. Have a look and tell me what you think. You can both rate it and review the products: http://basicroleplaying.com/content.php/36-Fractured-Hopes

If this works out, I'll port over the reviews from the old software and open this possibility for all the other published products.

SGL.