Chaot

Thanks QB! It's been met with a warm reception from my players. I need to get around to updating that thread. Ok Robsbot, if you're interested, I've got some more to lay on ya. I almost feel like I'm doing a disservice to your bank account. If you're looking for cults, Moon Design Publications' Cult Compendium is overwhelming. It's reprinted Glorantha material from RQ2 and is really excellent to steal ideas from. The Mongoose Elric line went down the cult path and there's a lot there as well. Pete Nash and Loz have done a really fantastic job with the line. Of note, tucked away in the Magic of the Young Kingdoms book is small section called Elemental Paths. (I think it's in the Magic of the Young Kingdoms book.) The closer you are aligned with an element, or the further down the path you are, the more you develop abilities related to the element. You also take on obligations to and personality traits of said element. That's a Charles Green system. That ties nicely in with the magic system from Nephilim, which hermetical with a heavy dose of elementalism. Originally published in the core Nephilim book and tehn massively overhauled in Liber Ka, this system is scheduled to be republished through Chaosium by the author, John Snead. And here I feel like I'm going over to the enemy, but 3rd edition Gurps Magic is a wonderful source to steal from. And for something different, if you want to get your kung fu groove on, I highly recommend Dragon Lines. It's another Charles Green system. Actually, at the risk of embarrassing him, I recommend keeping your eye on Green. His stuff is really innovative. I'm very glad that you like Elric! If you have a chance, I hope you check out how it runs in general. A bit fuller than CoC, but still lightning fast during play. I really think BRP starts to sing when you allow skills over 100%. But that's another thread. Sadly, I don't think it will ever exist and I haven't heard of Magic World bringing any of that stuff into the fold yet. (Although I would be very happy to be wrong. Please Ben? ) I can give you the run down on the Corum pact system though. It's fairly simple but very game changing.

I think that works, but with that set up there is no way I'm taking any option except for resting, unless I can figure out a loop hole for a quick charge.

I must look!

Those are they. Again, a lot of the material is being repurposed for Magic World, which will be out soon. But those are two really solid books there. Actually, since you have the BGB, I think you have most of the sorcery spells that are in Elric! What you would be getting is Demon Summoning rules and a combat option, Riposte. Demon Summoning rules are also present in 'Chronicles of Future Earth' but I don't remember how comprehensive they are. Bronze Grimoire is a good buy with an expanded Sorcery spell list, expanded Demon Ability list, a bunch of magic items as well as Runic and Necromantic magic. Since Puck mentioned The Green, I'll add that his Glyph magic system is cool and his setting even cooler. I dig The Green. Also, since you mention magic items I'm going to point you at Lucky Trinkets, Heirlooms and Named Items. Once you've collected all of these systems, the trick will be in deciding which one to use and how to use it!

You mention Stormbringer, so here's the skinny on it. The Sorcery system in the BGB is from the Elric! book and Stormbringer 5th edition. The earlier editions of Stormbringer don't have the Sorcery spell system. All versions of it, and Elric!, have a demon summoning system. Mongoose now has the rights to sell these pdfs, so if you're interested in taking a look, there's a place to start. I recommend Elric!, as I find it to be the cleanest presentation of the rules, although Stormbringer 5e is the content of Elric! with more setting information (and a few things like the Fly skill and additional weapons) added. The Elric! line had a lot of magic content published. Biggest single source is probably the Bronze Grimoire, which had things like Runic magic, Necromancy and a whole slew of magic items. There is also the supplement, The Unknown East, which has a nifty 'verb' + 'noun' free form magic system. The good news is, this stuff is going to be revisited in the upcoming Magic World books. However, if you you like Demon Summoning and wouldn't mind picking up a few more magic systems you should seriously think about picking up the Corum book from Chaosium's website. Elric!'s demon summoning rules has a bias for demons as bound weapons. Corum undoes that a bit with it's Pact system. I think it's a big improvement and now use it for my games. Corum has a Chaotic Meld magic system in which individual spell effects are combined to form new spells. They have a Lawful magic system that centers around creating lawful artifacts. They have a brief but substantial run down on things like Elemental Tattoos, Fetishes, and, um, something else that I'm forgetting right now. Note that currently Corum is only available in dead tree and only from the print run that Chaosium is selling. An excellent and free addition to the Elric! line is Lawful Virtues and Focus Skills. They can be found on this site and over at stormbringerrpg.com in the 'Gods of Law' pdf. Really worth a read.

Yes. It really is. I don't know who was saying bad things about it. Also note that it was written to work in conjunction with Classic Fantasy. One thing that I really like about it is that it's stated up for both Magic and Sorcery, so that one can choose the one's preference. Had I seen this earlier I would have told you to skip the Magic Book and Basic Magic. Creatures is decent for the critters, but tracking down a copy of the rq3 boxed would at least give you something that has some quality production value. I've more thoughts on the subject, but alas, they must wait. I'm being summoned for errands most mundane.

Oh, that's cool! It's been years since I've read through Land of Ninja. I need to take a relook at that.

Maybe it's the multiple copies, but I'm willing to bet it's just that Elric! has a kick ass layout. Something about that book lets me find exactly what I'm looking for in a very short amount of time. Now, some of it may be familiarity but man is it a beautiful book. See, I've only played a few games using the Stormbringer 1-4 rules (not sure, think it was the Whelon cover) and this wasn't a problem at all, for two reasons. Characters are really quick to roll up, and characters, no matter how powerful, had a tendency to die an awful death. Seriously, every time we went out adventuring it was like a scene from Agak and Gagak. We'd start with at least three characters each and it would be a wonder if you has someone standing at the end of the night. One night the dice were on my side. I rolled up this insanely powerful Melnibonean and this lowly barbarian from Oin. This Melnibonean had it all man, and I was certain he was going to be my go to character for a long time. He died like a chump in a sword fight. That Oinian though went on to live a nice long life... at least two more adventures under his belt. Elric! and Stormbringer5 went a long way in evening out the system, in my view. So, I use the Elric! core when running, but swap out the demon summoning rules from Corum. Corum allows for a sorcerer to develop pacts with the demons they summon, and once the demon and price are defined and the pact is made, said demon can be called upon much more easily during the game. Also, the rules for Elric! demons really favor weapon and armor bindings. Making a demon weapon is a much greater pay off than constructing and summoning a demon. Demon summoning in Corum is much more streamlined. I still use the sword and armor binding rules from Elric! but when used in conjunction with the Corum rules it allows for more flavorful sorcerers. I love the Virtues system from Gods of Law and encourage those who would make a character of the lawful bent to look to Focus Skills and embodying Virtues. For such a long time devoted acolytes of law had to hide in the shadow of their more power hungry compatriots of chaos. The earlier Virtues system that was basically demon summoning lite was very unsatisfying to me as an alternative. No more, focus skills and virtues are subtle but substantial and fit right in with my version of the Young Kingdoms. I don't think I have ever had someone play a devotee of the Balance. If I ever do, I'm going to use the back section of Gods of Law where Green mentions having mp affect rolls and tie it in as a benefit to being a follower of the balance. Combat wise, I play resolution pretty straight. PCs generally start with skills over 100%. Skill breaks down as follows (and I've likely written variations of this list a dozen times here. They don't all match up, I imagine, because it's just a guideline that I use while running. For instance, sometimes I break it down into groups of 20%): 1-30 - trained 31-60 - experienced 61-90 - veteran 91-120 - master Most of the PCs opponents fall into the 1-30% trained category. I use a variation of the minion rules from Gods of Law (later expanded on in DragonLines). I find they serve two purposes. They greatly speed up combat when in use. Secondly, when I start hit point tracking it gives the PCs an out of game hint that they're up against serious opponents. When I need stats, I start with only what I need for the moment. If the NPC becomes important I can fill it in later. For instance, there's an old midwife in the village. She begins like this: Old Midwife Insight 86%, Natural World 62% Later when the PCs need a concoction Bargain 56%, Insight 86%, Natural World 62%, Potions 34% On the outskirts of the woods, the midwife is instructing the PCs on the shape, color and smell of the root she needs, the group is attacked by gobnoidblins! HP 6, DB 1-d4 Walking Staff 25% 1d6-1d4 Armor none Bargain 56%, Insight 86%, Natural World 62%, Potions 34% and so on. Combat wise, I encourage PCs to work together and to control the number of opponents against them. Those -30% on parries add up fast. PCs who don't control their battleground can get overwhelmed quickly. They should be looking for Spot Rules and terrain features to give themselves an advantage. If a PC does something daring, inventive and more importantly, interesting, they should be rewarded with a few points to their roll. I usually break these up into steps of 5%. If the PCs are trying to bring down the Big Bad, they should seriously consider splitting attacks, not to actually hit the BBG, but to bring down his defense so one of them can put the whammy on BBG. Minor Wounds are your friend when running Elric!. If the PCs get in over their head, you want them to fail their rolls to stay conscious. Enough Minor Wounds do this without the potentially gruesome side effects of a Major Wound. I find PCs don't like to surrender, so being taken captive is an option that I sometimes use. On Hit Points, I keep it at (CON+SIZ)/2 and 0 HP is unconscious and dying. PCs and named NPCs are allowed their CON in negative numbers to 'bleed out' before death. At any point during this time they can be stabilized with a Physik roll. So Trala the barbarian is down to 4 hit points. She takes a blow with 6 points of damage and is now at -2. She collapses. Trala has a CON of 16, so she has 14 combat rounds of life left in her. If someone gets to her in those 14 rounds, before she hits -16, and performs a successful Physik roll on her, she can be stabilized. If no one can treat her before that -16 rolls around, she dies. If Trala is successfully treated with a Physik roll, she makes a Luck roll. If successful, her hit points return to 0. If unsuccessful, she remains at the negative but she is stabilized. She has to heal up those negative points before she can really start to recover and gain consciousness. I think that's the extent of the break down on how I run it mechanically. If I remember anything else, I'll certainly add it. I use those item creation rules that I posted here on BRP Central someplace. I think that covers mechanics.

Welcome to the forums Matthew. I look forward to poking around Delver Down when I get a chance.

75% of Staten Island is without power. I'm a lucky one. I know bardicdesign is in the area and hope he rode the storm out safely.

That was something.

See, for me the enemy is time. I'm hovering somewhere around thirty five, am married and have two children. If I approach one of my non roleplaying peers, they are usually very interested in trying out a game. The tricky part is making time to roleplay that works with everyone else schedule and where it falls on the priority list of obligatory activities. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. As far as the next generation goes, I enjoy that as well. My daughter and my niece have a great time when we break out the dice. It's a rare occasion, but man do they enjoy a trip to Buffalo Castle.

Puck, did Trogod's not have noses in the first book? Just had a chance to scan but it looks very lovely. I highly endorse The Green. Great book. I plan on working it in when I get around to a Freeport game.

Yup. Check out the monograph, 'Gods of Law'. It's available for free download over at stormbringerrpg.com. It's expanded upon in the excellent, 'Dragon Lines'.

I am in! Very pretty. I commend you on teh books layout and from what I can see from the pictures, there's plenty of things for me to borrow for play!

ouch... ouch... that hurts..

Sorry boss, I've been away from the forums and didn't see you posted this question. Awesome! I'll post more when I get a chance to check it out.

Depends. I love to hack stuff together for BRP and scribble down write ups in various notebooks which I then strew around in hard to find places. I occasionally like to read published adventures and will sometimes even study them and run them as is. All that prep work is just to keep me encaged with ideas though. I used to really over prepare for game time. I started picking up short cuts here and there. Some things can actually be traced to sources, like a thread Shannon Appel once posted about his Young Kingdoms game over in RPGNet or Charles Green's mook rules from Gods of Law. A bit that Moorcock wrote about his process of churning out books in a ridiculously short amount of time. A lot of this is informed by my experience doing story telling structured improv theater (as opposed to jokey 'Who's Line is it?' stuff) and the process of making no budget short films. Mostly, this is informed by the realization that I have a wife, children and obligations that are just going to eat up prep time. For a game I often just take a simple premise, one or two sentences at the most. Then I write down a list of names, places, phrases or unexpanded upon ideas and inspiration words and roll with it. When an NPC gets introduced I might flip through the book to find someone from the Digest or I might just give them three skills and a descriptor like Strong, Smart, Devious, whatever. I assign skill % in the 30, 60, 90, 120 range usually and select HP and Damage Bonus if there's a fit. Everything else can be determined retroactively if the NPC actually becomes someone important. I use a very simple metric to make up Sorcery spell effects as needed in the game. Again, something that can be figured out retroactively in case the players want to emulate the effects of the big bad guy. Unfortunately, I'm not nearly as comfortable with the other powers systems. If it's not Sorcery, I need to spend some time to get my head around the ramifications. I plan on rectifying that soon with the Magic/Wizardry rules though. When needed, I pull up a blank map. I think it's incredibly fun to discover the story with the players and to challenge myself by incorporating the lists that I have made. Ultimately, I think taking in the players at the table and building on their enthusiasms and fears is a fun place to be. Letting go of my preconceptions on how a session is going to run and enjoying the ride is a tough thing to do, but worthwhile, I think. Then there's the whole concept of rping being a shared medium. Often times, it's not necessarily what happens at the table that is important but rather how it's talked about afterwards. Players remember strange things and remember them differently. Embrace these stories and let them become the game narrative.

Just looking at a wiki page for electric shock, there are some other things to consider. Length of exposure and the path of the electric current through the body. Then there's stuff like losing consciousness, deep tissue burns, cognitive damage after multiple exposures and wicked-ass looking scars.

Hmm, doesn't ring a bell. I'll keep an eye out though.

Monograph? Core book? Adventure? In CoC Dreamlands there are the Minions of Karakal. They attack with their lightning bolt legs. 2d6 damage. Damage done is matched against target's CON on the resistance table. If the damage overcomes the target's CON, then the target's heart stops and he dies.

Welcome to the boards, draven. My advice is to run yourself through the combat system a few times and give the spot rules a good eyeballing. If you're comfortable there I think you'll find that most things will port easily from game to game.

In Elric!/SB5 weapons are prone to breaking if hit hard enough whereas shields are nice and sturdy. I thought that made it over into the BGB, but I don't have my books with me.

I wanted to stop by and say that, if Size is keeping you from really embracing BRP you should just not use it as a Stat, but deleriad beat me to it. Size does some nifty things, but you're not going to break BRP if you don't use it.

Wow Atgxtg, that's some great breakdown there. I'm impressed. I think that breakdown would work well, fmitchell. I meant to ask this last time you posted about the Golem stuff. Have you taken a look at the ship rules? They break down the make of the ship as Hull Quality, Seaworthiness, and... uh, something else. Don't have my books in front of me. It basically acts as an armor intrinsic to the construction of the boat (like a character using a shield), hit points that need to be repaired in dock should they be lost, and a sort of fatigue system or ship maintenance. I wanted to adapt them to constructs but haven't really written anything up.