Chaot

No stupid questions, just my stupid answers. I routinely drop CoC critters into my BRP fantasy. (For reference, I generally use Elric!/SB5 rules.) It works fine. Looking at MRQ stat blocks, it appears that it would be simple to drop them in too. Now everythings not going to work exactly as it would in the original given system, but it's not a difficult fit.

Excellent advice. Once you have combat down and character generation down, the rest of the system kind of falls into place. One nice thing about BRP is that there are so many ways to resolve a conflict. You've got the Active/Defensive Matrix, you've got Stat:Stat, you've got straight skill rolls, and you've got Characteristic Rolls. So, if a situation comes up it is easy to wing it without breaking the momentum of the game by looking up rules. My player's were fine with running fast and loose (way back at Stormbringer3) while we learned the rules. BRP has many more options and it may take a while for you to decide how those options affect the game you'd like to run. Anyway, have fun! I'd be interested in what you decide to do.

Elric!/Stormbringer does this well. Peg your PCs at the above 100% mark for fighting skills and your goons in the 30%-50% range. I also use the -CON before dead rule. Handing out situational modifiers can not only greatly benefit the PCs but get them thinking. It makes combat interesting as you watch what the PCs come up with. There are also Charles Green's excellent mook rules, published in the now sadly out of print 'Gods of Law.' I've posted them before, so I'm sure Charles won't mind if I post them again. A Mook gets an attack but no defense roll and no Hit Points. If a PC hits them once, they're dead. A more powerful Mook is the same except it takes two hits to put him down. Simple, elegant, and it blends right into the system. I've played around with it too. You've got a bruiser? Give him 60% and 1d6+1d4 and three hits to go down. You got a light but nimble thief? 30% to hit with 1d4 but four hits to go down (because he's tumbling and dodging and such). Now here's my favorite part of the system, and I don't know whether it's intentional or not. Once your players see you rolling defense dice, they know they're up against a major opponent. It adds a nice bit of drama. So BRP Mooks, 1) cut's down your notes tracking, 2) provides a simple mechanic to let your PCs be heros, 3) provides meta-game information to your PCs to help keep them alive, 4) is easy. That being said, I'm sure there are at least two people on this board who will call me a blasphemer.

I would use the modified skill rating. My reason being, if it's easier to succeed, it's also easier to critical.

Yup. I round up for players and down for NPCs.

Just happen to have my Sailors on the Seas of Fate with me. For a Frigate I'd use the Galley Hull Type: Warship Hull Quality: 120 Seaworthyness:20 Structure Points: 120 Length:250 feet Beam: 40 feet Freeboard: 15 feet Draft: 15 feet Capacity: 500 chained slave rowers, 100 rowers, 60 officers and sailors Other Notes: 2 banks of oars (3/4 rower arrangement), up to 8 war engines I'm using the Small Cog for the Sloop Hull Type: Merchant Hull Quality: 1d6+4 Seaworthyness:22 Structure Points: 45 Length:70 feet Beam: 18 feet Freeboard: 9 feet Draft: 7 feet Capacity: 40 tons Crew: 15 officers and sailors Other Notes: difficult to sail at a half wind angle

Sorry. I haven't had time to work on them yet. It's still on my list. Edit: By 'work on them' I mean I need to type the stuff up. I'll let you all vet them.

I haven't posted in a while. Thought I'd check in. Today I had the bizarre idea to stat Voltron up. Unfortunately, it's a bit late tonight. This will probably have to wait till morning, as I've two kids to put to sleep. Still, anyone excited by the idea? I'm thinking of riffing on the ship rules to build the Lions and Voltron. The Robeasts will probably be Cthulhu level monsters. Fun.

I have a long standing desire to run Tomb of Horrors with BRP. The set up would be that the PCs would each have a high level character. These are the the people organizing the raid into the ToH. Next, I would have a large group of NPCs that I had rolled up ahead of time that the PCs had recruited for the excursion. Each given NPC can be controlled by any player. My thought is that it would turn into a bit of a resource management game as the players decide which NPC to run and if they want to risk their high level character in the tombs. I've never had the time to run it though. And, yes, BRP does fantasy very well.

Thanks. I like your force ideas as well. I would also consider taking the mook rules from Gods of Law for a Star Wars game. They really speed up combat but present a level of danger for PCs while letting them shine. It's a nice way of representing the various chase scenes and blaster fights present throughout the movies. Dog fights can be emulated fast and loose using the ship rules. Everything else seems pretty straight forward.

*digs around* Elfquest Wolfriders - min/ave/max STR 2d6+2 - 4/9/14 CON 2d6+6 - 8/13/18 SIZ 2d3+1 - 3/5/7 INT 3d6 - 3/10.5/18 POW 2d6+6 - 8/13/18 DEX 2d6+9 - 11/16/21 APP 2d6+6 - 8/13/18 RQ3 Elf STR 2d6+2 - 4/9/14 CON 3d6 - 3/10.5/18 SIZ 2d4+4 - 6/9/12 INT 3d6+6 - 9/16.5/24 POW 2d6+6 - 8/13/18 DEX 3d6+3 - 6/13.5/21 APP 3d6 - 3/10.5/18 Note: I did the min/ave/max quickly. I believe my math is correct, but you may want to run it yourself. I include it because it gives me a better idea of how the dice fall and hope it will be beneficial to you.

SB5: Melnibonean - min/ave/max STR 2d8+2 - 4/11/18 CON 2d8+2 - 4/11/18 SIZ 2d8+4 - 6/13/20 INT 2d8+8 - 10/17/24 POW 2d8+8 - 10/17/24 DEX 2d8+4 - 6/13/20 APP 2d8+8 - 10/17/24 Half Melnibonean - min/ave/max STR 2d8+2 - 4/11/18 CON 2d8+2 - 4/11/18 SIZ 2d8+3 - 5/10/19 INT 2d8+5 - 7/13/21 POW 2d8+5 - 7/13/21 DEX 2d8+3 - 5/10/19 APP 2d8+5 - 7/13/21 Edit: To add min/ave/max

I'm assuming that Pow determines connection to the Force. Something to take a look at is the optional rule from Gods of Law on POW use. It was originally designed to give non spellcasters some use of POW. The short of it is that a character can spend a point of POW to bump up their roll to a higher success rate. This POW regenerates like MP. Rename POW to Force and MP/PP to Force Points. Someone who's not trained in the force can tap into their unconscious connection and spend Force to bump up their roll. This drops their Force total down, leaving them more vulnerable to someone trained in the Force. A jedi maintains his or her total Force but uses Force Points (MP/PP) for their powers. Just an idea. (By the way, yesterday I was sick as a dog. I fell in and out of 'A New Hope' on tv. Even though it's the one with the crappy cgi inserted in it, I was struck by how much better it was than the new films.)

I don't think the systems are 'equal,' but each has it's strength. I've run games with the three that you're thinking about using and it went well. The psychic didn't feel disenfranchised by the mage, ect. The power scales are definitely different though. So, in short, they do work together. They're not balanced against each other. As long as you give your players equal time at the table and introduce conflicts that allow individuals to shine, you shouldn't have a problem.

You can find Worlds of Wonder if you poke around the links section.

And welcome to the fold. May you crit more often then you fumble.

I think Jason ran a Star Wars game awhile back. It would be a shame is someone were to post some notes...

Out of curiosity Marcus, how's it coming along? Epic Stormbringer campaign? I think the answer is a definite, "Please, yes?"

I should be able to rattle off the Riposte rules. As is, I'll have to look them up.

uhh, I like it! Unfortunately, I haven't spent much time doing Arthurian fantasy.

I'd actually really like to read Lynn's original post on that rule. My understanding was that the PC got a -30 every additional time they Parried or Dodged regardless of which one they did first. Meaning, if a PC had a Parry of 80% and a Dodge of 40% and they used their Parry and then had to Dodge their Dodge would effectively be at 10%. You'll note that I agree with Nick. But I would argue that it's not well defined since there's errata out there that is contradictory. Still, I think Summoning and Allegiance rules are a welcome addition to a game. I'm just pointing out potential pitfalls.

Ahh, SPQR! I meant to buy this years ago. One could do worse than give Mr. Perrin their money. Especially for his rules set.

Yeah, you do. Here's the official FAQ from Lynn Willis. Completely within the rules. I'm the Rat-King. I'm a harbinger of Chaos. I see through the eyes of rats to bring disorder every where and further the agenda of the Dukes of Entropy! Yeah, I don't play by those rules either. Learning a spell gains you a Chaos point, just like like gaining a skill at 80% and every 20% after that gains you Law points. But it's not the writer's intent, it's my homebrew. I don't even follow the Allegiance rules. I just tell my players to list every significant thing that they did that falls under Law, the Balance, or Chaos. For every action they list, they get a point in the given tally. Every once in a while I have to contest their list, but in general, they're fair. It also gives them more control over their characters. Note that I'm giving Tywyll worse case scenarios that are all by the book. None of the stuff that I posted would fly in my game. (Except for the horse thing. I'm all for upgrading the PC's armor.) So, you'd throw me out for following the rules? As I said, these are extremes. The reason why I'm bringing them up is because Tywyll was worried about an unbalancing issue. I'm letting him know about the extremes. Nah, I'm just rules ranting. I've not had demon summoning be an unbalancing feature in my games. Though, as I said before, my player's usually negotiate with a summoned demon instead of binding them. I'll have to check, but I don't think there are binding rules in Corum. It's pretty much making a pact with the demon. Again, I'll have to check because I've only used the rules occasionally and it's been awhile since I've browsed the summoning rules. There's a nifty rule that augments Allegiance. If your Chaos points are above your Law or Balance points you have a chance of gaining a Chaotic feature. For every point that you have in Chaos above the other two tallies, you have a 1% of gaining a Chaotic feature. So, say Grognard the Barbarian has Law 24, Balance 08, Chaos 37. He gains a point of Chaos because that's the way he rolls, upping it to 38. Every time he gains a Chaos point above Law or the Balance, he has to roll a d100. Because his Chaos score is now 38 he has to roll above a 14%. Otherwise, he gains a Chaos feature. I've incorporated CoC Sanity rules in addition to the physical mutations given in Corum. So, yes, don't let my extreme examples of foreboding doom deter you. Add the demon summoning rules. Just be aware of the extremes. And take another look at Corum.

Know what's even crazier than the Demon Summoning rules? Allegiance. According to the rules, every time you cast a spell you gain a point of Chaos. If you're committed to Chaos and you reach 100 Chaos points, you're eligible for Apotheosis. You're now a Champion of Chaos, which means that every time you die, you have a good chance of coming back to life. You'll lose a point of CON and some skill points. You also get double MP points and you have a POW x3% chance of contacting your patron Duke of Entropy. Which means I can roll up a character and choose Rat Vision as a spell. It's a 1 point spell. I get 1 point in Chaos for beginning with that spell. I move into the sewers and start casting Rat Vision. Say I have a 16 POW. My spell will last for 16 combat rounds. That's not a whole lot of time, so I can easily cast 16 MP per day and pass out because I have no MP left. Let's say that I only cast 15 MP per day, because I don't want to be unconscious in the sewer. In a week, seven days, I'll have accrued 105 Chaos points. Woot! I'm a Champion now! Apotheosis is mine! All using the rules as written. Additionally, all character's start with a horse, which is valued at 2,000 LB. Put some points in Bargain and sell the horse. Get yourself some good armor. These are my munchkin issues with Elric!/SB5 as written. But I've been running it for years and the only thing my player have tried to do was the selling of the horse. That's fine with me because they invest in armor and I like to keep my PCs alive. I've also house ruled that you gain a Chaos point when you learn a spell, not when you cast it. I also use the optional rule that when a skill goes over 80% and every 20% after the character gets a point of Law. When I'm feeling really mean, I institute the Corum Allegiance rules...

Yeah, they're really freaking powerful. Still, each summoning requires at least 9 MP according to the rules (1 for each attribute but APP and 3 for POW). If I were ever a player in a SB5 I would arrange to have at least a 18 POW. I'd have to roll at least a 15 and put it into my POW, then redistribute the three points to make it 18. Very doable. My two goals would be to learn Brazier of Power and Summon Demon. Once I had those, I would set up my power source. Now, I don't have my book in front of me but I believe that would cost me a point of POW and net me 34 MP (17 MP in the Brazier and my own 17 MP). I think Summon Demon costs 11 MP (1 for the spell, 10 for the attributes since I'll be summoning a greater demon). That allows me to summon a 22 MP Demon Armor since I need 1 MP to stay conscious. Actually, I just got my book, so let's see. That gives me a demon bonus of 4d10+1d4. I'd bind it into some Sea Leather, so it would be 1d6+4d10+1d4. Let's make the Sea Leather blacker than the blackest night, with a big red Chaos symbol over my heart. Black is very slimming. Next up is my Great Sword. I'm down to 16 MP with 17 in my brazier. I now have 21 MP available for my Great Sword's damage bonus. Now I've got a Great Sword that does 2d8+4d10+1d2. It's no Stormbringer, but it'll get the job done. I can no longer cast spells, but I really don't need them anymore. I'm a killing machine that is pretty untouchable. I might want to get some loaded dice though. To Summon a demon you have to succeed in your Luck roll. If you fail it, you lose your POW point. Still, at the POW levels I'm talking about your lowest roll is going to 80%, so the odds are in your favor there. I also need to succeed on the POW:POW roll. The demon's POW could be as low as 4 or as high as 32. The average is 18 so it's much more of a gamble, but still possible. Actually, I'm going to increase my spell list to three. I'll also learn Bonds Unbreakable so I can get the POW ticks on a successful use against an opponent with an equal or higher POW than me. This will kick my Great Sword up to 2d8+4d10+1d4 and eventually allow me to bind a greater demon as a servant. It takes planning, patients and luck, but it's doable. It's also an extreme and I've never had a player try it. In fact, most of my players steer clear of summoning demons. When they do summon them, they usually summon an entity and negotiate with it. In years of playing, I think I only had one binding. Now I use the demon summoning rules from Corum for everyone who's not a Melnibonean or from Pan Tang, so the extreme is much less of an issue. So, is it unbalancing? Depends upon your game world and the other magic systems there. It also depends on how your players use/abuse it. Is it a welcome addition? I think so, even though I modify it with the Corum rules. And, as soon as Marcus gets that Gods of Law monograph uploaded to his site, you'll have some pretty cool mechanics to combat Chaos with! You need to spend 1 MP for each stat except POW and APP even though it's not actually used. You don't need to spend any points for APP. You need to spend 3 MP for POW for a minor demon and 4 for a major demon. So 8 for a minor demon, 9 for a major demon, plus 1 for the Summon spell and 1 to stay conscious.