Ars Mysteriorum

All right, I love the BRP system and what it's capable of (especially in a heavily stripped down format), but I wonder what plans Chaosium has for this system.

While independent contributors making monograms is fine and dandy, I wish to see this system applied in new and unexpected ways. I want to see it applied to a setting that is enrapturing.

I want this system to be attached to something new that is unfathomably inspiring to me, in much the same way Talislanta was.

This system boasts the capacity to do nigh any genre, I want to see it do what it claims and excel.

So... is there any chance of that occurring in the near future?

Anyone have any idea how one is supposed to stop anyone in the superhero genre with a power that costs 3 character point per level and is supposed be measured against someones strength that costs 1 character point per level and also starts at about 10?

Clever use of the environment and other forms of resourcefulness.

Cross-posted from the yahoo group. Anthony raised a valid point about a thematic issue in Ashes to Ashes maybe being a bit too subtle. So here we go:

*****

From some chatter I've been having on the forums, it has occurred to

me that I may have been too sneaky with a thematic point in Ashes, to

Ashes. So here's a dollop of unsubtle exposition (and some mention

of what I'm working on).

The downfall of the World was brought about by Scaraband, who

indulged in several of the Seven Deadly Sins: pride (he thought he

was better than everyone else), lust (for the Princess Millesse),

wrath (he starts a war when he is spurned), envy (against the royal

family), and finally greed (he gives up his soul and becomes a demon

to keep what power he has amassed).

Each of the post-Abjuration shattered lands reflects one of these

Seven Deadly Sins. I thought it was obvious, but what's obvious to

me ain't obvious to everyone.

Fallingstar: paralyzed by pride and thinking back to the "good old

days." Even the name is meaningful: pride goeth before the fall.

Eglantine: meaning a briar rose, once beautiful, now thorny. The

land of wrath, at perpetual war.

The Dells: essentially a land of farmers with their lusty daughters,

at the middle of which is, perhaps, the iconic farmer's daughter

holding sway over her barren land. Also a meaningful name if you

think about it.

The Farm: so well off that it must be hidden, or people would be

envious.

The Majestic Plateau: where material comfort can be had and greed

assuaged, at the small price of one's soul.

The Crannoch is the counterpoint: a place where people live in a

state of natural grace.

And so that leaves two lands unaccounted for. They are:

The Western Isles (sloth) and

Takuk (gluttony).

They will be detailed in Dust, to Dust, which I have started working

on. Going to work on the Western Isles first. Artists and cartographers encouraged to express interest.

Wow, I had totally not made that connection. That really gives it a whole new level of depth.

Also, we're RPG fans. Do NOT be subtle.

The original BRP rules from Worlds of Wonder gave humans a base movement rate of 24 meters per round. Superworld 1E does define Density as decreasing movement rate by 2 meters per level. At Density 12+ you really are a brick.

Michael Hoxie

So. How does this translate to the new BRP? The example doesn't illustrate this concept from WoW.

I am hosting a cinematic zomb-o-pocalypse.

I went ahead and expanded the zombies into four different types and intend to do the same with ghouls, vampires, ghosts, and werewolves.

I'm very pleased with the adapability of the system!

I'll even take theories...?

OK, there's a part of Density Control I'm not understanding.

The text states:

[...]Increased density temporarily increases your character’s damage bonus and hit points, though it lowers his or her movement rate by 2 meters per round.[...]

No increment is listed, though. 2 meters per level? 2 meters flat?

Then the example shows a character who increases his SIZ by 20 using level 20 density control.

[...]As such, White Dwarf is only able to walk 5 meters per combat round, or 20 meters running.[...]

So, is it 2 meters every 4 levels? Or is movement halved? Or is it something else?

I'll try and see if I can work something up that will let you generate a character and then print it out. You won't be able to save it, but I should be able to program the generator so that you'll be able to generate a character and then print it.

First big thing I've got to work out is a character sheet that'll look good/work in a browser and also print decently.

Wow skunk...

Would this be for the new BRP, or the RuneQuest-esque, older BRP?

Then I misunderstood your latter two statements about duration. My apologies.

No worries!

I have to seriously question whether unpredictable duration magic pleases most people, however; in particular, it seems to make most longer duration spells of questionable value.

I think you're reading into my words a bit too deeply. 15 minute spells still last 15 minutes, but combat round spells last however long the combat round has to last.

Since most spells are determined per combat round, I see very little difficulty and very few issues with running time a bit more narratively.

Magic of unpredictable duration may be a virtue to some people, but certainly not to everyone.

Nothing pleases everyone all the time.

I always prefer to go with the idea of:

How long is a round?

As long as it needs to be.

Well, what about magic lasting so many rounds? How long would that spell last outside of combat if you just wave off time rules?

*Shrug* As long as the GM says it does.

But then the GM can rip you off!!

That's not really anything he couldn't do already. If he's a jerk, he'll rip you off. If he's a decent GM, he'll have decent reasoning and be agreeable.

Holy leaping snotbuckets, Murfin.

We gotta put these in the wiki!

And by we... I mean... not me.

I agree with Aiki, the WFRP tables in the Core Rulesbook (further expounded upon in the Tome of Corruption and Realms of Sorcery) are, indeed, extremely flavorful.

Though, I daresay most of the flavor is to be savored by the GM...

Midnight Sunday? What time ZONE?

I would assume whatever one California is in.

With my knowledge of the system at this juncture and the amount of time left to design a scenario, my submission (solely based off of my GMing style) would be exactly as follows:

HOT HOT DEATHINGS!!!!!!!!

Um...

What?

It's the greatest thing since sliced bread. A phantasmagorical extravaganza of unparalled magnitude!!

Oh, wait, I don't get a vote.

The dead tree version has been a nightmare. I had to totally reformat and resubmit the pdf last week--for the 2nd time. First, the printer didn't have standard TrueType system fonts. Then they couldn't handle a rgb jpeg so I had to manually greyscale all the images. GAHHHHH!!!!

I bought it!

I'll enjoy perusing it at work tomorrow and let you know what I think!

Anyone have it? Whatcha think of it?

Crap. Can't find it... does this help?

Galaxiki, the Science Fiction & Fantasy Galaxy that anyone can edit

Hi all,

I'm looking around for an up-to-date star system and planetary generation system - the sort of thing we had in Traveller Book 6, 2300AD, Space Opera, Worlds Beyond etc, but up-to-date with latest astrophysics and planetary science thinking. It doesn't have to be a RPG system - I'd be happy with the "raw" info and generate my own system from it.

Does anyone know where I can dig up the "best" in current thinking for this?

Cheers!

Sarah

Oh... an acquaintance I gamed with briefly showed me a site detailing an entire galaxy with fantastic depth and backstory... I'll try to find it again.

While we're on the topic of phallic contrast/comparison (mine's bigger than yours, and I'll show you just HOW MUCH and WHY!), I figured it would be relevant to bring up the American countryside.

Seriously, go for a drive out in the country. What do you see? Nestled amongst greenery and fertile nature is a bevy of huge, shaft-like buildings topped by a domes that contain stuff necessary for the sustaining of life on earth.

I'll be blunt, silos are like huge penises (in both form and function) looming on the horizon.

Yes, we decorate our country well.

Needless to say, I agree with FunGuy. I daresay we think with certain bits of our anatomy not located atop our shoulders.

Ugh. Now I don't know if I want to smoke a cigar this weekend...

Son of a submariner!

Some White Wolf fanboy's rating of 3 (!) plummeted BRP back to 147th on the chart.

*rolls up sleeves*

Pardon me whilst I begin my review. Despite my love of the system, it's not difficult to remain impartial of the system's lethality and how it calls for a certain kind of gamer.

Still, this system is venerable, having undergone decades of development, and the book is well-written, makes it easy to learn the system, easy to reference, and highly playable.

I think it deserves high marks.

The same with me, I also never used the Traveller rules for roleplaying, only

for world building, designing equipment, and so on. For the actual game I

only use BRP (and, before that, Cthulhu Rising rules).

If only more people knew about the sheer translation capacity of BRP...

Hmm.

I may write a review...