Ars Mysteriorum

Fighting several at once is the short road to the boneyard. However, remember that if the long weapon user wishes, he or she can attempt a normal weapon skill roll to keep one or more of the short weapon attackers from getting close enough to hit. There is also the Sweeping Attack option (if they have the right kind of weapon) found on p.233. Of course, if that isn't desirable then there are other choices depending on the rule options you make available as the GM. Beware that multiple characters can Grapple you (p.61). Their combined STR rating can ruin your day.

My interpretation of fighting with Two Weapons (p.234, bullet point #3) is that nobody is ever fighting with only one weapon. That's a choice. Unless they look like this poor fellow. The main counter to somebody bringing in two weapons is fighting back with two weapons*. The problem is, the tendency is to see fighting with two weapons in a very flat "I attack you, you parry, you attack me, and what Strike Rank are we on again?" sequence. What do you want to do to your opponent? You want to defeat him. If his Sword is 110% and yours is 50%, you better have a better plan. Consider the following:

If there is a shield to slam with, a torch to burn with, a hand to punch/grapple (maybe Disarm per page.221), a foot/boot to stomp/kick/trip with, or if close enough, a head to butt with, then you do not suffer a penalty to hit, but are still subject to attacking 5 DEX ranks after the initial attack. Many of the Renaissance fighting manuals are quite specific about using stomps, clothing grabs, trips, and disarms in close combat. See this one for a discussion on the topic.

Maybe it's time to put a few points in Grapple? If you survive entry and succeed in Grapple, you've destroyed their ability to use that otherwise terrifying 110% Sword and 55% Dagger skill and force him to defend against your 85% Grapple, which shuts down his entire game.

How? You open the option to Disarm (p.221) or the myriad options of Grapple (p.61). Remember that if the defender parries your grab with a weapon or shield, your character automatically holds fast (check each round per p.61). If you like, if the character has a background in a martial art like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRS5J-lhXq4, they can kick from the Grapple. Maybe you feel like throwing today? If you successfully trip/throw him, he is Prone (p.229) and all subsequent hand-to-hand or close-range missile attacks are Easy. All of the downed subject's attacks and parries become Difficult. In golf parlance, it's time to tee off.

Then again, if he's a two-weapon wielding giant, I refer you to the Chases, On Foot section, found on p.215 ...

*This does raise the issue of off-handedness, but the player and the GM need to work that out beforehand. Maybe Prof. Walthers' background is in sport fencing, for example? Then he hits the Difficult setting for that off-hand.

Actually, this is quite a nice solution.

I find this to be a fine example of the GM looking at a situation, integrating character elements, and using his judgment to explore alternate possibilities the system offers.

Were I to handle such a situation, I would remind players of their multitude of options, which is essentially anything you, as a person, can do or think of, except with your character's background.

I don't know if I could put it into words, much less succinctly, in any other form than: See how things develop and call it as you see it.

I really agree with the Two Weapons view. If you have a hand open, you have a fist. If you have a leg unencumbered, you have a kick. Fight with your body, and get dirty about it. No penalties, cuz... it's your body.

Very nice.

Seems like if you had it impaled in someone, setting off the gas would do away with those skill tests to retrieve the weapon out of the enemy target.

Somehow I think I'd rather have this in the form of a spear... maybe with some system of revolving cartridges to give me multiple charges.

Or one, long, highly pressurized cartridge.

Meat popsicle, anyone?

Shameless bump...

Go on now, you folksies!

VOTE FOR BRP!!!

It's racist because the zombies are negroes, but it wouldn't be racist if the shooter was a negro too?

This is exactly the argument sited by too many to list.

Regardless, it looks like a wicked-awesome game!

Does anyone else find this weapon terrifying?

Resident Evil 5 looks like a lot of fun as well. Be a great idea to set a modern day BRP game in Haiti overrun by zombies.

Resident Evil 5 Preview: Rock That Chainsaw - Shacknews - PC Games, PlayStation, Xbox 360 and Wii video game news, previews and downloads

About that, has anyone heard about the big hoo-hah about RE5? Many are accusing it of being a racist game.

Is anyone else's eyebrow quirked about this? I don't wish to start a flamewar.

I'll only say I would really like the world to not take itself so very seriously.

I find your lack of faith...disturbing...

<Force chokes....> :eek:

Oh sorry, I like your work. My bad. :innocent:

It deserves a nomination and a win.

Seconded.

In the description of the Wizardry spell Blast, it says at first that mundane armor and the 'Armor' spell can block the damage.

In the last paragraph it says that the spell cannot be blocked by the 'Protection' spell.

I imagine that the Armor spell reference is a holdover and actually refers to Protection. So the question is, does Blast get stopped by Protection or not?

As written, Blast seems to be the weakest attack spell (unless it can ignore magical armor in which case it goes up a bit).

It may be talking about the Sorcery spell "Armor..."

Oh, I know Nightshade. We're all friends here. :innocent:

Compared to the throng of argumentative, judgmental folks populating RPG.net, I actually agree with this statement.

FunGuy, you are like a repository of Awesome.

I have the opposite worry. My observation (YMMV) is that one needs to stop and open the rulebook for something frequently enough, players will start losing trust in the GM to tell the story and in turn derail the atmosphere that you've worked weeks to create. Some "rules' should be intuited. Some calls have to be made. That's the GM's responsibility.

Quoted for Agreement.

I don't think GM's intervene, especially with Rule Zero. It's the GM's job, in my mind, to interpret the rules and actions in a fashion to support the setting, provide a challenge, and keep the game moving smoothly. I think this is actually the most fun part of being a GM; making my mind work and coming up with solutions to fit sudden circumstances.

Memorizing every spot rule word-for-word is not only NOT a pre-requisite for this, I actually recommend a loose understanding of the rules to keep the mind "on its toes," as it were.

Sorry I'm so slow to respond, but I can feel your pain. I lived in Japan for six years and it was mostly a big time-out for gaming.

Several others on this forum were former Japan residents - a thread or two got derailed by our reminiscing.

Seconding Jason's statement: Your pain is felt. I only lived there two years (in Nagaoka-shi, Niigata-ken) and enjoyed many things about the culture, whiskey, food, sake, people, scotch, and beer... but as an ultra-hardcore RPG gamer it was RPG gaming hell, especially this was where I really started studying different RPG systems (I shall now call it my Grand RPG ADHD Re-Awakening) and developing my own methods for managing and running a game.

And then hardly ever getting to run them. Guh. :shocked:

Yes. I totally feel your pain.

This always runs into a bit of a logic problem (that happens with the current BRP characteristic training too, and perhaps is worse); if you can only get such things from training, how did it get established in the first place?

The GM (or a Muse, or an Epiphany, or Divine Inspiration, or a Brain Fart, etc.) said, "Dude, you get this skill/stat rating, k?"

*cough*ratethisgameandgetitinthetoponehundred*hack*

Yes! I heard back. He said he was very interested in this, but I have no idea when he'll get to it.

I just finished up my review of the book. Check my sig if you are interested.

*Ahem*

Care to repost this to rpg.net?

I'm trying to get people to get it on the top 100 core rulebooks!

Quick note, I received a funky copy of BRP with faulty binding. He sent me another copy, and I was happy to find it a singular issue. The new book is pristine.

Very professional. Very fast.

He deserves quite a bit of credit for helping keep us happy!

Isn't it HUGE? It's glorious!

Just received mine this morning. that s one big assed tome. Shame its not hardback really or it would rival Talislanta 4th ed for player bashing.

Ah, Talislanta 4th. With resplendant binding that can withstand heavy impact with even the thickest of player skulls.

I'm not a C++ jockey - I actually hate the language. I prefer Objective C

and C. However, no sense reinventing the wheel. Byakhee is pretty well

done, and C++ is pretty portable. If I can get it all working with C++ and

the platform specific GUIs, I might come back to it and try something else.

-V

Vagabond, I appreciate the work, as I really, really suck at addition and subtraction, and always have the vague feeling I miscalculated when I create a character.

So, thanks!

Personally, I'd rather use an entirely different system for this genre, like Feng Shui or something with lighter rules.

I think BRP would become bogged down by spot rules, making this kind of game a bit clunkier than others. All Flesh Must Be Eaten suffered from the clunkifying effect in Enter the Zombie, and this system has similar conventions to that...

Am I mistaken?

EDIT: Ah, I didn't read Otto's post.

I would actually attempt to strip away rules from BRP to make it work, and narrow the skill list down to a few, general skills that are more widely defined. Then I'd call Power Points "Chi" and treat the "Martial Arts Maneuvers" like spells.

Keep it fast and loose, I say.

Sure, give me a day or so. The recoil would probably be nasty.

But if you are seriously thinking of outfitting a character with this, why not "upgrade" to tne MArdi-Griffin? It fires the .50 cal. machine gun round.

I think an enemy would more likely have it.

A bit off-topic, but anyone care to stat out this hulking monster:

Pfeifer Zeliska .600 Nitro Express revolver - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Is there any progress on this thus far?

It's going to be an uphill fight to get pen & paper games back into the spotlight. Teens are typically distracted and pulled in different directions by overscheduling, console and PC games, part-time jobs, iPods, a new blockbuster every weekend of the summer, and the Internet to name a few. Pen & paper games depend on a level of focus that demands planning and preparation. See the rise of collective card games. Easy to sell, package, and play. No prep time needed and addictive (never liked them myself, but alot of others sure did). Also, faddish and ultimately people put them down as quickly as they picked them up.

Perhaps something in the mass media? Comic books have clawed their way back to the spotlight with movies based, but few pen & paper games translate well to cinema (see the D&D movie) and even a moderate level of collateral interest (see LOTR) the effect on the demographic may instead spark an interest in selling toys or video games, not pen & paper books.

I agree with Jason. If the big box stores had more GAMES in the shelves besides WotC products, people might actually flip through the pages and buy them. The problem is the price, but with video games hovering at around the $60 price point, perhaps getting them to buy a $40 book isn't as much of an issue as getting them to read it, convince their friends its worth spending a few hours with, and fitting it into their schedules.

Or not.

To be truthful, I think the future are the online MMORPG who have effectively moved into the heroic fantasy genre, science fiction, superheroes, etc.

What about college-aged kids? I think BRP has a certain aspect of maturity that kids of today's culture may not appreciate as much (I realize this is a broad generalization...). Would getting in contact with organized gaming groups in larger universities be a method of getting people to try out the system?

Perhaps Chaosium could create some quickstart rules with an introductory scenario (but what genre?) and pre-gen characters, like they have with CoC, to be run at conventions?