Charles Green

Magic of the Young Kingdoms for Mongoose's Elric line has a number of magic systems that are (mostly) compatible with BRP.

Something I try to do when running combats is change the nature of the fight every few rounds.

If the characters are trying to fight their way off a Pan Tangian pirate ship, I have the pirates spill a cauldron full of flaming demonic ichor onto the deck, giving the characters an obstacle to work around, or an additional weapon to use against their foes.

And, if you're using the Fate Point rules from the new BRP book, getting players to add elements to a scene that can help in a fight is also useful, as they will invariably add something they can use to their advantage, like a skylight for use when fighting vampires.

In my Fractured Hopes playtest game, everyone had equal access to all power types, save superpowers.

They may not be balanced against each other, but I found that, in actual play, the power difference was not as big as I thought, not did it really impact play in any meaningful way.

I've been wanting to do a BRP based skirmish game for a while, and have just never gotten to it. Initially I had plans for a game set in the Stormbringer universe, with followers of the gods of Law duking it out in Cadsandria with Chaos cultists and demons.

I may revisit the idea in the future, perhaps with a more generic fantasy spin. I think BRP would interact pretty well with minis, even though it isn't needed to use the engine for roleplaying.

A BRP Avatar game would need to be modified to make it really work. Most of the system works as-is, but Bending in its various forms would take a while to develope into something that resembled the show.

I'd be tempted to go simple over specific; each bender gets a Bending skill in whatever form they desire, and all uses of bending are handled by that skill.

You could also have a Bending skill that was used to augment other rolls (Martial arts for attacks, jump for anime leaps and such.)

In short, it is doable, and will take a lot of work to pull off.

I think that, rather than getting a Chaos Allegience point each time a spell is cast, you get one at the end of an adventure if you cast a spell (any spell) during it. Again, my books are packed, so I might be wrong.

This helps curb the meteoric rise to power that Chaotic spellcasters have.

I don't have my SB5 book handy, so my points might be flawed.

Recall that spening all of your Magic Points makes you unconscious, which is not the sort of thing most summoners desire when working on a ritual. So, the pool we're working with is 11 MP worth of powers. I think that, given the cost of many of the abilties, 11 isn't all that much to work with.

Besides, a character who is cabable of doing this sort of summoning would have to focus on it, especially if they are a beginning character. If this is the case, then a sorcerer working to forge a potent demon weapon is entirely within the scope of the game. (After all, Elric did have Stormbringer for most of the Saga. Playing a character with similar abilities is something many players will want to do if they are familiar with the settting.)

The POW cost alone assures that this will be a rare occurance, possibly even the only instance of such a summoning. No sorcerer with half a brain will spend that 1 POW if their characteristic is already 16. Also, recall that all demon items must have an Eight Arrows of Chaos engraved on them somewhere to serve as teh binding focus for the demon. Those who have a reason to suspect that a character possesses a demon item will likely capture them and search their possessions for anything bearing the sign. If discovered, the character will be discovered as a sorcerer an likely lyched or burned on sight.

There are also in-game things you can do to limit the amount of demon items in play. Recall that all demons have needs that must be fulfilled regularly, or they become petulent and likely to lash out at their summoner. Make the demon's needs particularly gross or terrible might help. If the player makes a demon weapon, maybe it must kill something once a day. This is usually not a problem while on an adventure, but can present problems during down-time. What happens if the character is isolated, and the only other living thing around is someone they cannot kill, for various reasons.

I guess the short way of saying this is that, sure, when looked at in a vacuum, demon items can be quite powerful. However, they do not exist in the game in a vacuum; there are many other facets to demon summoning that exist to offset the power of it. And, finding the balance between the power offered by demon items and the subsequent costs can be tricky, and good adventures often come from "tricky."

I've been tossing an idea for a wuxia inspired BRP game for a while. I know it's something I'll de eventually, but it's not beyond the research phase at the moment.

When I was speaking to Dustin about Fractured Hopes yesterday, he mentioned that Pulp Cthulhu was not vaporware, and that it was in their editor's list of current jobs.

So, it does exist.

I wonder if the writers of these excellent supplements are working with Mongoose on something to support that game?

I'm the author of both of the monographs you've mentioned above, and I have also done two books for Mongoose's EC line. Despite being written for MRQ, they are very compatible with BRP.

The first was Bright Shadows, an in-depth look at Melnibone, the island and its people. The second was Magic of the Young Kingdoms, which is exactly what it sounds like.

I'm not currently working on anything for them, but that will likely change in the future.

Gods of Law is sadly out of print, and will not likely see printing again. I sold my last comp copy a few months ago.

This will be very useful. Thanks for posting it!

They aren't as big a problem during play as it seems in the book. At least, I don't find them to be so.

but given they only pay $250US per entire monograph, I let them do the layout and supply art themselves, which Chaosium seems happy to do.

Oh, be careful with this. They told me the same thing about a monograhp I did for them, and they did next to nothing other than put the chapter headings in a new font and stick a stock picture on the cover.

Last note.

Fractured Hopes is finished. I sent the files to Chaosium this morning.

There were actually three magic systems in Nephilim: Sorcery, Alchemy and Summoning. Liber Ka only replaced the Sorcery system, as the Alchemy and Summoning systems were already more in line with Western Occultism.

I'd love to see a re-worked Nephilim. Who owns the right these days?

Just a note.

I just finished the first editing pass-through. As near as I could tell, there are no large-scale issues that needed to be addressed, which means that the rest of the editing process will be pretty quick.

A few minutes ago, I got done composing the last chapter of Fractured Hopes.

My original goal was to have the document turned in to Chaosium by the 15th of May, which looks like it is still going to happen. That gives me two weeks to go over it with a fine-toothed comb, and making sure its as awesome to someone else as I think it is.

Sorcery also involves the summoning of demons, which, in the original Elric! rules, allowed for a great deal of direct damage attacks.

Wow, this sounds awesome. I can't wait to see it.

Shaira's description is the "official" way of doing it. This always struck me as strange, since this is the only skill that's handled this way.

In my games, I make the Martial Art skill one that is used on its own. That way, it gets a chance to raise through experience.

I've reached a point where I need playtest data for Fractured Hopes. I will be playtesting myself, but it is always good to have additional people go through it and see how it plays.

What I'm looking for:

1. Someone with a current group who can make at least monthly reports (ideally, this would be weekly).

2. Someone who can provide actual, table-top experience of the game.

3. The ability to play the rules as written. If you have tweaks that you think would make particular systems work better, I'd love to hear them, but only if you've tried it the proper way first.

4. You'll also need to have the Basic RPG Zero Edition, or most of the game won't make any sense.

What I'm not looking for:

1. Editing. Yes, I know there are typos.

2. "Eye-balling" impressions. If you think the rules won't work, it's much better to have playtested them and come back to me with specific critiques, than it is to simply say "it doesn't look right" without actually trying them.

What do you get?"

1. Playtesting credit in the final manuscript for all who are involved.

2. Serious gratitude on my part.

3. The knowledge that you've helped out a fellow fan.

PM me here if you are interested.

Thanks,

Charles Green

It depends on the style of roleplaying one prefers. In our group we consider it

far more important who the PC is (biography, personality, motivations) than

what the PC can do (attributes and skills), and it can be quite a roleplaying

challenge to play a crippled old man or a child (= a "weak" character) instead

of the usual hero, whom everyone of us has played dozens of times already..

I see your point. However I should point out that the examples you've given are physically weak. To compensate for the weakness of the body, would they have a corresponding bonus to their mental or social capabilities?

And, while most of us who post here have played the hero before, not everyone who plays the game has done so. For nearly 5 years, I had to induct people into gaming to find players. I was constantly asked why they couldn't play the character they wanted, simply because the dice said so.

Also, it's one thing to decide to play such a character, and it another thing entirely to have such a character foisted upon because of how your dice rolls went during character creation. What if you want to play a martial arts expert, but your dice say "crippled scientist"?

Besides, playing a "weak" character means that you have to develop new me-

thods of solving old problems, a test of cleverness and creativity. Playing an

average hero is a simple task, once you have done it a couple of times, and

after some years of roleplaying (thirty years in my case) you can do it while

asleep. It even becomes quite boring. So, why not try something different,

and play the clumsy clerk or the one-legged oldster ?

Again, I see your point, and again I will assert that this is a choice made by the player. I can see the value of playing something different, but only if you, as a player, want something new or challenging.

But, again: In the end it is purely a matter of personal taste.

I agree completely. Thank you for taking the time to make a well-reasoned post on the subject.

I've always loved the idea of using mecha and other equipment from that particular brand of sci-fi, but have never really seen a rules system that handled them with the same level of intuitiveness and ease of use as BRP.

Simply treating them as vehicles with the appropriate stats doesn't feel right to me. It lacks a certain something.

Has anyone else given this any thought?

In many ways, every member of a group competes against each other. If not directly, then for screen time and effectiveness during the game.

If a mixed party were some are strong and some are weak, what incentive is there for playing the "Weak" character? Is that something you'd like to play?

I prefer my characters to all be equally competent in their respective fields, so that everyone feels like they can contribute equally to the game.

Having a mixed party level is asking for trouble. Encounters that challenge the strong members can be lethal for the weak ones, and those that are a challenge for the weak leave the strong have nothing to do.