Nakana

The number of negative HP's which you need to hit to be dead and they put the minus sign in for you.

Well that explains my confusion, I thought you died at 0. I didn't think there were negative hit points. Would you mind referencing where in the BGB it explains that?

The best that I could find in the BGB, it states to put your HP in that line (implying negative HP), but then elsewhere it says you die at 0. (Thus negating negative HP.)

In the HP section on the character sheet from the BGB, where it has "DEAD(-____)"

What exactly goes inside the parenthesis and what's up with the negative dash?

This is a really good point.

I understand the very small staff at Chaosium is busy and have a lot of things in the works. However, I really wish they would/could hire someone to handle PR and promotions, etc.

A lot of things could be done that would help (let's use the word awareness) of Chaosium's other products in the RPG industry. (Specifically newcomers.)

"Tele Sapiens" is what came to my mind. Not sure if it's in the direction you're looking for though.

Edit: As in telepathic, telekinetic, etc. The prefix "tele-" means to bridge long distances. You could set it up as if psions are classified as a different species technically?

Welcome to Basic Roleplaying! The forum and the system.

Both are awesome and have become my #1 choice!

I bought the hardcover BGB a few weeks ago from Amazon. Last night I got the PDF to Magic World (and after Chaos points it was only $9.99- helluva deal!). I can always print it out, and seeing how I'm learning bookbinding I actually have a project other than journals/notebooks. Eventually I'll make it a hardcover.

Thanks for the advice!

Thanks for the reply. I can't decide if I would rather have the physical copy or the digital lol.

I have a question. When you buy a physical book from Chaosium do you also get the PDF? Or do you need to buy both separatley?

Except 1D10 changes it to 10% increments instead of 5% increments.

That's all a matter of perspective really. Remember the 1d10 is only representing 50% of the total equation, in which case each side is 5%. Anything beyond that would be an automatic success/failure anyway.

Yeah, I suppose it depends on just how fast people can do the math. I can do the math in my head faster that I can pull out the table or dig up a reference sheet.

It's just another way of doing the same thing. It might be helpful to some GMs and groups or it might not.

Where it could get interesting would be applying it to skills, or even using it to turn this into a both sides roll mechanic. A GM could replace the base of 50% with a D100 roll.

Which is more or less what I was suggesting, but instead of a D100 just use a simple 1d10. For what it's worth, the quickest way for me to calculate the Resistance Table is to multiply the difference in stats by 5(%) then add or subtract 50(%). That way there is no need to pull out the table.

ORtrail,

I haven't read through them all cover to cover, but I have definitely thumbed through them and picked various sections to check out.

As far as genres go, high fantasy is always a classic. Although, I must admit I prefer things a little more Tolkienish than Gloranthan. I really like the world of Shadowrun, yet I don't play it because I absolutely loathe dice pool systems. (Statement of preference not quality of system).

Right now, what I am mostly interested in is a modern setting similar to some d20 Modern campaign models but with some twists.

What genres do you prefer?

This mechanics breaks when a contestant has an advantage of 5 points or more in a characteristic and you are counting special successes. While the regular resistance roll will give you a special success 15% of the time, this mechanics will grant the highest characteristic a special success 50% of the time. With an advantage of 6 or more, special successes become more likely than normal successes.

I gotcha. The probabilities of degrees of successes become skewed, so degrees of success do not fairly work in this mechanic.

Another point is that so few abitudinary players of D100 find the usual maths so "scary" as to wish to shift paradigms in favour of a "roll over" mechanics for characteristic comparisons when the rest of the game system is "roll under".

I wouldn't say the math is "scary", just simply not as quick. (Although we're only talking a matter of seconds of time saved) Also to point out, I as well as any immediate possible players I have at my disposal are not in the habit yet of the d100 "roll under" paradigm. Admittedly, the d20 "roll over" mindset is a habit I am now trying to break. In time "roll under" will become second nature and this mechanic at that point may even seem odd.

Nonetheless, you make a good point. It is a roll under system - better to keep it that way.

Thanks for the response and insight.

I don't know if this has been brought up before, (Fairly new to the BRP system) but so far I haven't seen it anywhere.

Instead of using the resistance table, what about using this mechanic:

CHARACTERISTIC + 1d10 = X

Highest X wins.

Furthermore if you want degrees of success:

If the difference of X's are 5 or more it is a special success. If the difference is 10 or more it is a critical success.

For example Bill and Bob want to arm wrestle. Bill's STR is 12 and Bob's STR is 10. They each roll 1d10 and add it to their STR. Whoever is highest wins. If Bill wins by 5 or more = special success; 10 or more = critical success.

On the resistance table Bill would need to roll 60% or better. Bob needs 40% or better. Bill has a 20% advantage over Bob. Likewise, using the new mechanic, Bill still has a 20% advantage over Bob. Right?

I'm not a math genius, but unless I'm missing something I think the probabilities are basically the same. (Minus a rounding error of 1/10th versus 1/100th. Yet, on the resistance table degrees of success negate the rounding error anyway.)

This mechanic to me would be a lot simpler and faster than worrying about the resistance table.

(None of this would apply to opposed skill rolls, which would be done as normal)

Anyway, if this method doesn't work please explain to me why. Also if this idea is nothing new please tell me.

If for some reason this is a breakthrough mechanic that has never been done before, I hereby dub it "Nathan's Rule of Resistance"

To everyone,

Thank you all so much for the great advice! You have no doubt saved me a ton of time by knowing now what not to read and where to focus.

I am looking forward to immersing myself with Gloranthan lore over the next few weeks.

Cheers,

- Nakana

First and foremost, above all else.. I want to say thank you! Perhaps nowhere on the internet will I find such a community that adheres to courtesy and respect, and promotes encouragement and growth like I find here at BRPC. Just about any other forum, all I see is people quick to reply with snide comments and that "I'm too cool to care" attitude. I'm absolutely loving these forums, and you all have my gratitude!

A word of warning, though - it can be tricky running a game with players who know more about Glorantha than you do.

Thinking about your overall problem, running a game for someone who potantially

knows the setting better than you do, I remembered a method I used with several

well known settings: The setting is in a parallel universe, and therefore very similar

to the original one, but not identical. There are major and minor differences, so the

players' knowledge about the original setting may be partially wrong - and the refe-

ree can surprise players who thought that they knew all about the setting.

I completely agree, and have even brought that point up with her, however, she absolutely does not like GM'ing.

That's why I want to focus on the current Modern Age of Glorantha (I secretly checked and the RQ she played was the Avalon Hill edition/version?) but with the modern age, any discrepancies can be explained by the passing of time and things changing. From what I'm learning of Glorantha, that explanation could be completely feasible. So while it IS Glorantha, it doesn't have to be exactly the way she remembers it.

Mr. Jealousy - Thank you! Not only for the help in pronunciation, but also for the scenario!

If the original publications were based in the Third Age (most likely what she played) then I definitely want to focus on many years later than that. So basically I don't want to spend a lot of time researching the Second Age stuff. Correct?

As far as the method of traveling to Glorantha, here is what I'm coming up with:

After several adventures in my world breaking the characters in (and all the stories are connected) it leads the characters on a quest based around the "Book of Creation". Now a focal point here is to alter a mortal's understanding of what a "book" is. This is not a typical "book".

The "Book of Creation" is a magical crystalline and transparent cube, that is so perfect there are no seams. (It was perfectly cut out of a solid piece of crystal). On each of the 6 sides is a white glowing runic symbol.

---Fast forward to the final showdown--

In the seemingly final battle with the evil wizard (timeless cliche I know, but fun and it works), the wizard will cast a spell using the book that completely envelops her character with a vibrant blue mist and *poof* she disappears. (The other players are to try to finish the battle with the wizard and will find out afterwards that her character is not dead but transported to another place - quest lead-in)

Her character wakes up in a clearing in a forest, begins to look around and sees [insert Gloranthan landmark here].

Once the other characters have discovered a ritual that will take them to Glorantha, they are reunited and will have a purpose in Glorantha (possibly using the Return to Apple Lane scenario MrJealousy provided). After that quest, when it is time for the players to go home, I suspect her character will chose to stay in Glorantha; I'm thinking of how to tie her character in some significant way to Glorantha. (Perhaps she was the lost [insert significant person of Glorantha here] that was stolen as a baby and had no memory???)(Or even maybe a "lost goddess"??)

This is just a quick rough draft/summary of what I'm thinking. Please feel free to critique/contribute as you see fit. (In other words if for some reason it doesn't work, please tell me and why)

I know it's another wall of text, but I get excited about it and start to type/ramble. lol.

As I've stated elsewhere, I'm fairly new to BRP.

My aunt however, is not. She started playing RuneQuest in the 80's and with all my talk recently of BRP she is really starting to miss her adventures in Glorantha. I know that she would love to go back.

...and I would love to take her back.

Yet, there are a few problems. First, I've been building a world in my mind and on paper ever since I started playing D&D and while it would be great to do some Gloranthan adventures - I prefer to use my own world. (The solution that I have come up with is to link them in some fashion.)

Secondly, I know very little about Glorantha; have very little resources about Glorantha; and don't have months of time to read all the many books that I could find.

Here is where (hopefully) you guys come in.

I do have some information about the world and I've been going over them when I can. This also raises many questions lol.

I'm hoping that perhaps you will be able to answer some questions that I have, as well as provide me with other information of importance.

Questions:

1. Is there any possible way to travel to Glorantha (magically or otherwise?) It seems like I read somewhere only natural born citizens are able to travel to and from Glorantha.

2. Is the "Second Age" the same as the "Imperial Age"? If so, where can I find information specifically about the Modern/Current Age? (If the history of Glorantha has changed since the 80's I want to introduce her to the current Glorantha)

3. How do you pronounce "Genertela" and "Pamaltela"?

4. Is there any particular castle or landmark of renown throughout the lands? If so, can you tell me a little about it? (This is more about a way to describe to her character where she is (and having the player figure it out) without spelling it out.)

That's all I can think of as of right now.. I'm sure more will come in the next few weeks.

I hope noone finds my request too troublesome, and rather views it as an opportunity to introduce me to a world that has brought many people incredible joy throughout the years.

Thank you,

Nakana

Hello all! I just wanted to take a moment and introduce myself to the community and provide a little backstory on how I came to be here.

Quick run-down of my gaming history:

My first experience with pen and paper rpgs was Basic D&D several years ago and I throughly enjoyed it. I enjoyed it so much that I ventured out on my own and got into D&D 4th/Essentials as it was the current edition at the time. This lead to discovering about 3.0/3.5 and I really liked that edition as well. I also learned of the "edition wars". The edition wars kind of put a bad taste in my mouth about the whole D&D thing. I completely understand preferring one over the other, but I don't understand people making it THAT serious.

The whole point of an rpg to me, is to enjoy the game and time with friends. Fighting over rules and/or being restricted in HOW to play a game started to take something away from the experience for me. I didn't like the idea of "playing it wrong", and that's how it started to feel.

So I started to look elsewhere.

Enter: Chaosium

As odd as it may sound, I found out about the Golden Book before any other product from Chaosium. (It seems like most people know about the BGB by way of CoC or RQ, etc.) Needless to say my hardcover copy of the Golden Book came in a few days ago and it's exactly what I've been looking for! It's the perfect balance of rules (and optional rules) to have a game system, yet a lack of rules to let your imagination soar and develop the exact game/system/setting you want and allow FUN to be the primary objective!

Fun Fact: Come to find out my aunt has known about BRP for decades as she played (and still has) a ton of original RQ, Glorantha, Elric!, Stormbringer,etc. books from the 80's. She was quite happy to hear about my excitement of BRP.

I've also been lurking these forums for a little while and I gotta say overall I like the vibe and atmosphere here a lot more than what I've seen on WoTC and rpg.net

I'm located on the MS Gulf Coast, so if there are any players close to that area feel free to pm me.

I know it's been a wall of text but that's it. I'm looking forward to being a part of the community here!

Cheers,

Nakana

EDIT: Ok, this was suppose to be posted under Alastor's Skull Inn. I apologize for the mishap. Hopefully a moderator can move it? I'll see about contacting someone.