ORtrail

I'd agree you need 25+ levels as the rules are written in the BRP book. If you could get the GM to go with 2 STR pts per Snare Projection level, then you could get by with 15 levels. Or at 1D6 STR per Snare Projection level, you could buy 10 levels (10D6 is pretty good with an averge of 35 STR).

Of course, with the old Super World rules, the power cost of Snare Projection was 3 pts/level used, so it could drain energy quickly.

The new BRP version seems to take 1 power pt per use. Another huge change.

Get creative with the power and I think you'll enjoy using it. Your character may lean more toward a support role though, if you lack any other serious attacks.

Just remember that BRP is made with the idea that you can tweak rules and pick and choose what you want to use.

Wow, I had a very similar idea Cthulufnord. It was one of the ideas I had for the BRP adventure contest.

A lot of the details differ of course, but all the major Martian elements are there, the Tripods, heat rays, red weed, but also with a Western setting, and I added some Martian parasites for good measure.

I shouldn't be surprised, as we are pulling from the same well, so to speak, but I had to LOL when I saw your post. I think your version has more depth (and would make a fun campaign) while my idea was more of a one-shot type adventure.

Nice work.

As was said above, Snare Projection is useful against the goons and physically weaker villians. I had a player who used it as one of his main attacks (he was a dragon-like humanoid mutant). He added an energy projection to the web (shot from his mouth -it was his first super hero, okay?) and was fairly effective.

A couple thoughts about Snare Projection. I ruled it took an action to "break out" if they had to roll versus their strength, unless they had an 80% or better chance and made the STR roll. So if nothing else, it often bought the heroes time by keeping the villain distracted.

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Okay, I just read over the BRP book and see there was a major change to Snare Projection. In the WoW Superworld book, you got a SIZ of 1D6 per level of Snare Projection -not a set number like the BRP book gives you.

HUGE difference obviously, and I prefer the Superworld method, though you could increase the BRP Snare Projection to 2 STR points per level I guess?

My players would SO abuse that power, like leaving villians in front of a bus/train then letting time resume.

I remember Gamma World had this as a mutation, I'll need to research and see how they handled it.

[ The deadline was extended to midnight August 3rd to allow for another weekend of writing ]

That's what it says on the Chaosium website, which means Sunday by midnight, Pacific time, as I understand it.

I LOVE you Shaira. At least as much as a man can love a woman he knows only from an internet forum -and as much as my wife (blessfully ignorant at the moment) would allow.

Two late nights (1 AM and up at 6:30 AM to go to work, home again at 6 PM) the past two days and facing the same tonight, or I was until this merciful reprieve.

Now I can look forward to a decent nights rest, and a weekend of proofing and tweaking details.

I had the VERY same thought about bringing this thread back up from the depths!

Frantic, the word is FRANTIC. Dustin was very cool about letting me go well over the 7,000 word limit, but time is the enemy now. I'm at the editing stage, but I've got TONS left to rewrite, maps to do, oh and some stats too.

I thought seriously about dropping this bloated monster and writing up an old SuperWorld scenario, or a pulp adventure over the weekend, but I just can't do it!

I thought about scaling back on this adventure, but I struggled to get it down to what I have now, and it would feel "incomplete".

So, a late night for me tonight, and tomorrow, and we'll see. I'm 75% sure I will have it done in time to email off. At the very worst? I just don't get it all together in time, but I've enjoyed the whole process, sharpened my Word skills, and wrote the single biggest adventure of my gaming life.

I think Jason and Nightshade covered it pretty well. BRP works best with lower-level supers, and when the GM wants a more gritty campaign.

I ran Superworld from the WOW book, the designer notes article from Different Worlds #23, and the usual house-rules (are ANY BRP games played without some?) in a campaign that ran for over two years.

Did a 4-5 adventure campaign set in the 1930s I called Pulpworld, with even lower level heroes.

I own a near perfect condition Superworld boxset, thanks to the mimimal use it has seen. At $11 for a PDF version, I'd say you could mine some ideas, along with the Powers list, to make it worth buying.

For the record, I started with a V&V campaign, then Marvel Superheroes, then onto WOW. Never really played any Champions, and I own but only played Mutants and Masterminds once at DragonCon. I own several other super games, such as Silver Age Sentinels and Godsend Agenda (D6 version) but my "comfort zone" with the BRP system makes running Superworld too easy to devote the time and energy to learning new gaming systems (I've grown lazy in my old age).

Well, go to the downloads section and grab a copy of the excellent Warlords of Alexander. Although taking place about 200 laters than you were looking for, it is a great resource. Paul Elliot did a wonderful job in presenting one of the very best historical settings for adventurers.

I also have my eye on BRP Rome, as it has the advantage of nearly everyone being instantly "familiar" with the setting (or the Hollywood version at least).

After edit: Well, I think you are well aware of Alexander and that time period. Nice to have an author of historical fiction here with us.

BTW, have you read Latro In The Mist by Gene Wolfe? It covers some of the Persian-Greece conflict, in its own way.

I've yet to read over the section, but how else are you going to deal with an arrow, or slingstone bullet, or even a rock without a shield?

Dagger parry? Spear parry? Sure, maybe a Difficult parry with those weapons to knock it away, but you'd be better off with a shield.

Especially when hit locations are being used.

Hmm... this isn't directly responsive to the topic, I know, but I would call that "rapid fire" rather than "volley fire". As far as I know, "volley fire" is a lot of missiles being discharged at the same time to maximize the effect, and so it should be slower than normal fire, as you have to wait until everyone has finished loading and aiming. Which could easily be handled by a different spot rule, of course...

(I'll be considerate and not get into the appropriateness of "fire" as a verb applied to non-firearms such as arrows and slings... it's way too late for that one.) :innocent:

- QV

Yeah, when I hear "volley fire" I think of massed groups of men with muskets, ready to fire all at once. The tactic was used to INCREASE accuracy since as little as 15% of individual shots fired ever hit their target.

Seems like we are talking more about "covering fire" or just a "harassing fire" to keep an enemy off balance and their heads down.

BTW, slingers tend to get overlooked and underappreciated, but read up on Xenophon and his march to the sea and just how accurate some of those slingers could be. Especially when they had lead bullets. An ounce of lead at 100 mph has to be respected. :eek:

Yes, I do.

What?

Oh, I need to go dig it out? *mumbles to self*

Okay, points needed to build some X-Men (keeping in mind this was with the original WOW Superworld):

The Angel -143 pts, with Flight, Stats and Regenerate as the main costs

Wolverine -144 pts, with Claws (4d6 +2d6 DB), Martial Arts, Regenerate and some Heightened Senses

Colossus- 150 pts, with Armor (18/8/8) and Stats taking much of that (punch 1D3+6d6 DB)

Magneto- 259 pts, hard to build due to number and quality of his powers. Absorbtion/Forcefield (16/20/16) Magnetic Projection at 9D6, Snare Projection at 6D6, Flight, Stats, Telekenesis(metal) at 40 STR, Skills

Sprite- At the lower end, she took 114 pts, with Disrupt Touch at 7D6 and Insubstantiality

Keep in mind armor was rather low for most, and only needed for Kinetic/Electromagnetic/Radiation

One more edit: I should mention that in my WOW Superworld campaigns, I had a cap for the characters attack damage (4D6) but allowed them to increase it after that through Hero Points for each adventure (normal skills got regular rolls). This avoided some 8D6 Lazer Eye hero with a 95% attack chance and no other real powers or skills or stats beyond a bit of CON and DEX. The heroes tended to be more diversified (and were built with 125 pts plus 5-10 pts of Disabilities). Just FYI.

A monthly schedule would be a killer for Chaosium to maintain, and that $10/month still seems a bit much for an unproven commodity.

I'd rather see them do 4-6 issues of BRP Worlds a year, at $10 each or $7 for a PDF version. Or a subscription fee of $40 a year, for at least 4 issues or $50 for 6?

Price is a secondary issue compared to having a workable publication schedule, so the 4-6 issues per year is the main thing to me.

No problem, SteveMND. I was just seeing if a bit of a 'push' might help. :

Just like working with software (no software is ever truly finished) you could get something down on paper, but compromise features and functionality to meet a deadline. There are always more ideas than time.

On the other hand, just as there is often a "version 2.0" for software, I'd bet Chaosium will be looking to do another BRP contest in the near future. The BRP book is something they should push for years, and every worldbook or adventure just adds to the value of it.

Finally got my copy from my FLGS! No real time to do more than glance through and notice the artwork goes from good to passable and that it seems very organized.

Quickly glanced at a few sections concerning the adventure I'm writing for the BRP contest, and was remindered why I love this old, familiar system so much. Other than needing some historic and plot details, the rest I could have run pretty much on-the-fly.

It still seems amazing to me that we didn't get BRP in this form at least 10 years sooner.

Anyway, nice work Jason, Sam and the rest of the people who made this happen. Better late than never!

Oh, I think they know time was/is an issue for many. Truth be told, I STILL don't have my copy of BRP. I choked at spending $26 for the PDF when I should have a hard copy in my hands this week (seriously, this time for SURE).

Knowing the BRP system, it's been more about getting research done for my adventure idea, and things have gotten out of hand quickly. I'm very near to wishing I'd gone with another idea, but we all know how when inspiration strikes, you just have to go with it.

For the record, I was half-joking about limited competition giving some of us poorer writers a chance. To a degree that may be true, but I think we all want to see some excellent adventures come out of this contest, ones that show the strengths and flexibility of BRP.

SteveMND, if you had two weeks to come up with a BRP adventure to show the system off to some gamers, could you do it? I think you could. Just a quick adventure for an evening of gaming? You KNOW you want to...

Well, I know that ONE adventure for the BRP contest wasn't mine! I'll be sending it very late July, no doubt. Let's get busy people and get those adventures in!

In fact, consider that you might be competing against a fairly limited amount of submissions, so the odds have to be pretty good, right?

Any Browncoast here?

I actually went and saw Serenity before getting the DVD collection of Firefly and watching them. The wife and I instantly feel in love with the show/characters.

I'm used to, or at least always expect now, that any show I really like will get the axe.

On the plus side, I did get the Serenity RPG (didn't get into the actual game system) and maybe someday I'll get to run a quick campaign.

I always liked the Future*World setting, at least most of the concepts, especially a galactic empire built on world gates and not big space fleets.

I'd like to see it expanded into a full setting, as it would stand out among all the usual sci-fi settings. I will keep an eye out for Outpost 19.

Next week is the word I got today. I'm getting the PDF then, as the clock is ticking and I need to get things done.

Thanks for the link. You never have enough names handy for games, and especially for historical ones where names should reflect the area/culture.

I'd love to see this translated, as I'm a fan of the ancient near east. Maybe I just got burned out on the classic middle ages Europe, but I welcome these settings as a great change of pace.

The Spencer and other rifle where taken away from the troops in 1873 and replaced with the single shot Trapdoor Springfield .

this was a muzzle loading Springfield converted to a breech loader by the Allen patent. The reason was economy as it thought the troops would waste ammo if they had a repeating rifle.

BTW at little Big Horn the US Cavalry was armed with Trapdoor Springfield's, while the Sioux had a large number of repeating rifles.

In fairness, the advantage of the Springfields was a much better range, which in theory kept the natives at bay. There are questions about the rifle heating up from repeated shots and jamming though.

Custer was the victim of his own arrogance, incompentence or cowardice of a couple of his officers, and maybe the inferior weapon under the circumstances of Little Big Horn.

Er... So any suggestions as to what I could use for a 19th century colonial campaign? in terms of weapons available to the Europeans vs weapons available to the natives.

Well, what year, or at least decade of the 19th century are we talking about? What part of the world?

My thanks to those that replied to my questions. I was fairly aware of the differences between the Kentucky rifle and Brown Bess musket, which was why I used them to try and get an idea how much depth BRP had in seperating black powder firearms. Alairduk, you covered the key differences between those weapons quite well. Does BRP?

The lack of dates for weapons, though that can vary so much depending on location and circumstances, is regrettable.

Oh, and I think Jason was wanting to say "percussion caps" perhaps? More American Civil War period?