ORtrail

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?

Well, my FLGS is supposed to have copies of BRP this coming week, so I'm still holding off on getting the PDF. If they don't have it come Wednesday (July 9th) then I guess I go with the PDF. Now, as for this topic? Is there a more-or-less generic listing of firearms? Or specific weapons? Is there a difference, say between a Kentucky rifle (think Davy Crockett) and a "Brown Bess" 1816 musket? Or do both fall under a generic flintlock, black powder category?

I think that about sums up my feelings too. All depends on the setting. Combat being fairly dangerous to the PCs is a good thing, as I'd prefer they have to think it over before resorting to violence. BTW, for very specific wounds, blood loss, shock and even hydrostatic shock you need to check out the Tri Tac system (Stalking the Night Fantastic, FTL 2448, Fringeworthy). Characters can take massive damage, but die instantly with a shot to the head, or heart, or spine.

If truth be told, having a deadline is better for my getting things done. If most are moving along fine, then I can too. Given the lack of voices crying out for "More time!!" I think no one else is bothered by the end of July date. The stats won't be much of a concern till my other writing is complete and I'll grab the PDF if I don't get the softbound book next week. If nothing else, I've finally gotten serious work done on an adventure idea that I've thought about for about 15 years, off and on. After hearing about the BRP contest, I listed out five ideas and this old one FINALLY clicked! A flood of ideas and if anything, knowing when to say when will be the hardest part of getting this thing written, as will be apparent when you see it. How's that for dropping hints? Seriously though, I'm having fun with this. I mean, BRP has a new lease on life, an old idea is almost writing itself, and I'm excited to see what many of you are are working on. Great time to be a BRP fan.

With the slight delay of the BRP book, is there a chance of pushing back the contest by a week or so? I've been plugging away on my scenario here and there (mostly research as it's more historic based than most) and I think I could have it ready by the end of July... I don't know, where is everyone else at? Jason mentioned Chaosium probably wants an adventure book ready to sell at Gencon, so is extending the deadline even by a week possible? Or is the end of July a pretty hard deadline?

Yeah, that's what I'm looking at too. I'd have a copy this week if I'd placed an order directly with Chaosium, but I felt it important to support the local gaming store and hopefully the owner likes it enough to push it to the gaming public. One store owner can reach a lot of people after all. I almost got the PDF, but work has kept me busy, and I'll be gone most of the 4th of July weekend, so next week works, I guess.

I'll take all the stats I can get, even if I might never make full use of them. Better to have and not need, than need and not have, right?

I think only the hardcore types would be interested in writing a scenario anyway, right? I won't have my copy until this coming Saturday (at best) but it's the BRP system, so I'm not too concerned about the stats for various creatures, etc. I'd take an interesting story/adventure idea over stats, but having BOTH those elements is what makes for a well written adventure. On the other hand, the stats I create might, and probably should, be tweaked by the GM anyway. He knows the player characters, what could challenge them, and what might be too much for them to handle. I think we've all suffered at the hands of a GM who refused to tone down some foe because "That's what they (the writer) gave them". Since this BRP book will encourage a lot of "picking-and-choosing" of rules anyway (as I understand it) it falls on the GM to decide if that adventure needs to be modified (one written WITH hit locations being used for example). In any event, I hope Chaosium sees a flood of excellent adventures and they struggle to pick the best.

Tempting, but my local gaming/comic store is getting a few copies, including one for me. Besides, I like the feel, the smell, of dead trees and ink. Unless that PDF is only $10 or so, and I can get it printed cheap...

Is it bad that I don't really care what they play, as long as I get my copy of BRP? If BRP had been released January 08 for $9.99, would they have cared? At best, with the BRP system "under one roof" so to speak, in current print, and with some measure of support material, I think you'd only get a minority interested in trying it. BRP won't be DOA for me in any event. I think the next year or so will be a great time to be a Chaosium system fan. I refuse to have my excitement tempered by what a bunch of D&D fans think.

I've actually got an idea I'm excited about doing, so I need to focus and get something done. It helps a lot that I'm now working in an office environment, so I can at least jot down thoughts and ideas during breaks and lunch (never during "work hours" ).

A 1d10 bite? Are these Cimmerian ponies? With sabretooth fangs? I must remember to have my BRP character train a herd of those things, and unleash them upon my enemies. :eek: I'll train one of them to count the number of dead too, so not all of them are a one trick pony...

I like this idea. It depends on the game though, as it would seem out of place in a CoC game, but right at home in a Superworld campaign. It might even be more fun to limit the players to one 'wild die' each, as the agonizing over WHEN to use it would be... amusing.

I like the setting. As for suggestions? What springs to my mind is how some plants/animals tend to get accidently introduced from one place to another and tend to threaten native species. Less of an issue with your setting perhaps, but what about those not wanting this young colony to succeed? Some who want the planet for themselves? Some who have a personal grudge against a colony leader? Perhaps massive loans were taken out to finance this venture? Space pirates who had a nice hiding place? A rogue scientist messing with geneticly engineered creatures, but with good intentions (only wanted to speed the colonizing process up)? What if there WAS an intelligent native species deep down in those depths? They've been in hibernation for centuries, waiting for the radiation to level off... Maybe without much technology, but some psionics and an agressive attitude? A nice combination of several of the above?

Although I liked the simplicity of the "Chaosium dragon" cover, this new cover is much, much better than that "Aztec-meets-UFO" cover that was shown a few months back. At least this one hints strongly at the possible directions you can take with BRP.

Converting from one system to another is more of a "art" than a matter of conversion charts. Just the use of "SIZ" in BRP throws a lot of stats out of whack for other game systems. I think the more interesting approach, and fun, would be to do a "stat thread" for Tschai after the finished BRP book releases. We can debate amongst the fans just how tough a typical Phume really is... Oh, and Mithras? You can have your Space:Above & Beyond RPG... AFTER I get my Adventures of Brisco County Jr RPG.

Hey, I've got that issue of SpaceGamer. Tracked it down well before the GURPS book came out, and after I got my hands on the Bluejay Books Illustrated Chash and Wankh books (each with about 15 black and white drawings by Philip Hagopian). I don't think the other two books were ever released, or at least I've never seen them. There was also a French comic book adaption of the Tschai books, and I love to see an English translation. Actually, just having the comics for the art would be great, but I've no idea where to start looking (who imports foreign language comics?). Stats? I'd take the GURPS stats and turn them into the BRP equivalents. After I see how the new BRP book handles things, and what options I'd use for my game. PM me about the SpaceGamer article, it's only eight pages, so I could run some scans I guess...

I've got the GURPS worldbook, Jack Vance's Planet of Adventure. Easily adapted to BRP, and it rounds out the books fairly well. I'd have loved more art of the various aliens and human cultures, along with more vehicles, but I think you're always left wanting when it comes to things like that.

I KNEW I wasn't crazy, well no more than usual anyway. I must have misplaced the other one I had. Thanks.

I could have sworn that WoA came with a character sheet, but I don't see it in the PDF I got from his website awhile back. Funny thing is, I recall looking at a character sheet that had the skills divided up under the various gods, but that must have been for another game.

Pretty much the WoW box set for me, and mostly Superworld out of that, though some of Futureworld for my Multiverse time/dimensional campaign. Speaking of that site Gianni has, anyone know enough French or Italian to translate some of those BRP settings?

Ahh, man. I thought I was the "chosen one". Figured it was spam and ignored it.

A low powered supers campaign would be the easiest (once you get some decent character concepts worked out) and "safest" intro to the BRP system, for a group of mostly newbies. I don't want players getting killed off as their intro to BRP. At least I THINK I can drag people away from the videogames and such for a couple "one shot" super adventures and see how it goes. After that, I guess I could pitch some other BRP settings past them and see what sparks the most interest. After playing some of "Assassins Creed", a crusader era campaign might be an easy sell. Not that far off from "Cthulhu Dark Ages", but I'd try for more of a historical feel. I've got the "Holy Warriors" sourcebook for that time travel RPG from Timeline LTD, "Time and Time Again", which covers that era very well. A short campaign, 4-5 adventures would be ideal. A "Warlords of Alexander" campaign would be nice, as I've got some ideas for about a 10 adventure campaign, but getting other people interested in 300 BC Alexandria, Egypt might be a tough sell. Jorune? I think you need to know a fair amount to appreciate the world, and much more to GM in it. Multiverse? Another time travel campaign? Sure, you get to do adventures that are more "flavor of the month" and the BRP system really shines in handling most characters from different times and places. Western? A least a couple adventures would be fun, and it's very easy for anyone to get into. We've all seen plenty of westerns, right? Pulp Heroes, a street level supers game set in the 1930s. Communists, a growing Nazi power, and wacky super-science. Maybe. Star Wars or Star Trek BRP? Should be easy enough to get players excited about, but I don't have a cool idea for a campaign, yet. The "Future World" book from World of Wonder always intrigued me. A space empire setting, with "gates" between worlds instead of fleets of spaceships, and the players as imperial trouble-shooters. I'd need to do a lot of work to flesh out the setting. Anyone want to do a "Mass Effect" BRP game and post the pdf? Tschai: Planet of Adventure, another one, good for a short campaign. Truth be told, I'd be happy to play in any and all of these settings, and a dozen more. All without having to learn, or teach my players, a different rpg system.

Allowing those dodge rolls in other BRP games, especially the Wild West ones, would help characters survive... at least longer. If the GM hates Fate points, and the players don't happen to be time travellers with kevlar vests, you don't have that many options. Note: Other then a bit of Boot Hill (where thrown knives always seem to hit groins), my only western adventures have in fact been with characters as armored time travellers*. Unless the character is taking careful aim, I'd assume they are side-stepping, ducking, using any bit of cover (hitching post, water trough, kick over a table, boulder, etc.) to make themselves a harder target. All while trying to get off a few shots of their own, of course. Smart characters will try to ambush and/or choose fights carefully. Use a rifle when they have pistols, take out the guy with the shotgun first, etc. If a player wants to stand in middle of the street, well, live and learn I guess. In that Batman example? I'd really expect the player to be smart about how he went after those guys. Take a few out from the shadows with your batarangs, sneak up and hit one or two from behind after distracting them with a noise, call in a swarm of bats, use Robin as a human shield... er, well, you get the idea. I was always willing to work with the players when they gave me any little reason to give them an advantage. Of course, that should apply to every game. *The Alamo counts as a western adventure, right? I mean, 1836, black powder pistols, rifles, bayonets, bowie knives? Close enough? They were there as observers of events, to stop that guy with the modern sniper rifle from killing Santa Anna, and run like rabbits to the time portal inside the Mission as the Mexican army came over and through the walls. One of my players DIDN'T know how the whole Alamo thing was going to end. I still chuckle about that.

I just had to comment on your post from that "Fate points" thread, Atgxtg. You wrote: I think the thing with FATE points and with the multi-genre nature of the new BRP is that we end up needing the options to tweak the BPR rules enough to make them work. For example, if you run a BRP supers campaign, you need a way to tone down the inherent lethality of the BPR rules or after the first advenutre half the PCs will be dead and the rest wanted for manslaughter. Even a "Street-level" supers campaign needs a little tweaking. In BRP if a half dozen thugs open fire on someone like the Batman, we are probably going to be short one superhero. Ganging up is very effective in BRP, and one or two bullets could drop the caped crusader (with a an 18 CON and at 210lbs/SIZ 15, Brucvie has 17 hp). IN BRP the laws of probability will result in the eventual impale or worse a critical hit and one dead hero. Fairly quickly, too. That doesn't happen in the comics, not in over 65 years. So to run that sort of game we need a tweak that will help us simulate that kind of reality. Something like FATE points is certainly an option. Same with most of you figures in heroic fantasy. With all the fighting, someone would have rolled an 01 against Conan and killed him. Firearms sort of aggravate the problem, too, since the normal defenses aren't as effective. Maybe BRP will change the dodge rules. As it stands, Batman can't dodge a dozen bullets. So most the attacks are uncontested. BRP was really designed around the melee fight and the attack/parry mechanic. Without some sort of active defense against missile attacks we'll have problems. End quote. Agreed, BRP needs some changes to allow for a more heroic campaign. This made me realize how much I've tweaked Superworld to boost the players chances of survival. First, they get CON + a bonus from SIZ and POW. Batman, would have 24 hps: CON 18, plus 1pt for every SIZ pt over 12, and 1 pt for every 2 pts over 12 POW (call it "will to survive"). Giving Batman an 18 POW seems reasonable to me, so you get 18+3+3= 24. I'd allow them to take half CON in negative numbers before they actually died from wounds, and stay conscious with even 1 hp. It worked to dramatic effect in more than one adventure. Watch "Batman Begins" and remember his armored suit, which was a given in my Superworld campaigns (to one degree or another, all characters costumes provided some armor value). I'd give Bats about 5-6 pts versus Kinetic. I like his chances of survival better now, but those 6 armed goons are still trouble for him. As it should be. BTW, we subtracted any SIZ pt over 15 from dodge rolls. And speaking of dodge rolls? We always allowed dodge rolls to be made versus all physical attacks. It fits well with the super genre. You could parry missle attacks with a shield, or roll a "basic" dodge roll (DEX times 2). You could spend your next action for "full dodge" roll where the character was diving, rolling or whatever to avoid the hit (DEX times 3). Success, even versus a critical hit, it would reduce it to a normal hit, or a miss if you also got a critical dodge. Impale shots went by the wayside in favor of roll 10% or less of skill for critical success. I had a group of fairly newbie players, and this made BRP even simpler for them. It also kept them from taking many critical hits, in favor of more drawn-out super battles where players usually got taken down 3,4,5 hps at a time. I think FATE points work well in a super game, though I never thought to use them, and would keep them very limited to crucial moments. I'm not sure of the actual application either. Re-rolls? Add 20% to rolls? Criticals to normal success or normal to miss? Truthfully, as we played our version of Superworld, no hero ever needed more than an extended hospital stay. In a WARLORDS OF ALEXANDER campaign, I think they go by the wayside, or allow a character just 1-2 FATE points total. I'd be using more gritty BRP combat rules too. I understand my take on Superworld and BRP might send some purists into an apoplectic fit though...