FunGuyFromYuggoth

I wasn't sure if this was relevant (I also posted in Off-Topic), but it looks like the gaming industry is taking a stab at film-making again. What do you think?

Gametrailers.com - Dead Space: Downfall - Feature Film Trailer

Seems interesting and pretty good for a game tie-in. If you like survival horror, Lovecraft, Alien, and science-fiction/horror, check this out:

Gametrailers.com - Dead Space: Downfall - Feature Film Trailer

Clearly it was installed from the other side, where the dragon is sleeping in the huge cavern & there was plenty of room to work.

Steve

Yes, but why would a dragon need a little door?

It certainly wouldn't want any halflings walking in and giving it a hard time!

Not to metion the guys with nothing but spears, pits, bows and arrows and blowguns. And balls.

Same here brother. One of my favorite stories growing up was the Greek hero Meleager and his hunt for wild boar with a spear! I must've been 8 years old and could see it in my mind's eye. Wonderful, thrilling stuff.

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meleager]

I just put the recently released BRP entry up on RPG.net's index, along with the new cover.

RPGnet RPG Game Index: Basic RolePlaying

Show your love. If you own it, go on up there and rate it!

Thank you for posting this. Did my duty! :thumb:

:deadhorse:

Hey jarulf!

I would strongly encourage you to go here and pick up the BRP system. There is a lot to recommend to it.

On p.276 of the BRP rules you'd find information on objects from ballpoint pens to the Eiffel Tower. Ok, maybe not that detailed, but you get the point.

In you case, I imagine it's a large door (SIZ 4-8) with 6 points of AP. A simple guideline for destroying an object is that an average object has HP roughly equivalent to its SIZ. Once armor has bypassed and these HP are lost, the object is nonfunctional/destroyed.

If they don't have the right tools to chop down a down a door or the wrong kind of weapon (not an Axe or Hammer), I would say it just doesn't work and they damage their weapons somehow.

If the door is that tough and space permits, maybe they can use those beams, get some rope, and batter it down? For logic's sake, let me ask you, if they can barely fit two abreast in the passageway, how the heck did that door get there in the first place ? You need space to build and install a reinforced door. Let two or three of them work together.

For damage, I'd assign the same for Sledge Hammer (2D6+2+db of the characters working together).

Also, fire does wonders to weakening wood, but if they're underground or in an enclosed environment, that may not be such a great idea, though I imagine they could just stack the beams, set them on fire, and wait it out safely outside until the fire burns out.

Actually, I've very little doubt that there was a certain level of vanity associated with the Howdah pistol

It's funny. I see the same with people and their machines today. Whether they collect guns, classic cars, motorcycles, video game consoles, computer gaming machines (and it's always MEN), they state the BIGGEST, BADDEST, MOST ENVIABLE THING in their posssession.

Maybe it goes back to?, "Me Thog have bigger spear than youze! See it have FLINT on head of spear, not pointy stick! Also have round rocks easy to throw. Shiny rocks with sharp edge!" Jumps up and down and beats on chest.

When it comes to a tiger however, sometimes there just isn't enough time for all that dismounting and accuracy stuff

Whattcha think? Bamboo rods-of-lordly-might?

Slainte'

Sunwolfe

Well, take your pick, pull out gun on top of a very annoyed elphant with a tiger climbing up its back to get you (or the elephant--if it's anything like most cats it just wants to hang on and see what happens next), and try to shoot with accuracy a large very difficult gun and possibly hitting the elephant too (not a good idea--imagine the chaos then).

I think a cool headed hunter with the choice would prefer the distance and let his porter hand him the backup elephant gun.

Just my two cents. I'm sure sometimes there wasn't time, but I think if given a choice, I'd go with the gun I know I can hit with accurately from a safe place.

Check out Chaosium's "Gaslight Equipment Catalogue" by Rod Basler. It lists the .600 N.E. Magnum at 3D6+6. Great book! I don't know the author you wrote about unfortunately. Was he somebody who idealizes your concept of big game hunting in the Gaslight Era?

You think maybe those specialized pistols were manufactured as a sort of vanity piece under the guise of personal protection? I could be totally wrong, been before, but there is something peculiar to me about pounding that much power in a pistol. Then again, I guess neither of us have an idea of what psychology drove these men to hunt dangerous animals. I'm sure the modern experience is probably nothing like what they faced. More regulation, more control, more...modern...a lot less romanticized. Now you've gotten me in the mood to read an old fashioned adventure story!

Not sure about this, but I think I read somewhere that the 'howdah gun' was made for one purpose....to knock a disgruntled tiger off an elephants' back.

A less elegant solution would be to dismount and get to safety and let the elephant keep it busy then shoot it with a more accurate gun from a safe distance.

In the Industrial Revolution, gun manufacturers were trying all kinds of crazy designs and doing their damndest to sell those things to every market they could--including the new class of tourist with a phobia for becoming a tiger treat. (Coinciding with the Imperial Britain's leisure class in the 19th Century taking up big game hunting.)

If I were one of the porters on those safaris, I'd probably be just as scared of the rich, foreign hunter panicking and killing a porter every time the leaves rustled. :eek:

Thank you for managing and hosting the wiki. This is a great resource. Your work is appreciated. :thumb:

Errr, why the fuss over swimming? It's just one skill. Is there an ink and paper shortage too?

Really guys it's ok to have different opinions and no reason to go negative. Along with others here, I enjoyed following your conversation. People see things differently, that's all.

Nightshade, I had no idea what a MUX was! Was it like this one?

Strictly using the BRP listings on page 255, I agree that the elephant gun damage would be a logical alternative for finding out how much damage this pretty, but odd, gun could do. Here is how I'd do it on BRP alone if we threw the concept of the sawed-off shotgun with slug out:

A heavy pistol for equivalent accuracy is rated at 20%, but it can't do the same kind of damage as an elephant gun at range despite the rifling. It isn't a rifle when you chop it down that far. In any case, barrel length is not optimum for such a powerful load, rifled or not. You are trading range and power for "convenient" sizing (though I really, really, really question the wisdom of it).

Here is an alternative suggestion without the benefit of anything outside of the BRP rulebook:

Pistol, Heavy (Specialized) Base 20% Range 15 Damage 3D6+2 (as badcat suggests) but a Fumble would trigger

If I were a player and interested in the most bang for my buck, I'd prefer a sawed off shotgun. It does more damage on average and with a far better base chance to hit. After all, this strange gun is a "back-up gun," so you wouldn't need range when Tony the Tiger is right in front of you.

Personally, if I were into killing large game, I'd invest in a standard "Heavy Revolver" as my back-up gun while hunting with an honest-to-gosh elephant gun rifle. Allan Quartermain I am not. :ohwell:

Batman just broke the record books. The sh*t talking from the studio execs who didn't get it is over.

And as I said, I didn't have a bit of a problem with the costumes, and didn't find the Danger Room in joke with the Sentinel head more than an in-joke and as such, inconsequential.

It was a very dim attempt at "fan service."

Err..no. It would force the one weapon guy to go on the defensive and hold off his attack until the next Strike/DEX-rank. Something that could be painful if it was a grand melee with several attackers.

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.

Deleted.

Having two separate skills is an idea I do not like: the less the skills, the better.

I understand the qualms about having another skill for Shield, but if your player said he wanted to pick up a bar stool to defend against someone with an axe, what mechanic would you use? Do you use Shield at 15%?

Not knowing a thing about Blocking, an average Joe could probably defend better than 15% with a bar stool.

If you don't like Block as an adjunct to Shield, and maybe if you don't like having another skill (it must've been dropped for that reason) I think it still has merit on the continuum as a Spot Rule? In "Call of Cthulhu," my players do all kinds of crazy cinematic things like using dead (or live) bodies as shields...but YMMV.

Compared to "Call of Cthulhu" or "Delta Green," BRP has a radically simplified system for firearms. For shotguns, you have:

Sporting

Automatic

Double-Barrelled

Sawn-Off

End of list.

In "Delta Green" you get

10 gauge, slug

10-gauge, buckshot

12-gauge slug

12-gauge buckshot

and so on...

In any case, you have what looks like a BRP sawn-off shotgun that does 4D6 damage. If I were to use "Delta Green" rules (page 293 in "Delta Green," by Pagan Publishing, a licensee of "Call of Cthulhu"), I'd suggest 16-gauge slug for 1D10+5 and the same range as a sawed-off shotgun in the BRP rules 5/20/-.

Watermelon popsicles anybody?

It's hard to say. If the game was originally created in Japan, they may not of even thought (or cared) how some Americans would feel about the connotations regarding race is being depicted in the game.

True enough, developers are typically very insular everywhere, but the marketing department decides which footage put out. They aren't as naive (and are typically very diverse and international) and I wouldn't put it past them to make hay out of it. Controversy sells.

I'd add Block.

This actually has roots in other threads about BRP's unfortunate conflation of parrying with blocking. Does a shield parry or block? From what I've seen in historic recreations, it does both. You may want to have another skill that separates parrying from blocking. If you re-tool the old Block skill (DEX x2%), you get another application of "Shield." You keep the base % (usually 15% but varies) for other uses (if you combine or choose the option splitting attack/parry).

The thing about the old Block skill is that it was written to include large enough objects you can use with two hands. Period. It also exempts two-handed swords and your hands--those were designed to "parry" (I'd argue in martial arts you also had the X-block in traditional East Asian martial arts, which are definitely not parries, but that's another thread...)

If you houserule it to exempt shields which are specifically designed to block, (it does have nice handles that barstools and other objects lack) then you get the little extra oomph you are looking for. As houserules go, it may not be all that bad. You already have one exception for a type of shield. Remember that the pavise shield that archers use isn't actually used in a way most shields are used. In game, you'd use the Cover rules on page 220 for the pavise shield.

For balance, I'd still keep the downside of Block--if the damage done to it exceeds the objects HP, the blocking item (Shield in this case) is rendered useless or knocked away completely. Plus the remainder of the HP damage goes onto the defender. This could force the defender to think a bit more tactically about blocking opponents with big weapons (yeah tell the player ahead of time and they'll forget it 2 seconds later). Plus it could make Shield combat a bit more entertaining vs. largish weapons ("Remember what I said about blocking that great troll's battle axe?")

Finally, you get to re-introduce a skill that makes impromptu brawls fun again. Fire extinguishers, large wrenches, tree branches, trash cans, dead goblins, etc. are now in your Blocking arsenal.