rust

The Green really is a most interesting idea. I have no doubt that in a shared

science fiction universe my water world colonists would love to visit your

The Green to trade for its natural treasures.

Yes, in my experience the difficult times for the GM are over once the players'

characters have accepted roles and resposibilities within the setting, and be-

gin to invest their own creativity in further developing and expanding the set-

ting.

As far as I can remember, the Harnmaster RPG has exactly the kind of mora-

lity stat you are planning to use.

In my opinion, the only real difference between a linear and a non-linear sce-

nario is that in a linear scenario the GM provides the goal the characters ha-

ve to achieve, while in a non-linear scenario the players have to decide what

goal they want to achieve - and in both types of scenarios the GM has to

provide the obstacles on the way to achieving the goal.

From my experience I cannot say that a non-linear scenario is in any way mo-

re difficult to prepare or handle than a linear scenario. Once the setting has

been developed to a certain point, it may even be much easier to lean back

and let the players make most of the decisions (through their characters),

and just to react to their decisions with the instruments of the setting, than

to script a linear adventure with dozens of pre-planned events and scenes.

Ah, well ... Linear = 5+9 = 14, Non-Linear = 1+0+2 = 3, so according to the

most basic mathematics ...

This looks like a very interesting idea: More realistic than "flat" base chances,

but less complicated than the Ringworld system.

Thank you for the information !

In our current homebrew system we do use traits, but they are only a part

of the character background. They help the player to define his character,

and they help me as the GM to "reward" the player for staying "in character"

or to "punish" him for suddenly changing his character's personality in mid-

play because it seems convenient at the moment.

However, there are no die rolls during the game. The player decides what his

character will do or not, and the character suffers the consequences. A cha-

racter who is known for his truthfulness will find diplomacy easier than a well

known liar, but will suffer harsh setbacks and a loss of reputation once he got

caught with his first lie.

Thank you very much for the interesting idea !

Currently I think the aliens will have three different architectural Styles: An

archaic style for the oldest parts of their cities, another style for their modern

buildings, and a very functional style for their technical infrastructure.

The archaic style will probably look like a mixture of Gaudi and Giger, but less

colorful than Gaudi's buildings (these aliens cannot perceive colors) and less

threatening than Giger's artwork for the first Alien movie.

The design you proposed would fit extremely well for the aliens' modern style,

I think. If I did understand your description, the interior could look somewhat

like the interior of one of those old baroque theaters, with rows of boxes or

shelves around the interior wall, but made of a translucent glass-like material

- sounds fascinating.

Currently I am searching for ideas for the architecture of an aquatic alien ra-

ce, preferably some kind of bizarre organic-looking curved style without any

right angles ...

This reminded me of the sketch of parts of R'lyeh in the Call of Cthulhu sup-

plement "Shadows of Yog-Sothoth", and perhaps one of you might have an

idea where to look for similar material ?

Thank you !

Yes, that is exactly why I would not appreciate a mix of fantasy and science

fiction: A single powerful magician could destroy my entire SF setting within

minutes, without my poor colonists even having a chance to understand what

is happening to their world.

Science Fiction, human colony on a remote water world, planet with some

ruins of installations of the aquatic "Builder" race, one (currently still undis-

covered) Gate in one of those ruins, Gate is damaged and malfunctioning,

leads to devastated and abandoned homeworld of the "Builders" - and per-

haps to worlds of the shared universe ...

Pitiful memories ... well, I happen to be the unlucky GM who once forgot an

entire battleship during a space combat ...

There is one Gate ("Transmitter") on Pharos IV. It is in a flooded cavern in a

deep sea trench, it is damaged and prone to malfunctions, it leads to another

water world - and the players have not yet discovered it.

Gates are an interesting plot device, but I think they should be used sparing-

ly: Difficult to find, dangerous to use, no routine affair at all.

As mentioned elsewhere, I could contribute a science fiction world (a work

in progress, currently ca. fifty pages of material plus some maps), but unfor-

tunately it is in German, and I would hate to have to translate it into English.

Science Fiction. My current setting needs a "translation" from a Cthulhu Ri-

sing / GURPS Space / Traveller - Mix to a "real" system, and I hope BRP will

be the problem's solution.

As far as I understand this rule, your sorcerer would have to see the other

sorcerer casting his spell - if he is looking the other way, bad luck for him.

Therefore I prefer the "Veil" spell, which protects the target even it is not

aware of being the victim of a detection spell.

No PDF, unfortunately, but perhaps a few informations:

There are 5 Skill Categories:

- AGILITY (Root Skill Maximum STR + DEX)

Skills: Melee Weapons, Archaic Ranged Weapons, Athletics, Hide, Sneak, Un-

armed Combat

- COMMUNICATION (RSM INT + APP)

Bargain, Debate, Fast Talk, Fine Arts, Musicianship, Orate, Own Language,

Perform, Psychology

- KNOWLEDGE (RSM INT + EDU)

all science, technical and foreign language skills

- PERCEPTION (RSM POW + CON)

Handgun, Heavy Weapons, Listen, Observe, Scent, Search, Track

- TECHNICAL (RSM DEX + INT)

alle vehicle skills, repair, weapon systems

Does that help somewhat ?

Currently I am not yet sure what I will use when I "translate" my setting and

system into BRP.

On the one hand I like the simple CoC system with the "flat" base chances,

on the other hand I find the Ringworld RPG system with its skill categories

based on stats and its root and branch skills far more "realistic" and probab-

ly better suited for a science fiction setting.

Well, I think I will do the additional work and go for the Ringworld system ...

Why not use something like a "Veil" spell, which only counters detection

spells, instead of introducing the more powerful Countermagic ?

Over the last weeks I have mentioned BRP in some RPG forums here in Germa-

ny. It seems that people are quite aware of the release of a "new BRP" and

many are looking forward to it. They seem to see it as an alternative to D&D

("mainly for youngsters") and GURPS ("mainly for mathematicians").

When asked what BRP would need to convince them, the usual desires are a

German translation and interesting settings, with the settings far more impor-

tant than the translation (over here we are used to play games in English).

For example, the interest in the announced settings (Interplanetary, Rome,

Vikings, etc.) is significantly higher than the interest in BRP itself.

One perhaps interesting point: Most of the RPGs and settings published here

over the last years were of the "Dark" kind, and people are getting tired of

that fashion, and would appreciate something more adventurous and colour-

ful. Any setting that does not look like a WoD-clone would probably have a

good start.

Ah, I see - in this case my colonists will probably introduce annual prizes

for the best (= least disgusting) sea cucumber recipes ...

Thank you for the information !

Camazotz, may I ask where you live ?

I had exactly the same problem with EPT, and perhaps ... at least we would

be two mammals interested in playing EPT ... ?

Floating islands made of seaweed etc. still have the problem that birds and

turtles need warm and mostly dry sand for their eggs ... they will probably

have to wait some more years before signing on as colonists ...

Sea cucumbers - thank you very much for that information, I just checked it

in the Wikipedia and learned that these creatures indeed provide 90 % (!)

of the entire biomass in the deep sea; obviously important enough to do a

bit more research on them, and perhaps even an interesting potential natu-

ral resource.

I also voted for the shared universe, but then I realized there would be a

"minor" problem: Translation.

Whoever is interested in it may get a copy of my setting's materials, but

the poor person would have to deal with the German language ...

Cephalopodes were no problem, but sea turtles gave and give me some head-

ache, as they need beaches to lay their eggs, and Pharos IV is a pure water

world without any land (and therefore beaches) at all. I have a similar problem

with sea birds, they also need at least some land to reproduce. Artificial isles

might be a solution, but the colony's economy does not (yet) provide the ne-

cessary means to spare resources for such "luxuries".