rust

This may well be, I do not know 2300 AD well.

Yep, it is much closer to (and probably inspired by, I think) Classic Traveller, which is at least "semi-hard" SF, not space opera.

I do not think so. End Time and Rising / Jovian Nightmares are somewhat similar in their approach, but Once Men and Outpost 19 are very much dif- ferent. Edit.: And I seem to remember that John Ossoway (Rising / Jovian Nightmares) plans to move over to OpenQuest instead of BRP, but this could also be a misunderstanding of mine.

Indeed. There are now several "Cthulhu SF" titles (End Time, Once Men, Ri- sing + Jovian Nightmares), but they remain "below the radar" of most BRP science fiction players because of their connection with Cthulhu.

By the way, just to add some real world data to the discussion: I have up- loaded the BRP Quick-Start Edition to the archive of my German "home fo- rum" Fundus Ludi on December 9, and it has meanwhile been downloaded nine times, so it seems the wider availability of the "BRP Lite" does make sense.

Thank you very much for the tips, and I will of course tell you about the characters' adventures in The Green - although this may take some time, because I am still working on the Merasan setting itself, and there ist still no end in sight.

I would not dare to try to answer that one. Doing it with a single supplement seems like an attempt to "square the circle" to me, but I may well be wrong. I think we will have to wait for the success or failure a couple of different mo- nographs to "test the water" before we can come to any reasonable conclu- sion.

Yes, although Traveller also often was military science fiction, discover and explore exotic worlds and kill everything you encounter ...

I think it would probably be something like Traveller, but a "BRP Traveller" would hardly be successful, there are already about a dozen different Tra- veller versions and many more "clones" it would have to compete with. Besides, as far as I know there is already a rather BRP-like and somewhat Traveller-like science fiction roleplaying game in the wings, Translight by Martin J. Dougherty of Avenger, who wrote a lot of excellent material for different Traveller versions. I have no idea whether and when it will be published, as the author seems to work on it mainly when he has no other projects with deadlines, but in my view it would not be a good idea to duplicate his efforts. http://www.comstar-games.com/translight/translight-roleplaying-science-fiction-game.html

On second thoughts, the main differences between fantasy supplements and science fiction supplements are probably the technology assumptions. Fantasy of (almost) all sub-genres uses the same technology assumptions, a horse is a horse, a sword is a sword, a crossbow is a crossbow, and it is easy to understand how they function, because there are real world examples. In the Science Fiction field, different settings usually also have very different technology assumption: FTL or not, type of FTL (drive or gate), various ty- pes of weapons (energy or projectile), computers and robots with widely dif- ferent capabilities, and so on and on - and they all have to be explained, be- cause there is no real world example. So, while you probably could play more than 75 % of all fantasy settings with the same equipment list, almost each science fiction setting requires its own, specific equipment and technology chapter. It is probably somewhat similar with the magic systems of different fantasy settings, but in my view their are not as many magic approaches in fantasy as there are technology approaches in science fiction, and magic does not have to be explained as much - it just works.

Well, these examples are all in the "centre field" of science fiction, but think of the entire spectrum between Arthur C. Clarke and Philip K. Dick, and it becomes a bit more complicated - the worlds of 2001: Space Odyssey and Blade Runner have much less in common.

Growing old isn't so bad when you consider the alternative. (Maurice Chevalier)

I doubt that one supplement could cover the entire science fiction, the dif- ferences between the sub-genres are much bigger than in the case of fan- tasy. For example, "Golden Age" SF and transhumanism probably would re- quire different choices of options.

Yes, exactly, and I see the huge "bandwidth" and the "toolbox character" of BRP as its defining "feature", not as a "bug". However, I have to admit that this feature can be seen as confusing and can therefore be a problem when it comes to winning newcomers for BRP. I have no idea how this problem can be solved, and whether it can be solved at all without turning BRP into something different (which I would dislike), I am only playing around with possible approaches.

I would very much prefer this approach, too, but in my view it would not sol- ve the "newcomer confusion problem", because it could tend to create a se- ries of (at least seemingly) incompatible BRP variants ("Fantasy BRP", "Scien- ce Fiction BRP", "Pulp BRP" ...) with different rules (sub-) sets.

It is, especially for referees and players who are used to the newer type of rules, which are often more like simple flowcharts with only one possible so- lution to any problem ("When A, then do B") instead of a bunch of options with unclear consequences ("When A, you can do B, C or D, or invent X"). What is an advantage for those roleplaying gamers who like to "tinker" with the rules to adapt them to their style of play, setting and campaign is a real disadvantage for those roleplaying gamers who want an "out of the box" ga- me with clear instructions what to do and how to do it. However, I do not see how to "heal" that problem of BRP, except perhaps with a second, revised edition ("BRP Slim") that contains a more structured rules system, leaving the "toolbox" with its many and often confusing options as an expansion of the basic system for the "tinkerers" among us.

I think I know already how to make the best use of The Green in my next campaign. The "Big Bad One" of my pseudo-Arabian Merasan setting is The Iblis, a crea- ture that lives in Merasan's Dreamlands, from where it sends dream messages and occasonally some of its servants (djinn and ghoules) into the real world to cause chaos there. Near the beginning of the campaign, some archaeologists from the Miskatonic University will begin to excavate the ancient ruins of Thibba, a place where the Iblis was worshipped before the Merasani tribes came to the region. Du- ring this excavation the scientists will uncover a gate to the Dreamlands and accidentally destroy the wards that kept this gate closed. Soon afterwards a series of strange events will begin in Merasan, with people becoming more and more aggressive and desperate because of nightmares in- citing them to evil deeds, there will be rumours of djinn and ghoules roaming the countryside at night, and so on. The Emir will ask his scholars, and they will learn from the book Kitab Sfyd that the influence of the Iblis is growing, and that someone has to close the gate at Thibba to stop this - but the gate can only be closed from the other side. So the Emir will send some of his best men (the player characters) through the gate to deal with the problem. They will have some advantages, for example modern (= 1920s) firearms and the protective magic of the Sufi scholar(s) accompanying them, but on the other hand the environment of the Green - totally alien to desert dwellers - and its fantastic inhabitants and creatures will easily balance out these ad- vantages. And after a couple of adventures the characters will find out that the Iblis only uses the Green for "transfer", he and his servants come from yet another part of the Dreamlands beyond the Green's ancient gates, and to stop the Iblis from devastating Merasan the adventurers have to find and close one of those ancient gates, too ... You see, Puck, the Green really feeds my imagination - thank you.

Having waited for this one for quite some time, I have now downloaded it immediately - and it is even better than expected, a beautifully illustrated monograph with lots of fascinating ideas and all the informations I need to use it as my own setting's fantastic Dreamlands region. Very well done, Puck. :thumb:

Thank you very much, I will try to get some of Thesiger's books through the library.

Thank you very much, I just added the website to my favourites, truly a lot of interesting informations to discover there.

One reason I hear quite often is that the commercially published adventures are good for single evenings, but do rarely fit into a referee's long-term cam- paign, and that it is often easier (and always cheaper) to write an adventu- re than to adapt a commercial one.

Here it is: Chaosium Inc.

Indeed. If I were looking for interesting material for a campaign in the wider ancient and early medieval Middle East, I would probably turn to a transla- tion of the Shahnameh, the Persian national epos. It is both considerably older than most of the Arabian Nights and more focussed on the history of a part of the region, and it contains at least as fascinating stories, especial- ly those about Rostam - most highly recommended. Shahnameh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Rostam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The next point of my "To Do" list for my Merasan setting will be an equipment list with the "typical Arab" stuff that is not covered by the lists in either the BRP core rules or the Call of Cthulhu core rules. I hope to get a copy of the old AD&D Al Qadim Arabian Adventures soon, as I have been told that it contains just such a kind of list, which I intend to compare with my own list to fill some of the gaps. Although I did not find anything else of that kind, it may well be that some other supplement for some roleplaying system also covers typical equipment from Arabia (Middle Ages to ca. 1920). If you know of such material, please let me know - thank you.

I wonder what you were really thinking of when you wrote this ...