rust

Any chance of reconciling all those (plus Outpost 19?) into ONE setting, that's basically non-Cthulhoid 'pure' SciFi?

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.

Is it possible to appeal to all categories? Or do you create one kind of book for the people who want to make their own campaigns, another kind of book for the people who want a campaign handed to them (but a familiar one), and a third kind of book for those who want something really original handed to them?

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.

In Traveller it was find trade routes, generate profit, upgrade equipment and ship. The adventures were what happened while you did it.

Yes, although Traveller also often was military science fiction, discover and

explore exotic worlds and kill everything you encounter ...

Is there a product that has had the same success as D&D in the Sci-fi genre? Traveller? GW?

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.

Hmm - but think Star Wars / Star Trek / B5 / Firefly / Farscape / Andromeda / Blake's Seven - is there a commonality, despite their distinctive flavours and styles? I think there is, you know...

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.

OK, now we know. BRP et al is an old fart game!:eek:

Growing old isn't so bad when you consider the alternative.

(Maurice Chevalier)

What would be the SF equivalent of Classic Fantasy?

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.

Erm, it is the situation that has been in effect so far: RQ not totally compatible with CoC which was not compatible with SB, which etc. etc. And people were perfectly happy to play CoC, SB, RQ, ElfQuest etc. The point that was missing was the core book with the "cover-all-genres" ruleset, like GURPS.

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 rather see genre-specific books that re-trace character generation using only the options that are more appropriate to that genre/setting. Classic Fantasy could be a good example. The generic ruleset should contain all the options, as there is no way to determine an "optimal minimal subset" that fits all genres.

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.

The rules should clearly state how to handle this, and then give optional rules. Instead it comes across as "here are the choices, you decide". Thats fine if you are familiar with the system, but, once again, it is confusing to a new GM.

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.

On the whole adventures don't sell argument, I can see why adventures sell less than rule or setting books ...

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.

The Arabian nights are often held up as an ideal setting for middle eastern adventures ... (...) ...I think that a read through these would give most people some ideas for interesting NPCs, but would not really be considered great fodder for campaigns.

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.

... the Pelopenisian War.

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

The historical setting I would like the most would be one about India, from

Vedic times to the Moghul Empire. This is an almost incredibly rich historical

background that has rarely been used for roleplaying games, and it is one

where more research than I am able and willing to do for one of my own set-

tings would be necessary.

A very similar case would be Persia, again a fascinating culture with a very

rich history that has rarely been used as a roleplaying background.

As for European history, I find it very interesting, but only few of it has not

already "been roleplayed" in one system or another, and most of it is of the

kind that I could research myself without too much effort if I wanted such a

setting.

Most of the early roleplaying games also left much of the setting's details to

the referee's and players' imagination, they provided only a basic framework.

With many of the more recent games, the rules are comparatively slim, but

the setting descriptions contain lots and lots of details, almost down to the

colour of the underwear of the second cousin of the high priest's servant.

In the early years, I considered games like Empire of the Petal Throne as ex-

traordinarily "setting heavy", but compared to material like the most recent

version of D&D's Forgotten Realms the early versions of the world of Tekumel

seem almost "skeletal" in the amount of detail.

The "fluff inflation" not only helps to sell supplement after supplement on sub-

jects like the newest fashion at the Emperor's court, it also leads to a stran-

ge kind of competition especially between younger players: You have to have

the latest supplement about the bloodthirsty flying deep-sea krakens of New

Guinea and to know the length of their tentacles for each sub-species - or

you are not "in", no "real gamer".