sladethesniper

I like that other people use alternative experience systems as well.  We do pretty much the same thing (10 XP per session, +10 XP if you did something pretty awesome, 1 XP = 1% in a skill, each successful skill use = 1 roll at the end of the session/episode, a successful roll you get 1d10% in that skill, a failure, you still get 1% in that skill).  Status/relationship/alliances/loyalty are all used in my games, although they are pretty much only used by the GM to determine if a players request of their friend, contact, employer, benefactor is approved...but the only way to get more of these non-attributes is through roleplaying and successful outcomes.

I like the way that Rust explained it on page 1 about role playing to get to the roll of the dice, which is pretty much ideal, but there are always some gamers that have difficulty with that process...to wit, trying to play a character that is a genius alchemist, while the player is not or highly experienced ex-military characters are trying to plan out a gritty ambush and subsequent cult temple invasion while the players are very much not tactically minded.  In those instances...I will let them describe their actions and let them roll...if their descriptions were decent or at least made sense, I give them some positive modifiers, but if their plan was just stupid, I will let them roll but not give them penalties, since in this case the characters would have the benefit of the doubt...

-STS

I was attempting to see if there was a closet community of NPC builders, like there is over at the old Atomic Think Tank (now Ronin Army) forums for Mutants and Masterminds.  I one of the differences between BRP and other systems that use a point buy mechanic (which M&M uses), is that with BRP you can just make a skill or ability, give it a percentage and call it done, whereas in point buy systems you often find yourself tweaking points to make something exactly how you want the PC/NPC to be. 

Oh, well…it was worth a shot.

-STS

Anybody interested in stat-ing up NPCs in BRP?

I was thinking that we could have some threads similar to "Roll Call" over on Ronin Army (Mutants & Masterminds specific forum) or various threads at Giant in the Playground wherein we stat up various characters from various settings in BRP...

Some NPCs that I personally would like to see:

T-800 from Terminator

Yaut'ja from Predator

The various Xenomorphs from the various Aliens series

Jack Bauer

Space Marines from Warhammer 40k, and various special characters

Superman

Power Girl

The Hulk

Spider Man

The Punisher

Deadpool

Hiroyuki Sakai

Robert Irvine

Gordon Ramsey

Examples of Police, SWAT, Special Forces, Alpha Group, SAS, SFOD-D, SAD, etc.

Jason Bourne (novel and movie versions)

The Avengers

Caesar from Planet of the Apes

John McClane

The Expendables

Han Solo

Boba and Jango Fett

Darth Vader

The Emperor

Jason Voorhees

Drizzt Do'urden

Halaster

Colossal Red Dragon

Major Mokoto Kusinagi

Dracula (multiple incarnations)

Blade

Alucard

Colonel Quaritch

Maximillian Sterling

Roy Mustang

Johnny Rico

Sanoske Sagara

Kenshin

Inuyasha

Pikachu

Just a thought...no pressure 

If anyone is interested, just post your builds...BUT if you are deviating from the rules of the BGB, just make sure that you put your modifications/house rules in the post somewhere so that way people can know that they are a "non-standard" build

The interesting thing about this is that you can build NPC characters without having to make them book legal...

-STS 

Additionally, is there a variant of d100 out there that ignores the special success and just rules critical successes at 10% instead?

This is what I do...it makes it faster when GMing combat.  As far as I know, this is just a house rule.

-STS

OK, well, this is my shot at making Cole and Hart NPCs...

Rust Cohle "Self-Identified Sentient Meat"

STR-11

DEX-13

CON-15    HP-15

INT-15

EDU-16

WIS-11

CHA-7

APP-11 at the beginning, 8 at the end

POW-13

Sanity-45 at the beginning, 20 at the end

Underworld contacts

Single minded focus

Loose cannon

Pistols 50%

Rifle 60%

Punch 50%

Kick 40%

Head Butt 50%

Grapple 60%

Dodge 55%

Drive 50%

Computer Use 60%

Investigate 80%

Research 85%

Interrogate 85%

Bluff 70%

Acting 80%

Occult 30%

Lying 40%

Breaking and Entering 50%

Tracking 40%

Hunting 40%

Marty Hart "Lying Sack of S--t"

STR-13

DEX-11

CON-11     HP-13

INT-13

EDU-16

WIS-9

CHA-12

APP-11 at the beginning, 10 at the end

POW-10

Sanity-60 at the beginning, 40 at the end

Dogmatic, take 1 less Sanity Loss

Weakness for children

Led a double life

Likes "crazy p---y"

Pistols 55%

Rifle 30%

Punch 40%

Kick 40%

Head Butt 55%

Grapple 50%

Dodge 55%

Drive 70%

Computer Use 70%

Investigate 80%

Research 85%

Interrogate 60%

Bluff 50%

Acting 80%

Occult 10%

Lying 60%

-STS

I like it!

-STS

If you have not seen this show on HBO, I would highly recommend it if you like: Cop shows, Cthulhu, mysteries, hillbillies, cultists...

While it would not be appropriate for children, at all...if you like generational cults, a good story and a pair of very hard-bitten, low sanity, investigators...this is something that you might enjoy.

I am watching the final episode now, and tomorrow, I think I will write up the two Investigators for use.

-STS

So, they are more like mecha equipped dragoons, or mechanized infantry where each soldier gets his own AFV. Interesting.

-STS

I like it. I would think that 60% to 75% is about right. Any lower, they will be very common, and any higher they will be very rare. I really like the idea of these being add on skill effects.

-STS

Nathan,

I second your opinion about minis and RPGs...I too love minis and wargames, but despise them immensely in RPGs.

-STS

I was not happy with the way that Superworld worked either. It is the only one of the multiple BRP products that just didn't feel right. I much prefer the way M&M did it (specifically 2nd edition) as a point buy system. I pointed out in one of the other threads that I find myself making characters in other systems to capture the feel of the setting, then porting them into BRP (everything's a skill!) and running the game that way.

Character creation in BRP is fine, but makes a lot of vanilla characters IMO, and I like having the flexibility to make a physical adept in Shadowrun, a Cyclone rider from Robotech, a 1/2 demon sorcerer from D&D and a superhero from M&M and run them all in BRP.

If you want, I can send you the basics of my M&M to BRP point buy system in a PM or an email.

-STS

Right now am making a supers game using mutants and masterminds 2nd edition, with some additional feats from d20 added, then converting the whole character to BRP. I don't know how well it will work in play, but mechanically, it seems to be working so far.

Whoa, when is this book coming out???

-STS

I always wanted to buy Nightlife back in like...jeez, 1992 or so from Wargames West (anyone remember them?), just didn't have the cash I haven't seen a copy that book in forever...

-STS

The following scribd link is a good resource for checking the benchmarks for stats across various games systems. It doesn't include BRP (sadly, it's only real flaw), but since d20 and BRP both use 3d6 for the basic stats, I consider them both to be equivalent.

Converting over in a 1:1 ratio is how I do it...

STR in BRP is STR in D20

DEX in BRP is DEX in D20

INT in BRP is INT in D20

CON in BRP is CON in D20

APP in BRP is CHA in D20

POW in BRP can be seen as WIS in D20

SIZ is not used in D20, although you can convert to their scaling method (small, med, large, etc.)

SAN in BRP can be seen as WIS in D20

EDU is not used in D20

-STS

Well, like I said, big damage numbers don't bother me...my first RPG was Robotech by Palladium Books, so mega-damage and insta-death weapons are no big deal...so getting 10d6 punches won't hurt my feelings. The problem, I suspect is much more when super heroes carry the idiot ball and forget about their powers and when a player (not a writer) has the power of superman/batman/wolverine...the stories don't go was well as they do in comics. Replicating the feel of a comic book inside an RPG without very stringent alignment checks would seem to be beyond my capabilities as a GM.

-STS

I looked back up to the top of the thread and saw that the OP had issues converting DC Adventures. Now supers in BRP (via the old Superworld rules) might well pose issues regardless. But I'm curious what problems you had and how you addressed them.

The biggest issue with DC Adventures is the scaling mechanic they used. I like linear system mechanics, and if there has to be a scale change, then make an actual scale change and not just try to sneak it in there in the normal scale.

I pretty much used all the optional rules in the Masterminds Manual, then used that as by baseline. The second biggest issue is that BRP is so deadly (compared to the normal comic books that are attempting to be emulated) and a punch from the average super-strong PC would be a killing blow. I incorporated a "pulling your punch" mechanic so that normals were not just splattered, but trying to incorporate anything beyond street level supers in a gritty campaign is, at least for me, difficult.

-STS

This should be amended to my previous post, but is sufficiently different...

When converting to BRP, what was the reason you did so?

For me, I just like the system better. It makes it easier to have one rules system with a LOT of different settings and options so that when I have to run games based on popular settings (Supernatural, BSG, Naruto, Star Wars, Shadowhunters, etc.) I can just grab what I can find, convert it and go as opposed to teaching the group a whole new system for each setting. Plus, there are some types of systems that my players just hate...anything with dice pools, or that use a d6 mechanic...they just don't like them and I am not fond of them either. Plus, the d100 system is just more intuitive.

-STS

I started converting Paranoia 2nd Edition to BRP. I had got most of the character creation done, but stopped at equipment due to lack of player interest. Paranoia just had way too much baggage for the people I game with. I might put the posts together in a singe document and upload it here.

In terms of D20/DnD conversions Sladsthesnipers comment is the prevailing attitude "This singular reduction from a pool of hundreds of hit points to usually less than 20 hit points remakes D20 characters from powerhouses into merely competent." However in play with highly skilled characters I didn't find this to be the case. In original DnD hit points were supposed to be a mixture of combat prowess, luck, experience and parry; all mixed up to signify that heroes survive more punishment and can have longer combats than lowbies. In BRP I found that a high parry skill had the same effect as high hit points, and good quality armour was the equivalent of good ac. Of course if you add DnD levels of magic items then it all breaks.

I would love to see what you have for Paranoia. It was a great game and other than TPKs ending every campaign a bit early, all the players and the GMs always had fun.

With regard to D&D and hit points...allow me to expound. I am aware that Hit Points in D&D are a gestalt of luck, stamina, glancing blows, actual physical damage, parries, etc. The problem is that while D&D hit points are supposed to be a narrativist tool, they are now the singular narrativist combat tool in a very tactical, granular system where every other aspect of combat is codified, enumerated and ranked in real, concrete terms. The simple way around this narrativist hit points/simulationist combat system conundrum is to use the vitality/wound point alternate system where "vitality" simulates all the luck, parry, glancing blows, desperate saves, exhaustion, etc. and the "wound points" simulate actual physical damage...so a gunshot that does 17 vitality damage is really just a near miss that ricochets some dirt on you and the fragments nick your cheek...a gunshot that does 17 wound point damage will be leaving the PC a critically injured victim going into shock that will die in a minute or two without immediate, outside, professional (or magical) assistance.

Therefore, when I look at D&D and realize that yes, there are massive bonuses to hit and all sorts of damage modifiers...when you look at the narrativist measure of standard "hit points," a hit in D&D is NOT the same as a hit in BRP. In D&D, a hit can be a near miss, a glancing blow, an impact stopped by armor, a wild swing that made the target back away rapidly and lose their momentum, or it might actually be a bone breaking blow. In BRP, a hit is a hit and it does physical damage, and if it is not actively dodged, parried or stopped by the armor...then every hit does damage to the character and thus the action/damage economy in BRP is much more equal than that in D20 where actions may or may not be "real damage".

So, in conclusion, a successful hit in D&D does not translate into a successful hit in BRP, whereas a successful hit in BRP always translates into a successful hit in D20 (unless using the vitality/wound point mechanic). It is for this reason that, in my opinion, BRP characters are actually more competent than they would initially appear in combat than D20 characters .

I am not disagreeing with you, just pointing out why I am agreeing with you and to illustrate how and why that 100 D&D hit points is =/= 100 BRP Hit Points.

-STS

When converting from d20 to BRP, something becomes funnily apparent. In d20, it is assumed that a 10th level character is absolutely heroic, a 20th level is superhuman and a 30th level character is near godlike...but when you convert to BRP, a lot of the stuff in d20 ceases to be relevant. Armor Class becomes dodge and parry, BAB and multiple attacks get parsed into specific weapon skills not huge swathes of weapon types, and multiple attacks, while possible are not nearly as common nor as reliable in D20. Skills in d20 vary wildly in utility in game, whereas in BRP, skills can almost be considered more important that powers/magic/equipment because they are so versatile. The greatest reduction in power from a d20 PC to becoming a BRP PC is the loss of the "hit points". This singular reduction from a pool of hundreds of hit points to usually less than 20 hit points remakes D20 characters from powerhouses into merely competent.

While it can be argued from a mechanics standpoint that every character in D20 would have the equivalent of 30% in every skill automatically (using DC 10, a d20 roll -4 for being untrained gives 6/20 chance of success...which is 30%) I simply cannot abide by that...and besides the 1 rank/bonus = 5% is more elegant than the mathematical contortions of D20.

tl;dr: what is ridiculously OP in d20, when translated to BRP is not.

-STS

Hexelis,

I'd love to see your SW D6 stuff.

-STS

Simlasa...

now that you mention it...it is odd that there isn't a GURPS book for it. I usually buy a lot of GURPS books as background data for my games (but never play it, ever...over a dozen GURPS books and no desire to ever play that system, but the source books are great!)

-STS

jaysun,

There are the notes I jotted down for conversion...first for Supernatural (also works for BSG and Serenity...) using the Codex system

I don't really like the Codex system. Nothing in it really helps set the tone. You would be much better just using CoC to run a Supernatural game, but here you go:

Codex stat =BRP/D20 stat

Agility =Dexterity

Strength =Strength

Vitality =Constitution

Alertness =Wisdom

Intelligence =Intelligence

Willpower =Wisdom (D20) or Power (BRP)

Dice= BRP Skill %=BRP attribute

D2 =20%= 6-7

D4 =30%= 8-9

D6 =50%= 10-11

D8 =60%= 12-13

D10 =70%= 14-15

D12 =80%= 16-17

D12+D2 =90%= 18-19

D12+D4 =95%= 20-21

D12+D6 =99%= 22-23

All of the Traits in Codex can be used as "skills" in BRP, or give a bonus to some skill or situation.

The book gives three levels to make characters which translate to BRP as follows:

42 attribute points = d8 each = 12 per attribute

62 skill points = 10 skills at 25% and one at 10%

48 attribute points = 3 attributes at 15, 3 at 12

68 skill points = 10 skills at 25% and one at 40%

4 trait points = 4 traits converted to BRP

54 attribute points = 4 attributes at 15, 2 at 12

74 skill points = 11 skills at 25% and one at 40%

8 trait points = 8 traits converted to BRP

For LUGTrek, I do love the game...but for easier conversion, you might want to find an old copy of FASATrek...that is almost a straight conversion.

LUG to BRP

Fitness =Constitution (highest)

Vitality =Constitution (highest)

Strength =Strength

Coordination=Dexterity (highest)

Dexterity =Dexterity (highest)

Intellect =Intelligence

Perception =Wisdom

Logic =Education

Presence =Charisma (highest)

Empathy =Charisma (highest)

Psi =Power

LUG to BRP Stats

1 =6 + 1d4

2 =9 + 1d4

3 =10 + 1d4

4 =14 + 1d4

5 =18 + 1d4

6 =22 + 1d4

7 =26 + 1d4

8 =30 + 1d4

LUG to BRP Skills

1 =25%

2 =50%

3 =60%

4 =80%

5 =90%

6 =95%

To convert weapons, using BRP weapons makes it a lot easier, but if you want to have the full on feel of damage settings, this is what I use:

setting to BRP damage

Phaser 1 =Uncon for 2d6-CON minutes

Phaser 2 =Uncon for 2d10-CON minutes

Phaser 3 =Uncon 5d10-CON minutes

Phaser 4 =1 point

Phaser 5 =1d3

Phaser 6 =1d6

Phaser 7 =2d10

Phaser 8 =6d8

Phaser 9 =2d6x10

Phaser 10 =3d6x10

Phaser 11 =4d6x10

Phaser 12 =6d6x10

Phaser 13 =4d10x10

Phaser 14 =1d6x100

Phaser 15 =1d8x100

Phaser 16 =1d10x100

Please note that the above damage ratings scale linearly, as I dislike weird scaling mechanics (my first RPG was Robotech, so big damage numbers never bothered me...) so you may have to change those numbers to something more useful to book standard BRP.

Same thing for ship conversions...I converted them using Mega Damage and other nonsense from Palladium Books. If you can deal with that, then Kitsune's website is an absolute treasure trove.

I hope that is of some use.

-STS

Nephilim was a good game, but it doesn't really handle vampires all that well...lemme check...nope, no vampire themed stuff. It could be used to simulate the nWoD mage pretty well (all re-incarnated Atlanteans, secret societies, magic), but lacks the "gothic-punk" feel of oWoD Vampire. You could redo the magic system well enough, but it would be clunky and would get in the way of supernaturally-buffed combat.

Just my .02 cents.

-STS

If want to do Scion, here is how I handle the mega-attributes (also used in Trinity/Aberrant):

Mega Attributes/Epic Attributes

Each dot in the Mega/Epic Attribute category allows a single automatic success with that attribute, which would normally be excellent in the Storyteller system, but with BRP it is fairly useless, HOWEVER the following would make it not utterly useless… Each dot of Epic Attributes adds 10% to EVERY skill that can use that attribute.

Each dot of Mega Attributes does the same along with some extra effects such as multiple attacks, more skill points for the character creation pool, etc. These are Knacks or Enhancements

-STS