Dredj

I was hoping someone was making a martial arts rule set that ranged from very gritty to wuxia, as I love them both.

I realized that Cthulhu Rising is a monograph I own:o. I was thinking about another game:DriveThruRPG.com - Mongoose - Cthulhutech Main Rulebook

Is Cthulhu Rising a BRP game, or easily converted to one?

I think the sanity thing is a bit overdone in the game. It seems like most of the time the investigators know they're hunting monsters. Why would they lose so much of their sanity encountering something they kind of know they are going to run into in the first place? And, besides, how scary can a book really be (losing SAN from reading a book)?

Those are some excellent points you made. I like your idea of giving each vampire a different weakness. I was also thinking, as far as how vampires could relate to others of their kind, that they might not like others of their kind too much. This could lead to some very interesting Machiavellian-style role playing. It might be easier to use Mythic Game Master Emulator Mythic Game Master Emulator for this than it would be to use a real GM. Since it would allow for the players to create the story as they go along. A good map of a city or town might be useful, though. Here's what I'm thinking: Some sessions of gaming could have the vampires converge on a town or whatever for food. But one is going to be the top vampire that gets the whole food supply. Too many vampires are going to let the population know that there are vampires about, so the vampires are going to try and pin the blame on one another, while ingratiating themselves into human society. And not letting the mortals know that they know much about vampires, or are ones themselves. Another idea that goes along with this would be that vampires can be created accidentally, but it's rare--otherwise the world would be overpopulated by vampires. However, the originating vampire is having really crappy die rolls:) thus allowing all the players to be vampires. And the characters can either band together and defeat the originating vampire before he/she kills them all, or they can all try and kill off each other with the originating vampire as a wild card. Also, if the vampires are allowed to create minions:humans that drink vampire blood and fall under the control of the vampire who's blood they drank--or simply gain the powers of the vampire and give fealty to the vampire they get the blood from. That might make for some interesting battles and other interactions. I realise these may be best served for single gaming sessions, or for short campaigns. Maybe for longer campaigns, they can fight off wily vampires who invade their territory and all the vampires can have different weaknesses.

My idea of "weak" vampires is so that they don't become CGI-style supermen, like you mentioned. When I mentioned them in my brainstorming session, I was thinking of vampires before Dracula was written. They could have beyond normal human strength; some could even walk around in the daylight with their vampiric powers coming out at nighttime. But, above all else, they had to keep their true natures hidden from the mortals around them. That could lead to some real role-playing, possibly. The vampire would still be formidable, but someone that's quite skilled in martial arts could still put a serious whupping on the vampire (unless, of course, the vampire is also a martial artist). And you've mentioned the fact that most vampire stories are resolved when people gang up and exploit the vampire's weakness. Dracula had some formiddable powers, but he was quite sloppy in keeping his vampiric nature hidden. In fact, It seemed to me he over-relied on his powers. Probably due to the fact that the people living around his castle in Transylvania were so cowed by him, they never gave him a real threat. Thus, he never had to use much in the way of subterfuge. At least that's what I got from reading Dracula, years ago. But I would also give rules so that vampires could also have major advantages over mortals. Some of my brainstorming revolved around the idea that some groups of players would just like to kick ass (having crappy jobs, etc., in their real lives) even if only for a one-shot game, here and there. Basically, it could be used as a release for some groups. Of course, the super powered vampires could also run up against very formidable monster foes for campaign play. If this supplement/game should ever come to fruition, I would allow the GM to decide on what weaknesses a vampire has in the game. Mostly,however, I was thinking of something more cerebral and took real planning from the players--almost like a spy game where the PCs would have to determine the weaknesses of their intended victims while pretending to be one of the crowd--with not much amiss--in order to get away with feasting on mortal blood. I get the impression that what I'm thinking would make a better card/strategy game than rpg. But I would like to read more of other peoples' take on this.

Thanks for the replies. This was just some brainstorming I was doing. Doesn't look like it will get off the ground. It seems vampires have been done to death, anyway. I just wanted to make them anti-romantic, and something that wouldn't come across as just another D20 type class. As far as reveling in one's sociopathy, that is what all the groups I've played with and seen playing have done. (Btw, the groups I've played with are far from being sociopaths--but I chose not to play with a group that actually might have been). It's kind of that mindset that I'm catering to. (D&D and AD&D always seemed like they were about "might equals right" to me, anyway). It's the same reason people play Grand Theft Auto video games; it's a release of sorts. However, looking at the BRP line, excluding CoC, it seems that the game makers for this system cater heavily to the heroic fantasy role playing crowd. Actually, CoC is kind of heroic, now that I think of it. As far as vampire movies go, I forgot about the Lost Boys. Don't know how, I had to have seen it about a thousand times over the years. I didn't think 30 Days of Night was all that great, either. It's more of the types of vampires I'm going for. I picked the movies I did because they are really fresh in my head. When I'm talking about Gothic settings, I'm talking about Ravenloft and things like that. Places were everyone expects to encounter a vampire any given day--or night. I would like my setting to be more in the "real" world, where most people don't believe in vampires. And the vampires prefer to keep it that way. Anyway, like I said, this was just stuff bumping around in my head for awhile, and wanted to know what other people's take on it was. As far as vampires having weaknesses dealing with sunlight and such, I was debating on leaving it up to the people who play the game as to what weaknesses the vampires have. But FUDGE Vampires beat me to that: RPGNow.com - ComStar Games - Fudge Horror: Vampires The only stipulation I would've made was to make the vampires weak enough that any given healthy, adult mortal could be a major threat to them.

I was thinking for some time about creating a vampire game that really is horrifying--but fun to play. Let's face it, most vampire games just aren't scary. I mean, how scary is some effeminate, homoerotic, emo--thoroughly Ann Rice inspired--vampire who's worried about becoming a monster, anyway? Is that even fun to play? I guess that could be scary and fun for some people, but I think it's pretty lame all around. And the others are just too fantastical. Or they're set in a gothic nightmare world, etc. Or, at least that's what it seems to someone who's not going to spend all his money looking at all that's out there, vampire-wise. However, I want to take the whole "personal horror" to a new--or at least different level. What I propose is that the game is played something like a tasteless joke where the players are asked to play their characters in ways that are thoroughly immoral and heinous in order to get the blood the characters' need. But it's got to be a lot of fun--and frightening if the gameplay were to be written out. But it like a tasteless joke could also work against creating a horror atmoshphere. But, then again, many horror movies have been made like that. This post is inspired by by a post from the Combat Round thread, and my subsequent rant: Quote: Originally Posted by sladethesniper View Post The problem with RPG's is that the "baseline" for "most" characters tends to be a highly trained, well armed, sociopath...think about it...there are a lot of games where characters are basically racially motivated mass murderers that specialize in home invasion... Funny thing is that I was debating on creating a vampire rpg based on the characters acting along those lines (no emos). However, I believe that it could be unplayable. But, then again, somebody did create a game about sociopathic assassins that also could specialize in home invasion and theft of their victims: AssassinX - The 24hour RPG of Bloody Murder I wonder how many people do play it for a one shot--or even a campaign. And there's a game called Dog Town where the PCs are all criminals: Dog Town: Core Rules I don't care what White Wolf publishing or Ann Rice says, vampires are sociopathic mass murderers who specialize in home invasion! At least if you want your vampires to be scary. And I've long thought that the way most PCs are played in rpgs, they would make great vampires in a modern day setting. After all, you see vampires in modern day movies wearing nice modern day clothes, or even living in a modern day house...where do they get the money from? I guess what I'm trying to get at is that I'm thinking about a game that would have the characters acting like the typical adventuring characters of any rpg. But have them be vampires who slaughter and steal from and do battle with people in a modern setting (or a "real world" historical setting). And they must do it in a way that mortal society doesn't find out about them. Mostly using guile, but if you want to play a character that just charges right in, you can do that, too. It seems like this game would be best for one-shots. This is just something that's been bouncing around in my head for awhile, and I'd like to know if I'm onto some kind of good idea (or if this is a bad idea) and if there are any good suggestions for it? You can probably tell by this post that my ideas are a bit disjointed at this point about it. I've watched two recent vampire movies that inspired me: Amazon.com: 30 Days of Night: Josh Hartnett,Craig Hall,Melissa George: Movies & TV Amazon.com: Mrs. Amworth: Magenta Brooks,Christy Sullivan,Daniel Ross,Jim Nalitz,Ben Murrie,Frank Sciurba: Movies & TV And one oldie, but goodie: Amazon.com: The Norliss Tapes: Roy Thinnes,Don Porter,Angie Dickinson,Claude Akins,Michele Carey,Vonetta McGee,Hurd Hatfield,Bryan O'Byrne,Ed Gilbert,Robert Mandan,Jane Dulo,Bob Schott,George DiCenzo,Patrick M. Wright,Nick Dimitri,Stanley Adams,Dan C A couple of stories I've recently read that inspired me: http://www.horrormasters.com/Text/a0223.pdf This is the short story that the movie Mrs. Amworth is based on but the movie is very different in many ways than this story. And: http://www.horrormasters.com/Text/a0322.pdf As well as:The Vampyre, by John Polidori I'm inspired by this story telling game: shock: social science fiction But I want it to be a regular tabletop game using the BRP system. I suspect that if done right the game could be really good at using ethical issues as a theme. Anyway, I'm going to post this and hopefully your posts will help me hammer out what I really want to accomplish with this.

Funny thing is that I was debating on creating a vampire rpg based on the characters acting along those lines (no emos). However, I believe that it could be unplayable. But, then again, somebody did create a game about sociopathic assassins that also could specialize in home invasion and theft of their victims: RPGNow.com - EN Publishing - AssassinX - The 24hour RPG of Bloody Murder I wonder how many people do play it for a one shot--or even a campaign. And there's a game called Dog Town where the PCs are all criminals: RPGNow.com - Cold Blooded Games - Dog Town: Core Rules I don't care what White Wolf publishing or Ann Rice says, vampires are sociopathic mass murderers who specialize in home invasion! At least if you want your vampires to be scary. And I've long thought that the way most PCs are played in rpgs, they would make great vampires in a modern day setting. After all, you see vampires in modern day movies wearing nice modern day clothes, or even living in a modern day house...where do they get the money from? Wow, I think I may have went a quite a bit off subject...:ohwell: :focus::

Excellent points, but I personally prefer realistic combat in my games as I want my characters fighting zombies, vampires, werewolves, and the occasional psychopath,etc. And I think the realism could make it all the more heroic.

This is a little off subject, but it seems like Flashing Blades is actually a "simplified" version of BRP. Has anyone tried to convert characters between the two systems?

I remember reading those books and greatly enjoying them--though I've forgotten everything between the covers. Are those still in print?

That was a great book! I would also like to add The King of the Wood by John Maddox Roberts. Also, anything by Robert E. Howard. As well as the the original Elric series. Geeze, I haven't read any fantasy since the early 90's.:shocked:

I think hit locations are great for running survival horror style games, like I'm planning on doing. That way you can know what limbs were hacked off and what the effects would be--such as how long the PC has till they bleed out. It makes the survival factor much more important.

Do you have a link to this?

Thank you Triff for the explanations. I'm glad to hear from somebody who actually knows how to use a melee weapon and has fought with it using little protection. All the tournaments I've gone to were for people to show off their moves to their parents and friends. It never helped that the people I played with never saw a real melee combat, either. So, we never had any real life experience to back up why the combat rounds were the way they were. I always thought that a 2 second combat round would work to my tastes, as that looks like the kind of round that would work in a Hong Kong style action movie. But most of what you see in the modern-style Hong Kong movies (like of lot of Jackie Chan's) are the "rush in and pummel" kind of combat--even where weapons are used.

Sorry to get a little off subject, but I always wondered about the use of combat rounds. I always thought that people in a real life and death battle would strike more and faster in the time period of a single round. I've had this explained to me that it's because the opponents are circling each other and looking for an opening. Or it's to only make note of the hits that actually do real damage. ANd I do understand the bookkeeping aspect of it. But every fight I've ever witnessed in real life, the opponents rush right in and throw a successive flurry of hits and hit each other very often. But all the actual fights I've ever seen were fist fights with the purpose of wearing down the opponent to submission--or beyond. I admit, I've never seen true melee combat outside of a martial arts tournament. I'm not trying to pick on anyone's combat round procedures, but just raising a question that's been bothering me for years. Trif, your combat round homerules look very workable. Are there any rules in the new BRP book about non-round combat rounds? :focus:

I'm thinking about using the HP for each location of the body. I was thinking that rolling twice on the hit point location die when the hit points of a location are exceded. That way you can find out where the extra damage goes when the arm a pc or non-pc is using to block a sword slice is lopped off. The six siders might be best used for that (finding out where the extra damage goes).

RPG Shop: Role Playing Games, Miniatures, Dice, War Games, Board Games, Paints, and more! The ones I bought say "torso" instead of "stomach".

All the hit location dice I've ever seen or bought were 12-sided. And they have "torso" printed more than the other parts of the body on each die.

I just looked at Da Vinci's drawing, I must've been thinking of someone else's drawing based on Da Vinci's.

Yeah, I noticed that too. I'm dissapointed there isn't a naked woman transposed over the man:D

That looks like it will be a lot of fun. I wish I could go.;-(

What's that? Is that a Chaosium convention, or something?

I would like to own a hard copy version, too, when it comes out.