Dredj

The easiest way to contact MJD, the author of Translight, should be this:

Martin’s website, such as it is, can be found at Martin J Dougherty - my homepage

and he can be contacted by email at martin-j.dougherty@virgin.net.

If you used any other E-Mail address, you could try to use this one to con-

tact Martin directly.

Thank you. Maybe I'll give it a try later today.

Btw, is there any word on Interplanetary?

There definitely is a trend, but I wouldn't say it was strictly percentile driven. Games have evolved quite a bit from the days where rules could be referenced as 1.2.1.3 - Character Routine, but that is not to say that games have gotten less complex.

In my opinion, it is the gamer that has evolved. There is a part of me that remembers the queer little straight-jackets I would don to play a game. Mostly it was an unyielding drive to understand game systems. I would accept just about anything to be part of a game, whether it was D&D, GURPS, or Palladium. But I think those rules evolved in a very small ecosystem where being different was far more important than being playable.

Currently, maybe 10 years, we see a shift in game design, where rules are defined more by genre. The early days of RPG's were forever compared to their ability to reflect perceived realities in wargaming. Now it is more important that rules reflect the reality of the setting. Robin D Laws, for example, made a tremendous game out of Vance's Dying Earth using nothing more than a d6. A percentile system wouldn't add much more if such a game was converted and might actually weaken the mechanics which make DE such a unique experience.

The universal language of discussing probability is a very powerful tool, but it isn't the be all and end all of gaming mechanics. This is evident even in d20 games. It seems to me that a percentile system adds a greater amount of transparency to gaming than most abstract systems, but transparency is not necessarily the goal of every game.

Warhammer is an excellent example of a pervy baroque style of game. It has percentages, yes, but also contains a magic system that doesn't follow the core mechanics exactly.

One argument I made in the BRP playtest forum is that magic, by its very nature, should be pervy to the core mechanics of the game. This was a difficult argument to make, as it is counterintuitive to the strengths of a percentile based mechanic. Nevertheless, it is an argument I am still willing to make, as the definition of magic, IMO, should not be so mundanely described using the same context to describe common action.

Please pardon my drunk posting. My excuse is that I am more reflective in these moments. While d100 systems consume most of my time, I remember with great affection the time I spent creating a game world/system based on Ultima II. A transparent, percentile based, mechanic was out of the question for me. It would still be, if I were to pick up that project again.

For me; again I apologize for the long rambling post; percentile based mechanics are best suited for game where the setting is more important than the rules which govern a characters interaction. Thoughtful games - that's what occurs to me, first and foremost. Games where the acquisition of power and the driving need of character development (powers, feats, abilities) is secondary to the interaction of players with the settings are more conducive to a simpler; and inclusive; percentile based mechanic.

Ok, I'm done. Did I even post to the right thread?

Yours in gaming,

Arthur

Talking about pervy games, I bought this pdf: MAID Role Playing Game Published games don't get more pervy than this>:-> At least not in the western hemisphere:lol:

It uses a D6 mechanic. The character generation system is something else:D

I sent the makers of Translight rpg an email, but got no answer:(

Here's a new one I found today: Ud100

Three ideas for "license-free settings".

1. Fantasy Swashbuckling

I still want to play in a pseudo-late 16th century / early 17th century (1660-1710? Ish?) setting. Musketeers, Pirates of the Caribbean, Voyages of Discovery, Nippon, Cathay, Wars of Religion, black powder and melee weapons, plus of course lots of lovely baroque magic. You could centre it where you liked for the core book - say, Restoration England, the Sun King's court, or German(ia) in the Thirty Years' War, then produce all manner of "license-free" setting books for:

The Three Musketeers

Pirates of the Caribbean

Shogun

Master and Commander

The Great Embassy to China

Robinson Crusoe

Inca and Aztecs

Salem Witch Trials

Alchemists

Pre-Petrine Russia

The Ottoman Empire

Siege of Vienna

Sort of, say, the Fantasy Europe of RQ3, but a thousand years later, and doing the whole world!

2. Pulp Sword & Planet

Second, Jason's Interplanetary is a killer setting which could spawn all kinds of settings books a la John Carter and Flash Gordon, but again without requiring a license. I think the scope for beautifully crafted worlds and "sub-settings" here could really let you go to town. "Witch-Queen of Venus" and "Nightmare Men of Jupiter" here we come!

3. Foundation / Space Opera

This is "the scifi trope everybody knows". There's this huge galactic empire, run by humans but with gazillions of alien races, sufficiently large that there is no "one true world" viewpoint. There are spinoff civilizations, wars, explorations, lost worlds, the whole shebang. You just write a world (or a few) and plug it in. Stick it a few thousand years in the future, and you can have your Star Wars, Galacticas, Buck Rogers, and Star Treks all rubbing shoulders with minimum hassle.

Cheers!

Sarah

Awesome! Someone else who wants swashbuckling!

I agree with everything in this post, Shaira. I sometimes wonder if the lack of commercial success of BRP is due more to over thinking than anything else. Other systems have done the above to a decent amount of success. But it all depends on marketing.

I really am looking forward to Interplanetary, as planetary romance seems to be the most under utilized of all popular genres in role playing.

And a generic but enticing space opera setting would be awesome. I would rather create my own bizzaro space fantasy than rely on someone else's ideas of what a space opera should be. But I would still like a ton of ideas to pick and choose from!

Maybe Chaosium should just throw much of their weight into becoming the place to go for planetary romance, since that single genre incorporates the primary elements of the above: swashbuckling, space opera, etc.

I haven't played it with D20, thought I've thought about doing so quite a bit. If you go the D20 route, then the skills become equal to the stats without any differentiation.

Once again, thank you for the interesting links !

I am not sure whether I should let these people loose on the

planet ... :eek:

It could make for a VERY interesting campaign, though>:->

Since you have inmates working on your colony, here's a couple things for some unsavory characters: RPGNow.com - UKG Publishing - Year of the Zombie: Fleshmongers

RPGNow.com - UKG Publishing - Year of the Zombie: Marauders

Hey rust, if you have any major political intrigue going on in your games, you might want to check out this one for ideas: Houses of the Blooded Houses of the Blooded - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I've bought it and am reading it. I haven't got very far into it, but it might be very useful for mining for ideas regarding anything dealing with factions and politics. The pdf only costs $5 USD.

I'm working on a new campaign, and I'd like a race of "elves" that look more like Tolkien's (but act more like Melniboneans).

1. Would anyone who has Stormbringer or Elric! handy mind telling me what the STR, CON, SIZ, INT, POW, and DEX of a Melnibonean is?

2. Has anyone done any work on Tolkien-style "High Elves" in BRP? (Warhammer-style, Pratchett-style, or bloody-nearly-any-fantasy-novel-style would also work.)

Thanks,

Frank

P.S. If anyone's interested: in the campaign, the PCs are orcs, who once had a mighty civilization laid low by their own hubris and now live a barbaric lifestyle. Renaissance-level humans and the mysterious ruin-dwelling "elves" are their enemies. Orcs have a complicated relationship with the Forest Folk, who take the forms of animals or short -- dare I say dwarfish? -- humanoids.

This game definitely isn't BRP: Houses of the Blooded - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Houses of the Blooded It uses the FATE system. But the rules (adapted as much as possible for BRP, of course) and ideas would be perfect for adapting to the domestic lives of Melniboneans. I've bought it and started reading it. So far it seems it be just what it's advertised: great for political and court intrigue games. The pdf only costs $5 USD

Unique housing idea: Tricked-Out Inflatable House Provides "Instant Survival" | Wired Science from Wired.com

It is based upon the plan of a

world cultural heritage site, but I am almost sure that no player will recognize

where the idea came from.

Cool, a challenge for my free time:) However, it does look somewhat familiar (I have an interest in archaeology). My first thought is some kind of Native American site or something from the ancient Middle East. I'll definitely be scrutinizing it closer.

I've never even heard of this magazine before. Is it still in production?

Thank you !

And here we have a first sketch of the Sapal Sector of the Solar Federation,

where Enki II is located.

As you see, I have decided that this time space will not be flat: The coor-

dinates under the planet symbols give the "height" of the system within the

galactic disk, in this case all of them at "-" or below the height of Sol, which

is used as a reference.

It took me a while to do all the square root handling to calculate the distan-

ces in the sector in a three-dimensional space (I hate math ...), but I think

that the little additional "realism" was worth the trouble.

And from now on the players of the astrogators among the characters will

have some real math to do in order to arrive at the right system ... >:->

Man, you sure put in quite a bit of work in your settings! Have you ever thought of going professional?

A nice idea, I will put in on my list - thank you !

By the way, this is a first sketch of what Enki II will look like ...

That's really cool! I see it has polar ice caps. Looks like a fine place to terraform.

I don't know how well this vehicle would work on your desert world, but if I had $20,000 I would buy it: http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/106040/Air-Cars:-A-New-Wind-for-America%27s-Roads

At least it's different in that it can run on just about anything! Might be something to consider for the other vehicles in your setting.

I've been curious how BRP would fair doing Vampire the Masquerade.

Actually, take a look at Nighlife: Stellar Games Nightlife , Nightlife (role-playing game - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

It's the game that White Wolf stole all their good ideas for Vampire and WoD from. But I would still be totally up for a Vampire the Masquerade conversion.

It would be really interesting, however, if someone could take the attributes+skill of Nightlife and work it into BRP (actually, it would probably be better to work BRP rules into Nightlife). I have no idea how that would work, but they are both D100 games, despite using what may be two incompatible systems. My only problem with Nightlife is that regular humans seem a little too wimpy. But I haven't played the game, yet, either.

It seems that Rpgnow.com is also down. I was going to look if the product is there, too.

How much alike are the two products? I don't think you would have to change the name of it, unless it's basically the same thing. Besides, you have the relative date you posted it on this forum and proposed it to Chaosium. For all anyone knows, they could have stolen YOUR idea. And it's obvious that you had no knowledge of their product before you found it on Drivethrurpg.com.

Here's something else you might be interested in. the video has a very small amount of the type of training the future astronauts might have to go through. And there seems that there are links to more informative videos after this one plays.

In case you need some space elevators:

Amazon.com: Space Elevator Systems Architecture: Peter Swan, Cathy Swan: Books

Amazon.com: The Space Elevator: A Revolutionary Earth-to-Space Transportation System: Bradley C. Edwards, Eric A. Westling: Books

Amazon.com: Space Elevators: An Advanced Earth-space Infrastructure for the New Millennium: Nasa, D. V., Jr. Smitherman: Books

And something on moon settlement which might be helpful:

Amazon.com: The Moon: Resources, Future Development and Settlement (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration): David Schrunk, Burton Sharpe, Bonnie L. Cooper, Madhu Thangavelu: Books

I like it. Thank you for posting it:thumb:

I agree with Rust. BRP can do all that and more, but the system keeps falling into the trap as with most of the rpg industry in making the rules for each game too setting specific. The reason I overlooked BRP for so long was the Heroic Fantasy or Horror Fantasy specific tweaks to the base rules. Ironically, those games took the flexibility out of the system while trying to show off its flexibility. Take the high amount of damage mundane weapons do in CoC (higher damage than they'd do in real life), and you can pretty much forget about any other type of play style that isn't investigative or "Cosmic Horror". Plus the fact that you had to look to other games or supplements for how much each hit location can take in damage, which makes playing other styles of horror feasible.

I also side with the people that think it's poor marketing on the part of Chaosium that made BRP lag so far behind. After all, what is it about D&D that makes it any less niche than the rest of the rpg industry? In fact, it is as niche as they come, considering the system is really only designed for one style of play: dungeon crawls. Why else do they have to radically and consistently change the core rules to allow for other types of play? But speak to anyone about rpgs, and D&D and high fantasy adventures are what comes to everyone's minds, all because of marketing (and the fact that D&D was first, and it sparked the golden age of heroic fantasy in the 80's).

I love conversions. Especially of movies and video games.