Harshax

I'd agree that the both of you are pretty much saying the same thing. The relationship of responsibilities to various guilds is worth a lot of thought, and can help flesh out a campaign immensely. Examples: Fighter's Guild: Members must be available for conscription by local lords. Duelist's Guild: Members may be assigned duties by Guildmaster to duel on behalf of nobles, businessmen, etc. Diviner's Guild: Members may not swear fealty to any landed noble. (May directly conflict with Fighter or Duelist Guild responsibilities) Assassin's Guild: May be assigned murder contracts by Guildmaster (May limit association with all other Guilds)

I can't argue there. In fact, I pretty much agree. Would it help the OP if we started a new thread that codified opposed results in chart format, like it is done for Combat? I think I can put this together fairly quickly.

You know, if I was inclined to run a splatter-punk horror campaign, I'd expand on the degree of success even further, by adding Significant Failure between Fail and Fumble. Critical vs. Failure = Critical Critical vs. Significant Failure = Critical + something gruesome Critical vs. Fumble = Critical + something absolutely horrifying >:->

We're talking about Opposed Rolls here. Degree of Success is only important for narrative queue, as in 'How do I describe this characters success?' The whole shifting thing is merely to tool to help GM's understand what happened. You roll a Critical, I roll a Special, the GM says 'The debate reaches titanic peeks as each orator attempts to sway the public to their side. After a drawn out battle of wits, a pause by the senator gives the incumbent an opportunity for gain. While generally considered a successful debate for the current seat holder, it is clear the battle for office is not over.' Or, if you're not up for the narrative: Critical - Special = Success for Opponent A. For combat, BRP has chosen to codify the degrees of success, where such detail is much more exciting, and for some, necessary.

Here's the current details for ability score generation. I altered course from the book, because I'm trying to emulate D&D, and have found the book's stat blocks to be more gloranthan. I've freely mixed d8s and d6s to achieve the right range (as I perceive them) for attributes. What do you think? One of the things I've tried to avoid, is skills that go higher than 20. It's a personal preference, nothing more. If however, you think my personal preference is getting in the way of emulating the attribute ranges found in the 1e PH, let me know. Thanks. RACE STR CON SIZ INT POW DEX CHA Dwarf12 2d8+2 2d6+8 1d6+6 2d6+6 3d6 3d6 2d8 Elf 3d6 2d8 2d8 3d6+2 3d6+2 3d6+2 3d6 Gnome 2d8 3d6 1d6+4 2d6+8 3d6+2 3d6 3d6 Half-Elf 3d6 3d6 2d6+5 2d6+6 3d6 3d6 3d6 Half-Orc 3d6+2 3d6+2 1d8+10 2d8 2d8 3d6 2d8 Halfling2 2d8 2d6+6 1d6+3 2d6+6 3d6 2d6+8 3d6 1 A Dwarf adds 6 to STR + SIZ when determining Damage Bonus 2 Dwarves & Halflings add 6 to SIZ + CON when determining Hit Points

I decided long ago that 'Read Magic' was not a spell, but a literacy. High level D&D thieves learned to decipher scrolls because they gained access to the textbooks stolen from the wizards' guild long ago. These same texts have been incorrectly copied, stolen by rival guilds, nearly destroyed by wizards seeking revenge, or simply incomplete in the first place, which is why thieves always suffer a high failure/mishap chance when reading scrolls. Key skill is what separates a collection of enthusiasts and a guild of professionals. We may all be great at Fighting, but the Fighter's Guild keeps trade secrets that make them far deadlier in combat. Ultimately, I think it is part campaign decision, part economic. All the special skills can be improved via training only. So attempting to improve multiple guild skills should be very costly. I don't want to go the same route for guild membership as exists for cult membership in RQ, eg. 10% time and money for Initiates, 30% time and money for Adepts, 90% time and money for priests. This is Dungeons & Dragons. The best route, I think, is to require characters to perform a quest for the guild at certain break points: 50%, 75%, 90%, etc. As mentioned previously, there is a background reason why you might avoid membership in more than one guild: wizard and thief for example. Other guilds might be in conflict due to certain circumstances which make great stories and make the character's life a living hell.

Clearly Combat uses the same rules, because what is illustrated on page 193 is exactly what should have been better explained under opposed rolls. It's indicative of the example given under opposed rolls (Stealth vs. Perception), but does not explicitly state that the loser (the one with the lower degree of success) is still the loser. EDIT: There is only one way that Combat rolls differ from opposed rolls. By the book, ties always go to the Defender. EDIT2: As far as grapple is concerned, I'm in complete agreement with you that grapples should take effect immediately not the next round. Certainly you don't take damage a round after it was delivered via sword blow, right?

Respectfully snipped. We missed each other's post. I think your understanding of the contested skill test is flawed, likely because the text is not clear.

No, just poorly edited. You weren't by chance tricked into thinking this to be true for Attack vs. Parry/Dodge, were you? See page 193. See what happens when The Attack Roll is Special, and the Parry Roll is a Success. What's missing from the description for contested skills is that the both the 'attacker' and 'defender' reduce their degree of success, not just the winner. So an Attacker's Special becomes a Normal. The Defenders Normal becomes a Failure. The only time high roll wins, is when the degree of success is the same.

Can't say I completely disagree with you on some of your points. The reason is mostly that I haven't read the book in the same way you have, so therefore can't contest any claims you've made. My experience with BRP/SB/CoC/RQ is such that I don't really need to read the book anymore. That said. The core system is rock solid. You changing a Spot Rule or altering how to handle contested rolls won't upset the apple cart in any way whatsoever. In fact, altering these rules is not only encouraged but practically required in some cases. This style of refereeing harkens back to the very earliest days of the hobby, where GMs had to wing it, or write additional subsystems to handle aspects of play that the rules allegedly didn't handle very well. The fact that you have a very clean, intuitive system only helps you. Someone asked how to do StormBringer with BRP. From memory, I would guess: Skills over 100%, Total Hit Points Only, Random Armor Protection, Sorcery, Allegiances, and Option 6 for Character Generation Did I miss anything?

I have RQ Vikings at home. I'll respond later (8 hours from now) if someone doesn't do so already.

I am getting ready to run some classic D&D modules, but I want to do it with BRP. Here's what I've done to emulate D&D specifically: 1. Hit Points = SIZ + CON 2. I've created an interesting alternative for generating Characteristics for the core races (using d8's or d6's whenever necessary to get the proper range): Half Orcs for example get 3d6+2 for STR, CON, 1d8+10 SIZ but only a 2d8 for INT, POW, and CHA. Their DEX is 3d6. 3. Short & generic/broad skill list. (Essentially the 26 skills in Savage Worlds, minus Guts, plus Dodge) 4. Luck Points = Magic Points. Gives some tactical options to the non-spellcasters. 5. Combat Actions from MRQ. I want character to have access to multiple attacks sooner. 6. Using Magic to cover arcane magic. Divine Magic works similarly to RuneQuest Divine Magic, but I'm using the single spell list. I am not at all interested in the introduction of D&D "classes" into BRP, but I would like to introduce a number of advanced skills that can emulate certain class abilities. These advanced skills can be learned from various guilds or orders. These organizations require certain commitments from the character, aside from the costs for training these advanced skills. So while characters are free to design any character they wish, and still evolve in the traditional BRP way (with experience checks), they have to make certain decisions with regards to how they wish to specialize. It will be possible to be a member of many guilds at once, but doing such a thing may limit a character's freedom significantly. Also, I'm toying with the idea that the Wizard's Guild will never accept as a member an applicant who is active in the thieves' guild. All that said, I need help coming up with names for these skills. Care to give me a hand? This is what I have so far. Fighter's Guild [Multiple Attacks] Increased via training only. The character is allowed another combat action with his weapon, as if he had a high Dexterity, whenever his melee attack skill check is also lower than his [Multiple Attacks] skill. The character is still limited to a maximum of 4 Combat Actions per round. Ranger's Order [Favored Enemy] Increased via training only. The character has studied advanced fighting techniques against a particular species. The character gains bonus damage of +1d6 whenever his melee attack roll is lower than his Weapon Skill and his [Favored Enemy] Skill. Thieves' Guild Only guild to offer training in Pick Pockets, Open Locks, and Find/Remove Traps. [Read Scrolls] Increased via training only. Rumor has it that long ago, thieves stole rudimentary texts used by the Wizard's Guild to teach literacy in magic. This skill allows a thief to successfully cast arcane magic from scrolls. This skill can only be learned up to 60%. Wizard's Guild This guild teaches the rituals for creating familiars and wizard staves.

Any new developments?

Sure, there does seem to be a few that are strictly binary. As was pointed out, some are character types, eg. gadgeteer, but others beg some explanation. I have steady hands, so I don't suffer as much off a penalty on an unstable platform as you, but that's not a direct reflection of my skill, but rather my natural ability. Not sure how I'd do this myself. Maybe introduce an advanced skill that is not affected by motion? example - We have Ride and we have Firearms. A character's weapon skill might be limited by Ride when firing from horseback. If the character learns some advance skill, like "Firearms from Horseback", which isn't affected by movement, she might be able to advance the firearm skills faster than their Ride skill, and therefore better reflect both the edge you're suggesting and the nature of character improvement that is the hallmark of BRP, without adding a point system. Some of the other edges are just very high attributes. Savage Worlds uses a point-buy system throughout. While you can certainly get away with edges during character creation by using point buy optional rules in BRP, you'll have to implement some point-based measurement (such as MRQ's Hero Points) in order to track a character's qualification for a new edge after they have started there career.

I know this conversation was gone over in length in the whole D&D Feats for BRP thread a while back, but which Savage Worlds edges can't be covered by having a high skill?

Don't look at what a +2 means to a character's die roll, but how it affects the result. In Savage Worlds, the default Target Number for all actions is '4'. For a wild card, that's almost assures success.

A mage stands before the grand doors of the city courthouse, through which he must head to defend his comrades who have wrongly been accused of murder. He casts an Intensity 10 Boost CHA spell. By default, this is a temporal spell, and will expire at the end of the scene. The GM rules that the court hearing will be 1 scene. If, based on the actions of the defendants or the mage, the court hearing becomes exceedingly drawn out, the GM may decide that the scene is over and at some point through the proceedings, the Boost CHA spell ends. The mage, having returned from successfully getting a noble's wayward son out of prison is invited to a lavish party which will likely go on several days. Expecting a variety of decadent pleasures, as well as a chance to rub shoulders with the elite of the city, the mage decides to cast a persistent Intensity 10 Boost CHA spell. The spell will remain in effect until dispelled or the mage wills it. In addition to the 10 MP for casting the spell, the mage's Free INT is reduced by [x] for as long as the spell is maintained. The mage, on behalf of the accused, has promised recompense for injuries which befell a farmer who was nothing but a hapless bystander to the melee which took place in the tavern on the night in question. The farmer, being horribly scarred due to a fire caused by spilt oil and spirits , rightfully demanded recompense. The mage offered to restore a semblence of beauty [he has not regenerative magic]. He decides to cast a Timeless Intensity5 Boost CHA spell. This requires a [x] hour long ritual, and the sacrifice of 1 point of POW. The spell will remain in existance until it is dispelled. How do you like that?

In thinking about it all day, my idea is sort of narrativist. The idea is rudimentary, so be kind. What I want to achieve is a removal on the dependence of off-scene spell casting/turtling. This style of play creates a vicious circle of POW/Magic Point acquisition and further off-scene spell-casting. First, I'd get rid of the Duration skill, and replace it with this idea: There's only 3 or 4 durations for sorcery: 1. Instant 2. Scene 3. Persistent 4. Timeless Instant and Scene are pretty much self explanatory. Instant spells are spells in which cannot have duration. Scene spells are those with duration. They last until combat is over, one or more skill attempts are performed, as long as the player is running in and out of the burning building to save his comrades, etc. Persistent spells are those spells that the sorcerer has on, all the time. The character that insists on have Damage Boost 5 on his dagger, having skin of life while traveling to the bottom of the sea [which should have a duration greater than a scene, even if completely uneventful]. Each such spell in effect temporarily reduce the character's Free INT by 1. Timeless (also called the story spell) - these are spells that last for years, or at the very least the life time of the caster: a blessed field, an evocation of water inside a dry well. These require permanent sacrifices 1 POW. While Timeless, they can be dispelled using the normal routine.

I think sorcerers tended to turtle so they could safely use all their available magic points at one time. With a 16 INT, and all spells bound into enchantments or your familiar, their is a variety of Intensity 5 spells that can be cast, with a duration of 2 weeks. If you can throw as many of these spells as possible in one day, you turtle 1 day in 14. As your available MP total goes up (especially if you've been binding POW Spirits), you can afford to reduce the Duration while increasing Intensity. I've managed to play characters that walked around with intensity 9 boosts to all characteristics, major weapons, armor, etc. with durations that lasted around 3 days. Which is a strange result if you ask me - all this studious work to turn your character into a combat monster. The additional skills of Ease and Speed help mages be more effective in combat. I think Sandy got it almost right with using Persistence for duration, but ultimately, the idea is a little too fiddly, and has the same result. I have some ideas how to fix the duration thing, without using Persistence, but I'll have to get back to you on that. My battery is about to die.

I never got to see the extremes of RQ sorcery, but here's what I remember: 1. It took a very, very long time to get competent. Many skills, which could only improve through study. 2. Sorcerers tended to turtle up every few weeks (see 3), and spend all their Magic Points to throw all their best boost[X]+intensity+duration+multispell, and then have nothing worth casting during an actual adventure (see 4) 3. The only limit to spell casting was free INT, which lead to some very powerful spells (see 2) 4. Sorcery was almost useless in combat. FWIW - I loved RQ3 sorcery, but even I got frustrated with it, and ended up making some strange Sorcerer/Spirit Magician hybrids: dominating magic spirits or ghosts into enchantments, and only using sorcery to command those spirits or boost my stats/armor (as in step 2).

:shocked:

The Magic Book looks good (that, along with GM's and Creatures seems to have doubled in file size). I'm sure my concerns with the other two books are fixed as well. My only problem now (not a complaint), is that these files render a little slow in document viewer on my sad ubuntu laptop. --- If anyone else is having this issue, I suggest installing pdftk (a handy command line pdf editor), to remove the first and last 2 pages of the document.

Ah, ok. I hope the keyword is slight. I can live with slight. 8)

I think you're doing something wrong. 100 vs. 99 has the exact same chances for critical, special, success, and fumble. If not, I'd like to see your math, because what your saying doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

That's exactly what I meant.