vagabond

Yes - John B. Monroe (goes by Ben, or zomben at RPG.net and other places) used the Superworld powers rules to create the Stormbringer 4th edition Demon creation/summoning rules. I'll see if I can find a link to the RPG.net discussion. Here you go - two relevant threads: [bRP] Generic Powers + Stormbringer Magic - RPGnet Forums Stormbringer/Elric: what are the differences in the editions? - RPGnet Forums -V

Whatever is in the Public Domain can be found here: Clark Ashton Smith - The Eldritch Dark under Writings are links to his works - Zothique, Averoigne, etc. -V

It did? I mean, I know it sold out the first run, but there is a question as to how many copies were printed. I know Chaosium had plenty left from the second run, and the reviews of the book were scathing to say the least. -V

Much of it is in the public domain, but I believe Arkham House is also involved a little. Which is probably OK since Chaosium and Arkham House have ties already. -V

I go back and forth between 5/20 and 1/10 with crits and specials. Math is easy for me, so it doesn't make a difference. Depends on how gritty/heroic the game is. I posted over at RPG.net about introducing a feat/special ability type mechanic where you get one upon reaching 100% in a skill, and if you use the over 100% skill option, a new "feat" every 25 or 50 percentiles. I also would go back and forth about how they get used - either MP expenditure or automatic option on a crit/special. -V

Very simple. For the HL optional rule, divide AoE damage so that all HLs are affected by a similar ratio to how total HP are divided up. -V

My beef with the whole "doubles" thing is this (which is one of the reasons I don't find Unknown Armies all that great): If you have a 98 in some skill, then you critically fail on a 99 or 00. In other words, someone that highly skilled can only critically fail, which makes absolutely no sense. Same with anyone with a skill of 100 or better - again, only a 99 or 00 will fail, and they can only be critical failures. I find the current levels of success method to be more than sufficient, and very easy to apply and understand. Also, it lends itself very well to the various rules pertaining to skills over 100, as well as scales well when using skills over 100. -V

Too close to chia-saurs ... Which might be interesting ... living terracotta and plant based dinosaurs ... -V

When I get them into a state that I am comfortable with, I'll make an announcement. For obvious reasons, I will have to mail them out directly, or make them available somewhere. I don't think it would be wise to post the doc here due to licensing issues. I won't include too much background info, just enough to illustrate mechanics or where necessary for integration into the rules (such as character creation/background). -V

I won't be playing anything yet, but I do have a couple of things sitting in wait. I am compiling all of my Stormbringer notes and houserules, with the goal of packaging it up in pdf for a few people who have been asking. This includes some of my old group whom might get to do some Multiversal romping. A solid adaptation of Skyrealms of Jorune to BRP. Maybe work on a BRP Dune and BRP James Bond. -V

Alas, it is true. No amount of faith will change that. Even if WotC folded up D&D and went away, the installed user base and OGL d20 living on will still make D&D the game that rules the roost. Given that it has had a lion's share of the market since its release over 30 years ago. You made the point yourself - CoC was eaten up by Vampires and others, but they were all fighting for the scraps. D&D was only jostled a bit when Vampire hit the scene, and the piss-poor mismanagement of TSR in the 90's opened a huge opportunity for something like Vampire to push D&D off its roost. But, it didn't happen, and D&D is stronger than before. But, this isn't about knocking D&D off its pedestal, nor even taking it down a few notches. Chaosium can, with BRP, grab some new players and gain new life, and keep on moving along. As it has done for over 30 years - no other RPG company has lived as long as Chaosium has. So, no, BRP is not too late. It is just in time to do what it needs to do. -V

Whether or not Chaosium had beaten WotC out the door with BRP vs. D&D4E, I don;t think the end result would have mattered much. The people that want to play BRP will buy BRP. The people who don't, won't. It's that simple. BRP really doesn't have the drawing capability to lure in that many newcomers, mostly because Chaosium doesn't have the money or resources to out-market, out-design or out-publish WotC/Hasbro. -V

OK, I guess I better introduce myself. My name is Ian and I was involved in the BRP playtest from the get go. I started playing RPGs back in 1978/9 with D&D (Blue Box) quickly followed by AD&D1E. I have played D&D, AD&D1E and AD&D 2E on and off up until 1996 or so. I also dabbled in Gangbusters, Boot Hill, Traveller/MT, James Bond, Gangbusters, Gamma World, Top Secret, Dangerous Journeys/Mythus, Powers and Perils (yikes), Rifts, Rolemaster/MERP, Amber, WEG Star Wars, Paranoia, and TORG. I am sure I am missing a few. I also played a little Ringworld, my first foray into BRP. Alas, it didn't last long. Around 1992 or so I had grown dissatisfied with D&D. I went to a local con here in San Diego, and came across Skyrealms of Jorune. I immediately remembered looking for that game back in the 80's after seeing the wonderful ads in Dragon. I was hooked. Shortly thereafter, I found Stormbringer 4th - probably around 1993. My second exposure to BRP, and I was hooked. Fantasy the way I wish D&D had been done. And Moorcock to boot. After that, I got into CoC and RQ. I also have played a little Tales From The Floating Vagabond (partially responsible for my screen name). I am an IT pro by day, working at UC San Diego in the Jacobs School of Engineering. I also am a guitarist, an artist, and a car nut (hope to start my dream project in the very near future). Married almost 8 yrs, and father of two. -V

Close, but not quite. AFAIK, Chaosium made no effort to get the RuneQuest trademark. They were too busy with other things. Mongoose was able to write MRQ for the sole reason that the rules of a game cannot be copyrighted. Greg's background with RuneQuest and BRP had no bearing on the situation. -V

From the SB3 book - Elric has a +44% attack bonus (with drugs) Myshella has a +34% attack bonus Theleb K'aarna has a +27% attack bonus In SB1-4, 90% total skill was considered "Master" level. Elric is significantly more skilled than Theleb K'aarna, and much better than Myshella on that scale by bonus. But then there is training. Elric as trained as one of if not the best swordsman on Melnibone. Myshella was adept with the dagger in the saga IIRC. Theleb K'aarna was not very adept with the sword. Again, from the SB3 book - Elric has a greatsword skill of 92% - Master level. Also, Sea Axe of 84%. Myshella has a dagger skill of 100% (seems to fit, no other weapon training) Theleb K'aarna has a shortsword attack of 44% (he only trained up 17% over stat bonus - makes sense) and dagger of 89% (again, good, but not master). As I said earlier, the stat bonuses really do not make much of a difference as you get more advanced characters hitting the 100% and over mark. It was only those "special" characters that really benefitted. -V

Considering it was only 1% bonus per point over 12, and odds were any INT and POW bonuses were offset by 1% penalties for low STR and DEX (unless the characters were quite special - which fit well with the premise of the saga/game), by the time you had sorcerers with high enough INT and POW to make a difference, you most likely had warriors with very high combat skills that made the stat bonuses fairly irrelevant. -V