Mugen

It was already mentioned in the "Runeblog post" mentioned in the OP. 🙂 I disagree.

Then, don't automatically increase ranks in schools, and consider those skill minimums as a guideline to consider when a master from a school will consider you're good enough to receive appropriate teachings. If you've seen the manga/Anime Rurou ni Kenshin, that's exactly what happens between Kenshin and his master. It also explains why Mirumoto Hitomi was able to be rank 5 in the Mirumoto school despite having Insight just slightly above rank 2. Well, that and poor proof-reading in 1e, too.

That's more or less what I was expecting for RQG Sorcery when Techniques and Runes were first teased during the game development.

Oh, and I missed the elephant in the room, Land of Ninja for RQ3, which is currently discussed in another thread.

L5R schools have a lot in common with the cults you see in games such as RuneQuest or Mythras (which is the current name of RQ6). That is, a group of people that provide esoteric knowledge and powers to their members as they progress with the skills valued by the cult. Reaching rank X in a school would require you to have at least X in every skill associated with the skill. In turn, being rank X would allow you to learn various powers taught by the school. You could also take inspiration from Mythras Mysticism, Animism, and Combat Styles. Note that @Runeblogger, who created the blog you mentioned, is a member of this forum.

I just remembered I also tried to make my own adaptation of M:tG magic colors in BRP back in 1999. It's available here, only in french. It was an extension of a magic system close to the first Magic World system, where each spell is a skill.

Does that mean White mixed with any other color makes a pale color ? Pale Blue, Pale Yellow, Pink, Grey ? Same with Black : Dark Blue, Dark Yellow, Dark Red ? To be honest, this 5 colors system sounds a lot like Magic:the Gathering to me (and predates it by more than a decade), but I think it's easier to know where each spell goes in M:tG. In part because there's litterally thousands of examples in...

So, basically phase 2 would be a move to phase 3. 😉

I did a short re-read of my copy of LoN (well, La Voie du Sabre, as I only have the french version) because I didn't remember any mention of Shugenja in it and I've not seen it. Sorcerers are described as adepts of the Tao, seeking immortality. Which is a bit out of context, IMHO. However, defining Shugenja as "magicians" was an error present in Bushido, also from Bob Charette... The name Yamabushi is used, though, but they are described as warrior monks from a buddhist sect. There's no mention of Onmyōdō.

BR:UGE + The Book of Magic should be enough to play with Land of Ninja, with the caveat that the latter has a few RuneQuestisms that were not correctly removed. Also, keep in mind that this magic system is meant to be used with the POW experience checks. I think OpenQuest is close enough to be used with LoN, and it's far more simple. Note that if you want to play in Japan with a BRP-related system, you can try Legend + Samurai of Legend. But, despite being a RQ3 descendant, I think it's too far from the origin to use LoN without modifications. It might be a good inspiration source, though.

The simple version (*) was also present in the original game. It's just easier to miss as it only takes a paragraph. (*) You get 30% to spend each year after 15, with a maximum of 75+bonus for skills with an experience check box, and 100% for others. An average, 22 years old character has 210% total.

I think I'd try to define Disciplines as skills, and use either Psionics, Magic (from the BGB/BRUGE) or any variant of RuneQuest/Legend/OpenQuest Sorcery as an inspiration to make powers work. Skill % could give access to different powers, like in the WoD original game. It would also limit the number of points one can spend when he activates a power. I'd also take inspiration from Chronicle of Darkness rather than old WoD and use a unified "power" stat scale for all supernatural being. Vampires Blood Potency, Werewolves Rage, Mages Arete would all work the same. Edit: note that attributes in Storyteller/ing system have much more impact on tasks related to skills than in BRP. If you add 10 points to DEX, you'd have excellent initiative, but you'll rarely gain more than 10% in related skills, and only if you use a BRP variant were skills are affected by characteristics. The equivalent in WoD would be a gain of 2 or 3 dots in Dexterity, which impacts a lot of actions, and gives much more than +10% chance of succes.

As for myself, I think I'd use the random method for passions, and the static bonus method for skills. In my view, passions are not reliable, while skills, and knowledge, are. Sounds like an idea for Light Side/Dark Side in Star Wars... 🙂

Note that if you use APP and not CHA, it is meant to be a measure of one's attractiveness inside its own species. If a troll's tusk disgust you, it may be attractive to members of its own species. You will never be able to balance these 3d4+14 in SIZ. SIZ is used in HP and damage bonus calculations, which makes it twice as valuable as STR and CON for a melee fighter. Its drawback is that you're clumsy and hard to hide.

Well, you can find some of them at drivethrurpg. https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/fr/publisher/2/chaosium/category/5621/basic-roleplaying But it seems the previous line of BRP "Monograph" has been discontinued. Feel free to ask specific questions. There's a lot of those in BRP-based games, or "extended BRP family" games, such as RuneQuest, Nephilim, Magic World, Mythras and others. The Magic Book, for instance, contains all 4 magic systems from RuneQuest 3 (the 1984 edition), which are very different from the ones in the BRP:UGE. You could also take a look at OpenQuest for simpler versions of thoseagic systems. Nephilim and its Liber Ka have more "esoteric" magic systems.

But I remember someone from that group say that they were still relatively inexperienced at that time (compared to what they became later), and it showed in the design of the combat system.

And then, your new target dies in that 5 DEX range. 😆 That's a sound advice, though.

Yes, and it's the reason why D&D editions after 3rd tied very strictly skills and level, as players usually maximized skill levels or just put the minimum level needed for satisfying a prestige class requirement. Which lead to worlds where the difference in magical knowledge between the highest ranking wizard in the world and a peasant is just ~60%.

Well, that approach will lead them to have more diverse skills, and less situations where they will suck terribly. 🙂 And what freedom is there in a game where everyone will simply maximize the 5 more useful skills in the game ? Though MW is not CoC...

I read somewhere (I think it was from Ben Monroe on rpg.net) that Magic World had an option for "pyramidal" skill distribution, where a PC had one skill at +X%, 2 skill at +(X-10), 3 skills at +(X-20), and so on. I think it's a fun and efficient way to avoid PCs putting all their points in a few skills. I'm also not a fan of skill bonuses. I prefer having base values for each category, equal to he sum of 2 characteristics. French 2nd edition of Nephilim used this.

May I suggest writing an article about the number of attacks and parries one can make, and how it works with dual wielding rules ?

Well, if parrying was not a complete waste of action if you failed your roll, I wouldn't mind. Just like in Pendragon, where you're almost guaranteed to have your Shield bonus if you defend but the attacker has a better roll nonetheless.

My intent was not to tell you to use this system as a whole, but as an inspiration. It's just too complex, and uses too many skills. But I don't understand which parts of Sandy Petersen's rules could be less in phase with "current BRP" than the original RuneQuest 3 rules, to be honest. Most of the rules in the BRUGE come from games published between 1981 and 1992, and the system is essentially the same as it was in the 80s, with options to make it as simple as CoC or as complex as RQ3.

The Sandy Petersen rules for RQ3 Sorcery are worth reading. They add Presence, which is a limit on the total number of effect levels of spells one can maintain. They also diminish the impact of Free Int, using skill/10 as the maximum level for each effect. They also get rid of Duration. If you have enough Presence to cast a spell, it lasts forever. It also adds new Arts and spells, which are all optional. If you want simplified versions of Sorcery, Mythras and OpenQuest are also interesting.

And yet my biggest problem with the system is not linked to these YZEisms, as it's completely possible to defend and attack in the same round in Forbidden Lands. It's like playing in Pendragon, but you're forced to chose between reckless attack and defensive stance, and the the latter doesn't give you a Shield bonus if you're hit.