Mugen

1) In combat, when a parry's Success Level matches the attack's, damage is reduced by an amoubt depending on the weapon. If the défender rolled higher, that amount is doubled. Dodge uses skill opposition rules. 2) in a blackjack opposed skill resolution, if both protagonists failed their roll, the highest roll wins. 3) tens of a succesful roll are its success level. Crits count as 10. In case of an opposition where both protagonists have the same SL, the difference is the Success Level.

To be honest, matching tuces is not an option I like, because it does not scale with skills above 100%. I like when experts get something even when a task is super easy for them. I prefer crits under the tens of the skill, and specials under half the skill. Like in SPQR and french Rêve de Dragon.

Isn't your rule for damage the same as Unknown Armies ? Concerning the blackjack method, the reluctancy of Chaosium to have it as an option is very strange to me. I know it confuses some players, but once you've gone past this confusion, it's both simple and effective. Far better than the "highest skill wins" option from the BRP SRD, at least. Plus, the game that introduced it is Pendragon, a Chaosium game.

Disclaimer : I have not read the new edition, but nothing in the reviews I read made me think there was any change on this specific topic. BRP has a long tradition of considering shields as just another type of weapon, only better suited for parrying and defense in general. A notable exception is Pendragon, but it differs in many ways from BRP. Using a shield to protect yourself in melee is a parry, yes. And you should have a Shield skill to use it, just like any other weapon. You roll under your Shield skill.

I don't think you need 3 different skills for Energy Weapons, Firearms and Missile Weapons, just like you have only one Melee Weapons skill. In my view, the difference is purely technological. For instance, would you put a lightsaber under a different skill ? I also see no Shields, and no difference between 1 handed and 2 handed weapons. Do you intend to keep a separate Shield skill in your list, and let a character with a Sword specialty to be equally efficient with a short sword and a claymore ? I know those are tricky questions...

Ok, I misunderstood your post. I thought you dropped the units before doubling.

Is Fatigue the rule from RQ3, where your maximum is STR+CON-Enc and you lose 1 point per turn ? Fatigue is a boring rule, IMHO. I tried to use it when I first played RQ3, but quickly abandoned it. I'd be tempted to use another ressource to fuel combat techniques, as it favors STR and CON, which are already very useful for a fighter in BRP. Perhaps something based on INT and DEX, to help the agile and clever swashbuckler. The closest equivalent to your rule I remember are the Ki powers from RQ3 Land of Ninja. They can be acquired after reaching 90% in a skill, and used magic points. French HawkMoon 1st edition also had a rule for "bottes", skills that you could learn once you reached 90+ in a weapon skill, and allowed you to deal an automatic Major Wound on a success. MRQ1 also had rules to get "heroic abilities", but they were in fact D&D feats in disguise.

I always did it after modifiers.

It's quick and simple, but not really satisfying for skills with their units number around 5. At 65%, You should have 13% Special chance, not 12%.

Err... Does that mean that, if you apply the rules strictly, a character with DEX 15 casting a 5 points Bladesharp will cast it at DEX rank 20 ?

From my point of view, that's a terrible thing to say. As for myself, I was not impressed by Dragonbane. The way skill opposition is handled (roll under, lowest roll wins), and the fact you have to forfeit your attack to defend (which means that if you miss that roll, you've just lost your turn) were two major design flaws in my opinion. Everything new in DB seemed to be taken from Forbidden Land.

Maybe someone with a copy of the new BRP book could tell if the wording has been changed ?

That's a really minor nitpick, but I don't understand why the highest skill is in the middle.

That's been my opinion too since I read RuneQuest 3. More precisely, I never felt like using a class/level system could work. But it's possible I've been influenced by the example character from the french edition...

The annotations on the map say it was drawn in Paris, which explains why it is in French. Judging by the way people are dressed in the Besançon map, I guess it is from 16th century, at least 100 years older than the other one. Which could explain why it uses Latin and not French. Another big difference is the older map uses roman numerals and the other arabic numerals.

Most of the MRQ drastic changes are in the combat chapter. Weapon damage values are different, and there aren't generic hit points, just hit points per location. But the summoning rules in EoM allow you to summon creatures fully compatible with BRP, with 7 characteristics and skills. EoM also have rules for "Runes", a magic system very similar to BRP "magic", with 1 skill per rune/spell abd variable spell effects depending on MP spent.

I was part of the MRQ1 playtest, and it was really not a pleasant experience. But compared to the first draft, the published game was very good, thanks to the help of many veteran players and Steve Perrin (the runic system was from him, but it they published the draft without any modification, they just added spells to runes that had none). The last playtest version, entirely re-written by Kenneth Hyte, was IMHO a very interesting game. But unfortunately, it was modified by people from Mongoose before publication... The ridiculous double skill check in combat was one if those edits. However, Elric of Melniboné 2nd edition is a supplement for MRQ2, and don't have most of the MRQ1 problems.

That's how it works in Elric of Melniboné. You summon a Demon and form a pact with it for as long as you have MPs to give to it. In this game, binding demons is considered to be a godlike task even the most powerful sorcerer can't accomplish.

I don't have a significative experience with Sorcery, but Demon binding in StormBringer v1 to v4 was notoriously bad for balance between players. IIRC, the version in BGB was problematic as the cost for summoning creatures didn't take the cost of the abilities, resulting in a 1MP cost, which absurdly low. Sorcery also has a lot of small spells that won't cause balance issues.

In fact, the Pendragon Campaign is literrally a fast-forward time travel through the middle ages and the different stages of the elaboration of the arthurian myths. The first chapters, although not historically accurate, are closer to 5th century Britain. The middle chapters are influenced by Chrétien de Troyes and 12th/13th century Europe. The last chapters are darker and gloomy, and look more like the movie Excalibur, with 15th century armors, Thomas Mallory time period.

I only have one in my 50m2 flat, and that's enough.

The inspiration from a certain "Awakened" game (not to be confused with an other, Ascended one) is obvious. 🙂 But you didn't take the idea of Arcana, or freeform magic (which is the main use for Magic Points in this one) from that game.

You seem to voluntarily duck the real answer...

To me, seeing a list with creatures like the Fachan, the Jabberwock, the various spirits and the cave troll immediately bring back memories of RQ3. Although there's one notable omission between Dragon and Dwarf. 😄

That list sounds very familiar. It seems to me all creatures from RQ3 boxed set and Monster Coliseum have been included, along with a few others. With the exception of Elementals, of course, which are from Elric! and not RQ.