Mugen

Note that in a roll-over game, a simple way to implement a mechanism such as the one you want would be to use different di(c)e as you suffer damage. For instance, a character with Full Health and a Master Class skill could roll 2d12, whereas a Dying character with Beginner level skill would roll 2d4. In roll-under, it could be possible to do something similar by using different dice for the 10s of your roll. For instance, in favorable circumstances, you could roll a d6 and a d10, using the results of the d6 as 10s. That is, if the d6 is 4 and the d10 is 7, you got 47. 6s would count as 0s.

You could take a look at Mythras, which expresses difficulty as a multiplier. That is, an easy task multiplies your skill by 1.25 and a hard one bo .75 (IIRC). Reve, the Dream Ouroboros, mixes skill level and difficulty on a -10 to +10 skill, which translates into a multiplier, applied to one of your characteristics. Not very different fom JB 007... Psionics in first French Edition of In Nomine had a similar mechanism. Each time a Psi tried to use one of his powers, he had to make two rolls : one under a "Mastery" skill, and the other under a "Power" skill. Rolling under only one of those skills meant your attempt was either completely out of control, or very weak.

I agree. My point was that in such case, you'd get a 15% to 25% parry chance instead of 0. Is it a good alternative to 2 hand weapons, certainly not. Even less so in games where you only roll for parry after a succesful attack,

But it would only give any benefit in situations where a character faces more than 1 attack. If your opponent is only allowed 1 attack per round, 2 parries are useless. MRQ1 gave 1 "free" parry to shield users (with a malus, IIRC), but by default characters were allowed multiple actions and reactions each turn. MRQ2 discarded that rule, but also introduced combat styles instead of weapon skills.

It depends on how many parries your version of BRP allows without a shield If you can only parry once without a shield, then a Shield will be helpful when you're fighting multiple enemies.

@andresniIf I understand you correctly, it means that if I have skill A at 75% and skill B at 50% and I lost 33 points in their corresponding characteristic, my chances with skill B will still be 50%, whereas my chances with skill A will be down to 64%. Am I right ? It's definitely easier to handle than a modifier, but I don't like the fact it hurts high skills way more than low ones.

A simple solution is to give negative modifiers when a character"s HP are below a fraction of his maximum Hit Points. For instance, -10% if it's under MHP/2, -25% under MHP/4. The most commoly used systems in BRP for wounds are the RuneQuest Localized Hit Points and the StormBringer/Pendragon "Major Wounds". -In RQ, each body location has HP (on top of Generic Hit Points), and each hit will reduce a location's Hit Point. Once a location reaches 0 HP, it will be hindered. -In StormBringer/Pendragon, a major wound occurs when you lose mor than X HP in one blow. If you were unlucky, this could result in permanent characteristic points loss, but the most common effect was you couldn't fight anymore. Two rather old French games addressed that subject : -Second Edition of Nephilim used Wound Levels instead of HP, using rules similar to White Wolf's Storyteller games and Star Wars D6. -Légendes had a rather complex Health system, with 2 "Hit Points" pools (Fatigue and "Breath"), with increasing malus when you lost Fatigue and/or Breath.

I've not been able to see any mention of new covers on the Mongoose website. The pdfs still have the same black cover, and the release schedule is empty of any Legend-related publications. Where did you find these?

Abilities also usually have a greater impact on skills in "modern" D&D. A typical D&D character is likely to have 16+ in one ore more abilities, resulting in +15 percent (or more) success chance in skills related to these abilities. In BRP related games, it's very rare to get more than 10 percent from high characteristics.

No, not at all. I'm just suggesting that I would rather do (skill-20)/5 rather than (skill-50)/5, just to have fewer negative skills. When I wrote "modifier", I meant "ability modifier".

That's one way of doing it, but one that gives a majority of negative skills. D&D skills rarely go below 0, except if your modifier is negative. I'd rather use a value that can be identified as a "complete newbie" as the 0, something between 15 and 25.

That's a question for @lawrence.whitaker, I think.

I have a completely different understanding of that sentence as the one you stated in the first post ("so the Bestiary states the ogres innate chaotic taint wont give them away when joining non chaos cults."). To me, it clearly means that *if* an Ogre can join a cult where his Chaos Taints won't be a problem (either because the cult can't sense these, or the cult doesn't care), he may do it. It's not a magical feature at all.

Or Tchoukball ?

I have a question regarding weapon skills default value based on DEX. If I increase my DEX, do all weapons skill also increase, or does this only affect untrained weapon skills ? Reducing the number of weapon skills was IMHO needed since a long time, even though was never a major concern because knights tend to always use the same weapon. Another question about Charge. I read in the introductory adventure that you had to use the lowest value between your riding skill and your weapon skill while fighting on horseback. Does this also apply to Charge ? Do I need to roll under the lowest of those three skills when charging, the lowest of Charge and Weapon, or just Charge ?

I don't know if you system works, but, in my view, BRP is about percentiles and 3d6-based attributes. I may be too narrow-minded, but I don't see myself drawing poker cards in a BRP game.

So, it's not exactly a critique, but rather a praise. 🙂

What differs is the actual modifier used. In SB 2, the modifier was -20%, like in RQiG. In Elric!, it was changed to -30% (perhaps because it was very easy to start with skills over 100% in this game).

Well, yes, I understand why you could consider that someone with an axe in main hand instead of a sword may not be as good as he usually is. But if you sword skill is 90%, and your axe skill is 15%, that's a huge difference. But I'm not completely honest here, as I didn't mention that I think the issue here is the fact a seasoned fighter can have 15% with his Axe, and not the need for a Shield skill. 🙂

A possible problem, which exists in Pendragon, is that it might sound strange to some players that a fighter that is able to block or reduce all attacks with his shield when he uses a 1 handed sword in his right hand suddenly becomes unable to use his shield properly when he has an axe instead. Sure, the idea that having a weapon you don't know how to use perfectly also affects your left hand is sound, but it seems a little bit too much.

I'm quite confident it exists as an option, but not as the main rule. It seems to me BRP Quick-Start rules are a stripped-down version of BGB, and they say this (page 25): EDIT: also, on page 14 :

I was in fact just expressing a feeling, based on my own experience of the evolution of BRP (and BRP-related) games. I may be wrong, and perhaps a poll might indicate most players prefer splitting attack and parry.

That would be my solution, too. Perhaps also not having a Shield skill at all, like in Pendragon.

Sure, but nowadays, most people don't want different skills for attack and parry. 🙂 In RQ3, where your average character had far better attack skill than parry skill with their main hand, using a shield was a no-brainer.

As a matter of fact, skill levels also tend to differ from one "pure BRP" game to another, especially if you compare older games to newer ones. Just check at the base skill values in StormBringer 4 first versions to Elric! and 5th edition, for instance. With SB, most skills will start at you base skill bonus, or 10+skill bonus. Also, an average SB1 beginner fighter is going to have 50/55% in his best weapon skills, whereas 100%+ is easily possible in Elric!