Greymagius

Thanks for the information. Am certainly looking forward to MW. now, if it can just be closer to summer than Christmas

Chaot Again my thanks for you input. I suspect that i would find your games a pleasure to partake of. In honesty my game world is a mess of a bit of everything. I use Magic, Sorcery, Psi and Mutations. To be honest, it tends to be what most people would consider far to over powered. My game style/approach though has always been that my players are the EPIC heroes that truly change the world. Such high powered play does not appeal to many but my players and I enjoy. My style is more Valdemar (per Mercedes Lackey) than Middle-Earth, with a very healthy dose of Anime. Although I run high powered campaigns, I also enjoy lower powered as well. For me, the challenge is to find clever ways to do things. I admit that the 'Resurrection' looked to have familiar elements. I had looked at the Lure Spirit but had not quite figured out how to get it to the next stage for resurrection. It is quite clever and looks viable as a way to bring some one back. My own in house version was 10 mp to cast 1 permanent POW from caster and 1 permanent POW from person being resurrected, with a Luck roll on the resurrected's part after loss of POW. a 12 hour ritual casting made it a not on the fly process. Zomben; It's all good. I don't receive notifications either. I am curious now though. If I understood correctly, Magic World would have all the Sorcery spells from Elric and the Bronze Grimoire plus a few additions such as the Lure Spirit spell mentioned elsewhere. I'm curious what the 'Extra' Sorcery spells in 'Advanced Sorcery' will be. Also, I've seen a few samples of magic items. Will there be rules for creating such or is that a 'lost art'? also, there is mention of binding spirits to ask as addition INT for 'holding' spells. Is there the possibility of something like familiars and Wizards Staves as per BGB's 'Magic'? As always, thanks for everyone. I may not always agree but I always try to listen and give consideration.

Thanks to all who have taken time to reply. nclarke: My game world was originally based on D&D but has been ported into numerous other systems over the years including RQIII and Gurps. I cut my FRPG eye-teeth actually on RQII and the battle magic allowed for a rather good feel for a 'spell-slinger' type character. One thing I've heard that sounds promising about MW is that, unlike Elric, it will have mechanics for allowing a spell caster to use spirits to 'hold' extra spells. Hopefully something similar to the BRP 'Magic' system's familiars and 'Wizards staff' will make it over as well. It seems that you much prefer a more low end magic level where as I prefer more high end. *chuckles* as you might guess from my chosen nom du Net, i prefer 'mage' type charcters Vagabond: I'm very curious now... you mention some RQ materials being used. Could i dare hope thta some of the RQ battle magic made the port over to 'Sorcery'? I'll also say that Mass Combat rules are something I would be very happy to see as well. I understand the use of Sorcery for the system. I just hope for a wider variety of spells. I'm hoping that the 'Runes' make it over since they were quite clever i think and rather interesting in variety of effects. Chaot: Thanks again for your reply. In truth, I'm not as conversant as I'd wish with the binding rules in Elric. Looks like i may need to correct that. We all tend to have our ideas colored by previous experiences in a particular system. I have literally seen a 'Stormbringer' campaign where people were binding demons into chamber pots to wipe their nether regions. In the longest running campaign of 'Elric' I played, we ended up on the opposite situation. We were kept always on the move and the GM seemed to want to make certain that you never had the chance to bind a demon or two into service. A world setting where bound demons/elementals/angels are the default mode of magic is interesting actually. It does however require the players and GM to be willing to take time before and after game. Luckily there are limits to how many demons can be bound by one person. I think I'll need to research 'binding' a bit more and see if it might be a back door to getting more of the feel I want. In regards to using both 'Magic' and 'Sorcery', my Game setting actually tried to use 'Magic' and 'Sorcery' both. "Magic' for wizards and 'Sorcery' for priest. For my players at least, most 'Magic' users trnded to try to master a defensive and an offensive spell and be passing competent at a wide assortment of others. The Priest used Sorcery and were maybe not as flashy but their spells always worked and a priest would usually set up 'Brazier of Power' on a church alter. A wizard might have portability but the priest often had a greater depth of power to draw from. *Laughs!* OK, Is the resurrection spell in one of the books or is this a house rule created version. It looks rather nice actually. I had used a variation on it that was a bit less heavy on POW loss, but as I've stated before, I normally try to avoid 'house rules', preferring a published agreed upon version so anyone with the basic book(s) can review at their convenience. What you have presented though is quite usable and seems to fit the feel of Sorcery in BRP/Elric. Again, my thanks to all for your insight and thoughts. Per my reading MW is due out this 'summer' though the definition of summer seems to somehow be at some point between Gencon in August and Christmas. I hope it is sooner, but having waited almost 25 years for the deluxe BRP, I guess a few extra months won't kill me.

Whether you agree with my preferred definition of 'High Fantasy' or not, it seems that everyone posting understands what I meant at least. That being said, I'd like to expand and perhaps reply to some of the replies to my post, as well as ask for some clarification as well. I think my core problem is that I want a small handful of books with a unified system that any player could acquire and reference. The fewer books used, the easier it is it seems to me. One reason I like the possibilities of 'Magic World' is it will update and consolidate things a bit. Any player could get the book and have the same resources as the GM and other players. A few folks have suggested using other supplements or house rules from some ones campaign. I have and do such sometimes, but would hope to avoid using any more books than necessary. That is why i would like to see 'Magic World' come as complete as possible. Rust: The 'Magic' system in BRP is quite powerful I think. I would wish for more spell variety and in truth 'Classic fantasy' provides quite a few spells that can be added easily. I think that there is a supplement called 'The Grimoire' out in the near future that will add quite a few new 'Magic' and 'Sorcery' spells. I hope it will prove to be useful. nclarke: Resurrection and return of dead characters is not as common in novels, but does happen. That's why I made specific referent to fanatasy *Role-Playing games* as opposed to fantasy in general. I have no desire to try putting together list of novels for comparison. If you wish to disagree, feel free. As for BRP not being suited for killing multiple enemies, I think that the 'Magic' system is quite well suited for it and I've seen it put to good use just for that purpose. The 'Fire' spell can be quite effective... Vagabond: I apologize if this sounds rude, it is not intended to be. I appreciate feedback and thoughts, which is why I posted in the first place. In regards to Unknown East supplement, I glanced at it once briefly but do not own it. To be honest, I really don't want yet another, different magic system. It sounds like that's what the eastern magic would be. I'd have liked to see integration of RQ style Spirit Magic perhaps as a 'Sorcery' spell. I may well buy the Advanced Sorcery supplement, but I would prefer more 'Sorcery' spells not another system. Chaot: First.. I love your explanation of Elric's magic! Yes, it did feel like that if you wanted to do anything big, you were having to summon something to do it. Considering that most Sorcery spells last for POW in Combat rounds, that means that a beginning sorcerer will have most spells last a bit over three minutes. that makes a lot of the 'utility' spells rather pointless. Skill wise, I agree that BRP characters start much more skilled. It is the ability to be competent in a variety of areas that made me love BRP. I just wish that would be Sorcerers/Mages felt as talented in spell ability. Now, I DO have a question. Did I understand you to suggest that there are Elric Sorcery spells that will allow you to kill multiple targets at once? It might be possible with 'Guide Earth' from the Bronze Grimoire to crush several targets, but since the earth moves at a MOV 8 and most people can walk at a rate of MOV 10 It would be difficult to really kill someone with this spell. If there are spells in either Elric, the Bronze Grimoire of the BRP 'Sorcery section that allow direct damage, I seem to have missed them. I've found several that will possibly hold someone immobile but none that were direct damage. Any that might do damage directly seemed to be something that you could literally walk away from. Thanks for any ideas and information in advance. Thanks to all who replied. I was hoping to get more information on what 'Magic World' will be. I don't think it will be all that i would wish for, but it will be worthwhile.

The below is a mild rant, please take with a grain of salt. I've read both interviews and am pleased that this is being done, but I have severe reservations. I run a campaign originally based on AD&D that was updated over the years, i love the BRP System and happily jumped ship when it became available. Sadly, Chaosium has shown little actual support for it. There are many fan/semi-pro products that I have bought and been very pleased with. Classic Fantasy and BRP Witchcraft are my fave two to date. I have bought a few of the products produced by Chaosium itself and have been greatly disappointed. The Magic book was barely edited as far as I can tell for integration and instead of adding to the two magic systems already in place was a poorly reworked system that did not work well in previous versions of RQ. We now have 'Magic World' coming out. The basic 'Magic World' book from Worlds of Wonder was embraced and quite popular in Europe and was a core system used by many loyal fans. It was not supported by any supplements but retained popularity, to my understanding up to and even after the BRP system was released a few years ago. Now we hear of a new 'Magic World' book. However, instead of taking and updating the high fantasy style of the original book by this name, we are getting a reworking, mainly cut and paste. of Elric magic and RQIII system rules. I own both Elric and the Bronze Grimoire. I've integrated spells from both into my game world.Sadly, BRP/Elric Sorcery does not permit high or even medium Fantasy style magic. There are no spells that allow for much in direct magical assault. A 'Sorcerer' is mostly dependent on a weapon still, with perhaps a spell to increase damage slightly. The few direct target spells are single target spells and do not allow for much if any direct magical damage. RQIII had a few spells, notably the Battle Magic spells such as Disruption that gave the feeling of a Sorcerer, instead of a warrior that knew a few tricks. If some of the RQ Battle magic spells were ported over, it might allow a greater sense that you were playing a 'Sorcerer', but my own feelings are that if you want a Fantasy world, you need a selection of spells so that a player can feel more like a spell caster. If you want to play a low-magic Fantasy campaign this may be perfect. The Chaosium promo says " The rules of MAGIC WORLD are simple to grasp, while having enough options and complexity to suit any gaming style... Any sort of fantasy character you can imagine, you can play." Based off the interviews and comments on what is being used as source material, I have grave doubts that a pure Sorcerer will be a very viable option. I would really like to see new material from Chaosium instead of yet another semi-updated reprint of prior supplements. As a final note, the ability to resurrect players is a problem I've noted in BRP core books. The ability to bring back those who have died is a staple of Fantasy RPG's. It should not be easy perhaps, but a system does need to exist for it.

I've down-loaded and been using it for about two months now. Excellently done! I'm used a larger pastiche of system tools, but I'm very pleased with this excellent product. I'm eagerly looking forward to additional materials.

Downloaded Creatures & magic PDF's: My thoughts... First: even in the latest and greatest PDF reader, it stinks. If not for the efact that i know 'Ogres' from earlier books, I'd have been confused. the missing "1"s give it a strength score of 2d6+2 Im rather certain it was suppossed to be 2d6+12 *please* Fix this and re-offer corrected... Instead of simply republishing things, they could have done some actual updating. Remove the creatures that are already in BRP and maybe add some new ones;assorted demon types, new elementals and other creatures would have been welcome. As for the Magic, Why not integrate and add to the excellent magic system they have. The Ritual system makes for an excellent add on to their "BRP Magic" and "BRP Sorcery". The spirit magic spells as new Sorcery spells would work quite well. Adding Divine as an add on or as the higher range 'BRP Sorcery" seem quite doable (and what I intend to do! since I use the "BRP Sorcery" as my base Divine magic system). The rules for the "Sorcery" presented in the new supplement should have been tweaked to work as an add on to the "BRP Magic system" in the BRP base book (IMHO). I spent about $18 on these two supplements. In Honesty, between the poor editing, poor formatting and lack of anything that will NOT require extra effort on my part to convert to a more usable form, I consider myself lucky to have gotten bye with such a relatively light cost. If I had spent more, I;d have been greatly upset. I will say that on these items, Let the Buyer Beware, Grey

Just a thought... Total levels you can cast are equal to 1/2 INT. Assuming a not unseasonable Magic user with 16 INT, that means possibly 8 Levels. It would require 24 POW, but with a familiar or wizards staff for extra power, and a slightly above average POW of 13 (For 26 POW available) you can get 8d6 damage. Average damage would be 28 points. Sure, it may be one shot only, but it will kill almost every base player character I can imagine. Sure, Armor might provide some defense, but not enough. I'm thinking I might need to use a house rule of Max POW not spell levels equal to INT/2. With that in place, we may see 3D6 bolts of magic, but I think that might be more viable and less instant kill. Any thoughts or opinions? Oh yes, my starting campaign will be a campaign originally D&D based using 'Sorcery' as 'Divine' spells and 'Magic' for Wizardly spells. I'm hoping the interaction is not a total FUBAR. Thanks, Grey

*IF* You are familiar with the 'Magic World' portion of Worlds of Wonder, 'Magic' is drawn from there. Each "Magic" spell is treated as a skill. They IMHO are much more D&D style zap-bang effects. "Sorcery' is based on the 'Elric/Stormbringer' magic system. Each spell has automatic success, but less direct effect. Hope that helps. Grey

*Laughs* Evil Memories from RQII.. first campaign I played in had a Donkey.. It became infamous;As "Morbidity, the Dwarven Death Donkey" through a series of improbable rolls, it killed more monsters than many of the player characters lol! now. :focus: Grey

Hmm, I got an updated ETA as well.. Chaosium (Author) "Basic Roleplaying: The Chaosium d100 system (Basic Roleplaying)" [Paperback] Estimated arrival date: 06/25/2008 - 06/27/2008 But looks like I pre-ordered a few days prior to you...

I'm very interested in what you come up with. The cleric/priest side is where I've had trouble. I'd considered using either the 'Sorcery' rules for priest or the idea that you spend permanent power per spell level to acquired as under the 'Magic' rules but with an automatic powx5 skill roll. You'll tend to get higher initial ability, but at a bit more cost. I'd hoped to see the RQ2 style "Rune Priest" magic, revised, but I'll have a better idea once I get my greedy little hands on the actual book. Grey

If we are tossing out idea for Fantasy worlds with a bit different feel, might I suggest the 'Black Company" books? They had a gritty feel that BRP simulates well, but also had elements of high fantasy. The Mercenary Company theme allows for easy inclusion of adventurer types. Just a thought, Grey

thanks to all! Exactly the information I was looking for! I sounds like a very complete basic list and quite possible to easily add any more esoteric powers, if needed. My current plans call for Magic, Sorcery & Psi in a Fantasy style setting. Not familiar with Traveler or Space Opera psi, but I've a much better idea now, which makes my pre-planning of game setting easier. Many Thanks to All, Grey

Tal Meta's? and what pray tell might that be? I'm always interested in useful info...

I've a pretty good idea on 'Magic' and Sorcery for the BRP, but am curious if anyone can shed some light on the psionics system? I recall a psionics system from an issue of 'Different Worlds' for CoC. The powers were very low key, but well suited to a subtle game such as CoC. There was also a system in CoC D20, that was rather low key. A few specific questions I have are: Does BRP psi require skill or a stat based roll to use? Do they require 'magic/psi' points based off power? How do they compare to 'Magic' or Sorcery in usefulness? Can they be improved and added to in play? Is there an advantage in choosing 'Psi' over other meta-physical arts? Any information wold be appreciated, Thanks, Grey

After reading similar list elsewhere and reading of a plan to issue new players Handbooks, Monster Manuals & DMGs every year, I'm of the idea that it's NOT a roleplaying game, it's a do-it-yourself collectible card game. I've had player threaten to play a Wizard named Charmander I can seriously see players putting their at will/scene/day "powers" on cards and flipping them as used. I have my homebrew (A)D&D campaign of 20+ years, that I might yet convert.. but it won't be to D&D. In truth, I cut my gaming teeth on RQ2. I still think it's the best system out there. D&D4 sounds and feels more video/collectible-card than RPG to me. If I covert, it will require a LOT of conversion. 'Magic' , Sorcery & Psi might cover part of it, but at the levels of play attained, some use of 'Super' rules would be required. :focus: What might we learn fro D&D4? We will have to see once it's out who plays it and who decides to stay with earlier editions or jumps to a different system. My hope is that Chaosium would return to a more vigorous interest in RPG's. Aside from (very) periodic CoC supplements, they produce little RPG products. BRP, IMHO, is far superior to D20 OGL and if permitted to be used, could provide a vast ocean of products & resources. I'm looking forward to several possible settings suggested here and wish all the best of luck. Now, if only someone can get me my copy a bit quicker, so I feel less like a junkie strung out needing a fix... later, Grey

Excellent... now, next question.. is there a system to permit you to extend durations, expand area of effect, and other "Meta-Magic" options? Also, I found the "Magic World" system very functional, but found the spells a bit too broad in scope in many cases. A slighter larger selection of spells than in the original "Magic World" set would be welcomed too. Specifically Demon summoning and Undead creation. If not already created, the system is so intuitive it should be easy to create and add. My thanks again, Grey

I suspect I might be able to find this if I dig deep enough, but am basically wanting to avoid several hours of digging. I've seen where those with Edition-zero are saying that the "Magic" system (as opposed to "Sorcery") is close to the old "Magic World" system. I assume this means each spell is it's own skill. I'm curious if they've added the RQ 'Sorcery' skills for increasing range,duration, etc. I never played with the RQ Sorcery but from what I could see it looked like like it might well slow things down with book keeping. It also looked like beginning "Magic" user would be very weak, due to having to split a starting skill points rather widely. Also, each additional roll of the dice increases the odds of something going wrong. Can someone explain (in small words please ) whether "Magic" is closer to "Magic World" or "RQ Sorcery"? Thanks, Grey

I've been pulling out the Elric/Bronze Grimoire books and looking them over as a place-holder until I can get the BRP book. I'll have to look over the allegiance system when I get the book, but using it in place of a 16 POW sounds like a VERY good idea. Thanks! Grey

Just a quick note.. RQII had potion rules, as I recall. Sadly my copy disappeared years ago. If you could find them, it might prove of use. Grey

Thanks! I pulled out my copy of "Elric" & a copy of "The Bronze Grimoire". It looks like that just might work fine. It's been nearly 10 years since I had looked at it and I had remembered it as requiring a skill roll. With a wee bit of sorting to match spell to cult, it should be workable. Grey

I'm hoping someone with edition zero might be able to give me a bit of insight. Is there a system of magic in the new BRP for Divine magic. I'm looking for a way to differentiate "Priest" from "Wizards". I'd prefer not having to borrow rules from an outside source. The "Magic World" style magic is simple enough to suit my preferred fast style of play for "Wizards" but something closer to the RQ2 "Battle Magic" is closer to what I'd like for my 'Divine" spell casters. My general thought is that Divine magic should be more reliable but less potentially powerful over all.

Quick question. How are rules from creating items, i.e. Magic "stuff". I recall fairly simple rules from RQ years ago. Does BRP allow for making items? From most Chaosium games, it seems items were only created by off screen NPC types. Most examples I've seen usually cost a lot of time, money and permanent power. Thanks, Grey

Sounds great! I've ran a home-brew (A)D&D campaign for far too long (decades now) and having seen previews of DnD4 was in near physical pain. Conversion from 1st to 2ns and then to 3rd was traumatic enough.. 4th was NOT lookimg good. I actually started RP with Runequest and love the BRP system. The idea that someone might save me untold hours of conversion sounds great. Looking forward to seeing the end product. Probably will start my own campaign conversion once I nab a copy of the BRP Deluxe. A humor aspect never hurt and it sounds like you're making it be viable as serious or not as the GM desires. Thanks, Grey