cjbowser

OK. I wasn't sure what exactly you were looking for, so I just started tossing out stuff. I think this is key. After one session, bring up the fact that you'd like to try a new system. The world will be fundamentally the same, but the system will let you and your crew get more of what you're looking for. Then, let the inevitable discussion occur. I don't think player consensus in this case needs to be unanimous. It doesn't sound like it's currently unanimous on their opinion of D&D. If the majority are amenable, tell them that you'll have their characters reworked for the next session (or next month, or whenever). If any state that they want to be involved in the process of re-imagining their characters, let them. It sounds like you have several people interested in role-playing. Make sure to play up the character-centric nature of BRP. However, you should also allay the other players' possible fears by mentioning the combat, particularly its potential brutality. It sounds like you shouldn't have too difficult a time convincing these two. Perhaps discuss it with them before you discuss it with the rest of the group so that you'll have advocates in your corner. It's not too hard to kill things in BRP either. One option, entirely dependent on your available time, would be to say you want to take a one session break from D&D, you'll even provide the pre-gens. For that session you run a quick BRP game with the players' D&D characters converted to BRP. Once you're done, get their take on the system after having tried it once, in a setting where they have little invested because they think they're getting session off from D&D. Everybody relapses. Just step up to the podium and say, "Hi, name is Charles..." and we'll all respond with, "Hi, Charles!" Then, the healing can commence.

Is it necessary to convert the characters? Perhaps if the players are shown some of the options in BRP, they might get excited and want to try something completely different. The major cost benefit analysis to figure out is: a. Are you and the players having a good time with D&D 4e? Sounds like you're not (for reasons outside of the system itself). What about them? Are they up for trying anything, or do they prefer to stick with one system? Are they enjoying the tactical minis approach that D&D encourages? b. Will switching to BRP let you and your crew have the good time that you're looking for? From my perspective, switching systems isn't a big deal. If you convert characters, that will be most of the work. Monsters are, to me, not that big a deal. A goblin in D&D is pretty much the same as a goblin in BRP, you're just getting the stats from different sources. The core world isn't going to change because you're switching systems. For certain iconic D&D monsters, you'll either need to convert to BRP, find an analogue that serves the plot purpose you're looking for, or wing it on the fly and see what happens (my personal favorite). As long as everybody understands the system, which you can teach easily based on your comment about choosing BRP, I don't think you'll have that much work in front of you. One week you were getting your monsters from the Monster Manual and the players were using their daily and encounter powers. The next session you're getting your monsters from the BRP book (or wherever) and the players are using their skills. For me, the system is almost unimportant. We use whatever system strikes our fancy at the time. It's the plot, character development, and mystery that we're after. Without knowing anything about your campaign, or what you want to emulate in BRP, it's too early to talk about the various BRP options you can invoke.

I hear the sons of the city and dispossessed get down, get undressed get pretty, but you and me we got the kingdom, we got the key we got the emopire, now as then we don't doubt, we don't take direction Lucretia, my reflection, dance the ghost with me

I'm sure you've seen some of the *impassioned* threads around here on whether or not rolling higher or lower is more desirable as a mechanic. A quick scan will tell you all you need to know about the merits of one version the other when it comes to skill checks. That being said, and with the caveat that I'm not trying to re-open that can of worms and the post-script that "no, I don't run my game this way," there's no reason you can't use the blackjack methodology in your own games. Just like Wilt Chamberlin shot for 100 points, a character with 90% in his skill wants to roll as close to 90 without going over. You'd want to invert the Critical/Special/Standard/Failure/Fumble metrics, and sure that'd involve some math, but feel free. YBRPMV. :thumb: BTW, to toss out the obligatory "how's this for inconsistency in a game," look no further than AD&D. You want your stats to be high, but the best armor class is -10?

That's what I did in my initial draft of the Wright Institute. If you want to see how it worked out, you can always ask for access to the playtest forum.

I've run both, although the only WFRP I've run is 1E. I prefer BRP for several reasons. I find BRP to be a more flexible system. One of the rules of thumb with BRP -- coined by Soltakss I think -- is that if you can do it in real life, you should be able to do it in BRP. I have no problem with WFRP, but I've used BRP since the late 80s. The system has become intuitive and is so backstage when we play that it's like it's not even there. If I need to wing it on the fly, it's like muscle memory -- there's no pause. If I had been using WFRP for as long, I think it might be the same way, but the varying die rolls in WFRP 1E have always grated on me. I've owned WFRP for that long, but it never resonated with my groups the way BRP has. See page 176 for Fate Points. They're there already.

That's intriguing. Would you allow the conquistadors to be backed up by Jesuit magic? Or perhaps magic stolen from the Muslims during the Reconquista and reapportioned for the Spaniards' use? Think of all the wonderful spells that might be buried in Al-Hambra or Corduba. The Bayt al-Hikma might have collected tons of works centuries earlier and as the Muslims spread, the works might have been dispersed. You could also have the "anti-magic" developed by Tomas de Torquemada when he was battling the "vile magic users" during the Inquisition.

It looks like Chaosium has fixed the snafu with In Search of the Trollslayer. While the page still mentions the "technical difficulties," I was able to download it successfully from My Account | My Downloads. At 50 pages, it looks to be good value for the <$10 price tag.

Spoilers for Ashes to Ashes. Don't highlight the quote below if you don't want to read it.

If I still lived in Ohio, I'd be there. Planning on going in 2010, though.

If you're truly burned out on fantasy, and can't get psyched to run a campaign, that will show through to your players. If you're not having fun, they probably won't have fun either. Here's an interesting take on fantasy, Ashes to Ashes. This setting might be similar to how you define sword and sorcery, but elves, dwarves, and halflings are present. They aren't all playable, but they are there. For the historical setting, look no further than Stupor Mundi or Rome. My all time favorite blending of fantasy and historical, Mythic Russia doesn't use BRP, but it can be converted. I'm not a huge fan of traditional fantasy, I do like to read traditional fantasy books but have always been more intrigued by low magic settings. Burnout can happen with anything though. Right now, I'm burned out on horror. When I get burned out on any setting I take time off. I go read and play other settings. After a while, I start wanting to return to the genre I was burned out in. I even see Tolkien and Lewis as writing in different sub-genres, but that's probably academic. That's how I see tend to define Sword and Sorcery as well. Have you checked out Barbarians of Lemuria? There's a two-fisted cat on here who loves the game. I haven't looked at it yet myself, although I do own it. Oh God! It's full of white...:thumb:

Will there be guidelines or setting seeds for a grittier, less anime world? Something more akin to Battletech and less Macross?

Maybe that's why it's such a quick seller? Ordering my print copy from Chaosium after payday. Can't wait to see it!

Actually, I've never seen an episode. I imagine you working on Green Wing.

I thought I read somewhere that you work in the medical profession? Note to self. Don't get sick when Triff's on duty...:eek:

Let me play devil's advocate for a second... >:-> It is available as a printed product. I have a copy. It might be out of print right now, but it does exist. The monographs are printed in very small print runs (50 iirc) via a POD printer. Question. Are you peeved because Chaosium has this practice (the practice of only printing books they can afford to print -- a policy held by most publishers ) or that they stated it in a public forum? Would you be willing to pay more for that book via a POD publisher than you would if Chaosium had the wherewithal to have that same book professionally printed at one of their normal printers? By printing in bulk, Chaosium is most likely able to offer a lower price per unit than if they had to deal with lulu's or CreateSpace's initial price per unit before the author can put their price tag on it. I imagine the return on each book printed via a direct-to-customer POD printer is lower than on the books Chaosium has printed professionally. Like I said, I'm playing devil's advocate. I have no insight into Chaosium's finances. I'm just going off of things I've looked into when comparing POD vs. actual print runs for some of my own stuff. BTW, have you asked Chaosium why they don't use a POD service to get some of their books out there?

I can see how this can seem objectionable, it seems like a new kind of ransom method. But I view it as Dustin doing something pretty rare in the publishing industry -- laying the cards on the table. The more you buy, the more money they have to be able to print books. I'm print sure Chaosium is a hand-to-mouth type of publisher. They don't have enormous cash reserves, so the previous publication pays for the current one. I'm sure a lot of other publishers are in the same boat, they just won't admit it. It's not that they won't print stuff if you don't buy. It's that they can't. All that being said, I'm not one who buys both the print and PDF copies of the book. At least not every time. Sure, I have the BRP product and BRP pdf, but those cases are few and far between. And I bought them when Chaosium did one of their fundraisers... I mean 30% off sales. Sure there's lulu, but I've never been happy with any book I purchased from lulu in terms of quality. Maybe I've just had a run of bad luck because other people have had good results. Some friends of mine who publish through lulu get really good quality print runs when they mass print their stuff to take to cons. I always get crap, so I stopped trying. Plus, it would probably take more cash for Chaosium to stock X amount of lulu printed books than X amount of normally printed books.

We were bored and unsupervised. Just be glad we didn't have access to the server itself.

I copied the RPG.net review to the reviews section here. :thumb:

One of the things I thought while reading it was that it would be an excellent place to set Mhu Thulan for CAS style sword and sorcery. The magic level is lower than what you might expect (I haven't read BoL, so I can't say for certain), but can easily be increased.

If you're uploading three different file types for compatibility, would just a PDF or just an RTF work?

Sorry about that. But when I saw the maps, the first thing I thought was "Oh no! Russian armor is pouring through the Fulda Gap!"

Jeff, I was glad I could be of assistance. It really is a good product. Hopefully you'll see some more sales. I'll be happy to take a look at Dust to Dust as well, when it's finished.

Has anybody been able to purchase this? I see that there's been five downloads, but when I try to buy it, I get "product does not exist."

There's a separate forum for play by post/play by email/play by skype. Maybe your adverts would be better served there instead of in the general forum.