HollyKnight55

My FLGS gets their shipments Wednesdays. Yesterday was Wednesday. They did not get it.

I've read through most of the posts in this area, and I noticed they've slowed down. I hope it will be okay if I suggest something.

A Fantasy world is harder to share, with no ground rules to follow. I think if you said "Dwarves are dwarves, elves are elves, don't go ridiculous, flesh it out" then it could be interesting. The Green, for example, is a great location.

Honestly, though, I think SciFi would be easier. I'd go so far as to say it might be easier for a group to come up with a SciFi game than an individual. LOL

To start, I'd pick up D20 Future or GURPS Space. I don't own the latter, but I'm assuming it's similar to GURPS Fantasy, which gives a fantastic overview of what to think about. First you go through all the listed "things to think about", and come up with a consensus of how things are going to go.

FTL Travel? Stargates? Land gates? Jump engines? One solar system? One planet?

Psychics - yes or no? Common or uncommon?

AI or no?

blah blah

Then all this gets glued together, and the basic premise is agreed upon. I have to be honest and say I'm a fan of the "Empire on decline/fallen" concept.

Then - this is where the real "shared" part comes in - each contributor comes up with their own race! A bit of detail on the home world, physical description and abilities, philosophy, approach to life, etc... With each race coming from a different person, they should have a different (ie alien) feel.

Make it not our solar system, and say "Earth" is long lost. That way different people can have variations of humanity if they like.

Now, how to avoid power mongers? A dozen unstopable warrior races? Super mental power unbalancing type races? They have to apply to be part of some kind of Inter Galactic Council - which means the other contributors are permitted to discuss and vote whether the race should be permitted to enter the game world.

I know judging other people's work might seem harsh, but I'm a firm believer that putting something in just because somebody put work into it would result in mediocrity.

Just a suggestion, short version (have to run). Throw it out, ignore it, maybe use part of it. Whatever.

I've been thinking about how challenging it seems to be to create a successful Science Fiction RPG. In the end, I think it comes down to visuals. Have a great setting, or course, but we also need to know what the "aliens" are like. You can write a single paragraph that perfectly summarizes a race's looks, or write pages on looks & culture, but it will not have the same impact as good art. The same goes for spaceships. I likely wouldn't have much tactical fighter combat in a game I would run (although I might enjoy a separate space combat tabletop game), but I'd still like to see how the different ships look.

I suppose that's why SciFi RPGs based on movies or shows do better. People already have those graphics in mind.

As an aspiring writer, I feel jealous - and inferior - to an artist. Anyone can write, and I would think you'd have to be an awful good writer to convince an artist that is capable of writing for themselves to work with you instead.

Even with a fantasy game - the art in Earthdawn (1st edition), for example, ABSOLUTELY sets the tone for the game. It feels both like familiar fantasy, and strangely alien, ancient and exotic. THAT was a great combination of artists and writers.

Looking around, there are more writers begging for artists than the reverse. In truth, I think the two should be working together. An artist might start with what the writer comes up with, but will be inspired to throw some new stuff in there that in turn will inspire the writer.

Man, I need to find a partner like that.

I'm a bit surprised it's 2 to 1 FOR hit locations. Not that every player of the game is here, but still.

I don't use them for a few reasons, one of the primary being the extra paperwork involved. In a combative centred game, maybe, but not my type of story telling.

Also, the default determination seems random. Just roll some dice, it's where you happen to hit. Like a fighter has no real control. Then if you want to take fighter choice/aiming into consideration, it's yet another level of modifiers, debates, blah blah blah. All this so a character can lose an arm against their will. Pass.

I can't agree more. So who's doing it ???

Not DragonPass, but I've started writing... something. I'll post more details when I have more of it on paper.

You know, maybe I'm the odd man out, but I'm a bit sick of "originality" at this point. People come up with names that lack harmony, an absurd world that's "original", and they twist familiar stuff in an attempt to be "unique".

<cough>Eladrin!?!?<cough>

I'd like to see something a bit more familiar, but with a simple concept or story that makes it interesting. FASA's 1st ed. Earthdawn was beautiful. It had the familiar races plus a few new ones that weren't totally absurd, disciplines that covered most of what you'd want, then came up with a wonderful excuse for adventuring, dungeons, monsters, why the PCs became powerful, etc... You were given a certain degree of familiarity, then some new well written stories, and... GO!

That would impress me.

This reminds me of something I heard on Howard Stern once...

They had on a group of models (of course) who they asked various 'common knowledge' questions... names of presidents, basic history, a bit of geography... VERY easy questions.

The models couldn't answer them... they looked like idiots.

Then they asked them questions about wine, Italian sports cars, shoes... stuff I had no clue about. The models had no problem with these questions.

The point being that knowledge is a function of culture and culture is a function of lifestyle... who you hang out with and what they care about.

A farmer is going to know all sorts of stuff about the local land, the soil, the weather, the animals... a city-dweller is going to think the farmer is ignorant because he doesn't know anything about politics, opera, or gangsters.

They might have the same edu score but they don't know (or care) about the same stuff.

Maybe there needs to be some sort of qualifier next to the rating... or something that ties it to social standing.

As it is it's pretty vague what it's supposed to be measuring.

Well said.

Personally, I'd like still not bother with it for NPCs.

I'm still hoping someone will do a cross-platform equivalent since I switched to a Mac... :-(

Nick

Fellow Mac user! WOOO!

But how will it look when it's printed off? That's my concern, right down to the underlined spot where skill percentages go, etc...

I look forward to seeing it. Thanks for the offer.

It is a bit of a bummer to think that my BRP characters are never going to have a real pretty character sheet. For example: I do not want a hit location chart, depending on the game I may or may not want an EDU stat, and the exact skill list is going to vary by game as well. If I want something pretty, I'm going to have to learn how to make PDFs I guess.

I would think some things wouldn't require a roll at all (ie the peasants all likely know the kings name). As for the obscurity of the other stuff, I personally would probably modify the PLAYER'S roll when they're using a skill aimed at peasants (ie presumably the peasants need to know this because some PC is talking to them).

Otherwise, personally I'd probably look at 6-8 EDU for a peasant. Sure he may not know math, but he's been taught to do something - from fix a shoe to plow a field - plus they have their own "street smarts". I don't know what I'd be likely to use the stat for, though.

Honestly, I'm not sure that you would need it for every creature. Dragons, yes, they are "sentient"; a dog or lion on the other hand are not and probably shouldn't have Edu at all.

SDLeary

I'd probably agree with this. You don't need it for skill points, it's not like their going to be making KNOWLEDGE rolls - presumably you'll make their decisions and insights for them. I probably wouldn't bother. As a GM, I'd hate to have an NPC who's learning made them do something I didn't want them to.

Ohboyohboyohboy! My local gaming shop gets their shipments on Wednesdays (ie tomorrow), and I ordered my copy from them months ago. Wonder how it will all come out in the wash? Ohboyohboyohboy!

2) Change they way of determining critical successes/failures

Also as suggested on the RQ mailing list, treat all doubles as critical successes/failures. All doubles under skill level are CS and all doubles above skill level are CF. 00 is always a CS and 99 is always a CF.

The point made about a 98% skill only being able to critically fail is a good point (although that could be the exception to the rule, and an exception could be made... although still, a person with 99% can only critically fail... oh well, best not to dwell). I think I might actually use this for critical successes, though. Aesthetically, I think watching for doubles makes rolling the dice more fun.

Debating between an original fantasy game, or urban fantasy.

And one of the longer term setting ideas I'm noodling away on in the background is a vaguely battletech-ish SF setting. Mind, I usually have half a dozen or so setting / campaign ideas on the back burner at any one time...

Nick

That's the challenge, though, isn't it? Deciding on one, and following through. Not my strong point to date, either. Hoping to change that this summer, with my first good work schedule in... uh.. a decade?

I think about how it would be good to work with others to get something done, but in the end I have a vision of what I want something to be and I worry I'd be perceived as overly critical.

As a sweeping statement, I think the bulk of gaming material out there is mediocre. I think that's the real reason D&D (and WoD) does fairly well - quality control. Even if the game isn't perfect, they put out quality products. They have the money, and the time.

We'll show them.

Nah. It's not like there is a whole lot of fame and money in this hobby. My reward is mostly from seeing something come to life. If someone can take one of my ideas and put in the effort to make it work, that's great. It frees me up to do something else.

Steve

Good way of seeing things. Thanks, Steve.

To some extent, I think that BRP may suffer from a poor choice of name. The acronym is second only to GURPS for poor sound, and the "Basic..." part makes it look like something you start with before going on to grander things.

Ugh, I cannot tell you how much I agree! Basic Roleplaying as a name is a turn off, to me. I really, really don't understand why you wouldn't go with "the Chaosium system".

Frank Flitter's "Mungerbund Saga", published with the Chaosium system - sounds cool

Frank Flitter's "Mungerbund Saga", published with the Basic Roleplaying system - sounds like something off of Sesame Street

I'm just saying...

... do you ever find you hold back talking about your ideas (or things you're working on - which I'm not really), for fear somebody else would take it or run with it or make it happen faster than you?

An end of July deadline, with the rules not even in print yet (ie on paper), seems to cater to the hardcore "I already know it" types, the ones that are buying PDFs, or those from the playtest. Just saying...

I think the best adventures are ones designed to work with the rules, rather than "here's the story - plug'n'play your favorite generic system". Personal opinion.

In my experience, I think the latter doesn't so much reward good RP as reward players learning to play the GM.

It's a social game. I think too many systems - like D&D honestly - have almost made it a contest, GM VS Players. You're working together, as a team. If you think your GM is a playable retard, then play a board game.

I am so happy to see so many products announced for BRP. While it's fun to switch established game worlds to the Chaosium system, it's not going to bring BRP to the FLGS. (On that note - how DID GURPS get to write up GURPS versions of the oWoD Vampire game, among others? Just talk to WW, I suppose, and get permission ie give them money?)

One of these new games coming out could be the Fantasy/SciFi/Urban Fantasy Flagship for BRP! Something that draws in new fans based not on the mechanics, but on the setting! GLEE!

Well, that is part of the point though; without some use of personality mechanics, even some "success" can't be handled mechanically, moving it from the character level to the player level. That's why interaction skills tend to be a polarizing topic for a lot of gamers.

For my style, I don't see any gain from an additional mechanic in addition to the communication skill. Maybe I should say I don't see any more benefit than a GM just using his spur of the moment judgement for modifiers or NPC reactions.

But again, I think - if you're into these things - I'm sure these rules suggested are good ones.

Is it you've just not come across a personality system that's simple enough?

It's more that I think it's unnecessary - which is one of my large criticisms of other gaming systems. It's sharing a story, with rules helping out when necessary.

As an example, I think the nWoD Changeling: the Lost is a gorgeous concept, and the basic classification of types of Changelings is... pretty darn near perfect. Then they throw in mechanics for willpower, complex mechanics for allegiances, a ridiculous list of magic abilities each Changeling should be familiar with to make an informed decision, etc... Had it been kept simple, I'd be playing that game right now.

:focus: Of course, if you do want those things - like personality mechanics - I'm sure the ones suggested are great.