Frank Frey

When I heard the new edition of BRP was available in PDF, I couldn't get the plastic out quick enough . I bought the PDF yesterday and spent most the evening reading it. To make things clear, this is the brand new one with the "Da Vinci" cover. I will tell you now that I like it a lot. I think that Chaosium has done an excellent job with this. Character generation follows along the same lines that it always has with BRP. What makes it stand out is the optional rules that are in the book. A number of them come from two of my favorite Chaosium games, Stormbringer 5th Ed and Call of Cthulhu. This gives the GM the ability to tailor character generation to suit his/her particular gaming groups style. Combat is the done in the same way. There are the basic rules which are pretty darn good themselves and then the optional add ons. I can see using the basic rules for combat against low level mooks and creatures(remember, even one of them can get a critical) while ramping it up for the finale against the Big Bad and His Henchpersons:) Skills have been consolidated and there is a listing of them with their counterparts in various Chaosium games. The only real quibble I have is that the Weapons and Armor list have what appears about a 200 year gap in them but what the hell. That, to me at least, is relatively minor. Aside from that, the new BRP is a very good buy. I highly recommend it.

Sara, I also thought it was very good. Kurt has been a longtime fan of Call of Cthulhu and Chaosium in general. Frank Frey

Not yet, but I imagine that it would be relatively easy to do. One of the first things that comes to my mind is that you could have both Magic/Sorcery and Psychic powers in this campaign. Also, the Sanity Rules would add a great deal here.

Very high tax on alcohol, to limit peoples alcohol consumption . It's a goverment thing. SGL.

Cool. In my setting, Norway and the rest of Scandanavia are still predominantly pagan. They have ties to the Rus and through them to the Byzantines. The Western Empire is slowly trying to swallow them up. They've already turned Denmark into an Imperial protectorate for all intents and purposes. The Vikings also control large hunks of England and have a foothold in Ireland. BTW, why is beer so expensive? Frank

Anybody come up with anything else on this topic?

When this first came out last spring, I bought a copy. In fact, I've bought everything that they've published on PDF. I highly recommend it. A lot of thought and planning went into this one and it shows. The url is Blank It's worth a look.

IIRC, the Georgians were Nestorians. They also had a warrior queen named Tamar or Thamar. Anyway, this is a fascinating discussion. I know that Shaira is from Normandy but what about the rest of you all. I live and work in Tampa, Florida.

This is another great site that I've used. Seventh Sanctum Frank Frey

Greetings, While searching the web for a good source of historical names, I came across this site tekeli.li/onomastikon It is the freakin' motherlode of historical names. Whoot. This is just what I was looking for for the "Dark Millenium" setting. Frank Frey

So am I. Sunwolfe also has some good ideas as well. I wish there was a way that we could all get together over a good dinner.

Sunwolfe, First of all, thank you for your post. I spent part of the July 4th weekend reading my notes and such. Shaira suggested that I run the campaign in the 990's before the Magnus Belli(?). That way, there are no dragons or any of the other beasties roaming about. Actually, the dragons were my medieval version of WMDs. I was originally going for a post holocaust style of setting and I needed something to use as "nukes". Upon further review, it was kind of lame and reminded me of "Reign of Fire". A movie which I did not care for. As of now, the start date is in fact 990 AD. As for the characters, I always like to leave that up to my players as to what they would like to play and how they all got together. For magic, I'm going to use the "Great Grimoire" from Cthulhu Dark Ages along with some parts from the Mythos Magic Monograph. I want to make magic very dangerous to use without the proper training and ritual. Losing Sanity points gives magic that especially dangerous edge. The legendary monsters will be just that exotic and legendary. I plan on incorporating some of the Cthulhu Mythos into this setting. It will be the dark shadows starting to intrude. Some books that I am using and have found to be excellent resources. Cthulhu Dark Ages Mythos Magic Atlas of the Year 1000 Various Osprey Men at Arms books. I look forward to yours and Shaira's comments. Frank Frey

Sarah, Thank you for your interest. As a matter of fact, my first impulse was to set it around 990 AD. I might yet go with that. I see your point about an uplifting campaign. My reason for the post apocalyptic setting was actually to allow the PC's to play adventurers from different parts of the world. Years ago, I ran a historical Byzantium campaign set on the Island of Cyprus. I used the same idea that Basil II had sons and one of them, Romanus, was now the Emperor. The PC's were members of the household of Dominus Justinian Draco who was the Exarch(Military Commander) of Cyprus. It was a very good campaign that was as fun to run as it was to play in. BTW, the dragons and such were not released by either the Western or Eastern Empires. My idea is that they were released by the Cult of Ahriman to cripple and/or destroy both empires and allow the forces of darkness to take over. I haven't done much with the Muslim world yet. I had an idea that Andalusia had survived relatively intact. Early on, it was discovered that Alamanzor was actually a priest of Ahriman and was leading the Andalusians into self destructive war. The good muslims overthrew the wretched blasphemer and now stand with their christian brothers against the forces of darkness. Anyway, I will be offline until Monday as I enjoy the 4th of July. Thank you again for your interest and input. I look forward to reading your ideas. Frank Frey

Greetings, Here is the basic premise of the historical fantasy setting that I'm currently working on. In 990 AD. there were two great empires that stood facing each other. In the west, Otto II known as "The Red" ruled a consolidated Holy Roman Empire from Rome itself. Otto, who now held the title of "Pontifex Maximus" was both head of the secular state and head of the church. In this world, France died aborning and was nothing more than a collection of squabbling duchies that were dominated by the Duchies of Aquitaine and Normandy. The Kingdom of Burgundy tried its best to chart its own course but with Rome so close it was difficult. In the East, Basil II ruled from Byzantium. His empire included the Holy Land and most of the Eastern Med. Unlike our history, Basil had three sons. The eldest of whom, Romanus, would be the next Emperor. Like, Otto, Basil regarded himself as Christ's Vicar on Earth. Only one of them could be right but both empires had magic. The Great War began over the Burgundian Succession and soon spread over most of Europe. Magic was used sparingly at first but as each side experienced the fortunes of war, it became more commonplace. Then someone summoned the dragons and other creatures of myth and legend. After that, the war became total. Although most of the dragons were slain they managed to lay waste to the great cities of Europe and Asia Minor. Nothing was spared. Other creatures such as minotaurs, mantichores, centaurs and others roamed the shattered ruins. By the year 1000, continental europe became a vast cemetary with the ruins of its cities as gravemarkers. Civilization survived on the peripheries. Lands such as the Kingdoms of Gwnedd, Strathclyde, Dal Riada and others managed to avoid the worst of the destruction. It is from these small pockets of civilization that Humankind is setting out to rebuild its civilization and regain dominion over their world. Well, what do you all think?

Hi, My name is Frank Frey and I am a 59 year old employee of the University of South Florida here in Tampa. I've been in the RPG hobby now for 31 years and have written modules for Twilight 2000, Vampire; The Masquerade, and Cyberpunk:2020. I've always enjoyed RQ and Call of Cthulhu. I've run several different campaigns using the Chaosium systems. My two favorites for just the sheer enjoyment of it were a Stormbringer/Call of Cthulhu crossover and a historical fantasy game set on the Island of Cyprus in 1050 AD. Any way, I'm glad to be among fellow BRP enthusiasts. I'm on both Myspace and Facebook so look me up. I'm under my own name. Frank Frey