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This is a little off topic, but I hope I will be forgiven – I’m toying with the idea of writing a CofC adventure, but I only use the old 5.5 edition. Should I update to the newer additions – are there any major differences – or will I be able to get by if I stat everything out with the old 5.5 version? Thanks, Rich (True confession, my gaming group bought me 5.5 when it came out because I was still running using the first edition – I know, I’m a stick in the mud)

I took a different approach in my treatment of training dogs (http://basicroleplaying.com/forum/downloads.php?do=file&id=111). I viewed each animal “profession” as having a required Animal Handling skill, and than the trainer would raise an animal in the profession over time. Each profession then has associated animal abilities, some of which might require an animal handling roll in order to evoke from the animal, while others were just simplified away to a skill bonus (getting a blood hound on to a scent trail required a roll, while a good sheep dog just gives a bonus to your shepherding skill).

This forum is "the old school". (I started in '77 with OD&D, and moved on to RQ by '79).

Risking shameless self-promotion, I would like to point out that the Game Template (found here) is useful for writing up settings. It gives you an editable document that can be customized for what ever you finally settle upon as appropriate WWII professions.

Rubble and Ruin has some basic cybernetics, mostly replacement limbs for soldiers and a few gadgets. Unfortunately it is still in play testing.

I am also using Scribus and have found it easy to use if not a little quirky (but not nearly as bad as when I was trying to do everything in Word). I would like to again thank Puck for the artwork he has contributed to my monograph and recommend that you consider his offer.

Jut WOW! Rubble and Ruin is around 70,000 words, and I'm working hard to finish it---80,000 for Book 1 alone! I can't wait to get a copy!

Last night I finished the draft layout of the monograph—there are a few small details that might move the page count, but it looks like it will be 126 pages (plus or minus 1). Chapter 2 of 5 is back from the editor, and I only have one small (250 word) text box to finish writing. Several blind play testers (and semi-blind—meaning people who have played in my games before) are looking at copies of earlier drafts. All the artwork is in. I hope to have it to Dustin in two weeks!

Thanks. I am working in Scribus on the advice I read earlier from this forum (so I’ve got that going for me). And for anyone else who might care, I used IrfanView last night to convert the images to black and white and it work, so I wont get a chance to try GIMP.

Ohhhh, great! Special Racial Trait: Given the rat-men’s natural aptitude for mechanics, they learn the following skills exceptionally fast; LIST OF SKILLS. During character creation they receive +2 for every experience point used to increase these skills and they improve +1D10 points during play. (Better language to follow, but the idea is there.) Thanks,

Thanks for #1, #2 was what I had in the back of my mind, but wasn't sure if it would work for the general reader...

Hello, I posted this as a separate thread in the hope of getting a larger audience. Rubble and Ruin is based off a world I have been running for over 25 years and under a lot of different mechanics. One race that worked very well under Aftermath, and okay under GURPS seems a little off in my BRP version, so I thought I would ask for your input. There exists in this world a race of giant (three foot tall) rat-men who were created specifically to work as mechanics and technicians inside massive robotic tanks. To reflect their mechanical aptitude I have given them +25% on all skills fixing or creating mechanical items – can anyone suggest an better way to make these guys “mechanical geniuses”? Thanks,

Hi, I am about to start page layout on my monograph and I had a few questions I was hoping someone here might be able to answer: 1) All artwork most be black and white according to Dustin, does anyone know an easy way to convert PNG files to grey scale? 2) I have included references to the core rules wherever possible. Any suggestions on a shorthand for these, currently I am using something like “BRP core rules page XYZ” – but there is probably a better way. Any ideas? 3) I need to make a nice character sheet to be included in the monograph, and I know there was a long thread on that recently, does anyone remember what the punch line was for best tool to do this? 4) Is it my imagination, or did I read somewhere in the core rules, a penalty for characters not getting enough sleep. I would have sworn I saw something about that, but when I went to find it – nothing. Does anyone know of one? Thanks,

You may also like: BRP Central - Downloads - Dogs

This may only be relevant in my mind, but some time ago I added a file to the download section that can be used as a template for setting out which rules will be used in a given campaign. For my style of gaming this is an essential step in starting a game. The file can be found here: BRP Central - Downloads - Game Template

Rubble and Ruin monograph I have completed a rough draft and started serious editing. Chapter 1 is effectively in finished form, chapters 2 and 3 will likely only see minor changes, chapter 4 needs its first post-draft-now-that-I’ve-had-some-time-to-think-about-it revision (I’m new to editing, but I think that is an official level of editing), and chapter 5 was just completed in the last week. I sent a very rough draft to Dustin last week in the hopes of getting some preliminary comments. I am off to a conference at the end of May-first week of June and I hope to have enough layout done that I can take a copy with me to work on the index and TOC. Oh, and in case you can not read my mind, the chapters are: 1: General background 2: Character Creation 3: Spot Rules (Firearms, dogs and Cars) 4: GMs Sections (Campaign ideas, sample gangs, general comments and a small bestiary) 5: Two sample adventures I am hopeful that it will be submitted by late June. TTFN, Rich

A Boy and His Dog (1970 something)?

I was going to recommend something like, make a simple rule that a SW+2 is a BRP +15%, but then I got thinking, hey what does the benefit work out too anyway. I generally don’t like games that hide the probability of success behind weird die rolling conventions, so back when I had an interest in SW I build a spreadsheet showing the probability of rolling the numbers 1-16 (or higher) for each die type, with or without the inclusion of the Wild die. If you take the average benefit of a +2 across the entire table you get +13.97%. Of course, in reality the types of dice used and the target numbers are not uniformly distributed – but biased towards the center of the range – so you might want to call SW+2 a +25% bonus. As an aside, I use +25% in Rubble and Ruin as a typical bonus as it is large enough to make a difference (and hence to be worth writing on the character sheet) but not overpowering. (For example a biomodification that gives you exceptional climbing abilities gets a +25% to climb.)

Don't forget: Basic Magic BRP Adventures Aces High Outpost 19 Ashes to Ashes Berlin '61

What about the spaceship that comes apart and fires rubber-tipped darts? If I still had my micronauts this would make a great con one-shot. Everyone gets a -- what were they about 3” tall -- figure and away we go.

As a labor of love it is starting to push limits – but it will get done! Chapter 5 has two mid-length adventures and I am working on finish both of them (I have over 3,000 of 10,000 words written), Chapter 1 is being edited (a buddy of mine who is an English professor at a university in Thailand has agreed to edit it), and I have started worrying about layout and artwork (thanks again Puck) – oh, and playtesting – lots of parts, but it is coming together! For the record, I have no idea what it will cost, but it looks like it will be around 100 pages (or somewhat more).

This is probably only related in my mind, but I put an MS Word document in the download section that has all the core professions typed out and formatted – I use it as a framework for putting together my own lists of available professions. http://basicroleplaying.com/forum/downloads.php?do=file&id=123

I couldn’t help noticing how much this article (http://www.mercurynews.com/centralcoast/ci_12115324) matches the opening of Daybreak Tomorrow. Only now you have to imaging a larger area without intermittent landlines functioning – a situation with absolutely no reliable information about the problem.

Rubble and Ruin is getting better! I can say this because I am getting help where I need it the most. Puck from this forum has agreed to contribute some artwork – and it is great! (At least, I like it.) He has captured my image of rubble and ruin – wasted and formless scraps of our world inhabited by rough and tumble individuals. And he thinks he can get me a laser tank for the Bestiary! Maybe it’s just me, or maybe it is the fact that I am writing up “my game” but any game with robotic laser tanks in the bestiary can’t be all bad. Further, a very good friend of mine, and one of the original Rubble and Ruin players from back in the 1980’s has agreed to edit the manuscript. He is currently a English professor at one of the larger state universities in Thailand, and he is a longtime Runequest/C of C GM. I just thought the world should know. p.s. Four out of five chapters are written!

Yeah, I already have an adventure in mind – it would be playable without Rubble and Ruin, but would introduce several elements of the setting.