mrk

As a GM, this is one weapon you just LOVE to see someone fumble with

Yeah, it's a very interesting concept and I don't think I've seen the idea of primary and secondary targets used in too many games, Actually, the origins of this method comes from the old microgame combat system were you would ratio the attackers vs the defenders stats and roll on the apporate index. Here's an example: Opponent A has a weapon rating of 8 and Opponent B has an Armor rating of 2. you round it of by 2, so 2 divided by 8 is 4. On the combat matrix chart, you look at index 4 and roll a D6: 1) Critical Hit Target 2) Wound Target 3) Wound Target 4) No Effect 5) No Effect 6) No Effect I know this is a very simplistic and works better for a wargame then a RPG, but you get the idea. It's also a bit similar to the non-location combat system BRP uses. Can't wait for my BOOK to arrive! :mad:

One thing I've been mulling about is creating a new set of tables that instead of just rolling a random die to see were you "hit", would focus more if it was a "primarty" location or a "secondary" location. A skilled fighter like Muhammad Ali or Bruce Lee is going to be able to hit those primary locations much more frequently then a less experienced one. Of course, it t should also work the same way for the defender as well. Jacky Chan is going to be able to fend of an attack a lot more sucessfully and in MANY different ways then a guy who's only training has been in pillow fights with his older brother.

I thought it really broke down and expalned how "magic" works in the real world quite well. I know a lot of Game Designers embraced the book and both Chaosium and Steve Jackson Games have published it over the years. What didn't you like about it?

There was a pretty good book written years ago on how "real" magic applies to FRPG's. Can't rememeber the name of it but I think the authors name was Bonewitz and Chaosium printed it at one time.

Spells and divine magic have worked in untold games hand-and-hand for many years. It just depends on how you( aka, the GM) views magic working in your world. It can be the kind were anyone can use it like Glorantha, or only a select and powerful few as in Middle Earth. If you think about it, magic is very much like languages/ or dialects; Just as there's many ways of saying either "hello" or "goodbye", a wizard or priest will have their own unique ways of casting a fireball or raising the dead.

Unless maybe one of the players turned their son or daughter onto RPG's and brought them along, I tend to prefer gaming with older people.

I agree. I never said you shouldn't roll to see if you hit your selected target or not. What I'm saying is each weapon should be treated differently and not just lobbed into a generic hit location table. And yes, a GM can alter the results as he chooses fit, but I would still like to have the location charts a litlle more rational in their design. Sure, a criticle hit is open to interpretation. If you were in a fight with Achilles who's more or less " blesesed by the Gods" ,a criticle hit on his ankle is going to do far more damage then anywhere else on his body. A strike to his chest a is not going to kill him instanly even if you puncture his heart...if at all.

To complicate things more once I get my BRP book this week, I want to break down and figure out how a weapon might how and where to strike an opponent. In a fight, your going to go for "desirable" targets and there's no better ones then the "head" and "chest" region as we all know. Now you may have a better chance of hitting an opponit with a bastard sword then a dagger, but you'll have a better chance of having the opportunity of striking those locations should you get around their defensive tactics and penetraite whatever armor they have do to the advantages you'll have over the longer weapon. Another thing also that I want to play around with is the actual hit location tabels themselves. If you striking someone in the rear, chances are your going to hit them in the back 60% or higher most of the time and much less in the legs or arms regions. I know, combat happens in a fraction of a second and anything is possible, but I just don't see why you would roll on the same chart over and over if you striking someone with an axe on the left or a dagger from the rear--it just dosen't make scense nor is it that much closer to "realism" as the hit location tables supposedly represent. Anyway, I could be entirely wrong and the new rules have address these problems already as I'm STILL waiting for my copy.:ohwell:

My local game store said it should be in next week. I could of gotten it by now but I decited to help keep their business afloat.

I looked on Ebay and couldn't find any of this stuff. Got a link?

Good work Publius! It's nice to see you added jungles ,swamps and farmland ( it's not all desert). The kingdom of Yoros especially, as it's famous for their wines which just about every happy go' lucky Adventure seems to be swigging in the stories as they trot off to whatever fate awaits them.

Ever read Frank Miller/ GeofF Darrow's "Hard Boiled?", that would make a tour-de-force game setting. incredibly ultra violent. Another cool idea I always wanted to do is run a modern day crime setting like the film "Heat " were I have two gaming groups playing either "Cops" or ""Crooks" on different days and every so often have them roleplay together when they have "encounters" with one another ( like a big shootout!). It would be complicated to GM, even fierce as you have a high posibility of PC's fighting PC's, but it could be very cool and very interesting to see how it would all play out.

More like D6. Most microgames tend to use six sided dice as they wanted them to be playable with the most commonly and easly accessible die in the world. It's been a long time since I've played them but I'm sure they could be converted with some tinkering.

I agree as well. The Barbarian might be freaked out, but not to the point of falling down to the ground in a crying heap. Infact, if you think about it, If he was standing there as a Bus was heading straight towards him--he'd probably charge at it with his axe!

Not as much as you think. You show a mutilated body to someone who's seen death first hand like a NYC Cop or a Child Soldier from the Sudan, and they wouldn't even blink an eye. If you grew up in a Fantasy world full of magic, monsters, and bloodshead, your not going to be as effected emotionaly like us Earthlings as it's been the way of life ever since you were born. Even if you never seen a Dragon first hand, chances are you've seen some evidence of it; either flying off in the distance or seen it's head mounted above the Kings Throne like an Elk . Even your Grandfather pointing to a dark old mountain saying, " That's where the Dragon lives" will have a degree of merit on you to believe and be ajusted by something that terrifying is living close by.

I'm a huge, old school, fan of the classic micogames from the 70's and 80's was thinking about doing a miniatures BRP conversion based on them. Infact, I just found complete scaned rule books, counters and map for the old Dwarfstar microgames that are now legitimately free to download . Heres the link should anyone be interested: Index Page - Download The Classic Heritage Dwarfstar Boardgames For Free

I'm thinking of using san the way a ghost or demon would cast a "fear" spell on you as it seems to me if you lived in a world ful of orcs, trolls and ringwraiths, those type of things wouldn't drive you as "crazy" compared to Joe Schmo looking up to see a NightGaunt climbing through his kitchen window as he's having a cup of coffee

I don't think it's necessary to include stats for "generic" monsters as their generally accesible for people to find. And if not, any seasoned GM can think up playable stats for a T-Rex or a Python. It's not that hard. Anyway,here's a basic breakdown on what should be coverd to makes a great supplement book--or at least one that I would buy. 1) Introduction of The Green 2) The History of the Green 3) Exploring the Place 3) Flora and Flauna 4) New Plant life 5 New Monsters 6) People and Notable Characters 7) Places of Interest ( Dungeons, caverns, ruins, ect) 8) Exotic material ( diseases, food, ect) 9) Magic and Technology ( if any) 10) Any special rules 11) Scenarios 12) Maps

Probably some third world person who when he found out later his coffee beans were pooped out of a Monkey's butt he said to himself, "hmm..not bad. I bet I could sell this to rich people!".

The scientific study of the traditional knowledge and customs of a people concerning plants and their medical, religious, and other uses.

Also, if you had any tribal people/ or medicine man living in the green, chances are they would have a higher degree of knowledge of some of the stuff growing out in the bogs then anyone from the outside.

The Ichorites to me sounds like an Alchemist only his knowledge is in Ethnobotany.Wikipedia is a good place to start learning about this kind of stuff.

Hmm..I 'm not sure. If your an Alchemist-even an entry level one, You would already have the skills for refining as that's part of the process of making chemicals and such. Is there any write-up's on alchemy in any of the BRP supplements? There's a good website on it that I found. Have you seen it? The Alchemy Web Site

Don't beat up on yourself. Thease are classic Science Fiction settings that have been around for years and milked by countless others. Hargrave, was a master of taking ideas ( some unflinchingly plagiarized) and putting his own spin on it. Basically, he drew inspiration from Forters' Midworld and transplanted the concept into his own realm and titled the place Green Hell after the nickname US Solgers called the jungles of the pacific back in WW II. Another souce of cool ideas might be Dagobah from the Star Wars universe. It too is a big swampy landscape not unlike The Green.