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Stormbringer and it's spin off/variants used to give a SIZ +?- for various types of armor. The idea being that something like mail, which is flexible, can fit more people than something that is rigid, such as plate. Per Magic World (I think the latest iteration) Soft Leather: +/-2 Leather & Rings, Mail, Half Plate: +/-1 Full Plate: -1 (only) Hard Leather, Leather & Wood: No RQ3 also had some rules for SIZ, but grouped in into increments of 5 SIZ, with larger armor being heavier.

Indeed. But back then most people didn't know any better, and tended to overestimate. It was also much harder to get good data, and most sources that were available tended to be based more upon Victorian theories and guesstimates. And this was all for a game and no one really expected it to be relevant in a few years time. Ancient and medieval coins tended to be much smaller and lighter, than 19th century coins. The quarter ounce gold piece is much more appropriate, and one of the things that D&D improved upon with the 50 coins to 1 pound ratio.

I guess we are. Ah,. I that case I think the reason why Magic World didn't take off it is pretty much the same reason as to why Stormbringer/Elerc! never reall took off. Magic World is mostly Stormbringer with the Elric stuff taken out. It's not a bad RPG, but it would be unlikely for it to be more popular suddenly, after floating around in a similar form for years. Especially when it never really got put under the spotlight. It's a pity, as Stormbinger/Elric!/Magic World was always a pretty good RPG, but one that was always on Chaosium's back burner.

Not really, if you look at itin context. First off it was one 16 page booklet in a set that was just barely enough to run a game with. I think anyone who really liked it probably already had RuneQuest or Stormbringer or would soon do so, and would take advantage of the features of those other games. Magic world had a somewhat suspect magic system, too. It worked, but didn't really work well compared to combat. A 4D6 fireball in BRP terms is devastating As with Superworld and Future World, I think Magic World was more along the lines of a proof of concept, showing what could be done with the BRP system, more than actually accomplishing it.

But unless you have some idea of the real weight of coins you'll end up with ridiculous results. Look at old D&D and AD&D with it's 1.6 ounce coins and 25 pound greatswords. "Eye balling it" only really holds up if people know enough about the subject to make a decent estimate. I think that's because in general we need help when administer the effects of abstract concepts in game terms. For example, being able to talk your way out of a speeding ticket or convincing the doorman that you should be let into the nightclub. With things that we have real data for, we don't have to deal with abstracts and so it becomes much easier to administer in game. For instance, can a sportscar hold 50 gallons in it fuel tank, or can 6 people fit into an elevator. That makes it much easier for people to handle "off the cuff" without the need for game rules.

Yeah, but it also dropped some attributes for NPCs.

Me too. There are lots of different ways to do things in an RPG. That's one of the reason why there can be so many different RPGs.

Yeah,, but if you are replacing that with a D20 roll then you could just go with D20+modifiers for both sides and use an opposed roll. That might be a nice option to have. I was thinking of doing something along those lines for a game where only the players roll and the NPCs just get 10+their modifiers. Yeah, BRP wasn't really designed for opposed rolls. That's why I'd avoid them if possible. Just that there are several ways to apply it. I though you were just using for initiative, not for the success chance. If so I suggest just putting skill on a 1-20 scale instead of percentiles, and maybe coverting the whole game to work that way. You get a good deal of flexibility that way. Okay. It works.

Ah, in that case the idea of shifting the die type might work out better for you. For instance, let';s say DEX 10 is 1d6 (10/2, =5 round to the d6) and you shift it up a die for skill above 50% to 1d8. That would be easier to do beforehand and die dshift on the fly are fairly easy. But then, I'm just brainstorming. Okay, still a bit confused, as there have been multiple ways to handle opposed rolls. . For iFor instance is is DEX 10 vs. DEX 15 on the resistance table (so 25/75%) with 1/10th the skill thrown in i.e so 90% vs 20% would be (10+9) =19 vs (15+2) =17 on the resistance table ), or 25vs 75 with a 7% shift for the difference in skill, or is it something like an opposed 50%+10th skill vs 75%+1/10% skill roll. Ah, okay. Basically the AC formula. Although I'd be tempted to let both sides roll and let the higher roll win. I'd even drop initiative and go with that for melee combat too. It really simplifies a lot of stuff.

That kinda depends on how important you want each factor to be. DEX+d10 makes DEX about twice as important as the random factor, since the average DEX is twice what the average roll in a 1D10. DEX+Skill./10+1d10 puts skill somewhere in the middle, as while it is lower than DEX will be, it is still a constant. But there are a gazllion (technical term) ways to handle it. You might be a bit concerned with ultra high skills though Bladesharp/Sharpen 6 would mean +3 to Initiative, and true sword would double the skill component. But that might not bother you. I could see using the DEX as a way to determine the random die (i.e. DEX/2, nearest for a high roll wins) and then shifting the die up or down depending on skill. But in the end it's not that much different. I'm curious. IS that straight +/10th increase to the % change or a 1/10% increase to the stat for the resistance table?

How adjacent do you want to go? Perhaps the simplest stat block belongs to West End's Star Wars RPG, which grew out of the Ghostbuster's RPG that Chaosium created for them. It introduced the idea of a 2D/4D statblock (2D attributes/4D skill) being the typical NPC. I've adapted that to BRP with 10/12hp/40% statblocks for typical NPCs without a problem. You don't really need much to track average.

Yeah, intiative is mostyl a game convention. In real life it's more like everybody is trying to do something at the same time and some people's stuff work and other people stuff doesn't. I think Pendragon might have one of the more realstic methods with everything combined into one opposed roll, with the winner inflicting damage upon the looser. Yeah, I know what you mean. DEX/reaction speed in important,but it also improvses with experience. Yeah, I could see the die being determined by the weapon type and speed (again the damage dice are a good starting point) and perhaps dropping down a die size when skill hit certain thresholds. So maybe a Sword would be DEX+1d8+1 to start but drop to DEX+1d6+1 when skill hit 50% or so then the to DEX+1d4+1 at 75% and so forth. But that would be a bit complicated, and I'd rather go with an opposed roll first as it would be simpler and sidestep most of this fairly elegantly.

That kinda depends on the length of a combat round. For 12 seconds it's probably a tad slow, but not horribly so.

Thanks DreadDomain, It's an interesting idea to tweak the SR system that way, especially when handling modern firearms, many of which can empty their magazine in under 12 seconds. Ringwolrd used to add the full Action Rank (but it was just a DEX SR but with a wider scale) and allow for rollover. For instance a character with a DEX of 13 would have an Action Rank of 4, and could draw a weapon on 4 impulse, aim in for action 4 impulses (impulse 8 ) and shoot the weapon on impulse 9 (a minor action taking only 1 impulse), then aim again to impulse 13, and shoot again on impulse 14. I suspect some variation on that idea would probably work out really well.

How were you implementing the SR mechanic? I could see several variations: 1. You just used the normal attack SR of the weapon provided it added up to 12 STR or less. 2. As above but you let attacks roll over into the next round. 3. You used the normal SR for the first attack, and then added the DEX SR for the next attack.

Uh, not so much, at least with melee weapons The thing is "an attack" in melee constitutes more than just a stab or swing, but instead a combination of moves that ultimately lead to a stab or swing that can potentially damage the opponent. And the time for that would be variable. Now I could see someone letting SR roll over into the next melee round, like with RQ3 magic or as in the Ringworld RPG, and maybe rolling a die to see how many SR an attack takes (base weapon damage is a good start), modified by skill, or some such. But that would be a radical shift from what we have now, and I'm not sure how it would play out. It would be a a very interesting playtest though.

And probably makes sense when you have a 12 second combat round.

The RQ3 approach was to double one of the spells parameters (range, duration, intensity, etc.) by adding +1 MP to the cost and requiring the casting roll also be under that skill. So if you wanted a bladesharp spell to be +4 instead of +1 it would cost you 3 more MP (much like standard RQ) but you didn't need to know Bladesharp 4, you just had to know how to amplify the spell and make the roll. Making the spell last longer worked in a similar fashion. Most paramaters were on a doubling scale. So making spell last twice as long would cost 1 MP (and reguire a duration/extension roll) , making it last four times as long would cost 2 MP, and so on. I mentioned it becuase it at sounds similar to what you are trying to do. BRP Magic, much like everything else "BRP" is cut & pasted from previous Chasoium RPGs, much of which was never intended to be used together. The staff and familiar thing came from the original Magic World from Worlds of Wonder, and was needed as a way to give spell casters enough POW/magic points to cast a few spells. But MW was an attempt to make a high fantasy style FRPG using the RQ/orginal BRP and a 16 page booklet. It kinda worked mechanically, but didn't really hold up well for long term play. Now it really sounds like RQ3 sorcery/lunar magic. Generally speaking sorcerors in RQ3 started off the weakest but had the most potential, as their magic was more flexible and adjustable. With experience and a lot of stored Magic Points they could do things the other magicians could only dream of. It just took a lot of time, experience and power strage to get there. Looking forward to it. It will make it a lot easier to discuss too, as I'll be working from the same page.

But you are aware of Battle/Spirit Magic, RQ Sorcery and Lunar Magic (a hybrid between spirirt magic and sorcery), right? Lunar Magic might be close to what you are trying for. What it did was make it possible for a caster to adjust and enhance the normal spirit magic spells. For instance using magical skills to turn a Bladesharp (Sharpen) spell into a Bladesharp 6 and/or make it last twice as long and so on.

Don't thank me, you were the one doing it. That is the basic RQ1-3/BRP method. I think they may have plated around with things a bit in "spin off" games. BTW, Are you familiar with old RuneQuest? It might cover some of the same ground. Both the old sorcery system and Lunar magic could be close to what you are going-albeit without your limits.

The traditional rule was that the creature took damage from the bladesharp/sharpen. For instanced a Sword with Bladesharp 2 would do 2 points of damage to a creature immune to normal weapons, such as a werewolf. Most such creatures tend to have a weakness (silver or rune metals for werewolves) though where they take full damage. A mage who can turninto fire might be vulnerable to water or some such. On the plus side, immune to normal damage is pretty rare outside of Call of Cthulhu.

Yeah or if someone has to swich weapons. Oh, I got that one covered, use the core for Agility (DEX x5%). Or a Strike Rank system, or a cost per action system. Me too, across the board. It handles a lot of thing very elegantly.

Me too. Of course this approach would work with DEX ranks too, if actions had some sort of DEX rank delay. Like say, it took 5 DEX ranks to relaod, and a character could move X meters per DEX rank. Not a bad idea., although it could get complicated as you'd need to track multiple skills.

Okay, I'll walk away. I thing Pendragon would be better off without you. Also RuneQuest and HeroQuest/Questworld. But hey, if that's the game that people want, then so be it. And I have no doubt that by the time the KAP6 is published and the bugs in the quickstart worked out, it will be as clear and concise as RQG. And you were never able to play with those women all these years? It's all about being WOKE. You got it. And don't complain when people walk away from Pendragon when you change it from what Greg had intended. Greg could have made the game gender neutral in 1985. He didn't then, and he never did later on. Instead you guys pull this two year after his death so he can't speak out against it.

But Morien one of the reasons for the big push to make female knights commonplace was that some people would be too uncomfortable playing characters who were of a different gender than themselves. So thins change would ensure that everybody was playing a character different from themselves roughly half the time, so you're still in the same boat. If this was something that was going to be implemented across the board, then there would need to be some sort of escape clause so that players don't get stuck playing a character of a gender they aren't happy with, to please those players who this would upset. Now to that end I can propose two possibilities: 1. The parent selects their heir: Primogeniture is actually anachronistic, and didn't come about until the latter middle ages. So for our purposes the player can select if they want to pass the land down to their son or their daughter. 2. "Girls": The world girl originally applied to all children. What if intend of roll for the gender of a child during childbirth, the player just selected the gender when they rolled up the character? Then all you just need to do is track how many girls.children a knight has and not worry about gender. One problem I have with your economic model here is that of what happens to all those males? I don't see them sitting around the manor spinning cloth waiting to be married off, like their sisters would have been. There almost certainly needs to be some sort of career path for them, and as part of the nobility their options are limited. I'd suspect that the stigma associated with free companies would be dropped, as probably everyone would have a relative serving in one, and that would be the change that wouldn't harm the status quo. Another, is that, since the women will be disadvantaged physically, why would liege lord be all hat keen in having them as knights? We've all seen what it like in combat with a character who does 3d6 damage. That is exactly where the typical female knight is going to come from. Now, maybe we could assume that all that training as a squire would build up muscle mass that ladies wouldn't have and bump STR and SIZ, that certainly makes some sense, but then male squires would get that training too, and that would just shift the same problem over a couple of points. I think the best solution here would be to just go with 60 point characters and assume that most female characters spend a few more points of APP than STR or SIZ.