MrJealousy

Ok, I admit thats quite disappointing, all that research, didn't I read what i wrote, what a cock up! I'm thinking now that the first add on will be "Aces High: American Civil War 1861-1870"! I can do that! That'd be cool :cool: Anyway, 9 years is the length of a proper Civil War. If you're gonna burn, you're gonna burn.>:->

Oops! That's two ;-(

Ah coulda. But ah reckoned yuh could work it out fer yuhself. And its a big subject, just ripe for a book in itself. What do you suggest I call it? I think 'Aces High: Red Skins' is off the table now...

Yes. I honestly didn't consider the fact that Red Skins would be offensive, or as offensive as it seems to be. I guess, at least partly, because that was a term that came up very early on in the development of Aces High. I had just gotten used to it and had stopped considering the implications. Familiarity breeds contempt? Maybe. But in future I will certainly be choosing my expressions with a little more fore thought... The last thing I wanted to do was actually insult a group of people that have already been heavily abused, and a group of people that I actually admire at that.

This is interesting. One of the ideas that was rejected for Aces High was describing race based on skin colour. So that in Race: on the character sheet you would write either white, yellow, black or red.

Thanks for the kind words guys. Its probably a bit early to talk about expansions... but I do have some ideas.

I am definately 'jazzed'. I just hope everyone that buys Aces High likes it.

Ah, I see. I was unclear of the distinction. I'm kinda new at this :-)

For Aces High I spent a lot of time on making it look good after the text was sorted, and I had the advantage of a mate acting as an editor. He would criticise my spelling, sentence structure, formatting and layout. Even some of the content itself. Added to that, I also illustrated it. I'm a bit of a control freak and I don't think I would have liked anyone, even Chaosium, tampering with my baby! It must have paid off because its printed and pdf'd in under 3 weeks! and its not a small document.

I'm actually very interested to see this one.

I'm beginning to develop a lot of respect for you Jason. If you carry on making such incisive comments from such a small amount of blurb I may just let you answer everthing The standard set of occupations are what I would encourage most people to look at first. Start the game with them, explore the setting, find out stuff, maybe go a little mad. Then if you want to experiment with the shadows, this other bunch of occupations are available that make other things possible, allow you to explore different situations. But, initially the optional occupations are probably going to be NPCs. In theory I would say that if it has intelligence it has the potential to be a pc. But obviously Big Head Bat People aren't really going to be much use in your regular party :-) I suppose a party of Big Head Bat People is possible. I have played an RQ campaign once where all of the players were Broo, which was incredibly anarchic and a lot of fun. Just not something with any longevity in it...

Got to admit I'm probably quite heavily influenced by hollywood. Yeah, didn't think either of those options had the right stuff though, a bit too generic. Ah, a compliment. Thank you!

Nope. Not related in anyway.

I'm going to break out that bottle of Jack I've been holding on to and celebrate:D You're all welcome to have a drink on me!

Holy crap! He speaks the truth! - Chaosium Inc. Thanks for the warning Dustin!

No, you're quite right. Bullet pointing rascist headers wouldn't make me happy. I refer to Red Skins as a collective term, and a chapter header. But American Indian, Indian, Amerindian even Native are all incorrect terms. Everyone that lives there comes from somewhere else, so they are not natives, they're not Indians because Columbus thought he was in India.

Thank you! I suppose a short disclaimer would, maybe, have helped my case. However, I deliberately decided not to include one! All I can say on the matter is that this is my interpretation of a historical period and not my opinion of reality.

I think we have to face the fact that it was an incredibly racist period. I have tried to allow for that by saying this is what its like, but I don't force anyone to behave in a racist manner... oh... hang on... actually... Ah, no I don't force anyone to behave that way. But, because of the setting it has to be allowed for.

I refer to Black people as a race as Negroes. If they don't mind that then thats good, but there are other 'period' things in the book that will cause offence if Negro does. I realise I am in a no win situation here and I haven't even mentioned the religions yet!

Wow, lots of interest! Most of it positive, many thanks guys. I'll try to answer your questions in one big hit... On Jaguars The California jaguar subspecies didn't become extinct until c. 1905. Oops, didn't know that! Missed opportunity there. I have mountain Lion stats which I believe are generaly similar enough to use for jaguars. I suggest that cougar, puma and pather all use the same stats, so I guess Jaguars could fit in there as well. On Seriousness ...more serious take on Deadlands Never played Deadlands, but I'm definately coming from the serious side of things. Think... 'High Plains Drifter', or 'The Outlaw Josey Wales'. On History On the surface, its a straight historically (semi)accurate western... and I have provided a bit of information for those that don't know American history. I supplied an 1870s map because that seemed like the best period to capture the feel of what is going on, but the system isn't directly aimed at that period. If I had the time and the page count to use I would give you period maps of America from the Land Bridge to 1900, but that is a book in itself. 'did you mean the buffalo hunters?' Er, thanks for pointing that out Ortrail, if you don't mind, I'll just ignore that one:innocent:... On Shaolin Monks I grew up with Kung FU! Nuff said. On a Heroic Spaghetti Western and hero points No, but BRP does allow it. In Aces High you have just as much a chance of being killed as everyone else. You are just supposed to be better than most other people, and there are a couple of things in there that can change the odds in your favour, slightly. I don't really believe in holding the players hands through a tough scenario. That said, the lethality of Aces High is controlled by the GM. On RedSkins As far as playing RedSkins, normally PCs will play half breeds (is that racist? probably) or dispossed RedSkins, those with no tribe. I don't want to reveal too many secrets here though... Ok, on to the contentious thing. '...controversy often equals free publicity' That is not my intention at all. RedSkins doesn't mean anything racist in my head and I will defend it, although I admit that it could cause offense to people that do not read the book. As far as Aces High goes the RedSkins exist alongside the Pale Faces, the Buffalo Soldiers and the Celestials. Personally, I have a great respect for the American Indians. During the writing of Aces High I learnt a lot more about them as a people than I expected and I have tried to do them the justice they surely deserve. Also, I totally agree with Byron, RedSkin does lend a 'period flavour'. Which is what this book is all about. RedSkins is used to describe all of the American Indian Tribes, when it comes to getting personal I use the Tribal name, Sioux, Apache etc. In Aces high nobody is treated with kid gloves. The people that should most be complaining about this book are going to be the white people. Will the RedSkins be the main protagonist? Honestly, I don't know. The introductory scenario doesn't treat them like that. But there is plenty of potential for it. I think it depends on the players attitudes, the GM, the game you are playing, and the time period. In play testing I ran a different scenario than the one in the book for 5 different groups. 3 groups befriended the local RedSkins, 1 group totally ignored them, and the last group got into a running firefight with them. I didn't plan any of that. The main protagonist was white, and a pillar of the community. I hope that answers most of your questions.

Thanks, thats very encouraging. I dont think a whole minute went by before you got your reply in!

It seemed strange to me that an American company would be interested in a Western game supplement written by an English bloke. But what can you say, Chaos is a wonderful thing! What follows is most of what went into the original proposition I sent to Dustin around september last year. I uploaded it to the Chaosium server near the end of Feburary. ACES HIGH - a mythical western BRP supplement. THE PLAYERS SECTION Introduction, setting the scene. Violence is an everyday occurrence on the frontier of Civilisation. Settlers make a grab for the fertile land, destroying whatever does not fit their ideal. Prospectors are raping the hills for precious metals; dumping their waste in the fresh, clear rivers. Trappers slaughter vast herds of buffalo for their valuable pelts, leaving a wake of rotting carcasses, a mountain of bone and skulls. The Law can barely cope, as lynch mobs leave cadavers hanging from the trees. The Red Skins fight for their very existence, being caught between death and degradation. The Old Powers cannot compete with the New Power from the East. The Wise have begun to abandon hope; the young still believe they have a chance to even the score. Ancient Mysteries are discovered as the White Man slowly conquers his New World. However, everything is not always as it seems. Chapter 1 Character Generation - the rules and optional rules that will be used from the standard BRP rule book. Including cross referenced page numbers to the BRP book, and a modified character sheet, to allow for those options. Chapter 2 Extraordinary Abilities – No magic, mutations or psychic powers for the player characters (as a general rule). However, there is an optional Table for random Extraordinary Abilities. Increased (or decreased) attributes, special skills, affinities and Psychosis, Phobias, Dependencies and other weirdness. Chapter 3 New Skills - quite a short chapter refining and clarifying the basic rule set. Quick Draw, or Fast Draw, becomes an ability that anyone can use at anytime. Additional rules for Two Pistol Style, shooting rifles with one hand, shotguns with solid or scatter shot, firearm modifications, and pistol whipping. Chapter 4 Occupations - specific occupations from both sides of the Law, for Slaves, Women and Chinese player characters. Be a Lawman, a Hired Killer or a Shaolin Monk! Chapter 5 Guns, Equipment and Supplies - a cross section of weapons for the wild west period with the year that they were most common to allow pre or post civil war gaming periods. Possible expansion may include pre and post Independence gaming periods with muskets and black powder weapons. Chapter 6 Religion, Piety and Allegiance - Includes brief descriptions of Evangelists, 7th day Adventists, Fundamentalists, Spiritualism, Voodoo, Mormon, Quaker, the Millerites and others. Chapter 7 A period map of America c.1870. The Harsh Law - covering hangings and lynch mobs, Outlaws and the chance of being Wanted. Can you survive being hanged? What does it take to be Wanted Dead or Alive? Attitudes of the West - how did people regard and treat Women, the Celestials, Red Skins, Mexicans and Negroes on a day to day basis. A brief history of the Americas, from the Land bridge to 1900 - One idea is to allow historical play from any period in the Americas from prehistoric natives to 1900. A list of Presidents - a brief description of what they did. THE MASTERS SECTION An Introduction from behind the veil, Secrets revealed. Chapter 8 Townscapes - What can you expect to find in a frontier town? A settler village? A boom town? Will include suggestions on how to quickly find out what is most likely to be available. A Map of Mystic Sites - where to find some of the odd critters that live there. Chapter 9 The Animal Kingdom - animal descriptions and statistics from Alligator to Wolverine. Approximately 30 types of animal, nothing particularly unexpected, all mundane. Mundane or Otherworld - Why do some spirits come from their ‘Otherworld’ to our ‘Mundane’ world, and how do they do it? More importantly, how can we send them back? The Not So Animal Kingdom - Animal Ogres to Zombies, with some Red Skin gods and a few lake monsters thrown in for good measure. Descriptions and statistics for Traditional Indian myths and other weirdness, including... BIG HEAD / BAT PEOPLE The Bat People are an old, mysterious and malevolent race. They inhabit the high branches of dark and forbidding forests. They are grotesque and very large bat winged heads. This demonic race of beings has been known to live in heavily wooded areas or high in isolated mountain ranges. They are accused of cannibalism and see other races and beings as things to exploit and torture. They are universally regarded as evil and malicious. Otherworldly creature powers and descriptions. Chapter 10 Arcane Lore in the West Optional Player occupations - includes Diabolist, Voodoo Priest, Witches, Warlocks, the Drifter and the Red Skins. The Diabolist sees all life as if it were a complex mathematical or symbolic cycle of enlightenment and ignorance. Diabolists are after the pursuit of Evil for its own sake, committing deliberate wickedness whenever the opportunity arises. The Voodoo priest of the coloured folk is a source of great fear and respect. The people in the Voodoo priests neighbourhood are required to support him; in return he aids them in whatever ways he can. He will not take kindly to lack of respect and can curse as well as cure. Whipping, torture and lynching have the power to create a Drifter but there are many other ways. Hate and pain have conspired to create this avenging angel. He has been put in the situation where he can see that he has lost everything. He understands his complete and utter destruction. The Red Skins are steeped in mystery; few outsiders are allowed to freely explore the insides of an Indian camp without being harassed. They call themselves ‘the human beings’ and seek guidance from the spirits. Chapter 11 Red Skin Tribes Red Skin rituals - All of the American Indian tribes are closely linked in some way to a mystical power. These rituals put them in touch with their Totem Animal, reveal knowledge or heal. Totem Animals for the Brave and Magic for the Shaman. Animism, Totemism and Fetishism - Three points of view for the origin of Red Skins magic. The American Indian Language Tree - many American Indian languages all stemmed from one original language. How easy is it for Apache to talk to Sioux? Optional rules to cover this fact. Chapter 12 A short scenario…

I would like to see a bit of history. Where did they come from and what motivates them.

BRP, in its present incarnation, only came out towards the end of last year. Considering the fact that Chaosium seem to be relying on Monographs to support it, that is not really a lot of time for people to write, produce and submit a quality document. For BRP, Its early days yet.

I always use Hit Locs and I think including the Hit Locations is kinda important. It adds a lot of colour to combat and makes the system stand out from all of those 'Hit Point blob' rpgs. As a GM I like having them readily available, because to have to create them when preparing a scenario or before a game can take up quite a large amount of time. I would rather do it and not use it than not do it ... As for weapon SR or Dex ranks, I don't think its so important. Just so long as any weapon charts (or new spot rules) you create are workable for both and you include Siz/Dex sr details in the NPC stats. I'm writing a monograph and most of the BRP specific stuff that really matters all occurs in character generation. So I included a rejigged 10 steps which tells the reader exactly what to include on the character sheet while including all of the location specific stuff that I want to use. I don't really think anyone can tell you exactly what to do. Just remember that BRP is flexible and that someone will want to do something that you haven't been able to account for anyway Oh, and good luck!