MrJealousy

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!

I suppose part of the uplifting process could be to imprint the humans with a positive image of the 'friendly' aliens.

Kind of like... 'Wow, I'm really impressed by my sudden development of super sonic speed. But I'm not so sure why tentacles fascinate me so much now!'

I guess I'm suggesting that any physical uplift in humans may well come hand in hand with a psychological change as well. If the aliens want the humans as supersoldiers it would make sense to put in a 'standard' mutation that allows the aliens to control the super humans.

Alter the mind and the body will follow?

I would expect Elric to cause SAN loss if he came to the 1920s, and because of that would expect him not to lose SAN himself. He becomes a monster (which he is!) and the fact that he could rival Cthulhu doesn't suprise me at all.

Don't know about the Fate points in BRP but Shadowrun has something similar and it worked well in that system.

Personally, I've always run this system with SIZ+CON/2 and hit point locations. Its probably the sadist in me, but combat with hit locations result in lots of decapitated people and that makes me chuckle.

Ships, sounds like another good case for a monograph?

Congratulations Nick. I'll be having a closer look after christmas...

Oh give it time.

This is definately something which needs to be expanded upon.

Use it. Seems like a lot of points (+20% in 13 skills) but I think of it as experience that your character got while they were a child, stuff that their parents taught them.

What about limiting the level of super powers based on the level of game Normal,Heroic,Epic,Super Human. These levels limit the amount of points you can spend on your character but you could also limit the types of powers that can be obtained too. A normal level game has the 'only just super' powers like... oh i dont know.. a few points of natural armour, 1d6 increased strength that kind of stuff, and the Super Human level includes all of the godlike stuff, time travel, indestructible, instant healing.

Anybody seen the movie Mystery Men? For a bunch of 'only just super' heroes this movie is great and full of possibilities...

The main problem that I see with superpowers is that to make the game really interesting there needs to be loads of different powers with lots of different levels of those powers.

I seem to remember that this thing was supposed to be an infant? I think mummy or daddy would be a bit of a handful :eek: ...

I recreated the RQIII character sheets into a pdf format (with only a change of fonts) for my own rq campaign.

You can download it from here...

http://mrjealousy.ulmb.com/E-Quest/RQ%20III%20CHARACTER%20SHEET.zip

Other than the font and colours, the layout and contents is exactly the same as the original.

Having only just discovered BRP this last weekend, I have to admit my submission was rough and solely based on my understanding of CoC and RQ. To my complete surprise when the BRP book turned up this week it completely fills the hole that the mongoose gnawed in me :innocent: I feel all warm and cuddly now...

Hi, I'm Stuart. I muck around with computers for a living and discovered roleplaying nearly 30 years ago now and RQ about 24 years ago. It all seems like such a long long time ago. And here I am still running RQIII and just getting into the new BRP!

I started this years ago, based around a RQIII character generator for browser. The project has really got rather large and unwieldy, and I doubt I'll ever complete the game. But it does include a character generator for some of the more acceptable races...

E-Quest