soltakss

Spirits are dangerous in my Spirit Combat rules. Well, powerful spirits are dangerous, weak spirits are only dangerous if the PCs don't know how to deal with them, a PC with a higher Spirit Combat skill will eventually probably win against a Spirit of similar POW. As for Spirit Combat and Physical Combat combined, yes it is difficult. If you play that you have 2 Combat Actions per round, then you have to decide what to use them for. Do you fight in Spirit Combat or parry the broo who is attacking you? The same thing applies to normal combat - I am fighting 3 opponents, one of which is a spirit, which one do I attack/parry/dodge/? The best bet, unless fighting a major spirit, is to ignore the spirit and fight the others, hoping that the spirit takes a long time to eat away Magic Points and that you can disable the other foes quickly enough to fight the spirit. I didn't spot this the first time around. Unfortunately, this assumes that Cacodemon is easy to beat in the first place. Let's assume an average incarnation of Cacodemon. It has 222 POW, which means that any spirit of less than 212 POW has a 5% chance of beating it in Spirit Combat in any round, even if they succeed they do 1D3 MPs damage, average 2, so it would take 111 rounds of making those 5%s, or approximately 2220 rounds to defeat him in Spirit Combat. Assume that we throw 10 spirits at it, each with, say, 60 POW (The equivalent of a reasonably powerful shaman in Troll Pack), that would still take 222 rounds to win. (OK, it might take less, but I am assuming that Cacodemon resists with its POW not MPs as it is a deity). For those 222 rounds, it would have 6 physical attacks to throw at foes, each of which would take out a normal person in one blow. Then, don't forget its 8D6 Fiends (average 28). These might not be a problem against powerful foes, but they can slow down Rune Lords if attacking in large numbers. Also, Cacodemon can use "all its attacks in any round" - including Spirit Combat, so it doesn't lose any of its attacks if in Spirit Combat, it simply has more attacks. So, unfortunately, Cacodemon is not a particularly good example to use. If it decided to attack in Spirit Combat, it would take 2 MPs off spirits each round until it reduces the spirit to 0 MP, then it attacks the next one. The POW 60 spirits are reduced to 0 in 30 rounds, so Cacodemon takes 8 spirits out before it is beaten, except that it doesn't because by taking out the other spirits, it takes longer to grind it down and it can take out the other 2 spirits. So, Cacodemon can probably withstand an attack by 10 POW 60 spirits and I laugh at your "couple of bound spirits" Maybe, but that is good, isn't it? Throw spirits at someone and they run away. No, because spirits can be defeated in spirit combat by a more powerful foe. Spirit Block is a spell that every cult gets and very few people sacrifice for. Then they meet a spirit, see what they can do and go down the temple to pick up some Spirit Block and Spirit Shield spells. In my system, Spirit Block and Spirit Shield have been down powered. In RQ2/3 they make Spirit Combat essentially redundant and I've never liked how that works. If you haven't looked at my rules, please do so, They are at http://www.soltakss.com/spirit4.html and, while I don't say they are perfect, they work well for me. In our current game, I have down-powered them slightly and made Spirit Combat damage 1D3 + 1 per 10 POW of the Spirit, so a spirit with 35 POW does 1D3+4 or 2D3+8 when attacking all-out. Spirit Shield/Block simply increases the defending POW, thus increasing the damage blocked. Good luck in your search for a new way of handling Spirit Combat. Don't even think of taking out Cacodemon with a couple of bound spirits!

I did run a game with an unarmed vampire and when the PCs predictably went at him with weapons, he simply moved to one side, effortlessly took the weapons off them and carried on talking to them. They soon decided to rethink their strategy and looked for other ways to defeat it. If you go into the game with the idea of having to "defeat" the creature then that puts you in a particular mindset. However, if you go in with the idea of a mystery to be solved then solving it might be done in several ways (getting out of there, rescuing somebody, spoiling a fiendish plot, summoning something, banishing something, dying horribly).

I play roleplaying games to have fun. That's it. However, when I am playing, I can have fun in different ways. Playing within the setting is good, if the setting and game is good. That can be fun. Stretching the setting to do other things can be great fun and can spark off different adventures and different playing styles. Runnin roughshod over a setting can also be great fun, if both the players and GM allow it and are happy with the idea. Sticking rigidly to a certain gaming style within a setting isn't that much fun for me, so we don't generally do it. An old group of mine played a Call of Cthulhu campaign which involved Depth-Charging some Deep Ones in San Fransisco Bay and a whole lot of other shenanigans. Most of them went mad eventually but they enjoyed the game because they weren't sticking to the standard way of playing. The important thing is to enjoy the game you are playing.

I'll probably use Status with specialisations of Reputation and Wealth (Credit rating seems a very modern concept).

I need a mechanic that measures the Fame of a PC in BRP but I couldn't find anything in the BRP Rulebook. Is there a mechanic that shows how famous a PC is in a certain area? If not, then I'll probably be introducing a Famous skill or something similar. Any ideas?

Why not write it and then send it in? That's what I did with Merrie England.

HeroQuest does something similar with Keywords, and there is no reason to believe that such an approach wouldn't work with BRP.

Broos are full of disease. They wipe their weapons with their droppings and smear themselves with filth. This means that anyone exposed to a broo will encounter all the diseases carried by that broo. I'd make a CON roll when coming into melee with the broos and again if you are injured by a broo. Broos aren't very nice. Spirit Combat in RQ3 can be quite dangerous - the best tactic is to run away and hope the spirit is bound to a particular location and doesn't come running after you. Spirits set loose by shamans are particularly dangerous. We don't use the RQ3 Spirit Combat rules, instead we have a Spirit Combat skill which does 1D3 damage (2D3 on a special, 1D3+3 on a critical) plus 1 for every 10 point of POW, or part thereof, so a POW 11 spirit would do 1D3+2 damage and a POW 45 spirit would do 1D3+5 damage, but defending in Spirit Combat blocks a similar amount of damage. It seems to work reasonably well. Spirit Shield/Spirit Screen/Spirit Block are useful against spirits - we play that you can cast it whilst in spirit combat, otherwise it's useless. Not all ghosts cause the possessed body to kill itself. Many want to come back and enjoy life again, so will happily wander off until they are killed or exorcised. Passion Spirits will covertly possess the body and cause problems.

How much does an elephant weigh? SIZ is a relative characteristic and is variable. You can't point at something and say "that weighs 10.5 tons" and write it down. That might help you if you want an average score, but the SIZ ranges are more important. Is there a large variation in size? Are different sexes the same size? Are there massive bulls/cows that outweigh normal creatures? So, your corondon would weigh 10 tons (either 10, 160 kg, 10,000 kg or 9.070 kg depending on which ton(ne) you use) and SIZ 68. if that is an average, you could have 4D6+54, 6D6+47, 8D6+40 or whatever. That's why comparison with something else out there is a better bet than picking a figure out of the air. Now, once you have rolled the SIZ of a creature, then you can use the SIZ Table to work out how heavy it is (in kilos to make things easier).

If it's roughly humanoid (including Godzilla and T-Rex style dinosaurs) then use the Giant stats of 3D6+6 SIZ per 2m as a rough guideline. If you think they should be a bit chunkier then turn some of the D6s to 6s, if they should be weedier then change some of the 6s to D6s. For non-humanoid creatures, find a creature that is roughly similar and use this as a basis. Once you have statted a few of these then you will be able to use those as reference points. Unfortunately there's nothing scientific about generating stats and any attempts I've seen that tries to use equations always needs tweaking.

Think of it as who is doing what to who. If I am pushing you off a cliff then I am Active and you are Passive. If I am drinking alcohol then what is happeneing is that the alcohol is trying to get me drunk, so Alcohol is Active and I am Passive. In the arm-wrestling match, it would take turns. One presses down (active) and one resists (passive) then vice versa until one fails and the other succeeds. Unfortunately, you have to make judgement calls with the Resistance Table, which is why some people don't like it.

I like each skill to actually represent a different thing. So, I have one skill Crossbow for shooting all kinds of crossbows, even arbalests, and probably Spearguns, but I have Swim and Climb as different skills because they are clearly different things. Spot and Search could be combined, but I wouldn't have a single Perception skill that covers Listening and Seeing as they are clearly different things (to me). Lores and Know skills are tricky as they can be slightly and subtly different, so it depends on how I feel at the time. I can't see much point in separating Know (Wastes) from Wastes Lore, for example, even though they do mean different things. With weapons, I'd have 1H Sword Attack/Parry with a difficulty rating for an off-hand sword, but I might even relent and just have 1H Sword with the off-hand penalty. I'd certainly allow someone with 1H Sword to use a broadsword, bastard sword and shortsword, although probably not all together. I'm not keen on Advanced and Basic skills, as they are very cultrually biased and complicate things. I'd just have one lot of skills. So, looking at it, I am the opposite of Mugen in this I'd definitely split Science into different skills, but wouldn't be too picky. So, Science (Physics) and Science (Astrophysics) might be different skills, but I wouldn't go as far as, say, splitting out Science (Astronomy) and Science (Astrophysics). I'd definitely have Science (Astronomy) and Science (Astrology) as separate skills (in fact Merrie England uses them).

How do you do it? I can barely get away for a week.

I was discussing this exact issue with a Judo Black Belt at Continuum. He pointed out that the BRP/RQ Grapple Rules wer very weak compared with his experience of the sport. However, he also said that the only way out of some legal Judo moves was an illegal judo move (finger in the eye, thumb up the backside, grabbing or pressing on the gonads, pressing on the throat, biting). He related an instance where he had grabbed and immobilised someone, in his opinion, when that person stood up, picking this 20 stone (280 pound) person with one locked arm and slowly marched him out of the arena. So, although some moves seem very good, superior SIZ/STR will always have an impact. It doesn't matter how well you've grabbed someone, if they stick a thumb into your backside and move it around, you will probably let go. Unfortunately, neither BRP nor RQ has a rule or Combat Manouver for this.

Thanks!

I need to put the Witch profession into Merrie England but BRP doesn't have one. At the moment, I don't have BRP Witchcraft (although it is on my list of things to buy, when funds become available) and none of the other BRP supplements I have seem to have a Witch profession. Does anyone have a simple Witch profession that they could share? The one from BRP Witchcraft would be ideal ... Thanks

As someone who has played in an GMed a number of high level camapigns, I'd say that splitting attacks is definitely a good and valid tactic. I'm talking RQ here, and RQ2/3 in particular, so things might be different in BRP. But, having a very high skill means that you can take out a number of lower skilled opponents quickly, rather than dragging combat out. Normally, people say that superior numbers wear you down, but splitting attacks helps take out that numerical advantage. Berserker is also an excellent tactic when you have stocked up on defensive magic or have good healing spirits/enchantments. Take it from me, playing a berserk centaur and taking out 6 opponents in a single round in melee combat is an experience to treasure forever.

The problem with Crossbows is that it takes a number of rounds to reload them. I've got no problems with putting two arrows in a draw and shotting both at once, splitting the skill between them. The Samurai are said to have done this as a matter of course.

RQ2 had the idea of Anti-Parry, where your parrying skill was reduced if the attacking skill was over 100%. That reduced combat times immensely. RQ3 did away with this and combat times lengthened dramatically. We brought in the idea of attacking the same foe multiple times on a weapon split and it serves to re-emphasise the importance of having a superior skill. BRP is similar to RQ3 in many ways and I'd allow splitting against the same opponent in BRP. I think that JarethSynn's house rule for splitting of weapon attacks should work fine. Dodging might become an uber-skill because you can dodge all the attacks from a single opponent in a round, so coming at you with the Longsword/Longsword/Longsword attack could be countered with Dodge. Don't forget, if you allow multiple weapon attacks on the same foe (no reason why you shouldn't) and have a high skill then you can split both weapons against the same person. So, attacking with two Longswords at 150% could allow you to attack at 50/50/50, 50/50/50 giving you six attacks, if you have the DEX. Using Strike Ranks limits this to a certain extent as you have to have enough SRs to make the attacks. Using DEX Ranks doesn't stop this in the same way (I don't use DEX Ranks - do you have DEX for each subsequent action, so DEX 16 gets an attack on 16,8,4,2,1?)

Well, since I wrote half of BirchBark Chronicles 1, I might be able to do a conversion of some of the material for Merrie England. I'd have to check with Mark first, and then schedule it in. In any case, you can pretty much use most of the skills and spells as they are written - just decide on an effect for the spells and you're home and dry.

It's only really the Basic Magic, Basic Creatures and Basic Gamesmastering (?) lines that are reprints of the old RQ3 material. The rest of the BRP line is new and seems quite good.

Why not get the PDF and then use something like PDFTK to strip out the offending pages? You can make your own PDF very easily.

I doubt it. Personally, I've got a lot on at the moment and haven't got a lot of free time. Towards the end of July I should have more time ...

There are a host of Cornish/Welsh/Breton saints of the ers, as well as another host of Irish/Scottish ones. I'd put a paragraph on each personalty, with perhaps major ones taking half a page/one page and some with characteristics. We should probably split personalities into Historical and Arthurian, so that those people who want a purely historical supplement can ignore the Arthurian ones.

The climate was warmer than it is today - look at the Medieval Warm Period for more information. Thule might not be as warm and hospitable as, say, Europe, but you could grow crops around the coast, for some of the year at least. Livestock would survive there, too, especially hardy northern types. Sure, it wouldn't support the whole community, but there again neither would hunting.