Greville

Thanks that's perfect

Hello,

I'm prepping for a Mythic Iceland campaign and would like to know what font is used for the special characters. Google is not being my friend. Names are important to me and I don't want to use transliteration and type out the english equivalents.

Thanks,

Grev

I'm currently playing in a Nephilim campaign set in Victorian London, using the Chaosium version of the rules. I'm not running anything right now, but am preparing a Mythic Iceland campaign using Mythic Iceland and the BGB.

I'm playing in a Nephilim campaign set in Victorian London and we are having a lot of fun. I bought all the books before they went out of print and I have to say that the feel of the game once you have the Gamemasters Companion and The Chronicle of Awakenings is very different to just having the main book. The main book felt like an unfinished game, you could made characters and it gave a bit of background, but no real idea of what kind of game it was. If you decide to play it, make sure you get all the pdfs.

We are using the Arcana in the game. They're not organised groups as such, more just a loose group of Nephilim who have the same ideas about the right way to reach Agartha. So we thought of it like twenty two different approaches (there is also a lot of overlap between some of the Arcana) rather than distinct gangs as such. Also there are not a lot of Nephilim around, you may only meet a few in the course of your game.

Count me in

A duel with highly skilled people could take a long time, and like a long boxing match wearing the other person down and waiting for an opening was a crucial strategy. This fight scene from The Four musketeers is a case in point (it's reportedly a recreation and mashup of several famous duels) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE3TbBwSVe8 .

If the player characters were outnumbered, or ambushed then it's a completely different matter. The 30% reduction in skill for successive parries or dodges tends to make the fight pretty scary for even the most skilled pcs.

I don't see this as a problem in the rules, the rules are the physics of the game world and in this case mirror the real world pretty well. All situations design should be rules independent, and lies with the GM.

Hi,

I'm looking at putting together a character sheet for a game of Mythic Iceland because I would like to have all the combat information including fatigue all on the second sheet. It's got me thinking of character sheets in general and I thought I'd ask a few questions:

Do you prefer multi-page character sheets?

What information is crucial for the front sheet?

Should all the combat information be together?

Any pitfalls to avoid in the placement of commonly changing info? If I'm erasing and rewriting this part of the sheet, does it smudge other parts of it? Or do I print new sheets because this one corner is unusable do to constant erasing?

Do you use a separate form to guide players through character generation?

I may end up using the default sheets in the end, but am enjoying thinking about something I normally take for granted.

Cheers,

Greville

I would use the grapple rules on p60-p61 of the BGB for immobilising a limb, or strangulation if it is crushing the torso or neck. Defenders can try and parry with a grapple of their own, dodge or use at STR vs STR roll to break free. Attacking the creature can be made at normal chance if using small weapons or by brawling and grappling. Using any medium or large weapons would be problematic due to the closeness of the combat, and should incur a hefty penalty.

I would also add a significant risk of self injury, if a snake is wrapped around your leg and you chop it in half what happens to your leg. I guess you could have any excess damage blow through to the PC's limb just like with shields. Any armour worn in the hit location would still offer protection.

I used to play Paranoia. I don't remember the system being problematic, but I might not have the patience for it anymore, so I'd be interested in seeing your port.

The baggage was more to do with the setting and their impressions of the game. Most had never played it themselves.

Here is a link to the Paranoia stuff: http://grevsspace.wordpress.com/category/roleplaying/paranoia/

The oldest posts are at the bottom.

I started converting Paranoia 2nd Edition to BRP. I had got most of the character creation done, but stopped at equipment due to lack of player interest. Paranoia just had way too much baggage for the people I game with. I might put the posts together in a singe document and upload it here.

In terms of D20/DnD conversions Sladsthesnipers comment is the prevailing attitude "This singular reduction from a pool of hundreds of hit points to usually less than 20 hit points remakes D20 characters from powerhouses into merely competent." However in play with highly skilled characters I didn't find this to be the case. In original DnD hit points were supposed to be a mixture of combat prowess, luck, experience and parry; all mixed up to signify that heroes survive more punishment and can have longer combats than lowbies. In BRP I found that a high parry skill had the same effect as high hit points, and good quality armour was the equivalent of good ac. Of course if you add DnD levels of magic items then it all breaks.

Like others here I find BRP runs games with normal human level characters very well. However it can run higher level stuff well, it just doesn't look like it does. This is because in BRP the character is shinier than the gear they carry. I think that's because we are conditioned to think high fantasy = DnD and in DnD past 9th level you are only as powerful as your gear. One of the things I like about Mythic Iceland is that the power level scales from normal person to Odin's-favourite-mortal.

The comment about BRP being easy to understand and quick to run is also true. A lot of the time people compare gaming systems by what they can do without mentioning how easy it is to use. I ran a Call of Cthulhu game a few years back after a long break and running it was a joy. Everyone understands percentages and the skills do what their names suggest without fiddly exceptions and caveats. None of the players had played it before, but picked it up very easily. Questions to the DM were about the adventure and situation, not the rules. This is BRPs biggest strength: They system doesn't get in the way of the game, you don't get those jarring breaks while looking up obscure rules.

That's just my take on it though. I recently lost a character because he tried to punch out a dragon (partly through stupidity, partly through trying to buy his friends time to close a portal) and the GM felt bad because he was a much-loved character that brought a lot of fun (and 'pragmatic violence') to the table. But my point was that if he'd fudged it then I would have felt like I was playing the character on borrowed time and it would have spiked the enjoyment I got from him.

Another good reason not to fudge the dice rolls. I agree 100%. The way I run Fate Points would not have saved your character, but would have guaranteed that he bought the time for the rest of the party to close that portal. And bought that time in a way that you chose.

Then again, when I used to run D&D I stripped out all the resurrection magic because I got bored of seeing death get neutered like that so I may be a bit odd here.

Agree here as well, I always felt resurrection was too easy as played in most DnD games.

I like fate points, and use them. But not as they're written in the BGB. I started using them after seeing them in action in a friend's game. Then again I go for a more cinematic style of play these days.

Here's how I use them:

Each player starts with a pool of 3 fate points that is renewed at the start of each game session.

• 1 point can be spent to re-roll any dice roll made by the player. Points cannot be used to force any of the other players to re-roll.
  
• 1 point can be spent to change a fumble to a normal failure or a critical success against the player’s character to a normal success. They cannot be used to make a normal success into a special or critical success.
  
• 1 Point can be spent to stabilise an unconscious or dying character as if first aid had been performed on them.
  
• Any fate points that are unspent at the end of a session do not roll over to the next session and extra fate points cannot be purchased with experience.
  

Originally it was thought they should be tied to the skill or experience system, or that you could earn more points through your actions. What happened is people started hoarding fate points. So we went to a fixed number.

Fate points are a controversial topic; many feel game reality should only be altered by the Gamemaster, their solution is that the GM ‘fudges’ the situation. In my experience this is a path to ruin, the worst situation is when a GM with a penchant for fudging decided to let the dice fall where they may, then players feel like the GM let your PC die for a reason.

I use Fate Points in all my games now, rather than being just an extra life, they put a little control of the story in the players hands. Fate Points also can act as a cue; people only use them for stuff that’s important to them or their PC, as a GM that’s always handy information.

Just checking to see if I'm on the right track.

Yes you are

Although I'd change "anywhere I choose?" to "anywhere I'd choose out of the skills that the GM will let me have". In a universal system not all the skills fit every setting.

I went back to the Chaosium website after posting my comment about errata and found some. There's a one page document called BRP Corrections that was added to the downloads section last Saturday.

http://catalog.chaosium.com/fdm_folder_files.php?fPath=3_9

It doesn't mention Skill Point by Age, but it's a start and nice that some at Chaosium is looking at it. Only niggle is that you have to log in to download it even though it's a free download.

p. 19, Step 3 Age reads “For every full 10 years you add to the default rolled starting age of your character, you can allot another 20, 30, or 40 professional skill points (based on the level of campaign, as described in Step Six)."

There are four campaign levels: Normal, Heroic, Epic and Superhuman, but only three numeric increases to skill points per 10-year increment given (20, 30, 40 respectively). Are these skill point increases for Normal, Heroic and Epic, or are they for Heroic, Epic and Superhuman? Regardless, what about the missing fourth Campaign Level?

I've never given the skill increases for age to encourage people to pick what fitted their character, rather than run decrepit old farts to get the highest possible skill levels. However there are several ways you can interpret this (none are good):

• Assume there is a missing first number and it's zero. You'd get 0, 20, 30, 40 with normal missing out on the increases. Seems a bit unfair however.
  
• Assume there is a missing first number and it's ten. Still pretty miserly.
  
• Assume that there is a missing last number and it's fifty. This is the only one that seems fair to me.
  

In any case I think this needs to be cleared up and some official errata would be nice. There didn't seem to be any on the Chaosium website, but I might just be too used to Google and my search skills have withered. In any case I'd go with the third option or just revisit the number of skill points characters get, it's your game.

Only in a unfamiliar area like a desert to add drama or a post-apocalyptic world where scarcity of EVERYTHING is a common theme.

And you are right about the paperwork chore. We did this one in a game I was playing in, it was fun tracking the food the first day, and bloody annoying every day afterwards.

One thing that also makes shields great is you can still block at full skill level when fighting at close range. Parrying (with a non-small weapon) is at half chance. (If your opponent is close enough to stab you with a dagger or knife then the fight is at close range.)

Chivalry & Sorcery 3rd Ed has a list of herbs and materials along with how they boosted magic. I used to have a filemaker database of them, I'll see if I can find it. Here's an example of how they were laid out:

Betony Element: Fire, MRF*2, Herb, Healing & Purification

It breakdowns like this; Betony could be used in construct items that aid in Fire magic, MRF*2 means that it's easy to prepare for enchanting (you would make an incense or oil and anoint the item), it's a herb, and also boosts healing and purification (in potions or as an incense).

I may still have in on an old CD. The only system specific stuff is the element and MRF. MRF is Magic Resistance Factor and you can easily convert it to POW.

I think there are several different approaches you can take. As others have said you can use Dex and weapon length OR strike ranks.

One system has you starting to act on your dex and the weapon length modifying when the blow lands. The strike rank system, basically counts down with fastest people acting first, you can portray this as everyone starting at the same time and slower people take longer to perform an action, or actions taking a set time and the slower people start later.

One system that might work would be similar to the action point system in Chivalry and Sorcery 3: Everyone rolls initiative and adds it to the number of action points they have, then spend them until you've run out.

I agree 100% about strike ranks and dex order not working for missile weapons. If I run a sci-fi game I'll either use action points or a modified version of the 'actions' system in Nephilim.

The most fun I've had playing a pre-made adventure was in Stormbringer. We played the Hall of Risk adventure and I went through three characters in one day.

I bought Elric and it was my 'go to' system for fantasy games, until I imported a copy of Runequest III.

I think it's because weapon reach is key until you are in close combat. The strike rank rules assume that the combatants are not in close combat. Once in close combat the rules state that the person with the higher DEX rank will go first and that any parry attempts by people with long weapons are difficult.

I'm not too worried about the person with the most reach going first. I guess the combat scenarios would look like this:

• Mark and John have weapon skills of 70%
  
• Mark draws his sword and rushes at John, who has a dagger.
  
• Mark swings and John has 70% chance to parry. He succeeds and steps close.
  
• John stabs at Mark and he only has a 35%.
  
• In the next round Mark can give up his attacks to try and move back. John can also dodge or parry to move close and attack normally.
  

Unless he wants to be toast, Mark has the option of disengaging, knocking John back, taking a spear, or just hoping that John's dagger breaks after parrying a few decent attacks. Of course he can also learn shield and block at his normal chance. This seems to be one of the most overlooked advantages of carrying a shield, that and the weapon breakage rules punish constant parrying.

I've always thought BRP would be good for running a Paranoia game. The thing that's help me back is the baggage that goes with Paranoia and when I ran it we've always had the party slaughtering each other at the first opportunity.

So what I'd like to do is run another setting in a good place and bring in the elements from Paranoia slowly. Make the humour dark and run it kinda straight, well not so slapsticky (is that a word?) anyway.

What settings do you thing would fit?

My first choice is playing Fallout and have the party all be vault dwellers serving the computer....I mean Overseer.

What do you think?

It really depends on how elves work in your world. On reading the BGB I'd say it's the second option. However maximum power doesn't indicate how magical a culture is, it only shows how powerful the top percentiles are. I think it's the average and more importantly the minimum power that show how accessible magic will be for a race or culture.

As written in the BGB Elves have a minimum power of 8, an average power of 13 and the same maximum power of 21 (your second example. This would suggest that Elves are a highly magical race because both the minimum power and the average power are considerably higher than humans in general. An average Human has a power of 11 (10.5 rounded up), whereas an Elf with 11 power would be considered to have very poor magical ability.

That being said, it's your game-world and you can tweak Elves however you like.

Personally I favour the AP system though. That way you start off at the highest AP and count down. When your current AP number comes up you state your action, spend the appropriate AP (it's helpful to have tracker sheets for this) and make your roll. If you want to have the delay between declaring and acting then you rule that the role doesn't take effect until your new AP score (at which point you will also declare your next action).

Chivalry & Sorcery 3rd Ed had two AP systems for initiative; a basic quick one and a detailed one. I loved the basic one and it seems like what you are after. The issue we had is that people then start to make characters with the most action points they can have. Mind you the current system in BRP is no better; it encourages high dex.