colinabrett

4 hours ago, smiorgan said:

The obvious suspect is grisly sacrifice and consequent POW tapping "Blood and souls for Arioch!". It does not have to be ritual, it could occur during combat with the proper invocations. Of course this will ramp up your Chaos allegiance.

This was my general idea. I just didn't know how to word it without causing offence. I thought the sacrifice of one sentient soul would be the equivalent of one POW. Of course, such a sacrifice would be "wilful murder" and add to the character's Shadow/Chaos/Evil Allegiance points.

Colin

19 minutes ago, smiorgan said:

 

2- Allow more unhealthy ways for sorcerers to accumulate MPs for demon summoning to pave their way to madness and their eventual demise.

 

  

Don't leave us hanging @smiorgan! Give us some details! 😀

The Stormbringer Demon Magic supplement had rules for sanity, where summoning a demon would force a SAN roll and (slowly) lead to madness. I've always thought the "1 permanent POW for temporary binding, or 3 permanent POW for permanent binding" was a bit steep (as it could leave the sorcerer unable to cast magic). Some of the ideas I have around this are a little too "out there" to go into on a friendly forum.

Colin

Okay, as I mentioned up-thread, here are my ideas for a campaign arc.

• The wards imprisoning the Cruach Dragon are failing.
• The Broadsword of Heroes is the only weapon that can destroy the Dragon and the PCs are currently looking for the sword in Glimmerwell.
• Civil war is brewing between House Drum and House Beleghir. Lady Tagia, who left Lord Drum for Lord Beleghir, is actually a Fey in disguise. She will have the old Lord poisoned and take the throne of Belehold. Military escalation happens on both banks of the White River. Now, one of the PCs has been knighted by Lord Drum, so we know where his loyalty will lie, but it's up to the rest of the PCs to decide which side they are on. Two characters have family in Beleghir's territory, for instance. As I said in the earlier posts, 4 of my players are wargamers and I expect this conflict to take place using large scale wargames rules. (Kings Of War, Dragon Rampant or similar. We're all OK with that.)
• Story-wise, I would love it for the civil war to end with both sides suing for peace, only to have the Dragon break free and the Count of the Mists to raise his own army and bring all out war to the Southern Reaches. Again, more mass combat.

This is the sort of Heroic/Legendary level adventuring I'm aiming for. It's a big ask, I know, but what do you all think of this?

Thanks,

Colin 

On 4/8/2020 at 2:03 PM, soltakss said:

Now, I am aware of the Players who try to take advantage of an easy-going GM and say "I want this", "I want that" or "I'm doing this". What I tend to do is let them try something if it is within the rules, or let them narrate how they would do it if it isn't within the rules. My biggest weapon against PCs doing that kind of thing is "Well, if you can do it, they can do it as well", which normally stops any silliness.

 

@soltakss Thanks for your thoughts on this. I worry about starting an "arms race" between PC and NPC power levels. I don't want to be seen as retaliating.

On 4/8/2020 at 2:24 PM, Qizilbashwoman said:

This sounds a really fantastic campaign.

Remember that with great power comes great responsibility. Like ... running a cult. Or being a Dean. Don't take things away from them, use them. They are a great double-edged sword because not having power sucks. You can organise campaign threats in and around these interests if you want to interest the characters in a narrative you have.

@Qizilbashwoman So, to expand on @soltakss point, threats come from within, yes? The Magic School's Head of Alchemy feels aggrieved at being passed over for a promotion? The cultist encounters rivals with a conflicting belief in the same deity? I like where this is going. 🙂  

On 4/8/2020 at 4:18 PM, pachristian said:

Back on track? It sounds like you have a great group of proactive players. They've created plot lines for themselves - instead of trying to bring them back to your originally conceived plot line, spin new plots off what they've done already.

GM's tend to go from one pole to the other: From "This is my campaign and you are just here to provide dialog and dice rolls. I already know what is going to happen." To "Here's the world, your characters are here. What do you want to do?". 

As for your lockdown issue: Roll20.net. That's how my group is gaming, and we're very happy with it.

@pachristian I thought Roll20 was a D&D platform. I will investigate, thanks. As I mentioned in the original post, most of the players are wargamers, not roleplayers. I wanted to steer them away from the "regimented" wargames rulesets towards a more freeform game experience and let them explore rather than order them about. From the comments above, it seems I have hit that nail on the head.

Many thanks for all your suggestions and input. My next post will list some of my ideas for the next stages of the campaign.

Colin

Hi,

I'd be interested in joining in with this project, if you have room for a new collaborator. You can see some of my work in the Downloads section of this site.

I've had the idea for BRP crossover rules since 2002 (which I intended to use for cyberpunk games) but never got round to finishing it. I'd be happy to lend a hand with an OpenBRP engine.

Regards,

Colin

Hi,

I have a Southern Reaches campaign (currently in lockdown, sadly) where I have allowed the players a great deal of freedom with their characters. Of the five players, only one had extensive RPG experience, the rest were first timers. Most of the team are experienced wargamers.

One character,  for instance, found a polar bear cub, raised to adulthood and now rides it instead of a warhorse. Another has become Dean of the Lashingport school of magic (bizarre story), while a third has started his own cult. The fourth player is looking for one of the enchanted items in the rulebook, and the final player is gravitating towards an elite military unit. As a group, they have broken a slavery ring, a criminal conspiracy and a Fey-influenced cult. Their actions have taken me by surprise on several occasions and I've had to rewrite or ignore parts of the campaign and even write new stuff from scratch.

Now the game is paused, I've had time to reflect a bit. I worry that I've given the players too much leeway and am wondering how to steer things back on track. Or even if I should "let the dice decide" and see where we end up.

So, please, fellow GMs (not just in Magic World but other settings, too), share your stories of "railroading" (hate that term) versus ultimate freedom for the characters. I'd love to hear your ideas and solutions.

Stay safe and well.

Colin

7 minutes ago, TrippyHippy said:

My favorite edition happens to be the very first RPG I ever bought - the Games Workshop version of the third edition. It had this cover: 

I had the same version. My copy fell apart and is now kept in a ring-binder. Is yours still in once piece?

Colin

Gotta go with 3rd edition. It was the first RPG I ever GM'ed and, like a first car or first love, it's something I'll never forget. Yes, it was wild and crazy but that craziness could always be justified in some way. Why would a Pan Tangian sorcerer team up with a Nadsokor beggar? Because the Lords of the Higher Worlds wanted it that way.

Colin

6 hours ago, Rick Meints said:

I'd very much like to know why all of the above options, plus the new option of the BRP license just doesn't work for you, or for that matter, anyone else. All I ask is please be specific, and also mostly speak for yourself. A vague example of "I want to write X, but your license options don't allow it" is far better than saying our license options are (insert vague negative word or phrase). 

@Rick Meints posted the above comment more than 6 hours ago, but I rolled a 00 on my Knowledge: Law skill and couldn't follow many of the posts in this thread. I do have a couple of questions that fit Rick's "I want to write X, but your license options don't allow it" point. 

First, I have uploaded a few items to this site that use BRP rules directly from the BGB, Magic World and Stormbringer. These are not for sale and never will be. They are there for community use. Do I need to take these items down? I will if necessary (or an admin can do it on my behalf) but quite a bit of work went into these items and it would be a shame to remove them.

Second, I have always loved Stormbringer 3rd edition (the Chaosium/GW collaboration). This used a rank-based magic system, based on a combination of INT+POW. I adapted this system for my BRP LotR rules (way back in 2015) but expanded to cover Enchantment, Necromancy and other magical Arts. Would this break the OGL as written? Again, these rules were not for sale.

I'm just worried I've inadvertently broken trust with Chaosium, a company whose rules have given me many years of roleplaying enjoyment (and long may it continue).

Can anyone offer any clarification, please?

Colin

Great news. 

Many thanks to the Chaosium team for this.

Colin

Hi,

Not sure if this belongs here or in the Magic World forum. If inappropriate, can an Admin please move it?

Has anyone used, run or house-ruled bits from the Classic Fantasy Monograph (#0383 by Rodney V Leary) for the clerical ability to turn undead? Page 30 says to compare half the cleric's allegiance score in Good against the POW of the undead being. This is OK when facing intelligent undead (like vampires and liches) but allows any reasonably Good cleric to destroy instantly the lower ranked undead like skeletons and zombies.

I house-ruled that the maximum number of Undead that can be turned (or controlled) defaults to 2D6 (as per AD&D). Alternatively, (experimental, untested) use half the cleric's Light or Shadow points as the total amount of undead POW or MP that can be turned.

I'll be using this rule in a Magic World campaign where the priest will match 1/2 Light points against the POW of undead. 

Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

Regards,

Colin

7 hours ago, Coronoides said:

My assumption was 'no'. Simply because how (as per your example) it greatly inflates the Sorcerer's resistance chances.

I thought that was the case. Thanks.

Colin

Hi,

Do the Magic Points stored in a Sorcerer's Staff count alongside the Sorcerer's own MP when making Resistance Table rolls.

e.g. a Sorcerer with POW 17 has 17 MP and a fully charged Staff containing 16 MP. Does this mean the Sorcerer's MP equals (17+16=) 33 on the Resistance Table?

I can't find any reference to this in Magic World, SB5 or the BGB. Any suggestions or house-rules for this would be very useful.

Thanks,

Colin

I've used Elric, Yyrkoon and Smiorgan as NPCs.

I think to use the characters as PCs needs a group of players who are heavily into the Eternal Champion lore.

Colin

I wrote a set of Lord of the Rings rules (which I think are around here somewhere) where CHA (or APP) reflected the character's personality as well as looks. I reasoned that magic is an intensely "personal" business, so CHA/APP affected things like range, area of effect and duration of spells.

Colin

I'm running a Southern Reaches MW campaign and have re-read the various spell descriptions. When I come to the Walking spells (Wind-Walking, Wave-Walking and Earth-Walking) I find the caster seems to have no means of walking through that element (Flame-Walking is an exception to this). It seems a bit pointless that Wind-Walking doesn't allow the caster to fly, for instance.

I'm thinking of tweaking these spells so the caster can (perhaps with a POW roll) control the distance and direction moved. I know that Southern Reaches Erdebroc Dwarfs can move at quarter speed when using their innate Earth-Walking ability and worry that allowing a Human caster to move through earth would, in some way, devalue that talent.

Have you any experience with these spells? If so, would you care to share what you've learned?

Thanks,

Colin

2 minutes ago, Bill the barbarian said:

The true rulers of the planet might object!

You mean the dolphins?

A Traveller conversion written by Stefan Matthias Aust, edited by Shannon Appel, and published in the Chaosium Digest (Vol 6, Number 5) statted the Aslan, lion-like creatures. Aslan were basically Human with the following modifiers: STR 3D6+2, SIZ 2D6+6, though it did say that male Aslan might have INT 2D6+4.

Colin

Sounds like a fascinating scenario. Do keep us posted.

I did a brief Google search for "weird events in world war 1". A skim through the following lists might give you some ideas:

http://listverse.com/2017/11/04/10-bizarre-stories-from-the-great-war/

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-i/mysteries-controversies-wwi.html

One story that grabs me is the completely mundane story of the Lost Treasure Of The Tsars. What if one of the PCs is carrying a hallmarked ingot of the Tsar's gold? Lots of Conceal Object rolls and the sort of paranoia (SAN rolls) that accompanies a valuable, hidden treasure. A heavy gold bar could also be used as a murder weapon 😉

On the supernatural side, there is the Angel of Mons. In a fiction piece written by Arthur Machen, he describes phantom bowmen from the Battle of Agincourt destroying the Germans. This led to reports of more supernatural influences, aiding the Allies. There's plenty of ancient history hidden in a Mediaeval monastery. Perhaps something could be "woken".

I hope you find the above links helpful.

Regards,

Colin

Would a PC need two character sheets? One for in the Matrix and one for in the "real world". Neo has skills uploaded into his brain ("I know Kung Fu") but do those skills work in Morpheus's ship? Their training session is in a construct, not the hold of the Nebuchanezzar. We could make all uploaded Matrix skills Difficult in the real world.

Then, of course, we have the difference between Matrix-born and naturally born characters (like Tank and Gozer). Keeping non-Matrix characters involved in a Matrix run is much like the problems in Cyberpunk genre games where the Hacker spends an hour of game time in the Net, while the rest of the PCs twiddle their thumbs.

Also, could a Matrix-personality (avatar?) have Superpowers in the Matrix? The Leap power would allow the character to succeed at the Jump program, for instance.

Just a few more ideas here.

Colin

6 minutes ago, svensson said:

I dunno, man. Gonna be kinda hard to fit Gun Fu into Strike Ranks...

True. However, assuming no magic or supernatural powers in the Matrix, maybe Fate Points (BRP p.176) could be used to simulate effects like "bullet time".

Just throwing ideas out there. Maybe this should be moved to a different thread?

Colin

1 hour ago, svensson said:

OK, everybody who thought there was gonna be an RPG staring John Wick the assassin, raise your hand.

*waves* *ducks*

This 🙂 .

Though I, of course, got John Wick and John Constantine mixed up. In my defence, it's an easy mistake to make: both were played by Keanu Reeves. Now BRP Matrix ... there's an idea.

Colin

MOB:

Many thanks for your sterling efforts in moving Chaosium-related G+ posts to Tapatalk.

I have just registered and look forward to seeing (and contributing to) more content.

Regards,

Colin Brett

I like both ideas and explanations.

But (and there's always a "but", isn't there?) how does the caster of Undo Sorcery know what he or she is trying to Undo? Is it an Unbreakable Bonds spell holding the mighty-thewed Barbarian in place or something more mysterious? This is one of the greatest things about Magic World (and BRP in general) sorcery (or powers): there are no, or few, explicit descriptions of a spell or power's appearance. Does Unbreakable Bonds manifest as a glowing set of handcuffs, a ball and chain, or a patch of quicksand (minus the drowning in the slurry, because that would be a different spell)?

At this point, maybe the sorcerer should think about using Witch Sight on the victim of Unbreakable Bonds to divine what is affecting the Barbarian, before casting Undo? Sorcery is not a predictable power. But while the sorcerer dithers over whether to Undo the spell affecting the Barbarian, the Bonded character is rendered powerless. Of course, the caster of Undo might make the wrong choice.

This then becomes an in-game decision by the sorcerer's player, which needs to be adjudicated by the GM. And this brings us back to the original question: is the adjudication based on the circumstances, the rules, or just "winging it"?

I don't really want to cause a stir here but some of my players have D&D experience and are kinda used to "definite answers".

Colin

Hi All,

I'm returning to Magic World and the Southern Reaches and this time have two dedicated sorcerers in the group. I see the use of sorcery ramping up over the coming sessions. My question is about Undo Sorcery.

It seems pretty clear that a spell of lower level is undone, that is, a Level 4 Undo Sorcery spell will completely dissipate a Level 3 Unbreakable Bonds spell. It's also pretty clear that if a Level 2 Undo Sorcery spell is cast at a Level 3 Unbreakable Bonds spell, the Unbreakable Bonds is weakened but continues "running" at Level 1.

How would you handle this weakening of the Unbreakable Bonds? Or, indeed, any other spell weakened in this way?

Perhaps the spell's duration could be reduced? Or perhaps the STR vs. MP (in the case of Unbreakable Bonds) would be against one third of the caster's MP (the Bonds are weakened by 2-out-of-3 Levels, so it seems reasonable that the Bonds are now "powered" by 1/3 of the caster's power).

This is just one example of the spells Undo Sorcery affects. How have my fellow GM's handled these sorts of situations? Is it a case of winging it, based on the circumstances?

Thanks,

Colin