RosenMcStern

So, it is now day three of the most relazing gaming convention in the world. We pity the poor people who are now frantically running around among the GenCon booths: they should stop and take a break. Naturally, they should stop only in front of booth #315 where Dom McDowall of Cubicle 7 is selling all that nice BRP and HeroQuest stuff

Here at the Kraken, we are having less games-per-hour, more rest and the same fun as always.

Having arrived on Wednesday afternoon, I have already attended Professor Privat's nightly seminar on the subject "Sculpt and paint your own Shoggoth." Painting your Shoggoth pink is a striking experience. And when I say that we take things slowly, I mean that we are making all the boards and pieces for the miniature games we will play.

Yesterday morning, instead, while Gianni was delving into the mysteryes of Glorantha with Greg himself, I attended Professor Petersen's lecture about "Horror in gaming". In the afternoon Prof. Petersen had us do a collective exercise: we designed a Call of Cthulhu scenario with him, "Danse Macabre". Scary stuff! You cannot imagine what he created, starting only with a couple pages torn off a German tabloid. I cannot give you the details, as we are all gonna use that scenario in the future.

Instead of dinner, yesterday we had the first of our Chaosium barbecues. I thought that it cannot be a barbecue without Charlie, but I was pleasantly surprised when Meghan managed to replace him effectively.

In the night, I could finally play tabletop Axis and Allies for the first time in twenty years. Fabian has an incredibly well preserved copy of this vintage game. A pity we were too few for Civilization.

Day three opens with the Myth of Creation: the wastes of Genertela lie formless under our eyes, like a big raw sack, and the gods Gregenert and Danwaha are slowly creating the familiar features of Prax on them with their mythic brushes, waiting for the Five Great Nations to fight their endless war on them (as I said, everything is painted on the spot).

In a society that values personal virtues more than wealth, Status = Fame.

In a very materialistic society, you might wish to split Status between Reputation (a la RuneQuest) and Credit Rating (a la Call of Cthulhu).

The concept sounds cool, in any case. I am currently working on something that is a rehash of one of the more exploited cliches since the '60s and George Romero (the Dead take over the world), and it is a very, very successful setting here. It is just a matter of how you present it to your audience. We will see how well Shaira can present her ideas. Uhm, and artwork matters, too, at least to attract the casual gamer to the book.

The market share is I suppose those people that don't want to play in Glorantha, or prefer the Chaosium flavour of BRP to the Mongoose one.

It is still a small share. And these people already have Elric, and all the stuff (which is now two supplements) that d101 produces for OpenQuest. As a publisher alreday working in a niche, competing for an even smaller niche with other, good products that use the same title is unattractive.

This does not mean that good non-GLoranthan Fantasy products will not appear for BRP / d100. It is just that it is not viable to bet on them as flagship products like Glorantha or Cthulhu.

What do the copper and silver seller designations mean ?

They provide a rough estimate of copies sold. Note that this does not give you more than a hint about book sales, though. Mongoose sells big in dead tree.

Well with Rod's setting Classic Fantasy, he hasn't really detailed the setting in print yet. The book is really about establishing a way of playing BRP to emulate DnD. It is the top selling BRP monograph on Chaosium's web site . Maybe it isn't important what differentiates the setting as much as what it is emulating. Sometimes you can go a long ways riding on some one else's coat tails. I also do sense from reading posts on websites and forums that there are plenty of D100 or BRP players that don't like Glorantha or are tired of it and want to try something new. Who knows how much actual market share they can grab, as long as it is sustainable.

There is also Elric as a good Fantasy setting for d100.

The point is that Rod's supplement has a precise goal: let's re-play OD&D supplements with a less unrealistic system. It could be given a setting, but this would denaturate it a bit.

The Green is more unique, but my personal opinion is that there is no real market space for another really big fantasy setting for d100. It could - at best - attract 10% of the interested players, with another 60% playing Glorantha/Eternal Champion, and 30% doing their own homebrew.

And, admit it: when you have such a beauty available for OpenQuest, do you really need Yet Another Fantasy Book for BRP?

Yeah, but what if horror RPGing isn't your cup of tea ? If you think of RPG's in general fantasy and SF tend to be the big players.

Really? The big players here in Italy are:

a) D&D

Call of Cthulhu

c) World of Darkness

d) Sine Requie (local horror)

D&D is first, but horror games follow shortly. Cthulhu has competition now, but it can thrive.

Also Rod's default setting for Classic Fantasy is to be detailed in Vol 2 of that worthy tome, if that takes off maybe we will see more material for that

Finally I think The Green is a really good setting, I'd love to see it given the full distribution deal, professional artwork, expanded contents. Reading through it there's easily another volume or two's worth of ideas there.

Rod's and Puck's settings are good. But what distinguishes them from the plethora of other settings? I think Chaosium will do them justice, but with Glorantha as a competitor for d100 fans, what is their possible market share?

Just an observation, but Rome doesn't appear on DriveThru's '2010 ENnie Nominees' list - which is a bit of an oversight. At least, not under the "Explore the nominees here on DriveThruRPG.com" link anyway.

A problem due to them expecting to find it under the CB7 entry while it is Alephtar only on DriveThru. Just mailed Matt McElroy to fix it.

So send a vote if you love the old workhorse!

Vote by following this link. And remember, you have to label the product as "1" to say "it's my favourite".

That meaning?...

That meaning that people are now aware that the system is alive and kicking. Two years ago BRP was only "the old, old system for Cthulhu" in people's minds. You may not realize it, but it counts. It counts a lot.

BTW, your comments about sales make me suspect you do not have that much data to support your opinion. Apart from your uninformed ideas about Diaspora, Rome has sold darn well - please note it is already Silver on DriveThru. None of the Mongoose RQ line is even Copper there - and they are not available anywhere else in PDF.

Edit: I checked better, and actually, some of Mongoose's products are Copper level.

If someone cobbled together a fantasy(or whatever)-setting of the same calibre as Rome, I'm pretty sure it would be up for awards as well.

I recently splurged on Stupor Mundi and Crusaders of the Amber Coast, and was suitably impressed with both of them. Any plans of follow-ups?

Crusaders itself is a follow-up of Stupor Mundi, as is Merrie England in some ways. We have some more medieval stuff planned for late 2010, and of course Imperial China. A Rome campaign book will follow in 2011.

As for Fantasy... you have Glorantha, what more do you need? Oh, and you can take the entire line of OpenQuest supplements and use it with BRP.

As for BRP, it still lacks that crucial catch-setting.

It doesn't. That setting is Call of Cthulhu.

May I remind you that one item out of that "plethora" of historical settings is running for Product of the Year at Ennies?

Do you really think that putting out yet another Fantasy or Post-apoc supplement could have achieved the same result?

Er.. what is your poblem? Just figure out how much it should weigh in metric or imperial tons, then consult the weight-to-SIZ chart in the book, or atgxtg's revised version. Please note that unless you wish to use the Strike Rank option (which does not represent creatures bigger than SIZ 20, though), it is only mass that you have to figure out, not height.

On Runequest 2 (the real one) berserk worked, because it actually lowered the opponent's parry into nothingness.

You mean the out of print one? Sorry, but an in-print game is more real than an oop one.

I challenge you to an RQ3 combat any time!!!

We talk about BRP here, not RQ3. In RQ3 berserk sucked, but RQ3 is OOP, too.

On RQ3 protection "acts in every way like normal armor" (RQ Deluxe, Magic Book, Pg21), while shield gives "2 points of magical armor" (Pg36).

I was talking about physical shields, not the spell. And in RQ3 parry AP counted against a crit.

In RQ2 you had Damage and AP on successful parry, while in BRP all damage gets parried no matter what.

Not if you special. And Berserker/Fanaticism increase your special chances. What you relate refers to RQ3, where a 20 AP shield could block almost anything, even a critical. No longer true in BRP.

Please name those situations. Berserk as per RQ3 rules against any kind of intelligent creature equals suicide.

Fanaticism was actually used by my players as an attack spell against foes, thats how useful it is...

Bladesharp/etc? On RQ3 is hard to go over +30%, very difficult to go over 40%, and anything over 50% is not going to happen.

Not necessarily. If you have, say, 6-8 points of armour and your opponents have slashing weapons Berserk is viable. You become immune to their Special effect (bleeding), and it is rather rare that they can hurt you significantly without a critical hit. Bladesharp 8 is not so uncommon, and with BRP Magic a decent caster can throw Sharpen 9. And I could mention Axe Trance or Crush...

Another typical situation would be the band of goblins ganging up on the spellcaster. A fighter can reach 200% skill by hitting them from behind (they are facing the other guy), and must take them down before they kill the unarmored comrade. This is exactly the situation where you would split your attack.

The point is that splitting attacks as per RAW is mathematically undesirable, it is a HINDRANCE, not a help.

Splitting is not something that should be used against tough foes, this is the point. It is designed to handle multiple unskilled opponents.

There are plenty of situation (magic, etc.) where you can split and still be at full percentiles. Think of a Berserker. So no need to be 190% base skill, just look for ajustments.

The point is that you are looking for a reason to split attacks. But there is no one, except:

a) emulating D&D

getting rid of more than one neglectable foe in one round, if said foes have low chances to parry.

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.

I doubt the rule was intended to simulate this

I might add that if you apply the split-over-100 rules to missile weapons, then you can shoot three heavy crossbow bolts in a round. Which is a no-no in any game.

Rod, you did not quote my "It is your game, do as you wish". In any case, I doubt the RAW should be read as you do, allowing multiple attacks with bows. There is a specific section covering this case under the "Volley fire entry". I think we spotted another small hole in the rules.

Jason, what is your saying about this? Which rule applies to bows?

Well, from GM point of view, anything that allows the players to waste their über-skills is good, no? Besides, it gives they players a (false?) sense of superiority and empowerment (I have more attacks than the puny NPC!) Granted, not all players are that shallow, but hey, many are!

I did not want to say this, but I am afraid it is the truth.

And in some situations (multiple opponents etc.) it just might make sense?

I think everyone agrees that splitting attacks against multiple opponents is ok.

Uhm, I see that this thread has taken a particular route. You are simply looking for a way to tweak the rules in order to make multiple attacks per round (D&D rule) a viable tactics for highly skilled characters. You are of course free to do whatever pleases you in your games, but please consider one nontrivial detail: multiple attacks per round against the same target represent a flurry of blows, i.e. sacrificing precision for speed and frequence of attacks. As anyone who has real combat experience will tell you, this is something that only rookies do: a master never sacrifices precision for number of attacks. If he is fighting an inferior foe, he will try to land a single, disabling blow: one hit one kill. If he is facing an equivalent opponent, he will use his skill to carefully find an opening, bypassing his enemy's defense; in no case will he flurry against another master, as this would be a suicide.

I have the pleasure to announce that BRP Rome: Life and Death of the Republic has been nominated at the Ennie Awards in two categories: Best setting and Product of the year.

So, who said that BRP is not popular?

This is all very fine, but most of these HR are not as useful as you may think. If you are 150%, one in three of your attacks will be a special success, negating your foe's parry or doing extra damage. Since in many cases (highly skilled or heavily armored opponent) this is actually better than attacking three times, can someone explain to me the reasons why you need the extra complication and additional die rolls?

I was a bit disappointed of the near exclusive concentration on the Balts and not that much stuff on us Finnic tribes up north.

It is a sad limit of the book. I had little time to research also the Eesti, who are a totally different populations - the Balts are complex enough! Maybe we will make a Finnish/Estonian add-on later. Maybe "Crusaders meet Kalevipoeg"?

The crossbow was unknown in the area until 1200 or so. Rural populations rarely know how to make crossbows. All fortifications and ramparts were built to keep enemies outside shooting range of self bows, and the crusaders won many sieges by shooting at the defenders from outside their retaliation range. There is even a tale about a Prussian warriors trying a captured crossbow and decapitating himself!

Things changed when the subjugated populations started rebelling against the Crusaders, who had taught them how to use their more advanced weaponry. When this happened, they started using siege machines and crossbows to storm the Crusader castles.

BRP's level of abstraction is such that a single roll represents all the individual blows you can deal in a round. The only exceptions are animals and creatures with really weird body parts. As a consequence, rolling an attack multiple times on the same target makes no sense. The advantage of having 120% skill is that you roll a special more often, thus bypassing parries or doing extra damage.

If you wish to enhance the advantages of having 120% in a weapon, use the old rule that allows using your %age above 100 as a penalty on the defense roll. It is way more effective against a skilled opponent.

I might have to get a print copy of that...darn you.

We now have every title in stock and make big discounts for purchasing both print and PDF. Anyone who might eventually "feel the need" for the dead tree version should consider this option, rather than going straigth for DriveThru.

For Divine Magic in Ulfland I limited spells by Allegiance - To get access to Divine spells a character requires an Allegiance of at least 50 to a specific deity and to allied to them (Allegiance to that deity twenty point greater than any other Allegiance, and character has actively chosen to acknowledge the allegiance). Plus the power points to cast Divine Spells came from the character, but they know a number of spells (drawn from the BRP Sorcery list) equal to Allegiance / 10. Permanent sacrifice of characteristic POW is a very RQ idea I'd be wary of using - there were (fairly obvious) ways of house ruling it to work in RQIII, but BGB Magic & Sorcery spells are significantly less powerful than RQII/III Rune / Divine Magic spells.

Very true. I had to tweak some Sorcery spells slightly in order to use them for pagan magic. And basing Divine Magic on Allegiance rather than on POW loss is the way to go. Incidentally, it is exactly the way Loz and Pete handled it in MRQ II.

Thank you for the heads up, folks. OneBookShelf's flash preview system is not handling the PDF properly. I have deactivated the preview option, and uploaded a new, "lighter" preview on our site (2 megs). The downloadable character sheets now have a slightly larger font that should make them more readable. Please check http://www.alephtargames.com/dragon.html for this and other downloadable files.

Crusaders of the Amber Coast contains an Allegiance-based version of Divine Magic, and an adaptation of Sorcery to an animistic (not exactly shamanic) context, including the rules for creating charms and for playing sorcery in a culture that does not use writing.