threedeesix

(Note: this is not intended to slag anyone here, I just don't know any way to put it without sounding like I'm slagging people, so please no one take offense) It's a different way of thinking which seems to be pretty prevalent among gamers that a system is "dead" if it's not producing regular supplements or new editions. It's one I don't subscribe to. I was playing BRP before and I'll be playing it now - only difference is now I have a really good core rule-book as opposed to lots of cobbled-together notes. It's not dead as long as people are playing and creating for it, even if Chaosium (god forbid) vanishes off the face of the earth.

I agree Aycorn, I have always thought it was funny that some people think an RPG cant be played without a slew of supplements. How come only RPGs get this. I don't remember anyone saying they couldn't play Monopoly anymore without an expansion, or Chess, or Axis and Allies, or...

BRP is complete as is, I will buy supplements as they release them, but not because I need them to run my games, but because I want to support the system that I love. If, god forbid, nothing was to ever come out for BRP again, I would still be playing it years from now.

Rod

I'd go so far as to say that if the character is relying on the weapon's skill all the time they actually loose skill. Just mark the skill normally and when experience rolls are made and they succeed then they loose 1% of skill. To balance this the GM should automatically return, not give, one lost skill point for each full battle the character does not rely on the weapon's skill.

~Dalmuti

On second thought this would make a cool cursed weapon. Rely on it to much and your natural skill suffers.

I'd go so far as to say that if the character is relying on the weapon's skill all the time they actually loose skill. Just mark the skill normally and when experience rolls are made and they succeed then they loose 1% of skill. To balance this the GM should automatically return one lost skill point for each full battle the character does not rely on the weapon's skill.

I don't know about this. That seems harsh. BRP has rules for skill atrophy (or whatever its called) and I know you have to not use a skill for some time before it kicks in.

Another way of dealing with it is to have a familiarity type skill that the player rolls to give up control to the weapon. The base being the characters will or POWx5: a success and the character "lets the Force flow..." (use the weapons skill), a failure and the character interferes with the weapon somehow and their skill is used instead.

~Dalmuti

This could be cool, especially for willful weapons that don't want to be manipulated.

Rod

One of the other threads triggered a thought for me (they come so infrequently that I have to capture them when I can). Does anyone have a good system or houserule for handling advancement, or increasing skill, for intelligent weapons?

I'm thinking something like any time it makes a crtical hit, there is a chance for advancement, say roll under it's to-hit bonus to add +1%.

But it might be interesting to have the wielding character 'donate' an advancement check to the weapon. This gives the weapon an incentive to be wielded by someone competent, for whom the skill checks mean less.

Anyone played with this?

Steve

I supose one way to handle it is to say becouse it's intelligent it advances like any other character. But in this case it should't give a bonus, instead, it should allow the character possessing the weapon to substitute its skill for his or her own.

So you could have an intelligent broadsword with a skill of 95%. If you only had a skill of 75% you could use its skill instead. Maybe if you had a skill over its skill of 95% you could get some type of bonus.

I'm at work right now so I cant give it more thought than this, but as Sword & Spell is going to have intelligent weapons, and I have yet to start that chapter, I will be paying close attention to this thread.

Edit: I suppose that if your using the weapons skill instead of your own, you shouldnt get a skill check with a successful roll if the weapon is doing all the work.

Rod

Dug out my copy of the Gateway Bestiary, took out generic dinosaur names, replaced with more specific dinosaur types added a couple of creatures I'd forgotten and generally tidied up the list a bit.

Which means if I've counted correctly that's 193 creatures which could go into a BRP bestiary just on what they've produced in the past let alone any new ones

I love my Gateway Bestiary, but I have to say the dinosaur stats seem kind of suspect. If I remember right, the T-Rex has a Bite attack of 180%. this seems suspiciously like the 18 Hit Dice it had in AD&D multiplied by 10. And it seems to be that way right across the board with the dinosaurs. I would suggest that if you compile these beasties, they be made a little more compatible with the newer versions.

Rod

Any links or more general description about what these books are for, who publishes them and what they are compatible with? Any links?

Years ago they started out as fan supplements for the Fuzion game system. Even those early version were very detailed and well thought out. After the author decided to go commercial with them he pulled all the Fuzion stats and made them generic, adding lots of additional stuff. I still own all the Fuzion versions but never picked up the generic stuff. But if the early stuff is any indication, they are well worth any reasonable investment.

Rod

(And off the record, SIZ is one of those aspects of BRP I'd really love to see ditched in a future revision of the rules.)

I'll fight you if I have to. And you started it. >:->

I like the SIZ characteristic mainly because no one else has it. I just use in in the abstract sense and its nice to be able to say that the plate armor you just found doesn't fit you because its too small, or the bridge gives out beneath you because your too big, or you cant fin into the tunnel because its too small or...

It feels bizarre to quote myself, but I am happy to report that Charlie and Chaosium have taken all steps to mend the fence, and I'm getting back to work on Interplanetary this very evening.

I think I have to go lay down for a minute.

If you create a creature that doesn't have hit locations that are covered in the main book, however, please let us know what they are!

Thalaba

I'm setting it up with the same format as the BRP core book. At the end of the creature chapter will be hit location charts for all the new creatures that need them.

Rod

Absolutely correct.

When the matter is resolved (and I am hoping it will be very soon, based on recent communications with Chaosium), I will be thrilled and relieved to get back to work on Interplanetary as a BRP product.

It began as a BRP product, and I have always wanted to see it in support of the core book.

I have to admit, this caused my heart to flutter a little. *crosses fingers*

For Sword & Spell I chose options that best fit the genre. Things like Total Hit Points for player characters and important NPCs, Extra Attacks for skills over 100%, etc. The game assumes the use of Hit Locations, but none of the monsters have them included in their write-ups for two reasons. One, I wanted the new monsters to use the same format as those from the BRP core book, and two, the page count is looking to already be well over 200+ pages. Rather than cut monsters from the book, I figured this was the way to go.

But all that being said, any options from BRP can be added easily, or my choices removed and the game even mentions how some spells may interact with things like Sanity (which is not a part of Sword & Spell) to keep the additions compatible for those that may be purchasing the book for some other campaign.

Rod

I'd take the Rat-Thing from CoC and bump the numbers up a bit. Elric!/SB5 also has stats for a rat pack.

Thanks, the rat pack is also in the BRP core book, but I didn't know about the Rat Thing, or its been so long I had forgotten. I'll take a peek at it tonight after work.

Does anyone know if any BRP product ever did the stats for a giant rat? I'm adding them to Sword & Spell and would like to use official stats if they exist. Something about the size of a medium dog.

Rod

I'm gonna buy Metacreator for Call of Cthulhu in a minute or two... do we want a report?

Yah, let me know how adaptable it would be for BRP. For example how easy is it to add equipment, professions, and if you can add/use races.

Rod

I have Charlie at the tentacles,

That would have got me to cough up some money. >:->

Is it available in PDF anywhere? My home-brew started up back in those days, and now that I'm doing a BRP version of it, I'd love to have a look.

Private message sent.

Rod

Thanks for this Max, I had forgotten just how much juicy information was contained in that little book. I love Magic World myself and have to dig it out tonight just to take a look at it again.

thanks,

Rod

I almost started this one the other day. Then I realised I've 27 years of Caleon to translate, and stopped myself.

I have most of Star Frontiers converted from when I was on the BRP playtest. I converted the rule book and SF0 Crash on Volturnous.

It was great fun.

Rod

I guess the other question is how many monographs have been completed and sent for publication? I'm still working on mine. Are any authors waiting for theirs to get going?

Still working on Sword & Spell here.

Rod

Hmm. Somehow I got the impression that Sword & Spell was going to be just a humorous parody of D&D. In writing that last sentence, it occurs to me that it could be a parody, and still have lots of goodies for those of us that enjoy that style of gaming more seriously.

Um, my invite got lost in the mail? I sweated the stamp off my wrist? I only stepped out for a smoke?

The parody aspect has gone the way of the dodo. It's now a homage to the 'classic' era of dungeon crawl role playing.

Rod

This is precisely the thought I had for Sword & Spell. See my write up of the "Bigby" Fist spell in the Chaos & Catacombs thread. As a matter of fact you have distilled it down to pretty much the same list that I did, give or take. You sure your not in my playtest?

Rod

Ok, I got a little lazy through the doldrums of L and N, but I think I have a decent list of candidates worthy to add to the Magic spells. Tell me what you think. Am I missing any that deserve the BRP treatment?

Animate            Grant ambulation to an object                      

Acid               Ranged, does 1D6 points of acid damage per level            

Alter Reality      Create something out of nothing                             

Augury             Divine the outcome of a future event                        

Charm              Force an opponent to see you as friends, or allies as enemies

Cure               Fight the effects of disease or poison                      

Discorporate       Spirit leaves the body and travels elsewhere                

Emotion            Alter a person's emotional state, such as Fear, Fanaticism or Confusion

Fist               Creates a spectral force that can injure, grasp, or impede movement

Illusion           Create false perceptions of any of the 5 senses             

Incompetence       Decrease skill by 5% per level.                             

Mastery            Increase skill by 5% per level.                             

Raise Dead         Bring the dead back to life                                 

Slow               Decrease MOV rate by 1 point per level                      

Speed              Increase MOV rate by 1 point per level                      

Weather            Create, increase, or reduce weather phenomena               

Web                Spews a sticky barrier that restrains those it captures     

I'm toying with an idea for this writeup. I was reading some other threads about BRP support. I don't have the inclination (desire, ability, or time) to write anything meaty in support of this game system, but I think I might have an interesting alternative. Why not write a minor supplement? A short section of new spells, like the ones listed above, and cast of interesting NPC mages, and some interesting adventure seeds that illustrate the kinds of awful mischief players may encounter when faced with magicians that wield this kind of power?

Beholders in our game are called Tyrants. They come in many different flavors... mostly elemental in nature.

If you don't mind I would like to call them Tyrants in my upcoming Sword & Spell. I have been stumped for a name and this is the only one that doesn't sound silly.

Rod

The Gamemaster: Guys, please! I want you to roleplay this. Remember you've never met this guy before, the last guys you met tried to kill you, and you're standing in the ruins of an evil, cursed castle. Just act appropriately.

Magellan: Hello, I'm Magellan, a traveling mage. I notice your group has no wizard.

Rogar, the Barbarian: You seem trustworthy. Would you care to join us in our noble quest?

Magellan: Yes. Yes I would.

Best game related movie ever! And if you don't believe me I will strike thee with my mighty blade.

Rod

So I did the math (Approximation):

It costs approximately 12 MP to kill your average human with Blast. (average 3.5 damage per die) This would require approximately 2 Blast spells and two combat rounds, since the average human (INT 13) would be limited to Level 6 Spells.

I'm not going to argue with your main point because I'm thinking about reducing the spell cost of the various "blasting" spells for Sword & Spell for this very reason. But I just want to point out one possible error in your above example, If I am reading it correctly.

Everything is correct except the example INT 13 wizard would still be able to get the spell off in one round because a 4d damage magic missile spell would be 4 spell levels, not 12 as I think you're implying.

If I misread, you I apologize.

Edit: Actually, I'm not changing it in Sword & Spell as much as adding an option to this effect. That way, those that are thinking about picking it up to add some new spells to their BRP games will find them already balanced with the ones in the core book.

Carry on.

Rod

If you find yourself needing any more extra spot illustrations, PM me. I will donate a few pieces to a worthy cause. I am also a published illustrator.

Thanks, I may take you up on that as I have nothing lined up yet. I'll let you know when I get closer to the layout stage.

Rod