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K Peterson

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Posts posted by K Peterson

  1. Yep. Those are definitely big questions with this kind of thought exercise. Is the work required more of a pain in the ass than the value of the results? For now, it's just a thought-experiment.

    You bring up a good point that I didn't consider: scaling. If you go beyond human ranges to try modeling beasts or monsters, the numbers start to inflate aggressively. That's definitely a strong argument for keeping the characteristic side of things to within the single-double digit range.

    The big questions are - what do you gain? And for how much work? And what do you lose?

  2. Sure.

    However, Skill Category Bonuses are an optional BRP rule, so I (personally) wouldn't pay that much attention. It would work normally with base skill levels, personality types, and campaign power level. It would play havoc with base skill levels derived by Stat (Dodge, Gaming, Projection).

  3. Here's a BRP thought-experiment I had recently...

    The past couple weeks I've been reading through a copy of the FASA Star Trek rules (2nd edition). I'm a Trek fan, and a lover of d100 systems, so reading it has been quite an enjoyable and enlightening experience. And, for being nearly 30 years old, FASA Trek is not that bad of a d100 system.

    FASA Trek differs from BRP in that it relies solely on d10/d100. Both Stats and Skills are percentile values (with Skills capped at 99%, and Stats having no cap). Weapon damage is either a fixed value, or d10 + or - (x). Stats are generated through random roll - most are 3d10+40, while 2 of the Stats (Luck, and Psionic Potential) were straight d100 rolls. Racial modifers adjusted those totals, and then finally, free skill points were spent. Skill levels were calculated based on a lifepath chargen system - where academy training, and career path in Starfleet, raised initial values.

    This got me thinking a little about BRP, and its Characteristics, the Resistance Table, and Characteristic Rolls. (I often compare and contrast variations of BRP - Gold Book, Runequest, Elric, etc. - like an armchair game designer. Finding ways to tweak the system - coax something else out of it). And, I thought: why can't Characteristic Rolls just be the stats? Define Effort, Stamina, Luck, etc. as the Stats instead of derived values. Generate them along the same lines as FASA Trek - within a range of 40-70 - or weight them in the case of CoC investigators, with higher than average Education values.

    The Resistance Tables wouldn't be of much use after this point. Instead, you could use opposed tests, or use modifiers, in the case of more 'static opponents'.

    It probably wouldn't take much effort to convert the generation of HPs and Damage Bonus to d100-ranges.

    Anyway... just a few random thoughts.

  4. Any updates on a Moon Design forum for RQ6?

    You weren't kidding when you said that the Design Mechanism forum was "as basic as it gets." I was trying to look at some earlier posts, and received the error below:

    Service Limit Reached!

    There are more topics in forum, but the free version of this software is only able to display the 15 most recently active topics.

    To allow unlimited access to this forum the admin needs to upgrade.

    Quite limiting.

  5. Combat actions. What actually bothers me is not the concept (it actually makes for very cool fights when heroes fight lowly peasants with less CA's, or terrifying monsters with many CA), but that it's purely stat-based, so if i have high INT and DEX, i get 3 combat actions even if its the first time in my life i pick up a weapon, and the grizzled veteran fighter has 2CA's because he has low stats.

    Wouldn't "the first time in my life i picked up a weapon" be modeled by an abominably low Combat Style skill %? Frankly, I don't see the cause for concern. Who cares if someone has the natural instincts and reflexes to strike more frequently in a round? If they don't have the combat skill to hit the grizzled veteran, or parry his blow, they'll probably be disemboweled before they get a chance to use that 3rd CA.

  6. As a fan of MRQ2's system, but not a fan of Glorantha, I was looking forward to purchasing Legend. It wasn't until I read this line from the RQ6 FAQ that I started having second thoughts:

    "... but for RuneQuest 6th Edition we’ve carefully divorced the rules from the setting. RQ6 is intended to be a basis for roleplaying in any kind of fantasy setting – with an emphasis on heroic sword and sorcery – and is not tied to Glorantha."

    If I can get a revised MRQ2 - done by the original designers - free of Glorantha material... well, The Design Mechanism will be getting $50 from me when RQ6 is released.

  7. With luck RQII/Wayfarer/Legend could become History.

    Does anyone still think Mongoose Publishing is a good thing for BRP?

    Is there that much bile for MRQII among BRP fans? I don't follow these forums that regularly, so perhaps that's the norm and I've just missed it.

    To answer your question: no, I think that Mongoose Publishing is probably quite a bad thing for BRP - at least in terms of fantasy/historical campaigning. Strong competition, a more focused rules set, hell - a pretty damn entertaining rules set for sword & sorcery rpging. If there was emphasis (product lines) for other genres of rpging, using the BRP core, developed or pushed aggressively by Chaosium, then the relevance of Mongoose Publishing would probably evaporate.

    But that hasn't happened in the 3 years since BRP's release, and there aren't signs of that ever happening. And, I blame the publisher for that.

  8. I stumbled by Chaosium's site at lunch today and noticed some additions to the CoFE product listing. (At least, I don't remember seeing them before). Chaosium states that CoFE will be in stock on January 3rd. Also, there are a couple maps to view.

    The regional map looks quite a bit like the Iberian Peninsula. Is "Future Earth" Spain-Portugal the main focus of CoFE?

  9. Hello!

    First off, the artwork looks quite nice. The coloring/highlighting is appealing.

    A few questions for you, though:

    What differentiates your d100 Rules from the various BRP-inspired systems that are already available? Gamers have old versions of Chaosium Runequest, BRP Gold Book, Mongoose Runequest II, and OpenQuest already to choose from. Why should I buy your version?

    What's the story behind the mohawked Ratman(?)? I'm not a Gloranthaphile... so maybe that's why I'm unfamiliar.

  10. Very intriguing. I might have to pick this up.

    The cover image, and the background description reminded me both of Barsoom and HPL's Dreamlands. Definitely pluses, in my book. (As a side-note: I'm halfway through A Princess of Mars, which is my introduction to Burroughs. Inspiring stuff).

    I'm very tempted to run a John Carter-esque campaign, with 'travelers' from the 1920s or 30s 'crossing over' to a science fantasy world. I wonder if CoFE would do the trick?

    I think everybody's right ;)

    Can I throw "Zothique" into the mix too? And maybe a hint of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Hawkmoon, Lovecraft's Dreamlands, Tekumel, Byzantium, and Leigh Brackett? And, in a *very* bizarre way, the original Planet of the Apes movie? :P

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