Ron Blessing

In the Introduction chapter these are mentioned as tools for learning the game. I don't see them anywhere. What am I missing?

No, you've got it backwards... Age-5 is the maximum EDU can be to start with, not the starting value for EDU.

The reason EDU didn't have a starting value suggested was to allow the GM to set it to an appropriate value for the campaign. That way, in a campaign where the GM says "You're all professors at M.I.T.", one of the players doesn't create a character with an EDU 7, or the converse where the PCs are all grade school kids and one of them rolls an 18 for EDU.

If you don't have a strong preference, then start it at 10 with the other characteristics.

I'd make each EDU point cost 3 points and bump up the starting number of characteristic points by the following amounts:

• Normal - Increase starting points by 6 (letting players add +2 EDU without affecting the way other points are spent, making a generic person a high school graduate or the equivalent)
  
• Heroic - Increase starting points by 12 (letting players add an average of +4 EDU, giving everyone a few years of college or the equivalent)
  
• Epic - Increase starting points by 18 (or +6 EDU, a college graduate or thereabouts)
  
• Superhuman - Increase starting points by 24 points (around +8 EDU, the equivalent of a M.A. or advanced degree)
  

Why aren't the extra point totals higher? The reason is that these points in EDU will double-dip, so to speak, adding more skill points. They also present the option of unbalancing starting point totals if they're not spent on EDU, so the GM should police how those points are spent.

Jason, thanks for clearing all this up. Good info here. I see GM fiat being important with the EDU base level. I just wanted to make sure that 10 was a good starting point. And definitely thanks for clearing up the starting build points!

That reference is in error - it should be Step Three (p20) and Step Seven (p24).

Thanks for the quick reply and clearing that part up, but I guess I'm still not understanding something. Are you saying that when using Point-Based Character Creation their base EDU should be Age-5? Am I understanding that right?

Still, that wouldn't answer the other part of my question, which is how does having EDU in the game affect the number of build points in Point-Based Character Creation?

OK. I've made my introductions in the appropriate forum, so for my second post I have a question:

Within the Point-Based Character Creation sidebar (p. 19) it mentions adding EDU as an option, but I'm wondering if the base is still 10. Also, should the starting points still be 24?

It says, "the gamemaster should assign a value to EDU based on your character’s age (described in Step Eight on page 24) and background." But Step Eight doesn't mention character age at all.

Would someone be so kind as to clear this up for me? Thanks in advance!

Hi! Ron Blessing, here. I've been roleplaying for 25 years but honestly have little experience with BRP. I played in a short CoC campaign in the early '90s, wherein my first character stepped into a door that seemed to lead to outer space. Apparently, it did. Oops. Aside from being a fan of HPL's works, my next contact with CoC was last year when I played in a one-shot at a local gaming event. Not only did I live through that one, but I was the one of the few.

These days I manage a game store (not own), do some freelance editing in the RPG industry, and host and produce a gaming podcast. I primarily GM (as a preference, not a curse), but recently I've been playing more.

I bought the new BRP core book last year and am just now diving in. A listener of my show told me about this community.