Jason D

Rather than having a bunch of individual skills like Chemistry, Physics, Metallurgy, etc. you have Science (Chemistry), Science (Physics), Science (Metallurgy), etc. This also makes it easier to determine potential cross-skill bonuses, such as if your Science (Chemistry) skill might add a bonus to your Science (Metallurgy) skill. Mostly it just cleans up the character sheet. If the GM is running a really quick-and-light game, a character might just have "Science" as a flat skill that covers everything.

When the GM allows, a successful Strategy skill can provide a slight bonus to the team with the Strategist. It can be used in mass combat situations (though those are only superficially handled). Command Teach A lot of weapon/combat skills were folded into cap-skills, like Artillery Rather than a dozen or more specific knowledge and science sorts of skills, there's a Knowledge skill and a Science skill that depend on specialties (or can be used as-is for a very light game). Sense covers scent/touch/taste Mostly the same. I think there may have been one or two slight tweaks.

Agreed (though I first read it 25 years ago). And we're off topic, so let's end this line of discussion (or take it elsewhere). :focus:

It's not on the more recent cover mockups I've seen.

I use a red marker when I proofread - it makes it easier to find the edits later on.

Sample Pages 1 Sample Pages 2 Sample Pages 3 System Index So, there you go. Sorry some are a little blurry.

Since I got the go-ahead from Charlie Krank at Chaosium, here are some preview images of the proofreading copy of BRP. This is a tape-bound edition being used for proofreading and final edits. Some contents may change, so this is in no way to be considered final. I have chosen not to display the temporary cover, as it is a placeholder and I don't want to circulate any potential disinformation or add to the hysteria that accompanied the previous cover image. The Title Page The Table of Contents The Intro History of BRP Character Sheet Front Character Sheet Back Character Creation

Feels weird to quote myself, but I got the official go-ahead on my next project, and will be working on it as soon as my proofing/editing pass on BRP is done! More info will follow when I'm at work on it.

I haven't seen the recent prices... I own copies of all the original release paperbacks as well as the Nightshade collections (but bought them new, for sane prices). KEW's early death was a damned shame, especially since it would have been so preventable had he just sought help, or let his friends know he was on the downslide.

I mean sword-and-sorcery ala Michael Moorcock, Robert E. Howard, Karl Edward Wagner, etc. A world of humans, with gritty blood-soaked pulpy combat, ancient and evil gods, lost cities, where sorcery is generally evil, and heroes don't go festooned in magic gear bought in the magic equivalent of Wal-Mart.

I'm uncertain about the dominance of d20 with the announcement of D&D 4th edition. My gut feeling is that the current "wait and see" period will drive a lot of the smaller publishers out of business, and will drive the middle-sized guys into doing their own systems and becoming less reliant on the OGL. I'm already seeing this manifest in the number of companies eager to liquidate d20 and making no announcements about 4th edition products, but trumpeting their own systems more and more. Regardless of BRP, you've got to realize that Call of Cthulhu (game and fiction lines) has been their bread and butter for something like 25 years, long after other game lines have come and gone. It has kept them afloat through hard times, continues to sell reliably, and is the company's most valuable asset. I don't see them as "betting the farm" with BRP... it's more a case of allowing themselves the option of having more to their catalog than just Call of Cthulhu. Chaosium once published games in wealth of settings (fantasy, sword-and-sorcery, science fiction, super heroics, etc.), and the BRP core book allows them to set themselves up to do so again.

In no particular order: A magic powers book expanding the use of magic and sorcery, and adding more like summoning, etc. A fantasy setting book leaning more towards the sword-and-sorcery than the elves, dwarves, etc. A high fantasy setting book (with the elves, dwarves, etc.) to serve as Chaosium's "new Glorantha" A science fiction setting book including spaceship/vehicle rules (combat, construction, customization, etc.) - maybe a revised Worlds Beyond? A post apocalyptic setting book Historical setting books (ancient Egypt, Japan, Celtic Ireland, etc.) I'm (hopefully) writing on a book that's none of those, though.

There's good news, and some "bad" news: The good news is that Charlie has given me the OK to post preview material, and even offered to provide some stuff. I'm going to get out my wife's digital camera and post a few images of the book, complete with the TEMPORARY cover (which may look familiar to longtime BRP fans). The "bad" news is that today is my wedding anniversary, and I'm booked for the evening, so it'll have to be tomorrow that I get that stuff out. I'll post it on a new thread on this forum.

Or maybe we could just have the first L in Roleplaying sort of be at a 45-degree angle and intersect the O, making it RQ EPLAYING? I'll run that by Chaosium. I'm sure they'll go for it... On a more serious note, I've emailed Chaosium about putting up some sort of preview, no matter how informal. I'll see what they decide to let me do. However, this is really their baby, and they're the ones who ultimately are going to decide how to promote it, so no hard feelings at all if they decide to handle things themselves.

I'll pass word along. It's really a question of resources, though, and they're a pretty small company.

The Chaosium Report that just went out said "Winter 2008" (which is to say the 2008 portion of the current winter, not the one in 12 months). I suspect, based on a comment in the report, that there'll be some sort of advanced look or preview edition, but don't quote me on that.

As an aside, my wife has just called to inform me that I've received a package from Chaosium with some preliminary tape-bound copies of BRP inside for final checking and proofing. The cover is a temp one, in case anyone was thinking to ask. Can't wait to get home!

Not quite accurate. Star Wars Saga Edition was based on the in-development version of D&D 4th edition. If anything, it's a sneak-preview of 4E, and the D&D designers are using it as a beta-test for some of the new mechanics.

I actually like it (it's appreciably faster for non-quoting replies), and it doesn't seem to be doing any harm. I'd say keep it.

Personally, I'm not against the notion of taking inspiration from other games, or even evolving mechanics based on what has previously been developed. I do have a problem with the issue of rewriting material so it is systematically identical, yet doesn't infringe on the original author's/publisher's copyrights. It is especially galling when a publisher fails to give credit for such blatant plagiarism. To address your two examples: The BRP percentile-based system doesn't plagiarize old D&D thief skills in fundamental ways. It advances along different parameters (experience vs. level) and results are handled differently (I don't remember critical/special results or fumbles being a part of that minor system). Characteristics are also handled significantly differently in BRP than in D&D. In addition to two new ones (SIZ and POW), one missing one (WIS), each one of them has a radically different effect on play. Stormbringer and RQ2's characteristic-based skill modifiers predated D&D 3rd edition's characteristic-based skill modifiers by more than 20 years. I'm curious as to what point you're trying to make with your post. Are you advocating plagiarism? Are you advocating stealing ideas without giving credit where they're due? A friend told me recently that Wizards of the Coast has let the trademark to the term "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" lapse. If this is true, a publisher could rewrite AD&D from scratch, copying the system exactly. They could stamp their name on it as the sole author, and publish it under the title Advanced Dungeons & Dragons without any credit to Gary Gygax (or Dave Arneson). Is it legal? Sure, I suppose. Is it ethical? Personally, I think it's a lousy way to do business.

I don't know the contractual details (you'd have to work them out with Chaosium), but Chaosium owns the rights to the contents of the RQ3 magic book. If you were interested in working on something related to that, you could contact them (Dustin or Charlie @chaosium.com) and submit a proposal, including an estimated word count and schedule. They'll likely take a little time to get back to you (they're both extremely busy with the BRP book) and will either accept the proposal or ask for a revised proposal. Then they'll issue a contract. In the case of BRP, they supplied me with electronic versions of several Chaosium publications (the DBRP/RQ3 monographs among them), as well as some copies of older books that didn't exist in electronic versions. I handled the playtest recruitment through a few resources (Tom Zunder's The Tavern, rpg.net, some existing BRP/RQ-related mailing lists), and made a Yahoo! group to handle the playtest.

The materials Sandy wrote are owned and copyrighted by him, unless he's sold the rights to them elsewhere. Releasing them on the web, even if for free, is in no way shape or form a relinquishment of those rights. The material will enter public domain when Sandy declares that they're in the public domain, or 75 years after his death, whichever comes first. (Some countries vary on the length of time after death, but it's usually at least 50 years.) My suggestion for someone wanting to do such a project (using that material) would be to contact Sandy and ask him for permission to use his work as the basis, and come to an arrangement that's mutually agreeable to both of you. This might include sharing some of the monies paid for the work. If Sandy doesn't want the material used, it's his right, and in my opinion, it's not a justification for just rewording his work and passing it off using the "you can't copyright a system, just the words" defense. Even if you end up rewriting the whole thing from scratch, you should fully acknowledge Sandy's contribution and credit him accordingly.

Almost all stats. There is no characteristic roll for SIZ, of course. We wanted a quick characteristic check when no obvious resisting force presented itself. Making characteristics more important in regular play was an important goal. Like using an Agility roll (DEX x 5) when doing something like that "balance an egg on a spoon while walking" game. For example, here's the text from the description of the Stamina roll (CON x 5): Based upon CON, Stamina rolls measure endurance. Use a Stamina roll whenever physical or intestinal fortitude is in question. To list a few examples, a Stamina roll might determine whether or not your character can stay awake all night, or endure seasickness, ill-prepared food, or strong drink with no ill effects. None of them seemed as "important" as determining the POT of an opposing force. For seasickness, do you do a resistance roll versus the POT of the sea's motion? It seemed easier to just call for a characteristic roll. Pretty much.

The Elric!/Stormbringer major wound table, consulted when you take 1/2 your HP in one blow, is in the default system.

Yes it is.