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Jason D

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Everything posted by Jason D

  1. Adding more Elric/SB sorcery and then another system called "Sorcery" would be too confusing, at least in my opinion.
  2. Was this rule in any errata? I'm fairly certain it isn't in Magic World. If it is, I'd love a page reference on that.
  3. There were a few reasons: a) Adding both of those systems would have bumped the book's size up considerably, by at least another 30-45 pages. Including those systems would have skewed the book very heavily towards feeling like "RQ with the serial numbers filed off", which I was adamant that the book NOT become. c) The BRP book is the spiritual successor to Worlds of Wonder, hence the inclusion of the Magic World stuff. MW has a classic, easy to use, generic magic system that none of the magic systems from RQ emulate. The addition of the SB/Elric! stuff was mostly a low-hanging fruit - easy to put in and not tremendously difficult to adapt to the new rules. I'm quite eager to see those systems make it into a BRP sourcebook*. I just don't have the time or energy to write it. * I've suggested before that the spirit, divine, and ritual magic from RQ; some de-Lovecraftized Call of Cthulhu magic; the Ki powers from Land of Ninja; more info on demon summoning from Stormbringer (4th edition); and some of the expanded magic from The Bronze Grimiore and The Unknown East would make a kick-ass BRP Magic.
  4. The default is that it's a combined skill (your skill in Melee Weapons (Daggers) would be 55% for both attacks and parries. Optional rules allow for the GM to split attack and parry into two separate skills. The default rules assume a broad specialization in weapon classes. For example, 1-Handed Swords, 2-Handed Axes, etc. Optional rules allow for more detailed specialization, so you might have Broadsword, Shortsword, Rapier, Scimitar, Saber, etc. There are suggestions as to handle someone with a narrow specialization handling a weapon of the similar broad type.
  5. There is no skill level associated with Sorcery. (Are you confusing the older summoning-style magic from the earlier editions of Stormbringer?)
  6. Bad example (I didn't refer to the powers section of the manuscript, which was nailed down sometime a year ago) - I now recall that the damage spells are more expensive, and can be dodged or parried with a shield.
  7. There are five separate power types presented in the core rulebook. Though they're somewhat compatible, the GM is advised to pick one power type that works for the setting and stick with it. It isn't hard to make them play together, but they're not balanced against one another at all. Magic Spells are from Magic World, from the Worlds of Wonder boxed set. They are handled like skills - you pick how many power points (levels) you're going to throw into a spell, roll % for success, and apply results based on the level of power points used. Levels are limited by 1/2 your character's INT. For example, if you have Blast 55% and INT 16, you can throw up to 8 levels of Blast. Roll under 55%, spend 8 power points, and you've got a 8d6 Blast attack. The more levels you throw into a spell, the slower it is, so you would go at a lower DEX rank. Magic spells increase like skills. Mutations (based on those from Hawkmoon) are almost always either modifications to characteristics or skills, or sometimes allow other (or diminished) use of a skill. Some of them have a power, like Pheromones or Regeneration. Some are bodily modifications such as Natural Weapon or Wings, while others are cosmetic with some minor in-game effects, like Coloration or Luminescence. Psychic Abilities are usually skill-based, or skill and POW vs. an opposing value based. They have a variable power point cost to use. They increase with experience when used successfully. It is loosely-based on the system from Elfquest. Sorcery is the system from Elric!/Stormbringer, and doesn't require spell rolls. Spells usually have levels, equivalent to how many power points they cost to cast. Usually, they simply work. Characters can know a limited number of spell levels at any given time, but can cast the spells they know freely, assuming they have power points and some required element (like a summon elemental spell might require some element handy). Sorcery doesn't increase in experience so much as sorcery-using characters learn new spells, or more levels of already-known spells. Super powers are based on the ones from the Super-World book from Worlds of Wonder, and the later Superworld game. They are rated in levels, and sometimes simply work, sometimes must beat an opposed characteristic on the resistance table, and sometimes use an existing or new skill to succeed. Some might increase the utility of a normal skill in a "super" way. Sometimes they augment a characteristic or other character attribute. Sometimes they grant a new ability that isn't covered by one of these factors. They can be increased through a variety of means, but not by the traditional skill/experience method.
  8. The little things, like some new much-needed skills (Strategy and Teach), some of the suggestions for higher-powered gaming (heroic HP, for example), and some of the "new" creatures. I also liked writing up the NPC digest, showing the range and variety of NPCs (and by default, PCs) the game is capable of. The GMing advice sections, and just completing it despite the incredible chao my life went through during the writing process. Least proud would be taking so long on it. See my blog entry on the subject for more details on why. No, they didn't. Ironically, given my mention above about not wanting to include rules for spaceships, the ship sailing rules were not added specifically because it would have skewed the book too far towards fantasy/medieval, and I wanted to keep it agnostic in regards to setting. They're in there as an optional rule.
  9. Is it possible to move the "complaining about the lack of a starship design system" discussion to a different thread? I started this thread to provide answers for people curious about the book - not really for a lengthy back-and-forth about a question that's been asked, answered, asked why, answered why, etc. Not meaning to sound cranky about it, but it's dominated the last few pages of the thread.
  10. Not overmuch. Just something I'd had on a back-burner for a couple of years now, wanting a home. I sent Dustin a list of the top four things I'd like to write (prioritized by my interest level), and he said they'd like to see a full proposal for the first of them. Once the contract is signed (assuming they do so), I'll let folks know what it is.
  11. The Decipher Star Trek and LotR lines are both stone cold dead. I believe they've lost the rights to publish anything for them. You'd have to take that up with them.
  12. I'm happy to report that I just got an email back from Dustin asking me to send on a full outline and schedule for my first sourcebook for BRP. From there we move to contract. Since it's not a rulebook, and is mostly source material, it should be pretty quick from outline to completion. More information when it's approved and work has begun.
  13. I didn't take it as a slam... more as a "It would be awesome if someone could write a starship creation/modification/combat system for BRP." I would happily use it, though I've got no interest in writing it. Sorry if the answer came back as argumentative.
  14. This is a good time to note, once more, that Dustin Wright at Chaosium is eager to hear from people who'd like to be authors of BRP sourcebooks.
  15. Not really. BRP, in all of its incarnations, has primarily been about characters rather than vehicles. These character might be investigators, sorcerers, adventurers, spacefarers, superheroes... but the BRP game has always treated vehicular combat (and vehicles in general) lightly, and I consciously chose to stick with that decision. It wasn't just a case of "what was there", as by that token I'd have included the ship combat rules from Elric! and had much more major adapted material from Ringworld.
  16. Metric, with some Imperial conversions where needed, and sometimes used in flavor text.
  17. Worlds Beyond has a 16-page BRP-compatible chapter called "Starship Design/Construction."
  18. There are spot rules for vacuum, radiation, and zero-gravity combat. If I recall, some of the other sections in the spot rules address (briefly) stuff like non-breathable or corrosive atmospheres. This is probably going to be one of the more controversial aspects of the core rulebook. Equipment, vehicles, etc. are basically classified as "Cheap" through "Priceless", which correspond to the wealth levels from "Destitute" through "Wealthy". Additionally, two other values are "Free" (you can find it or make it easily from found materials) and "Restricted" (ownership is extremely limited to government or military use). Wealth levels are suggested by professions, and are subject to GM approval, based on the setting. Use your Status roll to buy stuff outside your wealth level. BRP setting sourcebooks are expected to address appropriate currency directly.
  19. There is a grain of truth to it - there certainly isn't what anyone would consider to be a robust vehicle construction system, and the vehicular combat rules are very light. You could probably fake either of them, but it isn't anything like Traveller or Mechwarrior, for example. If there is any bias with the core rules, it's the same one BRP has always had - that it isn't really focused on settings where complex vehicular combat (or detailed resolutions of mass combat, for another example) are essential. However, that isn't to say that someone won't come along and write a kick-ass starship construction system for BRP. The thing I wrote was just the core rulebook - it's specifically designed to have additional systems added to it where needed.
  20. I hope so, too. I'm pretty sure it won't come to that. Charlie Krank contacted me today and said he'd just been at a convention in Paris with tape-bound copies of the BRP book to show off to potential authors of source material. He mentioned making some last-minute edits that I'd sent recently. That doesn't sound like it's about a book that's not coming out soon.
  21. Magic is from the Magic World setting from Worlds of Wonder. It's a very basic %-based system with classic spellcasting powers like lightning bolts, fireballs, etc. Sorcery isn't entirely summoning, but is mostly the Chaos-based magic from Elric! They have very different feels and applications, and little overlap. Yep.
  22. They don't. I'm not sure what you mean by that. You don't "have" to combine one power set with another - but you might want to for a particular setting or to write up a particular character. Any one of these power sets is suitable for use as the only power set in a setting (and each has been, though Magic World didn't have a setting specifically). Hopefully, enough guidance is provided that GMs can make up new powers or modify the existing ones enough to suit a setting perfectly.
  23. It's more a case of the rules stating explicitly that the powers types aren't intended to be used together, that they aren't balanced against one another, but are more like "here are five different types of powers - pick one for your setting." Your mutant might have some scaled and armored skin, and maybe a higher CON and HP, but he's likely still toast when Captain Neutron tags him with a full-force quantum blast. There are some guidelines about what to do if you're using more than one type, how to quantify them against one another, but every bit of GM guidance is that it's best to pick one and use it alone in a setting. You forgot Magic, so I'll add it. Weakest are Mutations - they're limited in range, scope, and applicability, and some are disadvantageous. Somewhere in the middle are Magic, Sorcery, and Psychic Powers. There are some weak powers, some strong powers, and some utilitarian powers in each. A fledgling magic user, sorcerer, and psychic are at roughly the same power level. Probably the most versatile are Super Powers. You can come close to approximating a number of the other powers, or you can invest entirely in heightened skills, characteristics, hit points, and other benefits like that to create non-"powered" characters, or you can be Green Lantern with all sorts of exciting energy powers and vulnerable to something as stupid and common as the color yellow.
  24. Psychic powers use their own system (they aren't a variant of super powers, magic, mutations, or sorcery) and spend power points (the generic term for magic points). The default system is similar to that from Elfquest. Most of the traditional psychic powers are there, including several that weren't in EQ and some EQ powers aren't there. There are also a few psychic powers that are more like knacks, small powers that don't really scale but represent some mental gift the character has beyond a high POW or INT score. You should be able to patch them onto any BRP system without much difficulty. The only confusion might come when you attempt to combine them with other power types, such as pitting psychic powers vs. sorcery, or mutations.
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