Jason D

I took a recent look at Questworld specifically with the thought of "Would this work as a BRP supplement" and sadly, it really didn't fit the bill. It's still fairly tied to Glorantha, and feels very, very dated.

Nope. The excerpt I quoted was #1 of three plans Dustin was eager to pursue. #2 was BRP monographs. #3 was something else that I can't talk about.

Based on what Dustin and I talked about a while ago, their goal is to break a setting into manageable pieces to start with - smaller sourcebooks with followup publications if the setting was popular. I think they're trying to steer clear of monolithic settings that take forever to detail and even longer to write. Remember that all of the works you mention began initially as smaller pieces, articles in fanzines, etc.

Worlds of Cthulhu covered it.

From a recent email from Dustin (edited for public viewing) regarding future submissions:

At the bottom of the scale is hide/soft leather/heavy clothing with an armor value of 1, and at the top is powered assault armor with a 24. Full plate is 8.

As a point of reference, Dustin Wright is very interested in seeing new settings for BRP. You can contact him at dustin@chaosium.com, and he'll gladly field any questions about submissions, either as monographs or as longer works.

Mostly... every so often they make a slip and didn't catch one.

None whatsoever. There's some discussion of material rewards in the GM section, but given the setting-free nature of the rules, it didn't make any sense to include such a system. The weapons charts are pretty standard - nothing too unusual or strange. Again, given that it covers weapons from thrown rocks to plasma rifles, I had to keep the list fairly mainstream. Setting books will undoubtedly provide additional gear specific to the setting.

I should also mention that I've seen the stuff in Stormbringer (expansions of the Fly skill), and that's made it into the core book.

As an aside, other than the brief mention of them in The Shattered Isle, is there anywhere in the canon of BRP materials that have aerial combat rules?

I don't know anything solid. The gist of what I reported on rpg.net is that Chaosium is aware that there is a negative perception, and is considering options. I am aware of some of the options, and unaware of others. If one of those options I'm aware comes to pass, I will be exceptionally pleased. (And that's beyond being unbelievably ecstatic that a core BRP rulebook largely written by me is actually in print.) Obviously, I can't really speak publicly about the behind-the-scenes situation. I also don't want to give anyone the impression that a new cover is a foregone conclusion, because it's outside my control.

Not much chance at all. The majority of the playtesters were adamantly against traits in the way they're commonly understood. It was, I think, one of the bitterest discussions during the entire playtest process, and stemmed not from a discussion about traits, but the introduction of the special "profession abilities" from the Call of Cthulhu Investigator's Handbook. (If you're curious, those got cut.) Personally, I'm not really in favor of them for "core" BRP, though I've enjoyed them mightily in other games. If someone wants to put together a traits system as a fan-made submission, or make them a part of a monograph, that's perfectly acceptable and I'd be interested in seeing such a system. Whether I'd use it... it would depend on the system.

There's a big collection at the end of the bestiary chapter with a dozen different hit location charts and the breakdown of how HP are divided amongst them. With that is a breakdown of HPs showing the different divisions (1/2, 1/3, 1/4/ 1/5, 2/5, etc.) for ease of reference for the math-challenged. It's not as easy as RQ3's bestiary was, but then, those values were based on average stats and weren't accurate if the creature had a non-average SIZ and/or CON.

Nothing from there. The chase rules from Call of Cthulhu are in the BRP corebook, but I suspect that one of the most demanded expansions to the core book will be a more robust or detailed vehicular combat system. I did some work on adapting the system from Sailing on the Seas of Fate and looked at the systems in Ringworld and Worlds Beyond (if I remember correctly), but it got to the point where it was, once more, way outside the scope of what BRP was intended to be. I may put a system like that together as a web freebie to coincide with the core book. I'll send an email to Dustin and see if he's game and if they'll host it.

There's Worlds Beyond, a science-fiction game which apparently had some sort of agreement to openly use the BRP rules set.

I suggested this, but apparently they only own first-use rights to most of their cover artwork, or at least for those older pieces.

There were some modifications, but they're still pretty bad. On the other hand, as hit locations are now optional, the combo of fumble + hit location is only there if the GM wants it to be.

Thanks for stating my own beliefs so clearly. I think that BRP isn't a "popular" game system because until now, BRP hasn't really been a game system of its own. For the last 20 years, BRP has been for all intents and purposes just the engine by which people played Runequest, Call of Cthulhu, Stormbringer, and maybe Nephilim. If you want to extend that date back another five years, then you're bringing in out-of-print stuff like Elfquest, Superworld, Ringworld, and maybe Worlds of Wonder. And as for those, Nephilim, Hawkmoon, Elfquest, and Ringworld weren't big-sellers because the subject matter was not well known, or the subject matter just didn't grab fans at the time. Superworld failed because it went toe-to-toe with more entrenched games like Champions, Marvel Superheroes, and Villains & Vigilantes (though the decidedly unheroic art style didn't help). On the other hand, Stormbringer lasted for a long, long time - five editions and another game is a robust game line for any RPG. RuneQuest and BRP took separate paths for a very long time but are (more or less) back together again in a slightly different form, and Call of Cthulhu still has a huge and devout following. So, it'll be interesting to see what the upcoming year says about BRP and how well the market embraces it. I'm just hoping that there aren't too many mistakes in the final manuscript...

Rolls of 99-00 if your skill is less than 50% are fumbles, and 00 if your skill is anything higher. There are fumble charts for melee, missile, and unarmed combat, and some guidelines are suggested for other skill, resistance roll, or characteristic check fumbles.

Not so much, other than some gear. For my purposes, it was the weakest of the three books, in that it was very specifically one setting rather than a generic "type" of setting. The lack of space travel, for example, seemed very tied to that view rather than sci-fi in general.

Yes, yes, and "other penalties" (athletic- and perception-type skills).

On the other hand, most rolls are going to end up with basic successes or failures, which don't need the chart.

Criticals are still in the core rulebook at the behest of my co-designer and the early playtest. My preference would have been to remove them and make the system that much easier to grok.

Not only mentioned, but described. There are all manner of energy weapons (melee and missile) and armors, sci-fi vehicles, and some equipment described. Plus a couple of sample robots and aliens. Not a ton, but enough to give you a good start.