bighara

I'm not really liking the idea of each defense roll after the first having a cumulative -30% penalty. I really don't want to keep track of how many times each character and NPC has been attacked during a round. I was thinking of just removing the rule entirely, but I'd like to have some rule where a character suffers a penalty when fighting multiple opponents. Is there something like a gang-up bonus/penalty already made somewhere? If not what would be a good way of handling something like this?

If you want to give the attacker(s) a bonus instead of the defender a penalty, maybe you could just say that for every extra attacker (2:1, 3:1, etc.), each of them gets a +X% to their attacks against the target.

So instead of having a bunch of professions, I'm thinking about letting folks customize their characters more. What I'm not sure of is how to handle restricting PC magic. Perhaps I'll have just 3-4 distinct professions with sorcerers and shamans among them. Otherwise, the player just customizes his PC. The professions restrict what skills you can take initially, but give you access to some special skills (like magic).

Make sense?

Could you combine the thoughts on training and healing inbetween episodes?

For each wound get back 2 hp naturally and for the rest it costs (100) gold per HP for the apothecary to heal it

Then (1000) gold per additional skill check (being a kindhearted old duffer I think I'd just roll for HOW MUCH the skill improved by rather than making this an extra chance to see IF the skill improved)

Anything left over gets turned into a temporary bonus to APP (next episode only) as the character has for once got a clean, non-blood or vomit stained jerkin, has had a bath and probably has some tasteless jewellery and/or decorative hangers on of the opposite sex as well - say each (1000) gold unspent gives +1 APP?

Interesting notions. Training costs can keep folks poor, of course, but I don't know about attaching healing costs. Possibly you could present it as a choice to the players (they just love thinking they have free will! ). i.e. Pay the surgeon/apothecary to heal faster or pay more in-town cost of living while you heal up at a slower (natural) rate.

The leftover cash/bonus to APP is amusing. However, I know some players would balk at not getting to keep their ill-booten gotty. Perhaps a Luck roll to see how much they have left at the end of their carouse?

I think your skill list might be too long for S&S. I'm assuming for the moment that you'll want to play something realtively true to the genre, Howardesque with some Leiber thrown in. So here's what I personally would cut/change:

Appraise: This one is debatable, IMO. I mean, really, what is appraise for except for earning money. But S&S isn't usually about earning money [edit: at least not for the long term], so I'm not sure this skill will be much use in play. Personally, I'd drop it and just tell the PCs what things are worth. I'd use the Legend Lore to let them figure out if things were uniquely valuable.

My thought was mostly for determining the value of loot, but I understand your point.

Here's an additional thought - since S&S is usually episodic and the heroes are usually broke, maybe you could have a mechanic whereby the PCs MUST change in their cash & valuables at the end of each episode in exchange for extra skill checks - say one skill check per every 1000 gold - that could be applied to any skill they didn't get a check in.

Interesting, but I'm not sure how well that would work with my players.

Art, Various: I'd drop this - will you really have your S&S heroes making pottery to save their lives or defeat the evil sorceror?

Heh, interesingly, one of the PCs in our last WFRP game was an artist (painter). He got into all sorts of trouble getting involved in salon-cults.

Artillery, Siege (includes assembling siege engines): Again, I'd drop this. S&S is about SWORDS (and other manly weapons) and SORCERY - not about arbalests and trebuchets.

Craft, various: I'd drop this for the same reason as art. Or I might substitute a Devise skill to cover all those situations where the PCs want to make or repair a contraption.

Again, a skill I saw more as background (i.e. the PC used to be a cobbler) or NPC skills.

Etiquette: I would allow it, but I might consider not allowing people to put starting skills into it. But that's just my view of S&S.

It would depend on their background, I guess.

Language, other: Unless you want to roleplay people not communicating well with others as a feature of the game, I would just give everyone the same language. If you do want a lack of communication to be a feature, then fine - but for S&S I would limit the number of languages to 3 or 4.

There are a few (3 or 4) languages in the setting. One of which is the ancient magical language of sorcerers.

Literacy (per alphabet): I'd either eliminate this or, if I was going to allow sorceror characters (which I probably wouldn't) I'd have only one alphabet in the game to keep it simple.

I plan on allowing sorcerer PCs, so I want a hieroglyphic style alphabet.

Research: I'd eliminate it outright for an S&S game. Literacy will suffice if you even need that.

Good point. I was thinking in terms of magical research.

Leechcraft (Medicine): Debatable, IMO. Maybe necessary if you don't have magic healing, but is it really something you want to roleplay in S&S? Maybe you should just have an NPC healer heal them up between episodes - or even better maybe healing is another way to get rid of all that money before the next episode.

Very little magical healing, though I saw the healer more as an NPC. Your episodic ideas have merit. (Apothecaries aren't cheap!)

Perform, various: Again - is this something you see the PCs having to roll on in game? Are they playing Conan or are they playing Sheherzade? But then again, acting might be a useful skill for a Grey Mouser character.

(emphasis mine) That was more or less my thinking.

Legerdemain: Combine it with Palm/Conceal. It's pretty much the same as Palm, isnt it?

Close enough. Consider them combined.

Navigate and Sail/Boating: Put them together. And will your PCs really have to roll on these? Ever? If not, eliminate them.

Good idea. There is a fair bit of sea travel and/or piracy. If the PCs take to the waves for more than just a short trip, they may want to learn boats.

Teach: for NPCs only?

Perhaps.

Strategy: Again, do you foresee the PCs using this? If so, OK.

They might.

Throw: remember you have a 'thrown weapons' weapon skill - you don't need both IMO.

Dropped.

All the others seem good. I guess all I'm asking is 'will the PCs use this skill, how often, and can it be combined with another?'

Thalaba

Thanks for feedback. I want some granularity to skills, but not too much complexity. It's tough to find the balance.

<tangent>

In most Moorcock, the forces of Law recognize the need for Balance, whereas Chaos does not. Since Chaos always strives for total victory, Law must respond similarly. Thus, in most of the stories, the Balance is maintained pendulum-style, as opposed to different forces interacting harmoniously.

</tangent>

So with approximately 50 skills (combat or otherwise) on the able, what's a good skill point total for starting PCs? I want them to be pretty good, but not mega masters out of the gate. A starting character should be a cut above the crowd (I think I'll use the mook rules, giving PCs and major NPCs full SIZ+CON hit points.). Pg. 24 says 325 points for heroic, but with fewer skills I'm not sure that fits.

On a semi-related note, I'm not sure how to proceed re: skills and sorcery. One of the things I don't want is just anyone casting spells. Sorcerers are specialists. People shouldn't be running around with just 1-2 spells. If you study magic, it takes most of your time and effort, you can't do it casually. Also "Elric" types -superb warriors who are also powerful spell casters- don't fight the theme well either. It's not that the sorcerer can never pick up a weapon, but he shouldn't be wading in with a battle axe all the time either. Maybe requiring high Lore and Language skills to be able to learn spells is a possibility?

I need to look over occupations again, I guess.

EDIT: Okay, I just re-read about professions. I think I have a better handle on it now. I just need to decide which professions are available. I think I'll start with the Elric! list and tweak from there.

Grrr geek sacrilege 'tis not Law vs Chaos which is the holy influence in MM's writings (the Lawful chaps are just as batshit crazy a the chaotics) its the dear old cosmic balance vs. Law and Chaos which offers attonement.

If it helps old Squidface and the rest of Lovecraft's gang are VERY lawful......

Al

Heh, you are assuming the Law v. Chaos example in the first sentence is being directly related to the second sentence. Sloppy phrasing on my part, perhaps. I was thinking in terms of how I see preternatural forces in my game, not how they are presented in any "inspirational" writings.

I have been reading (and re-reading) HPL's and Mr. Moorcock's writings for decades. I am very aware of their concepts and how they are presented in their books. I'm not trying to re-create their worlds, just throwing them into the mix, along with ERB, REH, and Mr. Leiber, and others.

Okay, skills!

Here's the list I came up with (non combat):

Appraise

Art, Various

Artillery, Siege (includes assembling siege engines)

Bargain

Climb

Command

Craft, various

Disguise

Dodge

Etiquette

Fast Talk

Locks/Traps (Fine Manip.)

Bind Wounds (1st Aid)

Gamble (Gaming)

Palm/Conceal (Hide)

Insight

Jump

Lore, various (Knowledge)

Language, native

Language, other

Literacy (per alphabet)

Leechcraft (Medicine)

Navigate

Perform, various

Persuade

Research

Ride

Legerdemain

Sail/Boating (Pilot)

Spot

Stealth

Strategy

Swim

Teach

Throw

Tracking

Hmm, sounds pretty good. I had something similar written up on a scrap of

paper somewhere. I'll see if I can dig it up.

Also, and since I did thins with regards to the Elric saga, there should be a method to decrease Corruption. Not

all power wielding personalities were completely wacko. Myshella for example. Maybe some sort of atonement

process can be used to decrease Corruption and return some SAN.

(I think I should just drop the "-V" sig ... to confusing to keep track of)

Ian

Regarding reducing COR, I expect it should be possible, like regaining SAN. But I think I will avoid having "competing" Allegiances like Law v. Chaos. There is no "Holy" power to oppose the demonic in my setting. Demons are more Lovecraftian than Infernal (though they have elements of both). Perhaps doing things like helping to vanquish demons or strengthening the barriers between the mortal world and the realms beyond would reduce your Corruption score. It should be much harder to reduce COR than gain it. I wouldn't want to see players trying to whittle their COR down just so they can build it up again later.

Really quickly, Mongoose Elric allows one to "sacrifice" POW to an Elemental

Lord, Beastlord, of Lords of Chaos/Law - dragons too, but I don't recall demons

specifically. Anyway, this POW is held in reserve so to speak, and is a pact.

Using the POW/SAN relationship from CoC, one could say that the more POW

bartered to a demon/higher lord definitely has an impact on one's SAN

-V

So maybe the "pact POW" ups the "Allegiance" with corruption? Getting the POW back later (if this is even possible) wouldn't diminish your corruption. Just because the deal with the demon is completed, doesn't mean you didn't ever enter into it. So over time multiple pacts, even if just for a service and temporary, can increase your "COR" and reduce your Max SAN.

Obviously if Max SAN = 100-COR, then your PC is out of the game (hopelessly nutso). Maybe a different ratio? 100- (COR/2)? That way you could be utterly corrupt but still a PC? I'm thinking something like Apotheosis if/when 100 COR is reached. e.g. A demon lord appears and makes a bargain with you; You gain a chaotic feature; You become part-demon, etc.

Hello all,

Bighara here. I've prowled many an RPG-board, but only recently found this place. I've played BRP off & on in one form or another since RQ2 was a new game. I just got the new BRP compendium/monster tome and am looking at it as a possible system for a Conan-esqe game I'd like to run in my own setting.

This sounds quite good. My only comments are minor.

I would skip EDU for S&S. I'm thinking all you need is a few lore skills - World Lore for geography and nature, Legend Lore for history and artifacts, and Demon Lore for demons. That's probably all you need.

I'd reduce the weapons even further. I'd put Polearm and Spear together, Net/Lasso/Whip go together into a category called Gladitorial Weapons or Slaver's Weapons (depending on your flavour), Thrown rock under Thrown, and maybe Hand and Improvised together in Brawl or throw them into the gladitorial weapons category.

And I'll second Vagabond's comments. Great start!

Thalaba

Hmm, something like:

Weapon Skills

• Axe (Hand, Battle, Great, Woodsman)
  
• Blowgun
  
• Blunt (Mace, Club, Staff, Morning Star, Hammer)
  
• Bow (Self, Long)
  
• Brawl (Fist, Grapple, Kick, Head Butt, Improvised Weapons, Cestus/Claw)
  
• Crossbow
  
• Dagger (includes Knife)
  
• Flexible Non-Lethal (Net/Lasso/Whip)
  
• Long Weapon (Spears, Trident, Halberd, Pike, etc.)
  
• Shield (+10% Parry bonus)
  
• Sword (1 or 2 handed. Includes Scimitars, Sabers, Short, Broad, Bastard, and Great Swords)
  
• Thrown (Axes, Clubs, Daggers, Knifes, Spears, Slings, etc.)
  

?

Personnally, I always modelled Shields as weapons with a low damage and high Armour Point value, and parry as a reduction of damage done by the attack.

It makes sense however to say that it is easier to put a Hoplite Shield between you and your opponent's weapon than a dagger.

The solution of giving a free attack after a parry by a shield is not satisfying to me. I mean, this would fit very well in a "Swashbuckling" setting where Main gauche are used instead of shields

Hi all, new to this forum and thread, but the shield topic is one I'm currently pondering as well. I was thinking of having Shield as a separate skill with a parry "bonus"/higher basic skill for parries (not bashing). The riposte rules would still apply (Critical parry allows free riposte). Also, based on BRP page 234, other weapons (besides shield and dagger) parry at a Difficult skill roll in the off-hand.

My thinking is 1) The shield is designed for parrying, so it's easier to use in that capacity and in your off hand. 2) It can allow a riposte under certain circumstances. 3) It's very hard to "disarm" a shield, and 3) it at least gives you at least a chance to block an arrow or other missile.

I have Stormbringer 1e and Elric!. I've been looking at those as well. I'll have to look over the "soul bartering" aspect of magic there.

For a Corruption/SAN correlation. I like the idea. I'll have to think about how to do that. Offhand, I'm wondering if Corruption could be like a "Cthulhu Mythos" skill that reduces your maximum SAN. Maybe something like 100-Corruption=Max. SAN? Might need to come up with a cooler name than "Corruption" though.

So I just picked up the BRP pdf and printed it out. I've been reading through a bunch of the options and I'm pretty impressed overall. My goal is to run a Swords & Sorcery style fantasy game (like a lot of other folks here it seems! ). I've started working through the optional rules list and things like that, trying to decide what to include in my game. This is where I'm at so far. I'd appreciate any feedback:

1. 2d6+6 for all scores, players arrange results.
   
2. No non-human characters.
   
3. Cultural backgrounds apply.
   
4. I’m not sure about the EDU score. It’s a fairly primitive world, but it may be the best mechanic for general knowledge.
   
5. Haven’t decided about skill point totals or occupations.
   
6. Hit Points by location. I like the granularity, but I don’t want to keep adding to the dice rolling.
   
7. Fatigue points. I may use a simple ENC & Fatigue mechanic. Again, I don’t want to bog things down too much.
   
8. SAN. Definitely in. It’s not a horror campaign, but if monsters are to be truly “monstrous,” then there needs to be that element of fear and terror, etc.
   
9. Allegiance: Instead of Law v. Chaos, etc. I’m thinking of using the mechanic as a sort of “Corruption” score. As a character deals with things like demonic forces, he risks his soul.
   
10. Powers: Sorcery
    
11. Initiative: DEX (or INT) + 1d10. Powers go off in init order. A sorcerer that chooses to use INT for his initiative is assumed to be starting a spell ad can't "switch to DEX" in mid-round. If he decides to stop casting or is interrupted, he loses the spell and POW.
    
12. Attacks and parries can be over 100% and players can make multiple attacks by splitting their attack %. Attack and Parry are the same skill though.
    
13. I’m thinking of allowing Dying Blows.
    

I'm also thinking of grouping some of the weapon skills together. Something like this:

• Axe (Hand, Battle, Great, Woodsman)
  
• Bow (Self, Long)
  
• Blowgun
  
• Blunts (Mace, Club, Staff, Morning Star, Hammer)
  
• Crossbow
  
• Dagger (includes Knife)
  
• Hand (Cestus, Claw, etc.)
  
• Unarmed (Fist, Grapple, Kick, Head Butt)
  
• Improvised (thrown rock, torch, etc.)
  
• Polearm (Halberd, Pike, etc.)
  
• Spear (1 or 2 handed, includes Trident)
  
• Sword (1 or 2 handed. Includes scimitars, sabers, short, broad, bastard, and great swords)
  
• Staff (Short or Quarter)
  
• Thrown (Axes, Clubs, Daggers, Knifes, Spears, Slings, etc.)
  
• Net/Lasso
  
• Whip