SDLeary

What about simply giving the opponent a penalty to their next action? They have been placed at a disadvantage (tripped, bad footing, poor positioning, etc) by the action of the attacker. Say –25%? This, combined with the damage of the lucky hit, might yield interesting results. SDLeary

Yes! That fits much better. SDLeary

I would say Spot more than Search. Search is much more looking in drawers, turning over furniture; much more an action than something sensory based. I would say Jump, Run, Wrestle, just because I'm a contrarian. Engineer should really be a different skill. Someone who knows how to set traps, repair a barrel, doesn't know how to build a tower, or design a siege engine. An Engineer is unlikely to know how to properly build a trap (I envision Trap as including the ability to camouflage or conceal the existence of a trap). Its like the difference between First Aid and Surgery in other games. Manipulation implies the use of hands, which Move Quietly probably doesn't do often, other than to gently move branches or impediments out of the way. I would shunt this into Physical, perhaps even combining it with Hide and simply calling the resulting skill Stealth (moving quietly often also includes hiding; and hiding often includes getting to your hiding point without being detected). I have issues with a universal "Medicine" skill to, but this has been around for a while, so I'd keep it. SDLeary

I would keep Cultures and Professions. IMO lifepaths can be too fiddly. You could ways keep options around for a change of profession at some point, or even just a simple point buy. Point allocation, with die rolling as an option. Two different point totals; one for "normals" and one for "heroes". Same with die rolls, 3d6 for "normals" and 2d6+6 for "heroes". This gives a bit more variability for both characters and game type. I would be inclined to keep the modifiers, but I'm willing to take a look at what a new Aptitude system might look like. I would also keep MWs allotments, with Allocated points as an option. (Lots of sidebars in my version!) Swim and Climb do not belong in Athletics, though combining others would work. Being a good runner doesn't mean you know how to swim. Being a big and burly football player doesn't mean you can climb well. In fact, I would be inclined to allow this version to function as a Grapple/Wrestling replacement. Do not go overboard with skill renaming. Repair/Devise is much more focused; if you rename it Engineer, then you might have a hunter trying to build a ballista. Yes, agreed. SDLeary

Last weeks score...

Sorry, Eclipse Phase. SDLeary

I like some of its ideas, but hate the needless complexity. How did you pare it? SDLeary

And Ringworld if you can find a copy. SDLeary

Eclipse Phase is % based, though it seems much more crunchy than any version of BRP. SDLeary

Don't worry... the latter is just a division of HYDRA! What could go wrong? SDLeary

I have toyed with this idea, though I naturally shy away from tables when possible. Basically, Soul (the combination Power Points and Sanity) has three triggers: Violence, Helplessness, and Unnatural. Each of these triggers is the character's tolerance for that type of horror. If confronted, you roll against the appropriate trigger: if you crit, then you are not phased; succeed, and you are not phased this time, but loose some points; fail, then the character is shaken, they loose their points and are at a penalty for all actions against their foe; fumbles react with a fight, flight, or unconsciousness response, players choice, and they loose max points. Higher triggers mean less subject to that form or horror; this can manifest in the character as a colder or more callous view towards that type of horror, in modern terms becoming more sociopathic. Triggers may be checked on Crits or Fumbles; successful check roll increases score by 1d3. Soul points return at the rate of 1/day, if alone and resting, faster if under the care of a Counselor (monk, psychologist, family member; 1d3/day). Triggers can be increased or decreased if the character has committed themselves, or been committed, to a facility and is under the care of a Psychiatrist or someone else in the game world that cares for troubled minds, or troubled souls. Factoring Magic or Psychic Abilites into the mix, this becomes something of a mental fatigue. The more magic or abilities you use, the more subject you become to "a troubled soul" or a mental break; that is to say that they factor into the maximum you can loose within a given period of time. A fumble when using powers is the same as a fumble of a trigger roll, as above. SDLeary

No, it was for RQ2 stuff. I could create an RQIII PC in about 5 min, so wasn't really interested in that, but the NPC generator was a useful tool, even if the squads created were technically for RQ2. IIIRC, yes, it was written by someone on campus. SDLeary

Its the UNIX program that I mentioned upthread. I played with it in the early 90s. Being unfamiliar with UNIX at the time, it was tons of fun trying to run it in DOS! SDLeary

Huh, interesting. The output that someone gave me way back when was about a ream of 11x17 tractor feed from what appeared to be a 9-pin printer! I suppose they could have used an early version of Ghostscript. SDLeary

That sounds like it was the NPC generator. IIRC, it printed out reams of opposition "squads"; NPCs in an old squad sheet format. Five or so mooks and a "captain". The source or the actual executable? SDLeary

Yes, but considering that the new RQ will be based partially on RQ2, something like this could provide a good core starting point for someone who wanted to roll their own. SDLeary

This is similar to my approach. With a few variables... Mooks can wear armor, but anything that gets through the armor takes them out. They can also dodge or parry. I don't worry about stats, though I do give them a d8 damage (seems to be the average in RQIII anyway). Sergeants may have stats, but often just more/higher skills. It takes a Major Wound or the incapacitation of a Location to take them out. And then NPCs of varying types. And anyway, I just can't use the term Minion anymore. I always visualize these guys... SDLeary

If anyone knows where the Soda Archives went, it was there. Along with other interesting tidbits, such as a similar app that created opponents. IIRC though they were all UNIX programs. SDLeary

Well, this would provide an opportunity. You would have Basic Roleplaying: An Introductory Guide... You could then take the BGB and remove the introductory bits, tweak some of the other things so that they would fit better, perhaps get Steve to expand on Superpowers slightly, and rename it Basic Roleplaying: Advanced Options. Perhaps even pull out the GM advice, expand on it, and produce a third volume, Basic Roleplaying: A Gamemasters Guide. Yeah, wishful thinking and time consuming, I know! SDLeary

This sounds like the fine basis for a new Combat Action... the Surge. Each subsequent action takes place on the following SR. If you miss, initiative on the next melee round automatically goes to your opponent(s). I might also enact some sort of fatigue roll for the flurry of action, especially if the fighting had been going on for a while. SDLeary

It actually seemed to work out well, unless you wanted to be a master of stealth. There many had a negative modifier. "Noticeable" is somewhat subjective; it improved your chance of learning. And as your chances decreased as you skill increased, any additional modifier was of tremendous help. The modifiers were never large enough to be overwhelming, at least not in any of the games I ever played in. SDLeary

And for some time there was a third "monograph" that was essentially the Players Book. This went away when Jason's project on the BGB was revealed. SDLeary

WOO! Dad's Army for the win! SDLeary

No no no, that I have. The issue expressed was one of having to roll an extra die for hit location. In either option an additional die has to be rolled. Either by the attacker (hit location) or the defender (variable die if not using hit locations). Both sides have expressed issues with rolling the extra die. I've never seen hit locations as a problem, because if I want to speed things up, I roll the d20 for locations at the same time I roll the % for the To Hit roll. And I have also never seen the issue of rolling the armor die in BRP versions that require it ( though I do prefer locations and fixed). SDLeary

I have a silly question. Why does having a roll for hit location cause consternation, but a roll for variable armor not? Is it just because it is the attacker rolling rather than the defender? SDLeary