SDLeary

Sorry, old term. An Impale would be a Special Success with a thrusting weapon. Like all other weapons in Magic World, it will do double damage. See the sidebar on p.63: Levels of Success and Failure. In older versions of BRP, weapons such as Spears, Arrows, thrusting Swords, etc. would remain embedded unless actively pulled. The act of withdrawing the weapon from the would would generally cause extra damage. The larger weapons sticking out of a wound, such as spears, could effectively immobilize the opponent if they didn't want to move around and damage themselves further. SDLeary

Damn! Missed it by THAT much! SDLeary

Yes. Missile weapons have use the same Attack matrix, and have the same effects as any other impaling weapon. I would say the base chance with the bow, or perhaps even 1/2 base as its something that you really do not want to do unless its your ONLY option. If the bow was damaged in any such attack, I would rule that it had a chance to break upon the next stringing or use. I would impose a higher chance of breakage if it was used to parry a sword. Nice! Sounds like it was a fun session! SDLeary

The hide WAS connected to the meat. Are you sure they didn't take any with them?

The Thieves' World Box set was released in '81, so it was firmly an RQ2 supplement, as opposed to the others which came out half a decade later and were RQ3 focused. Why would one use them? My guess would be for the same reason that DnD GMs use dungeon modules. For quick or pickup short games with minimal time investment. Stormbinger is focused, and not everyone likes the Moorcock stories, Ringworld is SciFi; and while both are good games and settings, they do not use the RQ3 ruleset. Also, Glorantha with its ultra-rich background (by comparison with most worlds) and the hyper-scholarly discussions by many of its adherents put many a newcomer off of delving into that world. SDLeary

The Moorcock line that Chaosium was producing... Stormbringer, the supplements, Hawkmoon, etc., was not a line that was selling well enough for the effort being expended. In many companies in the world, this kind of product is known as a Financial Albatross. Now the fact that this sentiment of your appears not only here, but RPGnet, and the fact that you seem to be targeting someone with vitrol, calling someone a sycophant for a company, someone who has worked for other companies (he is an independent writer) suggests to me that you might have another axe to grind. If you are calling for civility, then please display it yourself. Thank You SDLeary

Not quite. MagicWorld is not a setting book, though it does present the barest minimum setting in the back as an introduction. It is essentially a streamlined version of the BRP rules for Fantasy role-play, based on Stormbringer 5 (as the core of BRP is). This being said, I see no reason Merrie England would not work if the version you have is Merrie England: Age of Chivalry. If it is the earlier version, Merrie England: Age of Eleanor, then it should still be do-able, but more work on your part to adapt some of the variations in core rules between the mRQII/Legend and MagicWorld. Either way, Merrie England an excellent supplement to have around even as a general source. SDLeary P.S. Simon: Um... Age of Adventure? Age of Crusade? Update please!

Actually, if you could do that, it would be great! Perhaps even making the box a little smaller (set further back perspective wise) so that more of them are outside. SDLeary

Setting books! I am eagerly awaiting Mythic Briton! Loz... make sure you use an extra dose of Warlord in this, OK! SDLeary

Considering the core books size, I think the only "expansions" we need at this point would be setting specific; I think that we are in the same place with the BGB by the way. The pulled Star Wars document and the Firearms document are fine examples. I strongly advise against the Wizards, and sadly Paizo model of ad-infinitum rules books. SDLeary SDLeary

I guess you could call him a rules lawyer! SDLeary

Maps? I love maps! I'm thinking of the excellent maps that came out for ZAON (This used to be downloadable full size, but can't find it now). A large star chart like this, delivered rolled and tubed would be a good stretch goal. SDLeary

You could do it that way. Personally, I would use Blackjack resolution for this. If both the Guard and the Sneaker made their rolls, it would depend on how. Guard- Highest roll AND under skill Sneaker- Under skill Result- Guard cannot see Sneaker, but knows the general area they saw movement well enough that they are probably heading in that direction, calling their chums to follow them. An active search ensues, and Sneaker must try to evade the guards. Or perhaps the guard or guards don't move out, but are actively scanning the area, pinning down the Sneaker from any more advance. Guard- Under Skill Sneaker- Highest roll AND under skill Result- Guard saw movement out of the corner of their eye and is now actively scanning the area and perhaps asking others if they see anything, but they probably blow him off and tell him that he is seeing things. Ridicule ensues and the noise level among the guards increases, granting the Sneaker a bonus to their next roll or rolls. Otherwise, normal success/failure applies. SDLeary

Not really, sometimes you want to increase the difficulty a bit for dramatic effect. Now I certainly wouldn't use something as what I described above for the Street Urchin to snag a meat pie from a stall at the local market, but I probably would during the characters final assault/advance to the Evil One's dastardly lair. Especially if the Evil One had Goons... sorry GOONs... on the lookout for the PCs. SDLeary

To me, this situation would mean that while the Sneaky One didn't get spotted, the guards that made their roll are now looking in the direction of them, and perhaps talking amongst themselves what it was that they saw and whether they should pursue it further. Think seeing movement out of the corner of your eye, but turning and finding nothing there. This could also have the side effect of "pinning down" the Sneaky One so that they can't move closer to their intended goal; perhaps having to head back to the party to try and find another avenue of advance. Hide and Seek is far from binary. As a kid, didn't you ever get pinned down with the the Seeker essentially standing right next to you and you unable to move? While you haven't been spotted, your still kindof pinned. Something of a stalemate until the Seeker moves on. SDLeary

That's not happening here. SDLeary

The way your doing it is very comic-booky, which I consider a good thing. With regards to 'the group', don't worry about hit points. Each Mook in the group can take one hit. When they are taken out, the group looses 1/3 of their attack chance, or whatever fraction of the group that they are. They are not dead, but have been demoralized enough that they lay around in pain moaning, or retreat. Their leaders, lets call them Sergeants, can take one Major Wound before they fall down in pain or slink away. You will have to track HP for these guys, but there should only be one or two around at a time. Lieutenants are normal NPCs and have a higher morale. You have to take them out, or force them to surrender. This is generally the Villians second. SDLeary

For some reason, I feel like breaking into song! SDLeary

Happy Birthday Triff! SDLeary

What about the "Location values as Major Wound thresholds" idea that many have floated? This way you can still have locations and locational effects, Major Wounds, and only manage a single set of points. The downside, is if you want more colorful results you have to create a small Major Wounds table for each location type. OH! Have you moved to the 1HP/day of rest healing in your campaign? SDLeary

Yes, in this case the inspiration was the mRQ SRD based games that use things like Persistence and Resilience as skills, though the Stresses cannot be trained. In this case 50% represents the best, as its a balance. The lower you fall, the more instability you show. Too high and you are considered callous or sociopathic. SDLeary

OK, still don't have it written up, but here is the basic outline. Stresses are as in Nemesis, that is to say: Violence Unnatural Helplessness Self Each value is rated from 1-100, as befits BRP. The lower the score, the more brittle the psyche in that category, the higher the more hardened the character is. Each stress event has a percentile rating. The character, when faced with that event, must roll over the stress rating, but under their Stress Save<?>; rolling exactly your Save is a Critical, a 00 a fumble (this of course open to playing with). If the events rating is half or less of the Save of the character, then they do not have to roll. An alternative is to have the GM roll the Stress Event in an Opposed Roll with the Player. This would yield a fifth success level (Partial Success), and make things a bit more interesting. Save results: Fumble: Character immediately feints, and immediately lower their Save. 1d3? Failure: Character Freezes, Runs Away, or Frenzies, players discretion. Failure Check given (negative check) Partial Success: Character heavily shaken. All skills are Difficult. (This result optional) Success: Character is able to shake the event off and may function normally. Success check given (positive check). Critical: Character is able to shake off the event and may function normally. In addition they may immediately increase or decrease the Save just rolled by 1d3. For every 10 percentiles below 50% the character falls in a Stress Category, they pick up an Aberration. As in Nemesis, these can be a Phobia, Depression, Chemical Dependencies, and Fugues. A character may be given aid that will mitigate the event: Counseling: Another player or NPC must have a Counseling skill to accomplish this. In fantasy settings, perhaps the skill should be Empathy? The character rolls against the difference between the patients current Stress Category value and 50%. Thus someone who has a Violence of 63%, and who just received a check due to an event has a target for the Counselor of 13% (63-50). This can be rolled either method listed above, either by the player against the static value, or against the GM in an opposed roll situation. Success on the part of the Counselor erases the Check so that it doesn't have to be rolled. Counseling is NOT available if the character rolled a Critical or a Fumble. Counseling MUST be given the same game day. Psychiatry: And more later. SDLeary

The honest answer would be that it depends on how common are the supernatural elements of the setting are. If villagers can go a generation or two without ever seeing an Elf, Dwarf, Orc, etc., or the only magic they see is what comes from their prayers lead by their Shaman or Priest, or the odd healing by said individuals, then just about anything could trigger such an event, at least among some individuals. An Elf showing up on the doorstep might cause Grandma in the back of the hut to scream and faint for example, or the same for a physical manifestation of a spirit or a visual effect or outcome of a spell. Depending on the exact nature of the world, you might want to award... sorry "award" the PCs Hardened and Failed notches at character creation based upon their occupation and regional background based upon probable exposure. A Wizard might have one or two Hardened notches for example, or perhaps one or two Failed... or a combination. I've been thinking about a more BRP focused version of the Madness Meter thing lately. If I can will myself to sit down and type it out, I'll post it in a new thread. SDLeary SDLeary

Coming with Advanced Sorcery I believe. SDLeary

Avatar, from Bakshi's 1977 Wizards! Oh, and Mok from Rock and Rule! SDLeary