SDLeary

Time again for another Endgame Mini-Con! This one will be October 16, 2010, and looks like they will take GM game submissions until 9/15. Details Here SDLeary

How are Shield Bashes handled? SDLeary

Charlie's recruiting tactics are somewhat mild these days! ;-) SDLeary

They did in RQ III too. The current two to four points on a Special or critical just seems a bit off somehow, at least when combined with the high shield HP. SDLeary

Congrats to Pete, Alephtar, and Cubicle 7 on the Silver for Best Setting! SDLeary

The axe was popular because it was relatively easy to make and generally (but not always) used less metal in its manufacture, making it much less expensive than a sword. I did not say that spear or sword was "slower" than a knife. I did say that long axes and maces/mauls were less "nimble" than swords, spears, and knives/daggers. The video that you provided the link to had people fighting with representations of Great/Danish long axes. This is a type of weapon that would have generally been used over the heads of the front rank of a shield wall to chop down on an enemy, or to hook and pull the enemies shield away so someone in the front rank could get to him, or alternately as a fear weapon once the other sides shield wall had broken. Note that the disadvantages of this type of weapon do not necessarily translate to a smaller single handed axe (depending on head weight). Neither do I, but I do see the fencer getting his ass handed to him by an actual combat swordsman, or perhaps even an ARMA member. SDLeary

THATS... (oops)... Thats 2h Axe vs 2h Axe. If one of the combatants were armed with a 2h sword or spear, that combat would have probably been a lot shorter, as they are much more nimble weapons than the axe. For the sword, do not think of large roundhouse "Conan" type swings. Also, I'm not so sure those SCA axes have the same momentum to overcome when recovering. Thats a bit extreme I think. If you are going to impose a penalty, it should be based on the weapon. As stated above, its much easier to dodge a heavy slow weapon like a long axe or mace/maul than it is a more nimble weapon like a spear, sword, or dagger. Yes! As stated, something nimble is much harder to dodge than something that imparts more directional momentum. I would also have to guess that in these sparring matches that because their physical being is not in danger that your opponents are not being quite as defensive as they would be if the weapon was a real knife or dagger. Correct. If you are not trained at all you would be at a severe disadvantage, and running would be your best bet. But, by combining it into an Unarmed Combat skill you are saying that someone who is good at dodging is automatically going to be good at hitting and kicking and grappling. Avoidance is taught separately, or is picked up as part of life. SDLeary

Around here (SF Bay Area), you can find the BGB at stores, along with Trollslayer and the three Alephtar BRP books (though the mRQ stuff is still absent). Now, that did NOT happen until after the CB7 alliance, so at some stores things might be progressing more slowly. But there is certainly a much more visible presence than there was even just 4 months ago. SDLeary

Ave! SDLeary

Just an FYI... looks like your link to the document on the download page is broken or the file is missing. 'Tis complaining that the file doesn't exist on the server. SDLeary

Nice to see that they adopted this. Stephane introduced this in the CDA Errata on his site some time ago. And yes, it does give a nice medieval feel. It does look like they changed Trivium a bit though... CDA has it as: SDLeary OOPS! Should read the whole thread first!

Have you contacted the Scribus people, or chatted on the support forums about this? Seems odd. SDLeary

Anyone know Miller? If so, and he can be convinced, my vote would be for 2300 A.D. SDLeary

Captain Scarlet anyone?! SDLeary

Perhaps this can be leveraged somewhat? One book, two systems? This would leverage manpower and creativity, and get more supplements out. This type of supplement did well once, I'm not sure what the current take on these are though. SDLeary

InDesign. Scribus should be a good choice too, and its free. SDLeary

I'm not saying that they are useless... just not as effective as before in melee, which is somewhat counterintuitive based on history. Remember that many early Mediterranean societies had Heavy Infantry based on Tower Shields, helmets, and little armor. This says to me that the shield was better in most cases to a dodge or weapon parry, and not just in shield walls as this was true of the heroic periods too. We really only see a lack of shields in areas where heavy and/or stiff full body (or majority body) armor was developed. Currently, BRP (and Stormbringer before it, so its not just BRP), have ALMOST reduced the shield to mostly a missile defense item. This might be true to some degree, but as the method of reduction in HP/AP was different, I would have to see further information on this. In RQ3, on a long, multi-year realtime campaign, I don't ever recall a weapon breaking. I do recall the adventurers having to seek a smith in order to repair damaged weapons, but that was pretty rare. The Medium and Large shields that were used in our group rarely needed repair as damage to them was relatively slow, and the average blow generally bounced. Even a powerful regular blow or a Special would only reduce a weapon or shield by 1 point. SDLeary SDLeary

In a way, that reinforces his point. You only have to be carrying the shield, no points put into it beyond base. Good in a siege, but no reason to really have on in melee, RAW. As historically, shields didn't really disappear from the battlefield until plate became common, this is somewhat counterintuitive. SDLeary

My buddy has already sold out of his first batch of Dragon Lines (got them in late last week), and has ROME on the way. If anyone here is in the Bay Area and is interested, contact Endgame! SDLeary

Bump! There are a few GM spots still open! Contact Endgame for more details! SDLeary

My understanding is that if you change targets, then you would have to wait till the next round to fire, not two rounds later. That would be an option. A marksman familiar with his weapon though could still get off more shots at the same target than a RoF change would give. Combine the two, and only force next round penalties if targets are changed. Do a search for Firearms. Bolt actions were only a part of the discussion. SDLeary

I'd suggest you look at THIS entry from the Wiki. This was discussed some time ago, this was one proposal to fix the situation. SDLeary

This also gives high-DEX types like elves the potential to be able to fire three times per melee. I can't remember which BRP game it was, but we also did DEX, and second shot on DEX-10. This may have been a house rule for Stormbringer, but it gives similar results to RQ III. IIRC, way back when, some stuff was added to the Wiki with regards to missile fire. SDLeary

The next Endgame Mini-Con in Oakland, CA is coming up on April 3! GMs get your submissions in now! SDLeary

I'm not sure that using SAN in a traditional fantasy setting is really an issue. Humans, Dwarves, Elves, and the like are pretty close to one another, not much of a shock at all. Orcs/Trolls, etc, might provoke a small loss, if they are particularly ferocious. A Lich or a feeding Ghoul more so. Demons and Mythos creatures even more. It can work well to convey horror even in a fantasy setting, you just have to determine how different the creatures really are from the baseline. In Glorantha for instance, because the base races are so different, I can see a human needing to make a roll if they see an Aldryami drop from its pod, or a Mostali lifted from the vat full grown... etc. SDLeary