sdavies2720

Ah, did you ever actually try to use it, either as written or modified as a basis of a magic system? It really is unworkable for a game system. Just go look at some of the spell work-ups, look at how much math is there, and turn on your radar for "I-pulled-it-out-of-the-air" estimates. It's a freeform system with a lot of math to mask it (math that, IMO, make it even less useable). But, the laws of magic are cool and useful, and there are several good "imagination starter" ideas. It's just a long way from being playable. A long way. I tried. The snottiness on top of that foundation doesn't help either. Steve

That's always been my problem reading various versions of the rules -- I always think, "This is just like the last version." Which is true at the headline level, and untrue in the details. My experience is the various rules sets are similar enough that as a GM I can translate from one to another "on the fly." That's possible because the system mechanics started clean and didn't change too dramatically. Steve

Darn it. I must have ordered BEFORE they put in the 2-for-1 deal :ohwell: At least Charlie refunded the SHIPPING that they originally charged me on the pdf. Still waiting on my FLGS. Steve

I bought RQ1 after playing WBRM, based on its lack of classes and being fed up with my D&D-based houserule campaign. I still have stop myself from spelling "Glorontha" (as it is in RQ1) to "Glorantha", as it morphed. Steve

But they'll ship to FLGS distributors first, right? So that those of us who are supporting our FLGS, but have been bugging them for several YEARS will not be penalized for buying locally... Right?... Oh bugger. Steve

I personally love hit locations, especially because I can give armor treasure in pieces and the adventurers look like what they are, scavengers that will use anything they can find to their advantage. For my main campaign, I'm going to ask the players to vote on options. I suspect that they are going to vote AGAINST hit locations as being too time consuming. Steve

IIRC, it's only the Mongoose RQ rules that call for dividing down opposing rolls, so you're invoking a house rule for that. But I think it's better than just calculating the resistance from the differences in size, where a line with 1,002 average warriors would almost always best one with 1,000. To add to the story, for battles of more than a few heroes, I'd divide the opposing forces into several parts (e.g. Left Flank, Center, Right Flank) and do the opposed rolls that way. Much more opportunity for action if the center is holding but one flank is in danger of collapsing. Steve

Just a wild thought: Maybe Chaosium is using a print on demand system for other parts of the world? The PDF came out last week so its just (barely) possible that a fast POD could get it printed and shipped... Steve

As another data point, our FLGS ordered 4 copies of AD&D 4.0 based on the owner's assessment of immediate interest. When I visited a week later, he still had 1 copy left. He'll sell it, and he'll order more to have on hand, but it wasn't flying off the shelf. Steve

I'm much in the same boat, along with having a set of Ritual Magic rules that have been "almost done" for a long time. My plan is to convert all the characters into BRP-as-written, and see if I can stand to run by the rules. Sounds much easier than it it -- the problem isn't the players, but my incessant need to fiddle with the rules. Steve

Nah. It's not like there is a whole lot of fame and money in this hobby. My reward is mostly from seeing something come to life. If someone can take one of my ideas and put in the effort to make it work, that's great. It frees me up to do something else. Steve

When I read that others had the cover, I went back to my account and re-downloaded the pdf. Now I have a version with a cover. On a different note, I also see that the text in the PDF is selectable (I have a full version of Acrobat), which means that cobbling together a "cheat sheet" for personal use will be pretty easy -- I can just copy key sections from the PDF and paste into Word. Very great. Steve

Yes, I just printed the "Creating a Character" chart and it printed just fine. Steve

I placed my order late last night & it was ok this morning. Based on others' comments, I just re-downloaded & now I have the PDF with the cover in it...I must have just jumped the gun with my order. Go check your account, it should have the download in it. Steve

Badcat, You might have to wait for morning. When I ordered mine it still charged for shipping (since corrected according to Charlie), and I had to wait until they "confirmed" the order. I'm not sure what's involved in that, but it may mean that a human gets involved and you won't get access until they are back in the office. All that is my interpretation having gone through it this morning Steve

I just downloaded the PDF version of BRP from Chaosium's site. On a virtual thumb-through, it looks really good! They chose not to scan the cover, which is an odd decision, but other than that everything looks clean. Having seen the zero-edition, it's nice to see a lot of content clean-up as well. Woohoo! Steve

To me what is interesting is how the rules support or hinder roleplaying. At the extremes you can roleplay in anything, and you can probably turn almost any game into a rote roll/board game. My view of RPG was always that the milieu and adventure were the important things, and that character development always happened within the context of the world. It was an eye-opener for me playing 3.5 when characters started developing new abilities in response to publications of new rulebooks. The effect was somewhat subtle, but effectively the rules drove campaigns. Yes, GMs could and did stop this when needed, but RPGs are social, and aside from the amount of energy it takes to overturn the wishes of one's players, there's a limit to how many times a GM is willing to do it. I'll be curious to see what things 4.0 supports and what things it fights. My guess is that it will continue to move the hobby away from a focus on story and world, and continue the move toward gizmos and superpowers. That will help sell additional rulebooks. While that will be good for WotC in the short run, I fear that it will dilute what makes pen-and-paper roleplaying unique, and ultimately leave people wondering why they bother when the online RPGs take care of all of the notekeeping for them. Steve

Have the sea turtles lay egg cases like skates (I think -- the dark brown/black hard rectangular things you find on the beach). Gotta have turtles. If they need oxygen to hatch, make the cases lighter than water.

My quick brainstorming (and seed for each): Sea bottom (Nutrients from stuff raining down from above) * Trilobyte - derivatives adapted for deep sea, big armored tanks * Sea trees: Probably derived from coral, but able to root in the deep sea (for nutrients) and expand up near surface (for energy). Possibly exploit temperature differentials for transport & energy, and maybe have expendable tops (grow back fast) to weather storms. * Varient amoebas that wander the sea bottom * There are a couple of aquatic carnivorous plant types -- one of which entangles worms, and another that creates a vaccum in a pouch so that when the hatch opens it can suck in passing creatures * STarfish are carnivorous. And can regenerate. Make them move fast enough, make them bigger, and that's pretty scarey Surface (Nutrients from other animals or anchored at upwellings, energy from sun) * Colony: Rift off Man-o-war, but a colony of animals and plants that is able to defend itself (stingers), float on the water, take advantage of best of air and water living. Storms would shred them, but each part would then regrow into a new colony * Polyps of other species: It could be fun to have a poisonous/dangerous difference between the larval and adult states of animals. * Philip Jose Farmer invented Wind Whale that stayed up through bouyant lighter-than-air sacs. You could do something like that to populate the sky without requiring land * Free-floating sponges that clog intakes, or are big enough to be interesting * Branched coral that has enough symbiotic species that it is protected against predators * Giant rotifors that are big enough to create whirlpools when they are feeding, and can suck man-sized (or bigger) into their maws (Charybdis) I'm sure you've run through variations of the interesting fish as well (sea horses, pufferfish, cows, skates, rays. Sea turtles? Steve

Are you still looking for ideas to fill ecological niches on the planet? If so, which ones? Steve

1. While I like the idea of a written, or carved rune, allowing access to the Rune power through Similarity or other magical law, I think that the Runes themselves should be scattered about the land, in appropriate places. I model it on (a probably warped view of) the Australian legends of the Dreamtime, and think of the Runes being embodied in specific places in the world. Go to the power spot to bind the rune. As a GM I like the ready-made quests that this creates. 2. I agree about binding multiple runes. I've played with multiple levels of binding, ultimately leading to mastery and apotheosis, sort of a "There can be only one" as the ultimate power play for characters that want to own a rune. 3. Somewhere I've seen a classification of spells based on Runes, which could be a good jumping-off point for you. Unless a web search (or this list) comes up with it, I'm not sure I can dig it up. Magic vs. Sorcery: I wanted a "you can do anything but it's going to cost you" system that evolved from RQ3 Sorcery. But I think it could also, and maybe more easily, be modeled on Magic: Each time you bind a rune, you get a new spell that takes free INT. Steve

You're right -- Runes were there throughout the game, but they never had much practical effect. So I expected that RUNEquest, which came from that heritage, would have rules for them. Then I had great expectations for the ever-coming heroquest rules...repeat expectations as needed. I haven't played the game in a while, but I think a lot of my excitement about the runes was from flavor text, about gaining mastery of the runes, and such. It just never materialized in a set of rules. Steve

I've always thought that the opposite of "Impulsive" should be "Planned" rather than "Cautious". So a BEM with high "Planning" would have multiple contingency plans worked out, no matter whether he's cautious or aggressive. Someone with high "Impulse" would instead shoot from the hip, both for a plan of attack and a plan of retreat. Stubborn/Receptive bothers me less, but I like Stubborn/Flexible better. Someone may or may not be receptive for a lot of reasons, but Stubborness/Flexibility reflects what they do with the information once they get it. Steve

I played White Bear and Red Moon before getting RuneQuest when it came out, and I've always been disappointed by the lack of integration of RUnes into the rules. It is called "RuneQuest" for criminey! Actually, I applaud Mongoose for at least adding Runes (albeit in a pedestrian way) back into the rules as something you get. But yeah, looting the bodies for Runes takes a bit of the, let's call it glamour, out of Runes. I've been working, off and on for a couple of years, on a new magical system that required bonding to (and ultimately mastery of) Runes to acquire magical talents relevent to that Rune, which can then be used to craft spells...other than being way too complicated, the system has also fallen on the sword of not enough time. Steve

I've always played that on an opposed roll where both sides succeeded, they both, well. succeeded. So, for instance if someone has a successful Search against a successful Hide, then both succeed: the person Hiding is hidden, but the searcher has found Something, maybe a footprint, maybe a broken branch. I've always found that much more interesting than a win/lose outcome. If one person has a higher success, that does win, "It is clear that the Duck thinks her's totally hidden (Success), but you can see the end of his bill (Special Success) through a hole in the log he's behind." Steve