Nikoli

Here’s a nice map. I can’t comment on its accuracy. https://forum.profantasy.com/profile/gallery/6719/jmabbott/176 What do you think?

I’d be very interested in a Star Trek, and Traveller, BRP game. And you might have scope to update Superworld’s mechanics! Someone needs to do it!

Or, a related game without the flaws. Inspired by MW’s aims. One might call it ‘Old Kingdoms’… 😉 A nod to the Young Kingdoms…

Hi All, Given the release of the UGE, how possible might it be to create a Magic World 2.0, or similar, with a better layout and art? Using the generic UGE, what is lost, bar the setting? Perhaps someone could create an Elric! inspired version that is lean, direct, and geared for fantasy, minus the setting, but with a bestiary. I’d definitely buy such a system with a more appealing aesthetic. Since many love Elric!’s lean approach, one could do likewise for Magic World. Just a thought… 🙂

I found it excellent when I got it to generate a ‘Technoir’-type transmission, focused on locations like Middenheim. Basically, in Technoir, you get a 6x6 matrix covering the following labels: NPCs; Events; Factions; Locations; Objects; Threats. Then Technoir uses the first 3 randomly to be a ‘mission seed’. Basically, it’s a sandbox, and you develop the plot as you go. What I did was instruct ChatGPT to give me a 6x6 matrix, using these labels, and set in or around a city. It did it perfectly. You can then ask it to further detail the NPCs, or other columns. Here’s an example that it generated for me. I can’t seem to make the text clearer, but hopefully you can see it well enough. Pretty impressive, I think. Sure! Here's a more detailed version of the 6x6 matrix with some content ideas based on the headings: NPCs Events Factions Locations Objects Threats 1 Wymund the Anchorite The Curse of the Black Stone The Order of the Silver Hammer The Temple of Ulric The Black Stone Beastmen 2 Johann Esmer The Middenheim Fencing Tournament The Middenheim City Watch The Road to Altdorf The Serpent Ring Cultists of the Dark Gods 3 Ulrika Magdova The Carnival of Chaos The Cult of Sigmar The Sewers beneath Middenheim The Grimoire of Heinrich Kemmler Skaven 4 Gregor Mattern The Siege of Middenheim The Cult of Ulric The Silver Hammer Guildhall The Crown of Sorcery Cultists of the Undying 5 Heinrich von Jungfreud The Murder at the Garden Party The Cult of the Possessed The Middenheim Catacombs The Staff of Light Chaos Warriors 6 Franziska von Sturm The Comet of Sigmar The Middenheim Merchant's Guild The Middenheim Bazaar The Crystal Skull The Undead Here are some additional details about the NPCs: Wymund the Anchorite: A mysterious monk who lives in a secluded chapel on the outskirts of Middenheim. He is rumored to be able to divine the future and speak with spirits. Johann Esmer: A retired swordsman who runs a fencing school in the city. He is well-respected by the nobility and is often called upon to referee duels. Ulrika Magdova: A beautiful noblewoman who has become a folk hero for leading a successful defense against a band of Chaos Raiders. She is skilled with a sword and has become a symbol of hope for the people of Middenheim. Gregor Mattern: The captain of the Silver Hammer, an order of warrior-priests who serve the god Ulric. He is a fierce warrior and a devout follower of his faith. Heinrich von Jungfreud: A wealthy merchant who throws lavish parties for the nobility. He is rumored to be involved in shady dealings and has many enemies. Franziska von Sturm: A powerful wizard who has taken up residence in Middenheim. She is known for her fiery temper and her ability to control the weather.

I think it will provide a great tool for GMs who want to use it to come up with ideas; these can then be further refined. You can also get it to come up with interesting locations and even to generate random tables. It’s kind of mind-boggling what it can do, to be honest.

I did the same thing. It’s quite good at coming up with plots; you can give it an instruction to come up with a 5 scene plot; or a 3 or 5-act structure. And it can refine them. I found it useful to ask it to further elaborate or detail the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd scene, etc. I also got it to act as a GM; at times you have to remind it to not narrate for your PC, such as in fiction, and instead to ask you for your responses. But usually it’s fine; and sometimes I allow the narration if it is fitting and moves the story forward. I’m not entirely sure if it can kill my character. I didn’t tell it it could, or that it couldn’t. But I noticed that you can easily game the story, unlike with a real GM, as it quickly provides you with power. It basically seems like a very elaborate wish-fulfilment engine, rather than a GM with a relatively objective game world. So if using it as a GM, as with solo rpgs, you would need to avoid knowingly gaming it. (For example, my warrior in wfrp accompanied a wizard, and I managed to get him to teach me the basics of magic; it wasn’t long before I had developed my own unique style of as a ‘wizard-warrior’ and seemed to be inordinately powerful and unbound by the colours of magic.) But as far as adventure development and what not, it’s quite good. Even very good. And it really can surprise you with evocative text. But yes, you need to restrain the impulse to game the language model. And maybe you might need to tell it that it can kill you; but it seemingly forgets much earlier text, so it may forget that too. I did notice it making mistakes at times, forgetting earlier details; sometimes fairly recent details. But for what it is, it still impresses me, and is still fun. It even asked me to roll a d100 at one point, which I did, and it interpreted the result relatively accurately. (I still beat the bandit leader, though, so I’m unsure if it is willing to injure me!)

Thanks for the clarification, Newt. And the suggestion to reduce the power. On a separate note, I was wondering if you think it a good idea to adjust the 50/50/50 skill points distribution (ignoring the 75)? I think I’d like to make warriors versus scholars, say, less equal in combat skills. So I was thinking 60/50/40 into those skill categories or even 70/40/40. (Maybe this.) I know OQ wants more rounded characters, but I think less rounded would suit my aims more, and some of the character concepts more. But I’m not experienced with OQ. (It seems it would work fine to adjust the distribution.) Any thoughts?

Interesting! Looking at the quickstart, I noticed the game uses stats from 1 to 5, and a pool of successes for each 6 rolled. In opposed rolls, opponent 6s cancel out your own. The game has cards available, too. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/336970/CORIOLIS-Combat-and-Space-Combat-Action-Cards Probably just to speed things up. I think a space combat system built around cards, with differential power impacting the number drawn, would be cool. That was kind of the idea I was going for, albeit not with special cards. Maybe something kind of like Robo Rally (a great board game) for space. But likely more narrativist. Robo Rally uses a board, naturally, and movement and fire orders etc. A bit too random, though, for movement in an RPG. But I can imagine buying specific movement cards with a resource each turn, rooted in the ship’s stats. Perhaps cards of each type: attack, defence, manoeuvre, and repairs. Just a dream, though. (I admire game designers who make such dreams a reality!)

I had thought to use character-type stat analogues, where Dex becomes Manoeuvre, but I couldn’t quite figure it out. Recently, I thought the resistance roll table might help somehow, in comparing ship stats, as a resolution mechanic of some kind. But nothing concrete came to my mind. I had bought Worlds Beyond, and it wasn’t a feasible system to me. Especially with ships. M-Space was much better, though it’s not ideal to trial-and-error thrusters etc with a calculator. I ‘could’ slot that ship system into another setting, but I was hoping I might find another way. Recently I’ve been looking at Warpstar! as a ship combat system to slot in to BRP sci-fi games. It seems sufficiently simple to be quick. I like detail on a character level, but less on a ship level. The card idea was part of that ‘quest’. 🙂

I agree. It was a slot-in system idea, such as for Cthulhu Rising. If one didn’t want to use M-Space to calculate speed etc, in ship design, let alone do the combat in a detailed fashion. But I’m not opposed to drawing cards in BRP per se. The theme of poker is, admittedly, not seamless. (Unless one had cosmically-backed cards!)

Hi, Yeah. I can understand that. It’s certainly not ‘on theme’ for space. The mechanic was skinned in Dust Devils for the Spy genre and also Noir. It’s true that here it’s just a mechanic; perhaps there might be a sci-fi themed deck. Even just the back. Mostly, it’s designed to be an abstract system. As I was doing it, I noted it reminded me of Vampire the Masquerade, which I always loved as a system. So perhaps those stats might still be combined and, instead of cards for a poker hand, they might be a pool of D10s, with 6s being a success. Successes might equal damage. One could make it more turn-based with attack and dodge, etc. But for ease, I think opposed is quicker. So both combatants rolled a pool and counted successes. I’m not completely wedded to a card mechanic. I’d love something quite abstract with a sense of a ship, via ship stats, and which is more narrativist. So a pool of D10s might work too.

Hi, So, following on from the above, the following are some tentative rules for ship combat, built around cards, and heavily based on the western rpg game Dust Devils, which uses a similar mechanic. (I discovered it after researching card-based mechanics. I quickly applied it, so this is just a first and rough draft.) Ships have 4 stats based around the suits from a deck of playing cards: Spades (Defence Systems: Armour; countermeasures; the symbolism here reflects avoiding death and the grave!) Diamonds (Intelligence Systems: computers; scanners; manoeuvrability; the diamond mind of Buddhism, perhaps…) Clubs (Attack Systems: Weaponry and targetting; ever get hit by a club?) Hearts (Power/Energy Systems and Construction: Engines and Hull. Not for manoeuvres, which is Diamonds, but could determine warp speed/jump drive; self-explanatory symbol) Systems are rated from 1 to 5 relative to the standard tech level: 1: poor/minor; 2: fair/moderate; 3: good/intermediate; 4: very good/advanced; 5: excellent/flag ship level. Vastly superior alien vessels might exceed these values by 1 to 3 points (e.g., Borg). Only capital ships can naturally rate as 4+ in any system. (Not including modifiers or crew rolls.) Fighters can be fast at 3 in Diamonds, but they lack other tech. Whereas a larger vessel might be slow, in some ways, but it has vast computing and countermeasures, etc. So it might be a 4 or even a 5. Each category of suit represents a possible category of ship system that players can contribute to, via PC skill rolls, with a maximum of one roll per category. For example, a piloting roll might contribute to defences or manoeuvres, a gunnery roll to attack, a repair to energy, etc. The GM and player should decide narratively what each player will do during the round, relative broadly to helping the ship systems, and what category best fits their investment and what skill to roll. This will still require successful skill rolls. The categories thus reflect crew stations or similar. E.g., a player might say they want to reinforce the Hull, roll a relevant skill, and then increase Hearts by 1. (Or, if damage is taken, they may effect repairs of 1.) If initiative is needed, draw a number of playing cards equal to both ships Diamonds ratings. Highest card goes first. In a tie, use the following from highest to lowest: Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs. (If you wish something more memorable, you can use CHaSeD as a mnemonic to compare suits: Clubs goes first, Hearts second, Spades third, Diamonds last.) In a tie, it is simultaneous. However, combat is opposed, so initiative is likely not needed. Ship combatants choose two stats and narrate their relevance. E.g., if attacking and strafing, combine attack systems (Clubs) and intelligence systems (Diamonds). Alternatively, using Hearts might reflect power being rerouted to shields. Basically, apply the ship stats narratively. The result is the number of cards drawn PLUS any relevant increases from PC crew skill rolls determined previously. Stats that are not used in the attack, to which PCs increased for that round, will still be relevant when determining Damage, so be sure to track the ship’s CURRENT stat levels after all modifiers. (PC increases are per round, for one round, and so require consistent rolls. Boosts return to normal after the round. Boosts will impact Damage taken. For example, if Defenses were increased to 4, and a ship takes 2 damage to Defenses, then the new level is 2. Even for the next round when the increase is no longer operative. This reflects the momentary boost via the skill roll that provides a kind of buffer to that ship system against damage.) Players and the GM can easily design ships in this system, using the ship stats and ratings to reflect their ship concept and power level. Example Combatant Ships: The Spectre (a slow but aggressive, intermediate-sized vessel) Spades 3 (good shields) Diamonds 2 (not agile) Clubs 3 (respectable weaponry) Hearts 3 (tough; reinforced hull) The Millennial Sparrow (A fast but temperamental freighter, modified for weaponry and respectable defences. Has seen better days, though.) Spades 3 (upgraded shields) Diamonds 3 (agile) Clubs 3 (upgraded, but illegal, weaponry) Hearts 2 (old and temperamental) At the start of combat, Combatant PCs/NPCs decide on the categories to influence that round when stating intentions. We shall assume the PCs roll and increase Spades to 4 (reinforce shields) and increase manoeuvres (piloting for flashy flying) by preparing to fly an attack formation that strafes near and pass the target vessel (in total, Spades to 4 and Diamonds to 4). The current totals are noted for the round. Opposing sides then pick two stats, apply them narratively on a ship scale with their intention, and then draw a poker hand of cards, one card per number. E.g., The Millennial Sparrow uses Defences 4 and Clubs 4, thus drawing 8 cards. The Spectre does likewise (defences and clubs), staying put to lock-on, for a total of 6. (We shall assume NPCs will not roll here, for ease or heroic play. You might choose to roll for their crew skills.) Both sides now attempt to create the best poker hand (from 8 versus 6 cards, respectively). Based on the resulting best poker hand, damage is determined. Poker Hands and Damage Values The hands below are ranked from highest at the top to lowest at the bottom. When comparing “tied” hands of the same rank (not damage value), the highest card among the hands wins. If the high card ties, compare suits. Suits rank from highest to lowest as follows: Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs. (Same as initiative; you might change this to CHaSeD.) The highest rank, not damage, wins that round. ROYAL FLUSH—5 highest cards in sequence, all same suit (5 damage) STRAIGHT FLUSH—5 cards in sequence, same suit (5 damage) FOUR OF A KIND—4 cards with identical rank (4 damage) FULL HOUSE—3 cards with identical rank and 2 cards with identical rank (4 damage) FLUSH—5 cards all same suit (3 damage) STRAIGHT—Any 5 cards in sequence (3 damage) THREE OF A KIND—3 cards with identical rank (2 damage) TWO PAIR—2 cards with identical rank (2 damage) PAIR—2 cards with identical rank (1 damage) HIGH CARD—Highest available card (1 damage) WILD CARDS—Jokers are Wild Cards. They count as any card necessary to complete any hand. The holder can also determine their suit in this system. The winning hand deals the indicated damage which is then assigned by the LOSER among the ships systems, as determined by the winning hand’s SUITS. If the loser’s hand was within 2 steps of the winner (e.g., two pair versus a high card; full house versus a straight), the loser deals a maximum of 1 damage in return fire. If the loser is not within this loss range they deal no return damage. The suits of the winning hand, using only the relevant valued cards (so all 3 of a three of a kind; all 5 of a full house; but only 2 of a pair), are used to indicate the ship categories which are possibly damaged. The loser then assigns the damage total to one or more of those categories as determined by the suits involved in the winning hand. For example, if The Millennial Sparrow got a straight, while The Spectre got a pair (outside of two ranks in difference), then the Sparrow does 3 damage (no return damage in this case). If the suits of all 5 cards in the straight (all matter for this particular hand) consisted of a Spade, Spade, Diamond, Club, Heart, then the Spectre can assign 3 damage to any one or more among these systems (Defences, Attacks, or Energy; repeat suits are ignored). The GM wishes to avoid Hearts taking too much damage, but needs weapons, and so deducts 1 from the ships Clubs, Hearts, and Spades. Damage is narrated based on the systems damaged in the attack. The battle continues next round. Note: A ship with 0 Hearts is destroyed if it goes to -1. A ship with 0 Spades has no defences. A ship with 0 Diamonds is dead in space, has no main sensors, etc, but can fire if it has Clubs. A ship with 0 Clubs cannot fire at all, and will only draw any cards to outmanoeuvre or defend against poker hands, but will NOT do any damage as a winner or loser. Damage cannot be allocated to systems that have 0 rating, with the exception of Hearts to -1. Damage is narrated as weapons being destroyed, thrusters blasted, hulls breached, etc., as appropriate to the categories. Advanced Rules Maximum Damage by Attack System (implies scale, too) The Clubs rating of the vessel (remember, only capital ships can go to 4+ in any stat naturally), also determines the maximum damage value from the poker hand. So a ship with Clubs of 3, which gets a Royal Flush, and with no other modifiers operating, will still only deal 3 damage maximum. Luck in poker will not mean that a starfighter can just blast a capital ship for 5 damage. The Clubs rating also determines the number of ships that can be simultaneously engaged. So a ship with 5 Clubs can deal damage to as many as 5 ships (1 main plus 4 others) on the basis of one poker hand, but each additional ship reduces the damage by 1. So perhaps the first ship is damaged for 5, the second for 4, the third for 3, etc., to a minimum of 1. This reflects its superior firepower and capability to engage multiple vessels if needed. Traits Each ship has two traits. These are narrative descriptions, similar to ‘tough as nails’. You might apply a simile or adjective as fitting. So The Millennial Sparrow above might be ‘Tough’ and ‘Fast’. If the player argues that these traits relate to the situation, they can draw an extra card per relevant trait. This adds character to a ship. Most ships also have a Disadvantage (not the Enterprise!): So above The Sparrow might have ‘unreliable power systems’. If the Black Joker turns up in the the opponent’s hand, the Disadvantage takes effect and reduces the player’s poker hand by 1D3 ranks on the poker table. This is in addition to being a Wild Card. (The suit can also be chosen.) Note, these are ranks, not Damage values. The minimum hand still applies. Perhaps the ships power suddenly drops and shields deplete as it sits momentarily dead in space… Both Jokers are included in a deck and count as Wild. A Red Joker in the player’s hand reflects some brilliancy among the crew, or some narrative advantage that shifts the battle momentarily but significantly. The opponent’s hand is reduced by 1D3 ranks. (Red Jokers do not have such an effect for the GM; only the Black Joker does, and only if the ship has a disadvantage.) The Red Joker might also reflect the turning up of reinforcements who lend friendly fire. However, a crew may use a Red Joker to also disengage due to [technobabble] and going to warp, etc. The Black Joker can also do likewise for the GM ship. GM’s may rule that Combats are not escaped unless this occurs. Alternatively, they may rule that this joker effect occurs without a skill roll. So it’s a lucky escape. But they may be pursued. Scale: if one ship vastly outmatches another, such as a Destroyer versus The Millennial Sparrow, or the Enterprise versus a Runabout, the bigger ship can make a hand from 3 stats, not just 2. This will likely result in a much better poker hand, as the larger ship might naturally draw as many as 15 cards. This is of course in addition to capital ships being able to have ratings of 4+ in a ship stat. (A capital ship will always have at least one 4 in ship stats, due to it being a capital ship. And often more.) At the GM’s choice, a ship stat scale of 1 to 6 might better reflect some variability between larger ships (so 4 to 6 per stat). (Using this ship combat system, ships may come to need their own deck of cards. So one deck of cards per ship, due to the amount of cards being used. Reshuffle after each hand.) Any thoughts would be appreciated. 🙂 It’s mostly a bit of fun. Here’s the Enterprise: Spades 5 Diamonds 5 Clubs 5 Hearts 5 Traits: Pride of the Fleet; Resourceful Crew (note: key crew skills are often 90% plus, for rolls to boost stats). Disadvantages: None. (Scale: Against other capital ships, the Enterprise draws with two stats. Against smaller ships, it draws with 3.)

Hi, I recently bought the Openquest Companion. Regarding the one magic system, I’m a bit confused about the spell Absorption in those rules. Does it really absorb ANY spell, no matter how powerful? As it does away with magnitude comparisons. Is there no resistance roll? It seems to mean immunity from magic for 10 minutes. Does it also only absorb if the casting roll succeeds? Can the person who absorbs the spell cast it back, or just release it? Any guidance would be appreciated! 🙂 I’ve never used the classic RQ magic system, so maybe I’m missing something. I understand the previous version with magnitude, though.

Hi, Warlock! from Fire Ruby Designs has a D20 system, specifically designed to play The Enemy Within. It might be what you are looking for. But converting a D100 to a D20 won’t really change the basic probabilities; it will just reduce granularity. So the whiff factor will remain, whether 64% or 12 out of 20. (64% is quite high in WFRP. As is 50+.) I personally really like D100, and think Openquest or Magic World can do WFRP very well. If I ever play in the Old World again, as I hope to, I would use either MW or OQ, or a mix of both (because OQ can do cults). My one issue with OQ is it doesn’t really distinguish a warrior from a scholar in terms of how many points are distributed to combat skills. So I might change the 50/50/50 distribution to 70/40/40 or 70/50/30 (with 75 to practical remaining). That way there is less equality of skills in certain categories. A warrior would then put 70 in combat, 50 in reactions (or resistances?), 30 in knowledge. I’d use personal magic as heroic feats and/or allow them to spent as 6 growth points. As heroic feats, I imagine they might need instant activation, and not a turn as per regular magic. But check out Warlock! It’s basically what you are seemingly looking for. D20 from a D100 system. The compendiums add a lot of other options. There’s also another book of careers. It specifically models the WFRP career system.