Jegergryte

Here is my attempt at making a character sheet using Pages. Thanks for useful hints and tips Chaot, have a look:

OH! I'm having fun! I have to shuffle and reshuffle the first page to get everything in properly, but it seems to go slowly in the right direction. I will post here once its done. A fair warning though, I have ripped the parchment idea from you, I really liked it found a fun papyrus font too (which means I'm mainly using 9 and 10 in size, which seems to read well – going to test-print the current version today), so this seems to be going the right direction. Its not a generic character sheet though, nor made for classic fantasy.

Still only a sketch going on, but its works like a dream. Thanks for heads up, but I haven't noticed those things you mentioned. As of now I'm wonderig what font size I should use… the rest has been more or less solved, if not executed. Thanks man.

I've tried GIMP and other stuff, didn't go so well no… I'm a mac man these days, so pages sounds like the best bet. Although I remember MS Publisher from secondary school, was big fun. Thanks for the tip and the picture with lines and boxes, it gives me a good idea of how to make my own. Thank you! Now I can make my own setting-specific character sheet... AT LAST!

I have a question for you Chaot: What software do you use and how can you make such beardy looking character sheets?! I love the one you made, so I'm asking since I'm trying to make my own… still failing miserably... but perhaps you can point me in a direction? pretty please

So did I initially…

Look on the side of page 58. You get techniques and double damage. Beardy.

And also, my gaming group is going to travel quite a bit, its an exploration type of game, developing a world simultaneously as it is experienced so to speak. A sand-box world kind of, but not entirely, as the "sand" stays in place once has been moulded, for future reference and new campaigns. So staying in one place and being tied to a community is not really going to happen, perhaps a short-term commitment, staying for a couple of months perhaps (depending on weather and seasons), but no more than that really.

Yes, but now we are venturing into conceptions of magic and sorcery… and here there is no "right" or "wrong", only differing notions of what magic is and how it affects the world (and vice versa). Runes may not be the "real thing", yet the "real thing" is nothing but a pale shadow of the source from whence it came, which yet again is fuelled and sustained by the energy of the beings to which the "real thing" was a recurring gift, because of this perpetual source of "creation" the beings, or souls, represented in the everlasting conflict against the nothing… and so on and meta-plot of magic is and isn't technology… doom. Runes, best described in the world I'm playing is something of an attempt to use tech as magic; using tools to shape creation… which of course works perfectly well, if you're good enough at it. A bit much to get into here.

…… and I have that book…… ARGH! Oh well… thanks for the tip, and thanks to everyone else! With a bit of tweaking I think I have everything I need. For ease of [my] mind (and more fitting for my setting) I will switch the appropriate craft and perform (ritual) skills to the suggestions by Chaot: Inscribe Rune and Rune Magic. Fits the bill for the flavour of my setting. There must be some more tweaking for my player to refill his rune and make runes last longer than a one-use affair, but that should work out somehow I guess. With the expenditure of permanent POW when creating the rune it receives a power point pool for multiple castings… lets say you sacrifice 1 POW you get a pool of double the power points needed to cast the spell, hence you get two castings from it instead of one before it needs to be refilled… or is it too expensive? Refilling should be through a rune magic roll? mediation? simple transference as per the artefact rules in BGB? suggestions? I'm also thinking that one can learn runes through the use of the Rune Magic skill, by attuning to the rune, then trying to replicate it with Inscribe Rune (modified somehow, perhaps difficult or just a negative modifier), to do this one must have the original rune present, if one gets a succeeds one has reproduced it, with a special or critical one has learned the rune… if that makes sense. If one knows a sorcery spell one can, if one succeeds in a Rune Magic check, create a rune/charm, without the need to replicate an existing rune. Again, thanks to everyone for helping me out!

Thanks guys! I've only skimmed through all this goodness now, I'm at work at the loony-bin at the moment, so no time to properly go through everything nor thank you guys enough. A lot of good ideas here, many thanks for pointers towards other sources (I am trying to get filthy hands on some of that stuff now), and especially to those that fleshed out some nifty ideas and examples! Awesome! Again, thanks! -Audun

Yes I've read that somewhere, but I have yet to find a site where I can get hold of a pdf version… so at the moment that book is not available, and unless its released next week I must find some other solution… thing is I don't want a whole system or tradition of spell casters, more like a possible way for the "lay hero" to place boosts on his equipment without having to know a bunch of spells and the like… a skill that with for every x% gives him the ability to engrave a magical rune. Lets say for every 15% he knows a rune, that replicates a spell like effect, for use on weapons and armour mostly, like a level 1 versions of sorcerers armour, sorcerers hammer etc. Although more powerful rune magic is cool too, I'm not too keen on the whole big old tradition notion, which in turn I guess must limit the power of such a thing... In my setting Sorcery is "evil", in so far as "evil" exists, but it is related to the "Monster Lords" or the "Void", not certain yet… but this is meta-plot stuff, but basically sorcery potentially corrupts and causes insanity, unless used very carefully… I'm looking at the Witchcraft book, its great stuff!

Hi. I'm an old HARP player (insofar as that is possible, the game is scarcely old enough to have "old" gamers…). Coming from that game I have an idea for using runes on weapons (and armour), that are simply drawn or etched into them… then after a certain duration they disappear. These also reproduce unscaled versions of spells, so a "rune of cloak of night" could only reproduce a level 1 version of the spell, a +20% bonus. There are two things I miss in BRP so far, or haven't found a way of doing (the way I want to at least)… I want a skill for reading and creating (copying, there is no need to know the spell as a sorceror, but that of course is an advantage), and casting magic through the runes… that is, only being able to activate the runes to cast the embedded spell. This in and of itself might not be too difficult to implement… a variation of a sorcery artefact perhaps… ? The problem is this: when I started the current gaming group we didn't know BRP through and through… seeing as it is a low-magic world I let no one start with spells, yet one of the guys is from a civilization that has knowledge, albeit limited, about magic and its existence. So backstory rant turned into short thing: he is in possession of a rune stone… that is a 10x10cm tablet of stone with a big rune on it… of course it started out as a plot device… when in contact with wood and other such flammable material, it would slowly catch on fire, first smoke, then small flame, then the house burned down. Brilliant. So, how to make this into a viable artefact without giving too much, I like low-magic and it ain't supposed to be easy to become a sorcerer in my world… I want things to go story-friendly slow… Now, my first idea was to let the artefact be inert, its out of power points… so let him do a was pow vs pow, his versus the artefact's… So, if he succeeded he could learn a spell to refill the artefact with power points, I was thinking Brazier of Power … but after reading it properly I found it to be… well, too big really… this is a small item with a beardy spell in it for sure, but still, its not like its a doomsday device, nor is he supposed to use the artefact as a battery to store his juice in it… so then… should I invent a spell to infuse power points into runes? or could a rune skill include the infusion? how then to refill a rune that's run out of milk? The guy is going to become a sorcerer, its where he is headed, no question about it, its the right kind of spells and its the right kind of doom. I am in serious need of advice on this…

All good points. Thanks for the input and answers, sorted out some issues. I take it then that, if I go for splitting base chance from skill, having 90% skill level and using a weapon with 15% base chance (including the complications this entails) would allow for multiple attacks. Thanks guys!

I mean, if I create a character with a great sword as his melee weapon (base chance at 5%), to get the 90% max (playing at heroic power level) I must spend more of my professional skill points than if I create one with a broadsword (base chance of 15%)… Now of course one could say this is because of *cough* game balance; lower base chance for higher damage, but why then does bastard sword and katana have different base chance and identical damage… Now if base chance is only for people with no developed skill, at what percentage does the skill start at if learned? and does it not count towards your skill?

Hohum! you certain about his? this will bring tears to my players eyes, alas so be it… I was quite certain that the base chance of weapons, like the base level for a series of skills, was added on top of developed skill, or used as base… if the base chance of the weapon would be 15%, those 15% can't disappear if I gain experience while using it… that would mean that my skill in a weapon with a base chance of 15% can suddenly become 5% if the melee sword skill was not previously developed… now if I developed melee swords based on using a broadsword with a 15% base, then picking up a sword later with a lower or higher base chance, this should perhaps be significant no? Actually looking at page 258 in the BGB it seems that my example above was a bit off, but still not wrong. The example in BGB bases itself in a skill developed for broad sword skill, then using a shortsword the skill is modified +5% (not really, even though the example in BGB says the shortsword has a base chance of 20% it is listed as having a 15% base chance) … to simplify, or complicate, this then, one could argue that skills should be based in no particular weapon, and have the skill be modified after what weapon one uses no? I know no sword (as far as I have seen) has a base chance of 0 … but still, it makes sense to me at least.. what BGB calls a "more granular system" … ? If I tweak my previous example to include a superior quality sword with a 15% quality bonus instead (now ignoring my rant about base chances), at least this will increase my sword skill of 90% to 105%, would that allow me to perform multiple attacks?

I have a related question. If, lets say your skill level with swords is 90%, you pick up a broadsword with a base chance of 15, your total skill then becomes 105%, does this then enable you to perform two attacks?

… but I haven't been able to figure out it special and critical successes are changed according to difficulty. I mean, is the chance for specials and criticals changed with the doubling of the skill when attempting an Easy skill check? If I have 80% in a skill the special is 8% and the critical is 4% (if I have understood things correctly). Now attempting an Easy check, the skill is doubled to 160%… is then special and critical ranges also adjusted, to be 16% and 8% respectively? Similarly, would they be halved when the skill is halved when attempting a Difficult check? Similarly, when using superpowers, like Super Skill, or spells that increase skills, does this also increase (or decrease in case of malevolent spell used on enemies) the chances for special and critical results? What then with special equipment of superior quality?

Sorry for clumsy wording. When someone is thrown by use of the throw target skill, they can roll agility to not end up prone… if they have a higher acrobatics skill than agility characteristic, could they roll that instead? Additionally, would you let acrobatics replace agility in instances where agility is usually rolled, if context would reasonably allow? What exactly is acorbatics used for, that is not covered by already existing skills and characteristics?

Hm… looking at knockout blow in DL and comparing to knockout attack in BGB I see significant differences… which to a certain degree I understand, although I do wonder why a knockout blow in DL does not actually knock out the target… unless they're already stunned or a so called "Lesser Foe"… the DL version stuns for 1d6 rounds, which then can be followed by a potential 1d6 hours if the character repeat the technique… this I find weird really. 24 seconds to knock someone out… for a long time certainly, but with a Difficult skill check, the target is knocked out somewhere between 11 to 20 rounds, about 2-4 minutes… usually enough to get moving and hidden, perhaps even done with what needs to be done… Similarly DL does not specify the "duration" of Paralysis, or if it is a permanent condition (which I doubt)… then would the target be paralysed for 1d6 rounds, like the stun effect of Knockout blow, or 1d6 hours…

ah… then I follow. I think. Muddy… hm. I guess I'm wondering what the rationale behind the no-experience-increase for the Martial Arts skill in Dragon Lines…

I know... I'm fairly new at all this BRP stuff, what do you mean by "neglecting some other advancement"? I'm just thinking of allowing the players to check the experience box when successfully using the MA skill... which from what I understand is something DL changes, so that one can only improve through training and... I don't have the book here with me at work...

I've just posted a martial art style that might empower shields a bit, without "breaking the rules" in another thread… but that would also entail using the Dragon Lines martial art system to some degree or another… I'm leaning towards one extra "free" parry, and lowering the parry penalty beyond the two first parries to 20%, perhaps also including your last point dulcamara. While it does empower the shields substantially, I think, at least larger shields, should have some bonus akin to that… while not perhaps too realistic, I will at least test it before I change my mind.

Here is an attempt, by using the guidelines from DL to create a shield and sword style… Criticism, pointers, hints and all such stuff is welcome: The Shielding Odan (Sword and shield style) Style Attacks: Melee Weapon (one handed sword, usually Broadsword), Shield Style Skills: Repair, First Aid, Strategy (Not certain more skills would apply, even though its not many listed, compared to the styles on DL) Techniques: Tier 1 Techniques: Odan’s Crackdown (+10% to hit with Shield, Knockout Blow). Shielding Strike (+10% to hit with sword, Feint). Odan’s Blessing (+10% Shield parry, nimble defence [shield]). Tier 2 Techniques: Odan’s Retribution (+10% parry with Shield, Counterattack) Odan’s Blizzard (Target's last attack(s) where parried and/or the target was subject to Shielding Strike previous round: +10 to hit with sword, Backstab) – not certain if Backstab is intended to work in this manner, the technique is intended as an “upgrade” from the tier 1 Shielding Strike. I'd like some clarification on this technique effect… Odan’s Peace (+10 to parry with Shield, Disarm)

I'm not certain how I want to do this yet… but the normal first aid skill heals 1d3 hp (with the required first aid kit og herbalist kit), if I remember correctly… so special herbs could then give bonus to the actual first aid roll, for example to stop bleeding or remove impaled objects… it could help mend broken bones and such from a major wound… or some could simply add a flat bonsu to the first aid roll (counting as improved quality first aid/herbalist kit) or maybe just a +1, +2 or +3 to the 1d3 roll for hp healed… depending on the herb found and stuff... I mean some of the real powerful ones might up the die type or amount of dice… either up it to 1d4 or double it to 2d3… hm… of course the should be restrictions to how many types of herbs can be used as once, per wound and so on… arh… stuff dawns on me now… Is this too powerful?