silent_bob

I did a bit of damage to my softcover BGB over the weekend... nothing major, but it has been getting quite a workout and I'm thinking I want a second copy for backup and to keep somewhat pristine.

Another softcover would be nice but then I think, hey! I never did spring for the hardcover... maybe it's time.

Unfortunately, some hardcover games are wimpier than their softcover versions.

So how sturdy is it? With some of the early books from Games Workshop and Mongoose being on the low end (falls apart when you open it)... and college textbooks being on the upper end (mine at least were pretty darn durable).

Thanks for opinions.

K

Dude,

I feel you pain. I dropped my hardcover version of OSRIC from about 3 ft. and the hardcover came off! The 400+ page interior is still bound together and now I am using it as a booklet with no cover. Damn Lulu!

As for the BGB, I bought the softcover version in 2009 and it has survived water spillage other abuse.

Hello,

I'm looking for an alternative system for running games in the Forgotten Realms. Would this be best served by using the Magic Worlds book or BRP Classic Fantasy? Or would another d100 system be better than either of those? I have played a good bit of CoC in the past, but this will be my first experience with any of the other d100 type games.

One specific question I had about Magic Worlds vs Classic Fantasy would be the magic systems; which one would allow me to model both arcane and divine/spiritual magics? Not looking to emulate the D&D magic system, just retain the flavor of different types of magical power, from different sources.

Thanks very much,

Chris

I am currently running a Classic Fantasy campaign and it is great! It really captures the flavor of AD&D and converting AD&D material is much easier than with other d100 products.

You can buy the pdf for $16.50 at DriveThruRPG.com:

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/82084/Classic-Fantasy

Threedeesix,

I am so happy that you are not using the commie metric system:)

Its easiest if you ignore height while determining an existing character or creature and just base SIZ on weight.

Weight it a constant with SIZ, height varies by type of creature. For example, a 15 foot long snake and a 15 foot tall giant should NOT have the same SIZ, one is obviously harder to knockback, harder to lift, harder to hit, etc. But a 600 pound snake and a 600 pound giant should have the same SIZ.

With SIZ, weight is constant. It just makes more sense that way.

I see this come up a lot on these forums and decided for Classic Fantasy 2nd edition I would try to clear it up somewhat. What I did is create a table that showed how much each SIZ equals in pounds. And then derived a separate table that determines height by SIZ according to race. That way you can have a SIZ 10 dwarf and a SIZ 10 human both weigh the same, but the dwarf be only 4'8" tall while the human is 5'6".

For anything other than a player character, SIZ equals weight and height simply doesn't matter.

Obviously every experienced BRP player has their own way of handling SIZ, but that's how I chose to look at it.

Rod

Kronovan,

I would treat a torch as a light club which can be thrown 20m according to page 248 of the BRP rules.

Hello all, I'm new to Call of Cthulhu and this question came up when I created my 1st character. I'd like to have my player character capable of throwing burning torches, but from read through of the 6th Ed rules I'm not sure how far they'd be able to throw it. This is the RAW:

"To hit a target with an object, or to hit a target with the right part of the object thrown (such as the blade of a knife or hatchet), use Throw. A palm-sized object of reasonable balance can be hurled three yards for each STR point exceeding the object’s SIZ. An object designed to be thrown can be hurled up to six yards for each STR point in excess of the object’s SIZ, and perhaps bounce on for more. Keepers must choose the multiplier suitable to the baseball, javelin, etc."

The CoC rule is quite a bit more generous than the Basic Roleplaying 4th Ed. rule, which would only allow an unbalanced/improvised object like a torch to be thrown 1 meter for every 3 STR points that exceed the objects size. That BRP distance for thrown objects doesn't seem to be in sync with the type of scale and distance CoC is using. I'm also not sure a torch fits either of those descriptions in the CoC Throw rule. The BRP rule for balanced objects is 1 meter for every STR point that exceed the object size.

My PC has a STR of 13, so should I just split the difference between BRP and CoC rules and allow them to throw a torch 1 yard for every STR point exceeding the size - so basically 12 yards (36 feet) for my PC?

A follow on question would be where do you find the size of objects in the CoC rules? The weapon listing tables don't give any SIZ/Enc values such as the BRP tables do. Are you supposed to just go by what's in BRP?

Ditto. I think it's time Chaosium accepted that if one buys a physical book one gets the pdf for free. Right now I have to choose and yet from most other d100 publishers I get both for one price.

I don't mind paying for both, but I won't buy the game until the pdf is available at DriveThruRPG.com. That site is better at managing and archiving your pdf purchases than Chaosium.

Does anyone known when Magic Word will be available on DriveThruRPG.com?

I'd say the scale is off somewhat.

18 is the best a normal person can be, without training. 21 is the best with training. So, a Ninja Master would have DEX 21+, probably higher than 21 because of magical improvement, a Professional Gymnast would have a DEX of 19-21. Master Swordsmen don't necessarily have a high DEX, but it helps.

My rough guide is as follows:

INT = IQ / 10, so add a 0 to the end to get the IQ classification - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - it is as flawed as the IQ Test, but gives a rough guide, especially when using 3D6 INT.

SIZ uses tables that are in the RQ2/RQ3 books for height and weight. Add in extra effects for body shape and you get an idea of what SIZ 15 means. However, a short fat man and a tall thin one could both be SIZ 15.

STR allows you to pick up the equivalent SIZ, so STR 15 allows you to pick up a SIZ 15 person 50% of the time first go. Work out tjhe mass of the person and that shows how strong you are.

CON is trickier, as it is a nebulous idea of health. I don't know houw you would scale this.

POW is similar to CON. In one way it denotes luck, which I don't like at all - why are all magically powerful people lucky? It makes no sense to me. On the other hand, it denotes magical strength, for which we don't have a measure in the real world.

APP is a measure of how attractive the person is. As this is subjective, the best way would be for 100 people to give a score between 3 and 18 for a person and take the average.

CHA is a measure of personality rather than attractiveness. This is the intangible attribute that made Napoleon a leader of men and helped Rasputin seduce the Russian Court.

[[[ Edited by the Moderator ]]]

Yeah, I have bought the PDF. I have just often heard that one of the problems with Glorantha is too much focus has been put on Dragon Pass/Sartar/Orlanthi, and yet, if this product is the only gazetteer of this region, I have to wonder: Is this all? It seems to lack the level of detail you find in, say, Griffin Mountain. Granted, there is more to cover. I am new to Glorantha, so I’m just not sure what other sources I should go to to fill in the gaps.

There is a ton of stuff on Glorantha. Just go to DriveThruRPG.com and type "Glorantha" in the search bar and you will see a bunch of stuff.

You could also get a copy of Rick Meint's Index to Glorantha which lists everything published for Glorantha.

P.S. Rick is the moderator of this forum.

Has this ever been reprinted, maybe as part of another book? And/or, will this level and style of detail on this specific region be included in the new Guide to Glorantha?

It is available for $5.00 in pdf format from DriveThruRPG.com:

HeroQuest: Dragon Pass Gazetteer - Issaries | DriveThruRPG.com

Falconer,

I have the red hardcover version of RQ2 and it is nearly indestructible! A hardcover reprint would be nice, because the old hardcovers are expensive.

I agree.

Classic fantasy's miniature combat rules are very good and can be adapted to other BRP games.

Classic Fantasy has a pretty detailed miniatures system in it. I devoted an entire chapter to it.

Now be aware that it's in the hard copy but NOT the PDF. For some reason Chaosium did not update the PDF no matter how many times I asked.

So, if you already have or intend to purchase the PDF, let me know and I'll update it for you.

Rod

Cthulhu Invictus is also a very good Roman supplement for BRP.

If you are more into the real history than into the Hollywood version of it,

there is a good chance that you will love BRP's Rome, in my view it is a true

masterwork. So are most of the other historical supplements, for example

Celestial Empire, Merrie England and Mythic Iceland.

I used to be, but I have not visited CotI for a very long time.

Stan,

I think you will find BRP to be an excellent system with more "crunchy" bits for you and your players to sink their teeth into.

However, the BRP core rule book is a generic system with many optional rules designed to apply to multiple genres of gaming. It is important that you pick the genre and optional rules that you want to use.

Also, the rules for superpowers are not fully fleshed out at this time, but this may change is a superhero source book/monograph is released.

Just wanted to say hello to everyone here and give a little introduction, though I should note I'm under the same handle over on RPG.net and I've seen a few familiar monikers here on these boards. Still, just for getting to know.

I'm a long time gamer, primarily GMing, for more than 25 years. As I've gotten older I've noticed there have been some changes in my gaming.

For example, for the last five years I thought that I was all about "story" and I went for games that gave narrative tools to the players to advance the story (mostly FATE and Burning Wheel). Now, in general, I like both games very well, but especially wit FATE, a lot of things are feeling very hand-wavy and wishy-washy. I wasn't feeling satisfied after gaming sessions. I did one shots of other games but they had various issues and the like.

Then, a month ago, I did a one shot of A Song of Ice and Fire. The system is very "concrete" and simulationsist; my players had a blast, dealt easier with conflicts, and as a GM, it was just so easy to run. In fact, I'd go as far to say that they engaged more with the system in that one session, than all the sessions of FATE we'd done over the past four months.

Of course, you may think that it's the system, and that's partly true (it's rather good in my opinion), but I think it's more that it was "concrete", that is, the numbers were more about things in the "world", than about abstract concepts that had to be fit and argued about for each situation (this isn't to say that all systems don't cause arguments, it's that the arguments in FATE are about how far to stretch Aspects, which really tires me out). This made me realize that I don't actually like "abstract" games better than more concrete ones (and thus, I'll probably will never pick up HeroQuest 2, for example).

Now, where does BRP fit into all this? Well, the current Diaspora FATE campaign I'm running winds down in one or two more sessions. After that, I'm sure I'll be running ASOIF RPG. But after that? I can't go back to FATE or other looser systems. Burning Wheel (and its derivatives), as much as I love them, are too complex for my current crop of casual gamers. I had GURPS but sold it long ago since I dislike, very much, the one-second combat round. I have Savage Worlds but something about it rubs me the wrong way - I THINK it's the heavy reliance on bennies, and the wonky and wild die results. I like ORE and have both Reign and Wild Talents, but again, the die system doesn't send me through spasms of joy.

And then I remembered the old days, when I played CoC and Stormbringer. Those were good systems, concrete, easy to adjudicate, and the like. So I ordered the gold BRP book, which just arrived yesterday. I haven't had a chance to really read it yet; just flipped through it to see the art (and let me comment, as a person of color, I liked that there were actually pictures of people other than "whites,"; that one of an "African" adventuring party is awesome).

So, the question is, am I right? Is BRP the "concrete" game I'm looking for? Where, if hand waving is necessary, it's at least made easy but interesting (one of the major issues with FATE was that handwaving usually came down to "it's an Aspect", and not much more mechanically).

Good point. But the Chaosium RQ2 rule book is only 120 pages, so OCR would not take that long.

If you don't OCR the text you can't search it or copy and paste it. The whole point of having a PDF is being able to use the text as a searchable form or you'd buy a copy of eBay. You also can't correct the spelling in a picture which is what a scanned but not OCR'd book is.

Why would they need to use OCR? Just scan the rules in like WOTC did with their old modules from the late 70s and early 80s.

Producing a PDF requires either the original electronic document or a good clean paper copy. The first being extremely unlikely to be in a format currently supported if even it's in any sort of electronic format and the second requiring painstaking scan and OCR with hours of correction from the OCR'd document is probably going to cost more that the cost of a licence and what you'd get in income.

TL:DR Don't hold your breath.

Heck, I would be happy with a PDF of Chaosium's old RQ2 rules. A PDF wouldn't consume many resources and would generate a quick bit of cash from old timers like me.

Most of the folks who produce the various RuneQuest and RuneQuest-like games these days aren't operating with an excess of resources. Much as I would dearly love to see a beautiful reprint of the RQ2 rules, I would much prefer that the same effort be spent upon producing new material and building the strength of the community.

Look at Classic Fantasy.

Since it emulates 1st Edition AD&D in the BRP rules it would be easier to convert the old Ravenloft scenarios to Classic Fantasy.

Here is the CF Link: Classic Fantasy - Chaosium | Basic Roleplaying | Basic Roleplaying | DriveThruRPG.com

I've decided to run a fantasy campaign using some iteration of BRP. I do own most of the RQ variants from RQ2 and RQ3 via MRQ I & II and now RQ6.

Thing is, RQ feels (i) too crunchy and most of all (ii) too attached to Glorantha (esp. the magic systems and the cults) and I want a fantasy game more in the geist of old school D&D with a touch of gothic horror for this campaign (read: Ravenloft style).

Now to my question: I've read a lot about both MW and OQ and I wonder if you guys can recommend, or discuss the pro's and con's of each of these games.

Any hints or tips would be most appreciated

Well, AD&D was essentially a 1-20 scale, and BRP is 1-100, so a +1 in D&D translates easily to a +5% in BRP.

After that, you really have to to a lot of eyeballing. The baseline assumptions between the two systems are different enough that its not easy to do a simple translation. BRP characters tend to be somewhat fragile, no matter how long you've been playing them, whereas D&D characters rack up tons of hit points, and become rather indestructible at high levels.

So, use your best judgement, really.

Classic Fantasy took care of this by adding SIZ and CON for HP rather than averaging them and adding fate points.

Ben,

When will Magic World be available on DriveThruRPG?

I like to purchase all of my pdfs through that site because they have an excellent library feature for managing purchases.

Seems to be okay now.

As you were, everyone.

Newt,

The link is broken. I can't access the preview.

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

No offense guys, but you are over thinking this issue. Just use Arthur Reyes's chart to resolve the skill contest and move on. Otherwise your going to bog the game down.

Here is a link to Arthur Reyes's chart:

Opposed Skill Rolls - Downloads - Basic Roleplaying Central

Does anyone know when this will be released?

I recently purchased 'Secrets of Morrocco' and there are many references to the Pulp Cthuhlu rules riddled throughout this setting book. The Chaosium website has had the product listed as an 'Upcoming Product' for many moons, and I'm just wondering if anyone within these forums may be able to shed some light as to when the stars will be right for this book to be published.

I have found the Pulp Cthuhlu book listed on Amazon.com as a pre-release product (not date or price yet). Amazon's blurb indicates that it is a rule book for Call of Cthuhlu D20 rules and not Call of Cthuhlu BRP rules. Does anyone know if this is correct? I'ld certainly be very disappointed if this book comes out in D20 rules...

I got to play in Jeff Hatch's Pulp Adventure RPG at DunDraCon last week and I had a blast. He produces a Cthulhu version of the game.

The Pulp Adventure RPG is D100 based and is available now at the following link:

Planet-Pulp

Here is a link to a sample adventure that will give you a flavor of the game:

http://www.invasivedesigns.com/planet-pulp/The%20Lights%20Flickered.pdf

The way I do it is to move all rolls up a level until one fails and then use that result.

So, a Success vs a Special becomes a Failure vs a Success.

It is easy and doesn't involve working much out at all.

Also, BRP rolls are made simultaneously, in theory, so the idea that if I roll a Special then the other person has a harder roll doesnt really wash. In reality, it makes me feel very happy until the opponent rolls a 01.

The opposed skill mechanic is the same mechanic used in the Attack and Defense Matrix on page 193 of BRP.

Arthur Reyes created a cool opposed skill chart so you can just follow the chart and not have to do any thinking:

Opposed Skill Rolls - Downloads - Basic Roleplaying Central

I still find that for practical purposes at the game table 300 pages is my limit. I find both BRP and RQ6 too large to comfortably handle and find things in a hurry. I do like the idea of a separate monster book, because a lot of the time you don't need that information, and people who only play but never referee would only need to buy the core rules, a bit like the basic Pathfinder book (although that's still a pain to reference in play).

Just my personal opinion (although my group agrees with me), I realise there are different points of view.

Vile,

If you buy the pdf you can print the portions you need or have the whole book on your ipad for quick reference at the game table. Maybe the book and pdf could be sold together at a small discount like with RQ6.

What I'd like to see is for 2nd edition CF to basically be compatible with the 1st edition. A "smoothing out" of things that for some reason were not optimized in the initial playtesting, an expansion necessitated by CF's divorce from referring to the BRP book, changes for the sake of clarity and reorganization, and the additional material that never saw publication. What I wouldn't like to see is something that is essentially a new game: new systems for this-and-that.

Baron,

You make a good point. CF is good as it is and only needs a bit of refinement as well as monsters and magic items.

I would be okay with either approach. I think it depends on which system you're going for - I would tend to go with that. If it's Legend or RQ6, hit location points only; if it's d20, whatever your preference; if you'd care to go for the D100IISRD, total hit points plus hit location points. All the systems work, so it's more a matter of personal choice.

I hope you can keep it to 300 pages or less (250 is even better). I find modern-day rulebooks very difficult to use at the table compared to the 50-150 page books of yore.

I hope you'll soon be able to spill the beans on what publisher and system you are going with. I didn't spring for CF1 because I was working on something much too similar (B/X + D100SRDII) but my new angle of AEONS + BLUEHOLME is so different that I'm no longer worried about unintentionally stealing your ideas. Er, in other words, I'm really looking forward to CF2!

I think you should keep total HP and location HP. I love hit locations and the slight game play slow down is well worth the extra realism. However, those that don't like locations can just ignore them and use the total HP of the monster in the stat block.

As for the size of the book, OSRIC is 373 pages, RQ6 is 456 pages and BRP is 399 pages. I like the convenience of large all inclusive rule books, provided that they have a good index. I think the trend is towards large all inclusive volumes rather than separate booklets like the old RQ3 boxed edition. Even RQ3 was eventually published in a single 280 page soft cover book.