drohem

Brain...Shutting down. Impossible to imagine...Mind ... can not grasp ...

ROFLH!!!!!

I'm right there with you.

The sampler says that it is the Omni system. Perhaps the did what R Talsorian did and named the system before porting it over to other RPGs?

Interesting. Maybe Morrigan Press altered the Tal4 Sampler to add that because the original sampler I have from Shooting Iron doesn't mention Omni System.

I have always enjoyed the mechanics, and found them innovative. The Omni System, a universal RPG by Morrigan Press, is based off the Tal4 rules.

Morrigan Press -Games

Way ahead of you Badcat!

I prefer the 3rd edition myself. It is a refinement of the 1st and 2nd editions. Although, I was disappointed that the 3rd edition didn't have the Mass Combat rules from the 2nd edition.

I agree about Tal4 being a beautiful book. The only real gripe I have about Tal4 is fixed damage and that the Combat Rating and Magic Rating are no longer derived from an Attribute formula, but are assigned based upon archtype and race/culture. Other than that, Tal4 is awsome; especially the innovative and free-form magic system.

The only good thing about the Gor series was the cover art. :thumb:

Oh...you mean the game High Medieval. I don't own a copy of that game. I just own the Omni System, and, of course, Tal4. My next purchase in the Omni/Morrigan Press line will probably be Atlantis: The Second Age.

HM looks interesting, and it's on my list to purchase; albeit on the backburner category.

What medieval cultures does it focus on? What historical time period(s) does it cover?

It says it's an alternate earth; is there a specific date or event of diverenge from our real history?

I don't know. I miss theTalents from HM. I didn't see that in the preview for Tal4.

I'm drawing a blank. What's HM in regards to Talislanta?

Based on that and my reading of it, I'd recommend looking for a used copy of Tal4 rather than purchasing Tal5. If you like the world already, I'd push it even harder. The world has a lot of well layed out information in the book. The system is very slick and very well put together. If BRP is as well written and editted as Tal4, I'll be happy.

I agree as well. Shooting Iron really put together a great book in Tal4. I've already talked about the issues I have with the 5th edition.

This was perpetuated in the original Star Trek series with Captain James T. Kirk.

Yeah, in the 1st-3rd editions, the customization at character creation was limited. They greatly expanded this in the 4th edition. Tal4 is an elegant system.

It looks like the Talislanta website is back up.

T A L I S L A N T A - Official Website

Well, it's an archtype system with room for customization at character creation. Tal4 greatly expanded character customization at creation. I rather liked the approach to attributes. Basically, the average Attribute level is zero, with the non-super levels in the -5 to +5 range.

I have always enjoyed the mechanics, and found them innovative. The Omni System, a universal RPG by Morrigan Press, is based off the Tal4 rules. The have printed several RPGs based upon the Omni System. They re-created the Atlantean Trilogy by Bard Games with the Omni System rules. It's called Atlantis: The Second Age.

I agree with you about the setting and artwork.

Morrigan Press -Games

Hello Bill and welcome!

Yes, it seems the site is down currently.

Tal4 was a large change from 1-3 editions. Combat Ratings and Magic Ratings are no longer based upon an attribute formula; they now are a function of the racial archtype. The removed random damage, and now weapoins do a fixed amount of damage. The biggest change was the magic system. The went to a freeform system where the player creates his own spells; rather than having exhaustive lists of spells like D&D and earlier editions.

I have mixed feelings about the 5th edition. There really isn't anything new execpt for the path system. It didn't sparkle for me. It's like career paths or loose class templates. The biggest problem I have with the 5th edition is that they broke it up into Player's and Game Master's Guides when it wasn't necessary. Also, the Game Master's Guide was so poorly edited that the spelling and grammar errors seriously detract from reading it with any enjoyment. The Player's Guide and GM's Guide are each $40, and not worth it for a re-hash of previous material littered with spelling and editing mistakes.

/rantoff

sorry:o

hello Ray and welcome to the BRP forums!

Your creative work has provided me many years of enjoyment and fun. I would like to say thank you as well. I look forward to checking out Fire and Sword.

Is there an SRD for Tal4?

There is no SRD, but you can download a 50 page sampler of Tal4 at talislanta.com.

hehehe...I actually have no problem with the d20 System or the d20 Talislanta book; it is a good starting point, but there is much work for a GM to do to flesh it out properly.

I don't necessarily need to have statistical balance between races as well.

Well, we could start tossing around ideas about stat, occupation, and racial conversions.

That and I've always wanted to try writing up a background based on 'Gangs Of New York'... the book, more than the movie... not Western exactly but in the same period. With wild characters like Lizzie the Dove and the Dead Rabbits... not historically accurate but not supernatural either.

Bill the Butcher is one of my favorite movie 'bad guys.'

Howdy Steve! Welcome to the BRP forums.

Heck ya! I love the Talislanta system(s) and setting. It's totally possible. If it can be pigeon-holed into d20, then any system conversion is possible.

I think it is entirely possible both for BRP and RQ3 conversions.

I love to toss around ideas on converting Talislanta to BRP or RQ3. :thumb:

Hello and welcome Ars Mysteriorum!

Yes, I understand. I agree as well. There are several or more skills that support the one master skill, and the character would have adequate skill levels in those support skills.

I always like to have a good spread of skills for my characters (no matter the system), and one or two specialty skills. One-trick ponies are fine once in a while, but not for the majority of characters I create.

I am mildly amused when I see characters that are only focusing on one or two skills; especially in systems that have skills points or ranks to distribute at the player's discretion. Of course, this only my personal view. I am not knocking anybody's style of play or character creation and advancement.

Personally, I just like characters that are diverse and can handle themselves adequately in a wide range of situations.

Well, the ones that I would consider significant (many sessions or long-term campaigns) are:

Gamma World (2nd & 4th editions)

Star Frontiers

Middle-Earth Role Playing (2nd edition)

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1st, 2nd, & 2.5 editions)

RuneQuest (3rd edition)

Eflquest (1st edition)

Superworld

GURPS (3rd edition)

Justifiers (2nd edition)

Talislanta (2nd & 3rd editions)

Dungeons & Dragons (3.0 and 3.5 editions)

d20 Modern

Star Wars (D6 and d20 editions)

There were many one-shots, only a couple of sessions, or mini-campaigns from a bunch other RPGs; but I don't want to sound pretentious.

Just to be clear: I'm not knocking your opinion on this subject Enpeze. :)Personally, I don't need to go into that level of detail with my games. Once again, I think that skill decay rules are fine in some cases. I just might differ on the rate of decay, and which skills are affected by decay than other people.

Well, I did meant that specific rules should be necessary in order to maintain extreme high skills. I ranted because it seems that many GMs dont seem to waste a second of time thinking about the implications such a high skill probably poses to the player and the game itself. I would even be satisfied with a "light" (a symbolic and not so realistic) solution, like the player describing (or maybe playing out) some training sessions every few days, just to say "Hey people look, I dont forget that I have to pay a price for my super skill".

Seriously, is that really necessary? Making the player say every session "oh, by the way, I train in my skills."

I assume that while not adventuring, the character is practicing his/her skills in their field of expertise or job. That is sufficient for me. The training rules are for extra training above and beyond the normal upkeep of their current skills, or learning new skills althogether.

Now, the concept of skill decay is a valid one I think, but only in very specialized skills and situations. For example, a demolitions expert who hasn't done anything in a couple of years or more. In highly specialized fields, skill decay represents that the body of knowledge in that field has moved forward while the character has not keep up with techniques and technologies.

If I were using skill decay rules, then I would include specialized combat skills like Martial Arts, but not simple combat skills like Fist or Mace.