drohem

I like this concept as well. Flesh and Blood was a great movie.

I have no problem with Hero Points, or any other similiar engine. Sometimes the dice gods are fickle and can cause players/GM to have a bad day. We have developed the Mr. Hand (Fast time at Ridgemont High) theory in our gaming circle. "If it's my time and it's your time, then isn't it our time?" In other words, we all there to have a good time and spending precious time out of our busy lives. It would suck to have a character or campaign derailed over one errant dice roll.

Yeah, that was one of the things that attracted me to purchase Fifth Cycle. Of course, there are mutated animals (the nation of Bonparr rocks!) from Gamma World. I liked the Wolfen and Bearmen from Palladium, Gnolls and Bugbears from D&D, Ferran from Talislanta, and the Broo from RuneQuest (as bad guys, of course!). The best of all for me are the Betas from Justifiers. I know there are many more games that have this concept, I just can't think of anymore off the top of my head. Oh wait, didn't Warhammer have the Skaven, a ratman species? Also, Legends of the Five Rings had the Ratlings. Hengeyokai from Oriental Adventures and Kara-Tur. Lupins, Rakasta, and Tortles from the Red Steel campaign in Mystara. Ok, come to think of it, it seems to be a fairly common theme in fantasy/sci-fi settings.

My first exposure to RPGs was with a hybrid 1st/2nd edition Gamma World campaign. It holds a serious nostalgia factor for me. I would like to see the Overlord of Bonparr campaign (4th edition) translated into BRP. I just love anthropomorphic humanoids that are bi-pedal and bi-manual.

I'd like to see a BRP Gamma World done.

In my gaming experiences thus far using the open-ended damage for ballistic weapons and falling damage, I would have to say the d6 yields the greatest damage. Even though a d4 looks like it would because of the chance, it has appeared to me that the d6 is the most solid for re-rolls.

Here is how a single die looks: d4 = 0.25 = 25% d6 = 0.16667 = 16.66% d8 = 0.125 = 12.5% d10 = 0.1 = 10% d12 = 0.08333 = 8.33% d20 = 0.05 = 5% So on a d6, you have a 16.66% chance to roll a '6' and a 83.33% chance not to hit a 6. So each number on a d6 has a 16.66% chance to come up. So on a d8, you have a 12.5% to roll a '8' and a 87.5% chance not to hit a 8. So each number on a d8 has a 12.5% chance to come up. This changes of course when you roll two dice together (i.e. 2d6). Then you have a greater or lesser chance to roll a specific number within that range. 2d6 2 - 2.78% 3 - 5.56% 4 - 8.33% 5 - 11.11% 6 - 13.89% 7 - 16.67% 8 - 13.89% 9 - 11.11% 10 - 8.33% 11 - 5.56% 12 - 2.78% So hitting a 7 has the greatest chance at 16.67% while hitting a 2 or 12 has the least chance at 2.78%. Here is a link to a cool dice probability calculator you can play with: http://www.anwu.org/games/dice_calc.html Here is another probability links you might find useful: http://www.edcollins.com/backgammon/diceprob.htm

An option to consider is open-ended damage for ballistic weapons. For example, if the weapons damage is 1d6 and a '6' is rolled, then you roll another d6 and add that to the total damage. This can be an abstraction of the artery being hit, a bone being smashed into pieces, an organ damaged, etc.

I agree with you Badcat. The hit point/weapon damage system is an abstraction; not a simulation. A good friend of mine got hold of an anatomy book when we were playing RQ3 exclusively. He created this incrediably detailed combat system based upon damage to organs, etc. I took a look at it and said it was beautiful, but I would never use or play in his game if he used it, LOL.

That's your viewpoint, and your opinion is valid. Just as my opinion is valid.

I liked Harnmaster's skill index concept as well.

I don't know what you mean by three skill levels. It was similiar enough to me to warrant mentioning it.

CDA = Cthulhu Dark Ages

That is an intriguing approach. I'll have to think on it.

Sweet! Hmmm...powered armor. /drooloff

I plan to resurrect my homebrew fantasy campaign (Thonkar) that I created using RQ3 rules. Dwarves, gnomes, halfings, and elves are relatively recent colonists on the continent of Thonkar. Humanity is divided between tribal barbarians and a dominant civilized magocratic empire. The decadent mages have used their twisted arts to create a slave race. Using foul magics, they have combined animal and humans to created anthropomorphic creatures that are bi-pedal and bi-manual. The conflict arises when contact between the united colonist races make contact with the empire. The empire outwardly proposes trade and exchange, but they secretly mean to conquer the colonist races. The colonists discover the slavery of their citizens with the help of renegade Ani-men. The united colonist kingdoms go to war with the magocratic empire, and defeat the empire with the help of an Ani-men slave revolt.

Not at all! I just wasn't too clear on what you were asking, sorry.

hehe...I do the same thing after I see a movie I like. I like your idea.

Are you offering to GM one? Or asking if someone else will GM one?

I am intrigued by the game's genre or setting first, and look at the rules second. If I don't like the rules, then I toss them out and convert to whatever rule system I like at the time. There was a game called Time and Time Again, which was published in 1984, that I liked because of the concept and campaign setting. It had to do with time travel. There was some real hard science behind the concept and campaign setting. Basically, the characters were time agents in a military organization based upon the French Foreign Legion. The rules sucked rocks. It used some whacky d200 percentile system for combat and tasks. I threw out those rules and coverted it into BRP/RQ rules and GURPS later on. I did the same with the game Justifiers, which was published in 1988. I translated the genre or campaign setting into BRP/RQ, GURPS, and d20 Modern. I also did this with the game Talislanta. GURPS was supposedly going to publish a licensed Talislanta game, but, sadly, it never saw print. So I made up my own GURPS version.

I like this idea as well. When my group played RQ3 we just ommitted any Gloranthan specific rules and played in a fantasy setting that was Tolkien-esk. Sorry, I just couldn't wrap my mind around a talking duck or some of the crazy chaos monsters.

It all tastes like chicken anyway, right? LOL!

It is well supported by academics, scientists, and historians that the sword evolved from the knife, and the that the axe had a separate evolution. Just because it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, does not necessarily mean it is a duck.

My reading does not support your assertions as well. I agree to disagree.

No problem. Save yourself some cash and just use the RQ3 material and change any Gloranthan reference to suit your campaign.