Questbird

They do sound somewhat similar. All I can add is that Magic Realm (1979) preceded both Ars Magica (1987) and Magic: The Gathering (1993) by some years.

The different colours swirl around. Certain times, places and artifacts emanate particular colour power, which can be used by any spellcasters in that location/time. There might be spells or rituals which convert one colour of power to another. Additionally some spellcasters can 'bottle' a bit of localised power to make it usable later -- the POW is locked away until it used. In the case of the wizard with the tome of Elvish spells, which use Gold colour magic to power them, the wizard would have to learn Elvish Lore magic skill. Then he or she would have to learn the individual spells in the tome (INT limit). Then to actually use the spells, he or she would have to journey to a place where Gold magic flows (eg. a forest), or wait for Gold magic to manifest, or find an apparatus or relic which emanates Gold magic. If the wizard also had skill to manipulate Gold magic, he or she could 'bottle' that magic to use later, when outside the influence of the Gold (each 'bottling' costs a temporary POW). The referee can decide how common these events/places/artifacts are for the different colours. The overall effect is that magic generally has to be planned for, or magicians will seek out natural sources of colour magic and live near them, so that they always have access to their power.

The difference is there's divisions of the spells by Type (eg. Diabolic Ceremonies, Malicious tricks etc) and by the colour of magic which powers them. In some cases there is complete overlap, like all of the Elvish Lore spells are powered by Gold colour magic; but in others there are multiple colours that work, as for Malicious Tricks, where some spells use Black, Grey or Purple magic, or any colour in one case. Also the spells themselves need to be found and learned individually. The designer of Magic Realm was trying to model fantasy literature, but in the case of the magic system I think he just made it up. Still did a pretty good job though. In the Magic Realm game your character was basically a collection of chits for moving, fighting and magic. Different combinations of magic chits made for very different spell casters. For example the Magician had chits for many Types of magic -- but no duplicates so they couldn't both have the correct Colour of magic and use a chit for a spell. So they could cast a lot of different spells but only where they could power it from the area or time or a magical artifact with the right emanation. Other characters could do only one Type of magic but had multiple chits of the same type so could carry the correct colour around. Of course the more Magic chits you had, the fewer for Moving and Fighting (I think each Magic Realm character had 12 chits total). In BRP terms these translate to skills in the Types and separate skills with manipulating the Colours. Then you'd learn each spell (with the normal INT limit); your chance to cast it would be your skill with its Type.

There are some spells which can be powered by multiple colours, or any colour. So with the thunderstorm it might be made active with either Grey or Purple. I would probably give it a single Type though.. in this case probably I'd make it Type II Pagan Rites, since it's mostly to do with natural phenomena.

Spells from the original Magic Realm game, categorised. In most cases the spell names are self-explanatory or evocative enough to let you know what the spell will do. Spell Duration Type Color Exorcise Instant Type I Righteous invocations White Make Whole Instant Type I Righteous invocations White Peace Combat Type I Righteous invocations White Small Blessing Instant Type I Righteous invocations White Blend into Background Day Type II Pagan rites Grey Fog Day Type II Pagan rites Grey Prophecy Day Type II Pagan rites Purple Stones Fly Attack Type II Pagan rites Grey Talk to Wise Bird Instant Type II Pagan rites Gold Witch's Brew Day Type II Pagan rites Grey Elven Grace Combat Type III Elvish lore Gold Faerie Lights Day Type III Elvish lore Gold Illusion Permanent Type III Elvish lore Gold Lost Permanent Type III Elvish lore Gold Persuade Day Type III Elvish lore Gold See Hidden Signs Day Type III Elvish lore Gold Blazing Light Day Type IV Energy-binding alchemy Purple Elemental Spirit Day Type IV Energy-binding alchemy Purple Fiery Blast Attack Type IV Energy-binding alchemy Purple Hurricane Winds Fly (move) Type IV Energy-binding alchemy Purple Lightning Bolt Attack Type IV Energy-binding alchemy Purple Roof Collapses Attack Type IV Energy-binding alchemy Purple Violent Storm Day Type IV Energy-binding alchemy Purple Absorb Essence Permanent Type V Diabolic ceremonies Black Ask Demon Instant Type V Diabolic ceremonies Black Broomstick Fly (move) Type V Diabolic ceremonies Black Curse Instant Type V Diabolic ceremonies Grey Pentangle Combat Type V Diabolic ceremonies Black Power of the Pit Instant Type V Diabolic ceremonies Black Dissolve Spell Instant Type VI Conjuring techniques Purple Enchant Artifact Permanent Type VI Conjuring techniques Purple Melt into Mist Permanent Type VI Conjuring techniques Purple Phantasm Day Type VI Conjuring techniques Purple Transform Permanent Type VI Conjuring techniques Purple Unleash Power Day Type VI Conjuring techniques Purple World Fades Permanent Type VI Conjuring techniques Black Control Bats Day Type VII Good luck knacks Any Peace with Nature Permanent Type VII Good luck knacks Gold Premonition Day Type VII Good luck knacks Grey Protection from Magic Phase† Type VII Good luck knacks Gold Sense Danger Permanent Type VII Good luck knacks Purple Bad Luck Permanent Type VIII Malicious tricks Any Deal with Goblins Day Type VIII Malicious tricks Black Guide Spider or Octopus Day Type VIII Malicious tricks Grey Poison Day Type VIII Malicious tricks Grey Remedy Instant Type VIII Malicious tricks Grey Whistle for Monsters Instant Type VIII Malicious tricks Purple † a Phase is a part of a day

Maybe a bit late to the party, but whenever magic system discussions come up I post the systems I use (plus one I just muse about) I run a fairly low-power campaign where magic-users are feared and shunned.

Or, if you use Linux or open source software, Scribus. Ah, too late you have Affinity. Never mind.

It just requires a bit of common sense. If the statement of intent was to attack, and the target changes to another within range, sure do the -5 DEX rank and allow it. It's still an attack in range, still very close to the original 'intent'. If the player wants to pivot to something completely different like run across the room or perform first aid on a fallen comrade, then don't.

In BR:UGE, Random Armor Values are an option, described on p.132, and the random and nonrandom armor values are listed in a table on p.175. It recommends you don't use hit locations if you use Random Armor Values.

Don't worry about setting such limits. After a few games of BRP (and maybe some dead or starving characters) your players should naturally start making more rounded characters.

As @g33k said, don't worry about balance for such things. Old One (Elf, similar to Vadagh from Corum) Aloof, intellectual, distant and long-lived. Must have a special reason to leave Whispering Earth and mingle with the lesser races. Instead of selecting a set of natural abilities and a cultural background they add 30 skill points to each of the following: Conceal Object, Dodge, Evaluate, Insight, Million Spheres, Natural World, Other Language, Own Language, Physik, Potions and one class of weapon. They can never begin the game with Chaos points Old One (Quarmallian) Now shadows of their former selves, this race now lives underground in ancient Quarmall. A very few agents and exiles creep around the surface world. Instead of selecting a set of natural abilities and a cultural background they add 30 skill points to each of the following: Bargain, Dodge, Fast Talk, Move Quietly, Million Spheres, Other Language, Own Language, Potions, Scent/Taste, one Mentalism magical skill and one non-Chanelling magical skill from Spell Law* (learning each of which earns a Chaos point). They can never begin the game with Law points. They cannot learn Chanelling/Divine magic. * I use BRP-adapted Spell Law from Rolemaster as one of the magic systems

That's what I did -- use both but at half the original bonus

I run an Elric! campaign set in Nehwon. Elric! (and Magic World) have skill bonuses for 'natural abilities' which add 20% to a set of skills depending on whether a character is crafty, cunning, physical or persuasive. However I also wanted some cultural skills. So I ended up with adding 10% for culture and 10% for the 'natural abilities' (which I like). Example: 'Natural ability': His or her first impulse is to try to outsmart an opponent or to gain an advantage. Give 10 points each to Bargain, Conceal Object, Disguise, Evaluate, Fast Talk, Hide, Insight, Natural World, Oratory, Own Language, Pick Lock and Search, and to any one class of weapon Cultural: Barbarian (Cold Waste) +5%: Search, Move Quietly, Hide +10%: Climb, Jump, Natural World Pick Two +5%: Sailing, Art (Dance), Art (Sing), Dodge, Oratory, Swim Pick One +10%: Craft, Known Kingdoms, Art (Play instrument), Track Pick Three +10%: 1H Axe, 1H Hammer, 2H Axe, 2H Hammer, Bow, Dagger, Shield, Sling, Spear, Staff, Throw, Brawl And then they get the 250 points to spend on their Profession skills.

I'm curious: what do you think is the problem with the religions? I do know Harn reasonably well.

I did see the locational tables in your mail, which is why I was a little surprised not to see them in the book. Actually just now I used those tables to help my son who was stuck on a theme for a homework short story 😀 So it has already been useful! I understand though, that having the emphasis on the open-ended, imagination-stimulating roll rather than the more limited generator table (and especially if there are too many of them) is a good design choice for a game like this.

I bought TREY and I am quite impressed with it. The Oracle dice (d10, d8, d6) is an interesting way to answer questions. I liked the idea of having the physical orientation of the dice sometimes a factor in the answer. TREY seems like something that could be used when designing adventures or testing games. Rather than being a set of generator tables*, which no matter how varied are ultimately limited by their contents, TREY is a more open-ended imagination stimulant, a bit like the I Ching or Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies (or the classic Magic 8 Ball), though specifically aimed at RPGs. Thanks @clarence for a thought-provoking tool! * Although maybe I did expect a few more generator tables than there were.

You might want to try something like Mythras, with its moderate crunch level, hit locations etc. The Mythic Britain supplements could help with the atmosphere of Hârn. I reckon Aquelarre with its gritty medieval vibe would work very well with Hârn (also has hit locations; does it in a superior way to RQ/Mythras in my opinion) Cthulhu Dark Ages might work also. For non-BRP systems, I've refereed Maelstrom (these days Maelstrom Domesday) and Dragon Warriors in Hârn in the past. Each of those has a 'British' vibe which suits Hârn quite well. As for the magic system, well that's where you need to do some work. Magic systems are very specific to a setting and make a big difference to a fantasy campaign. Hârn is supposedly a 'low magic' setting, or one where magic is at least relatively uncommon. I usually find the default BRP system to be inadequate. However using your table as a guide, the BRP way would be to have those 6 convocations as separate skills, with whatever strictures that allow you to acquire one or more of them.

Probably right about the Conquistadores era. My particular interest is the Inca Empire and that area of South America, more than Mesoamerica. Maybe an alt history where Waska beat Atahualpa in their civil war and Pizarro got defeated at Cajamarca? Then rather than erasing the Europeans, they could be the unknown enemy to watch out for.

Yes please!

Unfortunately in these litigious times all of these properties are owned by some corporation or another. The history of RPGs is littered with examples of games which have used some licensed IP or other -- with the blessing of the owner, mind you -- only to lose the rights to someone prepared to pay more, or for some other reason. This sometimes means entire games can no longer be sold by their original publishers. Eg. Lord of the Rings (ICE, Cubicle7 and now Free League), Elric of Melnibone (and various other Eternal Champions -- Chaosium), recently Conan (Modiphius recently lost the rights to another company which I think is making a D20 game), Lankhmar (TSR, Mongoose, Savage Worlds, Goodman Games). It's exacerbated by RPGs not traditionally making much money compared to their source material books or films, so the rights holders shop around for something which gives them more bucks.

@colinabrett was very into Cyberpunk for BRP. He even uploaded some of his work here:

My players were already playing Elric! when Magic World was released. They weren't aware of the history of the name and they just laughed at it.

There's an excellent free BRP variant called Fire and Sword, available right here on BRP Central. It's by Ray Turney, one of the original creators of Runequest. It uses roll-under d20 mechanism (you can use d10 for super easy tasks and d30 for super hard ones). Ray's design notes are fantastic too, explaining his d20 choice among other game design decisions.

I like Elric!/Magic World for Sword and Sorcery. OpenQuest is another rules-light d100 variant which would probably do what you want with Conan. It also has the advantage of being currently in print and supported. There was even a Conan-with-the-serials-filed-off adventure setting called The Savage North for it.

The fonts are quite small in BR:UGE, especially in the tables. But there is a lot of information to pack in. Disclaimer: I do need to use glasses these days 🤓