Mankcam

I reckon it sounds like you're onto a good idea here!

Yes you are just providing some structure to the Combined Skill rule, but its still a great idea to print off heaps of maneuvers as examples for your players to try out. For example, " Backstabbing" is combining Sneak & Attack, " Mounted Archery" is combining Ride & Bow Attack, etc I usually insist the characters expend a Power Point when they combine skills to do a maneuver, as it is kinda like assuring a special effect so I think it should be seen a little differently to standard skill use. In this case, Power Points represent effort, not magical essence. It also it makes Power Points relevant to non-magic using characters as well. But a big list of example maneuvers would be great for examples for players, so it wouldn't take much just to 'tweak' the examples you provided to fit these rules, taking some inspiration from RQ6 Combat Styles in some cases. (Not sure if you can model 'Beserker' under these rules however...perhaps Perform (Beserk) and Attack possibly...?) Anyway, I'm sure many of us GMs will download a list like that :-)

I have a Luther Arkwright graphic novel; its a pretty intense read and a pretty complex setting to attempt to translate into a roleplaying setting. Yet that probably was the opinion at the time when Chaosium first attempted to bring The Young Kingdoms setting to rpgs. Wow ! - From what I have seen in the preview it is hard not to be impressed. The inclusion of Traits, Dependencies, and Tenacity are welcome additions to the RuneQuest rules, not to mention the Psionics, Technology, and other rules of relevance to Science Fiction. From a setting point of view, the content looks quite intriguing and very unique. This is a big deviation from the ancient setting portrayed in the RQ6 rulebook, but would certainly promote some memorable games. This looks like a great release

This is kinda like trying to get past those buskers in Times Square heh heh

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Sure is! How was this not requested to be put into the official re-edit I wonder? Its not an issue for experienced GMs who read the source material carefully, but thats not the point. A quick one page like this can show you all the cultures at a glance Thanks for posting

Regarding demigods, you can probably give them magical abilities that are in keeping with their character, but state that these are natural abilities or inner reserves that the demigod can call upon, beyond their usual attributes/characteristics or skills. They would have no preparation time or skill roll, just PP cost, allowing them to use up to their full POW of PP if need be. I would give double or triple PP recovery rate for these abilities as well. You can use the spell lists as a guide for these abilities, and possibly give the abilities unique names for more flavour. Just an idea to help model the traits of demigods. Gods beyond 'wandering hero-demigods types' are as described by the previous posters - no stats or skill rolls required, they just do what you want to happen, and the PCs react according. Describing them as climate or environmental is certainly the way to go for that level of divinity, and having stats to describe this just doesn't work, and isn't necessary. But it sounds like you are after folklore characters and mythic hero types, and as you say, avatars of the greater gods.

I know this thread has been dormant for a fortnight, but I just stumbled across it. Actually the Phantom (Sense) spells from Sorcery chapter of RQ3 were pretty good, as tooley1chris suggests above. They were reprinted in the BRP Magic Book. Basically it is a separate effect for each sense. So if you want to create illusionary sound by itself, then it can be done. If you want someone to have an uncomfortable sensation as if ants are crawling over them, then it can be done. If you want people to witness an incident that never occurred, then it can be done etc etc So there were separate spells for each sensation: Phantom Sight, Phantom Sound, Phantom Touch, Phantom Smell, and Phantom Taste. I thought it was a good way for dealing with illusions, as it really stimulated players on what to do with each effect, and made for interesting situations. The spells can be joined together to create multiple effects, which was great. However it also falls down here as the PP cost becomes quite exhaustive. In a fantasy world like Glorantha, there were far more effective magic for less PP expenditure, so the spells tended to be not the most popular for player characters. However if these spells/powers were in a more mundane setting, then they certainly could be quite useful. Easy solution for someone who only has the BGB is to rule that the Illusion spell works on a variety of senses, not just visual, although only one sense is affected by each casting. Allow for multiple castings to be combined at once if desired (requiring multiple casting rolls and increased PP cost). That would pretty much replicate the Phantom (Sense) spells I think. Possibly make them separate skills for balance if you want, but it wouldn't be essiential. I think I would keep the rate as 1PP/3 pts of Characteristic except I would alter it to be 1PP/ per 3 pts of the viewer's INT, meaning that the caster would have to make a judgement call on how much PP to invest. Keep them guessing how intelligent their suspects are. Then if a viewer or viewers have an INT score beyond this, perhaps it becomes easier for them to disbelieve what they are seeing or experiencing. You could also add other +/- modifiers based on the plausibility of the situation, and how well the Illusion has been cast. Oh, and of course, make the spells into an abilities / super powers if its not actually magic in your setting. Not sure if it is what you are looking for however, but just another idea for you

'Willpower' as a title seems like an innate trait, well to me at least. I see it as so close to 'Power' in concept and name, that I find it hard to distinguish it from POW itself. But I do follow your thoughts on a more trainable variant of the trait. Perhaps a title for the Skill version of willpower could be called 'Self Discipline' or 'Self Esteem' perhaps? Possibly give it a base chance equal to POW%. They could potentially be two different skills, perhaps with 'Self Esteem' having a base chance of (POW+CHA)/2% possibly Just some thoughts I do like the new skill of 'Deceit', although I would think it would be opposed by Insight rather than Persuade The Social Disposition table and Special Success effects are very cool however, some good ideas flowing here. However I'm unsure if being amicable or malicious will alter one's chance at deceiving someone. Look at Caesar and Brutus as an example. In some ways it may be actually easier to deceive a friend, given that they are not prepared for such. Not that this is good on a moral level, or on the friendship itself, of course.

BRP does that to a person :-)

I pondered this a while ago and eventually came to the conclusion that innate Willpower is not necessarily affected by one's physical state. Many examples point to this, the most prominent being those people who are battling physical illness and prevailing, despite their declined physical state before recovery. Although I believe what SDLeary is describing is perfect for the the concept of Endurance, and could be modeled well in a system such as BRP. Another way to do it would be to use POW as a complimentary skill and add it to CON x 5% rolls for purposes of rolling endurance or fighting disease; although the roll is probably too high. However, getting back to the Clarence's query regarding whether Willpower is better as a skill or an attribute: Both ways have their merits, but considering this is a BRP thread and not an RQ6 or OQ thread then I would say just go with POW. Competition between individuals is POW vs POW on the Resistance Table; whereas other situations it is a straight POW x 5% roll, adjusting for Easy and Difficult modifiers when the situation calls for such. Remember that Attributes/Characteristics are trainable as well, although they take much longer time. So you can always spend months with a Yogi if you want to try for a POW increase; it will just take a long time ( and perhaps rightfully so).

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I cannot find it on the G2G map, but I do seem to remember something about a Heortlander garrison in South Western Prax, is this what you are referring to? I do have the old RQ2 Companion which has a great map of Holy Country, and there is a site there in the region you are describing. The region is called Marcher Barons, but the site itself does not have a title on my map. I'm assuming that this is KnightFort, and it must be listed on another map If so, I would go with Knight Fort possibly originally being a Brithini settlement which perhaps became a God Learner outpost that was abandoned at the end of the Second Age. I would give its ancient name a very unusual sounding name to its current one, to dress up the Brithini origins. Probably held by God Forgot for some time in the early Third Age, but eventually abandoned for whatever reason. A stronghold in this region would have been strategic for Heortlanders to claim it, and it may have fallen into the hands of different factions over the years, those of the Orlanthi and those of the Esvularings. Given its name, it would probably be in Esvularing hands at the end of the Third Age. However I would consider it almost neutral ground so Orlanthi could travel there as well. Perhaps it's known as a different name to the Orlanthi, something like 'Thanes Hold' perhaps? Presenting the Heortlanders to new players, I would present Orlanthi Heortlanders using Gauls or Thracians as a basic analogy, throwing in some Norse and Mycenaean elements to round them out. The Esvularing Heortlanders are an even more unusual blend. These days I tend to use early Byzantine Empire with some Vedic influences as an anology for Malkioni, so for the Esvularings this would have to be somehow mixed with the Orlanthi elements I described above. A bit difficult, but that's the charm of Glorantha Getting back to Knights Fort itself, maybe the troops who hold it are some kind of 'outcast garrison', like the Men of the Nights Watch from Westeros, full of exiles, debt workers, etc. Knights Fort could also easily function as a minor trade outpost between regional Heortlanders and inhabitants from Prax, such as the Pol Joni Nomads, the Animal Nomads, Lunar Grantlanders, Zola Fel Riverfolk, Sun Countrymen, and even Pavisites. I doubt any Brithini or their servants from God Forgot would regularly frequent the place, due to their isolative culture. The main thing is that its primary purpose is that it still stands against any potential Nomad hordes from Prax, even if most Heortlanders may have almost forgotten its existence. The Lunar Imperials probably have their eye on it, and may have their merchant priests from Corflu venturing up to the outpost for information gathering-purposes for the Empire, under the guise of simple 'trade rites' Yes, it's a pretty open place for a GM to tinker with actually, and it sounds as it might be a great starting point for a fantasy game that doesn't impact on the major plot lines of Glorantha. I can see a lot of possibilities for a site like this as a setting

You know Questbird that I did two similar systems to this many moons ago, well a bit different The first one was much like yours from my memory. Uncannily so in fact. I can't find my scratch notes, but I think it was quite similar, except I did not double the opposed damage roll, but instead halved the Hit Point value instead. I think each point of POW beyond POW 14 added +1 to the HP. But in most other ways I think it was near identical to your system. The second system was a tad different due to it involving Hit Locations, so it would play a bit like RQ6 I suppose. I did find an old word doc that I had etched my thoughts into It called for a 'Toughness' roll, which was Limb HP vs Damage on the Resistance Table. Every Point of AP reduced the Damage sustained as usual. The main thing was that the failed roll had an outcome, rather than using the Limb HP as a declining tally. I wasn't sure whether to tie it to the RQ6 Fatigue Levels or not, or just to the usual outcomes regarding Hit Locations (excluding reducing the HP tallies themselves) Willpower rolls (POW x 5%) were used to see if consequences could be ignored or reduced in subsequent rounds, but I was vague on this at the time. Perhaps just adding +1 to the Limb HP for every point of POW beyond POW 12 or 14 would have been the way to go. Another more simple way would have been to just use Limb HP as thresholds. If exceeded, then the consequences apply, but not actual HP Tally reduction, just consequences. Not sure if that would make characters too powerful or not however. Not sure how it would work in gameplay, as it was just a concept I had kicking around in my head after playing Savage Worlds and True20 for a bit and returning to BRP. I guess something like this is a natural progression to the rules, and it would be interesting if a new version of BRP included this, even as just a optional rule to marking a HIt Point Tally (which is not a fun part of the game, and requires too much micro-managing on the part of the GM)

Yup, tributes and sacrifice were a feature of most ancient religions, and the Hebrews were no different. There was certainly a fair share of offering sacrifices as part of petitioning in the Old Testament, and God often shows his benolevence by sparing sacrifices at the last minute. But it shows that tribute and sacrifice were major features of petitioning the higher powers at this time.

Well...its the billion dollar question...its either a really good idea or a really bad one!

Well I reckon you still have Sorcery or some type of Magic spell system, which is probably what Moses used which displeased God. I would model Hebrew miracles off some type of random mechanic based from an Allegiance (Faith) roll rather than a spell system. So if Moses performed actions which displeased his God (including sorcery spell casting) then his Allegiance to God would have been weakened, and atonement was the only way to restrengthen that connection ( in the above case it was exile). I think the concept of Allegiance is a great basis to model Faith from, but you need to tweak it to the setting. Perhaps a successful roll yields a subtle result, such as allowing the circumstances in favour of the petitioner ( all rolls that scene made at Easy%, or opponent's rolls made at Difficult %). That way a Special Success can be used to portray minor miracles (the staff scene), and a Critical Success portraying a major miracle (such as Moses parting the waters with God's will). I would recommend the GM to narrate the results rather than the PC, that way it is clear the result is due to the connection with God, I would make it a random roll for magic point cost as well, symbolising connecting with God. Perhaps a standard roll is worth 1D4 MP, whereas a Special Success doubles it, and a Critical Success triples it. But the results are worth it. This way Hebrew Faith feels very random, and very different to Egyptian Sorcery, for example, which is almost empirical in its costing (ie: set ritual requires, set components, set MP cost). No approach would be more 'right' than the other, they are just different. That's how I would do it

Obviously Egyptian Magic is Sorcery (use either BRP/MW Sorcery or Legend/RQ6), just ensure you have components, requirements, and other trappings for flavour Roman magic I would go with Pete Nash's ROME supplement, its excellent if you have it. Even if Romans are not on the scene, the way that magic is handled in this book is one of the best I have seen for an ancient setting, and could easily influence other magic systems. Hebrew/Yiddish Magic is a difficult one - perhaps some variation of RQ6 Divine Magic, possibly you randomly roll to see what miraculous effect occurs based on petitioner intent, MP magnitude, and Allegiance...unsure how to go with this, so I will also be interested in seeing what you come up with!

I have always played it like the way you described, ever since RQ3 back in the '80s, I just presumed BRP BGB and OQ did likewise...

Sounds excellent, I look forward to seeing what you come up with here

Is it easier to go with OpenQuest perhaps if there are too many copywriter issues with BRP? Also crowd funding on Kickstarter or Indigogo could be an option possibly....

Sounds excellent!

From memory it was in the RQ2 box set. Never seen it in pdf form

Yes, a sad day...