Mankcam

Sounds like you're running a dark medieval BRP game with the LEGEND combat manuveres to me. That could work well, but not sure if the LEGEND magic would be the best fit, so I see why you're posting. Soltakss's view on tweaking the Blessings rules from Merrie England is the best move. There was a part on Mysticism in that book, but I think it was just a paragraph or two (I am not at home to check), but it probably has some good guiding advice there for stuff like Catharism, Gnostic Practices etc. Love that book. You may also want to check out Nephilim's 'Liber Ka' magic sourcebook. It could be easily ported over to provide hermetic sorcery flavour; I think the author was going to bring out a new edition for BRP but I haven't heard of any recent progress on that. I know Gnostic Practices is what you were after, however I thought Western Occult Sorcery might also be of interest to your setting in any case.

I have played several narrative rpg systems, including HQ, and have returned to my first love of BRP. For Glorantha I tend to play using RQ3 rules as a base, but if I had a new troupe I'ld happily go with RQ6. After playing HQ I do like the way non-combat skills are quite important, and RQ6's Passions are handy for some of this (I have ported them to my RQ3 game). Glorantha has been my favourite world to GM, it can get tedious at times but overall it has so many opportunities and a weight of knowledge that puts it up there with a setting like Middle Earth. I really prefer the grittiness of RQ, the visceral combat, the down-and-dusty feel. My Prax was a place of roving Mad Max style warriors with swords and magic, my Orlanthi are grimy blood soaked pagans, my Seshnegi are based from the knights from the Excalibur movie etc etc (Needless to say I don't have Ducks but that's another debate...). Glorantha certainly has living heroes with mythical abilities, although I prefer to have them as background, rather than central characters. My player-characters, even the experienced ones, will probably never attain similar abilities to such an extent. I prefer the RQ pathway of beginning characters who are essentially commoners who progress through a roguish existence, perhaps becoming local heroes if they survive that long. In HQ you begin as a notable character, quickly becoming local heroes, and progress to characters with mythical-level abilities; its just a bit too powerful for the kind of stories I like to run. Despite this I do tend to buy HQ Gloranthan products and port them over to RQ. One of the campaigns I GM is a RQ port of "Blood Over Gold: Trader Princes of Maniria" and it runs quite well. I guess it allows characters to start as commoners and progress to important locals, so in a sense it suits classic RQ style very well actually. Each to their own, but BRP suits down and dirty play, quite a different flavour to HQ. I guess its a question of whether one likes Gritty Glorantha versus Mythic Glorantha as a default setting for play. I can't wait for The Guide To Glorantha', that tome will have pride of place in my bookcase!

The Investigators Companion is really good for the lists of Professions, although I'ld ignore the Special Abilities, they are inconsistent and seem out of context with the rest of the system. I'ld definitely get the list of critters (the Malleus Monstrorum, and possibly the Basic Creatures book for BRP). For period setting I'ld just scavenge what you can from the internet, its a great resource. If you like campaigns then the Lovecraft Country campaigns (Arkham, Dunwhich, Kingsport, etc) are pretty good for the 1920s New England horror feel. If you like 1920s pulpy investigation/adventure you can't go wrong with Masks of Nylarthotep. These are good purchases even if you don't run them, as they'll provide some great ideas. Use the scenarios in the rule book as well, they are pretty good for starters. The core book is a wealth of information, you will be surprised how much you can run from it. But, as I said, the internet is a great resource for period setting

Newt I have a little Nexus 7 and it sure ain't a 'replacement' for any other eReader, its actually one of the best investments you can purchase at the moment I reckon. It comes with Google Play Books for all your ePub reads, and you can easily download the other ePub store apps through Google Play, such as Kindle and Kobo for example. Works great as a reader, and having Google Chrome as the net browser is really good. It's a smooth little gadget to have, you'll only ever need a desktop PC if you're working on word docs etc. I have most of my rpg collection in the Nexus 7 in pdf format and it works great. It's easy to enlarge the text up to a readable level, and Adobe Reader is very smooth on this device. I have literally hundreds of pdf rpg books in this tablet and it works a charm. I have no concerns whether you go ePub or pdf with River of Heaven, although I'ld probably prefer the later due to how smooth it runs on my device. Just sayin'

I think one of the forum members previously attempted converting Eclipse Phase to BRP, but decided in the end that Eclipse Phase was good enough left alone. I think probably plays well as it is, and being d100% based it probably appeals to BRP fans. Not that this helps this forum thread...

Never said I couldn't add another one or two Cultural Skills, of course I can if I desire. Certainly not a problem. I was just making an observation that I was was surprised that the default rules suggested only three. Nothing overly critical, I think the rules and the Magic World product itself is a great thing to have in print. Yes, of course, any GM will fiddle with things, I'm no different I like your product Ben I think this Magic World line should get a lot of support. Chaosium really needs a Fantasy line as well as a Cthulhu line, I'ld like to think this will take off well. Its a great start to the year in any case!

A choice of only three skills from the Cultural Skills list . After RuneQuest I was expecting a few more, maybe five or so. Something doesn't feel right with saying your culture only gives you three...Other than that I'm pretty much liking most of this product so far. I really prefer the RQ Hit Locations over the Major Wounds Table, but I knew this was pretty much Stormbringer before I ordered it, so no surprises there. Looks like a really good fantasy toolkit to have, and the setting looks like alot of fun as well, I really hope Magic World takes off

Looking very nice, the artwork is quite good, and I really like the overall 'clean' layout, its very clear to read. Looking much less 'indie' than the first edition, which is a good thing. Plus I got a kick out of seeing my name in the Roll of Honour from the Kickstarter -yah!

Ok, who can provide us with the Background Skill Description for a Baltimore Garage Door Repairman? Some form of labourer/crafter with a 'Baltimore' cultural package could be a start...

Downloaded fine for me. A quick skim over and it looks good, I'll sink my teeth into it later this week. I can't wait for Advanced Sorcery now. Hopefully both will be available on Amazon in the not too distant future, as the international shipping costs for me to buy the actual books directly from Chaosium end up making the dead tree versions not feasible. Only time will tell if this will be selling as well as RuneQuest or Stormbringer, and if it's not in a hard cover then I actually doubt it will, unfortunately. No way to stand out against the likes of D&D 4E or Pathfinder on the shelves of a gaming store or at a convention. However it is great for BRP to have a core fantasy product available in print again, I'm a happy lad and I wish you the best with this one Ben

Yes, but the 'luck of the dice' has a charm of its own, and one of the things which makes this system great. An expert has a much better chance of succeeding at an action than a newbie, but the newbie can still pull it off and beat an expert, depending upon the luck of the dice. Is it realistic? Yes, certainly. Things like this happen, newbies occasionally come in and against all odds succeed better than the experts of the field. I also find it a simple mechanic to GM, the 'roll closest to a critical' wins thingy. But the main thing is its actually a fun mechanic, although it depends on the group playing. I guess, like you say, as long as you're consistent with your troupe then its all okay. I watched the discussion last time this concept showed up in the forum. I wonder how long the thread will go this year heh heh?

Cthulhu By Gaslight is a great resource, as is the earlier edition of it as well. I'm pretty impressed by the current edition, it is worthy of a hard cover run in my opinion. Great setting. Mythos horror, if not set in 1920s USA New England, is absolutely perfect for 1890s Great Britain. I also really enjoy the pulpy campaigns for Cthulhu such as MoN, and I've added a few pulp setting mechanics to make them play a bit better from my opinion. I'm really interested in how the upcoming 'official' pulp mechanics will be done in Astounding Adventures. I find the 1920s Investigators Guide great for what it is, but I think a large 1920s Period Setting book would be much better. It could have a focus on the USA, but also with some info on Europe and possibly touching on some exotic destinations (Latin America, Africa, etc). The current 1920s Investigators Guide could be ported into a 1920s Campaign Book in its entirety, as I wouldn't want any of that information to be lost, but a larger volume is certainly more deserving. Yes, it's all 'pie-in-the-sky' I know, but a large 1920s Campaign Guide would be on my wish list

Being a subscriber to all things great on the Geek'n'Sundry Channel, I think exposure on Wil Wheaton's Tabletop show is a great idea. Wil Weaton is fast becoming a 'face' in the world of fanzine culture and gaming in general, and I'm sure the Dragon Age sales have gone up significantly since he posted those episodes recently. Green Ronin must be a bunch of happy chappies at present, hopefully they'll consider providing more support to their True20 system if Dragon Age works out well for them. Wil Wheaton has already acknowledged that he prefers Indie RPGs, and he has said some good references towards Call of Cthulhu in the past. I think he would also be interested in LEGEND or RQ6 I dare say. It also could be an opportune time for Magic World to come to the fore as well. I really think Chaosium and The Design Mechanism should watch what he's up to and consider some exposure on his program as a good business move, I think it would garner much more interest in these systems than hoping that game stores around the world will promote them, or even convention exposure. Without more exposure and net presence, BRP and BRP-related systems will probably continue to hobble two steps forward, one step back; let's hope even that continues. It breaks my heart to see such a great system delegated to minimal shelf space in the game stores, whilst everywhere else I see D&D, and all the D20 OGL products - many of them have great settings, but BRP should be their basis, not D20... exposure and promotion is everything. Its a great suggestion smjn

So.... has 'Pulp Cthulhu' and 'Astounding Adventures' become the recently released 'Atomic Age Cthulhu', or is this an entirely different publication?

From what I've heard, the content is great, the art is average (I was expecting more for this publication, the previews were not great), and the mechanics are sounding terribly inconsistent/flawed. The latter is a huge issue, as unless the mechanics are plug'n'play then there is not much point buying this release over buying a Conan D20 release and converting that how the GM wants. Actually Mongoose should look into the Conan licence and reboot their Conan line using the LEGEND game engine, it may be the only way to recover. Terribly disappointed. I have it on pre-order, but it hasn't arrived yet. Not sure how many people will support the product now, given that it is gaining a bad reputation so quickly. Quite sad, hopefully future LEGEND products will be more to expectations...

So... is Atomic Age Cthulhu Horror Roleplaying in the 1950s Chaosium Inc. repacing Astounding Adventures? Chaosium.com: News - Astounding Adventures! They both appear to be Pulp settings, with Astounding Adventures covering the 30s/40s period and Atomic Age Cthulhu covering the 40s/50s period. Quite a number of rules would be relevant to both settings, I just wonder if its all one product now?

Being prepared certainly does help me, personally. This is where published scenarios are good, but I need to read through them several times so I know the scenario backwards. Then I have to be prepared for it to go off in a totally different path to what I anticipated, and just kinda follow it from there. Having NPC cards often helps, just jotting down their names, personality traits & motivations, possibly one or two defining skills but I don't worry too much about actual game stats for them, I can easily wing that if need be. I tend to run published campaigns these days, but I also write in sideline-scenarios or plot hooks about 20% of the time, especially if I can relate it directly to character backgrounds. Keeps things more personal to the troupe that way. Sometimes I blatantly rip off hooks from other scenarios (sometimes other genres as well), and work that content into the current campaign setting, and I think I'm not likely to be the first to do that. Sticking firmly to the plot has its merits if the session is derailing too much, but otherwise I tend to follow the characters whims where I can, as railroading gets pretty boring with a bunch of mature gamers who don't want to dungeon crawl too much any more. Depends on whom I'm gaming with I suppose, Being prepared for the session is the biggest help, but being "in-the-zone on the day" is the most important thing really. I try not to be fatigued if possible, otherwise my ability to banter suffers. The main thing these days is staying awake long enough after work to thoroughly read the darn scenarios...

The closer you look, you see its not a monkey, but same strange race of monkey-man hybrid...

This is brilliant. Wow. So simple, its been staring me in the face all these years! Thank you - its now in my home rules as well...!

Well that sounds hopeful. Its one of the few games I have that I can grab a scenario from 25 years ago and play it as it is. Totally brilliant. I'm not overly concerned on the release date, my current editions serve me well, just as long that it is a good buy when it is released. Thanks for getting back to me

Any news on when Cthulhu 7E is being published? Let's hope it's fully backward compatible with the previous products, I'ld hate all my resources to become obsolete...

I've been using the Hit Location HP as a 'Major Wound Threshold' for years now and it seems to work well. We don't reduce the Location HP at all, we just use it as an 'unlock' to see whether a character's actions become difficult or otherwise impaired. It's simple, as we only mark off Total HP, and I guess the characters are a bit more resilient than they would be if we marked off both Location and Total HP. The overall lethality is reduced, but not enough to become like mini-tanks. The idea of marking off both Location and Total HP is a bit too fiddly and too much book keeping for us anyway. In some ways this approach also reduces the need for using SIZ+CON as HP as opposed to keeping it as (SIZ+CON)/2, due to the little extra resilience. This makes the stat block compatible with all the other BRP stat blocks, which is a good thing for versatility. I guess the Healing rate should be quicker than usual BRP if you want to emulate an old school classic fantasy setting, perhaps daily CON x 5% for a gain of 1 HP, or just grant 1 HP a day. A little bit too munchkin for my liking, but it would get rid of the gritty part of BRP where a character is injured for weeks after being wounded (thus making classic dungeon crawls in the D&D mold far too dangerous to complete). Perhaps there is some scope for a Morale mechanic to boost the healing rate...just a thought. As a GM I did run a game once when I wanted the characters to have a greater chance of combat survival. The mechanic I used was that every time a player-character sustained damage they could expend a Power Point and make a 'Toughness Roll' on the Resistance Table, their CON versus the opponent's rolled Damage. If the character succeeded then they only sustained half the rolled damage, whereas upon a failure they sustained the full rolled damage as usual. The interesting part of this was that there was also room for Specials, and Criticals, as well as Fumbles. Specialing the roll meant they could make a Natural Healing CONx5% roll at the start of the next combat round and recover 1D3 HP, whereas a Critical meant the character actually recovered all those HP automatically at the start of the next combat round. A Fumble indicated that the character took double damage however, so it wasn't all peaches n cream. It was an interesting mechanic for our RQ3/BRP game, it kept the stat block consistent with the opponents in regards to HP, yet it allowed the player characters to survive a little better. The option was only for player-characters from memory, although I think I may have gave the principle villain the same option in regards to the Toughness Roll. We were actually playing a version of an old D&D scenario that I had been using as a plot guide, it was a bit of a dungeon crawl, and this Toughness Roll mechanic seemed to work well. I like the way you are emulating the classic old school archetypes. It's a little limiting for myself personally, however I can see the merits for using it to get new players to BRP who are coming over from classic fantasy systems, and I will probably buy this edition for that exact purpose actually. Good luck with this

I actually prefer reading earlier editions of Call of Cthulhu precisely for this reason. My 3rd edition and 5th edition are much better for general reading than my 6th edition. I also dislike the font used in the headings, it would be good if used solely for Chapter headings, but its a bit too intricate and annoying to use for every heading I feel. I think Chaosium could still capture the atmosphere if they limited the art to page borders, leaving the actual text clean and easy to read. From my point of view, the BGB could do with more atmospheric page border art, whereas Call of Cthulhu can certainly do with much less. Lets hope the next edition is much easier on the eye

I would expect so. We have always played that you can parry any melee attack, except stuff like fire or energy attacks, you're best just dodging those . I also used to double the base chance for Rapiers if using them for parrying weapons of a similar size and make (not attacking). So they got this bonus versus other one handed swords, but I actually used that bonus as a negative modifier when used against bludgeoning weapons.That's just my house rule though. I see no reason why you can't parry a melee attack from a creature's natural weapon.

I would definitely use some Humanity loss system in a zombie game, but I wouldn't model it using Allegiance, as its not a polarised set of ideals as opposed to the erosion of empathy in order to survive. I think I'd tweak CoC's Sanity rules and re-trap them as 'Humanity Points', that could capture the gritty loss of self. I suppose Allegiance rules could also coexist separately with Humanity Points, perhaps 'Morality' vs 'Inmorality' The actual Zombie stats look quite good, I'ld keep INT low though