Gollum

Call of Cthulhu is a very good teacher here. Just try to charge a monster and you will rapidly have to create a new character! Call of Cthulhu players quickly learn to search for knowledge before acting (what are the monster's weaknesses? how can we beat it without fighting it?) and this habit tends to be used in other genre after that - each time there is a big monster (or a more ordinary but still powerful foe). Call of Cthulhu really teach to think before acting.

Sorry to say it so frankly but I don't agree with that. To me (who loves the two systems) BRP is not superior to GURPS and vice versa. Both are very good, but their purpose are just different... GURPS provides dense rules, where every detail is finely thought, weighted and linked to every other detail, while BRP offers lighter and simpler optional rules, letting the GM interpret them as he exactly desires. Furthermore, GURPS emphasizes simulationism (the players have to think as if they really were their character and must describe their actions in full detail before rolling dice, especially during combats) while BRP emhasizes narrativism (the players describe what they do without to much detail and the dice say how they exactly do it). The rules about aiming clearly show that... In GURPS, the bonus when you take all your time to aim before pulling the trigger will have a huge impact on the result. If you aim for 3 seconds, firmly bracing your pump shotgun 12G before shooting, for instance, you will have a +6 bonus... On 3D6! How the character exactly does what he tries to do really changes the result! In BRP, if you you aim for 10 seconds, firmly bracing your pump shotgun 12G before shooting, you only have a bonus of 20% of your skill. That is +10% for an average character and +15% for an expert one! What the character exactly does is not as important as how skilled he is (the story is more important that how the character is played). So which is really better? It is impossible to say it. It all depends on what you really like when you play.

Perfectly right... And that calls into question what I wrote above... Actually, it is not really Idea roll or Will roll. It can be missed will roll despite of a successful Idea roll... So, I thought to this solution: A good reason to avoid giving in the temptation should be just a bonus to the will roll. And when this good reason is not obvious, an idea roll could be made to determine whether the character gets it.

Hi! Welcome on board. You will soon discover - as I did it several months ago - that people are great here. They give very good hints or, when you don't necessarily agree with them, good arguments that open your mind to other points of view... Yes. My examples weren't good enough. What I wanted to mean is that, sometimes, the character has got strong logical arguments to resist temptation. Some other times he doesn't. Let's take the example of the piece of cake. A character may avoid eating it because he is diabetic. In this case, knowing what will happen if he gives in the temptation is something that really helps him to resist. And more he is bright, more he will now the possible consequences of eating a cake... Now, he can have to resist just because his mother told him not to eat between lunches... The logical reason is less important than the pure will here. After all, she won't necessarily know... In my humble opinion, this is not always as automatic than that... Sometimes, the player character doesn't realize the logical arguments. For the appealing woman, for instance, the player can have missed some logical links which can make him understand that she is a foe... Now, if his character is supposed to be very clever, he probably wouldn't have missed these links. The idea roll is then required... This is exactly what I wanted to mean. The difference between reason (I don't do that because it will lead me right into a lot of problems) and pure Will (someone told me not to do it, or it's not a good/honorable behavior, so I won't).

It's quite funny to see how we can have different points of view about will. I don't really disagree with you, here, because I perfectly understand what you mean... But I still like how BRP handle that. In my humble opinion, there is not only what kind of will, but several ones. One of them could be named "Reason". The character succeeds to reason with himself, finding good arguments to avoid giving in to temptation. "No, I must absolutely not following this very appealing appealing woman... She is a foe... She certainly wants to lead me right in a trap..." In this case, I would use Intelligence as will. The other one is not reason but pure mind power. There is no argument anmore, just a psychic effort to avoid giving in. "No, I won't eat this delicious piece of cake. I won't. I am able to not doing it..." In this other case, I use Power. This is exactly how I understand Power. The mental strength which gives the ability to control yourself and to do what you really want to do, no matter what happens, no matter temptation, no matter arguments. And this is why Power also determine Luck. More you can control yourself (your emotions and your actions), more you can control your destiny. Good luck and bad luck are just name, things that occurs to people who are not determined enough to make up one's mind and, so, who let the chance take the decision for them... When you really want something, it happens! Powerful wizards are those who control themselves and their emotions so much than they can impose their will to the world and modify it with magic. But, as I said it above, it is just a point of view. Certainly poetic and a bit fantastic too... It just does correspond to what a lot of very different stories say. "No, don't try, Luke. Do or do not. There is no try." 'They did it because they didn't know that it was impossible." "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you." And so on...

I fully do agree and this is precisely the problem, in my humble opinion. PDF are written exactly as books made for paper edition. Two columns, for instance, are very easy to read on a sheet of paper, but not on computer screen! You have to go down the page to read the first column and, then, to go back to the top of the page to begin the second column. And it is even worth when there are boxes or tables included in the middle of the two columns. It makes things hard to read on a screen... So, when I say that PDF is the future of pen and paper role playing games, I'm speaking about PDF made to be true PDF, not just copies of ordinary books. It is possible to do very nice thinks with only one column! And quick links, interactive table of contents and index can help a lot to find what you are looking for during a game... Far much faster than with a printed book. But this is not yet what is done... With some too rare exceptions. So, if the game companies want to send again, they have - in my humble opinion - to change things. Not just to do what they are already used to do on PDF rather than on paper, but they have to learn to use PDF with all their advantages... and also their disadvantages. It could help them (and us) to save a lot of time and money. No more paper to buy, no more printing and sending cost... We entered in the numerical age. Few people sounded to realize it. And when I'm saying that, I'm not only speaking for role playing games. I'm also speaking about newspapers. I don't know for american ones but french newspapers and magazines have more and more problems to sell... They didn't realize that people read news on Internet now! That is why role playing games companies have to change their way to do thing if they want to be precursors rather than old school editors who publish old fashioned books for old players who have nostalgia of these old good times where role playing games where in their golden age... I know what I am talking about. I'm playing pen and paper role playing gape for more than 30 years now and have seen the very beginning... But world have change now. So we have to adapt ourselves... Or to dye.

Yes. We fully do agree about that... But precisely! This is where things can be done differently... It is just a matter of habit... Read below... With GURPS, or other very detailed systems where precise bonuses and penalties are given for almost every contingency, I would agree with you. Those games require the GM to look through the books extensively during the game. But with a game like the Basic Role Playing System, it is not at all required. Almost everything is already written on the character sheet... So, with a little organization, it is very easy to play without the full books. 1) Buy a ring binder. 2) Print the most often used charts and tables. Put them in the binder. 3) Prepare carefully the adventure. It becomes a mandatory then: you have to write down the rules for every spell, specific poison and special things that will be used during the game. But this preparation will make you save a lot of time during the game! You will know everything by heart. Or have it just under your eyes when needed... Put your adventure and your notes about it on the binder too. 4) Each players also do that for his character. He must have his character sheet, of course, but also a quick summarize of his spells, powers, etc., writen down on a sheet of paper. If players don't like to do that, do it for him. Here again, the time spent to do it can sound huge, but it will eventually save a lot of time during the game, especially during combats, where you will have have so many things to do at once... And that's all. Finally, you play with just one ring binder instead of several heavy cluttering books on the table. And when you look for something, it's much more easy to find it! Especially after several games (once you are used with your own organization). This is how I play now. And when I have to leave home to play in a friend of mine's house - like today - it is so much easy to carry just one binder rather than a whole library that I am very happy to have made this choice. Really! Just try this... You will see how easy it is and how much money you will save by stopping printing everything or buying all hard cover books... Especially for books that you will only read once or twice and from which you will only use half of the stuff... At best! This is just another manner of playing. Of course, I still have the main published books. Like the big golden one. But I open them very rarely. Including during my preparation time. My binder is sufficient for most of things.

I fully do agree with the fact that PDF prices have to be reduced to attract new customers... But, actually, they are quite cheap. At least, as soon as you buy them during promotional offers rather than at full price. They really become interesting then. I bought some Cortex supplements for less than $10 for instance. And about the printing, you precisely don't have to print each whole book. With tablet PC, Eepc, smart phones, etc., there are a lot of ways to read PDF everywhere (and its even far much easier to bring all your favorite books with you than if it was true books!). Furthermore, once you read everything in one book, you don't need all that to play. So you just have to print the character sheets, some other forms, important tables, lists of equipment, and that's all. It's not very expensive and you end with something more easy to carry with you. And for those who really insist to have a book written on paper, the improvement of technology allows print on demand products to be almost as fine as a book published by an editor now.

The problem is exactly the same for every role playing games. Steve Jackson Games have for instance exactly the same problem with GURPS. They published less and less true books, more and more pdf... And GURPS is still on the market thanks to Munchkins and their other little board or dice games... Other wise, it would have disappeared. Players who likes pen and paper role playing games are older and older now (youngers like MMORPG or computer games). Furthermore most of those who like pen and paper role playing games buy them on Internet: it's quicker and you can find exactly what you want. On shelves of true shops, there is often only the books that nobody wants and which are left here for years... I really believe that the futur of role playing games is in PDF and print on demand now.

In my humble opinion, this is the best argument, especially for a GM dealing with beginners... If you know the system very well and like it, it will work. No matter how clumsy the game may be... I once ran an adventure with D&D (one of the very first version of the Basic Set) and my players really enjoyed it! So, since you want to play with Superworld, no matter what other can say. It is the best choice. It's very easy to adapt a game system that you know by heart. It is harder to learn a new one in so few days... Even if it is very close from Superworld. Every game has it specific approach, and those little detail which is different enough to end with frantic research through the book, moaning: "Damned! where is this rule? In the other edition, it was page 127... Why don't I find it now? I still read it several time today!" Thus, Runequest may be a very good advice, because it appears to be a very great game. But later. When you will have More time to read it and to learn it. ___ Second, I wanted to say that there are several very good hints I wanted to emphasize. Pregenerated characters. Or, if you really don't want pregenerated characters, almost pregenerated ones. That is, characters that you have just to customize, by allowing some points in some skills, for instance, or by choosing between two or several equivalent powers... In computer roleplaying games, characters are very fast to design. Spending one hour to do one in a pen and paper roleplaying game can be quite boring for a beginner. It is interesting for someone who know the system very well: he can design acharacter he really wants to play. But for someone who see the system for the very first time, there is already so much to learn that it is an impossible task... ___ And finally, my most important hint... Before beginning your adventure, design a very, very short adventure. Just one encounter, in one place. Nothing more. New players have to learn a lot of thing: what they can do, how to describe their actions, how many actions they can describe during their turn, what they have to roll to know whether they succeed, and so on... All these things are handled by the computer in World of Warcraft and the likes. They just push a button and the computer immediately answers... So newbies, true newbies often have a lot of problems just to understand dialog between the Game Master and them. It often happens like that... Player: So, I open the door, enter the room, search the desk, find the file I was looking for... GM: No... Wait a minute... You can do all that... Just describe what you try, only one action at a time, and then, you don't say whether you succeed... Dice are made to say whether you succeed. Player: OK... Sorry... I open the door. What dice do I roll? GM: The door is not locked. You don't have any dice to roll any dice. Player: What? You just told me that the success was left up to the dice? GM: Yes but not always... Some actions are so trivial that they don't require any dice roll? Player: And who says whether an action is trivial? ... So, with true beginners, one encounter is often enough to play during one hour... Once it is finished, you can stop and say: "OK. This very first adventure is over. Did you like it?" And most often the answer will be "Yes, may we go on?" Brief, prepare something like this... A very short adventure: only one NPC, in an area with very little rooms (may be just one) and several different opportunities of actions (negotiation, combat...). Design it to be a one shot... And design it also to lead to your scenario, if the players want it. But only if they want it. Likewise, the game will last only one hour (if your players don't like that - after all, it sometimes happen) or two to three hours, if they like it.

Either do I... We had a storm in the east of France but it was quite nothing compared to Sandy. So, may the "luck of the dice" be with you.

Thank you very much for this so quick answer! I read the notes page 256, indeed, but they added to my confusion: they don't really correspond to what is explained page 232 (Resistance roll vs. CON instead of remaining HP, difference between the stunning pistol and the stunning rifle,etc.). But what you explained about the typos make them much more clear and consistent. So I will use these rules. Now, to fit to the precise adventure I will play, I will modify these effects. In the game world where the PC will live, the stunning pistol is supposed to be much more powerful. Especially the length of the stunning effect. Thank you again.

Hi everybody! I'm playing a SF game this week-end and it will use stunning pistols... So I looked at the Stunning and Subduing rule, page 232 of the Big Golden Book (second edition). But I'm not sure to understand it well. I made a quick research on this forum and all what I found was an old discussion about the edition 0. So, here I am... If this has already been discussed somewhere else, don't hesitate to give me the link. As far as I understand things, stunning weapons (the stunning pistol, for instance: Pistol, stun, page 256) don't do any damage. You still roll the damage dice normally (2d6 in this example) and make a resistance roll vs. the current target's HP. If the damage win, the target is stunned for a number of rounds equal to the "damage" rolled. And now, my question: do you subtract the damage from the target's HP before making the resistance roll or do you use the current target's HP without any subtraction? It will be more clear with an example. The hero shoot a bad guy with his stunner pistol. The bad guy is in full shape, with 12 HP. The Hero's player then roll two dice and scores a 7 (average result). How to handle the resistance roll? Is it... 7 vs. 12 (only 25% chance to stun the bad guy for 7 rounds)? or 7 vs. 12 - 7 = 5 (60% chance to stun the bad guy for 7 rounds)? The rules sound to incline in favour of the 1st answer... But it doesn't make stunning pistol as effective as they are supposed to be in movies and SF stories.

Hey! I don't want to combat Yoda! I have no chance to win... Especially since I lost my ring...

OK. Thank you... Now, even if my written English may sometimes be strange, I didn't have any problem to read it - and french versions often have very surprising translations.

Thank you very much. I downloaded Legend and will take the time to read it carefully. Then, I will follow your hint... Very interesting. Thank you again to everyone.

Great! Thank you for this hint. In Eyliac. Just nearby Périgueux.

Sure. But it is still oriented. I downloaded the review of the game, and the list of skills is typically medieval... My games, to the contrary are high-tech or even ultra-tech ones... Having said that, I like the way skills are calculated in RQ6. Making them directly depend on attributes is something I find more interesting (and more easy to use than the optional skill bonuses rule in BRP).

Yes. According to your description of this game (and the one of others), it seems to be the best choice for me... Now, the problem is that I don't play in the RuneQuest world... I don't hate him. To the contrary! It looks interesting and appealing. But I'm an old roleplayer now, with a job and a family... So I play quite rarely (once or twice a year, plus a couple of games via internet). And the world in which I play are Call of Cthulhu and Mega (a french SF universe)... I won't have time (and players) to begin a new campaign in a new world... Thus, I'm hesitating a lot. Buying RuneQuest 6... Returning to GURPS... Going on with Call of Cthulhu and the BRP rules... Not so easy to choose.

Thank you very much for this frank and clear answer. I didn't at all think about damage. And, as you noticed it, my example would have work because it was two grapple techniques and only one strike. I already noticed that sword damage were very high in BRP. I just thought that combats were very lethal. And indeed, they are very lethal... when considering that this amount of damage is done by a single blow! But as soon as we think that an attack roll is something more abstract, something which can represent a series of blows rather than just one (or a very decisive strike after several maneuvers to unbalance the foe and make him lowering his guard), then things becomes much more logical. Yes, the BRP system is much more abstract than the GURPS... And I have to stop thinking in the first with the habits of the second.

This is the rules as they are written. At least in the second edition of the big golden book. "Fighting defensively", pages 191 and 202. Ok, sorry, the right name was neither "all-out defense" nor "total defense", but "fighting defensively". Sorry to have been so confusing...

I do not really agree with that. OK, I'm not an expert (though I am ni-dan, and though my traditional karate also uses a lot of judo and aikido techniques, and also teaches kobudo - which makes it very long to learn)... Indeed, the BRP could work very fine with a game master able to improvise depending on what the player exactly does. The attack vs. parry/block/dodge works exactly like GURPS does. So the principles are good. The only thing which is not is the length of the turn. Martial art decisions, as I said it above, are done in the 1 to 2 second scale. If you don't think so fast, you are hit. So, martial artists who want to "feel" in the game what they feel during their training just want to be able to take more decisions than one "generic strategy" for the next 12 seconds. Something like: I parry his right arm with an open hand and grapples (1 second). Then I grapple his left hand (1 second). And since I'm just in front of him now, I strike him in the belly with my right knee while pulling his two hands very strongly and quickly to unbalanced him in my direction. It can be done with the D100 system. But it requires to make several rolls in the same turn. One to parry, one to grab the first hand, one for the second and one for the knee strike (which then become an easy action because the foe is pulled during the same time). But the foe also have to make several roll to try to avoid all that: he can avoid to be grappled two times and also try to avoid the dodge the knee strike (which is hard in his position). Of course, if he prefers, he can also strike while the first character is trying to grapple him, with his free hand when it is free, or with his foot or his head... Brief, it requires to be played second by second... Doing so is not BRP rules, but it still can be done with the rules as they are written. One action, one roll, one reaction, another roll, and the usual rules to compare attack and defense.

By "simulationist", I usually mean a role playing game that simulate each choice of the player... Exactly as if it were at the place of his character and really had these choices to make. But the term abstraction fits too. It is exactly what I feel about the BRP system now. Combats are more abstract. I understand things better. Thank you for your help.

I fully do agree with that. Because it is all-out defense (or total defense, if you prefer; sorry, I used the gurpsish term). So it prevents from attacking. Yes. It might work. Yes. It was a block. Not a parry.

Oh... I forgot to tell. The "stay-exactly-as-the-same-place-to-parry" option is particularly effective with a "double weapon", that is with two different weapons of the same type (you hold one in each hand): sai and tonfa for instance; but we can also think about two knives or two quite little axes. Indeed, you parry with one hand and attack with the other one. It can even be done exactly at the same time (with a lot of practice); which is named ai-uchi (simultaneous techniques). Edit: and it can of course be done bare handed. One hand parry while the other punch or while you kick.