frogspawner

Assuming vagabond is right, it doesn't "circumvent" the law - it's legal, and that's that.

The Big Difference really is the speed of publication. Chaosium appear to be up to their capacity (or beyond it). But someone who has a 'monograph' ready for submission could (after stripping out BRP page numbers and direct quotes, and slapping on 'Compatible with BRP') whack it up onto Lulu by tomorrow afternoon - and we could have our copies (and they could have some money for it) by next week...

And BRP would have supporting material out there that much quicker. So it's not against Chaosium, it helps them...

<"It lives!">

I have a utility that prints the special/critical/fumble chances on the PC's character sheets (and I don't use +/- modifiers, just x2 or x1/2 multipliers).

So it's a non-issue - even for my poor, hard-of-thinking players (bless 'em).

I wanted to make it mechanically different to blast but it might be better to just clone the rules. Although I am loathe to do so.

It's a worthwhile goal to give these spells a bit more character. Good Luck!

(Me, I use the DnD spells - but have had to introduce all sorts of other rule-changes in the hope of otherwise reducing their lethality. They still do d6/pp, and I'm still not entirely sure it works...)

The BRP versions, at least, already say Fire/Frost can be dodged and that armour does protect against them.

To me, giving Lightning an "instant death" effect seems a bit too nasty.

1) Attacks that ignore armour (critical hits) ignore any magical protections as well. (But now I come to look for it, the BRP rulebook doesn't make this clear. A close reading to the example on p.192 reveals "ignores any armor the target may be wearing, whether natural or powered" - which is pretty flimsy evidence. That was the rule in old-time RQ, though.)

Hence, although the magic crown would probably protect the whole body normally, the armour-bypassing attack would still do damage.

Fire damage is prevented by armour on the first round only (as per the Spot Rule, p.223).

2) The wording of Sorceror's Armour means it affects a person, not an object, so longjohns/robes stacking shouldn't normally be possible. If something like that did arise, though, I'd say the only better magical protection would apply - still no stacking. (And if some powergamer did make their longjohns/robes sentient in an attempt to make the bonuses stack, I'd be tempted to say their mutual jealousy made them attack and annihilate each other - which would probably be quite uncomfortable for anyone wearing them. )

...making this semi-public... ...Charlie's gotten in touch with me.

Unrelated events? Or cause-and-effect?

Having had a proper look at the Magic World rules, yes, they are very good and simple (I like the damage bonuses, for instance), and the magic itself is very similar to new BRP magic.

I'd love to see the "Vault of Sarkath Han", but where could I get hold of it?

To me, it seems a bit too harsh to give fumbles on Parry/Dodge. Something bad is about to happen anyway (i.e. getting hit).

But if it was intended to be "no result" it would have been at 01-03 instead. Surely that means it's an error.

Turns out a group of crabs is called a cast. You can probably see the obvious pun.

"A Cast of Thousands", perhaps? That'd be very nasty...

I figure those Archeloon are about 75 feet across. At least, the one that came ashore in front of my PCs was. It wandered inland, looked around, didn't see anything it like and went back out to sea.

Scared them to death.

As far as accuracy goes... it would be nice to see an expanded SIZ chart. Having the relative values is good, but relating them to "real-world" equivalents would be even better. Was such a chart ever published?

Thanks. Yes, that seems about the best way to meet one (or as just a shell).

As for RW-equivalences, as well as the "Character SIZ Chart" on p26, there's the "Object SIZ Examples" on p277 (which goes up to Airliner SIZ 110), and the "Comparative Sizes" on p296 (which goes up to SIZ 350 = 3500 tons, with a formula for higher). Are they not good enough, somehow?

PS: yes, I saw Bony Jaws. Didn't like him so much, though. (BTW, av. Dex should be 19, I think).

Do we like such beasties?

Well I do. He's great - thanks! Got me itching to expand my campaign area down to tropical climes so I can use 'em (or at least legends).

(But now I'm worrying about SIZ factors. Is 135 - about 200+ tons - enough? How far across are they?)

Oh, yes I should mention that my experience with RQ is primarily by King of Dragon Pass game. So if that somehow helps...

Hmm, that's set in the middle of the 3rd Age. The normal adventuring period is the 'Hero Wars' of late 3rd Age, c.1620+, when the Lunars have invaded and occupy Sartar. (Mongoose stuff is for the historical 2nd Age, which is completely different - and not proper RQ either).

There's plenty of information out there on events in those periods (this, for example), but I don't know of actual adventure modules set there (aside from the 2 I mentioned above). The King of Dragon Pass game is probably the best reference for everyday life there, pre-Lunar invasion.

Stuff Greg Stafford/Issaries is putting out these days seems a bit wacky (too much so for me, anyway) and is for his HeroQuest system (which some people round here like, but I don't and it's definitely not RQ/BRP!). I don't know it, but this looks like it might be useful background info: Dragon Pass (aka Kerofinela) book, and then there's the oddly-written histories ofKing of Sartar

In a way, there's too much information. Some people might be scared of doing things that don't 'fit'. But don't be. Choose a time, a place, make up your own stuff and dive in!

Apple Lane, the introductory adventures which came with RQ2.

Or maybe Snakepipe Hollow, if you can get it.

Pavis, Sun County and Griffin Mountain are great too, of course - it's just that they aren't in Dragon Pass, technically.

Have fun!

Um, none of the feats I suggested use PP, and the the 'Alway On' modification is available for too.

EDIT: I just realized your confusion. The cost I layout above is the cost in currency (POW, Hero Points, whatever) to purchase the ability. The one I suggested are of the `always on` variety.

Ah, I'm with it now. I'd assumed the numbers were PP cost to use, not realizing they were "character points" to gain the ability. So, some Super Powers don't cost PP to use, eh? Even more interesting... ta!

So I'll bow out of this conversation, because clearly there are some people who do like them and want them, and those of us who don't want them (regardless why) are just crowding their workspace.

Please don't feel excluded. Your translation of Feat-type abilities into BRP Super Power equivalents is interesting and useful (even though, for reasons stated, I'd prefer abilities which don't use PP). At very least, the POW rating gives a good check they are not too imbalanced.

That's perfect. In your game world, there are skills exclusive to professions, that are not normally accessible to others. This could totally justifies a feat subsystem.

It has precedence too. In RQ3, a true mage or shaman had a maximum weapon skill rank.

Glad you think so. And you're right - this use of Martial Arts differentiates the 'serious competence' of the true Warrior from mere 'talented amateurs' like Shamans/Priests, no matter what weapon skill they reach (I hadn't thought of that). An arbitrary class-like limitation removed - hurrah!

BRP had "feats" long before D&D3. The RQ supplement Land of the Ninja had Ki Powers.

Yes! I'm in the clear! Pardon me if I stick to versions that aren't called "Powers", or use POW, though - for political reasons.

So far, I've not been convinced that they really add anything. ... So why a feat?

My reasons are campaign origin and player preference. As an ex-DnD campaign (though that was a long time ago now), mine has professions rather like classes - and the players prefer it that way (some being quite down on the old RQ jack-of-all-trades approach, where everyone can do anything, including magic). So I give specialist Fighter-types Martial Arts, and gain chosen Feats at certain %s of that - for abilities which are special and fun but non-magical.

What is mathematically different between a character who has taken "Weapon Focus", and the character who put an extra 5% into Sword? Nothing.

I think I translated that one to "+1 damage". Phew!

Absolutely. I'd like to see your BRP-ized DnD Feats, particularly.

I use 'em, but I'm not completely happy with my conversions.

How can the character and all of its skills and abilities remain intact if the system's new laws of physics overrule things?

After a comment like that, vagabond, I'd say you're honour-bound to provide one of your own characters to find out...

I would like to see a BRP-izing of D&D creatures instead, like:

Aboleths, ...blink dogs, ...

Solinthor's download already has these two, at least.

I have an idea for a handy conversion process that I will post this evening.

...

I've written two creature articles, one examining fantasy ecology and the other to customize mounts (titanis-like birds, riding lizards and horses). Both of these will get posted this evening after I get home.

What, no conversion for AD&D? Shame...

But Titan-birds - great! I'll just pop out to work for a bit while I'm waiting...

Drips acid?

I’m wondering if any here have used the Str + Con as hit points option and how it has worked out.

I use the STR+CON rule option exclusively in my heroic fantasy games, and it's worked well. It does give the players a feeling of superiority over normal characters, but then since it's not too difficult for a critical or special success to overcome their major wound total, it's not a huge problem.

I use a variant system of SIZ/2 for HPs, but death only occurs at -CON. This makes the players feel very vulnerable, and some are always complaining about it, though in effect they have 50% more hps than straight BRP!

(I also think it aids survival because it is somehow acceptable for even heroes to run away or play dead when they reach 0hp (which, incidentally, makes a more natural/acceptable Major Wound threshold).

I don't use Fate Points, but have a kind of "Super Dodge" which can always be used to avoid damage, in addition to parries (built up by scoring points for good roleplaying).

Rather than introduce separate Complexity, you could allow blast-spells to be 1pp/die but limit their effectiveness by introducing more defences against them.

I have players brought up on that 'other RP game', so I use all the old favourite spells from it, including all the mindless-violence magic they love, at roughly 1d6 per MP. But I also allow DEXx5 'saves' to halve the damage, and have 'amulets' that knock-off a few d6 damage from such blasts.

Getting the balance right is tricky, though.

Just define the 'absorption' mechanism (stand nearby, give a hug, eat their brain...) and how much SAN Loss each Power gives.