Coronoides

Personal experiences vary. What I have seen across four Australian cities is more homebrew worlds. Folks starting out as GM’s use published stuff but as soon as they find thier feet they start getting ideas of thier own and catch the world-building bug. Without a proper randomised survey there is no-way to get to the truth. At the moment the hobby is growing and there is a lot of new GM’s. Perhaps as these new people find thier feet we will see a resurgence of generic rules sets.

I’d like most of this except the settings. From my point of view a corrected core book is the most desireable but it ain’t gonna happen. The second most desireable and (most do-able?) is a community content program. This would enable people to fund refined fan content. In the absence of a community content program this forum provides a wealth of fan-content and will continue to slowly and steadily grow for some time. What we can do is try to organise all the fan-content and errata so new people can find it easily. Two pinned posts would be a good start.

Out of curiosity what BRP game do you use for SF? Does it have good systems for generating worlds and technology?

If by ‘generic sourcebook’ you mean a generic rules set I hope not and don’t think so. 99% of the games I have run have been in worlds I create myself. I feel worldbuilding is a key feature of the hobby. Attempts to tie rules sets to particular worlds make me much less interested. The core books for the industries best known game are generic and contain advise for creating your own world, so the approach is far from dead.

Some more behind the scenes writing. This includes guidance for players and my assumptions/clarifications. Skills Weapon classes, each its own skill are described in the Combat chapter (MW78-79). Where an occupation gives free choice of a weapon skill I assume this includes skill in shields. When allocating skill points bare in mind this guidance: a professional has relevant skills at 51 to 100. With a skill of 51 or greater you can perform routine tasks (such as a blacksmith making a horseshoe) without any need to roll (AS102). Therefore as you proceed through this section of character generation you should assign the largest bonuses to skills your character uses to make a living. In addition, having at least one high weapon skill and good Dodge and/or Shield is strongly recommended. Magic World details specific rules for skills of 101+ for the following skills: Brawl, Craft, Potions, Sailing, and Weapon Skills. Advanced Sorcery has a chapter called Arete which provides optional rules for very high skill levels (AS102). Like all optional rules though ask you Chronicler. Don’t forget that as well as culture and occupation skills you have personal interest skills (MW19&22). Clarification: I think non-human base skills use the usual base skill % for a human for skills not listed in the creature’s entry. I believe this is true because of hints like the Dwarf’s Ride skill of 00%, why list it if this is not the case? The nine playable species (MW154) have full skill lists, house rules are presented below for creating PC base skill lists for other species. Art In the description of the Art skill the examples given are all visual or performing arts. However, the Astrologer occupation lists astrology and astronomy as Arts. From this we infer that Art also covers knowledge of lore not covered by another skill.

Today’s offering is a berserker that can become a bear. The core MW book alone can handle most fantasy RPG concepts. magicworldcs berserker.pdf

Sounds like we are done here. I’d just like to add the caution to pick and choose which magic rules you use and think about how your choice would logically effect the cultures of your world.

Trying out MW combat for the first time. Hazmak the cave troll tracker is stealing from his goblin neighbours. The goblins beg thier shaman Yark to put an end to the crime spree. Afraid of fighting the troll Yark puts a Flames of the Sun at the trolls front door then runs. The thatch roof catches fire and the burned Hazmak runs out of his side door to look for the arsonist. The two see each other on the beach. The troll throws three spears, each capable of killing the goblin but misses. The goblin uses bounty of the sea to put out the thatch roof and the lures the troll into the water. Hazmak charges forward into the surf to strangle the goblin but Yark finishes his next spell transforms into a large shark and bites the troll burglar in two. I was pretty happy with how closely matched two very different PCs were. The combat was one of the fastest and satisfying combat systems I’ve played in 36 years in the hobby.

The old hands here have probably figured this all out. However, being fairly new to MW it took me ages to spot all the issues with the weapons. I have compiled a summary table. Are there any issues I have missed? It is not clear from the text but when you take a weapon skill you take skill in a whole Weapon Class. ‘Shields’ is also a weapon skill even though there is no class number for them. Note that on the weapon tables (MW72-75) some of the Weapon Classes are wrong. Furthermore some of the prices look weird, especially the cavalry lance which is listed as ‘earned’ with no further explanation. Other prices such as a metal shod quarterstaff being as valuable as a greatsword are silly. Assuming thrown spear 1H (MW74) is the same as a short spear (MW72) and a thrown spear 2H is a long spear the prices on page 74 are wrong. There is a missing return on page 79 so all Weapon classes 23 and above are wrong. (new prices are my own best guesses)

My proposal did not include immediate improvement. Ticks indicate improvement at end of session as usual

Very true. This got me thinking though. If fails earn ticks and they get harder to get as skills get higher then perhaps we don’t need experience rolls, ticked skills automatically improve at the end of the session. Seems like a nice bit of streamlining to the system.

Today’s offering is a Stone Age cave troll. Rather than being a standard troll brute, he is designed as a tracker/ranger type who can do duty as a second line fighter. magicworldcs troll nomad.pdf

So a little necromancy...(I did ask) One idea I have seen used in other games (Mega Traveller and Maelstrom) which models learning in real life better I feel is awarding improvement (in MW a tick) on a failure *only* (not a fumble, any failure). As in real life this makes the learning curve very steep as you learn something new but the more you know the harder it is to meaningfully improve. This is the opposite of MW RAW where successes grant ticks making it easier to improve the better you get. This can also lead to clever players letting those with poorer skill levels attempt some tasks they are mediocre at so they can improve. I see that awarding failures (only) might lead to rapid improvements in poor skills. As already suggested you could limit to say 3 ticks per session

Today’s offering is a little more unusual, a dog soldier. Unable to wield weapons our legionnaire has to rely on his bite for damage. Therefore to give him utility as a fighter I aimed to give him the highest hit points and armor I could. He also has some special effect skills like ‘track’ at high levels. magicworldcs dog soldier.pdf

Another peak behind the curtain. Rules for the gnomes of my world. Gnomes are small spry humanoids with a reputation for magic and lore. Gnomes have bushy brows, rosy cheeks, silky hair and, in the men, beards. Gnome hair turns to snowy white in early middle age. Gnomes average only 2ft tall and mass 4 to 9 pounds. Physically weak, gnomes rely on keen minds and senses to survive. There is no size difference between the genders. Like other small creatures, gnomes tend to make their homes safely underground. Unlike rabbits and badgers, the burrows of gnomes are cosy places with wooden walls and ceilings, and frequent windows for light. Gnome burrows are typically surrounded by small productive gardens that provide the residents with food. This habit of living underground has led many to become miners though they cannot dig as deep or rival the impressive stonework of the dwarves. Gnomes live in small but tight knit clans, in game terms the most isolated of these clans are chiefdoms (MW18). However, most gnome clans exist within other cultures. Many gnomes dwell within the elf dominated Spire and Wilding nations. Gnomes are both more cautious and more curious than humanity. They avoid violence and unnecessary risks preferring to make peace or move on rather than fight. However, their love of learning, interest in new experiences, tradition of magical lore, and intellect make them valuable allies. Many gnomes have lived in the towns and cities of other species for generations. Gnomes get along best within societies where violence is rare and therefore are most often found among humans, elves, and dwarves in towns where good will or the rule of law prevail. Gnomes originated in green and pleasant islands far from the threat of other larger peoples. When the elves developed ships capable of crossing the vast ocean they first reached the islands of the gnomes just after the goblins first arrived and began to eat and sacrifice gnomes. The elves and gnomes quickly became fast allies. After the war the gnomes spread with the elves throughout the known world. Gnomes make good adventurers and excel in roles suited to their keen minds, small size, and limited strength. Characteristic Average Minimum STR 1d3 2 1 CON 3d6+1 11-12 4 SIZ 1 1 1 INT 4d6 15 4 POW 2d6+5 13 7 DEX 2d6+10 17 12 APP 3d6 10-11 3 Move 6 Hit Points for average NPC 6 Damage Bonus (db) for average NPC -1d6 Armour: often nil but can wear any armour. Skills: Art 15% (+10), Bargain 25% (+10), Sailing 00% (-15), Climb 15% (-25), Ride 00% (-35), Conceal Object 10% (-15), Hide 25% (+5), Move Quietly 30% (+10), Fast Talk 25% (+10), Oratory 15% (+10), World Lore 25% (+10) Craft 10% (+5), Scribe 05% (+05), Insight 20% (+5), Listen 20% (+5) Sense 20% (+5) Total 0. Weapon Skills: Gnomes use short and medium length weapons at the same base skill as humans. However, all medium length weapons must be wielded with both hands by a gnome and they cannot use long weapons at all. In addition gnome scale weapons can be used with the usual base %. These are about 1/3 the length and price of human weapons. All gnome weapons are one length category less (minimum short), and STR requirements are divided by nine (round up). DEX requirements are unchanged. Weapon Hit points are 1/3 usual (round up). Gnomes favour bladed weapons because bladed weapons do 1/3 the damage of human weapons (d3’s and d4’s become 1pt, d6’s and become d2’s, d8’s and d10’s become d3’s, pluses are rounded down) while bludgeoning weapons do 1/9x damage (every d6, d8 or d10 becomes a dice side and all lesser dice and bonuses are lost but the final minimum is 1 damage. For example a heavy mace is 1d8, a gnome heavy mace is d1 or 1pt, in fact all bludgeoning weapons listed in MW do 1pt at gnome scale). Gnome shields also cost 1/3 but also offer 1/3 the usual protection 1/3 (round up). Armour however is priced mostly by the skilled work needed to make it and costs full price as well as providing the normal dice of protection. For other gnome gear where the amount of material rather than hours of skilled artisan is the main determiner of price the cost is about 1/3 that of human gear.

Today’s offering is another classic: a heavily armoured dwarf. magicworldcs dwarf gate noble.pdf

Entirely true. However, the same issue with rolled characteristics raises it's ugly head with other character concepts too. Say a player really wants to play a Conan-esque warrior and rolls 7 STR or a player who wants a cat burglar character but rolls 4 DEX. I'll add these examples to my house rules document better make my point. Simply, put I want players to be able to create the PCs they want to play. I actually really like the POW 16 and no skill approach to spell casting in RAW. Its streamlined and provides a ready explanation for magic use being so rare that it does not affect culture or technology too much. This is especially true if only a small percentage of NPCs with sufficient POW to cast spells get an education that teaches them to do so. That said differing approaches will suit different worlds imagined by Chroniclers, including possibly myself if I start work on another world. *********************** Today's pregen is a Morg a young giant slave sold to the arena to pay for his master's gambling debts. There he has recently won his freedom and a purse from the Emperor. MagicWorldCS Giant Slave.pdf

What is the etiquette here regarding thread necromancy? I can’t find any guidence. Some forums don’t allow it. Others like The Piazza encourage it. As a new guy here I’m looking back through the thread and sometimes I think I has a new idea to add. With Magic World’s fan base being so small and many of the threads so short I feel a little thread necromancy could be healthy. However, I’ll be a good boy and fall in line with the consensus if it is frowned upon.

Another look behind the curtain at how these were made... Characteristics I have an issue with randomly rolled characteristics because the rolled characteristics might not let a player create the character she wants to play. If you want to make a wizard and roll POW10 you’re just an apprentice or theorist who can’t cast spells yet. Not very satisfying. House rule: 83 points are distributed between characteristics while remaining within the ranges that could be rolled. Non–humans characters also use 83pts but the rollable ranges of each species are different. Using the same number of points puts all species on something closer to a ‘level playing field’. In either case you may use the Sorcerous Heritage rule (MW103) exchanging 2pt from any one other Characteristic for a point of POW. This may take you to one higher than what could be rolled for your species and therefore may be useful even if the point buy system is used. I’ll edit this post to add another character, a wizard, later this morning (Eastern Australia Time). magicworldcs(form-fillable-no-calc)v2.3.1wizard.pdf

It’s new to me and is in my current sweet spot for complexity. So at the moment I’m enthused about my new ‘toy’. While officially discontinued the BRP base makes it easy to use bits of other BRP games as supplements and there are lot of great fan work here. As any Planescape fan knows a game line is not dead until the fans let it die. Anyway, these pregens were created with the Experienced Adventuerers rules page MW22. Those like me who are pretty new here this rule could have been written more clearly. I am fairly sure some of the bonuses replace the regular skill allotments rather than add to them. For example a clarified version of Veteran Adventurer follows: Veteran Adventurer • +1 POW and one additional point to allot to any one other characteristic. These additions must not raise any characteristic above species maximums. • Instead of +10 to three culture skills, add +40 to three culture skills. • The usual allotment for occupation skills is replaced by this more generous allotment: o +60 to two skills. o +40 to three skills. o +20 to three skills. • Rather than the usual allotment for personal hobbies add +20 to six skills not listed for your occupation or previously selected. • If POW is 16 or greater then you may choose to know up to 6 levels of spells rather than the usual 3 for novice characters. No indication is given that sorcerers, priests and other spell casting professions but I would assume they also gain 3 extra levels of spells.

This time a big hairy barbarian warrior because every group has that player. magicworldcs(form-fillable-no-calc)human barbarian.pdf

Hi all, First up, giant thanks to Nick J for his form-fillable sheet that made this possible. It’s summer holidays here so I have plenty of time to muck about with my new Magic World book. This includes working on my world and creating characters to learn the rules and test out little tweaks. Here I’ll post pregenerated characters as I create them. These are Veteran adventurers (Magic World page 22) designed for my world but might be of use to some of you. First up a elf sailor and (cat-sized) gnome astrologer. magicworldcs(form-fillable-no-calc)v2.3.1 gnome astrologer.pdf magicworldcs(form-fillable-no-calc)v2.3.1 elf sailor.pdf

Here is my Veteran Gnome Astrologer using your no calc sheet and my house rules version of gnomes. Thank you again. magicworldcs(form-fillable-no-calc)v2.3.1 gnome astrologer.pdf

Thank you so very much. This will enable me to create non-human characters for on the tram on the way to work and store them digitally instead of in my tiny apartment. I’m sure others will also get use out of these.

Yes, incredibly useful.