Aycorn

I confess, I'm a complete zealot for BRP. I'm really not interested in playing any other kind of system. As said, it can be tweaked to be more "gonzo" if that's what's desired. Also it's so flexible and easy to add/subtract things from it, making it endlessly adaptable. I think maybe part of the charm for me is - hey, I've got the system nailed down, so now I can focus on the other aspects of the game. I'm fortunate in that I can play with people who like BRP, even if they're not as single-mindedly devoted to it as I am.

(Note: this is not intended to slag anyone here, I just don't know any way to put it without sounding like I'm slagging people, so please no one take offense) It's a different way of thinking which seems to be pretty prevalent among gamers that a system is "dead" if it's not producing regular supplements or new editions. It's one I don't subscribe to. I was playing BRP before and I'll be playing it now - only difference is now I have a really good core rule-book as opposed to lots of cobbled-together notes. It's not dead as long as people are playing and creating for it, even if Chaosium (god forbid) vanishes off the face of the earth.

Yes, I too (surreptitiously) read it, and some of the mythos information was interesting and cool, though I felt it "codified" and organized the mythos more than it should have (although I suppose Chaosium could be open to such accusations as well).

Okay, everybody, all together now: "GO JASON, GO! GO JASON, GO! GO JASON, GO!" All kidding aside, great news. I'm really looking forward to this.

I'm sure there's room in the world for multiple Cthulhu-based rules (though I'm ready to slug the next game-designing "genius" who's out to fix some "fatal flaw" in the rules). My attitude can best be summed up as follows: a few years ago my brother (a bigger gamer and bigger nerd than I, with whom I played COC for several years back in the 80's) proudly displayed a copy of the d20 to me. My response was: "Well, damn - good thing that came out - we sure never had any fun with those old rules." (he told me to shut up). Aren't the d20 rules out of print, now? Or am I mistaken.

I suspect that what's going on at Chaosium is very similar to something I encountered 10+ years ago. I was working for a small manufacturing company that was trying desperately to stay in business after years of losing money. It had reached a point where, even after laying off all but the most essential staff, they still couldn't pay their bills. We owed a lot of suppliers, big-time, but payroll and essential operations had to come first (the owner always made sure the employees were paid first). Unfortunately, he instructed accounts payable to not return calls or give any explanations to suppliers who called for payment status. He was convinced they wouldn't sell to us anymore if they knew how dire the company's financial situation was. As the company's purchasing guy, I was in the unenviable position of having to get materials in. I had to call a sheetmetal supplier to ask him what it would take to get some more parts out of him - he angrily replied that he wanted to know when he was going to get the money we owed him before he would discuss any new parts. I finally convinced the owner to get on a conference call with the guy and admit that the company had a serious cashflow problem. Once that was done, the sheetmetal (and other suppliers) were actually quite understanding and willing to work out a reasonable deal, where there were at least promise dates for payments, payment schedules, etc in place. He just needed to be honest with his suppliers. It sounds to me like it may be a similar scenario here. Jason's not getting paid (and yes, he has every right to be paid and every right to be pissed about how this is getting handled) and Chaosium's not responding to him. Professionally speaking, even "Hi - we're broke and can't pay you right now, can I trade you my collection of Conan comics instead?" is preferable to silence. I make no excuses for Chaosium's treatment of Jason et al and sincerely hope they put things aright. I just suspect (if someone knows the facts feel free to step in and correct me) that this is less about Chaosium being crooked and more about Chaosium being stupid. As for BRP as a system - you bet I'm going to play it. Like others' here, I've got enough material with the new book and the old ones to generate any settings I want, and that was my plan all along (until they announced the new BRP), so if nothing new appears, it's just back to Plan A. As for having to scour the net for stuff - well, that's a fair concern - but it's no longer necessary, is it? We have a good, very creative, friendly community here. We've got "Uncounted Worlds" (very good) (assuming further issues are planned). We've got each other. We can go on sharing and helping each other out. Let BRP continue to be a DIY system, until the day Chaosium gets it together. That's my vote.

Chaosium is notoriously slow in delivering payment. And, of course, in getting things published. When I sent them stuff in the early 80's, it took a year for either one to happen. I still love their system and their products. I regret that they aren't better businesspeople.

To Jason and Pete; Pardon my ignorance, and this may have been covered elsewhere in the thread, but - would it not be possible to work out a deal with Chaosium where you could publish or self-publish your supplements as BRP supplements - just not under the Chaosium banner? That way, you wouldn't have to reinvent the wheel, so to speak, system-wise.

Heart-breaking news. Well, I can only wish Jason the very best and, like many of us, hope to keep updated on "Interplanetary" as it goes along. As for BRP ... well ... we have it anyway. I'll be using it.

I don't really have anything to add, except that I too have the original three little books (and the three that came after), which I picked up for maybe $2-$3 apiece about 20 years ago at a local used bookstore. And I too have great affection for them - what a wild ride! Amateurish, chaotic in the extreme (forget organization) and incoherent ... it's like Hargrave just wrote down whatever was going through his reeling mind at the moment, typed it up and published it. Who could forget monster entries that included things like "% Liar: never lies"? And tremendous fun! Yes, I've mined them for ideas -the Black Fisherman is my idea of a very cool monster, and I've been tempted for years to use Kill Kittens. That spirit of anarchic fun is missing from so many RPGs anymore. I remember Hargrave's COC scenarios. One was a straight-up dungeon crawl. The other, "Dark Carnival" was something of a disappointment because it set up an obvious but still very cool mystery (it's one of the best-written COC scenarios up to that time), but degenerates into a dungeon crawl (and a lethal one at that - let's face it, COC is not made for non-stop combat).

Why not? I'm a great admirer of "Bone." Rockjaw and Granny would make great NPC's.

All of the worlds of myth/legend and history are public domain. GURPS/d20/et al have done Greece, Egypt, China, Japan, Celtic, Norse/Viking (okay, we know about Mythic Iceland), Biblical, "Swashbuckler," Pirate, Arabian Nights (man, I would LOVE a BRP Arabian Nights setting), American Civil War... No, these aren't as hot as say, "Lord of the Rings" or whatever, but they're all ultra-viable.

I think, therefore, it's on us BRP fans to do our part. This forum's a good start. Perhaps start webpages for our campaigns, plans, rules, etc. The monograph idea sounds good, too. And most of all, play it and talk it up. Not much else we can do until Chaosium makes their next move.

:lol:Yes, me. I was trying to think what that would look like - rules for getting smashed into a building and leaving a man-shaped hole in the side? Rules for throwing stiletto heels?

Pretty much as others said. "Sorcery" spells in BRP work pretty much as does Divine Magic in RQ (i.e. automatic success, not a skill). For the "psuedo-Celtic" campaign I'm developing, anyone with an Allegiance to a god can learn a spell or spells from that god, at the cost of some POW. I haven't worked it all out yet but it will probably be pretty much the same as RQ divine magic. Spells given by gods will be few (a god might not have more than 1 or 2 spells to offer) but such spells will be unique and very powerful.

Trifletraxor; Well, they list in my files as .FP3

Since I made it for my personal campaign, and I don't use hit locations, it doesn't. Hit locations could be added, along with fatigue (which I also don't use) et al. It does calculate special/critical/fumble and puts them right on the sheet, also the damage for special/critical hits is right there, too. The visual look of the sheets is my own design, and the great thing about FMPro is you can set up different kinds of sheets - so, for example, the "Saxon" characters for my "Celtic" campaign (they won't be called Saxons or Celts) have a different sheet that uses a rune-like font and has a futhark-rune border instead of the Celtic knotwork. FMPro's easy to use and easy to learn, but isn't cheap ($250 or so). Of course, it has many applications outside of gaming. Yeah, if Sverre can help upload, I'd be happy to put the files up.

Sadly, it seems the forum doesn't recognize FMPro files, so I couldn't upload them. Here's a couple fuzzy scans of the character sheets - one for COC, one for the "Celtic" fantasy campaign I'm developing, and some screencaps. Basically, all the necessary calculations are in the database - all you have to do is input stats, allocate skill points, put in a little bit of info about your weapons. The database does all the addition, adds all the bases and bonuses and modifiers, and voila - spits out a character sheet. Takes probably less than 10 minutes to do a complete character.

I have a FileMaker Pro database that doesn't generate characters, but does all the calculations for you - you just input the stats and your skill point allocations and it takes care of the rest. Can upload if there's an interest.

And may I add my Xmas greetings and best wishes to all! Here's hoping everyone makes a critical "Celebrate Xmas" or "Get Cool Gifts" roll.

I love books, absolutely. If I need reference data, it's always back to the printed page.

I don't think there's anything wrong with ads/disads, per se. I don't think there's anything particularly right with them, either. I confess to being prejudiced in the way I think about gaming. One of the arguments I was once confronted with as to why ads/disads were so important was "what if your player wants his character to have a friend in city hall? What rules do you have from preventing him from being able to get away with just anything because of that?" Well... I do think that a mature group of players ought to be able to deal with something like that, and work out the thing in a fair manner to which everyone agrees, without having to have a whole set of official rules on it. But then, I won't play with anything but a mature group of players. My real gripe (even though I know the review was actually a positive one) is the use of the word "dated." To me, "dated" means something that had value (or was at least acceptable) in the past, but no longer does. Knocking BRP for not having ads/disads is like saying "Casablanca" would be a great movie if it was only in color. Just ignorant, to me. Anyway, I'm gettin' off my soapbox now.

[quote=Al.;18501 Character Creation takes time Even with the marvellous double-page spread aide memoire it is time-consuming. That is fine if you want players to have control of their alter egos and see it as a price worth paying but just be aware.

Some very good suggestions! Any link for the Savage Worlds thing?

PS - sorry if I sound like I'm blowing my stack. And no offense meant to anyone on the list - I'm just speaking in general.