Aycorn

I got lazy in June, so the last two sessions were updates tonight. https://westofarkham.blogspot.com

https://westofarkham.blogspot.com/2023/05/dead-lights-52523.html

Excel works great for me.

Yet I remember people turning cartwheels when it came out. Ah well 😉

Once I got the BGB, I decided to use as few house rules as possible. That's changing a bit with the fantasy campaign I'm working on, but its still something I try to stick to. The Optional Rules cover much of it anyway. I use a different Sanity system, a bit more realistic, which I found online (here in fact, or referred from here). One major one is APP is out and CHA is in. I thought it was a shame they went down the APP route in the first place, when RQ had so clearly and logically defined CHA and its effects.

https://westofarkham.blogspot.com/2021/11/session-3-night-of-jackal.html

https://westofarkham.blogspot.com/2021/10/session-2-dead-in-water.html

Might be some good ideas there, but I haven't read it. True, I'm no novice. Just rusty. Next game is a week from Sunday (we had to postpone our September game). So we'll see how Round 2 goes. Everyone's still interested and enthusiastic though. That's a good sign!

Don't get me started on the Bushes, Alex 😉

As a hypnotherapist who ran his own hypnotherapy biz for awhile, I find this pretty interesting. There are doubtless Ericksonian and NLP techniques that would work well in GMing. I'll have to think on this a bit myself. One thing I did at my most recent (first in a long time) session, was to have each player make a 10-30 second "elevator speech" about their character. Tell us something, anything - who are you? Naturally some struggled a bit and some spun a tale easily, but in the end everyone came up with something(s) and it seemed to help a lot in engaging them. You mention body language - definitely. Players leaning in to the table instead of reclining, excited, engaged demeanor, etc. All good thoughts

https://westofarkham.blogspot.com/2021/08/session-1-haunting-aka-corbitt-house.html

Well hey all ... it finally happened... 11 years since I joined this forum (as Aycorn) ... I finally ran a game last night. The last time I played in, or ran, an RPG - Bush was president. And I don't mean George W. Call of Cthulhu, using BGB rules (with a few house tweaks) (yep, you heard me, not 7th ed) Scenario: "The Haunting" aka "The Corbitt House", which I ran pretty much in its original form, with a few additions from later editions and personal touches here and there. Two very good, old friends who have are both avid gamers, and a friend they brought along - a very nice guy who I liked very much. And the game? A complete success. The hoary old CoC scenario still packs a punch, no problems with rules, everything went smoothly. A good game, some good food, a little good booze, a good time had by all. And yep - we meet again next month!

https://swordofsorcery.blogspot.com/2017/04/i-love-brp.html My last word on the subject. Again.

I never did. In my games it's still CHA. Any adult ought to be able to understand that one can be highly charismatic while physically plain, unusual, or even unattractive.

We can still be friends

Well, I'm only active here sporadically, but it's always seemed a friendly place and still does. I think basic, adult rules of courtesy are more than reasonable. I visit rpg.net even more sporadically, and yes I gather politics has become a divisive issue over there. Unfortunately, we are living in polarized times, esp. in the USA. But I haven't seen a lot of harsh words here, and don't expect to. PS - BGB is great and death to COC v.7! (just kidding) (not)

I had a lot of fun with it at the time, but now find the rules pretty appalling. I'd love to see a BRP spy thriller game, though.

(Here I go again, wading in again, suicidally). This may be a matter of interpretation, but I don't run it that way. Firearms (Pistol) is your skill, and it applies to any make/model that would be called a "Firearm/Pistol". There's no separate skill for a Walther PPK or any other specific gun model. We are in agreement on this: "not being able to fire a shotgun" is an exaggeration. Similarly, the Mathematics/Physics analogy doesn't fly for me. If someone gives their character a significant skill in Physics, logic would dictate they'd have to have at least a decent Mathematics background, so toss some points into Mathematics (if you must), or just assume its there, and/or if a game situation came up where a Mathematics skill would be applied, use their Know roll. I'm well aware many would disagree. Right after the BGB came out, there were many debates about gun rules, and several homebrewed firearms tables giving ranges/damage/etc for different makes/models of firearms. To some that's clearly very important, but not to me. Again, this is how I like to do things. I prefer to keep things simple, and I'd rather improvise a bit based on my understanding/interpretation of the rules. I think the beauty of BRP/Chaosium is that it lends itself to that approach. But others prefer to do things differently. The important that everyone and those they play with agree and are having a good time.

I should never have weighed in on this. Sorry. It's the sort of debate I have zero interest in. I'm absolutely a believer that everyone should play the way they want to play. I do. So, you have my blessing - if this works for you, you should go for it. It wouldn't work for me. For me, Chaosium's system ain't broke - and don't need fixin'. Best wishes anyway.

I'm afraid I don't see it the same way at all. And I'm left thinking you must be looking at very different books than I. The books describe a Climb skill. It says you can climb things. If there's something about the climb (how steep, nature of the surface, etc) that make it more difficult, or less difficult, then you can modify the roll when the character is performing that climb. You're suggesting breaking it down, so that you have to track your ability to climb and/all different climbs - thus taking one skill and effectively breaking it into a host of sub-skills. To me, that is obviously more complicated. What is this about mastering a Walther ppk, but being unable to fire a shotgun? I've never seen anything like that in BRP or any Chaosium/BRP publication.

Hate to say it, hope not to sound rude or condescending, and I'll probably piss off everyone in this thread, but I think you're taking something simple and elegant and making it a hundred times more complicated. A Climb is a Climb. If you're using the BRP Big Gold Book, you can say its a more difficult, or easier, based on any number of factors. But its still a Climb. I suppose it may just come down to style of play, and if you and your players really want to drill down into it like that, and that's fun for you - well, more power to ya.

I have never supported the "strategy" of putting out a new version every few years, whether with minimal changes or, in the case of COC7 and the various D&D's, a huge overhaul. Of course I've already vented my views here. I've got the Big Gold Book, and I'm good whether Chaosium produces new stuff for it or not. I agree that the setting has come to be the selling point. I suppose that's been true for a long time. A shame, really - part of the excitement of getting into D&D in the late 70's/ear;y 80's was developing my own fantasy world using the building blocks in the books, and pulling in all manner of elements from the famtasy/sci-fi books, movies, comics etc I was devouring at the time. But I guess what I like and what the masses like are two different things. I can understand, from a marketing standpoint, that game books are now expected to have slick, color artwork and lots of graphic decoration. I can see the aesthetic appeal, but I confess that, for example, I find the artwork in later D&D books far more generic, Bros. Hildebrandt riffs, less interesting than say, David A Trampier's gorgeous line drawings. And I really hate the big-eyed anime/manga-style character designs in the Pathfinder books. But again, I guess I'm in the minority. In any case, does it occur to anyone that having slick, color hardcovers as the standard also means that RPG books cost more?

Basically, it's one more calculation. Also, for my own games, it adds a certain uncertainty factor. You can Dodge, or you can Parry. And if it doesn't work - well, you'll wonder if you should have gone for the other one.

I agree with you, but if I've learned anything from RPG forums, it's that many people see enormous differences where I see inconsequential ones. And they seem to outnumber me I don't say they're wrong. Maybe it's just like a conversation I once heard at a party in the late 80's/early 90's. Several people commented on Sinead O'Connor's then-new recording of "Nothing Compares 2 U", and how beautiful her singing was. And one fellow piped up with "No no no - she goes flat on a couple notes." Guess it just depends on where your attention is focused.

Well shame on me for being so dumb....