Heimdallsgothi

In a way, what BRP needs is a Basic Role Playing Book! THe gold book is far from what the cover claims. It's more like Compiled Chaosium Role Playing (CCRP).

As a new arrival to the RQ/BRp family of games, this is a large reason why I ended up starting out with Savage worlds over BRP when running my Kingmaker campaign

BRP "sounded" neat, but you need to be already well versed in the game family tree to try and balance it out, that said, i am very likely to switch to RQ6 after the game is over since it was so well done

Or get the RuneQuest 6 rule set

Where Battle Axe does1d6+1, Longsword does 1d8

Weapon size matters in parry attempts.. shields by virtue of size alone allow for more effective blocking..

It sounds very close to what youre looking for

You cannot parry an arrow with a short sword...

Of course, RuneQuest 6 considers this, weapon size difference matters, you dont parry a battle axe with a dagger etc

Not sure what your talking about with shields

Pg. 206 " Your character parries melee attacks with his or her shield just as he or she would a hand weapon, using the same system."

Being protection against Missile fire is just an added bonus

It is deliberately hidden in RQ6.

The one in RQ6 on page 14 is specifically for humanoids, as stated in the third paragraph of 'Height and Weight'.

You know, I read that at least 15 times, and it never sunk in? It's the little things that get ya when youre tired I guess, thanks tons!

Why is the formula hidden? RQ6 does so well in explaining the logic of the other rules...

SIZ is useful because it represents the effects of being larger and/or heavier in the game. Bigger things tend to be stronger and hit harder (which is why SIZ in in the damage bonus), have better reach (which is why SIZ in in the Strike Rank) and can soak more punishment (which is why SIZ in in the hit point formulas). SIZ also helps in determining how easy it is to hit big things.

The progression is logarithmic, at least in the 8-88 range that 99% of all animals and characters fall in. The exact progression is +8 SIZ +double the weight. Triple the weight would be about +13, so Zit was close. Each +1 SIZ is a 9% increase.The mass for a given SIZ in the 8-88 range is 2^(SIZ/8)*25 kg.

I've not seen this formula in the BRP gold book, nor RQ6

I've compared them both and they are essentially using the same SIZ chart in character creation, Even the comparative weights chart seems identical

It doesnt seem that size scales to height very well, and is more representative of overall weight? Is the initial size chart specifically for humanoids? There are some pig species which while short, are fairly massive, in excess of 500lbs

RQ6 says "Creatures do not follow the same height and weight progression as for humanoids. Increasing SIZ relates to a different scaling of mass, muscle and bone density", but I have not found this in the gold book, I may have missed it

I've been looking for a new main system for several years now since I moved on from Rolemaster. I took a long and serious look at the Hero System, owning a considerable collection of 5th and almost everything of 6th ed. I consider it truely comprehensive, its about as fun to read as stereo instructions. The unified mechanic for everything is nice, but the sheer amound of prep time is staggering and impractical for me. I've been eyeing both Savage worlds and BRP/RQ.

I am currently running a Savage Worlds game, using the Kingmaker AP from Paizo, and the game is tons of fun, but, its not *my* game. It's just missing something for me, Im not sure what it is, but its not going to be my long term, go to game. I'll have great fun using it for 1 shots, and open game nights, but its just missing that special click in my head, I like the game, I don't love it.

So I own BRP, RQ6, Pendragon 4, Stormbringer 4, with Basic Gamemastery, Classic Fantasy, Basic Creatures, Basic Magic, Cthulu Invictus, even BRP Rome and Witchcraft. I managed to miss the entire Runequest family of games in my RP/GM career. I've played or ran OD&D, AD&D, (missed 2.0 , 3.0, and even 3.5), Pathfinder, Shadowrun, Rolemaster, Spacemaster, MERP, Harp, Gurps (played 2-3 times), The Palladium line of games till just after Rifts exploded (TMNT is sweetness), and probably many other games I havent looked at in ages, but are still packed away in boxes in my attic for my kids.

So here I am, on a quest for the "perfect" game (doomed I know), and while I've heard/read many good things about BRP, there were a number of things that bothered me. The lack of a comprehensive bestiary, for a game as old and storied as BRP/RQ, seems strange, there are many games with much less history which them, even Paizo seems determined to print a new one every year. I understand there are rules for creating creatures, which brings me to my primary concern.

Size

Why is this a stat? It seems strange to me.

I find much of RQ6 fits what Im looking for. But this is really bothering me. All the stats for characters and monsters, are treated the same, except for size, nope thats different. Why? If its a fundamental stat common to all things, then why is it necessary to alter it for creatures?

The only reason is, because to use values reflective of true immensity (Dragons, Giants etc), then the damage bonus would be so horrific, that no character would be able to enter combat and hope to survive.

If that is the case, then how size is utilize must be fundamentally flawed, or I'm missing something.

Every other game I have played, size is used, D&D has categories (small, medium, large, huge, collosal) granting bonuses etc, Rolemaster grants OB and DB depending on size category, shadowrun gives targeting bonuses etc.

I am just having a hard time wrapping my head around it.

Only difference is He's using a 20 lb bow.

Yay!

Well consider that a well trained welsh archer unit could have 5 arrows in the air, with the 6th ready to fire when the first arrow landed

For bow types, really, the shape doesn't matter. Bows are human powered weapons, all Compound/Recurve bows do is give you a higher draw weight in a smaller bow

I can tell you no Hun archer fired a 120lb draw bow from horseback

Heres a couple videos that help explains it

Horse archery was generally a short recurve bow... and fairly light compared to foot archery. Welsh longbows often exceeded 150lb draw. Rate of fire is lower vs foot archery as well, which is why mounted archers avoided foot archer units, less range an lower rate of fire while being a bigger easier to hit target. Falling from a horse at full gallop hurts

True

But then i dont really know BRP well enough to go and try creating critters yet

Heck Ive yet to run a game..

although Im thinking of sending my 11 and 14 year old into cthulu medieval style

Well looking at classic monsters.... vulnerable to silver and magic..... 12 hps.... not so bad...

Any news?

Bladesharp? What choo talkin bout willis?

Werewolf needs silver weapons.....

I'd have to quibble with the fake adventure term really. Bungee jumping, much like sky diving or even amusement park rides aren't adventuresome, they for thrill seekers.

In the immortal words of Bilbo Baggins "We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner! I can't think what anybody sees in them!"

I’ve always found that the overall "feel" of a game systems rule set affects how it plays to some degree.

D&D (BECMI) Editions which I played for seemingly most of my young teenage years feels/plays a certain way. Death was a possible outcome, but not necessarily the inevitable outcome.

.… Example: I recently ran a Helms Deep Scenario. 10,000 orcs (1-2 level, with appropriate level 3 Sergeants and several level 5 officers and a level 8 General vs. 4 level 10 players on 30’ wall. The poor orcs never stood a chance.

Star Frontiers was remarkably fun, and deadlier than D&D, but was still space opera, and death was possible, but not likely.

Rolemaster which made every player accept the “Morituri te salutamus”, we who are about to die salute you - mindset. Of all the game systems I’ve ever played, Rolemaster, you

knew when you were making your character, that death was not only possible, but a very likely outcome for your character.

Shadowrun. The game is very deadly while at the same time, makes it very difficult to be “one shot/killed”. The game designers spoke of making it possible to take a small tactical nuclear warhead to the chest and surviving as a design decision. Overall, you knew death was a very strong possibility, and I loved the setting during my early gaming career.

Overall, a game system plays out where after a while, players know just how deadly a given game is to players, and while death is possible, some games it’s more likely than others, and players act within those bounds.

May have to pick up the Rome book and rewatch Spartacus-Blood and Sand

Youd figure after 30 years the game would have a more comprehensive bestiary. As it is, there is a lot of duplication between basic creatures and the creatures in the core book.

The 4 new books today.. i was hoping basic creatures would be a bit larger.. its a teeny little thing

Question regarding parry. When parrying multiple times, you are at a -30% for each additional parry. Do you recalculate the crit/special chance?

Yeah I have the Stormbringer book somewhere, but I've never read the actual books so I'm not all that familiar with the setting it self

The idea of a drug addled lording who destroys everyone and everything he cares for with his sword and demon pacts really doesn't sound all that heroic

Im currently in the process of outlining my own campaign setting for a Fantasy Hero game that will likely never see the light of day, perhaps I will adapt it over to BRP

Thats an interesting concept. Not sure ive seen that option yet. I generally try to avoid houseruling many things unless necessary

I will have to take a look at the dodge/parry rules. They may be interesting. Are they done well? How do they relate.? I keep seeing some expert with a 90 skill who rolls a 60 getting parried by some baker with a rolling pin skill 30 who rolled a 29.

##

Ok the baker would parry......

The game gives lots of advantages to the defender

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Ok can you attack and parrry in the same round? Or one or the other?

Is parry its own skill or based of each weapon separately....

Omg strike ranks....

@ seneschal

Hero System in itself doesnt scare me, again, I am a long time Rolemaster player, and consider the RM2 variant far more complex than Hero 5th or 6th ed. However, having to explain to my players that fractions are an essential part of character creation in a point buy system is a losing argument. I love the flexibility of Hero, the idea of the game is truely elegant. The sheer amount of work you have to sign up for in building and developing a setting (esp fantasy) is daunting for a new player of the game.

@ threedeesix

While I have run multiple genres, from Fantasy, to WEG Star Wars, Mark Millers Traveller, Palladium (FRP, N&S, Beyond the Supernatural, Rifts etc) my love is really fantasy, and lately, Dark Fantasy.