NickMiddleton

The catalogue works, and I managed to log in, so I think they're most of the way back.

Cheers,

Nick Middleton

I agree with Trif. Getting Chaosium to "respond to stimulus" is like getting a senator to respond to a query during a non-election year.

I've always found Dustin is pretty good at responding promptly, and he specifically posted to the BRP play test Yahoo group regarding license submissions - BUT he's also remote from the Chaosium offices in California, so I know his email recently has been erratic.

regards,

Nick Middleton

So, does anyone have a really good conversion, then, for Jedis? With skills over 100%, deflecting blaster shots with a lighsaber should be easy.

IIRC Jason's notes on doing Star wars in BRP were posted in a thread at RPG Net a while back...

Cheers,

Nick Middleton

But the new rule is that everyone has a "true adamant weapon-of-the-gods", and can normally parry anything (unless, ad hoc, the GM says they can't) ?

If so, your weapons may not break - but it's the rule that's broken.

Err, which "new rule"? In BRP zero, a critical Parry or Dodge negates an attack and in the case of the parry the parrying object takes no damage - which is exactly how a critical parry worked in RQIII (and in RQIII, a special parry means the pParrying object takes no damage)...

Cheers,

Nick Middleton

I don't have the BRP-zero book so I don't know if there's a fatigue system in the new book. I'm fiddling with a set of conversion rules for d20 spells and is contemplating using FP instead of MP. The RQ III fatigue system sucks and the RQ II system is a bit to basic, so it would be nice to know if there is such a s system in the new book or if I have to devise one of my own.

BRP Zero includes the RQIII fatigue point system, and a simple systen rekated to the RQII Encumberance model, IIRC.

Nick Middleton

I haven't got BRP zero to hand, and this is off the cuff, but how about:

1) Attack vs. Dodge is an Opposed Roll per the opposed skills rule (with a bit of fine tuning and clarification#).

2) Attack vs. Parry is not treated as an Opposed Roll

So... Parrying with a shield, even perfectly, probably won't break a sword, and may well not stop all the damage, but unlike armour CAN'T be by passed (and the shield will have a LOT of AP); weapon AP's have a role, and weapons and shields do degrade, but slowly.

And in the past in RQIII I've let characters use their weapon skills as a Maintenace roll with appropriate resource's to hand to "first aid" their weapons and shield and replace lost AP, so I'd certainly allow that as a possibility.

Quite like that actually, will have to try it some time...

Cheers,

Nick Middleton

# Specifically, that when Degrees of Success are tied, the higher roll wins but is in ALL cases treated as having only achieved a normal success, so ties on any DoS result in a normal success for the winner.

I was thinking that perhaps at character generation each PC could choose 2 tribe 8 style Eminence's which they could use to augment actions with the spending of MPs to the tune of +5% per MP spent.

Hmm: unlike the Tribe 8 / Silhouette version, this potentially allows a characters to dump a LOT of power points in to a fairly major effect: a typical character could easily afford to drop 8 power points, for a +40 augment... I'm not saying it's a bad thing (or even out of scale with T8), but would one want to limit it?

I think if I were looking at a BRP conversion of T8 I'd be tempted to impose a maximum limit to augments, at least for non-dreamers characters - say may be 4 power points at a time (i.e. +4 to special chance, + 1 to critical chance), or no more than POW / 4 perhaps.

Those who chose to study "spirit magic" as a separate field could do externally affecting magics by summoning the Eminences of their surrounding environs to achieve effects.

And I'd raise the caps on augments - so whilst a non-Shaman could augment some what, a Shaman could really turn on the juice, as it were...

I'm not sure of the details yet, but I think such a system could be the basis of an interesting and different fantasy world.

What might be useful is, despite the ideas roots in T8, to try and divest the ideas of their T8 terminology - whilst I'd love to see a T8/BRP conversion, I think you are right and there are more interesting and original things that can be explored from here...

How would anyone in the Tribe 8/BRP crossover fanbase do it? Comments? Ideas? Suggestions?

Decide whether we're talking about a T8/BRP conversion (which would be cool!) or about shaping a new magic system / setting for BRP inspired by T8's Synthesis (which would also be cool!).

Cheers,

Nick Middleton

Sounds promising, but I'd hav eto look at my Tribe 8 stuff again to be able to say anything useful. Bear with me...

Nick Middleton

How are contested rolls handled in the new BRP? Is it simply defender wins (a dodge succeeds against any attack unless its a crit)? Is it a compared roll (highest/lowest roller wins)? Or something else?

Are there any changes if skills are 100+?

Cheers!

The default rule: Both characters roll and the one who achieves the highest degree of success wins. Once the "winner" is determined, if the losers roll was still a success, they reduce the winners degree of success by one step for each degree of success the loser achieved above failure (So a normal success will be beaten in an opposed test by a critical roll, but the critical will be reduced to a special success). Where degrees of success are tied, the victory goes to the higher dice roll (thus rewarding the higher skill).

A number of optional variant are included, and there are some wrinkles in interpretation that were to be clarified as a result of feedback on BRP 0 IIRC. The default rule and variants automatically takes account of skills over 100.

Cheers,

Nick Middleton

Mmm, nice setting! Almost makes me want to use it with BRP...

It's a cracking setting, and pretty easily adapted to BRP, and it's native system (for the first edition, Silhouette) is actually pretty good. I've yet to run it, and thus haven't actually committed to whether I'd convert to BRP. Albeit the After the Scouring campaign I ran last year that was heavily inspired by Tribe 8 was basically RQIII powered...

Yes, I was aiming for 4 A4 sides, so it'd fit on 1 double-sided A3 sheet. (Glad to see theirs was 5 sides too!)

Are compelling settings the key? The original BRP guide seemed to be aiming for the player to feel involved straight away, by creating a character of their own. I don't know which approach is best, but don't know the upcoming settings well enough to do one in that style, so may persevere with the old one. Anyone else care to give it a go...?

I think the key thing is to provide something that can be used immediately, and that demonstrates the range the rule set is capable of. I wasn't imagining tying them to specific settings: more just very generic examples of those genres with good scenarios that can be played with just that demo game.

Cheers,

Nick Middleton.

If the model is something that can be given away, take a look at Dream Pod 9's Tribe 8 demo-game . No character generation, but a concise outline of the game mechanics, the game setting, a set of pre generated characters and a solid scenario for them to play through. All in what amounts to four sides of A4.

Something like that (a set of pre-generated characters in a specific setting, with a concise explanation of the core rules and a solid scenario) is what would be best - but, given that BRP is not tied to a specific setting, what might be best is a set of these: fantasy, SF, superhero, perhaps western, espionage and post-apocalypse as well?

Cheers,

Nick Middleton

Do not forget Hero Points. They are a worthy addition that MRQ applied to D100, stealing the idea from HeroQuest or Mythic Russia.

There is a fate point mechanic in BRP (page 176 of BRP 0).

You may not like Legendary Abilities, which are covered by Powers in BRP, but Hero Point usage in combat makes a game better.

My experience of such systems (not just in BRP/RQ but in a number of other games) is that they are intrusive, breaking "the fourth wall" in a fashion that is detrimental to the atmosphere and flow of the game. Some groups love them - but equally, some groups don't...

I also like Heroic Abilities. You say that they are covered in Powers by BRP, but I thought the BRP Powers section just contained things like magic and psionics and mutations. Does it have special abilities that represent Feats of tremendous skill or some such?

How else would you describe a skill of 250%? "tremendous skill" is just that: tremendous skill.

Because that would be awesome if they did!

Elements of the Super Powers system can be used to model exceptional / superhuman talents (e.g. Superhearing will let a character hear frequencies other humans cannot), and setting the campaign "level" suitably high will allow very high skill levels.

How would you use HP in BRP to reduce damage since there are no hit locations?

Err, Hit Lcoations are an optional system in BRP. The Fate Point system I mentioned allows a Character to "soak" one point of damage at the cost of three "power points" (what we known in previous BRP games as magic points), as well as offering various options to affect the outcome of percentile rolls that could reduce damage suffered in combat.

Cheers,

Nick Middleton

BRP did roundless combat in Ringworld, and Niall Shapero also tried a smiliar system in Other Suns - it's a while since I read (and longer since I played) either system, but my memory is that they were both a book keeping nightmare that actually added little.

Cheers,

Nick Middleton

Yep - at a genuine Castle on the Rhine in Germany...

See here .

Cheers,

Nick

... This has already resulted in the half-elf, half-orc and more than likely the half-ling, although no trace of the original ling race survives to this day...

Isn't Ling a type of fish?

:eek:

Nick Middleton

Yes, albeit what I'm planning is a fan zine that will carry scenarios, rather than a commercial venture:

Uncounted Worlds | Basic Roleplaying . Net

I'm hoping to pull together a first issue of two or three scenarios and a few other bits and pieces for this summer - but I have very little free time at present as my day jobs in meltdown.

As for other people I don't know - Chaosium are certainly interested in looking at proposals as I understand it...

Cheers,

Nick Middleton

Where? A-ha!

What a grotesque and blasphemously cyclopean bulk! 22 pages?? I'm sure it's quality stuff (I'll read it later) but can no-one at Chaosium edit? I think 4, or 8 tops, would be more like it... Something to give away free, something to put through all the neighbourhood's letter-boxes... (ok, perhaps not Cthulhu, in that case!)

*shrug* GURPS lite for 4th edition GURPS is 32 pages and includes no scenario. In the Cthulhu quick start the actual rules bit is pages 5 - 11. Pages 12 to 19 are the classic scenario "The Haunting", revised for novice Keepers, and the rest is the usual padding (Cover, blank character sheet, details of other Chaosium products). I'm not sure what you were expecting, but I think Ben Monroe and William Jones did a bang-up job of distilling the core rules of that game and sprucing up a classic scenario for new players, and they do it in 14 pages (ignoring padding), including a scenario such that you genuinely could run the game with just the quick start - not something that's possible with say GURPS lite.

Cheers,

Nick Middleton

I can see that with the main BRP book near store shelves, you feel you've had enough of core rules for a while.

I noticed Jason said:

I am not working on a magic book. No core rules or rules expansions for me for a long while.

But I'd be very surprised if a magic book doesn't appear from someone, sometime. This forum is full of writers it seems, one can hope one of them caves and writes it.

:focus:

To be honest, I have both RQIII and the BRP monographs - I'm writing up one thing at present using the BRP monographs as a reference and that'll have to do for the moment.

As for the quick start / intro idea - we did discuss it in the Play test group IIRC and it's clearly a good idea - in some ways what would be really cool would be to have several brief scenarios with pre-gens to show case the system in different genres / styles... If you haven't seen it before, take a look at the Call of Cthulhu quick start rules which is a pretty good illustration of what can be done.

Cheers,

Nick Middleton

The distinction you make is quite correct, IMHO - Status measures a *social* construct, Allegiance measures a moral or supernatural one. But actually, how (and indeed if) to use Allegiance is what I'm brainstorming - and frankly having trouble with - at the moment. I'm very wary making the Divine Powers of a deity contingent upon a priest's Allegiance score - particularly as Allegiance as it stands is basically an optional rule. Currently I'm sticking with the BRP rules as written, and if I do utilise Allegiance it'll be for those additional PP / skill points / etc that the optional rules describe. What I *don't* want right now is to put an optional rule in such a central place.

Having said that, the scope for using Allegiance in this way is quite promising. For starters, you could say that only characters with 20+ allegiance to a deity can get divine powers from that deity - effectively defining an entry level for a priest, and stopping anyone else from rocking up to a Temple, paying their dues, and getting heaps of divine benefits. But it's this very bluntness and absolute-ness that makes me nervous of using Allegiance too widely.

Funnily enough, exactly my thought (related to a setting using magic based on the RQIII magic systems) was to have a Character's Allegiance score (if Allied to that allegiance - i.e. 20 or more greater than all other allegiances AND the character has committed to the allegiance) as the source of the Characters ability to use "Divine Blessings" ( RQIII style Spirit Magic), whilst "Divine Miracles" (RQIII style Divine magic) would come from sacrificing POW as in RQIII. IN the specific setting everyone would still have limted access to "Hedge Magic" (RQIII Spirit Magic) but only Divine Priests and Hedge Wizards would have significant Spirit magic spells.

What I like about using Allegiance in this way is that as a system it is a character choice driven mechanism for power that rewards "right action" (doing things that promote the character's allied Allegiance). Likewise, if a characters actions favour a different allegiance (or are detrimental to their allied allegiance) the player can see the effect and the risk, but is left free to role play the implications /consequences in their characters behaviour. So there is a justifiable moral framework associated with particular Allegiances but one that players are free to role play with, rtaher than being straight jacketed by.

I think it'd also be profitable to see Allegiance in terms of a skill - or indeed a Passion - and perhaps use it to augment other skills at appropriate junctures. "May Thor protect me!" kind of thing.

That's definitely what I had in mind when I mentioned Pendragon - and extra short term "boost" from invoking your Allegiance, with greater benefits for Allied Allegiances.

Cheers,

Nick Middleton

Chaosium of course has the text to the RQIII magic chapter and owns the rights so they could easily publish (as a PDF perhaps) a "Magic System Compendium" with additional alternative magic systems if they wished and it might be a good idea. Couldn't cost that much to produce and while it might not generate that much revenues it gives the customers/users more options and added benefits.

The idea has been mooted sufficiently often by various play testers and Jason himself that I think it's pretty much inevitable that SOMEONE will pitch a "BRP Magic" book to Chaosium and I'd be stunned if they didn't pick it up - but I doubt very much it would be a PDF. Monograph or proper book would be my guess.

Cheers,

Nick Middleton

Hey, they're hardback - last forever.

Apart from their propensity to drop pages from the centre at the slightest provocation...

The GW hardbacks of the mid-eighties are notoriously variable in quality. If you got a good one, it will probably stil be going strong. But some of them disintegrated phenomenally quickly.

My AH book is in danger of cracking open and loosing pages, and I've never even used it for gaming ...

My AH Softback is still doing fine, albeit it's not be subjected to particularly hard use. But I generally use photocopies of the Players and Magic books I did a few years back from a scruffy copy of the AH deluxe boxed set I picked up cheap off eBay.

Cheers,

Nick Middleton

Rules for "Alignment" are really outdated. Who needs guidelines to role-play their character? Not everyone falls neatly into a category, so why should are characters?

So how does Allegiance differ from Alignment?

Err, you HAVE played Stormbringer 5 / Elric! at some point, surely?

Alignment (in D&D) is a rather clumsy straight-jacket which really doesn't fit the way the game is usually played, but which is inter-twined with some fundemental aspects of the rules system (significant portions of the magic and class ability systems depend on the use of alignments in 3.0 / 3.5) and is awkward to remove without fairly major surgery to the game and its core assumptions.

Allegiance is a system that lets GM's codify the divine / metaphysical conflict(s) in a setting without straight-jacketing players and allows players who want pursue a specific philisophy / code for their characters to do so and, if they choose, reap some reward for it.

One could even import some Pendragon ideas - "inspiring" on ones Allegiance for example...

Cheers,

Nick Middleton

From a quick look in both Camino (1.5.5) and Safari (3.1) it looked fine.

Cheers,

Nick

Does the new BRP rules book have comprehensive hit locations like in the ElfQuest rpg? I was hoping that CoC had them, but it doesn't.

I'm looking for hit location rules that determines what percentage of hit points (out of the total hit points) it takes to cause a limb to be severed or to determine when enough damage has been done to a certain limb to cause serious blood loss to occur (bleeding out); or to render the limb immobile.

Yes, largely based on those from RQIII if memory serves.

Cheers,

Nick Middleton

Mongoose have a licensing deal with Issaries Inc to publish Second Age material and to use the RuneQuest trademark. Moon Design have licensing deal with Issaries Inc to publish third age material and to use the HeroQuest trademark and copyright material.

It's entirely possible to imagine some sort of deal that would allow explicitly BRP material for second or third age Glorantha to be published that Chaosium, Issaries, Mongoose and Moon Design would all be willing to sign up to: just as it's possible to imagine flying pigs, cold days in hell and honest politicians... but I wouldn't hold your breath...

Cheers,

Nick Middleton