Conrad

I keep looking but I haven't found them yet :ohwell:. I thought Noble Knight games might have them, but they have the wrong issue. I really want to read the Sher'tazi article in issue 1, so I'm going to keep looking for the magazines. If I get them you'll be the first to know Solardog.

Have you checked out Chaositech by Monte Cook? It is D&D meets HP lovecraftian monsters. It might give you a few ideas on the creeping corruption of mythos like creatures that offer devices that are a double edged sword. http://www.montecook.com/cgi-bin/page.cgi?mpress_Chaos

Most of the settings mentioned on this thread are hard sf space opera. It is the age of some of these settings that limits new types of characters, such as starships and their avatars, cyborgs of varying levels of augmentation; and the idea that computers will still be discrete units not embedded in practically all structures in a future society. Mindjammer balances the transhuman elements with the good old space opera elements. It is modern space opera.

Why? Are you going to buy me a pint?

Do you like it HARD then Penn? Maybe we aught to take a poll of how many of us would want to see a BRP supplement like the setting in Mindjammer? Or is Cthulhu Rising sufficient for a space setting?

This is technofantasy, not modern space opera. This is what I want to see in a BRP setting, and this setting looks good too: http://d101games.co.uk/2010/02/22/d101-presents-the-river-of-heaven/#more-510

After seeing Mindjammer ( for Starblazer Adventures) I hope one day that Sarah Newton will write something like it for BRP. Take a look at the setting: http://www.cubicle-7.com/acrobat/mj01_intro.pdf I meant to include the quote originally Posted by Shaira in this thread (see below). Worlds Beyond, Cthulhu Rising and Future World are all a bit dated in the type of setting they represent. Mindjammer is a more modern type of space opera with more transhuman elements, but not to the point of some games, such as Transhuman Space.

If you have the core rules and you are an old time experienced GM, that collects lots of resource materials and buys Mongoose Traveller stuff, you don't need any more support from Chaosium. There is plenty of free Traveller conversion stuff on this site done by Soltakss http://www.soltakss.com/rq_scifi.doc, Stefan Matthias http://www.basicrps.com/links/stefan/brp.html, and Vile http://basicroleplaying.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=109, and you can easily convert your Traveller game to BRP. You could even check out Cthulhu Rising http://www.cthulhurising.co.uk/downloads.php which is full of useful things for a space based campaign, and its free! Solardog, you should have linked to this Storn cook site: http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y35/Storn/

I've saved the best for last. The Dirdir are starting to be the main villains in my campaign, as they begin a new expansion into the realms of the upstart humans. Race: Dirdir Planet: Sibol Average. Str: 3d6+1 11-12 Con: 4d6 14 Siz: 2d6+7 14 Int: 3d6 10-11 Pow: 3d6 10-11 Dex: 2d6+5 12 App: 3d6 10-11 Move: 12 Hit Points: 14 Damage Bonus: 1d4 Armour: 2 points of skin. Powers: Keen Sense: Hearing +20% (minor). Dirdir also have antennae that glow when they are excited, so Luminesence (minor) may be appropriate. Attacks: Bite 30% 1d4+ db Claw 50% 1d6+ db Skills: Hunting/Tracking 60% Brawling 60% Knowledge: Survival 50% Pilot: Sky raft 60% Navigate 50% Plasma rifle 50% ( see page 256 of the BRP book) Dodge 40% Half shield 50% Notes: Dirdir stand approximately human height, and move with sinister quickness, like lizards on a hot day. Their dermal surfaces suggest polished bone; their crania raised into sharp blade-like crests, with incandescent antennae streaming back at either side, known as effulgences. The contours of the faces are oddly human, with deep eye-sockets, the scalp crests descending to suggest nasal ridges. They half-hop, half-lope, like leopards walking erect; it is not hard to see in them the wild creatures which hunted the hot plains of Sibol. They speak in sibilant lisping voices, which suggest the absence of a larynx. Their skins are cold and somewhat flexible, like tortoiseshell. Dirdir do not sweat, converting the heat in their bodies into light from their effulgences. They are Difficult to detect with infra red vision or sensors. Dirdir like to hunt for sport, and eat their prey. They enter into a more feral state when in combat, or on the hunt. When in such a state all mental skills are Difficult, and all physical skills get a 20% bonus. Dirdir enjoy being in the old state and have to make a Difficult Luck roll to avoid entering it while under stress. Their hunting language is composed of odd squeaks and grunts. The Dirdir mating processes are complicated: there are 12 types of male sexual organs; fourteen of the female. Only certain pairings are possible. For instance, type one male is compatible with only types five and nine female. Type five female adjusts only to type one male, but type nine female has a more general organ and is compatible with types one, eleven and twelve male. Each male and female style has its specific name and theoretical attributes, which are very seldom realised - as long as an individuals type is secret. These are the Dirdir ‘mysteries’. Should an individuals type become known, he is expected to conform to the attributes of the type, regardless of inclination, he rarely does so, and is constantly embarrassed on this account. There are several methods of mating, trial marriage, ‘dark gatherings’ and anonymous notices. Dirdir females are shorter and less resilient and less flexible. The head is wider at the scalp and pointed at the ‘chin’, and somewhat darker in colour; a pallid grey subtly shaded with mauve. Long ago when the Expansionists held sway and Dirdir ships went out to many worlds. Now the Dirdir are quiescent. Contact with technologically advanced humans from Earth, as opposed to the humans the Dirdir brought to Tschai millenia ago may change this situation.

Here are the stats for the most frightening creatures on Tschai, the Phung. Race: Phung Planet: Tschai Average. Str: 2d10+15 26 Con: 5d6 17-18 Siz: 2d6+7 14 Int: 2d6+6 13 Pow: 3d6 10-11 Dex: 3d6+6 16-17 App: 3d6 10-11 Move: 12/ 13 jumping Hit Points: 16 Damage Bonus: 1d6 Armour: 8 point carapace Powers: Keen Sense: Hearing +20% (minor), Night Vision. Hardy towards cutting weapons. These mad beings are also insensitive to pain and do not fall unconscious when their hit points fall below 2. Skills: Spot 60% Brawling 60% Knowledge: Survival 60% Jump 60% Hide 50 % Grapple 60% Notes: Mad relatives of the Pnume. Phung are larger than Pnume, and characterised by an insane behaviour which makes them frightening even to the Green Chasch. They appear as gaunt man-shaped figures, seven or eight feet tall. They cover their heads with a soft hat with a drooping brim, and wear long black boots, unlike the Pnume. A cloak hangs from their shoulders and they have gnarled half-human, half-insect features, like a giant grasshopper in magesterial vestments. Arrows won’t harm them, swords rarely cut them, and they are very strong. On a critical Grapple roll the Phung has torn a victim’s limb from their body. They can parry swords with the brachial plates on their forearms. Even when decapitated a Phung’s head will live for half it’s CON in days, until it dries out. Despite having some lethal weaponry my players live in fear of the Phung!

Here is another alien race from Jack Vance's Planet of Adventure series. These unfortunately named amphibious aliens have human servants to help them, called Wankh men. My players started to refer to them as Wankhers, and we fell about laughing whenever a Wankh man npc appeared! Race: Wankh Planet: Unknown Average. Str: 2d6+8 15 Con: 3d6 10-11 Siz: 3d6+6 16-17 Int: 3d6 10-11 Pow: 3d6 10-11 Dex: 2d6+2 9 App: 3d6 10-11 Move: 8/10 swimming Hit Points: 13-14 Damage Bonus: 1d4 Armour: 3 points of skin and blubber. Powers: Adaptability: Breathes air and water, and adapted to cold (both minor). Dark Vision. Skills: Pilot: Spacecraft 60% Navigate 50% Swim 80% Notes: Wankh are large black amphibious creatures, with a heavy torsos and squat heads from which two black lenses flick at half-second intervals. The legs are short, with splayed webbed feet, and they prefer to stand upright, rarely sitting down. They communicate by emitting chimes from a sound organ at the base of the skull. Wankh perception is peculiar, as their brain works in pulses. They see in pulses and they think in pulses. Because of the pulses of radiation, they need no light to see. Psychologically, the Wankh are slow to anger and are relatively indifferent to human society on Tschai. They are on Tschai to counter the Dirdir threat.

Not with the high tech weaponry doing the rounds in my game!

See my blog for the Vance alien stats converted from an old Traveller Space Gamer article, Solardog. There are some cute spaceships on the Oolite web page. If it is something different from the standard Traveller spaceship designs you're looking for, check these out! http://www.dcmstarships.com/gallery-star-vessels.html

I'll have to get the other aliens I've converted typed up and posted, but I'm very busy at the moment!

Race: Old Chasch Planet: Zoor Average. Str: 2d6 7 Con: 2d6 7 Siz: 3d6+4 14 - 15 Int: 3d6 10 - 11 Pow: 3d6 10 - 11 Dex: 2d6+5 12 App: 3d6 10 – 11 Move: 9 Hit Points: 11 Damage Bonus: None Armour: 2 point ivory scaled skin. Powers: Keen Sense: Smell/Taste + 20% ( minor) Skills: Insight 60% Etiquette 60% Fast Talk 60% Science: Botany 60% Science: Pharmacy 60% Science: Biology 60% Medicine 60% Notes: Old Chasch resemble large humanoid silverfish. Their skin is like ivory satin, almost imperceptibly scaled; they seem to be fragile beings, unlike the Blue and Green Chasch. Old Chasch have eyes like small silver pellets, independently swivelling and in constant motion. Decadent remnant of a once-powerful race, they are fond of playing ‘tricks’ on visitors. These can be mere mischiefs, such as trapping a victim in a maze, or dosing them with and essence that will cause them to exude a nasty odour for weeks. But if they become excited, or feel particularly humorous, the tricks may be cruel or fatal. The Old Chasch are the race from which the Blue and Green Chasch evolved, when they settled distant colony worlds. In my scenarios they are distantly related to the Dolf from the Worlds Beyond setting. Race: Blue Chasch Planet: Godag Average. Str: 4d6 14 Con: 2d6+5 12 Siz: 3d6+6 16 - 17 Int: 3d6 10 - 11 Pow: 3d6 10 - 11 Dex: 2d6 7 App: 3d6 10 -11 Move: 9 Hit Points: 14 -15 Damage Bonus: +1d4 Armour: 4 points of platelike scales Powers: Keen Sense: Smell/Taste +40% Pheromones (only active against Blue Chasch and geneered Chaschmen) Skills: Bargain 50% Blaster Rifle 50% Fast Talk 50% Pilot: Sky Raft 60% ( use stats for the skyskimmer in the BRP book, page 271) Greatsword 60% Notes: Blue Chasch have short heavy legs and move with a stiff legged strut. They are massive and powerful, scaled like a pangolin with blue pointed plates, the torso is wedge shaped with exoskeletal epaulettes of chitin curving over into a dorsal carapace. The skull rises to a point, and a heavy brow juts over the eye holes. They have glittering metallic eyes and a complicated nasal orifice. The Blue Chasch smell as accurately as we see, they have noses of astonishing sensitivity. They can smell the food a person has eaten and separate Dirdir from Wankh, marshdwellers from steppe-men, rich from poor. They can smell salt air in a persons’ lungs if he has been near the ocean, they can detect ozone on a man coming down from the heights. They sense if you are hungry, or angry, or afraid; they can define your age, your sex, or the colour of your skin. Blue Chasch communicate in fluting glottal cries and by emitting pheromones. They’re as subtle as the Old Chasch, and as savage as the Green Chasch. Blue Chasch love to bargain, though they prefer to cheat. They also have a sense of humour – captives are made to walk on metal rods over a pit full of filth or scorpions. The Chasch heat the rods, or send electricity through. Or they put victims into a glass maze with a tormented Phung. They wear little metal armour as they possess forcefield generators as personal protection against kinetic weapons( use energy armour from the BRP book but only defends against kinetic attacks, page 259). Race: Pnume Planet: Tschai Average. Str: 2d6+8 15 Con: 2d6+4 12 Siz: 2d6+6 10 -11 Int: 2d6+8 15 Pow: 3d6 10 - 11 Dex: 2d6+6 13 App: 3d6 10 -11 Move: 11/ 12 Running on all fours Hit Points: 13 Damage Bonus: +1d4 Armour: 6 point chitinous skin. Powers: Keen Sense: Hearing +20% (minor) Night Vision and Hardy to cutting weapons (minor) Skills: Spot 60% Command 50% Climb 60% Knowledge: Tschai History 60% Stealth 60% Research 80% Hide 60% Notes: Pnume stand about the height of a man and within their black cloaks seem slight, even frail. Pnume skin is hard and cool and they possess an inhuman strength for their build. A black hat shades their eye-sockets; their heads the cast and colour of a horses skull. Under the lower edge of the face a complicated set of rasping and chewing parts surrounds a near-invisible mouth. The articulation of the Pnume’s legs work in reverse to that of a human. The narrow feet are bare and mottled with dark red and black. The three arched toes on the feet are as articulate as their bony fingers. Pnume live underground and preserve items taken from the various alien occupations of Tschai over the past millions of years. These creatures are not fighters and will attempt to flee if encountered on the surface of Tschai. The planet has many hidden entrances to their underground civilization which they will utilize to escape from pursuit. Remember, space is the place!

I've been running a game with some Vancian aliens in it, and thought that I'd post some of my conversions to BRP of the aliens in Planet of Adventure by Jack Vance. Race: Green Chasch Planet: Unknown. Now resident on Tschai. Average. Str: 5d6 17 -18 Con: 4d6 14 Siz: 2d6+7 14 Int: 3d6 10 - 11 Pow: 3d6 10 - 11 Dex: 2d6+5 12 App: 3d6 10 -11 Move: 9 Hit Points: 17 -18 Damage Bonus: +1d6 Armour: 5 points of platelike scales. Powers: Keen Sense: Smell/Taste+20% Mind Shield , Telepathy both at POW X 3. These Psychic Abilities are only used with other Green Chasch. With other races they are at POWX1 to communicate. Skills: Knowledge: Survival 60% Hunting/Tracking 50% Boadsword 50% Catapult 50% Ride (massive beast) 70% Spot 50% Knowledge: Tactics 50% Lance 70% Notes: Green Chasch are seven to eight feet tall, massive and thick limbed Their scales clearly defined and of a glistening metallic green. Their faces are small, brooding, and wickedly ugly under the massive jut of their scalps. They wear crude leather aprons and shoulder harnesses, in which hang huge swords, battle-picks and catapults (use sling stats in the BRP book, page 248). They become torpid at night, and huddle in grunting masses until daybreak. Green Chasch are a telepathic race. They do not talk, and use coloured flags to announce their moods to outsiders. Yellow and black flags on their lances, signify that they are in a bad mood and are to be avoided. Lesser Zants are a tribe of Green Chasch with protuberances on each side of their heads. Greater Zants do not have this mutation.

Well, when you finally finish your monograph you've got at least one person that will buy a copy.

Have you playtested the setting yet LT? How is the monograph coming along?

Are you going to keep us all in the dark as to wether your monograph will be out this year, or will you grace us with some news on its development?

These weapons are non piercing and so can be used as defensive weapons onboard a starship, without the fear of rupturing a bulkhead. MERCY PISTOL (Bellepax, Inc., Earth [now defunct]) WEIGHT: 300g VOLUME: small pistol -- 3cm x 10cm x 15cm RANGE: short 15m, medium 30m, long 40m DAMAGE DONE: Unconsciousness ENERGY USED: none POWER SUPPLY: memory-plastic spring ARMOR: none HIT POINTS: 4 APPLICABLE SKILL: Handgun (projectile) COST: 55 stars (2100 a.d. currency); ammunition costs 2 stars per 100 rounds; illegal to private citizens The mercy pistol was developed to serve the needs of Terran police agencies worldwide during the 21st and 22nd centuries. As transplant technology advanced, it soon became possible for humans to extend their lives indefinitely. Ensuring a steady supply of organs became something of a problem, until the establishment of organ banks, since a steady supply of organs and tissue was necessary. Violent criminals became the first victims of the organ bank laws; they were soon being executed by physicians in combined hospital-jails, to fill the demands of the organ-hungry public. Police needed a method of apprehending criminals in a way which did not harm their valuable organs and tissues. Until the development of the sonic stunner, mercy weapons were the standard armament of police officials worldwide. They were also utilized by "organleggers" criminals who sold human body parts on the black market -- parts taken from unwilling donors. Mercy weapons fire tiny needles of crystalline material which quickly dissolve in the bloodstream of the target, rendering it unconscious. Each crystal is micro-encapsulated in a safety coating which prevents dangerous concentrations of the sedative from building up in the target's bloodstream, making it nearly impossible to die of an overdose. Mercy weapons are powered by a spring of memory-plastic, and fire once per impulse. A dial near the trigger controls the quantity and spread of the needles fired, up to a maximum of 20. A single needle is enough to knock out any human target, but a wider spread gives the firer a better chance to hit. Mercy weapons usually had settings which fired 1, 5, 10, 15, or 20 needles. Every five needles fired increases the chance to hit by five percentiles. Set to 20, the weapon fires a burst of projectiles in a conical area with a one meter base at a 15 meter range. Medium range is 30 meters, and anything beyond 40 meters is considered long range. Beyond 40 meters, the light projectiles may be unable to penetrate even light clothing, due to loss of momentum. The weapon's magazine holds 100 needles, giving a skilled marksman plenty of shots. The weapon's main disadvantage is its inability to penetrate armored targets. The crystalline needles ignore any armor protection less than 3 points, but cannot penetrate armor with any higher rating. The protective value of armor at a particular hit location is important, however, since the needle may hit an unarmored area. If a mercy weapon is fired at a target at point-blank range, the gamemaster might rule that the target could suffer 1d4 hit point of damage from such an attack. On the Ringworld, it is likely that if an advanced people developed mercy weapons, they could fire ammunition which affected only certain species or sub-species of humanoids. -------------------- Tangler Gun (Bellepax, Inc., Earth - now defunct) WEIGHT: 2.2kg VOLUME: short, bulky rifle -- 5cm x 17cm x 48cm RANGE: short 15m, medium 30m, long 50m DAMAGE DONE: entangle + possible 1d2 ENERGY USED: 5/shot POWER SUPPLY: 100/5/350g/N + 20 round magazine, sold as one unit ARMOR: 3 points HIT POINTS: 12 APPLICABLE SKILL: Rifle (projectile) COST: 200 stars (2210 a.d. currency); ammunition/power supply units cost 6 stars each. A backpack version, for controlling very large crowds, costs 28 stars, weighs 5kg, and has 120 rounds of ammunition. Tangler guns were the precursors to mercy weapons. They fire a projectile of memory plastic which is designed to entangle and immobilize a target without causing it significant harm. The 2.5cm round bursts upon impact in a 1 meter radius pattern of strong adhesive memory plastic ribbons, which almost instantly curl around the point of impact then rapidly tighten. When struck by a tangler round, the target should make a Luck roll. If it succeeds, it takes no damage; otherwise, the impact of the rather weighty projectile does 1d2 hit points of damage to the hit location struck. Note that a tangler's tangling ability is effective regardless of the hit location. An entangled target must make a balance roll at half its skill rating every round to remain standing. Furthermore, the target's arms will be pinned to its sides unless it overcomes the entangling ribbons' STR rating of 25. The GM may decide if the target gets one try to break the tangles, or one try for each arm. Finally, the entangled victim will be stuck [sTR 25] to any surface he or she falls to, and if both limbs are trapped, he or she will be unable to squirm away from the area. Sinclair monofilament cable cuts through entangling ribbons fairly easily. A hullmetal knife would do so extremely slowly, rquiring over an hour of work -- work most likely impossible to an entangled victim. The proper way to free oneself of "tangles" is to spray a solvent on them. On the Ringworld, weapons similar to this may be found in the possession of Healers, City-Builders, and any other reasonably advanced species. A crueler variant of the weapon might employ strands of monofilimant wire in the projectile, or simply fire a large tangle of monofiliment wire. Such rounds would be expensive, but deadly.

The magic and sorcery weren't really written specifically to fit together. One set of rules is from the old Worlds of Wonder game ( you can download it if you click on the link in my sig) and the other from the Elric! game.

I was beginning to think that there was a distinct lack of Xmas spirit on this site until I bumped into your post! Happy Xmas and good gaming in the new year Sverre!:thumb:

First of all happy Xmas and good gaming in the new year! If you don't like those those rules quoted above ( from pages 245 and 246 of the BRP book I assume), then may I suggest that you change them. Its your game after all. Just be careful that you don't inadvertantly unbalance your game. The rules for wizard's staffs, wands, rings are on page 91 of the BRP book, and the Equipment with Powers section (already mentioned above) has the rules on enchanting various items. If you don't like them then change them to suit your tastes. Does that help?

:thumb:

I will have to post my Planet of Adventure aliens (Pnume, Chasch and Dirdir), converted from a Traveller article in The Space Gamer sometime. Typing it all up is time consuming.