hix

This is not a terrible idea, actually. Come to think of it, I can't recall ANY rpg system that had a method for determining aggro. I guess Shadowrun has "geek the mage", but I can't think of an actual mechanical system in any book that I've read. Maybe a wargame?

characteristics used as opposed pools with successful opposed rolls doing damage to the pool. So pretty close.

Some games in the mythras family use your characteristic as a pool of HP. Contestants must then make opposed rolls to deplete the others' pool. Or something like that, it's interesting.

FIrst, explain to them that character creation is front-loaded, meaning you do the math during chargen and then just read the values during play. The derived characteristics will seem complex at first, and the tons of options in the BGB can definitely be overwhelming. It's your job as the GM to pare it down for them. One of the things I do for newer players is use something from one of the Elric games. I disconnect characteristics from skill ratings, and bump up the personal skills. This cuts out a lot of math for them during chargen, and allows me to have a character sheet that lists skills alphabetically without categories. This is easier for new players to read. Rolling for characteristics is another thing that can really speed up chargen. Point-buy is a bottleneck for something that doesn't matter that much. Choose one and only one magic system, with a limited spell list. The analysis paralysis can get deep here. Equipment packs. Make some, with groups of occupations in mind. If you are using Knowledges and Sciences, make a list of the available ones. Same for repair types and crafting. If you want this to be part of your game, define it. Most importantly, you need a chargen document for them. If you have them flipping around the BGB, they will get frustrated.

I kind of doubt that those games have enough traction to warrant a sub-forum, so why not talk about them here? So has anyone actually used the impulse system from Ringworld? Seems like it would work in theory, but in my experience most players can barely keep track of strike ranks in a 10 or 12 round RQ system, let alone one that purports to go up to 100 impulses and beyond. I can only imagine the fustercluck that would cause at the table. Any better impulse systems or strike rank systems you can recommend?

The One Roll Engine used in Unknown Armies has a similar way of doing it. While it uses a different HP scale, the ORE reads the percentile roll as the damage, so rolling a 17 under your skill of 50 does 17 damage. This allows the same effect of higher skill=higher damage potential.

Nope, all the text is either from the SRD or my own. I'm a Niven fan (and I'd love to actually play Ringworld), but nothing in this book could be considered his IP. Design/upgrade: The upgrade rules are working fine with my home group, allowing a crew to increase shield regen, add turrets, missile bays, sandchuckers, more cargo, speed and acceleration. The design rules use these same upgrade modules to construct a ship from scratch. They take inspiration from games like Traveller, attempting to streamline that kind of system. Combat: Ship crewmembers have roles like Pilot, Gunner, Sensor Op, Co-pilot. Their role affects their strike rank and available actions. This is an attempt to keep all players involved during a starship battle while retaining the same combat round structure as other types of combat. A crewman acts on his Dex rank plus his role's rank. Looking forward to checking it out. Absolutely, good idea. Revolution D100 has so many great ideas in it. I don't think any mechanical similarities survived editing, but the Powers, Weird Science and Adventuring sections really captured my imagination and gave me related ideas, not to mention the author's help to me in understanding how OGL, SRD and other alphabet soups work. Thanks to all you for your interest and compliments. Those of you who frequent these boards may see the huge amount of inspiration I have taken from the posters here, especially those who have contributed to the scifi section. I owe a debt of gratitude all of these wonderfully creative folks.

Thank you for your kind words. Will it handle big ships vs. big ships? X-Wing scale "dogfighting"? Yes, from pirate corsairs to fighters to couriers. Still working on capital ship details, but the basics are in place. a commercially-salable product? Yes, I am hoping to release the game in the next few months. are you planning to release it under the BRP-OGL license? I hope so. Still waiting on Chaosium to define some things before I can determine if I have made too many changes to call my game BRP.

Grab your plasma pistol, load up on adhesive grenades, and fire up an energy shield as you get ready for action in the sci-fi roleplaying game about building a legacy in the frontier of the galaxy. Play as a mutated animal hybrid, a cybernetically enhanced robo-freak, or an uplifted plant-thing in a world where anything is possible and freedom is as close as your starship’s airlock door. Space Cowboys is a Game about folks on the edges of civilization doing what it takes to realize a vision of the future. Build a merchant empire, found your own cites, create a government, found a mining corporation or unite the pirate tribes to conquer and plunder. Gonzo sci-fi is what my group calls it. Generate your profession and backstory with the easy-to-use Gigs system, filling your character with life before you begin play. New futuristic weapons, vehicles, armor and gear. Control the fundamental forces of physics with your mind. Simple and powerful starship creation and upgrade system. Includes the Conesta Rho setting: Organizations, NPCs, Planets and Places ready for play. World creation is fast and easy, create entire societies on the fly. Gene freaking, Cybernetic enhancements and advanced drones. Flexible system for creating and upgrading structures, vehicles and starships: Build cities from the ground up, design and operate humongus capital ships, create an army. Fast and detailed combat using the Strike Rank system. Uses simple and intuitive d100 core mechanic. Skills and powers improve as you use them, no arbritary levels or experience points. Original systems: Chargen inspired by Traveller, Starship Roles and Combat, Domain Play, an elegant use of the Fatigue system to determine encumbrance, and more.

Got it. Anyone else interested in Space Cowboys playtesting just DM me. And thanks for the high praise, @Chaot

Second this. This is not some mental exercise, but is vital to knowing whether I am going to use this license. How much can we change while retaining BRP? By this definition, games like Pendragon, CoC7e, even Rimworld would not be BRP games.

And here's the .odt if anyone wants it. This was made with the freeware and open source program LibreOffice Writer. Character Sheet Fillable BNW.odt

Here's something I used in my game with some blanks thrown in. Uses strike ranks and hit locations, so you might not need all of it, but here ya go. Character Sheet Fillable BNW.pdf

And that sort of thing I would apply to the Persuade skill.

Insight is on my list of deleted skills, along with Listen, Move Silently, Bargain and Jump/Climb/Swim. Combined into Spot, Stealth, (Persuade/Etiquette/Streetwise depending on the situation), and Athletics respectively. Every study conducted has demonstrated that humans are no better than chance at detecting deception (Ekman & O'Sullivan 1991, 913-920; Granhag & Strömwall, 2004, 169; Mann & Vrij 2004). If you want to read minds, use powers. That's why I exclude insight. If I want the player to know something about the character's behavior or nature, I don't leave it up to my acting skills. I tell them outright. If it is supposed to be ambiguous, then I don't want it up to a die roll, I want the player to have to make up his mind about this NPC. getting rid of Listen does make Spot more powerful, but I'm running a sci-fi game, so half the spotting is done with Computers anyway. Athletics is a compromise for my players, allowing them a little more ability. Doesn't include Throw, because grenades.