seneschal

BRP's Strike Rank/Dex Rank system reminds me a bit of Hero System's Speed Chart. Combat rounds were divided into 12 phases, and the higher a character's Speed (based on Dexterity) the more actions he could take during that time, and the sooner he usually acted. Average characters were typically SPD 2 (two actions during a 12-second period). Action hero types (most player-characters) were SPD 3. Especially agile folks (Bruce Lee, Batman) might be SPD 4. In a Champions game, Spider-Man and Flash types might be SPD 6 or more.

You could, I suppose, count a swashbuckler's billowing cape as "armor," since it prevents an opponent from seeing exactly where to stab or shoot at him.

Elfquest may be the great-grandaddy of BRP psychic powers, but the despite the popularity of the comic book it was based on, the role-playing version doesn't seem to have gotten a lot of love: http://rpggeek.com/thread/687987/what-went-wrong-elfquest-one-authors-comments http://digitalorc.blogspot.com/2013/05/elfquest-official-roleplaying-game.html http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/classic/rev_5622.phtml I remember seeing it in game stores and comics shops but since the groups I played with never got into RuneQuest, Call of Cthulhu, or any of their sister games, I missed out. There are, however, a few copies around: http://www.amazon.com/Elfquest-The-Official-Roleplaying-Game/dp/B000BYSOPI http://www.amazon.com/Elf-War-Hubward-Adventures-Elfquest/dp/093363532X http://www.waynesbooks.com/elfquest.html Incidentally, at least one of the reviewers assumed the market for an Elfquest game would be pre-teen girls. As someone who bought and read the original WaRP Graphics origin issue back in the day, I can guarantee that a significant portion of EQ fans were male teens. It wasn't tweener girls ogling those back cover pinup posters of Cutter's curvaceous wife, Leetah. Also, despite the cute elves, the World of Two Moons was a rather grim and brutal place. Elfquest debuted at the beginning of the independent, "comics aren't just for kids anymore" movement, and its complex plot certainly wasn't Disney fare. Characters died messily (although the Pinis didn't rub it in the reader's face), the setting's history was one of remorseless racial war between elves and humans, and the elvish characters certainly weren't restrained by any sense of Victorian moral values (although, again, the authors kept it tasteful). Today, of course, young girls read Japanese manga that are far more brutal and graphic than Elfquest ever was, but it wasn't necessarily so in the late '70s. Apparently part of the problem with translating the comic into a game is that Chaosium got the license while authors Wendy and Richard Pini were still introducing the characters and the setting. It'd be like trying to create a Star Trek role-playing game based only on the first two or three episodes aired. As a result, Elfquest the game featured extensive rules derived from RuneQuest but didn't give potential players much to do with them.

Sorry, krieder204. I don't want to spoil your enjoyment. (On the other hand, why is it "fun" when internationals make jabs at the U.S. but "political" when someone from the U.S. jabs back?)

Don't count America (or its education system -- many of us are homeschooling) out yet. Once we get this anti-American administration out of office, we may be able to straighten some things out. Former Vice President Dan Quayle -- a highly educated and articulate man -- got a bad rap, by the way, not because he was a poor speller but because he was a conservative with traditional values. Had a liberal Democratic official made the same minor goof, the incident would never have been reported. Let him who is without spelling and grammatical errors cast the first potato. Besides, the Chinese (given the chance) may choose to be overlords, but that's never been the U.S.'s intent. We just want to buy cool European RPGs -- and supply our international fellow dice-rollers with hamburgers and pizza. You want fries with that?

I've been lusting after AA for some time, but finances have been tight. I'm an old Justice, Inc. fan, and pulp adventure is one of my favorite role-playing subgenres.

Now, in a sword and sorcery campaign that wouldn't be an issue. Your doughty adventurers would blow the whole wad in a week or so on wine, women and song -- requiring them to go a-roving again to remain solvent. If they insist on being thrifty and responsible, one potential rate of currency and shopping list is available in the RuneQuest Deluxe SRD, downloadable from this website, around Page 19 or so. http://basicroleplaying.org/files/category/52-mongoose-runequest/

Here it is, the original Zorro novel in its entirely: https://librivox.org/the-curse-of-capistrano-by-johnston-mcculley/ Johnston McCulley, a prolific pulp author, wrote 73 Zorro novels and short stories (as well as adventures about 12 other heroes). Curse of Capistrano aka Mark of Zorro is the first and most readily available one, although there are omnibus volumes of the tales available on Amazon.com. http://tinyurl.com/n4hutkf The Zorro mythos was greatly expanded by comics, feature films, cartoons, TV shows, novels by other authors, and movie serials -- which had Zorro's son, grandson, son-in-law, and great-grandson (and maybe grand-nephew) picking up the mantle of their famous ancestor. Unlike the Phantom, they never pretended to be the same guy as the original, and the costume varied a bit with each incarnation. Foes ranged from run-of-the-mill gangsters to evil Aztec high priests to living idols. Somehow, the bad guys never figured out the whole family secret legacy thing.

Yikes! Those sorts of shipping fees effectively double the cost of a product. If the book already costs $60 (like Runequest or Dr. Who), you're talking skipping a lot of lunches to pay for it. Similar fees are why I didn't participate several years ago in a "sale" by a certain U.S. publisher even though I live in the States. The clearance RPG books were sometimes marked down to less than the cost of a fast food sandwich -- but the distributor then tacked on shipping of $20-$30, making the products cost about what they would have full price at Amazon.com. So ... what was the point?

I find that by the time I've printed and bound even a free PDF download at my local office supply store, I've spent between $30 and $40 -- about what I might have paid for a hard copy (depending on the product). So PDF and print is a useful option, but not one that saves me any money, especially if I had to pay for the PDF itself.

I liked the article. My favorite weapon was the chest-mounted volley gun. What a way to turn the tables on a stickup man! However, wouldn't the kickback from such a gadget do some damage to the wearer as well? Bruises and/or cracked ribs at least. Equally interesting for Call of Cthulhu purposes was the article on 18th and 19th century automatons, early clockwork robots likely to be on display in a museum or art gallery. Is there anything creepier than a robot pianist who suddenly starts playing on her own just as the adventurers pass the doorway?

Thanks for the link to an interesting article. The troopers in the TV show were better dressed but more poorly equipped than the ones in the piece. If I were overburdened with duties and only paid once every five years, I might not be enthusiastic and energetic about hunting an elusive outlaw either.

While watching episodes Disney's old Zorro TV show on Youtube last night I noticed something that might help the PCs. Spansih/Mexican troops may have access to muskets at the barracks, but when they are patrolling the countryside they carry lances -- something not unusual for cavalry units of the period. So the masked avenger's foes typically have 6-foot-long cavalry spears, sabers, and maybe a single-shot black powder pistol or two among them. That's another reason why these mooks are less likely to mow PC heroes down with a wall of hot lead: they're lancers, not British Redcoats. If they can't skewer adventurers while on horseback or catch them with a lucky spear throw, the soldiers are forced to dismount and draw their sabers. The player-characters are all fencing masters, naturally.

Eek! If you introduce the Shub idol into your campaign, it should change positions periodically when the PCs aren't looking. The changes can be subtle, but if they look closely, everything isn't exactly like it was last time they examined the statue.

It is true that Zorro is definitely pulp material. In terms of combat, he outclasses everyone except the story arc's Big Bad, who doesn't get to confront him until the climactic duel. The soldiers and other opponents are mooks, low skills and low hit points. The problem in BRP is that a better combatant can still get nailed by a group of inferiors -- which is exactly the situation in the books and especially the films. Zorro routinely dodges volleys of rifle shot, duels five troopers at once, etc. The BRP rules wouldn't let him get away with it for long unless he is very lucky and/or very cautious (which, of course, he is). Still, if you're a lone guy trying to escape from 20 or more people shooting at you, one of 'em is bound to get lucky sometime. In fiction, Zorro, Batman, the Shadow, and James Bond get away with battling hordes of goons all the time. But RPG characters don't have plot immunity.

Sorry, missed the Potter books and movies. I'm familiar with Doctor Demento, though.

It's a spell found in yet another one of those nasty old books investigators love to collect. What is required to cast "The Kiss of Cthulhu"? What does it do? What are its aftereffects?

It's a world where, maybe, the PCs could bump into and butt heads with Zorro, the Lone Ranger, Horatio Hornblower, Andrew Jackson, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, Sam Houston, Washington Irving, or Edgar Allan Poe.

What that means to you for role-playing purposes is that old California is a heady mix of devout friars and hard-working converts, soldiers and settlers, vaqueros (cowboys) and Indians, all-powerful aristocratic ranchers lording it over their impoverished mestizo and indio field hands. There's constant revolution and political turmoil, with law and order enforced only by the local presidio (military fort). Compared to the East Coast, California is a rather low-tech place, brute force labor making invention unnecessary. Mexican troops rely on their aging single-shot muskets, which is why masked avengers can avoid their volleys and get away with so much flashy swordplay. These soldiers tend to be poorly paid conscripts, mooks, who obey their brutal upper-class officers without question. The people need heroes who will enforce justice and protect the poor against the powerful -- which is where the player-characters come in.

Johnston McCulley's colonial setting for his Zorro novels was only semi-historical. Early 18th Century California was in rapid transition from Spanish to Mexican rule, and from a mission-based culture to a feudalistic giant ranch culture. The two co-existed for only about a decade, hence the time period for my campaign. The Franciscans established their chain of coastal missions in good faith, genuinely wanting to help the Indians even if their methods were coercive to modern eyes. Spanish/Mexican military leaders and settlers, however, viewed the missions as a convenient step to creating cities using Indian labor, ousted the friars and deprived the converts of their land. The ranch lords, however, quickly found themselves in the same boat once the United States won ownership of California during the 1846 Mexican-American War. Broader North American context -- Lewis and Clark were exploring the Louisiana Purchase and the U.S. was battling the British in the War of 1812 while the Franciscans were still establishing missions in California. Zorro thwarted evil military commanders in the Spanish/Mexican colonies while folks in the U.S. were building canals and railroads, establishing new states, relocating the Cherokee and other tribes to what became Oklahoma, and arguing over slavery. Meanwhile, in Europe Beethoven was writing symphonies and Napoleon was doing a pretty good job of taking over everything.

Ah, new website feature! I'll employ my wife's digital camera and post pics as soon as I can.

I'll see what I can do. Do I have to have 'em posted online somewhere to link, or can you simply upload JPEGs from a hard drive? I've never gotten the hang of that.

I've read discussions here and at other web sites about finding good miniatures for Call of Cthulhu. However, I think the best ones I've seen were made by my nephew -- who was then around 10 or 11. He created a monster-themed board game for my son, including oven-bake clay monster figures, board, and rules. The game itself is lost to my son's childhood carelessness, but I saved (and in one case, repaired) the playing pieces. They're colorful, weird, and perfectly sized to threaten 25mm adventurers. What are they? Who can tell? Dark things with saber-toothed fangs. Things with bulging eyes. Things with beaks and tentacles. Gloppy things that look as if they just arose from the muck. The point is, no player seeing them will say, "Oh, yeah. Deep One." He'll say, "What the heck is THAT?" Which is, of course, the appropriate response to a CoC monster mini. Ah, the creativity of kids.

I'm running a Zorro-inspired Western campaign for my wife set in 1820s/'30s California. At present, I'm planning to use Action! System for the game. But has anyone run a similar campaign using BRP? Colonial outposts, black powder weapons, sword fights, masked avengers, over-the-top derring-do?

When I think psychological thriller, several titles come to mind: Daphne du Murier's Rebecca -- Young woman marries a wealthy man she barely knows after a whirlwind romance, then finds herself alone (except for resentful servants) in his cavernous mansion -- haunted by reminders of his first wife. But what was she really like, and what exactly happened to her? Gaslight -- Is the young wife going crazy or is her husband trying to do her in? Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White -- A sinister count, a scheming husband, a suspicious former lover, and a woman committed to a sanitarium who may not be who the husband says she is. The Cat and the Canary -- Heirs arrive to hear to reading of the old man's will, but it has been stolen on a dark and stormy night that has trapped them all in his shadowy mansion. Meanwhile, a crazed killer known as the Cat has escaped the local asylum. Has he taken refuge in the house? Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None -- Strangers invited to an island mansion on false pretenses are accused (via phonograph) of heinous crimes by their absent host. And they start dying, one by one.