Opinions on the "Powers" systems?

[Trifletraxor]

I allready know we will have Magic from Magic World, Summonings from Stormbringer, Mutations from Hawkmoon, Super Powers from Superworld and Psychic Powers from Elfquest.

5 different "magic" systems from 5 different settings. How does this work out? Is it to diverse, too little of each? With RuneQuest 3 we had 3 magic systems for one setting with lots of spells. This is really the part of the new BRP system that I'm most worried about.

Those of you who playtested the rules, what are your opinions on the "Powers" chapter? Is is "complete"?

Sverre.

[Enpeze]

first...great forum and I am glad that there is one for BRP only.

Regarding your concern, I would like to add the following:

Personally I think the superworld rules are very good and perfectly usable for this genre for those who like it. So no problem with these.

Psychic powers from elfquest? AFAIR there has been not very many different powers. (only half a dozen pages) I never played EQ so I dont know if its good or not.

Summoning from Stormbringer: Are you sure that its not just the SB basic spell system which they bring on? I mean the whole goodness of the summoning system comprises many more pages than the basic spells of SB5th and it has extremely close ties to the stormbringer setting. (maybe even too close to be "generic")

I am a big fan of the summoning system (both 1st ed and 5th) so if they bring it on for generic magic I would be a happy camper. If its just the spell system it would be also ok.

I am not a big fan of the spell system of WoW (every spell is a single skill) so I will probably not use it if its coming up in DBRP.

Hawkmoon mutations are not much of a system but they are nice ideas for modifying normal animals or plants.

Generally I think there are enough different powers presented in the DBRP book to cater most styles. And it offers also plenty of room for more detailed source books (eg "DBRP Magic").

[Trifletraxor]

first...great forum and I am glad that there is one for BRP only.

Thanks a lot!

Summoning from Stormbringer: Are you sure that its not just the SB basic spell system which they bring on?

It's the basic I guess... Well, I've been told it's summonings? Isn't the summonings part of the basic spell system?

I am not a big fan of the spell system of WoW (every spell is a single skill) so I will probably not use it if its coming up in DBRP.

That's not promising, as it sounded like the most "generic" fantasy magic system of the lot.

Hawkmoon mutations are not much of a system but they are nice ideas for modifying normal animals or plants.

Something like the Chaos Feature table from RuneQuest?

Generally I think there are enough different powers presented in the DBRP book to cater most styles. And it offers also plenty of room for more detailed source books (eg "DBRP Magic").

I'm not worried it won't be enough different powers, I'm just worried that tha individual powers won't be given enough attention to stand on its own.

Cheers!

Sverre.

[badcat]

As for the Magic World system, it is a good basis for a full-fledged magic system. It covers all the basics much better than say, Basic D&D, and is easily expandable and easily modified. There are around two dozen spells that make a good start, and although they are presented as individual skills in the original Magic World, they can for instance be subsumed under one skill...Sorcery as a percentage, say, modified by the level of the spell. Or whatever. It is a good, solid basic magic system that is workable, and presents the 'ritual magic' as four more advanced skills that are not, unfortunately, expanded upon. Too bad, as I have always thought that with a little work it could have been one of the best magic systems on the market. I have expanded it, and I see that at least one of the BRP websites linked the the Basic Roleplaying site has a fleshed out version. Have a look at Colin's Lord of the Rings Page.

[Trifletraxor]

Have a look at Colin's Lord of the Rings Page.

Hmm... He's been doing quite som work on his Middle Earth system. I'll head back to that page for inspiration if I feel the published WoW magic needs houseruling (hopefully it won't!). :cool:

Sverre.

[badcat]

Unless you are going for a very basic game, they will need a great deal of houseruling. But they are a damn good foundation, and more fun to play as they are than say, D&D Basic. IMO, as always.

[Sorloc]

I always thought Blade's basic magic system was a great basis for magic powers (from the Citybook series).

I was definitley going to use that as a basis if I ever designed my own system.

[Lord Twig]

Do any of the posters here have access to the playtest copy? Not that I want you to give away anything you shouldn't, just wondering how much is new and how much is just the same thing reprinted?

Breaking down the explanation from the teaser (not really a preview):

Chapter Four: Powers - 5 powers systems, which are more-or-less compatible.

Sounds good so far!

These include magic (from WoW's Magic World)

Hmmm... Anything new? Or just a reprint? I hope that added at least a little something.

mutations (from Hawkmoon)

Not familiar with this, so hopefully good. Also, hopefully at least something new.

psychic powers (about half-new, half Elfquest)

Well right there it says that half of it is new stuff, so that is something to look forward to!

sorcery (a non-Moorcock version of the system in Stormbringer)

So they obviously did something to this system to make it a little more generic. Hopefully they also balanced it a bit so that it is not over-powered. I have not played Stormbringer since the 1st Edition, so I am not that familiar with the changes made through 5th Edition.

and super powers (somewhere between Super-World from WoW and the boxed game in complexity)

Here it sounds like they have re-written the system to merge the two. That sounds good.

Many optional rules.

Some people might be turned off by too many optional rules, but I don't think it will be too many. Personally I think that as long as they crafted them to work well with the "default" rules it will only be a positive.