Jump to content

New version


Tigerwomble

Recommended Posts

10 hours ago, Atgxtg said:

As someone who used to do that, I'd say that I doubt that such a game exists. Ultimately I think the game rules need to reflect the reality of the game world, and thus one system probably won't work well for everything. Or, even if it did, a game system tailored to a specific game setting would do the job better. 

The classic example would be running a four color comic book campaign with BRP. TO get the feel of the comics you need to tone done most of BRPs inherent deadliness. You don't want the Hulk to squash Spiderman that one time Spidey fumbles his dodge roll. 

The main task for me is, to keep the amount of systems to a minimum for my family, especially the kids are not keen to learn a multitude of game systems. And especially when I do some spontaneous one shots, they don't want to learn a new system each time.

I agree that specific game systems for specific settings do best, due to my point from above a very good second best generic game system would perfectly for me, save me much time and gain the acceptance of my family. I want to enthuse my kids for RPGs and not confuse them.

10 hours ago, Atgxtg said:

I think there really doesn't need to be some big differences, between personal and vehicle scale. Remember, a typical BRP character has about 12 hit points, and a tough one might have 16. SO almost any "vehicle scale" weapon is going to be an autokill against a character.

Personally I've used the original Superworld/RQ3 SIZ table to put every stat on the same scale. I think it makes it much easier to stat up things consistently, and it allows for a few math tricks to simply things. 

You are absolutely correct, as BRP is a much deadlier system than others, scaling up would make no sense, if stating up does the job. I forgot to take this in consideration.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Atgxtg said:

Sounds about right, escpet that you forgot The Fantasy Trip, which was the basis for GURPS. 

Yes, I forgot it.

18 hours ago, Atgxtg said:

I was thinking more along the lines of something two or three times that- similar to, but with a bit more to it than original magic world. Basically a core, standalone gamebook without all the bells and whistles that could serve as an introductory/basic RPG. All the bells & Whistiles could then be put into an expansion book. But, that would assume a desire to go that route, which doesn't seem to be the case. 

That means what Casus Belli (an old french RPG magazine) did with BaSIC: a 48 pages BRP booklet with roughly 25 pages of rules, the rest being an intro to RPG, a minimalist bestiary and a few examples. I used it and it was very good.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Kloster said:

That means what Casus Belli (an old french RPG magazine) did with BaSIC: a 48 pages BRP booklet with roughly 25 pages of rules, the rest being an intro to RPG, a minimalist bestiary and a few examples. I used it and it was very good.

I used to read Casus Belli when I was at Uni! :)

But I cant remember any article on BRP or RuneQuest.....

Mind you, it was back around 1995-1998! 😮

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Vile Traveller

The original universal BRP system was Worlds of Wonder in '82, with rules for fantasy, supers, and science fiction overlaid on the 16-page BRP booklet. If those 4 booklets were integrated into one rulebook you'd have a very robust minimal universal D100 system. I say "integrated" because as they stand there are a lot of sub-systems in each booklet which might clash with the other booklets' sub-systems, though none of them are actually contradictory or fundamentally incompatible. And it would still be a petty slim book.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

52 minutes ago, Lloyd Dupont said:

I used to read Casus Belli when I was at Uni! :)

But I cant remember any article on BRP or RuneQuest.....

Mind you, it was back around 1995-1998! 😮

You were right spot on BaSIC is Casus Belli HS19 (June 97), and if I don't remember of any specific topic on BRP, there was at least 1 in each for several years about BaSIC. RQ had at least a few dozen scenarios and topics., but mostly before your time.

By the way, where were you located in '95-'98?

Edited by Kloster
Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 hours ago, Kloster said:

Yes, I forgot it.

No harm done, it was a long time ago. I only remember it because I bought it. I bough a lot more RPGs back then- or at least a larger percentage of what was available, as there was a lot less stuff back then. I still have a fair share of it, too.

23 hours ago, Kloster said:

That means what Casus Belli (an old french RPG magazine) did with BaSIC: a 48 pages BRP booklet with roughly 25 pages of rules, the rest being an intro to RPG, a minimalist bestiary and a few examples. I used it and it was very good.

I've seen the BaSIC bestiary. While I don't entirely agree with the stat scores assigned to various creatures, the overall concept and approach are sound. A stripped down, simplified RQ, as a core system to build upon, is a great idea. Not surprising as that's essentially what Chaosium has been doing since the 70s. Practically all of their RPGs start off as a pared down version of RQ that gets modified to fit a particular setting.

  • Like 1

Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/19/2020 at 4:40 AM, Belisar said:

The main task for me is, to keep the amount of systems to a minimum for my family, especially the kids are not keen to learn a multitude of game systems. And especially when I do some spontaneous one shots, they don't want to learn a new system each time.

Oh, I get where you are coming from. I've gone through much the same over the years. It's just that the game mechanics do affect the game play. 

On 11/19/2020 at 4:40 AM, Belisar said:

I agree that specific game systems for specific settings do best, due to my point from above a very good second best generic game system would perfectly for me, save me much time and gain the acceptance of my family. I want to enthuse my kids for RPGs and not confuse them.

I understand. IMO the best approach is probably to find a game system you all like, and then use that, but avoid using it for something with a radically different feel.

Yeah, down the road you can add houserules to make the game work the way you want for a given setting, but that can also be confusing to players, who won't always know or understand why special rule "X" applies in one campaign but not in another, desipte both using the same system.

On 11/19/2020 at 4:40 AM, Belisar said:

You are absolutely correct, as BRP is a much deadlier system than others, scaling up would make no sense, if stating up does the job. I forgot to take this in consideration.

Well...at the risk of contradicting myself, it does scale up, just not linearly. Now, from the point of view of characters, especially player characters, it doesn't matter too much. For most PCs getting shot by a tank gun has the same result as getting caught in a nuclear blast, just messier. Still a non linear scale does work, it just that for most games it probably won't matter. Where it could matter would be in a modern or futuristic game with high tech gear and vehicles, such as battleship shooting at each other -but that probably won't affect characters directly. The difference between getting hit by a shell from a 12" gun vs. a 16" gun is moot for most characters.

 

  • Like 1

Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Atgxtg said:

I understand. IMO the best approach is probably to find a game system you all like, and then use that, but avoid using it for something with a radically different feel.

I was planning on running my wife and son first through the CAC quick start scenario and then through the RQG. So having a horror and a fantasy setting I might do an Alien one-shot with the CaC iteration of the rules to have the scifi genre covered as well.

I'd love doing Mass Effect with a generic system, so my hope is somewhat high that BRP will get some love for Chaosium.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Belisar said:

I was planning on running my wife and son first through the CAC quick start scenario and then through the RQG. So having a horror and a fantasy setting I might do an Alien one-shot with the CaC iteration of the rules to have the scifi genre covered as well.

It seems feasible. BRP is a little weak in futrsitic SciFi stuff, but it's not as bad off as it once was. 

15 minutes ago, Belisar said:

I'd love doing Mass Effect with a generic system, so my hope is somewhat high that BRP will get some love for Chaosium.

I doubt it. Last I heard, they were focusing on standalone RPGs as they tend to sell better. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

The good news though, is that any of us who already have BRP don't actually need the game to "get some love" for us to be able to use it. Some of my favorite RPGs are so called "orphan" games. In most cases the play just fine.

  • Like 2

Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Atgxtg said:

It seems feasible. BRP is a little weak in futrsitic SciFi stuff, but it's not as bad off as it once was. 

Are there any supplements or Monographies which could help with a scifi approach?

3 hours ago, Atgxtg said:

I'll keep my fingers crossed.

I'll do as well, because I really do like these game mechanics and love to see more. Even if it's just pdfs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, Belisar said:

Are there any supplements or Monographies which could help with a scifi approach?

Well there is the original Future World booklet, but most of it's contents made it into the BGB. After that there are SciFi settings for Cthulhu and Mythras that could be adapted to BRP. THe core rules are about 75% the same across all BRP related games, so it's usually easy to port something over.

 

16 hours ago, Belisar said:

I'll do as well, because I really do like these game mechanics and love to see more. Even if it's just pdfs.

If the history of Chaosium has taught us anything, it's that things change. Who can say what direction the company will be going in ten years from now?

Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is quite a lot of old scifi stuff for Chaosium. Here is a list made in 2016, notable changes from then is that M-Space and the M-Space Companion are now a thing. Also Worlds Beyond is about to be reprinted and Worlds Beyond is a thing now.

 

 

Edited by rsanford
  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1

Check out our homebrew rules for freeform magic in BRP ->

No reason for Ars Magica players to have all the fun!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/19/2020 at 7:04 PM, Kloster said:

You were right spot on BaSIC is Casus Belli HS19 (June 97), and if I don't remember of any specific topic on BRP, there was at least 1 in each for several years about BaSIC. RQ had at least a few dozen scenarios and topics., but mostly before your time.

By the way, where were you located in '95-'98?

Concering RuneQuest, Denis Gerfaud did some articles on RuneQuest 2, and I remember a 3-page article about being a RQ3 Game Master later, certainly around 1988 when the french editon was released. The long scenario "Anisha", involving morokanths, is often praised for its good quality.

However, in France BRP has always essentially been associated with Call of Cthulhu, even if games like StormBringer/Elric! and Hawkmoon had some success. BaSIC was the child of Thomas Lhomme, a CoC expert, and that's the reason why it doesn't bear much relationships with other games.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...