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Strike Ranks vs. the OTHER optional system


Ian Absentia

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I've been reading the BRP treatment of the venerable Strike Rank combat system, which has gotten me to thinking about the similar, but much simplified combat rules that appeared in SuperWorld. The SW system was based off of a character's DEX, featured Full Actions, Semi-Actions, and Quartermoves, and bore a notable resemblance to GDW's Snapshot close combat rules.

Has anyone seen a contemporary treatment of the SuperWorld combat rules? Was there any particular reason for not including them as an option in the BRP book? Is there any possible provision for reworking them as an option in a BRP monograph or licensed release?

!i!

Edited by Ian Absentia

carbon copy logo smallest.jpg  ...developer of White Rabbit Green

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I've been reading the BRP treatment of the venerable Strike Rank combat system, which has gotten me to thinking about the similar, but much simplified combat rules that appeared in SuperWorld. The SW system was based off of a character's DEX, featured Full Actions, Semi-Actions, and Quartermoves, and bore a notable resemblance to GDW's Snapshot close combat rules.

Interesting - I never realised that the full version of Superworld was that different from the Worlds of Wonder baseline system.

Has anyone seen a contemporary treatment of the SuperWorld combat rules?

Not that I know of - from the sound of that brief description I'd say there's some (very minor) influence on the Elric! combat system but other than that I don't think so.

Was there any particular reason for not including them as an option in the BRP book?

Jason will have the definitive answer, but I'd guess space (it was already a behemoth of a book with eh iconic Call of Cthulhu/Elric! and RQIII combat systems), and possibly a wariness of adding too many options (there are quite a few variants and options already in the combat chapter

Edited by NickMiddleton
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Thanks Nick. I probably should contact Jason directly to see if anyone's ever done anything with this.

I should perhaps point out that I mis-stated the similarity between Superworld (you're right -- no capitalised "W") and Snapshot. In fact, the two aren't particularly similar at all. It was one of the early combat options that Mongoose ran up the flagpole for their iteration of Traveller that bore more than a little similarity to Superworld, and which was obviously trying to capture the flavor (if not the exact format) of Snapshot.

If anyone is curious, I continue to cast about for the right system for my MARINER project, a modern-day adaptation/knock-off of classic Traveller, that has grown to bear more of a resemblance to "Black Lagoon" or "To Have and Have Not". BRP is my old, old sweetheart, and I've toyed with a Traveller conversion for years now. Maybe it's time.

!i!

carbon copy logo smallest.jpg  ...developer of White Rabbit Green

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Has anyone seen a contemporary treatment of the SuperWorld combat rules? Was there any particular reason for not including them as an option in the BRP book? Is there any possible provision for reworking them as an option in a BRP monograph or licensed release?

Jason will have the definitive answer, but I'd guess space (it was already a behemoth of a book with eh iconic Call of Cthulhu/Elric! and RQIII combat systems), and possibly a wariness of adding too many options (there are quite a few variants and options already in the combat chapter.

I probably should contact Jason directly to see if anyone's ever done anything with this.

The variant Superworld action/initiative rules didn't get put in the BRP core book for the following reasons:

  • The book was (and is) very bloated with optional rules, and this would have been a major additional chunk to minimal positive gain.
  • I tried where I could to include optional rules that could be bolted onto the core rules without needing substantial support. My (admittedly brief) read-through of the Superworld rules gave me the distinct impression that they were significant enough to need coverage throughout the core rules.
  • My gut feeling as a designer was that those rules would not Play Well With Others, in terms of the other optional rules.
  • Superworld was possibly the least successful full iteration of the BRP rules, so I didn't see a huge need to incorporate them into the core rulebook.

Dustin's always eager for sourcebook or monograph proposals. He's right now in the process of moving from Denver back to Texas, so I suspect any communication may be delayed somewhat.

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Thanks for the insight, Jason. I don't think I'm in a position to pitch a monograph to Dustin just yet, but I wanted to get an idea of what, if anything, anyone has done with the Superworld action rank system. For the record, I think your instincts were right on in that they would probably demand a more separate treatment (just from my recent fiddling, I see the need to reiterate frequent portions of the spot rules to slot them into the various breakdown of the action ranks).

As I indicated above, what got me thinking about the Superworld system was the brief appearance of a very similar system in an early draft of MGT. It's actually a pretty nifty way of playing out action-by-action.

!i!

carbon copy logo smallest.jpg  ...developer of White Rabbit Green

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