Q&A's with the new BRP author version 2.0

[Trifletraxor]

Time for another thread. I'll watch this thread more closely and weed out any off-topic arguments, putting them into new threads.

So the rules for this thread: Only questions/comments for Jason, other topics/responses must be taken to new threads or elsewhere.

My question: I hear you have seen the finished pdf of the book. Is that true??? Christmas release??? :happy:

SGL.

[Shaira]

Hi Jason,

I have a question regarding the sorcery rules, which you said were taken from SB5. Do they include Demon Summoning also, with all the various Demon Abilities (like Vomit Acid, all that good stuff), or is it just the spell lists from the Sorcery section?

Really looking forwards to seeing the rules!

Sarah

[NickMiddleton]

My question: I hear you have seen the finished pdf of the book. Is that true??? Christmas release??? :happy:

Follow up question - has anything major that the playtest group saw had to be cut for reasons of space? I'm obvioulsy hoping not...

Cheers,

Nick Middleton

[Jason D]

I hear you have seen the finished pdf of the book. Is that true???

Yes, it is true. I think it's in the state of "final edits" now, with Charlie checking page references, etc. I'm reviewing it, and a few external proofers are doing the same.

Christmas release???

I really don't know.

It would be cutting it extremely close, if it were, given the length of time usually required for printing and distribution.

[Jason D]

I have a question regarding the sorcery rules, which you said were taken from SB5. Do they include Demon Summoning also, with all the various Demon Abilities (like Vomit Acid, all that good stuff), or is it just the spell lists from the Sorcery section?

It's the spell list, primarily, with a few cuts due to being non-applicable outside of the Stormbringer IP.

There's a simple "summon demon" kind of spell, and a reference to two example demons from the bestiary chapter.

A full-fledged demon summoning system would be out of place in a basic book, but it would be a natural for an expansion magic book.

[Jason D]

Follow up question - has anything major that the playtest group saw had to be cut for reasons of space? I'm obvioulsy hoping not...

Are you kidding? At 384 pages, nothing got cut (though in retrospect, I probably should have cut some stuff).

There's even more stuff in there that the playtest didn't see, and the past eight months have been a flurry of me sending Chaosium little "Oh, if you can fit this in" sections and pieces.

[GerallKahla]

There's even more stuff in there that the playtest didn't see, and the past eight months have been a flurry of me sending Chaosium little "Oh, if you can fit this in" sections and pieces.

Delicious!

Thanks for the feedback, Jason. You rock and stuff.

[Atgxtg]

Jason,

Just wondering, since BRP is based on WoW and older stuff, does it use a full percentile range, or does it break skills up in 5% increments like original BRP and RQ2?

[Nightshade]

One I forgot to ask on the last one: was the super powers set derived from the full blown one from the standalone Superworld, or the somewhat more primitive version in WoW?

[Jason D]

Just wondering, since BRP is based on WoW and older stuff, does it use a full percentile range, or does it break skills up in 5% increments like original BRP and RQ2?

Full range of numbers (not just 5% increments) is the default, but there's an optional note that GMs may wish to utilize 5% increments to make things simple.

[Jason D]

One I forgot to ask on the last one: was the super powers set derived from the full blown one from the standalone Superworld, or the somewhat more primitive version in WoW?

The powers are based on the simpler set, but with some powers brought over from Superworld.

A more comprehensive and detailed treatment of superpowers would be found in a supers sourcebook, should Chaosium choose to publish one.

In related news, if anyone's interested in writing a supers sourcebook, please contact Chaosium.

[Atgxtg]

The powers are based on the simpler set, but with some powers brought over from Superworld.

A more comprehensive and detailed treatment of superpowers would be found in a supers sourcebook, should Chaosium choose to publish one.

In related news, if anyone's interested in writing a supers sourcebook, please contact Chaosium.

Thanks for the answer.

I'd be interesed in writing something for BRP one day. I'm just waiting to see the game and what's been tweaked.

Some more "Supers" related BRP questions:

WoW Superworld used a different Damage bonus forumula (+1d6 for each 10 points of STR OR SIZ over 14, not both). Just wondering, but how will that worl in BRP? If you use the normal Damage bonus, then Superstrong character won't be doing anywhere near the damage they did in Superworld capping off at +3 or 4D6 (yeah, hardly "wimpy") if they put all their Hero Points into STR.

Has the cost for stats been tweaked (like sat 2-1 for STR), has the Hero Point formula been changed (from sum of stats), or do we just live with the lower damage?

On a related note, based on WoW it was impossible for any character to be able to lift a Tank (SIZ 150). Will BRP use the same SIZ chart as Superworld (WoW) or a different scale (like the stand alone Superworld RPG) so that we can get comicbook level heroes?

Is there a note for dialing up/down the power level for heroes. Something like 2x Hero Points for more powerful characters, and so forth?

[Shaira]

It's the spell list, primarily, with a few cuts due to being non-applicable outside of the Stormbringer IP.

Thanks very much for the answer Jason - that helps a lot, and possibly makes things a bit easier! Looks like I might be rolling my own quite a bit on the Demon side of things - at least it's good having the old SB5 base to work from.

One other question occurred to me: the spells in WoW were always very "compressed", ie they did multiple things where other games would have used several separate spells. I think the most extreme example was "Enhance / Diminish", which basically covered 8 different effects (Increase STR, Decrease STR, Increase CON... etc, etc). If you have it cover all 7 BRP attributes, it covers 14 effects!

Does this kind of thing still hold with the BRP system? In WoW it was the rationale (AFAIK) behind the fact you could only hold in mind INT/2 spells - you wouldn't really need more than 9 if they were all that multi-purpose!

My game world requires much more granularity in its spells, something like RQ or SB, so I'll be splitting the spells back out again and therefore tweaking the INT/2 calc to probably be just INT - it'll more or less amount to the same thing.

Just curious!

Sarah

[Jason D]

WoW Superworld used a different Damage bonus forumula (+1d6 for each 10 points of STR OR SIZ over 14, not both). Just wondering, but how will that worl in BRP?

I decided to stick with the one damage chart, for consistency's sake. A superpower sourcebook might offer an alternate chart.

Has the cost for stats been tweaked (like sat 2-1 for STR), has the Hero Point formula been changed (from sum of stats), or do we just live with the lower damage?

I don't have the m.s. handy, but I think the answer to your question is that stat point costs were changed, and that lower damage is a necessary fallout from the standardization of the damage modifier table.

On a related note, based on WoW it was impossible for any character to be able to lift a Tank (SIZ 150). Will BRP use the same SIZ chart as Superworld (WoW) or a different scale (like the stand alone Superworld RPG) so that we can get comicbook level heroes?

The SIZ chart is a synthesis of the SIZ charts from a few BRP games. Some vehicles have had their SIZ adjusted.

(I find the inconsistency of how SIZ scales relative to itself, and between BRP games, to be the second-most frustrating attribute of the system.)

Is there a note for dialing up/down the power level for heroes. Something like 2x Hero Points for more powerful characters, and so forth?

Yes. There are four "levels" of play. Normal, Heroic, Epic, and Superhuman. The default character points for each level differ tremendously.

There is also an optional rule for a standardized point total for all characters rather than the sum of all rolled characteristics (which further polarizes characters with "good" vs "poor" characteristic totals). Point-buy characteristics are also a suggested optional system to level things out.

[Jason D]

One other question occurred to me: the spells in WoW were always very "compressed", ie they did multiple things where other games would have used several separate spells.

...

Does this kind of thing still hold with the BRP system? In WoW it was the rationale (AFAIK) behind the fact you could only hold in mind INT/2 spells - you wouldn't really need more than 9 if they were all that multi-purpose!

The goal with the inclusion of the Magic World spells was to provide a very simple magic system with a lot of flexibility in what each spell did, rather than a long list of spells.

The system is transparent enough, and modifications easy enough, to make any "decompression" of effects pretty easy for a GM to do.

[Atgxtg]

Thanks for the feedback, Jason.

I agree that the SIZ differences between BRP gasmes is very annoying. Wish they would just revise to to somethlike like a cross betwen RQ3 and CoC and apply to all BRP games.

I amlso glad about the character point pool. Your right about the way hero points worked. Great stats made for better characters.

[Kloster]

Hi Jason,

What is the basis of skill amount in preliminary experience (EDU like in CoC, number of years like RQIII, a flat amount fixed by the rules or fixed amount assigned by the player)?

Is there skill categories (with their modificators) like in RQ or not?

Thanks.

Runequestement votre,

Kloster

[Jason D]

What is the basis of skill amount in preliminary experience (EDU like in CoC, number of years like RQIII, a flat amount fixed by the rules or fixed amount assigned by the player)?

There's an amount assigned based on the level of the campaign (normal, heroic, epic, superhuman). EDU is optional, so the skill point totals are standardized, or EDU is used if used. But it's a "get X points for profession, X points for personal interests (based off INT)" with a few options (the "how does your character solve problems?" extra skill points from Elric!).

Plus, taking additional age for more skill points.

Characters generally have more base skill points than any previous iteration of BRP, or at least that's my impression based on the playtest.

Is there skill categories (with their modificators) like in RQ or not?

As an optional rule, but matching the system (more or less) from RQ3.

[Nightshade]

There's an amount assigned based on the level of the campaign (normal, heroic, epic, superhuman). EDU is optional, so the skill point totals are standardized, or EDU is used if used. But it's a "get X points for profession, X points for personal interests (based off INT)" with a few options (the "how does your character solve problems?" extra skill points from Elric!).

I'd like to say this seems a good comprimise between a totally freeform skill point system and a heavily structured one that would be hard to generalize.'

Also, did your last answer mean that the default is that skills are _not_ effected by attributes?

[Atgxtg]

What sort of characters/setting does the rulebook cover? Are the backgrounds for a medieval setting, modern day, futurstic, a max, or generic (scholar, soldier, etc.).

What can we write up for characters with just the core book?

[Jason D]

Also, did your last answer mean that the default is that skills are _not_ effected by attributes?

By default, they aren't (other than those that are a multiple of a characteristic).

However, I expect almost everyone on this board will be using the optional skill group bonus system.

[Jason D]

What sort of characters/setting does the rulebook cover? Are the backgrounds for a medieval setting, modern day, futurstic, a max, or generic (scholar, soldier, etc.).

What can we write up for characters with just the core book?

The professions presented are generic enough to apply to many, many settings and periods. Plus there are guidelines on how to modify them to fit other settings.

The settings chapter includes an overview of around two dozen common (or less so) periods and setting types, with suggested professions to be found in each (as well as optional rules, technology, suitable powers, inspirations, adventure types, etc.).

I like that chapter a lot.

[Kloster]

Thanks Jason,

I like the idea for the skill points.

And I think (like you guessed) that we will surely use the categories. I will.

Runequestement votre,

Kloster

[fmitchell]

First, I'd like to thank Jason for answering questions.

Now on to mine:

- You mentioned EDU as an optional characteristic. Are there any other optional characteristics or attributes in the book? Are there any guidelines for adding new characteristics, or perhaps taking them away a la Pendragon?

- A friend of mine who GM'ed Beyond the Mountains of Madness reported that, as the campaign wore on, all the characters had developed really high Listen and Spot Hidden skills. Assuming he wasn't handing out improvement rolls like candy, does the BRP book include a way to slow or cap the progression of skills? Has that even proved necessary in long-term play-testing?

Sorry if these questions are a little off the wall, but I'm a compulsive game tinkerer, and everyone else asked the good ones.

Thanks in advance.

[Jason D]

You mentioned EDU as an optional characteristic. Are there any other optional characteristics or attributes in the book? Are there any guidelines for adding new characteristics, or perhaps taking them away a la Pendragon?

There isn't support for removing characteristics, but assuming you wanted to add another characteristic, like for example, a split between APP and CHA, or even DEX and Agility, you could easily do that. The real question would be how much you felt like integrating a change like that into the rules.

Assuming he wasn't handing out improvement rolls like candy, does the BRP book include a way to slow or cap the progression of skills? Has that even proved necessary in long-term play-testing?

The default experience reward is 1D6 per experience check.

A GM wanting to slow down progression can do one of three things (off the top of my head):

1. Reduce the frequency of experience checks, such as only between significant breaks between adventures.

2. Lower the experience reward to 1D4, 1D3, 1D2, or even making it a single point.

3. Only allow an experience check for a critical or special success.

If I remember correctly, these are discussed as options.