CLASSIC FANTASY - A Return to the Dawn of Roleplaying

[jagerfury]

BRP Classic Fantasy has taken my old D&D modules and breathed new life into them. Looks like I'm going to get to take some old friends through B10. I've always wanted to go back to D&D with the Chaosium system ever since I had a chance to play Elric back in '83. This has been the coolest thing to happen to fantasy role play since Gary Gygax found out where he could get different sided dice!

[TrippyHippy]

DriveThruRPG is a good site to shoprpg stuff. But when you want a print monograph copy Chaosium is the only place you can get em. But for pdfs I usually get them from DriveThru myself.

Can't you just take the file to a printers and get it printed? It's not as if a monograph has special binding or anything!

[silent_bob]

I'd love to find a print copy of Classic Fantasy but it looks like Chaosium isn't stocking it anymore (only PDF). Any other places I might find a print copy? I realize I can download the PDF and print it myself but I'd honestly prefer spending a few more dollars and having the real book.

I'm dying for a good old fashioned dungeon crawler. I've been playing Palladium Fantasy lately and I surprisingly enjoy the Palladium system more than I remember, but it's a bit of stat overload. And D20 stuff just gives me nosebleeds...

I just printed my pdf double sided and put it into a 3-ring binder. Works great!

[Zombieboy]

It's available now in print form from Chaosium. Copy ordered and waiting!

[Guest Vile Traveller]

It's available now in print form from Chaosium. Copy ordered and waiting!

Is that the updated version?

[Chaot]

BRP Classic Fantasy has taken my old D&D modules and breathed new life into them. Looks like I'm going to get to take some old friends through B10. I've always wanted to go back to D&D with the Chaosium system ever since I had a chance to play Elric back in '83. This has been the coolest thing to happen to fantasy role play since Gary Gygax found out where he could get different sided dice!

This is so true. Classic Fantasy is the system I wanted way back when I was stuck with AD&D.

[jagerfury]

That is what I did. Got the three ring in my hand right now, love the craft potion skill!

[silent_bob]

When will Classic Fantasy 2 be released?

The last progress report from Rod was in December, 2011.

[jagerfury]

This is so true. Classic Fantasy is the system I wanted way back when I was stuck with AD&D.

I can honestly say the detour I took into other games to find a better system to game than what D&D came with... I kinda ended up losing sight of the fact that D&D was my first, one true love.

[Chaot]

Yeah. The Rules Compendium was my first love and I still greatly enjoy games with that rules set. In my case I had a group that was exclusively D&D and a group(s) that covered T&T, MERPS, Marvel FASERIP, D6 Star Wars and even some Stormbringer (though I didn't fall in love with BRP until I happened to pick up the Elric! book).

With the D&D group, we all switched over to AD&D because the rest of the group argued that it was advanced. Obviously much better than that standard RC rules set. Though I wouldn't have been able to articulate it like this at the time, I was unhappy because I feel the AD&D rules needlessly complicate the D&D rules set in an attempt at realism. Instead, it gave a false sense of greater emulation through the numerous additions to the rules. In contrast, while the RC had it's oddities it also had a simplicity and a speed of use that more than made up for it's issues.

Classic Fantasy hits the mark though. It makes all the right nods at D&Disms while addressing the issues that commonly came up when dealing with D&D class and level.

[soltakss]

When will Classic Fantasy 2 be released?

I'm waiting for Classic Fantasy 4e

[threedeesix]

When will Classic Fantasy 2 be released?

The last progress report from Rod was in December, 2011.

I have stopped releasing release dates as I have so far missed them all. Life keeps getting in the way. I can say however that I have gotten back to working on it every day and its coming along nicely.

There have been quite a few changes to my original plan over the last few months however. The most important one being that I plan on breaking volume 2 up into two separate volumes, a game masters book and a monster book as the monsters by themselves were going dangerously close to 200 pages. But, just so no one has to wait overly long, I am working on both at the same time, so they should release very close together.

To keep everyone up to date, I plan on using this forum to post some glimpses into what’s on the horizon and post something from one of the two books every month starting tomorrow.

More to follow,

Rod

[fmitchell]

I'm waiting for Classic Fantasy 4e

I'll wait for Classic Fantasy Next. It's supposed to support all preceding styles of play simultaneously!

[DreadDomain]

I have stopped releasing release dates as I have so far missed them all.

Rod

Now that I come to think of it, wasn't there suppose to be a full release of Classic Fantasy (as opposed to being a monograph)?

[threedeesix]

Now that I come to think of it, wasn't there suppose to be a full release of Classic Fantasy (as opposed to being a monograph)?

There was talk about it a while back, then nothing. I doubt it will happen now that Magic World is on the horizon. I still own the rights to Classic Fantasy however and have been thinking of other options. I still plan on having volumes two and three come out as monographs, but may do my own thing with them as well. Anything from converting it to one of the open source D100 rulesets to making my own.

Rod

[threedeesix]

I have stopped releasing release dates as I have so far missed them all. Life keeps getting in the way. I can say however that I have gotten back to working on it every day and its coming along nicely.

There have been quite a few changes to my original plan over the last few months however. The most important one being that I plan on breaking volume 2 up into two separate volumes, a game masters book and a monster book as the monsters by themselves were going dangerously close to 200 pages. But, just so no one has to wait overly long, I am working on both at the same time, so they should release very close together.

To keep everyone up to date, I plan on using this forum to post some glimpses into what’s on the horizon and post something from one of the two books every month starting tomorrow.

More to follow,

Rod

I'm answering my own post. I'm holding off posting what I had in mind until this weekend as I decided to change the format a bit.

Rod

[silent_bob]

Rod,

I have some questions about fatigue in Classic Fantasy.

1. How do you handle fatigue checks for monsters, especially large groups of monsters? For example, if the party is facing 5 kobolds and 1 kobold chief, would you roll stamina checks for each kobold individually or one roll for all five? Would you make a separate check for the chief?

2. Do you bother with fatigue for non-humanoid monsters like dragons and insects?

3. Why reduce fatigue for injury? The character already will suffer the negative effects of having a limb reduced to zero or whatever and the fatigue penalty seems like piling on. It also requires a lot more bookkeeping for large monster groups.

[silent_bob]

There was talk about it a while back, then nothing. I doubt it will happen now that Magic World is on the horizon. I still own the rights to Classic Fantasy however and have been thinking of other options. I still plan on having volumes two and three come out as monographs, but may do my own thing with them as well. Anything from converting it to one of the open source D100 rulesets to making my own.

Rod

I am not that impressed by what I read about Magic World. It sounds like a mere reworking of Elric/Stormbringer without the Young Kingdoms. Magic World won't scratch the same nostalgic itch that Classic Fantasy scratches.

[Zombieboy]

I'm answering my own post. I'm holding off posting what I had in mind until this weekend as I decided to change the format a bit.

Rod

Just thought I'd let you know that I finally got my print version of Classic Fantasy and I have to say, hats off to you mate. It's an awesome supplement that I can't wait to sink my teeth into. It's distilled all my nostalgia and earliest RPG memories of AD&D into one volume with my favourite system. Now I eagerly await those new books!

[threedeesix]

Rod,

I have some questions about fatigue in Classic Fantasy.

1. How do you handle fatigue checks for monsters, especially large groups of monsters? For example, if the party is facing 5 kobolds and 1 kobold chief, would you roll stamina checks for each kobold individually or one roll for all five? Would you make a separate check for the chief?

I don't bother with fatigue checks for monsters. I never even thought that I should note that it's really only a rule for player characters, generally just in there to limit the amount of stuff they tend to want to haul around.

2. Do you bother with fatigue for non-humanoid monsters like dragons and insects?

See above

3. Why reduce fatigue for injury? The character already will suffer the negative effects of having a limb reduced to zero or whatever and the fatigue penalty seems like piling on. It also requires a lot more bookkeeping for large monster groups.

I'm at work right now and don't have CF or BRP with me so I really don't remember how the two rules interact with each other to be honest. If I remember right, having suffered a major wound or a limb go negative in BRP never limited how fast you would collapse from exhaustion, which is really what the CF fatigue rules are all about. I could be wrong however.

Thanks for your interest.

Rod

[threedeesix]

Just thought I'd let you know that I finally got my print version of Classic Fantasy and I have to say, hats off to you mate. It's an awesome supplement that I can't wait to sink my teeth into. It's distilled all my nostalgia and earliest RPG memories of AD&D into one volume with my favourite system. Now I eagerly await those new books!

Thanks!

[threedeesix]

I promised a glimpse of CF II and III every month. So for July I figured I would post one of my favorite "classic" beasties from way back. A little critter I call the Displacer Cat. This is a format I'm experimenting with and may not be final. I do like it however; I can imagine it with a picture to the right of the stats, very monster manual.

It has not gone through final edit at this time so expect some grammer issues and/or typos. No hit locations are listed as I am implementing a simple hit location system that doesn't require hit points in every location. This allows game masters a much easier time to create and run adventures. Complete hit location rules are included at the end of the monster section for those that still wish to use them, as it is in the BGB.

Rod

Edit: I just created a PDF with the displacer cat and a bonus monster using the 1st ed. AD&D font and Scotts artwork, check it out using the link below.

http://basicroleplaying.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=478

DISPLACER CAT

DANGER CLASS: II+

FREQUENCY: Very rare

NO. APPEARING: 1D4+1/1D4+1/1D4+1 (25% in lair)

ALIGNMENT: Evil 60

ARMOR POINTS: 2 [leathery hide]

HIT POINTS: 17

CHARACTERISTICS: STR 3D6+6 (16-17), CON 3D6+4 (14-15), SIZ 3D6+8 (18-19), INT 6, POW 3D6+6 (16-17), DEX 2D6+12 (19)

MOV: 12

COMBAT: Tentacles 80%, 1D8+db (bleed), Bite 45%, 1D10+½ db (impale)

DAMAGE BONUS: +1D6

SKILLS: Dodge 65%, Hide 100%, Jump 55%, Stealth 65%, Track 50%

SPECIAL QUALITIES: Displacement, infravision

MORALE: 70%

TREASURE FACTOR: D

These large blue-black, six-legged, semi-intelligent, panther-like creatures possess two powerful tentacles growing from each shoulder, ending with knife-like edges and possess green glowing eyes. The tentacles are folded back while the creature is on the move, but can be whipped forward with blinding speed to strike out at an adversary. The main danger possessed by this beast is its ability of displacement, effectively shifting its actual location from that of its apparent visual location by as much as 1-meter. This makes displacer cats very difficult to hit in combat. Displacer cats hate all living things, but hold the most contempt for blink dogs, their natural enemies.

A displacer cat gets two simultaneous attacks with its tentacles which may reach targets out to 3 meters away (2 squares). In addition, the cat may bite adjacent targets 5 DEX ranks later.

The displacer cat’s most dangerous ability is its power of displacement. This takes the form of a light-bending illusion causing the cat’s true location to remain in flux, shifting constantly in a 1-meter area. This illusion may not be dispelled, nor may it be disbelieved. This makes all attacks against the displacer cat Difficult, however creatures such as bats and others that do not rely on vision to find their adversaries are unaffected by the effects of displacement and area effect attacks suffer no penalties.

A displacer cat’s infravision enables it to see up to 20 meters in darkness. It suffers no penalties when fighting in sunlight.

Edited July 19, 2012 by threedeesix

[Puck]

I can imagine it with a picture to the right of the stats, very monster manual.

Tried to get a picture in here, but I could not seem to get it to work.

Edited July 17, 2012 by Puck

[threedeesix]

Tried to get a picture in here, but I could not seem to get it to work.

Hey Scott, did you do a pic of the displacer cat for me? I looked through my folder with your work and I don't seem to have one. Are you holding out on me?

If you have one, send it to me and I'll do up a test page with the pic using the actual D&D font just to see what it looks like. I'll use most anything you send me, however what I'm finding now that I'm, settling on a layout, is that taller pics are better than wider ones to fit the page. Take a look at the 1st ed. monster manual to get an idea of what I mean.

Rod

[Puck]

I just did the picture this Morning when I saw your post. I will send it along. Unfortunately it is wide rather than tall. I had the same problem myself with the Green. Tall pics fit much better into the text, but most of the best pictures were wide.