TSR's Boot Hill to BRP: Help Needed

[Mysterioso]

Hi:

Bit of an introduction. Used to play quite a few RPGs when in high school and university, got out of it for "real life", and now after 15+ years am coming back to it. The game that has brought me back is Call of Cthulhu. I have played quite a few games and it has me really excited to game again.

Recently, for a reunion get-together with the guys I used to game with in high school, I ran a CoC game. Picking up the rules for CoC went great. Even after so many years, we found the rules really easy to pick up. Picking up the 1920s did not go so well. There were so many questions on their part of "Is this right for the 1920s?" that it slowed things down (which was not helpful for a weekend get together which had to see the game done by Sunday afternoon).

So for the next get together I want to run a Western. Everyone has seen a Western and so slipping into the time period should be much easier. Hence the desire to tie Boot Hill to Call of Cthulhu/BRP. Googling for Westerns and Call of Cthulhu led me to BRP Central. And so here I am.

The Help Needed:

I want to use some materials I have from TSR's Boot Hill (2nd edition) and mesh them with some material I have for Call of Cthulhu. Does anyone have a conversion system for getting the Boot Hill material into CoC/BRP format? The biggest hiccup I see is getting the NPCs in Boot Hill into the BRP system. This has me quite stumped. :confused: With the NPCs converted I do not see any reason why I can not run the Boot Hill modules as they are. Any help would be truly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Mysterioso

[RosenMcStern]

Try http://basicroleplaying.com/forum/supplements-monographs/1523-aces-high-weird-wild-west-supplement-brp-system.html

It is western, and it is BRP.

[rust]

I think that I would not try to literally convert the NPCs from Boot Hill into

Call of Cthulhu by following any kind of "formula".

In my view the easiest way to "transform" them would be to decide which

of their attributes and skills will be important for the planned adventure, and

how high these approximately should be (e.g. for skills "mediocre" = 50 %,

"high" = 70 %, "very high" = 90 %), and to give them these stats.

This is how NPCs usually are built in Call of Cthulhu anyway, the referee de-

cides on and chooses the stats he wants for the adventure, without using

any character creation system.

[threedeesix]

Try http://basicroleplaying.com/forum/supplements-monographs/1523-aces-high-weird-wild-west-supplement-brp-system.html

It is western, and it is BRP.

Rosen beat me too it! I can't speak highly enough about Aces High.

Rod

[Mysterioso]

I am aware of Aces High and see picking it up in the future. Does anyone have both Aces High and the Western setup in Worlds of Cthulhu magazines? WoC (and Cthulhu by Gaslight) is my current basis for Six-Gun Cthulhu. Does Aces High work better for shifting CoC into the times of the Wild West?

Anyway, I still need a way to get the modules I have from Boot Hill into BRP format for either use in Call of Cthulhu or Aces High. There are some specific adventures I want to take from the Boot Hill modules and use. Hence the need to covert.

[Mysterioso]

I think that I would not try to literally convert the NPCs from Boot Hill into

Call of Cthulhu by following any kind of "formula".

In my view the easiest way to "transform" them would be to decide which

of their attributes and skills will be important for the planned adventure, and

how high these approximately should be (e.g. for skills "mediocre" = 50 %,

"high" = 70 %, "very high" = 90 %), and to give them these stats.

This is how NPCs usually are built in Call of Cthulhu anyway, the referee de-

cides on and chooses the stats he wants for the adventure, without using

any character creation system.

Conversion of skills from one system to the other is pretty straight forward. Conversion of the basic attributes is the puzzler. For example, Boot Hill's Strength is a combination of CoC's Strength and Size.

Edited December 19, 2009 by Mysterioso

[frogspawner]

Conversion of skills from one system to the other is pretty straight forward. Conversion of the basic attributes is the puzzler. For example, Boot Hill's Strength is a combination of CoC's Strength and Size.

I shouldn't worry about it too much. I'd use STR = STR and SIZ = Body weight (in stone, i.e. lbs/14 or so).

[rust]

I shouldn't worry about it too much. I'd use STR = STR and SIZ = Body weight (in stone, i.e. lbs/14 or so).

Yep. And remember that you do not need exactly the same / identical NPCs,

all you need are NPCs that can fulfill the same role or function in your ad-

venture. Since the player characters will hardly be identical twins of the

ones used in Boot Hill, there is no need to make the NPCs truly identical.

[Mister Apocalypse]

Which Edition of Boot Hill do you need to convert? Stats changed a bit from 1st, 2nd and 3rd edition-as did skills.

I think I have a conversion lying around on my HD.

[frogspawner]

I think I have a conversion lying around on my HD.

You have? Get it out and Whack it on the Wiki, please!

[p_clapham]

I've got both Aces High and the Worlds of Cthulhu issues with the Western Rules. I personaly prefer Aces High, it's got more usefull information, and a beastiary full of Indian Folklore. Worlds of Cthulhu does have the Dueling Rules, not sure if Aces has something similar.

I am aware of Aces High and see picking it up in the future. Does anyone have both Aces High and the Western setup in Worlds of Cthulhu magazines? WoC (and Cthulhu by Gaslight) is my current basis for Six-Gun Cthulhu. Does Aces High work better for shifting CoC into the times of the Wild West?

Anyway, I still need a way to get the modules I have from Boot Hill into BRP format for either use in Call of Cthulhu or Aces High. There are some specific adventures I want to take from the Boot Hill modules and use. Hence the need to covert.

[Mysterioso]

Which Edition of Boot Hill do you need to convert? Stats changed a bit from 1st, 2nd and 3rd edition-as did skills.

I think I have a conversion lying around on my HD.

I have the 2nd edition and modules that were printed to support it. A conversion system would be very much appreciated. There is a lot of material that can be pulled out of Boot Hill for use with BRP.

[Mister Apocalypse]

I have the 2nd edition and modules that were printed to support it. A conversion system would be very much appreciated. There is a lot of material that can be pulled out of Boot Hill for use with BRP.

Rats!. Conversion Notes I have are for 3rd edition. It uses a different stat and skill system.

I'll pull out 2nd edition and get to work on a conversion.

[Mysterioso]

That would be great! The help is appreciated.

[Mister Apocalypse]

Here are some guidelines for converting Boot Hill characters over to BRP. I've got stuff for 2nd edition and 3rd edition. If someone has the option go with 3rd edition as it has more characteristics and even adds skills to the Boot Hill game. Plus much of the earlier stuff was converted and included in the 3rd edition rules.

SECOND EDITION BOOT HILL

CHARACTERISTICS

Use the tables below to convert Boot Hill Abilities into BRP Characterstics

BRP STR=Boot Hill STR (use the Main Table)

BRP CON=Boot Hill STR (use the Main Table)

BRP SIZ=Boot Hill SIZ (use the INT/SIZ table)

BRP INT=Boot Hill BRV (use INT/SIZ table) or roll 2D6+6

BRP POW= Boot Hill BRV

BRP DEX= Boot Hill SPEED

BRP APP= Boot Hill BRV or roll 3D6

Main Table

% (3D6)

01%(3)

02%(4)

03-05%(5)

06-09%(6)

10-16%(7)

17-26%(8)

27-38%(9)

39-50%(10)

51-62%(11)

63-74%(12)

75-84%(13)

85-91%(14)

92-95%(15)

96-98%(16)

99%(17)

100%(18)

INT/SIZ TABLE (8-18)

% (3D6)

01%(8)

02%(8)

03-05%(9)

06-09%(9)

10-16%(10)

17-26%(11)

27-38%(12)

39-50%(13)

51-62%(13)

63-74%(14)

75-84%(15)

85-91%(16)

92-95%(17)

96-98%(17)

99%(18)

100%(18)

SKILLS

Since Boot Hill didn't have skills until third edition this is going to take a little work.

Pistol, Rifle, Shotgun: skills can be determined by using Boot Hill's Gun Accuracy percentage. So a character with 50% Gun Accuracy would have 50% in those skills.

Thrown Knife (Spear, etc.): Can be determined by using Boot Hill's Knife Throwing Accuracy percentage. So a character with 50% Gun Accuracy would have 50% in those skills.

Experience: Add the % skill modifiers to the converted gun and knife skills.

Professional Skills: The character gets three times his Experience Ability percentage in skill points to break up among professional skills, with the restriction that gun and knife skills cannot be raised (they have already been improved).

For Heroic games add another 75 points. Epic Games add another 150 points. Superheroic games, add another 250 points. Normal limits apply.

Personal Skill Points: 10xINT as normal.

Edited December 26, 2009 by Mister Apocalypse

[Mister Apocalypse]

BOOT HILL 3rd EDITION

The third edition of Boot Hill is a lot friendly as far as BRP conversion go. Characters have Attributes and skills, making the conversion process a lot easier.

CHARACTERISTICS

TO determine BRP Characteristic scores use the following conversion method.

BRP STR=Boot Hill STR (use the Main Table)

BRP CON=Boot Hill STR (use the Main Table)

BRP SIZ=Boot Hill SIZ (use the INT/SIZ table)

BRP INT=Boot Hill OBS (use INT/SIZ table) or roll 2D6+6

BRP POW= Boot Hill LUC

BRP DEX= Boot Hill COORD

BRP APP= Boot Hill STAx2 or roll 3D6

Main Table

2D10 (3D6)

2(3)

3(4)

4(5)

5(6)

6(7)

7(8)

8(9)

9(10)

10-11(11)

12(12)

13-14(13)

15(14)

16-17(15)

18(16)

19(17)

20(18)

INT/SIZ Table

2D10 (3D6)

2(8)

3(8)

4(9)

5(9)

6(10)

7(11)

8-9(12)

10-11(13)

12-13(14)

14-15(15)

16 (16)

17-18(17)

19-20 (18)

SKILLS

As Boot Hill Has Skills, they can be converted.

For Combat Skills multiply the skill level by 15% and add to the BRP base chance with the appropriate skill.

For Work Skills: Multiply the Skill rating by 5% to get the rating for the appropriate BRP skill.

Optional: A GM might wish to allow characters to spend INTx10% on personal skills but limit these to BRP skills that do not have Boot Hill equivalents.

Edited December 26, 2009 by Mister Apocalypse

[Mysterioso]

This is great. Thank you so much!

The 3rd edition has stuff converted from 2nd edition? Is the "Burned Bush Wells" module included? I don't have that one but it looks good. Reminds me of Spaghetti Western I saw with Klaus Kinksi that took place in the dead of winter. If that is in there, it would be worth getting the 3rd edition book.

[Mister Apocalypse]

This is great. Thank you so much!

The 3rd edition has stuff converted from 2nd edition? Is the "Burned Bush Wells" module included? I don't have that one but it looks good. Reminds me of Spaghetti Western I saw with Klaus Kinksi that took place in the dead of winter. If that is in there, it would be worth getting the 3rd edition book.

Yes, there is some stuff that is converted. No that one isn't in there. I don't have that one either. Third Edition does have some of the stuff from BH1 to BH5, as well as the "Fastest Guns that Ever/Never LIved" articles from Dragon. It's nice to get stats for Doc Holiday or The Man With No Name.

BTW, In the Downloads section there is a partial price list I did up for the Old West that I did up for BRP. It is a Document, rather than a PDF, and still needs work, but it is certainly more accurate and comprehensive than the list in Boot Hill.

Edited December 21, 2009 by Mister Apocalypse