How do you think BRP is doing?

[seneschal]

What I'm seeing at my local game shops is limited Call of Cthulhu and Mongoose RuneQuest material but no BRP since the initial release. So if you wanted to, you could hunt down CoC and something called RuneQuest. But you'd be hard pressed to find the big gold book unless you special ordered it (assuming you realized it existed). That's a problem if you're trying to appeal to new gamers.

I don't think BRP's age is the issue. Traveller, HERO System, the various D&D iterations, and GURPS are all venerable game systems and seem to be hanging in there. The trick is to attract new players, to let them realize there are more options than just CoC (especially in light of the other Lovecraftian RPGs currently available).

[Conrad]

This is the kind of support that the system really needed in the 90s.

I agree with that.

[Aini]

I find when it comes to getting players for BRP i have to advertise the setting rather than the system (At least with players who never heard of BRP)

I have worlds i have created myself for use with BRP, High-Fantasy, Historic-fantasy and a sci-fi setting.

I think for BRP to have a more global success it needs to have its own world settings published that are not generic. (Something like how Glorantha was for RQ3) This could then be marketable to a wider audience. At the moment BRP only really has historic settings that are easy to use (Or glorantha if you have some of the old RQ3 suppliments). A unique and well developed setting such as post-apocalypse or sci-fi could expand the audience a lot as there are few sci-fi or post-apoc type settings for RPG's in general.

[rust]

A unique and well developed setting such as post-apocalypse or sci-fi could expand the audience a lot as there are few sci-fi or post-apoc type settings for RPG's in general.

Well, we have a real deluge of post-apocalyptic settings over here, some people have even coi-

ned the new term "New German Endtime" for this subgenre of extremely dark (and often rather

silly - think of Roland Emmerich movies ...) settings ...

[Aini]

Well, we have a real deluge of post-apocalyptic settings over here, some people have even coi-

ned the new term "New German Endtime" for this subgenre of extremely dark (and often rather

silly - think of Roland Emmerich movies ...) settings ...

Not sure if we are talking about the same thing unless there are published post-apocalyptic settings in Germany. I have not seen any actual published post-apocalyptic setting beyond rubble and ruin, which is more generic style material for use in making your own post-apocalyptic world really than its own full setting (as is the nature of monographs i think)

When i speak of a full campaign setting, i am referring to settings like Glorantha to make a comparison, (multiple products, lot of detail and lore).

Glorantha is what sold RQ2 and RQ3 for the most part (Although RQ3 had its historic setting also). BRP has no such product to help sell it, unless Call of Cthulhu counts, but Cthulhu is marketed and seen as a completely separate game.

I dont think BRP would loose its generic nature by having detailed campaign setting(s) added, and it would help sell the product to a far wider audience

As to the original question, i do not think BRP is actually doing bad at all, its gaining support and following but at a slow rate. My own group uses BRP as its favourite rules system, but only when i am GM, when others GM they tend to lean towards CoC, D20 or GURPS as they require less work from the GM

[rust]

Not sure if we are talking about the same thing unless there are published post-apocalyptic settings in Germany.

There are, and lots of them - which is why I was so surprised when you mentioned a

lack of such settings published in English, I was not aware that this "post-apocalyptic

trend" is a German phenomenon only.

[Atgxtg]

I don't think BRP's age is the issue. Traveller, HERO System, the various D&D iterations, and GURPS are all venerable game systems and seem to be hanging in there. The trick is to attract new players, to let them realize there are more options than just CoC (especially in light of the other Lovecraftian RPGs currently available).

I think it's age is part of the issue. The other venerable system mentioned have all been in print and supported for the majoirty of the last 2 decades. BRP hasn't, outside of CoC, BRP products have been sproadic, and often recovered old ground (Strombringer/Elric! probably didn't get 4 supplments out before they's print a new edtion.

So to the average gamer, BRP is some RPG that they have not come into contact with much, are are not familar with, haven't seen much for it on the shevles, but might be dimely aware that it was popular back when it was called RuneQuest, before they were born. In other words....

...it's your daddy's RPG!

[RosenMcStern]

Like Battlestar Galactica is your daddy's sci-fi show?

[rust]

Like Battlestar Galactica is your daddy's sci-fi show?

More like Space: 1999, I am afraid.

[RosenMcStern]

Yep, but they never made a remake of Space:1999 (unfortunately).

Hmmmm, here is a franchise that no one ever used....

[Skunkape]

Yep, but they never made a remake of Space:1999 (unfortunately).

Hmmmm, here is a franchise that no one ever used....

A good remake of Space 1999 or UFO would be nice!

Edited May 21, 2010 by Skunkape
Had to qualify the remake!

[SDLeary]

A good remake of Space 1999 or UFO would be nice!

Captain Scarlet anyone?!

SDLeary

[Conrad]

Captain Scarlet anyone?!

SDLeary

They've already done that. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3JBnRh8OCc

Edited May 21, 2010 by Conrad

[Rurik]

...it's your daddy's RPG!

True. Just like a 57 Chevy Ragtop was "your daddy's car". That is the key, convincing people it is a 57 Chevy (as we all know it to be ) and not an Edsel.

[Atgxtg]

A good remake of Space 1999 or UFO would be nice!

There is a film trilogy remakeo UFO in the works. If it will be good or not is still anyone's guess.

And on the RPG front, I have played around with game stats for both series in BRP and EABA. I even posted one or two very early attempts at writing up an Eagle transporter on this site. I wonder what those liscenses would cost for RPG purposes?

Edited May 21, 2010 by Atgxtg

[RosenMcStern]

If they are produced by a Hollywood Major, the license cost will become too high. If not, then it could be interesting.

[Atgxtg]

If they are produced by a Hollywood Major, the license cost will become too high. If not, then it could be interesting.

I believe it is being produced by the UK company ITV. II can check my bookmarks and find out for sure at the UFO fansites (yeah, I got some bookmarked).

I know I got some stats for things too. I did up a UFO and a SHADO mobile in EABA and BRP only a month ago.

I s

[seneschal]

Plus, UFO is the sort of thing BRP does well: normal-human heroes solving mysteries and dodging the unknown. Sure, there are some fancy vehicles in UFO, but most episodes I remember focused on people, not the gear. Many times the key characters even had to confront the enemy unarmed rather than being packed to the gills with weaponry (since the Interceptor pilots tended to be NPCs in game terms).

My only complaint was that everyone was so stolid, stiff and serious that it was hard to feel for them when the aliens caught them and stuffed them into a transport capsule. No Tom Cruise-style hot-shot jet jockeys here, despite the spacecraft. The Moon maidens in their flimsy web uniforms were lovely but they were as cold as the dark side of that satellite. The heroes seemed as remote and inhuman as the critters they battled. Of course, they were British. An American team would have been cracking jokes, chasing skirts, and cutting up to relieve the stress once the members got off duty (re: Buck Rogers and the original Battlestar Galactica's Starbuck).

[Atgxtg]

Plus, UFO is the sort of thing BRP does well: normal-human heroes solving mysteries and dodging the unknown. Sure, there are some fancy vehicles in UFO, but most episodes I remember focused on people, not the gear. Many times the key characters even had to confront the enemy unarmed rather than being packed to the gills with weaponry (since the Interceptor pilots tended to be NPCs in game terms).

It was a mix. The vehicles did get used in every episode, but often they didn't solve the real problem.

My only complaint was that everyone was so stolid, stiff and serious that it was hard to feel for them when the aliens caught them and stuffed them into a transport capsule. No Tom Cruise-style hot-shot jet jockeys here, despite the spacecraft. The Moon maidens in their flimsy web uniforms were lovely but they were as cold as the dark side of that satellite. The heroes seemed as remote and inhuman as the critters they battled. Of course, they were British. An American team would have been cracking jokes, chasing skirts, and cutting up to relieve the stress once the members got off duty (re: Buck Rogers and the original Battlestar Galactica's Starbuck).

That was probably because the producers were trying to make their first TV series for adults. Up until that time all the Andersons' shows were aimed at children. So they probably worried about it be taken seriously. Also the show have a very downbeat tone to it. There was some humor, but mostly from Freeman and Foster. Plus the bearing did fit with the fact that they were a secret military organization fighting a clandestine war. Those Tom Cruise types would get drummed out ASAP.

[seneschal]

IThose Tom Cruise types would get drummed out ASAP.

Or mind-wiped and handed over to the aliens.

[Atgxtg]

Or mind-wiped and handed over to the aliens.

I don't thing SHADO can spare the renounces to find it to wipe.

I always like UFO though (I do have the DVD box set), and thinjk it would make a great setting for an RPG. It's close enough to a modern day setting that you wouldn't need to design a lot of equipment and an entire setting, they way you often need to do with Sci-Fi. Outside of a half dozen vehicles, a few new weapons, and some gadgets, it is mostly a modern setting.

Maybe I post some stats...

I suppose we should stop threadjacking this topic. I really don't think UFO has any bearing on how BRP is doing, oher than adding a UFO book for BRP couldn't hurt.

[seneschal]

X-COM: UFO Defense, the RPG! (Wonder what the license fees for an abandoned '90s computer strategy title would be? The IP is still in play with a new game announced last month -- by a company several sales removed from the original owner.) X-COM, based in part on UFO, was certainly grim enough for BRP. Even the entry-level aliens were bad news. I never did manage to win since my "successful" missions consisted of a lone survivor limping back to base with a dead critter or a little alien tech. Expensive equipment carried by the non-survivors was inevitably lost. "Veterans" were folks who'd survived one mission, and they rarely survived their second. Shoggoth-hunting in Antarctica would be light-hearted fun in comparison.

Back on topic ... one of my local stores stocked a few copies of the Big Gold Book when it first appeared -- but it vanished as soon as the new wore off and I haven't seen it since. They even put one copy on 25% discount during Christmas to reduce stock. On the other hand, the same store regularly carries a (tiny) selection of Call of Cthulhu materials, usually the core book and one or two of the most recent supplements. Since all Chaosium's supplements for BRP are "us-only" monographs, they never appear on the shelf for the casual gamer to inspect.

The other game stores in town are virulently D&D-centric, maybe carrying a small number of other games (the newest versions of HERO, GURPS, Dark Heresy, Warhammer miniatures, whatever is new and shiny or old and unsold).

Edited May 22, 2010 by seneschal

[Atgxtg]

The other game stores in town are virulently D&D-centric, maybe carrying a small number of other games (the newest versions of HERO, GURPS, Dark Heresy, Warhammer miniatures, whatever is new and shiny or old and unsold).

That is what it is like in my neck of the woods, too.

I think BRP is doing alright within it's own fanbase, but that it isn't drawing in many new players.

[Conrad]

I suppose we should stop threadjacking this topic. I really don't think UFO has any bearing on how BRP is doing, oher than adding a UFO book for BRP couldn't hurt.

Why do you call being interesting "threadjacking"?

I think an XCOM/UFO setting with the serial numbers filed off would be a fine addition to BRP.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8RfzkhqBLY

Edited May 26, 2010 by Conrad
Adding a link for the younger members to see what we're talking about.

[seneschal]

Why do you call being interesting "threadjacking"?

I think an XCOM/UFO setting with the serial numbers filed off would be a fine addition to BRP.

To attract new players, we need to insert a microchip in the cover of each copy that makes the UFO alien saucer swishing sound when you open the cover.