BRP YouTube Review

[samwise7]

Hello everyone,

I did a two part YouTube video on BRP and I figured I would share it with this forum. I meant to link to it when I made it, but I guess I forgot to.

Enjoy.

[Chaot]

Fun. Nice reviews.

[Merak Gren]

Nice review. I also found this review after linked to yours.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&client=mv-google&hl=en-GB&v=7FZCid7D9Ak&rl=yes

Someone needs to invite this guy to a BRP game. More complex than D&D3.5? I think he needs to watch your review and start with the quickstart as you suggest.

Cheers

Damon

[Chaot]

More complex than D&D3.5?

That was... interesting...

[dragonewt]

More complex than D&D3.5?

For those who only look at the surface, the BRP Gold Book perhaps does hide the elegant simplicity and consistentcy of BRP's core mechanic. Eschew obfuscation.

[seneschal]

I know many will disagree, but after slogging through the Big Gold Book, creating characters and looking at the task resolution matrix, BRP reminds me of ... HERO System. (The Big Gold Book is similar to HERO 5th Edition's Big Black Book in terms of size, purpose, content, and complexity.) Since I'm a HERO fan, I don't see that as a bad thing. Sure, you can random-roll stats quickly. But after that, skill selection and the other options are pretty much a point-buy group of choices like Champions. It takes me the same amount of time to create a superhero character in both systems, and longer to create a normal character in BRP (since I'm still learning). The only iteration of D&D I've played is Mazes and Minotaurs (extremely stripped down 1st edition), so I don't know how 3.5 compares.

I'm looking forward to downloading the reviews.

[samwise7]

Thanks guys. Yeah, I disagree with Tetsubo, but he also really likes D&D 3.5 and the OGL. He's welcome to his opinion on things (I disagree with good many of them), I just wanted to present a different opinion about BRP. BRP brought me around to the idea that a generic game can be a good thing. Before BRP when I heard generic I associated that with being a bad thing, but now, obviously I have a high opinion of the game. It's one of my top 5 games.

Here is another one that mentions BRP.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeztIZPZZl4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Goarg4g6gs

[Jack Tar]

Regretably, whilst watching your review it led me to this Youtube clip. I am now mentally scared for ever;

[venusboys3]

Nice review... I hope you can add a supplementary one once you get to try it out so we can hear how it goes.

@Jack,

I actually saw her perform live in a coffeehouse in Savannah, GA. There were a lot of jaws hitting the floor that night...

[wbcreighton]

I listened to most of tetsubo's review with gritted teeth. I started to think about the thing that most offeneded him about BRP. The lack of a survival skill.

I thought, there is a survival skill isn't there ? Alas there isn't one. So having listed the 3 professions most likely to need wilderness survival skills below, I would ask GMs out there how to simulate survival skills>

Also what exactly is K:Natural History and how does it differ from K:Natural World ? Sounds a little esoteric to me.

Knowing that there are players coming from other systems, it is good to get a handle on how accomplish in BRP what they could do in D20 or GURPS etc.

Explorer:

Skills: Climb, Language (Other), Language (Own), Persuade,

Research, Spot, and four of the following as appropriate

to setting: Knowledge (Anthropology, Group, History,

Natural World, or Region), Drive, Fast Talk, Firearm

(Pistol, Revolver, or Rifle), Navigate, Pilot (Aircraft or

Boat), Ride, Science (Geology), Swim, or Track.

Hunter:

Skills: Climb, Hide, Listen, Navigate, Spot, Stealth, Track,

and three of the following as appropriate to setting and

concept: Firearm (Rifle or Shotgun), Knowledge (Natural

History or Region), Melee Weapon (usually Spear),

Missile Weapon (any), Language (Other), and Ride.

Tribesman:

Skills: Craft (any), Dodge, Grapple, Hide, Knowledge

(Natural History), Spot, Throw, Track, and two of the following

skills, as appropriate to setting: Brawl, Climb, First

Aid, Listen, Jump, Knowledge (Occult), Melee Weapon

(usually Spear or Club), Missile Weapon (Bow),

Language (Other), Ride, Stealth, or Swim.

[GianniVacca]

I started to think about the thing that most offeneded him about BRP. The lack of a survival skill.

I thought, there is a survival skill isn't there ? Alas there isn't one.

Er... Wrong. You have Knowledge (Streetwise) for urban survival, and Science (Natural History) for wilderness survival.

[Merak Gren]

Yes. Survival skill. I never saw why to get so upset about it. If I need one, I'd just pencil one in. That is, if the game was one where suervival was the key theme, otherwise, a simple Knowledge: Outdoors / Camping / Boy Scouts / Military / Natural History etc will do.

I've always seen the skill list in BRP as 'recomendations' rather than anything rigid.

Pendragon uses 'Hunting' for all outdoor, survival, orienteering, etc.

I don't think its a big deal that survival is missing.

I prefer to have a tighter number of loosly defined skills, than a long list of highly specialised skills.

That's why I like BRP

[samwise7]

Regretably, whilst watching your review it led me to this Youtube clip. I am now mentally scared for ever;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1c2K...eature=related

Wow... I think my eyes are bleeding.

[wbcreighton]

Er... Wrong. You have Knowledge (Streetwise) for urban survival, and Science (Natural History) for wilderness survival.

Er...????. His point was that there is NOT a skill called Survival.

So in the fantasy games that you play, when Ragnar the Barbarian is lost in the wilderness you request that he makes a Science (Natural History) roll.

"Me no take science class. Me no read...";)

[wbcreighton]

For reference from the PHB3.5:

SURVIVAL (WIS)

Use this skill to follow tracks, hunt wild game, guide a party safely

through frozen wastelands, identify signs that owlbears live nearby,

predict the weather, or avoid quicksand and other natural hazards.

( So from BRP I see: Hunting, Tracking, K:Meteorology, K:Natural History, ...)

I guess Survival is a fairly encompassing skill.

To answer my own question:

From wikipedia:

Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards the observational than experimental methods of study.

[GianniVacca]

Er...????. His point was that there is NOT a skill called Survival.

Ok, there's no skill called Survival, but there is a skill that amounts to survival. And there is an appendix at the end of the book that explains that several skills have alternate names (page 373).

[rleduc]

I added Wilderness Survival to Rubble and Ruin – complete with a specialization in “ruins”...

But that is just me.

[threedeesix]

I added Wilderness Survival to Rubble and Ruin – complete with a specialization in “ruins”...

But that is just me.

On a similar note, for Classic Fantasy I changed Science (Natural History) to Knowledge (Wilderness Lore) just because I thought it sounded more appropriate to the genre. Actually, I did away with Science all together and grouped it all under Knowledge and created Knowledge (Academic Lore) to cover most of the sciences. This brought the knowledge/science skills down to a total of only 11 and allowed all of them to fit on a character sheet. I liked that about RQ3 so wanted to do it for CF as well.

Rod

[glenmark]

cool nice review