Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine is available now in hardcover!

[Scotty]

Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine is available now in hardcover!

BRP is the complete guide to BRP—the same system that powers Call of Cthulhu, RuneQuest, Pendragon, Rivers of London, and countless others.

Get yours today!

(Aussie customers: BRP is taking a little longer to get Down Under, but it will be there soon!)

https://buff.ly/3PWXMSj 

[foolcat]

Hey David,

do you know whether you will have copies in stock at SPIEL fair in Essen, Germany later this week? I'd love to say hi and grab my copy, especially if I can claim the coupon for my PDF purchase there. 😁 

[cdvanhorn]

Is there a discount if you've already purchased the PDF?  If so, how does one claim the discount?

Thanks!

[Nick Brooke]

36 minutes ago, cdvanhorn said:

Is there a discount if you've already purchased the PDF?  If so, how does one claim the discount?

Thanks!

If you bought the PDF direct from Chaosium, you should have received an emailed voucher that will deduct the price you paid for the PDF from the printed book's price. Check your emails, check your spam traps, and if all else fails contact the magnificent Dustin customerservice@chaosium.com and he'll sort you out.

If you bought the PDF from DriveThruRPG or elsewhere, no such luck.

[Scotty]

18 hours ago, foolcat said:

Hey David,

do you know whether you will have copies in stock at SPIEL fair in Essen, Germany later this week? I'd love to say hi and grab my copy, especially if I can claim the coupon for my PDF purchase there. 😁 

It's not a retail stand:

https://www.chaosium.com/blogchaosium-will-be-at-essen-demoing-horror-on-the-orient-express-the-board-game/

[Ravenheart87]

I bought it in a heartbeat.

[g33k]

20 hours ago, Nick Brooke said:

If you bought the PDF direct from Chaosium, you should have received an emailed voucher that will deduct the price you paid for the PDF from the printed book's price. Check your emails, check your spam traps, and if all else fails contact the magnificent Dustin customerservice@chaosium.com and he'll sort you out.

If you bought the PDF from DriveThruRPG or elsewhere, no such luck.

I do wish, though, that Chaosium would go ahead and Make a Bigger Deal out of this policy, each time they announce a new release.  It needs to be right-up-front, with the "hey, we got a new book for ya!" PR releases.

The advantages of buying from a Brick&Mortar FLGS or from Chaosium-direct are very very real!

And every new release, we see the same conversations (at least, I see... pretty much everywhere that my social media overlaps with Chaosium product), often after-the-fact (and to the unhappiness of some customers), who didn't understand going into the purchase... largely because (as above, in the initial announcement) Chaosium didn't explain their own policies.

*PARTICULARLY* when Chaosium is trying to attract new customers, who cannot reasonably be expected to go diving into these threads looking for virtualized "fine print."  Any customer who happens to buy from the "wrong vendor" ends up experiencing a virtual "slap in the face" from Chaosium...  😕
 

[foolcat]

9 hours ago, Scotty said:

It's not a retail stand:

https://www.chaosium.com/blogchaosium-will-be-at-essen-demoing-horror-on-the-orient-express-the-board-game/

Thank you, much appreciated. I have thus completed my Chaosium online store order earlier today.

 

2 hours ago, g33k said:

 Any customer who happens to buy from the "wrong vendor" ends up experiencing a virtual "slap in the face" from Chaosium...  😕

Getting a voucher for the printed copy after having purchased the PDF is quite unique AFAIK, and I concur it should be advertised as prominently as possible. Most other publisher stores I know of "only" offer free PDF files with the hardcopy purchase.

Alas, I sometimes end up buying stuff I intend to work with for a project or another on DTRPG for a second time anyway, just for the convenience of having it in their library app, which I use across several devices (plus, it keeps file versions current). The publishers don't mind, I guess... 😁 

[1000buffalo]

Purchased my copy a couple days ago at my friendly local game store, and had the PDF enablement by the time I drove home to read the hardcover. 

Outstanding upgrade from the prior version. Art, paper stock choice, book ribbon, everything. Well done!

[g33k]

On 10/3/2023 at 11:18 AM, foolcat said:

Getting a voucher for the printed copy after having purchased the PDF is quite unique AFAIK, and I concur it should be advertised as prominently as possible. Most other publisher stores I know of "only" offer free PDF files with the hardcopy purchase.

To be clear, getting the voucher some time after purchase is only for when Chaosium offers the PDF in advance:  they don't send the "coupon" until the book is available.

These days, they aren't usually doing that.

The BRP:UGE book was different (presumably because they wanted to get the ORC-licensed rule-set out into the world ASAP following WotC's OGLpocalypse).

[Ravenheart87]

Kudos for using thick and sturdy matt paper for the rulebook.

[Saki]

The Deluxe cover version is extremely pretty.

[mithramax]

I ordered the Deluxe cover late last night, really looking forward to it.  When I ordered, I mentioned in the notes that I was kind of disappointed with the YouTube video “Weirdest BRP Settings,” and that I hoped there might be a Part II video.  I just re-watched it; I like it more the second time and think it is good.  My main disappointment is that the majority of BRP settings they mentioned were for things I already know about (and actually own (but haven’t played) Elfquest, Stormbringer, Nephilim).  If they do make a Part II, I hope there might be some mention of weird settings that were never part of previous releases.

[SDLeary]

My copy just arrived today, and all I have to say is WOW!

Love the paper... a nice light matte surface (but not white), providing great levels of contrast with minimal (almost no) reflection! Makes things very readable in bright light with multiple sources. Brown tones contrast nicely for headers and tables, again keeping things very readable.

Love the illustrations, just the right amount of color to stand out, without overpowering everything else around them.

Thanks folks... now just need the time to actually go through page by page!

SDLeary

@Jason D 

[Josh Neff]

Yes, the paper used has such a great weight and feel! I love it! I'm hoping the same paper is used for the forthcoming Pendragon books, the paper just has a Pendragony feel to it for me. This version of Basic Roleplaying is just all around great.

[albesias]

The gold reference on the leatherette edition has stolen my heart 💘

[tedopon]

Does it have the magic system from RQ or just the ones from the other BRP games? I haven't bought it because I have a lot of BRP books and am reluctant to keep purchasing the same material over and over. Although, I feel kind of dumb for saying that as I also have several versions of RQ so not sure why that's a deal breaker. It kind of is, though.

[Simulacrum]

None of the RQ magic is in there, I don't know whether the magic systems presented are drawn from old BRP. but they are not from former RQ editions like RQ3

 

[SDLeary]

10 hours ago, tedopon said:

Does it have the magic system from RQ or just the ones from the other BRP games? I haven't bought it because I have a lot of BRP books and am reluctant to keep purchasing the same material over and over. Although, I feel kind of dumb for saying that as I also have several versions of RQ so not sure why that's a deal breaker. It kind of is, though.

Negative, unfortunately.

Chaosium does still sell a PDF (The Magic Book) that contains it though, tucked into the "Home/Basic Roleplaying/BRP Classic/..." section of their site.

SDLeary

[Ravenheart87]

The two magic systems are the old Magic World booklet's magic system (each spell is a percentile skill) and Elric!'s sorcery.

[Primo Cavaliere]

Hello everyone there!

I'am approaching Runequest and Glorantha, but I discovered only some days ago that the Dungeon Master's Guide to Glorantha has not been published up to now, since all the mythology stuff has been given precedence.

So, since I am a huge fan of Pendragon System, and there I am resigned to have to wait some more time, I was wondering if getting the Universal Game Engine could help me in both role-playing systems, since I'd like to run a campaign with them as soon as possible.

Thank you

[radmonger]

The currently unpublished GM's guide is, as i understand it, not required to run a campaign. Everything for that is in the main rules, GM's pack and bestiary. Instead, it will presumably be useful to write one. hopefully this will be a simpler alternative to spending several years on forums and web archives gaining full familiarity with Gloranthan culture and metaphysics, and then distilling that into playable form.

Just as how the starter set lacks character generation rules, but you can use pre-generated characters, until it is out the solution is to run a pre-written campaign, from one of the people who have already done that. There is the official chaosium one that starts in Jonstown and leads into Apple Lane and then on to Colymar tribal politics. Or there are alternatives based on the Haraborn, Dundealos and others.

https://www.chaosium.com/runequest-gamemaster-screen-pack-pdf/ 

https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/313871/Six-Seasons-in-Sartar

https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/421842/jonstown-compendium-index-2023

[Primo Cavaliere]

Thanks radmonger.

But what's your counsel? Is a good idea to purchase the Universal Game Engine or not?

[AndreJarosch]

1 hour ago, Primo Cavaliere said:

I'am approaching Runequest and Glorantha, but I discovered only some days ago that the Dungeon Master's Guide to Glorantha has not been published up to now, since all the mythology stuff has been given precedence.

So, since I am a huge fan of Pendragon System, and there I am resigned to have to wait some more time, I was wondering if getting the Universal Game Engine could help me in both role-playing systems, since I'd like to run a campaign with them as soon as possible.

Welcome to the RuneQuest tribe!

I am sure the upcoming GM book will have a lot of useful stuff in it (especially the stuff on Heroquesting is avaited eagerly by a lot of people)and will give addtional help for GMs to write and run adventures, but is in no way required et all to start gamemastering for your group. 

I am not sure if BRP UGE will fill the "gap" you think the unpublished RQ GM book leaves to wish for, but i still would recommend to buy BRP UGE (and the Mythras PRG book) for alternative rules and different approaches on a lot of rules (and all in the D100 family). 
If you don´t like a certain rule in RQG: Have a look into BRP UGE and/or MYTHRAS how they handle the same detail. Cut and paste in between these rule systems as you like. 

[g33k]

On 10/17/2023 at 9:09 AM, tedopon said:

Does it have the magic system from RQ or just the ones from the other BRP games? I haven't bought it because I have a lot of BRP books and am reluctant to keep purchasing the same material over and over. Although, I feel kind of dumb for saying that as I also have several versions of RQ so not sure why that's a deal breaker. It kind of is, though.

Do you already have the "BGB" edition of BRP?  If so, you likely don't want to buy the new "UGE" edition, as you'd likely find it to be "purchasing the same material over and over."  See here for the key differences:
https://www.chaosium.com/blogbasic-roleplaying-universal-game-engine7-changes-in-the-new-edition/

The two volumes are highly-similar!

One other (potentially critical) difference, not mentioned in the blog-post above:  the new edition is released under the very-liberal ORC license.  If you want to publish a BRP based game (or adventure, or campaign, or etc) this is the edition to use.  Going forward, I hope & expect to see many such products.  All will reference this edition, by page-number &c.

===

If you're not familiar with either:  consider these to be "toolkits" rather than ready-to-play RPG's.  They include many options... some of them being replacements for one another, different ways to do the same things.  You could build a RQ-like "mythic mediterranean swords&sandals" game from these rules, or a gritty post-apocalyptic hexcrawl across an irradiated wasteland, or a modern-urban-fantasy vamps/weres/fae/wizards/etc mashup, or a "capes&cowls" supers game, or etc etc etc.  The point is, though -- you'll have to assemble your own game from the toolkit, none of these are ready-to-go upon opening the books.