girlfriend

[golden wheel dancer]

My girlfriend said she would try roleplaying if the game can have Johnny Depp in it, leaping around as a pirate.

My first choice would be BRP but I am thinking that Heroquest may be more applicable to all the impossible leaping about and somersaulting between ships.

Do you reckon I could wangle it with BRP? I have always considered BRP to be "weighty" with a sense of realism. I would be interested in knowing if/how you guys handle fantastical shenanigans with the trusty BRP.

[ORtrail]

Having really high stats and/or skills does a lot of the work, along with a liberal GM. I'm always in favor of ignoring movement rates or whatnot, in favor of dramatic action.

BRP can be nasty and deadly if you like, or much more heroic depending on the options you choose. I'd give old Captain Sparrow a high CON, even a bonus for "toughness" to let him survive quite a bit of combat.

I don't have the new book, but isn't there an option for adding both CON and SIZ for your hit points, for more heroic gaming?

Anyone?

[The Venomous Pao]

Having really high stats and/or skills does a lot of the work, along with a liberal GM. I'm always in favor of ignoring movement rates or whatnot, in favor of dramatic action.

BRP can be nasty and deadly if you like, or much more heroic depending on the options you choose. I'd give old Captain Sparrow a high CON, even a bonus for "toughness" to let him survive quite a bit of combat.

I don't have the new book, but isn't there an option for adding both CON and SIZ for your hit points, for more heroic gaming?

Anyone?

Yep. There sure is. I believe it's referred to as "Total Hit Points."

[Chaot]

For swashbuckling fun, check out the mook rules in Green's Lords of Law (sadly no longer in print).

It boils down to this. A mook can attack, but not parry or dodge. A solid hit on a weak mook kills the mook. Two solid hits on a strong mook kills the mook.

I've used it for high powered play and it simulates 'wading through your enemies' nicely. The only issue is that players become a bit overconfident. So, I'm pretty specific when I'm using mook rules and when I'm not.

As for Sparrow, I'd give him a really great DEX and CHA (APP) and a decent STR. He's not a big guy, so I'd work the DB to somewhere around +1d4. He's also a bit of a drinker, so I'd give him a low CON.

However, his movement and fighting skills are easily over 100%. He seems to also have a lot of Fate points to burn.

Keep in mind, I've only seen the first film, so assesment might need adjusting.

[AikiGhost]

Personally Id go with Savage Worlds/50 fathoms for a high action pirates game.

[Ken]

Does he have to be leaping around as a pirate?

Can he be skulking around as a victorian detective?

Treading carefully among the roses with scissors for hands?

Seducing children as an impish chocolate manufacturer?

Hell, why don't you write a 'The many movie roles of Johnny Depp' as a source book for BRP. I'm sure that many other girlfriends would try roleplaying if that sourcebook was in print.

Lol btw, tickled pink by your thread.

K.

[Jack Tar]

Impact BRP can handle it, but don't forget 7th Sea.

[golden wheel dancer]

Thanks for all the responses.

I think its the depp factor multiplied by the pirate factor x10(to the power of the swashbuckling factor) that produces a value that stimulates her wish to try roleplaying!

I think I would like to stick to BRP or Heroquest because they are what I love.

What is "Impact BRP"?

HEROQUEST: I use my background of "swinging in the rigging" to ballet dance along a rope somersault into the rigging of another ship and swing onto the deck" (rolls with appropriate modifiers),

BRP: performing similair series of actions (rolls agility skills(jump etc) and characteristic dex rolls at various junctures in the series of actions).

is that how its done? what about performing an impossible jump? I suppose I could impose modifiers to the BRP rolls for actions that are impossible.

thankyou

aaaaarrrrrr

[soltakss]

RuneQuest Pirates is excellent with all the flavour of a Pirates game.

It's pretty much compatible with BRP, even if RQM is not completely compatible.

I'd recommend it - it's the best RQ supplement that Mongoose have brought out.

[golden wheel dancer]

Thanks. I may check out MRQ pirates...though it would make me cringe slightly to buy a MRQ product (I stopped after buying the RQ pamphlet). And Im hoping that I will only have to play a couple of pirate sessions before weaning her onto Glorantha >:->

I was thinking that the superheros rules may be applicable to all the required impossible shenanigans. I have not seen the rules yet though as I am waiting (very excitedly for the final version to be released).

Another thought I had was to just give the protagonists outrageously high skill values. So Jack Sparrow -

Jump 540%

Cutlass attack 525%

Swagger 400%

Flirt 1025%

And then impose a -100% modifier for every "level of impossibility" the action requires.

for example

Jack sparrow attempts to jump an impossible distance....Jump becomes 440%

The same cheeky pirate attempts to jump an impossible distance while somersaulting and then wishes to bounce from the rigging into the crows nest.....Jump is modified to 40%

or something like that.

Also maybe to expand dex beyond species maximum would be a good idea, and to introduce a luck roll.

I think BRP could actually be the better choice

[soltakss]

The trouble is that if you do that and then move on to a normal game, the players will expect such high skills.

Personally, that isn't the way I'd go.

Give them normal skills but give each of them some special "Cinematic" abilities. Not all pirates are swashbuckling sowrdsmen or acrobatic gymnasts. Allow each pirate to choose 1D3 abilities, or choose a number if you don't want a random number of abilities. Sample abilities might be:

Incredible Acrobatics

Mighty Swordsman

Gift of the Gab

Infamous Lover

Luck of the Devil

or whatever - make your own up or use Legendary Abilities from RQM.

Don't give them skills to go with the abilities, but if they use a normal skill and can reasonably use the cinematic ability then don't apply a penalty rating.

So, Bart the Black is trying to flee Rogering Roderick and decides to desperately jump across a roof, catch a rope hanging neatby and swing over a large gap. Bart has Jump 80% and DEX 18, so his "Catch Rope" would be DEXx5% or 90%. Roderick has Jump 50% and DEX 13, so his Catch Rope would be 65%. The GM determines that the jump is quite tricky and is at -40% and that catching the rope is at -30% because it is dark. Rogering Roger has Incredible Acrobatics as a cinematic ability so Bart is at Jump 40% and Catch Rope 60% but Roderick is at Jump 50% and Catch Rope 65%. Bart jumps but fails to catch the rope, Roderick jumps and catches him. Bart now uses his Fast Talk to talk Roderick out of what he plans to do and has Luck of the Devil, Gift of the Gab and Fast Talk 70%, but the GM determines that Roderick is set on his action and gives a -50% Fast Talk penalty. Bart has a 70% chance of making the Fast talk because of his Gift of the Gab but rolls an 80, so he tries a Luck Roll (60%) to see if the City Watch are nearby and succeeds, so a watchman wanders by and Roderick runs off.

It might give you the style you are after without having extremely high skills.

[p_clapham]

I've got a feeling my Girlfriend would rather roleplay a Ninja.