Newb Here

[TimmyTheNerd]

Alright, on another forum I was asking for a system, for a gang-based modern RPG campaign I'm planning on doing, that has easy to understand for beginners to PnP RPGs and beginners to DM/GMing. BRP was the most suggested so I came here to ask a few questions:

1. Where do I get the BRP system from?

2. Anything I need specifically for a gang-based campaign?

3. On a rating of 1 - 10, 1 being difficult and 10 being so easy a caveman can do it, how difficult is BRP to understand and start up a game with?

4. Are there any character generator/character builder programs for BRP?

[Guest Vile Traveller]

Welcome Timmy.

1. You can get the PDF from DTRPG, if you want the book it's either your local FLGS or you should call the Chaosium direct (they've been having some security issues with ordering through paypal from their website).

2. There is D101's "The Company", and then there are several Call of Cthulhu books dealing with modern times. Not sure what exactly you mean by a 'gang' in this sense - are we talking US street gangs, here?

3. 1 to 10, depending on how many options you want to use! Seriously, the BRP book has a lot of optional rules, but even with as many as you might need thrown in I think complexity for a modern game wouldn't go above 5. If you cut right back to basics, you could get down to a 3 or 2. D100 is, at its core, really simple and intuitive.

4. I yield the floor to those more knowledgeable.

[Mankcam]

Answer to Q1: Well you can order the rulebook from most shops you can get other rpgs, such as Comic & Hobby shops. If you like to buy online you can grab it from Amazon or directly from Chaosium.com.

Answer to Q2: As long as you have setting material you could wing it. Some other supplements with the Call of Cthuhlu setting may have a wider range of era specific weapons and equipment. It really depends what era and location you are playing a gang-based campaign. The sterotypical game would be set 1920s -1950s ala Mafia in the USA. Heaps of other gang stuff you could be after though, such as 1980s to current, such as the rise of Gangsta-rappa types in LA or Florida, Russian post cold-war agents turned Crime Syndicate, or Latino Cartels from Central & South America. There is also the UK Underworld, and even the Australian Underbelly, so I guess it depends on what you want to portray. Most people are inspired by movies like The Godfather, Scarface, Goodfellas, and Casino. If this is what you're after then its Italian-Americano Mobsters 1920s - 1960s, you'll have to grab setting material. No offical BRP Mobster stuff currently produced to my knowledge, although some out-of-print Call of Cthuhlu resources may have setting material, but I am unsure about this.

Answer to Q3: I would give BRP a rating of 3-4 if it is played in its pure form, even less. The skill system is based on a percentile, so you can't get any better than that in trying to illustrate the chances of an action occurring. Various genre types will bolt on optional rules, but if played in it's 'core form' it is reasonably simple in execution, yet allows a great degree of specification. I like the later, as a lot of rules-lite games out there cannot be specked too much (ie: I hate it when games cover all combat skills with just something like 'Fighting' and 'Shooting" or along those lines).

Answer to Q4: No char gen programs that I am aware of. However I find char gen to be pretty simple anyway. Depending on your age, however, I may be inexperienced or an old gronard.

I think you can still get the BRP Quickstart rules as a free pdf from Chaosium.com or Drivethru.rpg (if not, it is likely to be very cheap). I'ld start there if I were you mate

Someone else may have a few more tips for you

Edited January 9, 2012 by Mankcam

[Mankcam]

Vile you must of posted the same time as me, your reply wasn't there a second ago, I wouldn't have replied otherwise...

Edited January 9, 2012 by Mankcam

[TimmyTheNerd]

2. There is D101's "The Company", and then there are several Call of Cthulhu books dealing with modern times. Not sure what exactly you mean by a 'gang' in this sense - are we talking US street gangs, here?

Gangs like in the Saints Row video games and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Although the city I'm developing for the campaign is sort of mixed.

The City is called Free Saints City. There are a total of five gangs in the campaign, stationed in the port of the city. The city itself is a large island of sorts. Anyway, the five gangs are:

Plum Street Outlawz (purple) = US Street Gang, mix of Blacks and Whites, the gang the PCs are from. They are the newest gang in port of the city, sent by the Temple Boulevard Outlawz to claim the port for the larger gang.

Bloodpack (red) = Biker Gang, deal in drugs that alter the body (kinda like steroids) and run illegal underground street fights.

White Kings (white) = A gang that handles itself like a business, all members are European. They're mostly traffickers, everything from drugs and weapons to human trafficking.

El Guerreros (green) = Latin-American Street Gang. Handles the city's illegal street races.

Azure Enforcers (blue) = Newish gang, they're all vigilantes. In Free Saints City, the gangs pretty much took out most of the police force. The remnants of the FSCPD, as well as local civilians, banded together to form the Enforcers, they're out to bring law back to a gang controlled city.

The background is that Free Saints City is controlled by the gangs, be it street gangs or mafias. The city started construction in 1984, finished in 2005. By 2009, the Gangs had taken over everything. In 2011, the Temple Boulevard Outlawzs took control of the west and east sides of the city, with the northshide, controlled by the Dragons (Yakuza type gang). Not wanting to tangle with the Dragons yet, the Outlawz set up an "HQ" in the southside, the port of the city. The HQ happened to be on Plum Street, therfore the port branch of the Outlawz became known as the Plum Street Outlawz. They're tasked with claiming all of the port for the Outlawz. The campaign starts in 2013, one year after the Outlawz arrived and took a bit of turf.

The campaign itself is largely inspired by GTA:SA and Saints Row.

[Zit]

I think you can still get the BRP Quickstart rules as a free pdf from Chaosium.com or Drivethru.rpg (if not, it is likely to be very cheap). I'ld start there if I were you mate

I would highly recommend to purchase the Quick Start, 2$ at Drivethru.

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=2&products_id=82093&filters=0_0_0_0_40050&manufacturers_id=2

Easy to understand, very cheap, it is enough to start any no-magic, no sci-fi campaign. You can make your mind and purchase the BRP later for a more detailed campaign: the BRP is an amazing tool box for creating whatever you like.

[TimmyTheNerd]

Okay, another question.

There a way, in this system, to manage effects from drugs? I am 100% sure that the people I'll be DM/GMing for will be getting into that stuff several times during the rp and I want to know if there is a system for managing any side-effects the drugs may cause.

[rust]

I think the rules for poisons could cover this with only very

few modifications for the effects of the various drugs.

[TimmyTheNerd]

I would highly recommend to purchase the Quick Start, 2$ at Drivethru.

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=2&products_id=82093&filters=0_0_0_0_40050&manufacturers_id=2

Easy to understand, very cheap, it is enough to start any no-magic, no sci-fi campaign. You can make your mind and purchase the BRP later for a more detailed campaign: the BRP is an amazing tool box for creating whatever you like.

I found it for free on the Chaosium site.

[Guest Vile Traveller]

Yes, the consensus here is that the $2 price on DTRPG is a mistake.

[soltakss]

There a way, in this system, to manage effects from drugs? I am 100% sure that the people I'll be DM/GMing for will be getting into that stuff several times during the rp and I want to know if there is a system for managing any side-effects the drugs may cause.

I'd go with Rust and use the poison rules, as a basic idea.

If you want to go more complicated, give each drug a Rating and have the user roll that rating each time that he wants to be affected by the drug. Normal Success = desired effect, Special Success = enhanced effect, Critical Success = Fantastic effect, Failure = No real effect, Fumble = Overdose or Side-Effect. Each person could build up a tolerance to the drug which would manifest as a penalty to the drug's Rating. Taking more drugs would add a bonus to the drug's rating but should also give an automatic Side-Effect chance.

Side Effects would depend on the drug in question. The most conmmon would be Dependence/Addiction. You could build a table of common side-effects and their game mechanics. Weight Loss (Loss of STR/CON), Paranoia, Sleep loss (Lack of concentration, skill penalty) or whatever. Some of these would be countered by other drugs, but they might have side-effects themselves. So, you could take a drug to counter the Sleep Loss but that might induce paranoia.

I'd search the Internet for side-effects of recreational drugs.