seneschal Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 I've taught the BRP mechanics successfully to six year olds. In my opinion, it's one of the easiest, most intuitive games on the market. As a BRP newbie, I'll have to look things over and make up my own mind. The problem is, you can teach ANY game mechanics to a 6-year-old (I had my little brother and sister playing Melee, Toon, Traveller and Champions). Once folks hit 8 or 10 years old something changes in the human brain and the rules become harder to learn. My parents couldn't grasp the basics of Melee, which is why I corrupted, er, taught my siblings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soltakss Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 Funny Cartoons (RQ is the Best) and Puppet Sex aside, BRP is very easy to learn, in essence. Skills are expressed as percentages and rolled on D100.Characteristics represent how physically able you are and show your physical presence.Damage is done to your body, or to parts of your body, and is protected against by wearing armour, putting something between you and the thing damaging you or moving out of the way of the thing damaging you.You get better by thinmking about what you have recently done and attempting to roll an increase on D100. And that's about it, really. In essence, very simple. So why does it need a 1000 page rulebook? Quote Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. www.soltakss.com/index.html Jonstown Compendium author. Find my contributions here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atgxtg Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 As a BRP newbie, I'll have to look things over and make up my own mind. The problem is, you can teach ANY game mechanics to a 6-year-old (I had my little brother and sister playing Melee, Toon, Traveller and Champions). Once folks hit 8 or 10 years old something changes in the human brain and the rules become harder to learn. My parents couldn't grasp the basics of Melee, which is why I corrupted, er, taught my siblings. It took my MoM 20 years to learn how to record with a VCR. I still haven't work up the courage to tell her than VSH is nearly dead and that she can now record to DVD. With RPGs, I also think that is is easier to teach someone who is "fresh" to gaming that someone who is very experience, but in one system. I've seen people who start to think that things should work a certain way ("There can't be a Gorgon in here, we're only 2nd level!"), and have a hard time trying to unlearn what they have learned ("Frontal charges on missile troops is a great tactic!"). Quote Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarulf Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 I ran a little adventure in RQ3 for my nine year old nephew last summer. He was completely new to rpgs and had a very vague idea of what it really was about, but after a few minutes explaining things he got right into it. The rules faded into the background as he really started roleplaying. I was quite impressed actually. By his performance, how quickly he grasped the essentials of the system and how little the system got in the way. I did play fairly loosely with the rules, but still. I'm not sure it would have been as easy with D&D or GURPS for example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atgxtg Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 I ran a little adventure in RQ3 for my nine year old nephew last summer. He was completely new to rpgs and had a very vague idea of what it really was about, but after a few minutes explaining things he got right into it. The rules faded into the background as he really started roleplaying. I was quite impressed actually. By his performance, how quickly he grasped the essentials of the system and how little the system got in the way. I did play fairly loosely with the rules, but still. I'm not sure it would have been as easy with D&D or GURPS for example. While I'm not a fan of D&D, I'll state that a lot of this depends on the GM and how he presents/teaches the game. If he keeps it simple, and starts slow, focusing on the fun and adventure part rather than rules and math, most RPGs are easily grasped. The approach you used for a 9 year old is probably the right approach for a 15 year old of a 50 year old, too. Quote Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason D Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 One of the things on my plate is a revision of the 16-page BRP booklet, featuring the basic-est version of the rules (no options, simplified somewhat). I'm hoping it'll be available either cheaply or free via .pdf, and will be one of those "you could technically run a non-powers game from just this if you wanted to" sorts of products. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atgxtg Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 One of the things on my plate is a revision of the 16-page BRP booklet, featuring the basic-est version of the rules (no options, simplified somewhat). I'm hoping it'll be available either cheaply or free via .pdf, and will be one of those "you could technically run a non-powers game from just this if you wanted to" sorts of products. That would be a nice idea. Maybe something a little more that the 16 page booklet. Like a 32 page book with some armor, and weapons, and a mini pick-a-path solo would be a nice "BRP-lite" Intro game. Quote Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seneschal Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 I second the motion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarulf Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 While I'm not a fan of D&D, I'll state that a lot of this depends on the GM and how he presents/teaches the game. That's probably true, except this GM doesn't really remember exactly how D&D works (and thus in retrospect probably shouldn't have mentioned it). I played a lot of 1st ed in the 80's, but have only encountered 3.0/3.5 in computer games. The approach you used for a 9 year old is probably the right approach for a 15 year old of a 50 year old, too. He didn't seem to mind. I didn't bother with going through 'proper' character generation. We decided what kind of character he was going to play, and I just gave him suitable skills. Some I didn't think of at first came up during play when he asked to do stuff, so I just said "ok you have 40% in that". I'm a very inexperienced GM but I think I managed to fool him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarulf Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 One of the things on my plate is a revision of the 16-page BRP booklet, featuring the basic-est version of the rules (no options, simplified somewhat). . That sounds like a great idea. I play mostly on-line now and have been in several GURPS games. Many potential players express interest but haven't got the rules but with the GURPS lite rules they can still take part. I suspect their presence sells the real game, though I've no evidence of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enpeze Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 That sounds like a great idea. I play mostly on-line now and have been in several GURPS games. Many potential players express interest but haven't got the rules but with the GURPS lite rules they can still take part. I suspect their presence sells the real game, though I've no evidence of that. I am sure you are right. A 16p booklet as pdf for download would be great for newbies. It would also important not to forget a simplified character sheet for this project. i was always fond of the minimalistic A5 character sheet which was part of the old online BRP rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enpeze Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 One of the things on my plate is a revision of the 16-page BRP booklet, featuring the basic-est version of the rules (no options, simplified somewhat). I'm hoping it'll be available either cheaply or free via .pdf, and will be one of those "you could technically run a non-powers game from just this if you wanted to" sorts of products. Jason, if the text/pictures are ready and if you like a professional layout for this 16p booklet, let me know. I am graphic designer in my normal job and layouting this should be no problem for me. I use the usual programs like Photoshop, Xpress and Illustrator and the end format would be an pdf optimized for screen and fast download. And I would do it for free of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tweaker Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 One of the things on my plate is a revision of the 16-page BRP booklet, featuring the basic-est version of the rules (no options, simplified somewhat). I'm hoping it'll be available either cheaply or free via .pdf, and will be one of those "you could technically run a non-powers game from just this if you wanted to" sorts of products. I am thankful Triff added a few nifty smileys to reflect my opinion on this: :thumb: I am also pretty sure that things like Savage Worlds' Test Drive rules really helped to increase the sales of the rulebook for PEGINC. I think it would be cool if someone stole another good idea from them and created free one-sheet adventures in the same vein as they do: a simple outline for an adventure, a set of pregenerated characters and a few bad guys to beat or an enigma to solve (or both! ). Quote Happy owner of number 226 of 420 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atgxtg Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 I think it would be cool if someone stole another good idea from them and created free one-sheet adventures in the same vein as they do: a simple outline for an adventure, a set of pregenerated characters and a few bad guys to beat or an enigma to solve (or both! ). More like reclaim a good idea. Prince Valiant used to have these in the back on the book. They had some options Those might be a bit beyond the original concept. Could be something we could add to it though. I'd also be favorable to some, poor/average/good type NPC writeups such as the ones used in RQ Vikings and Pendragon. Quote Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tweaker Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 More like reclaim a good idea. Prince Valiant used to have these in the back on the book. They had some options Those might be a bit beyond the original concept. Could be something we could add to it though. Yes, you're right. I was thinking they could be separate downloads available in Chaosium's website or here, much like PEGINC's one-sheets. Quote Happy owner of number 226 of 420 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickMiddleton Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 Yes, you're right. I was thinking they could be separate downloads available in Chaosium's website or here, much like PEGINC's one-sheets. have you seen the "Tuesday Terribles" at Chaosium's site? Mostly on Call of Cthulhu themes, and they only did them for a while, but they were little snippets for games (an NPC, artefact or location) and some were rather good. It would be cool to see them revivied and their remit expanded to include BRP... Cheers, Nick Middleton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tweaker Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 have you seen the "Tuesday Terribles" at Chaosium's site? Mostly on Call of Cthulhu themes, and they only did them for a while, but they were little snippets for games (an NPC, artefact or location) and some were rather good. It would be cool to see them revivied and their remit expanded to include BRP... I've read all of them It is true that they were mostly CoC, but I really liked the last one (the surveillance drone, I think). Quote Happy owner of number 226 of 420 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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