Compatibility question

[grayriver]

Hi,

I recently got Merrie England and find it to be a great book. I've been putting off getting BRP or associated games just because I've picked up so many games lately. I'll be taking the plunge soon and looking at the games available, Merrie England was made to be compatible with BRP. However, I don't want a toolbox game. I'm sure it's great and I'd get a lot of use out of it, but I'd really like to get Magic World if it presents the same dials as BRP while also being more medieval focused.

And it would work out better since I was thinking of reacquiring Stormbringer 4th and I could get MW instead. I also want to get some of the Monographs and really just want to make sure the core book I get is the best one for the job. And I already grabbed the BRP quickstart.

I'm pretty familiar with the system, I've played Stormbringer, Elfquest, Runequest, and Call of Cthulu way back in the day.

Thanks for all your help and opinions.

[RosenMcStern]

The point is that toolbox games are generally more useful to D100 players, as they usually tailor the game to their needs in any case. If the game is already devised to be adapted to your gaming group needs, one can foresee that it will be easier for you to plug in your adaptations. You will do it in any case, even if the game is not intended to be a toolbox, but in this case you risk to "break" the game.

That said... what was your question?

[frogspawner]

I think the question is "Does Magic World present the same dials as BRP while also being more medieval focused?"

Sorry - I don't know!

[nclarke]

AFAIK MW uses Stormbringer as it's core. Don't think there was much adjustability in the same way BRP's BGB is adjustable to various gaming styles. For example the BGB allows you several methods of dealing with injury in combat (i.e. location based and wound levels) whereas I think MW only offers wound levels without location options. Sure you can plug them in using the information from other BRP games but they aren't there by default/as an option. There is one form of magic AFAIK with others coming in a supplement (Advanced Sorcery or something). Armour rules use variable AP I think compared to fixed AP in many BRP games.

No doubt Ben will be along as soon as the west coast wakes up to give you the low-down.

[soltakss]

I recently got Merrie England and find it to be a great book.

Thanks - always good to hear.

I've been putting off getting BRP or associated games just because I've picked up so many games lately. I'll be taking the plunge soon and looking at the games available, Merrie England was made to be compatible with BRP. However, I don't want a toolbox game. I'm sure it's great and I'd get a lot of use out of it, but I'd really like to get Magic World if it presents the same dials as BRP while also being more medieval focused.

Merrie England was originally designed for MRQ(1/2) and was converted to BRP. However, the conversion was done in such a way to retain a very high level of compatibility with MRQ, at least that was the intention. So, Legend might be a good option.

I do not have Magic World, so I can't really comment on how compatible Merrie England is. If Magic World is a reskinning of BRP then it should be OK, if it's more like Stormbringer then less so. It is likely to me more compatible with Legend than with Stormbringer.

BRP is a rules book, Magic World is a setting book, Merrie England is a setting boo and the two approaches (rules vs setting) are very different. You can probably use most of the BRP/Legend/RQ setting books with most of the BRP/Legend/RQ rules systems, with a bit of work.

And it would work out better since I was thinking of reacquiring Stormbringer 4th and I could get MW instead. I also want to get some of the Monographs and really just want to make sure the core book I get is the best one for the job. And I already grabbed the BRP quickstart.

Definitely get MW rather than any version of Stormbringer, as it is based on BRP with some Stormbringer ideas pulled in. It's supposed to be a more generic version of Stormbringer, taken out of Michael Moorcock's settings.

I'd go for Legend, personally.

[SDLeary]

BRP is a rules book, Magic World is a setting book, Merrie England is a setting boo and the two approaches (rules vs setting) are very different. You can probably use most of the BRP/Legend/RQ setting books with most of the BRP/Legend/RQ rules systems, with a bit of work.

Not quite. MagicWorld is not a setting book, though it does present the barest minimum setting in the back as an introduction. It is essentially a streamlined version of the BRP rules for Fantasy role-play, based on Stormbringer 5 (as the core of BRP is).

This being said, I see no reason Merrie England would not work if the version you have is Merrie England: Age of Chivalry. If it is the earlier version, Merrie England: Age of Eleanor, then it should still be do-able, but more work on your part to adapt some of the variations in core rules between the mRQII/Legend and MagicWorld.

Either way, Merrie England an excellent supplement to have around even as a general source.

SDLeary

P.S. Simon: Um... Age of Adventure? Age of Crusade? Update please!

[smiorgan]

I have both 'Merry England' and 'Magic World' they are very compatible. The only point that needs conversion is that Merry England uses hit locations while Magic World uses rolled armor. Easy solution: ignore hit locations in Merry England and substitute static armor value with the corresponding rolled value: the armor tables in the BGB have them. All the rest is totally compatible, including the Christian magic which can be simply plugged in into MW with no fuss at all.

In my opinion it is much easier to use Merry England with Magic World than with Legend. Basically with Legend you can leave the hit locations but you have to convert pretty much everything else! Skills, damage bonus, weapon damage, characteristic rolls into resistances and magic. Basically Merry England Christian magic should be scrapped and substituted with a variant of divine magic. Totally feasible, but moch more work than using with MW.

Finally, Stormbringer - any edition, including Mongoose's Elric of Melniboné - just rocks and you should get it as a game in its own right. Stormbringer 5th and Elric! are those on which Magic World is based and are also quite close to BGB BRP. Stormbringer 4th is a bit different but has a very fun magic system and crazy character generation, plus several simple deadly scenarios on the edge between silly and totally epic.

[soltakss]

Easy solution: ignore hit locations in Merry England

Ignore Hit Locations Does not compute ...

[soltakss]

P.S. Simon: Um... Age of Adventure? Age of Crusade? Update please!

I would say soon, but it won't be.

Things I have in the pipeline first (All for Legend):

Non-Humans (Using non-humans as PCs, creating new non-humans, creating new backgrounds/professions, homebews)

Land of Ice and Stone (Old Stone Age Europe roleplaying)

The Dark Isles (Gaming in post-Roman Britain)

Legend:SciFi (A port of the Legend rules to SciFi)

After that, Merrie England:Age of Crusade or Merrie England:Age of Adventure, or a combination of the two. Probably sometime in 2014 or 2015, at this rate.

[smiorgan]

Ignore Hit Locations Does not compute ...

Sorry... I'm a Stormbringer guy at heart ... I would give away hit locations any day for the joy of 1d10-1 plate armor (helmet off), grievous APP disfiguring major wounds, epic multiple parries at -30%, ripostes, and weapons that break at the worst moment possible...

[threedeesix]

Land of Ice and Stone (Old Stone Age Europe roleplaying)

Ooh, please move this one up to the top.

Rod

[grayriver]

Awesome! Thanks for all the input! I'll pick up Magic World. The difference between rolled armor and hit locations isn't insurmountable and would probably depend on the preference of the players.

And I'll drop that dollar on the Legend PDF that I've been eyeballing for a while.

And Simon?

<<The Dark Isles (Gaming in post-Roman Britain)>>

You should go back in time and finish this then so I'd have it in my hands today. It's exactly the type of sourcebook I'm trying to gather for my someday, hopefully not too someday, D100 game.

[Baragei]

I apologise for the slight derail, but I have the old MRQ Age of Elanor.

How do the editions differ (apart from game-technical details)?

[soltakss]

I apologise for the slight derail, but I have the old MRQ Age of Elanor.

How do the editions differ (apart from game-technical details)?

When I wrote Age of Eleanor, I intended to write two or three supplements a year, detailing more of Medieval England and its surroundings. However, Mongoose pulled the RQ Licence and decided to go alone.

So, we decided to go with BRP, as that was very similar to RQ. As part of this, I rewrote Age of Eleanor and also added in 3 of the supplements that I had planned to write for RQ Merrie England.

Merrie England: Age of Chivalry is 3 times as big as Age of Eleanor and contains expanded religion rules, Heaven and Hell, Demons and Demonology including a writeup of many Medieval Demons and their powers and more.

The full Table of Contents for Age of Chivalry can be found at http://www.soltakss.com/merrieengland/ME_TOC.txt and for Age of Eleanor at http://www.soltakss.com/merrieengland/ME_AOE_TOC.TXT - you should be able to see what has been added.

Edited March 30, 2013 by soltakss