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If you're looking for a published or a bottled home-grown construct that caters to your love of "genricness" and "streamlineyness", you might find it difficult to find a nicely wrapped hybrid beyond that which you already seem to have discovered in using Ren D100 and the BGB to fill in the gaps or needs. 

I wonder if BRP GMs aren't all by nature hyrid-eers in one sense or another. One uses general hit points, another uses hit locations, another uses wound levels and still another tries to get away with no HP at all :)! We love to tinker. That's the beauty of the system; take what you need or want and reserve the rest for later.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

Cheers,

Edited by Sunwolfe
clarity
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Present home-port: home-brew BRP/OQ SRD variant; past ports-of-call: SB '81, RQIII '84, BGB '08, RQIV(Mythras) '12,  MW '15, and OQ '17

BGB BRP: 0 edition: 20/420; .pdf edition: 06/11/08; 1st edition: 06/13/08

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If you're looking for a published or a bottled home-grown construct that caters to your love of "genricness" and "streamlineyness", you might find it difficult to find a nicely wrapped hybrid beyond that which you already seem to have discovered in using Ren D100 and the BGB to fill in the gaps or needs. 

I wonder if BRP GMs aren't all by nature hyrid-eers in one sense or another. One uses general hit points, another uses hit locations, another uses wound levels and still another tries to get away with no HP at all :)! We love to tinker. That's the beauty of the system; take what you need or want and reserve the rest for later.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

Cheers,

I agree with that. One thing I love about BRP is taking stuff from other games and fitting it in.

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I agree with that. One thing I love about BRP is taking stuff from other games and fitting it in.

One thing I tend to do a lot is take a lot of the d20 OGC and adapt it to Legend/BRP. I know it doesn't always fit perfectly together, but there is soooo much material out there that it can often be worth it to use some of those ideas to create a fully realized world.

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One thing I tend to do a lot is take a lot of the d20 OGC and adapt it to Legend/BRP. I know it doesn't always fit perfectly together, but there is soooo much material out there that it can often be worth it to use some of those ideas to create a fully realized world.

When I need a power or idea I sometimes look over at GURPS too.  That stuff falls neatly into line.

70/420

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When I do rules hybridization I usually take from newer d100 sources (Renaissance, OpenQuest, etc.) and integrate them towards a simpler BRP framework. I tend to run a more abstract form of BRP (along the lines of CoC 3rd/5th/6th and Elric!) so just grab a few rules pieces that I consider 'advancements' and include them.

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I have been running a Pulp Adventure 20s/30s era game using hybrid rules. Started before Astounding Adventures was published. That book certainly had the flavour I liked, but there was some inconsistencies in the char gen that didn't work for me so I didn't jump ship.

For my core rules I used Character Generation from Call of Cthulhu, and most game mechanics from Call of Cthulhu (pre-7E), using the BGB for Spot Rules backup.

I was influenced by other Pulp Era rpgs ( such as Adventure!, Thrilling Tales, Hollow Earth, Daring Tales, etc, even DareDevils) which had characters pulling off trademark stunts, typical of the pulp genre. Sadly, Astounding Adventures was surprisingly not much of a resource here as I had anticipated. I then considered Legend's Heroic Abilities, although I did not like having a skill level minimum, I just wanted the characters to do this regardless of actual skill. I created my own 'Pulp Feats' which were essentially magic spells re-trapped as Pulp Abilities which costed 1 to 3 Power Points to use (which I renamed Pulp Points).

When Blood Tide was published I saw that the Stunts system was so similar that I completely ported it over, and added a few of my own to the mix, not to compromise characters with pre-existing pulp abilities.

Additionally I ruled that all characters could spend a Pulp Point on a re-roll, and all characters could also 'Try Their Luck', which is a Luck roll costing 5 PP, with the results allowing for the player to edit the scene in their favour, specials and criticals being the stuff of truly wild pulp tales.

Now I am running these characters through Call of Cthulhu scenarios, turning them into Pulp Noir investigations or Classic Adventure style romps. The system mechanics work well because the game build is essentially Call of Cthulhu with BGB for Spot Rules reference. The Stunts system ports over well from Blood Tide, and the 'Try Your Luck' mechanic is essentially a more pulpy version of RQ3 Divine Intervention, just re-imagined for the setting.  It shows how robust the BRP system is.

The only issue I find with BRP hybridization is Magic Systems are not always portable. Not only are they obviously setting specific, but they can also be quite imbalanced in terms of game mechanics. That's the main issue you need to consider if mixing and matching from the BGB. BRP never makes a claim to have 'balanced' characters in any case, but I have only found it is in the magic systems that you need to be wary of this. Others don't mind this at all however. So its not GURPS in that respect, but otherwise everything else is modular and you play with what you want.

As an aside, I am leaning towards using Renaissance as my core build for this setting in future, with the char gen provided by P. Chapman's Pulp Era Character Gen For Legend (in the downloads section of BRP Central). Its just more to my liking, and can still run CoC scenarios just as easily. Unsure whether I will use Legend Heroic Abilities mechanics or just keep the Bloodtide Stunts though. I like what I see from Renaissance Pirates & Dragons, and its easy enough to port over.

However I think I will probably wait until Raiders Of Ry'leh is finished, then have a good look at that. It is still based of MRQ SRD, and it will have Pulp professions - the setting is a generation earlier, but this is easily tweaked.

 

Edited by Mankcam
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" Sure it's fun, but it is also well known that a D20 roll and an AC is no match against a hefty swing of a D100% and a D20 Hit Location Table!"

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I have been running a Pulp Adventure 20s/30s era game using hybrid rules. Started before Astounding Adventures was published. That book certainly had the flavour I liked, but there was some inconsistencies in the char gen that didn't work for me so I didn't jump ship.

For my core rules I used Character Generation from Call of Cthulhu, and most game mechanics from Call of Cthulhu (pre-7E), using the BGB for Spot Rules backup.

I was influenced by other Pulp Era rpgs ( such as Adventure!, Thrilling Tales, Hollow Earth, Daring Tales, etc, even DareDevils) which had characters pulling off trademark stunts, typical of the pulp genre. Sadly, Astounding Adventures was surprisingly not much of a resource here as I had anticipated. I then considered Legend's Heroic Abilities, although I did not like having a skill level minimum, I just wanted the characters to do this regardless of actual skill. I created my own 'Pulp Feats' which were essentially magic spells re-trapped as Pulp Abilities which costed 1 to 3 Power Points to use, which I renamed Pulp Points. When Blood Tide was published I saw that the Stunts system was so similar that I ported it over, and added a few of my own to the mix.

Additionally I ruled that all characters could spend a Pulp Point on a re-roll, and all characters could also 'Try Their Luck', which is a Luck roll costing 5 PP, with the results allowing for the player to edit the scene in their favour, specials and criticals being the stuff of truly wild pulp tales.

Now I am running these characters through Call of Cthulhu scenarios, turning them into Pulp Noir investigations or Classic Adventure style romps. The system mechanics work well because the game build is essentially Call of Cthulhu with BGB for Spot Rules reference. The Stunts system ports over well from Blood Tide, and the Try Your Luck mechanic is essentially a more pulp version of RQ Divine Intervention, just re-imagined for the setting.  It shows how robust the BRP setting is.

The only issue is Magic Systems are not portable, not only are they obviously setting specific, but they can also be quite imbalanced. That's the main issue you need to consider if mixing and matching from the BGB, BRP never makes a claim to have 'balanced' characters in any case, but I have only found it is in the magic systems that you need to be wary of this. Others don't mind this at all however. So its not GURPS in that respect, but otherwise everything else is modular and you play with what you want.

As an aside, I am leaning towards the using Renaissance as my core build for this setting in future, with the char gen provided by P. Chapman's Pulp Era Character Gen For Legend. Its just more to my liking, and can still run CoC scenarios just as easily. Unsure whether I will use Legend Heroic Abilities mechanics or just keep the Bloodtide Stunts though. I like what I see from Renaissance Pirates & Dragons, and its easy enough to port over. However I think I will probably wait until Raiders Of Ry'leh is finished, then have a good look at that. It is still based of MRQ SRD, and it will have Pulp professions - the setting is a generation earlier, but this is easily tweaked.

 

This is a Renaissance/Pulp hybrid is one I'd love to see actually written up and put out by C&W.  It would be a nice option for those who are not so keen on CoC 7E and for those who'd like a game that is more Indiana Jones than Inspector Legrasse.

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Yes, I have the Raiders of Ry'leh draft core rules pdf and its looking very,very good. Not much I would tweak, if at all. Possibly increase the number of 'Mettle' Points available to more cinematic settings, but that's about it. Quentin should definitely look to C&W to distribute it through the Renaissance system. I can't wait to have the finished product!

Edited by Mankcam

" Sure it's fun, but it is also well known that a D20 roll and an AC is no match against a hefty swing of a D100% and a D20 Hit Location Table!"

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Although I am leaning towards moving into MRQ SRD versions of BRP at present, I don't think one build will suit every setting.

For example, I think the brutal nature of an ancient, medeival, or sword n sorcery setting is perfectly suited to RuneQuest 6 or Legend, with its emphasis on various cultural backgrounds, as well as hit locational damage. Combat is chunky, tactical, and bloodthirsty, and evokes the sense of gladiatorial grittiness quite well. 

For more modern games I would go with a more streamline char gen build from Renaissance or OpenQuest, and as I said, something like Raiders of Ry'leh. Combat does not need the chunkiness of RQ6, and indeed probably benefits from a quicker resolution for sense of pace. For futuristic settings, River of Heaven (OQ) will do the trick, although Mercenary Breed also offers a good set of resources.

So the MSRD BRP core mechanics are certainly very portable (as with classic BRP as well), but there are significant emphasis changes according to the particular setting, with rules for hit locations, powers/abilities, and technology. I don't see the game benefiting from one core build, and I think the fact that both classic BRP and MSRD BRP can have different builds shows the strengths with them. 

In game play, these are only minor differences from a players perspective in any case, and all BRP is almost interchangeable on the fly.

Edited by Mankcam

" Sure it's fun, but it is also well known that a D20 roll and an AC is no match against a hefty swing of a D100% and a D20 Hit Location Table!"

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So lets say we have all the books we need and start cutting and pasting. It would look like???

  • Character Creation
    • Professions (??)
    • Stunts (Blood Tide) / Heroic Abilities (Legend)
  • Core Mechanic
    • <who has the best take on the core mechanic>
  • Combat
    • Laundry RPG
  • Optional/Setting Rules
  • Equipment/Tech
  • Powers/SFX
    • Core System
    • Magic
    • Superpowers
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The only issue I find with BRP hybridization is Magic Systems are not always portable. Not only are they obviously setting specific, but they can also be quite imbalanced in terms of game mechanics. That's the main issue you need to consider if mixing and matching from the BGB. BRP never makes a claim to have 'balanced' characters in any case, but I have only found it is in the magic systems that you need to be wary of this. Others don't mind this at all however. So its not GURPS in that respect, but otherwise everything else is modular and you play with what you want.

I agree you have to be careful with magic systems. Desired magic level is usually quite specific to campaigns. Having said that I have quite happily integrated Rolemaster's Spell Law into my low-magic Elric! campaign. Spell Law has many spell lists and uses a level-based spell system but it's easy to convert. Each list becomes a magical skill, which increases by experience as usual. I give the spell caster access to all of the spells in the list, but at a penalty to cast of 5% per spell level. The magic points to cast is equal to the spell level. The good thing about this is that you can make very diverse wizards (different mixes of magical skills) but they don't have to grub about for every individual spell (which in my experience tends to make wizards rather one-dimensional like a superhero with a single power). If they improve in their skill they get access to (or rather, gain the skill to cast) more spells, which in Spell Law are often just variations or improvements on the original effects anyway. And there's my beloved Maelstrom magic system too, but that's another story.

Edited by Questbird
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