New to BRP; some questions

[hoMonkulus]

Hi ... I'm considering buying BRP and just had a few questions about the system.

(Just FYI, I did encounter BRP years ago playing Stormbringer, and despite not liking the setting, I remember thinking that this was the coolest combat system!)

1. From the praise BRP is garnering here and over at the rpg.net forums, I gather that this system can do most genres pretty well, but I haven't heard much about sci-fi ... has anyone tried it and how does it work?

2. Is there much of a section for sci-fi gear, and if not, are there rules for making your own gear? (armor, weapons, etc? Not worried about vehicle creation/combat; I typically switch to a tabletop system like Silent Death, Starmada, etc, for that).

3. Are there differences between lethal and non-lethal combat?

4. Do your combat abilities decrease when you are wounded? Or is it just a flat number of hp, and you're at 100% until you're dead?

5. From what I've read, there is a good selection of powers that cover a variety of sources/genres ... how easy is it to create your own powers?

6. The only other generic systems I've encountered are True20 and Fuzion ... how does BRP stack up?

7. Is there a bestiary in the book? If not, are there guidelines for creating monsters?

Any answers are greatly appreciated! I'm mostly sold on this book already, but I only have the budget to get one gaming product for the next couple of months, so I'm hoping y'all can push me over the edge.

Thanks in advance!

[RosenMcStern]

1. Not me, although we played an "X-Com" game with RQ rules years ago and it worked.

2. There are some, and examples about how to chreate your own combat mechas using superpowers-

3. IIRC, no. Like in many other systems, it must be houseruled.

4. Some injuries can cripple you, especially if you use hit locations (3 HP to the arm and it goes limp).

5. Rather easy.

6. Do not know the other examples

7. There is a good selection of monsters from various genres: aliens, dragons, zombies, dimensional creatures etc.

[Trifletraxor]

1. From the praise BRP is garnering here and over at the rpg.net forums, I gather that this system can do most genres pretty well, but I haven't heard much about sci-fi ... has anyone tried it and how does it work?

Works excellently. Been playing quite some amount of Cthulhu Rising, which is a sci-fi BRP setting.

2. Is there much of a section for sci-fi gear, and if not, are there rules for making your own gear? (armor, weapons, etc? Not worried about vehicle creation/combat; I typically switch to a tabletop system like Silent Death, Starmada, etc, for that).

There's some, but not very much. Get the book for the rules, and have a look at [ CTHULHU RISING: CALL OF CTHULHU ROLEPLAYING IN THE 23RD CENTURY ] for some excellent free sci-fi resources for BRP.

SGL.

[Shaira]

Hi hoMonkulus,

1. Does it well. Also, based on optional rules selection plus combinations of weapons (Blaster Pistol, Disintegrator Rifle, etc) and armor (adaptive mesh, assault armor, etc) you can have a Space Opera gunslinging match with blaster bolts everywhere, or a very deadly combat where a single hit will likely take you down.

2. Scifi weapons and armor, plus some basic vehicles. There's no design system as such, and no lengthy lists of high-tech equipment, in the core book.

3. Yes. You have stun rules, weapons which entangle, stun, etc. Plus you can go for knockouts rather than lethal attacks, etc.

4. As optional rules they do, yes. The hit location system means your combat capabilities are very seriously compromised by certain wounds; additionally there's an optional fatigue system which produces hefty combat / action penalties after extended combat. You can also reduce your FP by 1 for every point of damage you take and reflect wound exhausation easily.

5. Very easy. There are 5 power systems - if scifi is your interest, then you can add Mutations and Psychic Powers extremely easily.

6. Not played either, though I've played D20. BRP is a far more intuitive system, with a single core mechanic that's so transparent you barely need the rules when running a game. The experience system is common-sense, there's no level-oriented artificiality.

7. There's a "sample bestiary", including real-world animals and a brief selection of "typical" fantasy, horror, and scifi fare. There are guidelines on creating critters - BRP critters use the same mechanics as PCs / NPCs, so it's very easy to add new ones.

Hope that helps - enjoy your purchase! :thumb:

Cheers,

Sarah

[NickMiddleton]

Hi ... I'm considering buying BRP and just had a few questions about the system.

(Just FYI, I did encounter BRP years ago playing Stormbringer, and despite not liking the setting, I remember thinking that this was the coolest combat system!)

1. From the praise BRP is garnering here and over at the rpg.net forums, I gather that this system can do most genres pretty well, but I haven't heard much about sci-fi ... has anyone tried it and how does it work?

One of my play test games with the new rules was a short SF campaign, and another one shot in my play testing was SF; plus I've used BRP for various SF games over the years.

2. Is there much of a section for sci-fi gear, and if not, are there rules for making your own gear? (armor, weapons, etc? Not worried about vehicle creation/combat; I typically switch to a tabletop system like Silent Death, Starmada, etc, for that).

Of necessity the equipment sections skims over everything from flint axes to Spaceships, so nothing is treated in exhaustive detail, but there's enough stuff there to play in pretty much any era or setting, and some good notes on using the Powers' systems to stat out vehicles and gadgets.

3. Are there differences between lethal and non-lethal combat?

Not exactly - but there are spot rules for knockout attacks, grappling etc...

4. Do your combat abilities decrease when you are wounded? Or is it just a flat number of hp, and you're at 100% until you're dead?

Not exactly - but depending on the options you chose to use you can be debilitated long before your THP hit zero: with hit locations limbs can be rendered inoperative before death, or an individual rendered unconscious, and with the THP/Major Wound system (derived from Stormbinger) once major wounded you have a limited number of rounds of combat left before you collapse from shock...

5. From what I've read, there is a good selection of powers that cover a variety of sources/genres ... how easy is it to create your own powers?

Very easy. This is BRP, so it's trivially easy to customise the existing powers andvery straightforward to use the existing powers as guidelines to create your own. The super powers system effectively provides a baseline framework for designing ANY power you like.

6. The only other generic systems I've encountered are True20 and Fuzion ... how does BRP stack up?

Don't know Fuzion at all, and I read a copy of True20 and sold it as it seemed rather bland and despite its claims to streamline and rationalise d20, oddly fiddly in an un-satisfying way.

7. Is there a bestiary in the book? If not, are there guidelines for creating monsters?

There's a short but pretty comprehensive bestiary in the book, which can guide you in monster creation. I'd also heartily recommend the Call of Cthulhu supplement Malleus Monstrorum - even if the mythos angle is no use, there are a HELL of a lot of useful things statted out in that book.

Cheers,

Nick

Edited July 21, 2008 by NickMiddleton

[hoMonkulus]

Thanks, everyone, for the detailed answers. It sounds like BRP is exactly what I have been looking for. I will now camp out beside the mailbox. Can't wait to read it (I have a 20+ hour train ride coming up, and I hope it arrives before then).