BRP Torchwood + some questions about Super Powers

[Kairos]

I love BRP. Began playing it years ago in high school primarily with CoC. I didn't look at RQ until I found a second-hand copy of the RQIII Deluxe Set at a gaming store two years ago. I wept for my lost youth playing AD&D and not RQ...but I digress.

I roleplay primarily online these days (play by forum) and BRP seems to me an ideal universal system for this form. The percentile system is easy to understand for those new to it, which is great for attracting good roleplayers who may not know the system. Also, combats are short because they're deadly -- combat really slows down a play-by-forum game (the pace of these games is much much slower than a f2f game).

So, I'm thinking of drawing up a BRP Torchwood game set in 1885 shortly after the founding of the Torchwood Institute by Queen Victoria (perusing my tattered boxed set of Cthulhu by Gaslight gave me the idea). Here are preliminary notes so far:

Torchwood: 1885

"The twentieth century is when it all changes..."

In 1879, Queen Victoria established the Torchwood Institute with a mandate to investigate and protect the British Empire from alien menace. Within five years, Torchwood comprised an archive and library and two field offices. Torchwood One, the main field office, was located in London; Torchwood Two in Scotland; and Torchwood Three is Cardiff after the discovery of a rift in time and space existing in that city. It soon became apparent to Her Majesty that, in order to fulfill its mandate, Torchwood needed not only to investigate the alien menace, but in order to thwart that menace and protect the Empire, the Institute needed to acquire, study, and deploy alien technology. And thus, Torchwood Four was established in London as Torchwood's official scientific and technological branch, tasked specifically with obtaining alien technologies from the field and also from other Torchwood offices. By 1885, however, Torchwood as an organization was beginning to foster an environment of political intrigue and the garnering of favor with the Queen and her agents overseeing the Torchwood Institute. Not only must the newly-formed Torchwood Four investigate alien presence in the field in order to acquire technological devices, they must contest with the other Torchwood field offices, who continually seek to retain the alien technology they themselves discover.

My question is this. I would love some sort of spot rule, maybe using Super Powers, for a sort of "omni-gadget": a "blank" piece of equipment that players can design on the fly once per scene or adventure to simulate a piece of alien tech they might have lying around. For instance, Owen Harper's singularity scalpel or the second resurrection gauntlet that Jack coughs up. The equipment would then "reset" to its blank status at the end of the proscribed period of game time (i.e., scene) at which point it could be reconfigured as needed.

I was hoping the BRP super power rules could handle this, but I notice that there is a lot of recommended GM intervention when creating equipment with powers in the new BRP book. I really would like something that players can slap together fairly quickly without too much bookkeeping. I was thinking of giving these devices a power budget (say 10 points), draw up a quick power table listing powers and budget cost, and let them at it.

Does anyone have any advice on just such an omni-gadget? Has anyone played around very much with the BRP Super Power rules very much? How do they stand up in play?

Thanks!

K

[Fergo113]

Hey K,

I like it. :thumb:

I was thinking that I would love to do a 1920's & 1930's version of exactly the same thing. :eek: It would allow a cross over with the Mythos as well as some Dr Who badies and puts it at an interesting time in the worlds history going into WW2.

Only problem is that right now my ME-BRP project is taking up all my spare time.

I'd be interested in this when you get it going :thumb:

Cheers,

Fergo113

[Nightshade]

Superworld had a few "omnipowers", including Mimic and Gadgets; the big danger once you get into that sort of thing too much is that it becomes the method of choice because of its versitility, unless its so expensive it just become prohibitive.