Fractured Hopes

Also just back from the printers is Classic Fantasy - A return to the dawn of roleplaying. In these early days of roleplaying, what eight giants are doing in a 10'x10' room was less important than what their treasure rating was, and rescuing the beautiful princess isn't something you did because it was morally right, but because of the 1000 gold piece reward. Explore dungeons in your quest for treasure, fight terrifying monsters, and cast powerful spells of destruction! The author is threedeesix from the forum, who is currently working on the second volume in the series.  

Cheers! Trifletraxor.

Hello

I have been playing RPG's since i was 12 years old. BRP is my favorite gaming
system. i played many versions of it RuneQuest 2nd ,call of cthulhu,
Stormbringer,and others.

I make rules,monsters worlds for gaming, i am also a artist.

i have some stuff on BRP Central website.

at the following:  check out my Terminator BRP  still in the process of
preparing more terminator files to upload. but what i have on the site can get
you started if you want to play a Terminator game.

http://basicroleplaying.com/forum/downloads.php?do=cat&id=46

Also i have other stuff such as modern character hit Point, wound sheets,and
Conflict hit location tables with critical effects.

I hope someone can find use for them!

Aaron aka Skull

Latest monograph out is The River Terror - ...and Other Adventures for Basic Roleplaying, the winning entries from the second Chaosium BRP Adventure Contest. 11 scenarios, 168 pages total: Explore mythic Australia, battle for lost New Caledonia, assist Boston police in a kidnapping, and make a strategic strike against the Nazi Occult Bureau in the 1930s, and much more.

Another treat to look forward to is Classic Fantasy - A Return to the Dawn of Roleplaying, threedeesix' homage to the classic dungeon crawl. Volume one covers character generation, skills, spells, equipment and spot rules. A second volume is in the works. Classic Fantasy is currently at the printers! :-)

Cheers! Trifletraxor.

For all those who appreciated Alephtar Games' Basic Roleplaying supplement Rome: Life and Death of the Republic, here is an additional opportunity to use it in actual play: Veni, vidi, vici. These four scenarios transport you to the first century BC, the time of Julius Caesar.

"The Ransom" and "The Promise" by Ken Spencer (aka IndianaKen) feature the plague of piracy in the Mediterranean, with the frequent taking of hostages and the necessity to reassert the supremacy of Rome over the seagoing scum. But the players will soon discover that the Eternal City hosts subtle, yet more hazardous, kinds of threats. In "The Sacrilege" by Pete Nash the players will face an obscure intrigue and ethical dilemmas, in a mystery adventure involving a mixture of passion, religion and treachery. "The Invasion" by Conall Kavanagh takes our adventurers to the most daring of Caesar's military adventures: the invasion of Britain. Will the characters, used to Roman politics, find their way in the dangerous arena of Briton tribal intrigues?

Run as a mini campaign, or used as single adventures, these scenarios offer exciting and deadly experiences -- including riots, battles and the inevitable skulduggery of Republican Rome! Veni, vidi, vici is available on DriveThruRPG now! :)

Witchcraft

Witchcraft will have several new witchy-flavoured spells as well as information on how to incorporate infernal, pagan or neutral witchcraft into a setting. The brewing of magical potions, one-shot magic items like talismans and optional allegience rules for colouring your magic black or white will also be included, in addition to details of several oragnisation of witches.

The monograph is expected to be about 48 pages. The author is Byron Alexander from the forum. The manuscript was submitted to Chaosium September 2009.

Beetle Ramblings

Sounds interesting any details of treatment of Voodoo, like to know more about
it. Like flinters and rapiers as was in English Civil War Society. Have both of
RM tome on 17C/Pirates and the GURPS ones too also have the GURPS on on voodoo

Nick


--- In Basic_Roleplaying@yahoogroups.com, "Sverre Larne" <sverrelarne@...>
wrote:
>
>
> Arrrgh Pirates!
>
>   [Arrrgh Pirates!] "Arrrgh Pirates!" covers the Golden Age of Piracy! It
> contains the historical background, new character creation options,
> naval combat rules, new equipment, rules for cinematic stunts, Voudou,
> and a mystical history campaing setting, Bokors and Broadside. With
> Arrrgh Pirates! you can play in a range of styles, from straight
> historical to over the top mystical action.
>
> The author is Ken Spencer, aka IndianaKen
> <http://basicroleplaying.com/forum/members/indianaken.html> , who aims
> to submit the monograph by September 2009.
>
> The monograph is now in its playtesting phase, with the author looking
> for playtesters. Contact him on Basic Roleplaying Central by posting in
> the
> http://basicroleplaying.com/forum/basic-roleplaying/1555-sail-horizon-ca\
> ptain.html
> <http://basicroleplaying.com/forum/basic-roleplaying/1555-sail-horizon-c\
> aptain.html>  thread, or sending him a PM, if you'd like to join the
> playtesting.
>
> Cheers, Sverre.
>

Arrrgh Pirates!

"Arrrgh Pirates!" covers the Golden Age of Piracy! It contains the historical background, new character creation options, naval combat rules, new equipment, rules for cinematic stunts, Voudou, and a mystical history campaing setting, Bokors and Broadside. With Arrrgh Pirates! you can play in a range of styles, from straight historical to over the top mystical action.

The author is Ken Spencer, aka IndianaKen, who aims to submit the monograph by September 2009.

The monograph is now in its playtesting phase, with the author looking for playtesters. Contact him on Basic Roleplaying Central by posting in the http://basicroleplaying.com/forum/basic-roleplaying/1555-sail-horizon-captain.html thread, or sending him a PM, if you'd like to join the playtesting.

Cheers, Sverre.

Alephtar Games follows up their great success with Rome: Life and Death of the Republic, by announcing two more supplements for Basic Roleplaying: BRP Mecha by RosenMcStern, which will be a compendium of all the rules needed to play a Mecha campaign that fits the Anime genre, and Dragon Lines by Charles Green, which will contain specialized rules for unarmed combat and the different styles and schools of Martial Arts together a fantasy version of the Forbidden City of Imperial China. Go Alephtar Games! :)

Speaking of third party support for the system, Cubicle 7 Entertainment has just signed a license with Chaosium for using the Basic Roleplaying system. They have announced they will use it to developed a new setting based upon the works of a popular award-winning author, which is to be revealed later this year.

Last but not least of the good news; two more monographs have been released! Val-du-Loup by Gheedon, a setting for medieval adventures in the backwards, danger-fraught region of the Ardennes forests, and Agents of the Crown by Scott Pyle, in which super agents are serving queen and country in Victorian England. Both monographs came out so fast I didn't even manage to get up blurbs for them!

Bad news are that it looks like we've lost two monographs. Gravequest by Christopher House and Fantastical Baroque by Anthony Warren. Neither author has answered emails or pm's for several months. Their projects will be back on the frontpage if they get back on track later.

That's all the ramblings for today! Cheers, Trifletraxor. :)

How possible would it be to convert some of the divine spells from Basic Magic
to use the Magic Powers rules in BRP? Are they so much more powerful that it
would be better to re-write the spells entirely, or is it possible to use them
with just a couple tweaks?

--- In Basic_Roleplaying@yahoogroups.com, "mtbedwards@..." <mtbedwards@...>
wrote:
>
> Rats, now I wish I hadn't bought Basic Magic. Well, if that's the case I think
I may just use the rules for Magic Powers and alter them slightly so they seem
more "divine". So, instead of a Grimoire the priest has a Holy Text. Instead of
a Wizard's Staff the priest can get a Relic. All I really need to do is split
the spells into "arcane" and "divine" and add a whole bunch of new spells. This
way we only need to worry about one set of rules for magic, and spellcasters are
balanced with each other.
>
> --- In Basic_Roleplaying@yahoogroups.com, "Paolo Guccione" <p.guccione@>
wrote:
> >
> > I strongly discourage using the Divine Magic rules as written in the Magic
monograph. The divine chapter should be used only as a spell list. Since the
rules were printed in that format more than 25 years ago their many flaws have
been explored in details and alternate solutions, both custom and official, have
been published.
> >
> > NO further version of d100 divine magic has included the concept of
"Permanent POW loss in exchange for one-use divine spells", and I stress again
that this means more than a quarter of a century, so it is safe to assume that
there is a general consensus about this approach being not a good solution.
Unfortunately, as you know, the Magic monograph is just a reprint of the old
books as they are, including the not-so-good parts.
> >
> > There are also further considerations about this ruleset:
> >
> > - spells can only be renewed at temples that can teach them; this is not an
alternate rule buat a basic rule, but it is not clearly stated so a newbie might
miss this point when he first reads the rules
> >
> > - another flaw of this system is that it makes a divine magic user less
flexible, as his spell set is fixed in stone; your Humakti character might wish
to have more points of Detect Truth for a diplomatic mission, and more points of
Truesword for a battle, but unfortunately he cannot
> >
> > - the system creates an all-or-nothing difference between initiate and
priest that is not present in the other magic systems; basically, if you are an
initiate and cast divine magic, you are forfeiting your ability to eventually
becoming a priest
> >
> > - finally, Sanctify as a spell renewer is a big campaign disrupter that
players tend to abuse; it creates the same unrealistic effect as the "we rest in
this safe place after one hour of dungeon bash because our spellcasters are out
of spells" syndrome that is present in D&D, with the difference that here the
stop lasts for days; you can of course discourage players, but when a rule is so
anti-climactic it should be dropped and not discouraged.
> >
> > Alternatives:
> >
> > - make divine spells slower to renew for Initiates (RQ4 method)
> >
> > - use Hero Points to purchase Divine Magic (my method)
> >
> > - make POW sacrifice not permanent (MRQ method)
> >
> > All alternatives have advantages and disadvantages. I suggest you have a
look at the new edition of HeroQuest and take inspiration from it rather than
from the old RQ rules.
> >
> > --- In Basic_Roleplaying@yahoogroups.com, Sam McConnich <rpgstarwizard@>
wrote:
> > >
> > > ok, let's step back, waaayyy back, I dont have the Basic Magic book but
have RQMagic book and from what I understand the basic book is a redo of the
magic book of RQ if that is the case we can talk if not...well there are great
people that could help , have you been to the forum?????there might be some
great ideas there as well, if it is...well, you can only renew at special
places, yes the POW loss is permanent, but POW can be raised,
> > >
> > > also it depends how you construct your universe, and if it makes sense to
you do it, you could sacrifice Magic points etc
> > >
> > >  
> > >
> > > ________________________________
> > > From: "mtbedwards@" <mtbedwards@>
> > > To: Basic_Roleplaying@yahoogroups.com
> > > Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2009 3:47:29 PM
> > > Subject: [Basic_Roleplaying] Re: divine magic?
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Well, I grabbed a copy of Basic Magic and read through the divine magic
rules.. I do have a few questions. How many divine spells would a character
start off with? Would he just spend POW as usual, or would he get some "free"
spells?
> > >
> > > Is the POW sacrifice to learn spells permanent? Permanent POW loss and 1
week of study for each spell seems excessively harsh. Also, in the campaign I'm
planning temples will be few and far between, and the party will rarely spend
more than a couple days in any one spot, if even that. If the character becomes
a priest, having to spend 90% of his time in temples means the character will
have to retire, because there's no way it'll be possible to continue adventuring
with that kind of commitment. With those kinds of requirements the character is
either going to have to stay an initiate, which means he's going to very quickly
run out of spells and never be able to get any more, or he's going to have to
become a priest and miss out on 90% of the campaign. Also, what happens if the
character uses up spells faster than he can get POW to replace them?
> > >
> > > Blech, unless I'm misunderstanding how divine magic works I don't think
these rules are going to work at all. Is there another version of divine magic
in an accessory book, setting book, or web site, or something?
> > >
> >
>

> --- In Basic_Roleplaying@yahoogroups.com, lev@... wrote:
>>
>
> Hm, maybe I can use chimps as a model for goblins; they're small but
> surprisingly strong.

That would be pretty cool :)

> So, does this mean that larger creatures shouldn't have higher STR values
> just because they're really big? It just seems odd that most creatures in
> the core BRP book have STR stats that are pretty close to their SIZ stats.
> I would have thought STR would remain pretty much the same for all
> creatures and it's SIZ that changes the most.

Sure, but remember that the old BRP model was that 10 points mean a
doubling in value. So whilst SIZ 20 is twice SIZ 10, SIZ 30 is four times
SIZ 10, not three.

I don't have my BRP book handy, but I rather suspect the figures were
chosen without too much consideration of muscular and bone density.

HTH,


Lev

--- In Basic_Roleplaying@yahoogroups.com, lev@... wrote:
> Think of it like muscular density, which humans although presented as the
> average, are actually very poor at.
>
> Consider the chimpanzee... Probably about SIZ 7, STR 25?
>
> http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=559145
>
> HTH,
>
>
> Lev
>

Hm, maybe I can use chimps as a model for goblins; they're small but
surprisingly strong.

So, does this mean that larger creatures shouldn't have higher STR values just
because they're really big? It just seems odd that most creatures in the core
BRP book have STR stats that are pretty close to their SIZ stats. I would have
thought STR would remain pretty much the same for all creatures and it's SIZ
that changes the most.

> Is there any relation between a creature's STR and it's SIZ? If I drop a
> creature's SIZ by 5 should I also drop it's STR by a similar amount? If
> larger creatures are supposed to have higher STR scores then isn't that
> pretty much the same as adding SIZ twice when figuring out a creature's
> DB? Maybe DB should just be determined by the creature's full STR value.
>

Think of it like muscular density, which humans although presented as the
average, are actually very poor at.

Consider the chimpanzee... Probably about SIZ 7, STR 25?

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=559145

HTH,


Lev

Is there any relation between a creature's STR and it's SIZ? If I drop a
creature's SIZ by 5 should I also drop it's STR by a similar amount? If larger
creatures are supposed to have higher STR scores then isn't that pretty much the
same as adding SIZ twice when figuring out a creature's DB? Maybe DB should just
be determined by the creature's full STR value.

At 22:28 2009-06-27, you wrote:


>I'm converting the War of the Lance campaign
>from D&Ds Dragonlance setting so we can play it using the BRP rules.

Good to hear!
-- You are now playing BRP. This is not D&D. Do
not try to play D&D with these rules. If you try
to play D&D your characters will die, like chumps.

>Characters are supposed to start at 5th level
>and I believe they're supposed to advance up to
>20th by the end of the campaign. I had my
>players make their characters using the Heroic
>settings and the Skill Category Bonus optional
>rules. Will that make them too powerful, or not powerful enough?

Hmmm. 5th level characters have the equivalent of
75% skills or so, off the top of my head. If your
PCs have their best skills in that range they
should be fine. Hit points do not escalate with
experience in BRP, so they might need all they can get.
--This is all the HP you will ever get. Do  not waste them!

>Will their advancement keep pace with the
>campaign, or do characters not advance very much in BRP?

That depends on how often you allow experience
rolls. If you roll after each session they will
rise like comets, if after each adventure (how
ever you define that) they will have a more deliberate advancement.

>Should I squish the campaign a bit to make the
>earlier parts more difficult and the later parts easier?

No, give them an easy start and then apply pressure....

>Has anyone tried converting a D&D campaign to BRP before?

Not a whole campaign, no. A single module yes,
and I tried to eyeball the monsters on the fly.
Note to self: Do not attempt that again. Ever!

          Sven Norén


If you don't think life is interesting you're not
paying attention. -- Andreas Udby

__________________________________________________
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Since I've only even used BRP for Call of Cthulhu I'm having some trouble
figuring out how powerful characters will be in a more high fantasy setting. I
know how fragile characters are in CoC, so I may have gone overboard on making
characters tougher for the War of the Lance campaign. With the Heroic settings,
the Skill Category Bonuses, and the CON+SIZ rule for HP (minions are the only
things getting the average of their CON+SIZ), am I making the characters too
powerful for a campaign that starts at 5th level in D&D? Should I remove the
Skill Category Bonuses and use the regular average of CON+SIZ for characters? Of
course, I also want the characters to be strong enough to survive the level 20
encounters at the end of the campaign, so they need to start at a point that'll
get them that strong.

--- In Basic_Roleplaying@yahoogroups.com, Sam McConnich <rpgstarwizard@...>
wrote:
>
> they advance quickly, for me, each time a skill is used, it get a mark, and
you can use that advancement quite well,
> remember this is a skill based system, not a level based one, unlike dnd, the
characters will development individual abilities quite different than what you
may expect.
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: "mtbedwards@..." <mtbedwards@...>
> To: Basic_Roleplaying@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Saturday, June 27, 2009 4:28:28 PM
> Subject: [Basic_Roleplaying] power of characters and adventures
>
>
>
>
>
> I'm converting the War of the Lance campaign from D&Ds Dragonlance setting so
we can play it using the BRP rules. Characters are supposed to start at 5th
level and I believe they're supposed to advance up to 20th by the end of the
campaign. I had my players make their characters using the Heroic settings and
the Skill Category Bonus optional rules. Will that make them too powerful, or
not powerful enough? Will their advancement keep pace with the campaign, or do
characters not advance very much in BRP? Should I squish the campaign a bit to
make the earlier parts more difficult and the later parts easier? Has anyone
tried converting a D&D campaign to BRP before?
>

I'm converting the War of the Lance campaign from D&Ds Dragonlance setting so we
can play it using the BRP rules. Characters are supposed to start at 5th level
and I believe they're supposed to advance up to 20th by the end of the campaign.
I had my players make their characters using the Heroic settings and the Skill
Category Bonus optional rules. Will that make them too powerful, or not powerful
enough? Will their advancement keep pace with the campaign, or do characters not
advance very much in BRP? Should I squish the campaign a bit to make the earlier
parts more difficult and the later parts easier? Has anyone tried converting a
D&D campaign to BRP before?

Rats, now I wish I hadn't bought Basic Magic. Well, if that's the case I think I
may just use the rules for Magic Powers and alter them slightly so they seem
more "divine". So, instead of a Grimoire the priest has a Holy Text. Instead of
a Wizard's Staff the priest can get a Relic. All I really need to do is split
the spells into "arcane" and "divine" and add a whole bunch of new spells. This
way we only need to worry about one set of rules for magic, and spellcasters are
balanced with each other.

--- In Basic_Roleplaying@yahoogroups.com, "Paolo Guccione" <p.guccione@...>
wrote:
>
> I strongly discourage using the Divine Magic rules as written in the Magic
monograph. The divine chapter should be used only as a spell list. Since the
rules were printed in that format more than 25 years ago their many flaws have
been explored in details and alternate solutions, both custom and official, have
been published.
>
> NO further version of d100 divine magic has included the concept of "Permanent
POW loss in exchange for one-use divine spells", and I stress again that this
means more than a quarter of a century, so it is safe to assume that there is a
general consensus about this approach being not a good solution. Unfortunately,
as you know, the Magic monograph is just a reprint of the old books as they are,
including the not-so-good parts.
>
> There are also further considerations about this ruleset:
>
> - spells can only be renewed at temples that can teach them; this is not an
alternate rule buat a basic rule, but it is not clearly stated so a newbie might
miss this point when he first reads the rules
>
> - another flaw of this system is that it makes a divine magic user less
flexible, as his spell set is fixed in stone; your Humakti character might wish
to have more points of Detect Truth for a diplomatic mission, and more points of
Truesword for a battle, but unfortunately he cannot
>
> - the system creates an all-or-nothing difference between initiate and priest
that is not present in the other magic systems; basically, if you are an
initiate and cast divine magic, you are forfeiting your ability to eventually
becoming a priest
>
> - finally, Sanctify as a spell renewer is a big campaign disrupter that
players tend to abuse; it creates the same unrealistic effect as the "we rest in
this safe place after one hour of dungeon bash because our spellcasters are out
of spells" syndrome that is present in D&D, with the difference that here the
stop lasts for days; you can of course discourage players, but when a rule is so
anti-climactic it should be dropped and not discouraged.
>
> Alternatives:
>
> - make divine spells slower to renew for Initiates (RQ4 method)
>
> - use Hero Points to purchase Divine Magic (my method)
>
> - make POW sacrifice not permanent (MRQ method)
>
> All alternatives have advantages and disadvantages. I suggest you have a look
at the new edition of HeroQuest and take inspiration from it rather than from
the old RQ rules.
>
> --- In Basic_Roleplaying@yahoogroups.com, Sam McConnich <rpgstarwizard@>
wrote:
> >
> > ok, let's step back, waaayyy back, I dont have the Basic Magic book but have
RQMagic book and from what I understand the basic book is a redo of the magic
book of RQ if that is the case we can talk if not...well there are great people
that could help , have you been to the forum?????there might be some great ideas
there as well, if it is...well, you can only renew at special places, yes the
POW loss is permanent, but POW can be raised,
> >
> > also it depends how you construct your universe, and if it makes sense to
you do it, you could sacrifice Magic points etc
> >
> >  
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: "mtbedwards@" <mtbedwards@>
> > To: Basic_Roleplaying@yahoogroups.com
> > Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2009 3:47:29 PM
> > Subject: [Basic_Roleplaying] Re: divine magic?
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Well, I grabbed a copy of Basic Magic and read through the divine magic
rules.. I do have a few questions. How many divine spells would a character
start off with? Would he just spend POW as usual, or would he get some "free"
spells?
> >
> > Is the POW sacrifice to learn spells permanent? Permanent POW loss and 1
week of study for each spell seems excessively harsh. Also, in the campaign I'm
planning temples will be few and far between, and the party will rarely spend
more than a couple days in any one spot, if even that. If the character becomes
a priest, having to spend 90% of his time in temples means the character will
have to retire, because there's no way it'll be possible to continue adventuring
with that kind of commitment. With those kinds of requirements the character is
either going to have to stay an initiate, which means he's going to very quickly
run out of spells and never be able to get any more, or he's going to have to
become a priest and miss out on 90% of the campaign. Also, what happens if the
character uses up spells faster than he can get POW to replace them?
> >
> > Blech, unless I'm misunderstanding how divine magic works I don't think
these rules are going to work at all. Is there another version of divine magic
in an accessory book, setting book, or web site, or something?
> >
>