Q&A with the new BRP Author

[Enpeze]

Originally Posted by The Tweaker

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Mmm. I've heard that the new 'Spaceships' supplement for GURPS is pretty good, and a lot more abstract than their previous Vehicles or Space books, with rules both for building starships and starship combat. There is a preview here.

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And this takes me to yet another question: Does the book use Imperial or Metric units? I think the default for most BRP books I know is Metric, if my memory serves me, but I'd like to know. As a former GURPS fan I am used to make more or less approximate conversions in my head, but I'd like to be spared the effort in my BRP games!

yes. The new Gurps Spaceships is quite good and I really like it. I bought it 2 weeks ago and i played a little bit around and constructed some traveller ships. You can construct nearly every type of space ship with them by attaching different "modules" to the hull. Gurps fans say its rather light in complexity but for me as rule minimalist its of considerable complexity. I am not so fond of the space combat chapter which seem unnecessary complex. But OTOH it has nice ideas how to give every player on a typical PC trader ship a specific role during combat. Maybe I should read it once more. It uses miles per second as speed and weapon range unit, but also cm for gun caliber.

[Enpeze]

Originally Posted by Nightshade

By that argument, I'd think things like the sorcery and psi systems don't belong in the core book either; either is as campaign-specific as a spaceship combat system.

In gaming reality most gamers play a lot more games with magic or psi included and not spaceship combat. So in theory you are right that magic is in the same class of "subsystem" as spaceship combat but in practice magic/psi is much more used. So I think it has more rights to be in the core rule book.

[Nightshade]

Originally Posted by Enpeze

In gaming reality most gamers play a lot more games with magic or psi included and not spaceship combat. So in theory you are right that magic is in the same class of "subsystem" as spaceship combat but in practice magic/psi is much more used. So I think it has more rights to be in the core rule book.

That's only true if you want to bias the use of your system toward fantasy and away from SF. Or put another way, its true in a fashion, but not in a fashion I think serves a multipurpose game well; in particular, since it has two magic systems, I suspect pulling one would have still served that audience while leaving room for at least some basic vehicular combat rules and possibly a simple spacecraft building system such as they had in Amazing Engine: Bughunters.

[Simlasa]

I'm fine with there not being any spaceship info in the basic book... if someones going to do it I'd like it fairly detailed and well thought out... which would probably take up more space than most magic rules I've seen.

[Jason Durall]

Is it possible to move the "complaining about the lack of a starship design system" discussion to a different thread?

I started this thread to provide answers for people curious about the book - not really for a lengthy back-and-forth about a question that's been asked, answered, asked why, answered why, etc.

Not meaning to sound cranky about it, but it's dominated the last few pages of the thread.

[badcat]

Apparently I started it, sorry.

[Atgxtg]

Originally Posted by badcat

Apparently I started it, sorry.

Badkitty.


So Jason,

1)What's your favorite new bit in BRP?
2)What's the thing you are most proud of?
3) Did the saling ship rules from Stormbinger/RQ3 make it into BRP< or is our galley stuck up the creek without an oar?
4) How about rules for age and aging?

[Atgxtg]

Originally Posted by RMS

First, I do agree with using metric. (For one, it's just a superior measurement system and I absolutely hate having to deal with both systems on a day-to-day basis, when there's no added value to doing it.)

However, I've never understood the idea that you have to convert anything. At the granularity of RPGs, 1 yard = 1 meter. Conversion complete. There's no need to dig the calculator out and start doing 2.54 cm/inch or anything.

AQbout the only "bad" things about metric are:

1) Many Americans and unfamilar with metric and can't tell the difference between a kilogram and a kilometer.

2) If doesn't have the right flavor for a lot of historical settings. Something just isn't right about an adventurer going into a pub and ordering a "half a liter" (ha'litre? yuck!) of ale.

You right about conversions though. For the most part, I like to use "Paces" rather than yards or meters. Good enough for most people to work it out, and has a nice archaic ring to it. But for the most part, I7m with you, and just go with 1meter=1 yard, 1 kilogram=2pounds, etc. It's not like the characters are actually weighting or measuring things that often, anyway (maybe the butcher has his thumb on the scale?).

[Nightshade]

Originally Posted by Jason Durall

Is it possible to move the "complaining about the lack of a starship design system" discussion to a different thread?

I started this thread to provide answers for people curious about the book - not really for a lengthy back-and-forth about a question that's been asked, answered, asked why, answered why, etc.

Not meaning to sound cranky about it, but it's dominated the last few pages of the thread.

Sorry, Jason, that's my fault and I'll stop responding to posts on it. My apologies.

[Jason Durall]

Originally Posted by Atgxtg

1)What's your favorite new bit in BRP?

The little things, like some new much-needed skills (Strategy and Teach), some of the suggestions for higher-powered gaming (heroic HP, for example), and some of the "new" creatures. I also liked writing up the NPC digest, showing the range and variety of NPCs (and by default, PCs) the game is capable of.

Originally Posted by Atgxtg

2)What's the thing you are most proud of?

The GMing advice sections, and just completing it despite the incredible chao my life went through during the writing process.

Least proud would be taking so long on it. See my blog entry on the subject for more details on why.

Originally Posted by Atgxtg

3) Did the saling ship rules from Stormbinger/RQ3 make it into BRP< or is our galley stuck up the creek without an oar?

No, they didn't. Ironically, given my mention above about not wanting to include rules for spaceships, the ship sailing rules were not added specifically because it would have skewed the book too far towards fantasy/medieval, and I wanted to keep it agnostic in regards to setting.

Originally Posted by Atgxtg

4) How about rules for age and aging?

They're in there as an optional rule.