Q&A with the new BRP Author

[Jason Durall]

Originally Posted by Trifletraxor

Something I've been wondering about is why was the spirit & divine RQ3 magic system scrapped? It could do with some tweaks, but it was overall a very good system for BRP type of play. I am kinda afraid that some spells from magic world won't be even half as good.

There were a few reasons:

a) Adding both of those systems would have bumped the book's size up considerably, by at least another 30-45 pages.

b) Including those systems would have skewed the book very heavily towards feeling like "RQ with the serial numbers filed off", which I was adamant that the book NOT become.

c) The BRP book is the spiritual successor to Worlds of Wonder, hence the inclusion of the Magic World stuff. MW has a classic, easy to use, generic magic system that none of the magic systems from RQ emulate.

The addition of the SB/Elric! stuff was mostly a low-hanging fruit - easy to put in and not tremendously difficult to adapt to the new rules.

I'm quite eager to see those systems make it into a BRP sourcebook*. I just don't have the time or energy to write it.


* I've suggested before that the spirit, divine, and ritual magic from RQ; some de-Lovecraftized Call of Cthulhu magic; the Ki powers from Land of Ninja; more info on demon summoning from Stormbringer (4th edition); and some of the expanded magic from The Bronze Grimiore and The Unknown East would make a kick-ass BRP Magic.

[NickMiddleton]

Plus of course, the RQIII magic systems are still available in print from Chaosium as the BRP Magic Book monograph...

Cheers,

Nick Middleton

[AikiGhost]

Originally Posted by Joseph Paul

Saying that the BRP system does not need technolgy/vehicle design rules is, I believe, a serious oversight and very limiting to the game as a whole because it makes several genres more difficult to put together.

Vehicle design rules should not be in a core book IMHO, they should be in any future Mecha supplement instead.

In fact the inclusion of mecha design rules in Silcore but the lack of inclusion of magic was one of the most annoying design decisions ever made for a game system IMHO.

[AikiGhost]

Originally Posted by Jason Durall

I didn't take it as a slam... more as a "It would be awesome if someone could write a starship creation/modification/combat system for BRP."

I would happily use it, though I've got no interest in writing it.

Sorry if the answer came back as argumentative.

Personally Id like to see a big book of spacecraft with deck plans and stats, but I have no actual interest in a starship/vehicle construction rules expansion for BRP or any other system. My experience of such systems in the past is that they are without a doubt the most boring dryest reading section in any RPG.

[badcat]

I would like to see some, but on a level with the Buck Rogers in the XXVth Century rpg from TSR back in the late eighties. Something simple and fast, with more space opera flavor than hard sci fi.

[technoshaman]

I have another question dealing combat and vehicles. Will the system be able to handle vehicle combat, dogfights with ships and vehicles, some term use is armored combat? I know chase rules was really big in Call of Cthulhu but not sure in other d100 games.

[Nightshade]

Originally Posted by Jason Durall

There is no skill level associated with Sorcery.

(Are you confusing the older summoning-style magic from the earlier editions of Stormbringer?)

Sorry, Jason, I meant Magic, not Sorcery--the one derived from MagicWorld.

[Nightshade]

Originally Posted by technoshaman

I have another question dealing combat and vehicles. Will the system be able to handle vehicle combat, dogfights with ships and vehicles, some term use is armored combat? I know chase rules was really big in Call of Cthulhu but not sure in other d100 games.

I believe if you look upthread there was already a discussion of this.

[Jason Durall]

Originally Posted by Nightshade

Sorry, Jason, I meant Magic, not Sorcery--the one derived from MagicWorld.

Was this rule in any errata?

I'm fairly certain it isn't in Magic World. If it is, I'd love a page reference on that.

[Nightshade]

Originally Posted by Jason Durall

Was this rule in any errata?

I'm fairly certain it isn't in Magic World. If it is, I'd love a page reference on that.

Well, hmmm. Apparently I've conflated MagicWorld sorcery with some other magic system I've seen used in BRP or RuneQuest over the years, because you're correct; I can find no such rule. The only limiting factor is time, power available and Intelligence.