Call of Cthulhu- which version should I buy?

[Aaron2]

Really? Wow, I feel absolutely the opposite. A sliding scale of 1 (bad) 50 (average) 100(great) makes pretty easy n' intuitive sense to me. I've always liked percentile systems though, so that might make me about 65% skewed.

I think what he was talking about was success levels, forex, how much better is rolling a 5 versus a 35 with a skill at 40%. In BPR-> None.

I'm tempted to use a sliding Number of Success scale like the the James Bond 007 game (or as implied by Runequest). Forex: Getting less than half your % is 2 successes, less than one-fourth is 3 successes, less than one-eigth is 4 successes, etc. Difficult or long tasks can be defined by needing more successes.

Anyone know any details about the supposed Generic BRP ruleset that Chaosium is planing?

Well the stats are designed to wiegh things like intelligence and education in the favor of the investigator. Play in eras other then gaslight 20's or modern can always alter those (vis a vis Dark Ages.

I just want to know why they changed SIZ from 3d6 to 2d6+6. They did that in Runequest and I still don't know what they were thinking.

 

[KaosDevice]

I think what he was talking about was success levels, forex, how much better is rolling a 5 versus a 35 with a skill at 40%. In BPR-> None.

I see where you are coming from. Yeah, aside from the impale rule (which c an apply to all skills not just attacks) it is a win or loose kind of division. I usually just wing it.

Anyone know any details about the supposed Generic BRP ruleset that Chaosium is planing?

It is already out, it's pretty cheap as well. I don't own it though.

I just want to know why they changed SIZ from 3d6 to 2d6+6. They did that in Runequest and I still don't know what they were thinking.

I think it is to cut down on the dwarfisim. Keeps players in the average area of the 3-18 bell curve.

 

[jcfiala]

Anyone know any details about the supposed Generic BRP ruleset that Chaosium is planing?

Currently it's in development. You can get a stripped down version called Basic Role Playing that's about 32 pages in some stores, or you can get their Monograph version, which is basically Runequest 3 with the Glorathana removed.

I just want to know why they changed SIZ from 3d6 to 2d6+6. They did that in Runequest and I still don't know what they were thinking.

With 3d6, you have the possibility of people rolling up real runts - 3, 4, 5 in SIZ. With 2d6+6, the smallest you can get is an 8, and the average stays at about 13. I'm surprised to hear it used to be 3d6, myself.

If the upper range is troublesome, you can always ratchet it down to 2d6+4, which gives you an average of 11, and a range of 6-16.

 

[Aaron2]

Currently it's in development. You can get a stripped down version called Basic Role Playing that's about 32 pages in some stores, or you can get their Monograph version, which is basically Runequest 3 with the Glorathana removed.

I have the old BRP booklet. I used to have a copy of Worlds of Wonder but I can't seem to find it. If anyone doesn't know, WoW was the BRP fantasy, sci-fi and superhero game. Don't expect too much in the way of logical rules though.

I've really got to dig that up.


Aaron

 

[Henry]

Dunno on this one. The gradual erosion of hope, if you wanted to blame on a specific game mechanic, seems to me like the sanity system. Which is identical between D20 and BRB CoC.

To clarify what I meant, In BRP my players always feel like that an introductory character is as good as he's going to get; he already has a load of sanity, he's got all the skills he needs at respectible levels, he has max hit points, etc. All that's left is for him to be shot, stabbed, eaten, chomped, sliced, diced, and mind-screwed, and all the sanity and skill awards don't help. He keeps going downhill, facing horrors that permanently eat hit points, their top-level skills improve less and less, etc.

d20 has the idea that the PCs are gaining levels if they live; they're gaining skills, they're gaining hit points, fort saves, etc. This gives my players a sense of improvement, even if any session they're just as likely to be shot, stabbed, eaten, chomped, sliced, diced, and mind-screwed as at first level. Massive Damage means any punk with a 9mm and a axe to grind can kill them one hit out of 20; the servitors of the old ones are no less powerful between the two versions; and they have no better chance to survive in one or the other.

Just as you say, mechanically, system version is irrelevant, but for my group one actually gives the PLAYERS false hope that they'll live longer, and they're more willing to play it for more than a one shot, and less willing to be grinning idiots running to their death.

 

[Will]

Aaron got it. I like having success levels and difficulty numbers; it gives me more traction to decide how good/bad things are, and how to reflect it in the action.

BRP... gives you no real firm footing in that respect; there is a contested table, but it's a bit impractical for constant rolling.

 

[KaosDevice]

BRP... gives you no real firm footing in that respect; there is a contested table, but it's a bit impractical for constant rolling.

Traction?

0% SUCK?


100% Great!

Eh?

Not everything needs defined by a frelling die roll.

 

[KaosDevice]

<ker snip>d20 has the idea that the PCs are gaining levels if they live; they're gaining skills, they're gaining hit points, fort saves, etc.

This also happens in BRP, ironically it is easier at early levels to get better at the skills you use succesfully and suck at then in D20. That feels a lot more organic to me then across the board leveling in skills you haven't used.

eh, but I don't want to argue that war again.

Just as you say, mechanically, system version is irrelevant, but for my group one actually gives the PLAYERS false hope that they'll live longer, and they're more willing to play it for more than a one shot, and less willing to be grinning idiots running to their death.

No offense Henry, but you might be selling your players short. There is a grim adult seriousness to DG that you want your players to GET. This is the last fight this is the end times. The Midnight players on the ENWorld board will get the tropes.

Delta Green, as envisioned, isn't fun with SMGs, it is grim, end times world. That is the nature of the beast. Not fun, everything dies, holding action.

GURPS I understand has a good MIB game?

 

[Committed Hero]

No offense Henry, but you might be selling your players short. There is a grim adult seriousness to DG that you want your players to GET. This is the last fight this is the end times. The Midnight players on the ENWorld board will get the tropes.

Delta Green, as envisioned, isn't fun with SMGs, it is grim, end times world. That is the nature of the beast. Not fun, everything dies, holding action.

GURPS I understand has a good MIB game?

DG is much more nihilistic than straight CoC, as well as more action-oriented. I think d20 is a very good fit for the differences.

The GURPS game, if you are referring to Black Ops, is a much more cinematic, dark-humored type of world, with characters in the 700+ point range (ordinary characters are recommended to be 100).

 

[Will]

Not everything needs defined by a frelling die roll.

No ship. But it's nice to have it when you want, or use it as a launching point.

And, after using BRP for 10+ years, I constantly felt it didn't provide a strong foundation for what I wanted.

Oh, and John Fiala... hey there! Will Timmins.