I've long admired Chaosium's "Basic Roleplaying" system. During my most active role-playing years as a teen, such games as Call of Cthulhu, Hawkmoon, and Runequest (2nd edition) were among the games that were part of our regular rotation (although, I have to confess, they saw far less 'game time' than AD&D and, later, MERP and Rolemaster). I especially enjoyed playing a 'D&D-ized' version of Runequest, which involved the core book and some optional rules from the magazine White Dwarf (from back in the days when WD published articles on a variety of different RPGs, before it became a catalogue for Warhammer minis).
While I haven't played BRP in many years, I've always admired its intuitive yet nuanced mechanics. A revised and expanded version of BRP was published recently, and I had been meaning to pick it up for many months now.
Since Chaosium is having a sale until November 1, I finally have been prompted to make this long-neglected purchase. Further prompting me, is the release of a 'D&D-ized' version of the BRP rules called 'Classic Fantasy,' which brings to mind the White Dwarf-RQII variant that I enjoyed greatly so many years ago.
Do you remember what issue of WD that was from?
ReplyDeleteWD # 49 (January 1984), Herb. The article is entitled "Runes in the Dungeon," written by Dave Morris. It outlines four 'quasi-classes': Fighters, Magic-Users, Witches (subclass of MUs), and Thieves.
ReplyDeleteI picked up the BRP tome earlier this year, and it just makes me want to play. Anything!
ReplyDeleteHm. I wonder if it would step on someone's toes if those quasi-classes were reimplemented? It sounds like it could be a fun tool.
I was looking at Classic Fantasy, but the blurb didn't really say what was in it. BRP handles classic fantasy (lower case) quite well on it's own. Since you've got it, mind telling us just what makes Classic Fantasy worth picking up?
ReplyDeleteI don't have my copy of BRP Classic Fantasy yet, Sean, so I can't tell you much about it. (Yes, I impulsively ordered it unseen.) I'll try to post some impressions once it arrives.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested in reading your impressions as well.
ReplyDeleteI am waffling now. Basic Creatures and Classic Fantasy would/should work so well with the BRP core, the CoC monster book and Cthulhu Dark Ages. Gah!
ReplyDeleteAlmost bought Basic Roleplaying today. They shrink-wrapped the !@#$% thing, so I couldn't peruse it.
ReplyDeleteI'm still waiting for my books to arrive. However, a RPG contact informed me that he thought that the presentation quality of the 'Classic Fantasy' pdf was rather poor.
ReplyDeleteYah, I'm not 100% happy with the presentation of the book but it is my first and I am still learning. I hope I crammed enough in there to more than make up for a lack of aesthetic beauty however.
ReplyDeleteRod Leary
Hey Rod, thanks for your comment! I just received 'Classic Fantasy' and agree that it is packed with a lot of content. Even if not all of it is used 'as is', there is still a lot in it to add to any fantasy BRP game. (Still, a table of contents would have been nice! ;) )
ReplyDeleteI don't know when I'll find the time to go over it carefully. I'll want to give the BRP core book a decent skim first. Eventually, though, I plan to post my impressions. Congrats on getting it done, in any case. I wish that I could get my own RPG ideas into a coherent, publishable package!
Yah, the TOC is a sore spot for me. When I turned in the manuscript, they were supposed to do the layout and then send it back so I could do the TOC and an index. I e-mailed them to find out how it was coming and they told me it was at the printers. Needless to say I was a little bummed. Thanks anyway for giving it a chance.
ReplyDeleteGreetings - I contacted Rod regarding the formatting but did not want to diminish the fact that he actually produced something of value (again something I'm hoping and desperately trying to do myself).
ReplyDeleteKudos to you Rod for making it and I hope I actually get a group together to play it!