[RPG]: Basic Roleplaying: The Chaosium System, reviewed by Strephon Alkhalikoi (2/4)

[RPGnet Reviews]

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/11/11040.phtml

Strephon Alkhalikoi's Summary:

A worthwhile purchase if you wish to see the system back in print. Otherwise, look for RuneQuest 3rd Edition on Ebay.

Go to the full review (http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/11/11040.phtml) for more information.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by cc at 2005-02-18 09:15:57
Converted from Phorums BB System

http://catalog.chaosium.com/product_reviews_info.php?products_id=529&reviews_id=90
Is this the same review?

/cc

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by LarsDangly at 2005-02-18 11:44:35
Converted from Phorums BB System

I am a big fan of basic roleplaying, and particularly like the version used as the engine for Runequest (with its hit locations, strike ranks, etc.). There is not a single thing wrong with 2nd edition Runequest, which is explicitly engineered for Glorantha. 3rd edition Runequest is also good for playing in Glorantha, but tries (unsuccesfully, I think) to also be a generic system for historical or fantasy settings.

The trouble with it is that the magic and character advancement systems (rune lords, etc.) are basically built around the quirky details of the Gloranthan setting and don't translate to other settings very well. It is easy to see in general terms how this could be changed and improved to produce a game that is perfect for other settings, but no one ever did the hard work of sorting out the details. I had hoped that this new edition of basic roleplaying would include those changes, but it sounds like it doesnt. Am I wrong? To be more specific, if I ran a historical rome campaign, would everyone on earth have 3 or 4 spirit magic spells and all the senators and generals be runelords and priests? If so, it is just glorantha in togas and really has problems. If not, I would like to hear what they have done differently.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Phil at 2005-02-18 13:11:19
Converted from Phorums BB System

I've never had a problem: if you want to play ancient Rome, of medieval Europe etc. just reduce the amount of magic that characters get; get rid of Runelords and make Initiates the lower ranks of priests and Priests the higher ranks etc.

It is really not that hard and I don't consider it a drawback.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Strephon Alkhalikoi at 2005-02-18 15:29:43
Converted from Phorums BB System

It's actually an amalgam of the four mini reviews on the Chaosium website that I did up as I purchased each of the monographs. The difference here is that the reviews have all been edited and put together, since unlike there it didn't make much sense to review the individual books seperately.

Some things that I had put into those mini-reviews I took out for this review, mainly inaccuracies such as the game being complete after the Creatures Book was printed.

It's my opinion that by posting the review here as well as the mini-reviews over there, the Basic Roleplaying system can get some wider exposure so that Chaosium will actually get the updated game OUT. After all, the monographs are there to gauge customer interest in such a rule set, and it's my belief that given the right "push", if you will, one of the best rulesets ever devised will again see the light of day.

Should you believe that what I did is bad form, then I am sorry that you disapprove. I believe though that posting this review so a larger audience could see that the game was out there and make up their minds is worth the small amount of grief or inconvenience I may endure for my choice.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Buzz at 2005-02-18 16:10:25
Converted from Phorums BB System

The missed opportunity is that, instead of trying to sell these ovepriced, tape-bound photocopies, Chaosium should be thinking PDF. Compile everything into one product, spruce it up a bit, and sell it as a download.

This company drives me batty.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by tetsujin28 at 2005-02-19 04:12:45
Converted from Phorums BB System

It's what they do, man: drive people batty.

Me? I'm an RQ II guy, and I've never looked forward ;)

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Jason Durall at 2005-02-19 13:02:44
Converted from Phorums BB System

DBRP is coming.

I'm working on it with Sam Johnson. Both of us are longtime BRP fans, and are slavishly trying to take what is best out of the various versions and condense them into one great multi-genre framework system.

It will be out for Gen Con this year, or at least, should be.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Sergio Mascarenhas at 2005-02-19 20:00:41
Converted from Phorums BB System

Jason

For completeness sake, I'll take a not to send you the answers by Sandy Petersen to the letters I wrote to Chaosium concerning RuneQuest. This was in the 80s and includes such gems as stats for donkeys and how to use a spear as a blunt weapon!

I can only do it in May, though, because the letters are in Lisbon and I'm thousands of kms away in Goa.

Sergio

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by camazotz at 2005-02-20 05:28:15
Converted from Phorums BB System

I would love to see BRP back in print, with a fully functional book....I wish you guys luck and hope that Chaosium's tardiness with publishing does not crop up.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Robin Ashe at 2005-02-21 04:25:25
Converted from Phorums BB System

These monographs are basically like taking the 3 D&D Core Books (assuming they were one single book), splitting them into PHB, Magic, DMG and MM?

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Cain at 2005-02-21 05:08:07
Converted from Phorums BB System

If you like.

The way you phrase it makes it sound like a 'bad thing' (which it isn't; you can pick and choose the bits you want for your campaign, if you're using BRP as the system) and also that, in some way, it rips-off the separate book format from TSR/WotC (which it doesn't. And even if it did, countless companies have issued books in much the same way - GURPS, ICE, to name two examples - to allow players and GMs to address the point above).

I therefore don't see what point you're trying to make with your question. If you'd care to elaborate, then perhaps a worthwhile discussion might ensue.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Mithras at 2005-02-22 12:44:24
Converted from Phorums BB System

I'm with you there. RQ2 is the be-all-and-end-all. What I want is common mythical monster stats in RQ 2 format, plus a magic and religion system not quite so tied up in world-spanning cults, then I will be happy. Maybe ...

The system is brilliant, every combat roll feels like the swing of a sword, skeletons feel incredibly threatening, @!#$, anything coming at you is threatening!

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Robin Ashe at 2005-02-22 20:13:52
Converted from Phorums BB System

I wasn't trying to get at anything. I figured by the name of it that it would be a pared version of RuneQuest or something like that, but the review suggested otherwise. I was simply trying to see if I'd figured it out properly.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Cain at 2005-02-23 06:41:34
Converted from Phorums BB System

Fair enough - it just sounded like a point was going to be made and then wasn't.

Actually, if you already have the Games Workshop version of RQ3 (Basic, Advanced, Monsters Books) then you have the BRP monographs - except with art and hard covers. Aside from expunging the Runequest references, the system's identical.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Strephon Alkhalikoi at 2005-03-06 20:47:00
Converted from Phorums BB System

Actually, according to the guys at Chaosium, these are merely placeholders so that they can retain rights to the system since Hasbro stated they have no intention of pursuing the line (too focused on d20 Fantasy).

They also are done in this fashion to gauge interest in the Basic Roleplaying system. From my discussions with one of the people at Chaosium, the intention is to make the final product a universal game system. Given that Chaosium at one time had every genre covered under the BRP game mechanics, this is something that is not too far from the realm of possibility.

Do I believe that they should have done it in PDF? Perhaps. I do know that it would cost more to buy the PDF and to have it printed up in this manner than it would have to just buy the monograph. You could of course print it out yourself, but not everyone wants to do that. I have PDF copies of more than a few items, and refuse to waste my ink printing them out, and refuse to spend the money to have them done at a Staples or Kinko's.

However, I love the Basic Roleplaying game mechanics, and bought these because I want this game in print.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Strephon Alkhalikoi at 2005-03-06 21:00:43
Converted from Phorums BB System

Jason, do you know if there are any plans to allow other fans access to the game system to write their own supplements or games, either like d20 Fantasy and the OGL, or Guardians of Order's Magnum Opus licensing system?

I'll be honest. I'd prefer the former over the latter any day of the week, in spite of my hatred of the d20 system. The game has been shuttered for far too long, and it will be good to see.

One last question. Is there any chance of Chaosium making the 16 page BRP rulebook available as a free PDF? It would seem to me to be a decent idea, especially as Chaosium has released "Quick Start Cthulhu" for that line as a free PDF.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Buzz at 2005-03-08 06:05:09
Converted from Phorums BB System

<i>Do I believe that they should have done it in PDF? Perhaps. I do know that it would cost more to buy the PDF and to have it printed up in this manner than it would have to just buy the monograph.</i>

Well, sans binding, it costs about 16 cents per double-sided, B&W page. For one monograph, that's about $5. Add staple, comb, or spiral binding, and it's still likely less than what Chaosium charges for the monographs. Add in the likely cost of a PDF version, and you're at about the same price point, but with the added value of the PDF format and with the option to not pay to print it out (either using it on-screen only, or printing it yourself, or printing it at work, etc.), thereby making it cheaper, and giving people more of an incentive to buy it.

<i>You could of course print it out yourself, but not everyone wants to do that. I have PDF copies of more than a few items, and refuse to waste my ink printing them out, and refuse to spend the money to have them done at a Staples or Kinko's.</i>

Well, your refusal is your choice. I'm not sure I see the difference between spending the ink/Kinko's and paying big money for tape-bound photocopies.

<i>However, I love the Basic Roleplaying game mechanics, and bought these because I want this game in print.</i>

I'd like to see it in print as well. However, I don't know if I want to pay $15 for small, photocopied sections of an RPG that I can get whole (in the form of RQ3) on eBay for $5. If they would actually prouce a quality FRPG product, I would be interested. Business 101: You gotta spend money to make money.

Given that there's really no development invovled in this "placeholder" product, I would think that it would be far more cost-effective to produce a single "Fantasy BRP" PDF package and sell it for $5-$10. I just can't see how the added hassle of printing and shipping photocopied monographs set at a generally unattractive price point is somehow a better decision, business-wise.

Sure, the PDF market is choked with chaff. However, those companies with good products and a marketable name (e.g., Malhavoc) make money there hand over fist. Chaosium has the name and the brand; I don't see why they continue to waste it.