Post originally by Robin Ashe at 2003-12-14 20:30:50
Converted from Phorums BB System

Well, considering that weapons in D20 do more dammage than BRP hit points aren't the same proportionally in D20 until about level 5-7. Which seems to be the same for skills. So, just start the game off at levels 5-7 and don't advance them much and you have the same game.

Another thing to point out, is that D20 assumes that as the characters get more powerful their challenges and enemies become proportionately more difficult. It shouldn't matter that you level up as the monsters will be leveling up as well, so to speak. Does it really change the game? No. Instead of facing a Ghoul all the time because it has the same danger no matter what your experience, you'll start off against a Ghoul, and then at higher levels face something different. It forces the GM to add some spice to the game. Variety is always good, it's also an extra scare feature when the players aren't confident that they'll be facing a Ghoul and have tactics ready to defeat it. It's always going to be a new, unkown and more powerful monster, which the characters will barely be able to get around.

If your only objection is to the HP system, you can always change it. You could use the Stamina/Lifeblood system from T20, chose not to advance HP (but give them 24 to start with, as the average dammage of guns in D20 is twice that of BRP), do it CON based with +1/Level. That way characters would have to be Level 8-12 to have the same HP proportionally as in BRP. Sure, the HP goes up in D20, but it's much scarier at the lower levels. In BRP you know your starting character can take 2 Shots and not die, in D20, 1 shot is on average fatal, and only in rare situations will it require 2. The 4 Shots it takes to kill a BRP character would in all except the rarest of circumnstances kill a first level character. The variability of dammage adds to the game. A shot won't always be to the chest, sometimes it's just off the shoulder, simply a glancing blow.