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.