Author: Sergio Mascarenhas (---.74.41)
Date: 09-11-2002 23:33
First, it's always hard to define what one is to understand by BRP. The truth is that BRP means "striped-down RuneQuest". So, the best way to try to find fixes to BRP is to go back to RQ first. If it doesn't work, then look at other BRP games. Yes, I know, that's what you said but...
On the fixes,
1. Varying difficulties of skill test.
You're right in pointing this as a field in search of a fix. Like you I don't like any of the approaches used in BRP. My own take works like this:
The character's skill represents his ability to handle challenging situations. That means that a top level character (one in with a skil close to 100%) is able to handle most challenging situations.
Yet, there are situations that are less challenging and situations that are more challenging. To handle these i use modifiers to skill that are calculated as 10% of the skill. Making things harder is rather simple: arbitrate a difficulty in terms of how much difficult it is to do it percentualy. Say, it makes the action harder by 40%, so the skill is reduced in 40% (skill * (1-0,4)).
What if the skill is increased? In my home rule this means its difficulty is reduced. So, the likelyhood of failing is reduced. The calculation is 100-skill * % of increase + skill.
Complex? Yes, but I don't do calculations while playing. I have a table that allows for the adjustments. I know some people don't like tables but I can live with it. The advantage of my table is that even a low skill character will be able to perform simple tasks and the high skill character will be hardpressed to do outstanding actions.
Furthermore, all values fall within the 1-100 range.
2. Tying skills to characteristics.
Frankly, I don't like the way you tie up skills with characteristics. And you seem to miss the full potential of the way RQ ties it up. Let's go back to this game:
In RQ attributes affect skills in three ways. You only mentioned one of these, the small modifier for the starting skill. You missed two other impacts:
Whenever you make a skill increase roll you add your characteristics-based skill mod to the value rolled. That means that characters with a positive modifier are more likely to increase their skill than characters with a negative mod. This means that in the long run characteristics affect the pace of progression in the skill.
You can only progress past 100% in a skill if you have a positive mod. If you have a negative mod, 100-mod is the maximum you can progress.
This is important because going past 100% will increase the likelyhood of a special or critical result.
On the overal I think this is a balanced way to have characteristics affecting skills. The only problem is the way RQ handles the mods. Each requires a calculation of the influence of several characteristics. This can be simplified. Let's see how:
As you suggest, tie each skill to a dynamic characteristic (these are Dex, Int, and Cha in BRP/RQ2 or Pow in RQ3). The mod is characteristic less 11 (the average value in characteristics).
Use this mod as described above.
So, your clumsy athlete (low Dex) will start with a lower skill than a dextrous one, will progress at a lower rate and will have ceiling that the dextrous one is not bound to.
3. Wounds
<< I believe that in a game which tries to be gritty and errs on the side of realistic injury, every wound suffered should have some immediate and obvious effect on the victim >>
Base on what? In real life creatures usually don't feel the effect of minor wounds. So, only major wounds should affect the victim. Usually the only effect of wounds is to incapacitate either totally or partially the victim. RQ represents this with its system of qualitative effects of wounds (according to its body location rules). It can be simplified, though. Here goes my take:
Calculate 1/3 and 2/3 total HPs.
Wound does from 1 to 1/3 hp damage = minor wound
Wound does from 1/3 to 2/3 hp damage = major wound
Wound does from 2/3 to total hp-1 = critical wound
Wound does total hp or more = fatal wound
Now, roll body zone on 1d10:
1-2 = forward leg
3 = backward leg
4 = right arm
5 = left arm
6-7 = lower torso
8-9 = upper torso
10 = head
Determine effects of major and critical wounds according to body location (minor wounds have no special effect):
Head
- major: all skills reduced by 50%
- critical: character falls unscounscious
- fatal: character is dead and cannot be ressurrected
(head destroyed).
Upper torso
- major: all skills using arms or legs reduced by 50%
- critical: cannot use arms or legs
- fatal: character dies in CON/2 rounds.
Can be ressurected if torso is healed.
Lower torso
- major: all skills using legs reduced by 50%
- critical: cannot use legs
- fatal: character dies in CON rounds.
Can be ressurected if torso is healed.
Arms
- major: all skills using that arm reduced by 50%
- critical: cannot use that arm
- fatal: arm severed. Character dies in CON rounds.
Can be ressurected if bleeding is stoped.
Arm can be recovered.
Legs
- major: all skills using that leg reduced by 50%
- critical: cannot use that leg
- fatal: legsevered. Character dies in CON rounds.
Can be ressurected if bleeding is stoped.
Leg can be recovered.
4. Recovering from damage.
I like your fix. I just think that 12 weeks is a little too much. I would rather fix it at 4 weeks (roughly a month), specially in the case of pre-modern settings. Of course, considering that people have proper rest, the wound is kept clean, they eat reasonably, and other complications (sickness, etc.) are avoided.
Also, if using my damage per location rules above, the effects of the wound change as the hps are recovered.
As they say it, there's no fix without a counterfix.
Sergio
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