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Basic Roleplaying: The Chaosium System

There is a real need for products designed to bring new players into RPGs. There is a niche for small, cheep books designed to be a quick reference/rules set for players who only occasionally play a system. Books doing either of these things tend to fall into my “good thing” category. Basic Roleplaying: The Chaosium System (BRP: TCS), however, does a bit of both but manages to end up being a bad thing. Sloppy, under-developed, and poorly executed, BRP takes what could have been a step forward and turns in into a nasty fall.

The Book

Basic Roleplaying: The Chaosium System is a 16 page stapled booklet with a semi-glossy cover. The cover, front and back, shows a giant squid attacking a war galley, dragging it under a frothing sea while lightning strikes in the background. It’s really a nice bit of work, and is the best thing about the whole book. The interior is black and white, laid out in a simple two column format with occasional, and mostly inferior, line art. In general the book is clean and simple, easy to read but poorly organized.

Most of the book’s text is taken up with a long and poorly constructed explanation of what RPGs are and how they are played. Between sections about how the Gamemaster “plays… against the player characters” and yet there must be cooperation between GMs and players, but players should feel free to debate rules with the GM, but the GM’s word is final, we are given a fairly complete but murky, contradictory, and non-helpful view of what RPGs are. Much of the rest of the text is taken up with semi-game semi-fiction bits that are supposed to show how RPGs work, but mostly involve “farm boy goes to town” and how to throw rocks at wolves. The actual rules are very, very short and under explained, often talking about rules and systems before the concept is properly introduced. The Game

The Basic Roleplaying System is one of the oldest and most beloved systems in RPG history. It has been around since 1980 and has powered games from Runequest and CoC to Stormbringer and (in modified form) Pendragon. Though many gamers have problems with aspects of the system, it is generally well regarded as being a simple, intuitive, and playable game. Unfortunately very little of it is in this book.

Basic Roleplaying: The Chaosium System, intended to be an introductory RPG, tries to simplify an already simple system, and does so by removing the vast majority of what actually makes the game run. The game uses standard Chaosium attributes (Strength, Constitution, Size, Intelligence, Power, Dexterity, and Appearance), but only has 8 skills: Climb, First Aid, Hide, Jump, Listen, Sneak, Spot Hidden, and Throw. The game mentions other skills, but never gives rules, stats, or any information about them – other than that they are sometimes necessary and can be found in other games. Weapon skills are all based on the type of weapon being used, with everyone starting with the same skill for the same weapon, and everyone doing the same damage with the same weapon. Once again things like alternate weapons and multiple types of armor are mentioned, but no stats are given for them. Similarly the classic Idea and Luck rolls are present, but with incomplete and contradictory rules given for their implementation.

All in all this book takes a good, solid system and strips it down to the point where it is usable to play “Farmers climb trees and hunt a bear” but not much else. It is not so much “Basic Roleplaying Light” as “Basic Roleplaying Incomplete.” While the idea of making a very simple system for beginners was a good one, the execution here is flawed. There is insufficient explanation of important concepts, an overly limited selection of abilities, and an incomplete and frustrating look at the few options that are presented.

The book concludes with a “solo adventure” that is the epitome of what went wrong with this game. Basically, the totality of it is the character tracking a bear and then fighting it. There is no formatting to break the adventure into steps, no easy “if you do this then go here/there” blocks, no descriptive text, and an ending that totally degenerates to the point of “make up the rest of the adventure by yourself, for yourself.” It literally says, after you’ve driven the bear into a cave, that you (a presumable first time player) to “make up a plan and then stick to it” in order to complete the game. It gives options for things you might plan, but no guidance, no rules, no direction, no list of possible responses, no help – in short, no conclusion for the adventure. Of course, even when they do give rules for anything other than combat they are of limited value. Even the tracking doesn’t matter; all it does is determine if you or the bear attacks first when the inevitable combat ensues. As with everything in this book while the idea was solid the execution was rushed, poorly formatted, and thus of limited use.

The Good

The cover is pretty, the layout is clean, the tables are both readable and reprinted at the back of the book for easy reference. If it sounds like I’m straining for nice things to say, it’s because I am. This book really was a good idea, but the execution leaves little to recommend it.

The Bad

The lack of coherent explanation of the rules, the organization of information, and the slack attempt at a solo adventure all count as bad. This book could have been so much more. Our two veteran, rock solid authors really should have been able to deliver more than this, and I cannot help but think the product was rushed.

The Ugly

Every single bit of interior art. Once again, the artist looks to be technically competent, but the sketches that fill this book look rushed and incomplete.

The Playtest

I gave this book to a friend who had never played an RPG. He came back and asked 5,000 questions, questions the book really should have answered. It quickly became obvious that he wasn’t going to be able to run the solo adventure past the first conflict with the bear, and so asked me to step in and GM. From there I was able to make the experience something fun for him, but I did it without a bit of help from the game. In fact I was forced to break out my copy of Elric, a situation that the game seems designed to engineer. While there is nothing wrong with an introductory game encouraging the use of another game, it should not require its use. This game did, and so failed to be a complete game.

I repeated the process with another non-gaming friend, who didn’t bother to ask questions. She just handed the book back to me and said she couldn’t finish it.

The End

Basic Roleplaying: The Chaosium System could have been a worthwhile product. You can still see the tracings of the good ideas that underlay its creation, and only wish that they had been brought to fruition. As it is BRP: TCS is not a full game, not a good introduction for newbies, and not worth the six bucks to pick it up.

For having a poorly organized fragment of a great game system it gets a Substance of 2. For bad to mediocre art, poor organization, but clean layout it gets a Style of 2.

Basic Roleplaying: The Chaosium System
Basic Roleplaying: The Chaosium System Playtest Review by Brand Robins on 29/08/02 Style: 2 (Needs Work) Substance: 2 (Sparse) This book says that it is a complete game, designed for new players. Unfortunately it is not complete, and not very good for new players either. Product: Basic Roleplaying: The Chaosium System Author: Greg Stafford & Lynn Willis Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Chaosium Line: BRP Cost: $5.95 Page count: 16 Year published: 2002 ISBN: 1-56882-168-9 SKU: CHA2006 Comp copy?: yes Playtest Review by Brand Robins on 29/08/02 Genre tags: Fantasy	Basic Roleplaying: The Chaosium System There is a real need for products designed to bring new players into RPGs. There is a niche for small, cheep books designed to be a quick reference/rules set for players who only occasionally play a system. Books doing either of these things tend to fall into my “good thing” category. Basic Roleplaying: The Chaosium System (BRP: TCS), however, does a bit of both but manages to end up being a bad thing. Sloppy, under-developed, and poorly executed, BRP takes what could have been a step forward and turns in into a nasty fall. The Book Basic Roleplaying: The Chaosium System is a 16 page stapled booklet with a semi-glossy cover. The cover, front and back, shows a giant squid attacking a war galley, dragging it under a frothing sea while lightning strikes in the background. It’s really a nice bit of work, and is the best thing about the whole book. The interior is black and white, laid out in a simple two column format with occasional, and mostly inferior, line art. In general the book is clean and simple, easy to read but poorly organized. Most of the book’s text is taken up with a long and poorly constructed explanation of what RPGs are and how they are played. Between sections about how the Gamemaster “plays… against the player characters” and yet there must be cooperation between GMs and players, but players should feel free to debate rules with the GM, but the GM’s word is final, we are given a fairly complete but murky, contradictory, and non-helpful view of what RPGs are. Much of the rest of the text is taken up with semi-game semi-fiction bits that are supposed to show how RPGs work, but mostly involve “farm boy goes to town” and how to throw rocks at wolves. The actual rules are very, very short and under explained, often talking about rules and systems before the concept is properly introduced. The Game The Basic Roleplaying System is one of the oldest and most beloved systems in RPG history. It has been around since 1980 and has powered games from Runequest and CoC to Stormbringer and (in modified form) Pendragon. Though many gamers have problems with aspects of the system, it is generally well regarded as being a simple, intuitive, and playable game. Unfortunately very little of it is in this book. Basic Roleplaying: The Chaosium System, intended to be an introductory RPG, tries to simplify an already simple system, and does so by removing the vast majority of what actually makes the game run. The game uses standard Chaosium attributes (Strength, Constitution, Size, Intelligence, Power, Dexterity, and Appearance), but only has 8 skills: Climb, First Aid, Hide, Jump, Listen, Sneak, Spot Hidden, and Throw. The game mentions other skills, but never gives rules, stats, or any information about them – other than that they are sometimes necessary and can be found in other games. Weapon skills are all based on the type of weapon being used, with everyone starting with the same skill for the same weapon, and everyone doing the same damage with the same weapon. Once again things like alternate weapons and multiple types of armor are mentioned, but no stats are given for them. Similarly the classic Idea and Luck rolls are present, but with incomplete and contradictory rules given for their implementation. All in all this book takes a good, solid system and strips it down to the point where it is usable to play “Farmers climb trees and hunt a bear” but not much else. It is not so much “Basic Roleplaying Light” as “Basic Roleplaying Incomplete.” While the idea of making a very simple system for beginners was a good one, the execution here is flawed. There is insufficient explanation of important concepts, an overly limited selection of abilities, and an incomplete and frustrating look at the few options that are presented. The book concludes with a “solo adventure” that is the epitome of what went wrong with this game. Basically, the totality of it is the character tracking a bear and then fighting it. There is no formatting to break the adventure into steps, no easy “if you do this then go here/there” blocks, no descriptive text, and an ending that totally degenerates to the point of “make up the rest of the adventure by yourself, for yourself.” It literally says, after you’ve driven the bear into a cave, that you (a presumable first time player) to “make up a plan and then stick to it” in order to complete the game. It gives options for things you might plan, but no guidance, no rules, no direction, no list of possible responses, no help – in short, no conclusion for the adventure. Of course, even when they do give rules for anything other than combat they are of limited value. Even the tracking doesn’t matter; all it does is determine if you or the bear attacks first when the inevitable combat ensues. As with everything in this book while the idea was solid the execution was rushed, poorly formatted, and thus of limited use. The Good The cover is pretty, the layout is clean, the tables are both readable and reprinted at the back of the book for easy reference. If it sounds like I’m straining for nice things to say, it’s because I am. This book really was a good idea, but the execution leaves little to recommend it. The Bad The lack of coherent explanation of the rules, the organization of information, and the slack attempt at a solo adventure all count as bad. This book could have been so much more. Our two veteran, rock solid authors really should have been able to deliver more than this, and I cannot help but think the product was rushed. The Ugly Every single bit of interior art. Once again, the artist looks to be technically competent, but the sketches that fill this book look rushed and incomplete. The Playtest I gave this book to a friend who had never played an RPG. He came back and asked 5,000 questions, questions the book really should have answered. It quickly became obvious that he wasn’t going to be able to run the solo adventure past the first conflict with the bear, and so asked me to step in and GM. From there I was able to make the experience something fun for him, but I did it without a bit of help from the game. In fact I was forced to break out my copy of Elric, a situation that the game seems designed to engineer. While there is nothing wrong with an introductory game encouraging the use of another game, it should not require its use. This game did, and so failed to be a complete game. I repeated the process with another non-gaming friend, who didn’t bother to ask questions. She just handed the book back to me and said she couldn’t finish it. The End Basic Roleplaying: The Chaosium System could have been a worthwhile product. You can still see the tracings of the good ideas that underlay its creation, and only wish that they had been brought to fruition. As it is BRP: TCS is not a full game, not a good introduction for newbies, and not worth the six bucks to pick it up. For having a poorly organized fragment of a great game system it gets a Substance of 2. For bad to mediocre art, poor organization, but clean layout it gets a Style of 2.