D&D magic using BRP

Back when I was using BRP to run FRPGs I was always figuring out ways to adapt material form other games to the Chaosium system. Since it dominates the hobby it was inevitable that this would involve D&D. BRP was similar enough to TSR's juggernaut that it was a fairly straightforward process. Monsters could be thrown right into a game after giving them an Attack % and with just a slight tweaking of the damage they did. Magic swords fit right in by the simple expedient of treating each +1 as a +5%. But when it came to magic things got a little trickier. BRP is a skill based game, and it uses Magic Points to fuel spells. That's a far cry from D&D's Level-based, cast-and-forget system. How do you fit that into a game?

All your base are belong to us.

I hit on this simple expedient. The minimum INT required to learn a spell was the spell's level+11; e.g., a 4th level spell requires an INT 15 to learn. Each spell was treated as a separate skill. The spell-caster's "level" for determining the power of the spell was the skill divided by 5. The Magic Point cost for each spell was equal to the spell level, plus additional Magic Points for extra range, duration, etc. For example, a Wizard with an INT of 13 (or more) knows the second level spell Detect Invisible at 45%. He could cast it as the equivalent of a 9th level D&D wizard with a range of 90', but it would cost him 10 Magic Points (2MP base+8 for extra "levels" of effect). However, a magic user can opt to cast a spell at a lower "level" by pumping fewer Magic Points into it. So our wizard could opt to put only 3MP into the spell for 20' range, etc. A Critical Success means the spell only burns the minimum number of Magic Points but takes effect at maximum level (or less at caster's choice). For example, our wizard knows Fireball at 45% and gets a Critical Success. The spell only consumes 3 Magic Points but does a full 9d6 damage. A Fumble means the spell is a dud. It uses up all the MP put into it but has no effect.

You don't say.

That's all there was to it. Nothing too earthshaking, I admit. It worked OK, although I didn't playtest it extensively. It was only used in a few encounters with NPC's on alternative worlds. Other people have thought of their own versions of this long before I did. I saw and old Pegasus magazine article where someone had come up with a very similar system, although he also added (IIRC) a pool of points called Mana that limited the amount of magic that could be cast in a certain time period. And I can think of plenty of variations. You could have a character pick a class and that class would have a % ranking, starting at 5% ("first level"). This would function as the Level your character has in their "class". So a Druid 30% would be the equivalent of a 6th Level D&D character. Etc. So don't just limit yourself to plundering dungeons. Plunder those other games for rules, monsters and magic, too.

MSPE adventure points

In my review of MSPE I mentioned that the part I liked least about the game was that you have to keep track of adventure points for each skill separately. That may not bother most gamers, but it's the one thing about the game that I'd change. So if I were to run a MSPE game I'd introduce this house rule.

Adventure Points are gained in the usual fashion for good role-playing, achieving scenario objectives, making saving throws, etc. However, players no longer need to track APs for skills. Instead, when a character goes up a level they receive the new level number in points which may be divided between attributes and skills, with the restriction that a) no more than two points may be allotted to attributes and b) no skill may be raised by more than one point at a time.

For example, a character going from first to second level would get two points. He or she could put both points toward increasing attributes, put both points toward raising two different skills by one point, or use one point to raise an attribute and one to raise a skill. Another example would be a character going from fourth to fifth level. The player could allot at most two points to attributes with three points left over to distribute amongst three different skills.

The reason for restricting attitude increase to two points is to remain consistent with the original rules. However, if I were playing a Doc Savage style pulp game, or a high voltage Hong Kong action movie game, I could easily imagine relaxing that rule and using something more like the original T&T experience rules. The reason for limiting skill increase to one point per skill per level increase is to prevent players from becoming experts in some field overnight. I would also consider limiting the increase to skills that were used during the course of the game.

This system isn't as realistic as the original rule, but it is simpler. I haven't play tested it yet, but I don't see any obvious flaws in it. This is especially true given the unwritten rule that in T&T/MSPE even eighth level characters are rare and powerful. For example, in MSPE Sherlock Holmes is only a 7th level character. So since I don't run a Monty Haul game with 12th level titans running around I think this rule would work fine.

Tri-Stat roll high

One of the problems with the Tri-Stat rules as written is that they use a roll-under dice mechanic. There's nothing wrong with that as such. Games like BRP, Hero System, and Thousand Suns use roll under mechanics to good effect. The thing is that in BESM/Tri-Stat it isn't implemented well.

For Tri-Stat d6 take the example of two average people, each with Stats of 4 and no Attributes, Defects or Skills. Each will have an Attack Combat Value of 4 and a Defence Combat Value of 2. That means that if they get into a fight they will only have a one in six chance of hitting each other and only a three percent chance of defending themselves. Not only couldn't they fight worth a damn, they'd be terrible at darts.

Now, reverse things so that instead of rolling under four (or two!) on 2d6 they roll the dice and add their Stat to the total. Suddenly things play out very differently. There's no more flailing around, and one of them will be successful each round. Plus characters can have superhuman stats and still just roll 2d6 instead of switching to 2d10, 2d12 or whatever. Not surprisingly Mark switched to this mechanic for the BESM 3rd edition rules.

In most cases rolling high will involve opposed rolls between two characters, but for situations where a player is making a skill roll to accomplish a task (e.g., repairing something, climbing something, etc.) here's a list of target numbers to use. The Easy, Average, or Difficult TN's, will be used most often, but others are listed for extreme circumstances or superhuman games. For cinematic games I'd also use the Tunnels & Trolls rule of DARO, doubles add and roll over. That way there's always a chance for the characters to accomplish the impossible.


Tri-Stat d6 House Rules:

Target Numbers:
Difficulty.....Target Number
Very Easy........06
Easy..............09
Average..........12
Difficult..........15
Challenging......18
Extreme..........21
Improbable.......24


Optional Cinematic Rule: DARO, doubles add and roll over.
If you roll doubles, add that number and roll again until you don’t roll doubles.

Dumping dump stats

A post today by Recursion King tackles the issue of dump stats. We've all seen it happen. A player will throw heaps of points into STR or DEX while stiffing CHA with as few as possible. The best solution to this is something I picked up from Greg Porter's rpgs. It's simple, straightforward and eliminates the problem at the point of character generation. The answer is to rule that a character's highest stat can't be more than twice their lowest stat. Trying to get by with a CHA of 5? That means your STR can't be more than 10. Want a CON of 16? Then forget about sticking only 6 points in INT.

The obvious exception to this rule is if lopsided stats are part of the character's persona and the player in question can be counted on to role-play the character faithfully. But players like that aren't the problem. This rule is intended to deal with your typical min-maxing munchkin. It works for me and I hope if you're having a problem with dump stats in your game it'll work for you too.

Or you could just play a random stat roll game like Call of Cthulhu...if you dare!