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Basic Role-Playing (BRP)

Basic Role-Playing cover page
Designer Greg Stafford and Lynn Willis
Publisher Chaosium
Publication date 1980, 1981
Genre(s) Universal

Basic Role-Playing (BRP) is a role-playing game system which originated in the fantasy-oriented RuneQuest role-playing game rules. A "game designer" is a person who designs Video games or one who designs traditional games such as Board games Video Games Designer A video game designer For Greg Stafford the Australian rules football player in the AFL, see Greg Stafford (footballer. Lynn Willis is a Wargame and Role-playing game designer who has done work for Metagaming Concepts, Game Designers' Workshop, and Chaosium A video game publisher is a company that publishes Video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a Video game developer Chaosium is one of the longer lived publishers of Role-playing games still in existence A role-playing game system is a set of Game mechanics used in a Role-playing game (RPG Fantasy is a Genre that uses magic and other Supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting RuneQuest is a Fantasy Role-playing game first published in 1978 by Chaosium, created by Steve Perrin based on the mythical world A role-playing game ( RPG; often roleplaying game) is a Game in which the participants assume the roles of Fictional characters. A percentile skill-based system, BRP was used as the basis for most of the games published by Chaosium, including Stormbringer, World of Wonder, Call of Cthulhu, Superworld, Ringworld, Elfquest, Hawkmoon, Elric!, and Nephilim. Chaosium is one of the longer lived publishers of Role-playing games still in existence The Stormbringer fantasy Role-playing game published by Chaosium puts the players in the world of the Young Kingdoms based on the Elric of Melniboné Call of Cthulhu is a Horror fiction Role-playing game based on H Superworld is a Superhero -themed Role-playing game published by Chaosium in 1983. The Ringworld Science fiction Role-playing game was published by Chaosium in 1984, using the Basic Role-Playing system Elfquest (or ElfQuest) is a cult hit Comic book property created by Wendy and Richard Pini in Dorian Hawkmoon Duke of Köln is one of the fictional characters created by Michael Moorcock in his series of the Eternal Champion books This article is about the Role-playing game for the supernatural beings see Nephilim Nephilim is a Role-playing game about powerful elemental Pendragon (acquired in 1998 by Green Knight Publishing, and 2005 by White Wolf), while related, has sufficiently different mechanics that it can be seen as a separate system. Pendragon, or King Arthur Pendragon, is a Role-playing game (RPG in which players take the role of Knights performing chivalric Green Knight Publishing was founded by Peter Corless after he bought the rights to the award-winning Pendragon Role-playing game from Chaosium The BRP standalone booklet was first released in 1980. see also 1979 in games, 1981 in games This page lists board and Card games Wargames miniatures games Two years later it became part of the Worlds of Wonder boxed set. Worlds of Wonder is a 1982 multi-genre Role-playing game produced by Chaosium. The first edition boxed set of Call of Cthulhu included the booklet as its character creation rules. Greg Stafford and Lynn Willis are credited as the authors. For Greg Stafford the Australian rules football player in the AFL, see Greg Stafford (footballer. Lynn Willis is a Wargame and Role-playing game designer who has done work for Metagaming Concepts, Game Designers' Workshop, and Chaosium

BRP is similar to other generic systems such as GURPS, Hero System or Savage Worlds in that it uses a simple resolution method which can be broadly applied. The Generic Universal RolePlaying System, commonly known as GURPS, is a Role-playing game system designed to adapt to any imaginary gaming The Hero System (or HERO System) is a Generic role-playing game system that developed from the Superhero RPG Savage Worlds is a universal generic award-winning Role-playing game and miniatures wargame, written by Shane Lacy Hensley, and published In this case an attempt to roll under a certain number with percentile dice. Each incarnation of the BRP rules has changed or added to the core ideas and mechanics, so that games are not identical. For example, in Call of Cthulhu, skills may never be over 100%, while in Stormbringer skills in excess of 100% are encouraged for those who follow Law.

In 2004, Chaosium published the Basic Roleplaying monographs (the hyphen was dropped in the later products). Books with a quick and inexpensive printed format of tape binding and printed cardstock covers, the four monographs (Players Book, Magic Book, Creatures Book, and Gamemaster Book) were printed in order to assert Chaosium's copyrights in the run-up to the publishing and distribution of Deluxe Basic Roleplaying, a game system that is essentially RuneQuest 3rd Edition but with additions to allow play in other genres.

Chaosium has plans for a new release of BRP in 2008 as a stand alone project. Currently they are selling a "version 0" of the game in limited quantities. [1]

Contents

History

The BRP was the RPG industry's first attempt at a generic rule system[2], preceding GURPS by six years and the d20 System SRD by nearly twenty. The Generic Universal RolePlaying System, commonly known as GURPS, is a Role-playing game system designed to adapt to any imaginary gaming The d20 System is a Role-playing game system published in 2000 by Wizards of the Coast originally developed for the third edition of Dungeons

The core rules were originally written by Steve Perrin[3] as part of his game RuneQuest. Steve Perrin is a Game designer and technical Writer / editor. [4] It was Greg Stafford's idea to simplify the rules (eliminating such things as Strike Ranks and Hit Locations) and issue them in a 16 page booklet called Basic Role Playing. For Greg Stafford the Australian rules football player in the AFL, see Greg Stafford (footballer. Over the years several others, including Sandy Petersen, Lynn Willis, and Steve Henderson, contributed to their final form. Carl Sanford Joslyn Petersen (born September 16, 1955) is a Game designer. Lynn Willis is a Wargame and Role-playing game designer who has done work for Metagaming Concepts, Game Designers' Workshop, and Chaosium Steve Henderson (1944- March 8, 2006) was a co-designer of several Role Playing Game titles and supplements including RuneQuest, Worlds

The BRP was notable for being the first role-playing game system to introduce a full skill system to characters regardless of their profession. This was developed in RuneQuest but was also later adopted by the more skill-oriented Call of Cthulhu[5][6] and the dark fantasy saga of Elric in Stormbringer. The Stormbringer fantasy Role-playing game published by Chaosium puts the players in the world of the Young Kingdoms based on the Elric of Melniboné [7]

BRP was conceived of as a genre-generic engine around which any sort of RPG could be played, much like GURPS and the d20 system have become today. In order to underscore this, Chaosium produced the Worlds of Wonder supplement, which contained the generic rules and several specific applications of those rules to given genres. Worlds of Wonder is a 1982 multi-genre Role-playing game produced by Chaosium. Superworld, specifically, began as a portion of the Worlds of Wonder product. Superworld is a Superhero -themed Role-playing game published by Chaosium in 1983.

The fantasy game supplement Thieves World, based on the popular series of books by Robert Lynn Asprin, used both the system for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons as well as the RuneQuest variation of the BRP for character statistics, representing the two most popular game systems of the time. Thieves' World is a Robert Lynn Asprin ( June 28, 1946 – May 22, 2008) was an American Science fiction and fantasy author best known Over the years there have been a number of different versions of the Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy Role-playing game (D&D [8]

Rules System

BRP was developed from a core set of attributes similar to the original Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). An ability score, in the D20 System, is a numeric description of a character's physical and mental characteristics. Dungeons & Dragons (abbreviated as D&D or DnD) is a Fantasy Role-playing game (RPG originally designed by So Strength, Constitution, Size, Intelligence, Power, Dexterity and Charisma (or Appearance) replaced the D&D norms. From that was evolved a structurally simulationist system. Therefore hit points, which increase with experience in D&D were based on the average of Size and Constitution and were functionally stable for the life of the character. Skills, using a d100, rather than the D&D d20, were used to simulate the way that people learn skills. A statistic (or stat) in Role-playing games is a piece of Data which represents a particular aspect of a Fictional character. Experience points were replaced by an experience check, rolling higher than your current skill on a d100. This created a learning curve that leveled out the higher a skill was. The Resistance Table, in which two attributes are compared and a chance of success read from a table, is the ugly duckling of the BRP system. It is potentially an entire system mechanic on its own and yet many say it sits oddly with the existing skill system.

Armour, which had been merged with defence in D&D was broken out. The act of parrying was a skill, the ability of the armor to absorb damage was a separate function. The last major element of many BRP games is one that is shared with Tunnels and Trolls (T&T), which originated this, which is that there is no difference between the player character race systems and the monster or opponents. Tunnels & Trolls (abbreviated T&T) is a 1975 Fantasy Role-playing game designed by Ken St By varying ability scores the same system is used for a human hero as a trollish villain. This approach also led quickly, as it did in T&T, to players often playing a wide range of non-human characters and game worlds that were deeply pluralist.

Licensed Games

Chaosium was an early adopter of licensing out its BRP system to other companies, something that was unique at the time they began but rather commonplace now thanks to the d20 licenses. [9] This places the BRP in the notable position of being one of the first products to allow other game companies to develop games or game aids for their work. Companies such as Green Knight and Pagan Publishing earliest works were built to support Chaosium's games.

Other, non-Chaosium games have used BRP for its core rules. Other Suns, published by Fantasy Games Unlimited (FGU), used them under license. Fantasy Games Unlimited, often referred to as just FGU, is a Publishing house for both table-top and Role-playing games In addition, Corum, a supplement to the Stormbringer rules, was published in the fall of 2001 by Darcsyde Productions. Corum Jhaelen Irsei is the name of a fantasy hero in a series of books written by Michael Moorcock. Darcsyde Productions is a Role-playing game publisher which has produced the Corum supplement for the Chaosium Stormbringer (aka

BRP was used (through a special arrangement with Swedish gaming guru Fred Malmberg) as the base for the highly successful Swedish game Drakar och Demoner from Target Games. Drakar och Demoner ( Swedish for Dragons and Demons, in Sweden commonly referred to by the abbreviation "DoD" is a Swedish Fantasy Target Games was a Swedish publisher of Role-playing games They published much of their early material in the form of stapled books in G5 (169 by 239 mm format in

BRP was also licensed to Oriflam in France to create a French language second edition of the Hawkmoon game called Hawkmoon, Nouvelle Edition. This version updated the original Hawkmoon mechanics to more closely parallel those in the newer Elric! game as well as adding sophisticated new rule systems specific to the setting (e. g. Mutations and 'Weird Science').

BRP was also licensed to Japanese companies. BRP games in Japanese are Houkago Kaiki Club (1997, school life and horror, Hobby Japan), Genom Seed (2004, mutant action, Shinkigensha) and Taitei no Ken RPG (2007, SciFi-jidaigeki, based on movie of the same title, Shinkigensha). HobbyJAPAN CO is a Japanese Hobby Magazine and Publishing company, specializing in Roleplaying, war, and Tabletop is a Genre of Film, Television, and Theatre in Japan. The name means "period drama" and the period is usually the Edo period

Awards

The BRP itself has been the recipient, via its games, of many awards. Most notably was the 1981 Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Rules for Call of Cthulhu. The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry [10] Other editions of Call of Cthluhu have also won Origins Awards including the Hall of Fame award. The BRP Character Generation software has also won awards for its design.

References

  1. ^ Chaosium. Chaosium is one of the longer lived publishers of Role-playing games still in existence Chaosium Catalog (catalog). Chaosium. Retrieved on 2008-02-19. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 197 - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum
  2. ^ Shannon Appelcline (2006-09-04). Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 476 - Romulus Augustus, last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, is deposed when Odoacer proclaims himself Brief History of the Game. RPG. Net. Retrieved on 2007-09-14. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 81 - Domitian becomes Emperor of the Roman Empire upon the death of his brother Titus.
  3. ^ Ehara, Tadashi (June/July 1979). "My Life and Role-Playing" (interview). Different Worlds (Issue 3): 8-9. Chaosium. Chaosium is one of the longer lived publishers of Role-playing games still in existence  
  4. ^ Donohoe, jim (Feb/March 1979). "Open Box: Runequest" (review). White Dwarf (Issue 11): 18-19. White Dwarf is a Magazine published by British Games manufacturer Games Workshop. Games Workshop. The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game or Lord of the Rings SBG rather than Lord of the Rings when ISSN 0265-8712. An International Standard Serial Number ( ISSN) is a unique eight-digit number used to identify a print or electronic Periodical publication.  
  5. ^ Turnbull, Don (August 1982). "Open Box: Call of Cthulhu" (review). White Dwarf (Issue 32): 18. White Dwarf is a Magazine published by British Games manufacturer Games Workshop. Games Workshop. The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game or Lord of the Rings SBG rather than Lord of the Rings when ISSN 0265-8712. An International Standard Serial Number ( ISSN) is a unique eight-digit number used to identify a print or electronic Periodical publication.  
  6. ^ Szymanski, Michsel (March/April 1987). "Call of Cthulhu in the Eighties" (review). Different Worlds (Issue 45): 8-9. Chaosium. Chaosium is one of the longer lived publishers of Role-playing games still in existence  
  7. ^ Writtle, Murray (February/March 1982). "Open Box: Stormbringer" (review). White Dwarf (Issue 29): 15. White Dwarf is a Magazine published by British Games manufacturer Games Workshop. Games Workshop. The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game or Lord of the Rings SBG rather than Lord of the Rings when ISSN 0265-8712. An International Standard Serial Number ( ISSN) is a unique eight-digit number used to identify a print or electronic Periodical publication.  
  8. ^ Dickinson, Oliver (April/May 1982). "Open Box: Thieves World" (review). White Dwarf (Issue 30): 15. White Dwarf is a Magazine published by British Games manufacturer Games Workshop. Games Workshop. The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game or Lord of the Rings SBG rather than Lord of the Rings when ISSN 0265-8712. An International Standard Serial Number ( ISSN) is a unique eight-digit number used to identify a print or electronic Periodical publication.  
  9. ^ Shannon Appelcline (2006-11-02). Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1570 - A Tidal wave in the North Sea devastates the coast from Holland to Jutland, killing more than 1000 Brief History of the Game. RPG. Net. Retrieved on 2007-09-14. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 81 - Domitian becomes Emperor of the Roman Empire upon the death of his brother Titus.
  10. ^ Origins. Origins Award Winners (1981). Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Retrieved on 2007-09-14. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 81 - Domitian becomes Emperor of the Roman Empire upon the death of his brother Titus.

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