USR Sea Encounter Mechanic

In this post I talk about how I've hacked together sea faring rules for my USR Sword & Sorcery campaign utilizing Sailing on the Seas of Fate by Chaosium and Zack S's Wavecrawl Kit.

I've modified how I roll for daily encounter in the following way; for every week of sea travel I roll seven d10's. Only events which get 2 or more results are considered and will come up in play sometime during the week. 3 to 4 matching numbers mean the event is significant and watery doom could be at hand.

The ten event categories are also further subdivided if they spurred decent ideas, but I have to say, custom tables for your game world are a lot of fun. But they take some time to lovingly craft. Fortunately the internet has all these resources available to help you out. Like the products I mentioned above, there are literary thousands of free PDF's available online which can help you make your own gaming tools.

BRP World of Xoth

If I ever run another group of PC's through a Sword & Sorcery campaign I think I'm going to go with Chaosium's Elric!. I'm sure I would modify it with mechanics from the BRP Gold Book, mostly with defining the magic system, but for the rest of it; gritty combat, incredible stunts, fearless dimension hopping, etc., I think the rules set gets the job done.

I could recycle my World of Xoth campaign material for any Heavy Metal minded troop of PC's who want to turn their sword swinging savagery up to eleven. The flexibility of Chaosium's mechanics makes it possible to craft your own brand of Sword & Sorcery. You really can conjure any world of post-apocalyptic or pre-cataclysmic savagery and super science your imagination can devise.

I don't care about no stinking hard drive crash

So yeah my desktop crashed, and all the files scribbles, memos texts downloads pics I've harvested since I found you all her in the OSR is gone. All the story threads, rewritten adventures campaign material for current and never to be played games vaporised. And I don't give a shit. Unlike every other aspect of my life where the data, the material needed is stored and handled electronically RPG's I make or purchase I have to make manifest in some printed or bound copy.

I may not have all the material I've accumulated on my hardrive because if it didn't seem relevant at the time why print it out? If a game situation makes sense for said slumbering material I'd just print out the pdf out on my printer lick-edy split. So yeah, it isn't all there.

But I have three ring binders bulging out my bookshelves of the game material I would love to run or am currently running. Once again this OSR DIY push, this open free range field of awesomeness which you all throw around for pennies, if not for free, lets me just try and run a good game after work without sweating the small stuff.

I did have to buy a new printer a couple of months ago. The laser jet from my previous business finally gave up the ghost after numerous print odd page range flip print even page range all nighters. Not ashamed to say alot of that toner burn was spent on old D&D modules but I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing the point. The point being that my hasty scribblings backed by awesome content/blog/osr posters will give me more game material on a daily basis than I can shake a dead, mummified finger at.

And the best stuff has been hand skinned and drying in my book racks. Hats off to you all gents.

BRP Low Fantasy Campaign Idea cont.

Continuing the class descriptions from last post;

1.4.1.5 Gladiator; you have lived your life in a cage only to be released so as wagers can be placed on whether you will live or die in a blood soaked arena.
Common Skill Bonuses: Perform +25%
Advanced Skill Bonuses: Melee Combat +25%

1.4.1.6 Merchant; dangerous is the Bolfian Silk Road, but the riches to be had make dealing with the mysterious desert peoples draws the determined and the foolish to attempt it.
Common Skill Bonuses: Bargain +25%
Advanced Skill Bonuses: Choose either Navigate, Appraise, or Technical Skill(various) at a +25%

1.4.1.7 Thug; a hired hand, the muscle to protect life and property. Or steal it.
Common Skills: Hide +25%
Advanced Skills: Climb +25%

1.4.1.7 Ranger; a poor, mud pounding bastard who has to sleep outside.
Common Skills: Sense +25%
Advanced Skills: Track +25%

1.5 Skills

1.5.1 Choosing Skills

1.5.1.1 You are allowed to chose three additional skills at the base rating.

1.5.1.2 You may now spend skill points to increase any of the character's starting skills in the following manner; one skill receives a +75% bonus, one skill receives a +50% bonus, and one skill receives a +25% bonus.

Brainstorming a BRP Fantasy Campaign

Here is what I've sketched out so far;

Low Fantasy Adventures in the world of Rom'Myr;

1. Character Creation:

Only human characters may be chosen for race. The available human racial identities are Rom’Myr, and the Fir'Bax. Rom’Myr humans are citizens of the Blue Borderlands, the farthest province east in the realm of The Trackless Empire. Sandwiched between the Cold Heath and the Groaning Mountains the Rom'Myr of the Blue Borderlands trade for Bolfian Silk from the non-human desert nomads known as the Strangled. The land of Fir'Bax lies just north of the Blue Borderlands. Uncouth barbarians who scratch a living from the small arable land surrounding the high peaks of the Yani'Hor, the Groaning Mountains. They are extremely xenophobic and war incessintly with the Strangled. This small barbarian kingdom also resent the encroaching Rom'Myrians into their wilderness domain. 

1.1 Characteristics

The primary building blocks of your PC are the seven characteristics from Chaosium’s Basic Role Playing system. Roll 3d6 dice to determine the values of your character’s Characteristics; these being Strenght (STR), Constitution (CON), Size (SIZ), Intelligence (INT), Power (POW), Dexterity (DEX), and Charisma (CHA).

1.2 Attributes

These are based on your Characteristics. They are four in number; Damage Modifier (DM), Hit Points (HP), Major Wound Level (MWL), and Movement Rate (Move).

1.3 Common Skills

This is a list of skills that every PC would have a base knowledge in. They are modified by the PC’s Characteristics if applicable. Some of your Common Skills will be increased by the bonuses given by your chosen Character Class.

1.4 Character Class

Here you are able to shape your PC more to your liking. Choosing a character’s Class will give your PC some Advanced Skills, increase some of your Common Skills, and determine how much money the character has to spend on equipment before play begins.

1.4.1 Class available for selection are as follows; Acrobat, Assassin, Barbarian, Druid, Gladiator, Merchant, Thug, and Ranger. Class choice provides the following relevant characteristic and skill advantages;

1.4.1.1 Acrobat; an entertainer in a bleak land devoid of joy. Your physical contortions provide a more subtle interest to the paying Lords then just flaying you alive would deliver.

Common Skill Bonuses: Athletics +25%, Unarmed Combat +25%.

Advanced Skill Bonuses: Choose either Teaching or Oratory and add +25%.

1.4.1.2 Assassin; those of wealth got there by eliminating their enemies. These enemies are mostly eliminated by paying for murder from secret sects which practice this nefarious trade. You are one who was trained by one these mysterious battle cults.

Common Skill Bonuses: Stealth +25%.

Advanced Skill Bonuses: Choose either Disguise, Ranged Combat, or Tracking and add +25%.

1.4.1.3 Barbarian; you find your home in the limitless wastes and wilderness of at the edge of a decaying civilization. 

Common Skill Bonuses: Ride +25%.

Advanced Skill Bonuses: Survival +25%.

1.4.1.4 Druid; you claim understanding of the spirits and gods which walk unseen amongst man.  

Common Skill Bonuses: Insight +25%.

Advanced Skill Bonuses: Chose one of the following; Beliefs +25%, Lore +25%, or Seduction +25%.

Sample pantheon of Gods;

§  Valett, the Goddess of the Night, having the form of three-eyed warrior-maiden.

§  Hesrace, the God of Caverns and the Night, having the form of calm boy holding a hammer.

§  Baldecigail, the Goddess of and Mother of Lies, seen in dreams as hunting bear.

§  The Exalted God, having the form of fierce camel.

§  Fae, the Goddess of Travel and Woodlands, who visits in visions as abrasive woman holding a scroll.

§  Pelixa, the Goddess of Darkness and the Sextal Goddess, seen in dreams as a crone holding a knife.

§  Feliah, the Goddess of , most often depicted as howling hag.

§  Fryssa, the Unspeakable Goddess, visible to mortals only as abrasive crocodile.

§  Daliica, the Goddess of Wealth, who appears as attractive pregnant woman with the scaly skin of a crocodile.

§  Angiara, Princess of Spiders, having the form of a warrior-maiden holding an obelisk.

§  Reytan, the God of Fate and Patron of justiciars, seen in dreams as crow with horns like an auroch.

§  Suselda, the Goddess of Sin and Queen of Magic, most often depicted as fat cat with the head of a snake.

etc, more to come...

So yeah, I think fleshing out some of these traditional AD&D classes into a simple BRP scheme on top of a flinty fantasy world built from a limited world palate will give me all I need for a wildly fantastic game world. Obvious adventures available within the starting small sandbox would be Deep Cavern Observatory and the free module Sky-Stone-River-Place found over at http://falsemachine.blogspot.com/

After that gut some of the desert and mountain modules from D&D, reskin them with pulpy sensibilities, and pillage all the new content being presented on G+ sources. You should have players turning grey before their time!