Here’s a preview of the chapters of Basic Roleplaying – the Deluxe has been dropped from the title.
As it currently stands, the chapters listed below may be subject to alterations before the final publication:
- Chapter 1: Introduction – This opening chapter comprehensively introduces role-playing games. It delves into the concept of role-playing games, the roles and responsibilities of players, and game masters. It provides clear definitions of various RPG terms.
- Chapter 2: Characters – This section details the various methods for creating characters, including primary, secondary, and optional characteristics. Primary characteristics include Strength, over forty specific professions, and suitable campaign settings for their use, along with related skills. Additionally, this chapter offers extensive optional rules for sanity.
- Chapter 3: Skills – This chapter provides an in-depth exploration of skills, including their general use, skill categories, and descriptions of over fifty specific skills. It also includes their base chances of success and examples of fumbles, failures, successes, special successes, and critical successes.
- Chapter 4: Powers – The powers chapter examines the different types available, including magical, psychic, and superpowers. It offers information on how characters can acquire powers and lists over sixty powers, complete with details on the chance of success, range, duration, descriptions, and the cost for characters to purchase and utilize these powers.
- Chapter 5: System – This section explains the game system, covering actions, resistance, and skill usage. Time scales and movement rates are also discussed concerning gameplay. Additional optional rules for opposed skill rolls, high skill chances, and high difficulty are also provided.
- Chapter 6: Combat – This combat-focused chapter delves into the order of combat, magic and power use, actions, and resolution. It includes rules for employing armor, shields, and missile weapons, along with extensive details on damage and healing. Optional rules for eliminating or reversing statements of intent, initiative, strike ranks, miniatures and maps, and more are also included. Additional spot rules for combat are mentioned, though they are yet to be integrated into the chapter.
There have been recent rumors regarding BRP, suggesting that Chaosium may remove the powers chapter from the main book due to balancing issues, which have delayed the completion of development by several months. However, Chaosium aims to release the game by the end of the year.
Update!
Fortunately, I received an update from Jason Durall, who confirmed that the rumor about removing the powers chapter was false. Instead, the powers chapter has been reworked to represent a variety of existing and functional systems.
The exact implications of this change are uncertain, but there will be a powers chapter based on the following systems, as shared by Jason Durall:
- Magic: based on the system in Magic World
- Sorcery: from Elric/Stormbringer system
- Super Powers: based on the super powers in Superworld
- Psychic Abilities” -” from the Elfquest system
- Mutations: based Hawkmoon mutations
