It’s far from basic. Also there is a design challenge, please submit your game pitches here: https://www.chaosium.com/blogthe-basic-roleplaying-design-challenge/
Link: https://www.chaosium.com/basic-roleplaying-universal-game-engine-hardcover/
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It's always been an amazing engine to bring worlds to life with. It excels at 'human' level gaming, so things like Indian Jones, Aliens, Sherlock Holmes, Mission Impossible, The Expanse, Star Trek, or any low fantasy setting like Vikings, middle ages, pretty much any ancient setting. It gets more crunchy when you move up to High Fantasy or Space Opera Sci-Fi, or Mega Superhero level gaming. Not to say it can't handle it, Chaosium released games using BRP for all of these, but personally, I feel it struggles when you try to emulate say, something like a level 10+ D&D campaign, or something like The Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy levels of craziness. If you've played RuneQuest at Runelord level, you will know what I mean. Combat can take an absolute eternity if you don't strip down the rules.
I've used it many times to run the original Traveller 2300, as I loved the setting but really hated the mechanics of that game. It's so easy to convert those kinds of systems to the BRP system. It really should be a much bigger deal than it already is in the RPG landscape.
Why game designers insist on inventing yet another set of slightly different game mechanics, when this little beauty is just sitting there, waiting to be used, is beyond me. This was way better than d20 or GURPS for 'anywhen' style gaming.
I like the idea of a Build your own system, I been doing it with the Free League dice pool syste,m
Is there an add-on where they tackle a freeform magic system like the one in ars magica or mage the ascension/awakening?
Hello! Greetings from Missouri in the USA. I'm a bit late for this video, but I appreciate the review. I just bought a copy of this last week and so far, I like what I see. I was a big fan of GURPS 3rd edition ("Generic Universal Role Playing System") from the early 90s and played it for years. This seems to take that excellent concept for starters, and combine it with all the things I like about Call of Cthulhu. I'm looking forward to running my own games using this. Also, at the moment, the Basic Roleplaying Universal Game Engine starter set is available as a free PDF for people interested in having a look at it without committing to buying the big hardback right away. Thanks for the video.
I’ve been looking for a system that would allow a mashup of multiple genres (kitchen sink setting). Thanks for the video!
Excellent review as always! Although this is a fantastic product, for me the issue is the BLOAT and CRUNCH! I will get it some day, but I strongly prefer leaner systems and to that point I'm already working on my own d100 one.
Try GURPS. That’s about as truly universal as you can get.
A good review. I think there's still a simple BRP booklet available that introduces the basic mechanics and concepts of the game. That would probably be helpful for new players. For anyone curious, the various power systems were all imported from previous BRP games – thus the two magic systems. Magic comes from the Magic World supplement from the old Worlds of Wonder box set (not the current Magic World game) which was probably the first multigenre game. Superpowers likewise come from the Super World supplement from WoW. Sorcery was imported from Elric/Stormbringer. I'm not sure where Mutant and Psychic powers came from but my guess is that the former came from Hawkmoon and the latter from Elfquest.
Interaction! I love the review of systems like these. I desperately want to find a generic rpg that just clicks you know.