Basic Role-Playing
Encyclopedia
Basic Role-Playing is a role-playing game system
which originated in the fantasy
-oriented RuneQuest
role-playing game
rules. A percentile skill-based system, BRP was used as the basis for most of the games published by Chaosium
, including Stormbringer
, Worlds of Wonder, Call of Cthulhu
, Superworld
, Ringworld, Elfquest
, Hawkmoon
, Elric!, and Nephilim. 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. The BRP standalone booklet was first released in 1980
. Two years later it became part of the Worlds of Wonder boxed set. 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.
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, 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 within reach for all characters.
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 released a new version of BRP on June 24th, 2008 as single comprehensive book. Currently they are selling both a printed and pdf version of the game.
as part of his game RuneQuest. 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. Over the years several others, including Sandy Petersen
, Lynn Willis
, and Steve Henderson
, contributed to their final form.
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
and the dark fantasy saga of Elric
in Stormbringer
.
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. Superworld
, specifically, began as a portion of the Worlds of Wonder product.
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.
(D&D). Size, Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Power, and Appearance (or Charisma) 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 static 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. Experience point
s 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.
Whereas D&D merged armor with defense, BRP treated them as separate functions: the act of parrying was a defensive skill that reduced an opponent's chance to successfully land an attack, and the purpose of armor was to absorb damage. The last major element of many BRP games is that there is no difference between the player character race systems and that of the monster or opponents. This element is shared with and originated in Tunnels and Trolls
. 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 playing a wide range of non-human characters and game worlds that were deeply pluralist.
Other, non-Chaosium games have used BRP for its core rules. Other Suns, published by Fantasy Games Unlimited
(FGU), used them under license. In addition, Corum
, a supplement to the Stormbringer rules, was published in the fall of 2001 by Darcsyde Productions
.
BRP was used (through a special arrangement with Swedish Fredrik Malmberg) as the base for the highly successful Swedish game Drakar och Demoner
from Target Games
.
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).
for Best Roleplaying Rules for Call of Cthulhu. 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.
Role-playing game system
A role-playing game system is a set of game mechanics used in a role-playing game to determine the outcome of a character's in-game actions...
which originated in the fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
-oriented RuneQuest
RuneQuest
RuneQuest is a fantasy role-playing game first published in 1978 by Chaosium, created by Steve Perrin and set in Greg Stafford's mythical world of Glorantha. RuneQuest was notable for its original gaming system and for its verisimilitude in adhering to an original fantasy world...
role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
rules. A percentile skill-based system, BRP was used as the basis for most of the games published by Chaosium
Chaosium
Chaosium is one of the longer lived publishers of role-playing games still in existence. Founded by Greg Stafford, its first game was actually a wargame, White Bear and Red Moon, which later mutated into Dragon Pass and its sequel, Nomad Gods...
, including Stormbringer
Stormbringer (role-playing game)
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 books by Michael Moorcock. The game takes its name from Elric’s sword, Stormbringer...
, Worlds of Wonder, Call of Cthulhu
Call of Cthulhu (role-playing game)
Call of Cthulhu is a horror fiction role-playing game based on H. P. Lovecraft's story of the same name and the associated Cthulhu Mythos.The game, often abbreviated as CoC, is published by Chaosium.-Setting:...
, Superworld
Superworld
Superworld is a superhero-themed role-playing game published by Chaosium in 1983. Written by Basic Role-Playing and RuneQuest author Steve Perrin, Superworld began as one third of the Worlds of Wonder product, which also included a generic fantasy setting, "Magic World", and a generic science...
, Ringworld, Elfquest
Elfquest
Elfquest is a cult hit comic book property created by Wendy and Richard Pini in 1978. It is a fantasy story about a community of elves and other fictional species who struggle to survive and coexist on a primitive Earth-like planet with two moons. Several published volumes of prose fiction also...
, Hawkmoon
Hawkmoon
Dorian Hawkmoon, Duke of Köln is one of the fictional characters created by Michael Moorcock in his series of the Eternal Champion books.-Overview:Dorian Hawkmoon is one of the less "problematic" characters Moorcock ever created a series around...
, Elric!, and Nephilim. Pendragon
Pendragon (role-playing game)
Pendragon, or King Arthur Pendragon, is a role-playing game in which players take the role of knights performing chivalric deeds in the tradition of Arthurian legend. It was originally written by Greg Stafford and published by Chaosium, then was acquired by Green Knight Publishing, who in turn...
(acquired in 1998 by Green Knight Publishing
Green Knight Publishing
Green Knight Publishing was founded by Peter Corless after he bought the rights to the award-winning Pendragon role-playing game from Chaosium in 1998. From 1999 to 2001, Green Knight published supplements for the role-playing game, in which players take on the roles of knights and ladies...
, and 2005 by White Wolf), while related, has sufficiently different mechanics that it can be seen as a separate system. The BRP standalone booklet was first released in 1980
1980 in games
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and table-top role-playing games published in 1980. For video and console games, see 1980 in video gaming.-Significant games-related events of 1980:...
. Two years later it became part of the Worlds of Wonder boxed set. The first edition boxed set of Call of Cthulhu included the booklet as its character creation rules. Greg Stafford
Greg Stafford
Francis Gregory Stafford , usually known as Greg Stafford, is an American game designer, publisher and shaman.-Glorantha and gaming:...
and Lynn Willis
Lynn Willis
Lynn Willis is a wargame and role-playing game designer who has done work for Metagaming Concepts, Game Designers' Workshop, and Chaosium.Willis began by designing science fiction wargames for Metagaming, starting with the Godsfire in 1976. He also designed the microgames Olympica and Holy War...
are credited as the authors.
BRP is similar to other generic systems such as GURPS
GURPS
The Generic Universal RolePlaying System, or GURPS, is a tabletop role-playing game system designed to allow for play in any game setting...
, Hero System
Hero System
The Hero System is a generic role-playing game system that developed from the superhero RPG Champions. It is used as the underlying mechanics of other Hero Games role-playing games such as Dark Champions, Fantasy Hero, Star Hero, and Pulp Hero...
or Savage Worlds
Savage Worlds
Savage Worlds is an award-winning, universal generic, role-playing game and miniatures wargame, written by Shane Lacy Hensley, and published by Great White Games doing business as Pinnacle Entertainment Group...
in that it uses a simple resolution method which can be broadly applied, 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 within reach for all characters.
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 released a new version of BRP on June 24th, 2008 as single comprehensive book. Currently they are selling both a printed and pdf version of the game.
History
The core rules were originally written by Steve PerrinSteve Perrin
Stephen Herbert Perrin, born January 22 1946 and simply known as Steve Perrin, is a game designer and technical writer/editor.Perrin is probably best known for creating the role-playing game RuneQuest for Chaosium...
as part of his game RuneQuest. It was Greg Stafford
Greg Stafford
Francis Gregory Stafford , usually known as Greg Stafford, is an American game designer, publisher and shaman.-Glorantha and gaming:...
'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. Over the years several others, including Sandy Petersen
Sandy Petersen
Carl Sanford Joslyn Petersen is a game designer.Petersen was born in St. Louis, Missouri and attended University of California, Berkeley, majoring in zoology....
, Lynn Willis
Lynn Willis
Lynn Willis is a wargame and role-playing game designer who has done work for Metagaming Concepts, Game Designers' Workshop, and Chaosium.Willis began by designing science fiction wargames for Metagaming, starting with the Godsfire in 1976. He also designed the microgames Olympica and Holy War...
, and Steve Henderson
Steve Henderson (game designer)
Steve Henderson was a co-designer of several Role Playing Game titles and supplements, including RuneQuest, Worlds of Wonder and Superworld, and a partner in DunDraCon...
, contributed to their final form.
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
and the dark fantasy saga of Elric
Elric of Melniboné
Elric of Melniboné is a fictional character created by Michael Moorcock, and the antihero of a series of sword and sorcery stories centering in an alternate Earth. The proper name and title of the character is Elric VIII, 428th Emperor of Melniboné...
in Stormbringer
Stormbringer (role-playing game)
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 books by Michael Moorcock. The game takes its name from Elric’s sword, Stormbringer...
.
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. Superworld
Superworld
Superworld is a superhero-themed role-playing game published by Chaosium in 1983. Written by Basic Role-Playing and RuneQuest author Steve Perrin, Superworld began as one third of the Worlds of Wonder product, which also included a generic fantasy setting, "Magic World", and a generic science...
, specifically, began as a portion of the Worlds of Wonder product.
The fantasy game supplement Thieves World
Thieves World
Thieves' World is a shared world fantasy series created by Robert Lynn Asprin in 1978. The original series comprised twelve anthologies, including stories by such science fiction authors as Poul Anderson, John Brunner, Andrew J. Offutt, C. J. Cherryh, Janet Morris, Chris Morris...
, based on the popular series of books by Robert Lynn Asprin
Robert Asprin
Robert Lynn Asprin was an American science fiction and fantasy author and active fan, best known for his humorous MythAdventures and Phule's Company series.- Background :...
, 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.
Rules System
BRP was developed from a core set of attributes similar to the original Dungeons & DragonsDungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
(D&D). Size, Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Power, and Appearance (or Charisma) 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 static 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. Experience point
Experience point
An experience point is a unit of measurement used in many role-playing games and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's progression through the game...
s 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.
Whereas D&D merged armor with defense, BRP treated them as separate functions: the act of parrying was a defensive skill that reduced an opponent's chance to successfully land an attack, and the purpose of armor was to absorb damage. The last major element of many BRP games is that there is no difference between the player character race systems and that of the monster or opponents. This element is shared with and originated in Tunnels and Trolls
Tunnels and Trolls
Tunnels & Trolls is a fantasy role-playing game designed by Ken St. Andre and first published in 1975 by Flying Buffalo. The second modern role-playing game published, it was written 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 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. 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
Fantasy Games Unlimited
Fantasy Games Unlimited, often referred to as just FGU, is a publishing house for both table-top and role-playing games. They have no in-house design teams and rely on submitted material from outside talent.-History:...
(FGU), used them under license. In addition, Corum
Corum
Corum Jhaelen Irsei is the name of a fictional fantasy hero in a series of two trilogies written by author Michael Moorcock.- Plot summary :...
, a supplement to the Stormbringer rules, was published in the fall of 2001 by Darcsyde Productions
Darcsyde Productions
Darcsyde Productions is a small-scale Australian web development and publishing concern, based in Melbourne, which has specialised in creating websites and role-playing games ....
.
BRP was used (through a special arrangement with Swedish Fredrik Malmberg) as the base for the highly successful Swedish game Drakar och Demoner
Drakar och Demoner
Drakar och Demoner is a Swedish fantasy role-playing game first published in 1982 by the game publishing company Äventyrsspel .First edition was basically a translation of Steve Perrin's Basic Role-Playing Drakar och Demoner (Swedish for Dragons and Demons, in Sweden commonly referred to by the...
from Target Games
Target Games
Target Games was a Swedish publisher of role-playing games active from 1980 until the year 1999 when they went into bankruptcy proceedings.-Publications:...
.
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
Hobby Japan
HobbyJAPAN CO. is a Japanese hobby magazine and publishing company, specializing in roleplaying, war, and tabletop games, as well as action figures, toys, and artbooks for successful anime, manga and light novel franchises.- Role-playing games :...
), Genom Seed (2004, mutant action, Shinkigensha) and Taitei no Ken RPG (2007, SciFi-jidaigeki
Jidaigeki
is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan. The name means "period drama" and is usually the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—Portrait of Hell, for example, is set during the late Heian period—and the early Meiji era is also a popular...
, based on movie of the same title, Shinkigensha).
Awards
The BRP itself has been the recipient, via its games, of many awards. Most notably was the 1981 Origins AwardOrigins Award
The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.The Origins Award is commonly...
for Best Roleplaying Rules for Call of Cthulhu. 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.
External links
- Chaosium's Basic Role-Playing Catalog Page
- Basic Roleplaying Central - The community fansite for Chaosium's Basic Roleplaying game system. BRP Central hosts the basic roleplaying forum, a wiki, downloads, an open fan art gallery, freshly updated brp news & a link list.
- Basic Roleplaying . Net - The unofficial site for Chaosium's d100 Basic Roleplaying game system. Basic Roleplaying . net hosts the Chaos Project, Uncounted Worlds, a d100 Conversion Archive, Scenario Archives, d100 World Forges, Rules Workshop and a Basic Roleplaying Wiki.
- www.basicrps.com