Chaosium - Basic Role Playing Guide • Collecting General

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Chaosium - Basic Role Playing Guide
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lucyjoyce
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Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 11:10 pm

I have a 16 page booklet titled Basic Role Playing published by Chaosium, Inc. and written by Greg Stafford and Lynn Willis. The copyright is 1980, 1981. In the top left hand corner there is a chain-rimmed rectangle that states "Special Fantasy Paths edition for BCS Inc." In the bottom right corner it says "Third Edition" Did this booklet come in a boxed edition of something else? It doesn't seem like a stand-alone item.

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grodog
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Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 11:23 pm

It was included in the RuneQuest boxed sets, at the least, and may well have also appeared in QuestWorld or RingWorld (don't know, don't own them) or some other Chaosium box sets???

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stumbling tiger
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Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 1:07 am

This was packaged as a freebie in a game aid called "Fantasy Paths" by Board-Craft Simulations (1981) -- basically cardboard dungeon tiles.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p85/ ... yPaths.jpg

I guess this (licensing deal?) was a subtle attempt at world domination on Chaosium's part! Not sure how sought-after Fantasy Paths are.

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Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 1:57 am

Basic Role Playing appeared in EVERY Chaosium product from 1978 until the demise of their box sets. In short, you could find it in...

RuneQuest (boxed sets)
Stormbringer (boxed sets)
Call of Cthulhu (boxed sets)
Worlds of Wonder
Hawkmoon
Elfquest
Ringworld
Superworld

...and of course the aforementioned Fantasy Paths.

I believe the booklet was available separately, since my copy of Worlds of Wonder came with a copy of Basic Role Playing in a card stock cover (my original copy of this game didn't have the cover). A couple of years ago Chaosium re released the Basic Role Playing book utilizing artwork from a cancelled book (Slaves of Chaos?)

Currently, the closest thing to the Basic Role Playing book now is the Quick Start Cthulhu rules available for free on the Chaosium web site. The Basic Role Playing book itself has little to no value, since it was insanely common due to its inclusion in EVERY set of core rules Chaosium made.

The rules themselves are available for download here, although do note that this is by no means an official site. French and Italian translations are available, the translations expanding the core system to include magic and gunpowder.

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lucyjoyce
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Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 6:42 am

Wow, thanks so much for the information! Now I just need to go through my stuff and see which set might be missing this guide... I really appreciate the help.

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Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:11 pm

[quote="Traveller"]

I believe the booklet was available separately, since my copy of Worlds of Wonder came with a copy of Basic Role Playing in a card stock cover (my original copy of this game didn't have the cover). A couple of years ago Chaosium re released the Basic Role Playing book utilizing artwork from a cancelled book (Slaves of Chaos?)

quote]

It was Straits of Chaos for their abortive D20 Elric/Melnibone line, with a cool picture of a Kraken attacking a Pan Tangian galley.

Too bad they canceled it...their D20 stuff was pretty good.

The artwork was too good to lose, so they recycled it for Basic Roleplaying.

Mark

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Traveller
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Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 3:52 pm

I thought I might have gotten the name of the aborted book wrong.

I found a high quality copy of the artwork on the artist's web site, without any text or logos. A little manipulation in Paint Shop Pro, adding some text (pulled from the back cover of RuneQuest II), logos, and darkening the image to match the Basic Role Playing front cover scan I had, and I got a nice back cover to the Basic Role Playing slipcase I made to store my Basic Role Playing monographs (which are nothing more than RuneQuest III with the serial numbers filed off and no Glorantha).

Oh, and while I think of it, there are some changes between the re release of the BRP book and the original. The site I linked earlier has the changes, but the changes actually weren't too bad, except for the nerfing of impale. I absolutely HATE the rule change for impale (the impaling weapon does damage roll + damage roll instead of maximum damage + damage roll).

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Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 6:04 pm

Can you give me the URL for the artist. I have been trying to document the aborted cover picture for Straits of Chaos...but it disappeared off of Amazon before I got wise.

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jasonw1239
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Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 10:10 pm

MShipley88 wrote:Can you give me the URL for the artist. I have been trying to document the aborted cover picture for Straits of Chaos...but it disappeared off of Amazon before I got wise.

This looks like the site:

http://www.chrisappel.net/cover3.htm

JasonW

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Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 10:41 pm

Thanks.

Good artist.

Mark

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Ethesis
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Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 8:55 am

MShipley88 wrote:Thanks.

Good artist.

Mark

My thanks tool

Regards,

Stephen

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