modsr
03-26-2006, 02:33 PM
First of all I want to praise BW (revised). I've played a lot of different systems, and BW swept me away. It really seems that everything was thought out, and everything is there for a REASON. I imagine I won't be playing any type of fantasy or fantasyish setting with any other system ever again. It does seem to me, however, that the system isn't very suitable for modern-day or futuristic settings, but I may be wrong on this. Anyway, the system is GREAT!
Still, there are two rules that bother me (the other one being pretty minor). I would like to get alternative rules for these if anyone has devised any. I used the Search function on both and to my surprise I was apparently the only one who didn't like these rules.
The first one, and by far the more important one is Resources. I just can't come to grips with the fact that there is NO money, per se. A character with Resources B4 (ie not a particularly poor character) comes to town, tries to rent a room at an inn, for example, and fails his test. Not only does he not get a room, and have to sleep outside, he loses money in the process as well! I know, the odds are not very likely on that, but you get the idea. Even though a character is supposed to be rich, luck determines whether he can afford something. Doesn't seem right to me. Also, in my game settings the characters often travel quite a bit, and they really have nothing besides their equipment and their money "on them". It further lessens the believability of a Resources stat (in my eyes).
The second one is Encumbrance (or lack thereof). No weights for any equipment, and thus no penalties for carrying everything you can stuff in your backpack, belt etc. Only armor affects clumsiness. Using these rules, characters wouldn't ever want to drop their backpacks before a fight, since they are unaffected by them. Something seems wrong here, too.
For Encumbrance, I already know what to do, just use rule zero (I tell the players how their load affects them). It would be nice, however, to have a table that shows what loads give what penalties to n Power characters. Anyone done one?
For Resources, I'm clueless. Maybe just lose that part of Character Burning altogether and guesstimate on a character to character basis how much starting money, property etc they have. And then just hand them gold and stuff that they keep track of, and have them sell a horse if they run out of money and so forth. Anyone thought of a better way to handle this? Maybe one that doesn't trash the Character Burning so much (atfer all, Resources is a big part of Burning)?
Aside these (to me) flaws, the game is fantastic. Just looking for some pointers if someone has had similar issues. Thanks in advance.
Still, there are two rules that bother me (the other one being pretty minor). I would like to get alternative rules for these if anyone has devised any. I used the Search function on both and to my surprise I was apparently the only one who didn't like these rules.
The first one, and by far the more important one is Resources. I just can't come to grips with the fact that there is NO money, per se. A character with Resources B4 (ie not a particularly poor character) comes to town, tries to rent a room at an inn, for example, and fails his test. Not only does he not get a room, and have to sleep outside, he loses money in the process as well! I know, the odds are not very likely on that, but you get the idea. Even though a character is supposed to be rich, luck determines whether he can afford something. Doesn't seem right to me. Also, in my game settings the characters often travel quite a bit, and they really have nothing besides their equipment and their money "on them". It further lessens the believability of a Resources stat (in my eyes).
The second one is Encumbrance (or lack thereof). No weights for any equipment, and thus no penalties for carrying everything you can stuff in your backpack, belt etc. Only armor affects clumsiness. Using these rules, characters wouldn't ever want to drop their backpacks before a fight, since they are unaffected by them. Something seems wrong here, too.
For Encumbrance, I already know what to do, just use rule zero (I tell the players how their load affects them). It would be nice, however, to have a table that shows what loads give what penalties to n Power characters. Anyone done one?
For Resources, I'm clueless. Maybe just lose that part of Character Burning altogether and guesstimate on a character to character basis how much starting money, property etc they have. And then just hand them gold and stuff that they keep track of, and have them sell a horse if they run out of money and so forth. Anyone thought of a better way to handle this? Maybe one that doesn't trash the Character Burning so much (atfer all, Resources is a big part of Burning)?
Aside these (to me) flaws, the game is fantastic. Just looking for some pointers if someone has had similar issues. Thanks in advance.