Elena Erasmi
Before we dive into the review of Basic Roleplaying – Universal Game Engine, I would like to thank Chaosium for sending us a physical copy of this product. This game system is the basis of many RPGs that we are fond of, such as Call of Cthulhu and RuneQuest. I remind you that on our website you can read the review of the expansion of this second title, Cults of Runequest.
If after this review you were fascinated by the manual in question, you can purchase it on their website (PDF included) at the price of 49.99 dollars, approximately 46 euros. Alternatively, you can also find the digital version only for $24.99. To appreciate the contents, even just the digital copy would be enough, but trust me, it’s worth getting the paper one and in the next paragraphs, I will explain why.
Review of the Basic Roleplaying Volume
I’ll start this review by talking about the volume. The hard cover is sturdy and the quality of the paper on the inside pages is incredible. The binding is also excellent and for such a heavy tome this is not obvious. Leafing through this manual is a pleasure not only for the eyes but also for the touch. Furthermore, handling it without having the fear of it getting ruined is a great satisfaction.
Inside we also find a lovely golden ribbon that embellishes the volume, as well as being very useful.
An Aesthetic that Embellishes the Entire Volume
I can’t help but start by talking about the cover of this volume. The artistic genius Leonardo Da Vinci, who lived in the Renaissance period, drew the Vitruvian Man to represent the concept of man as the measure of all things. How do you represent in a single image a gaming system that aims to be equally versatile? With a revisited version of it, logically. The colors are varied and in his hand, he holds iconic objects from many role-playing games, such as a gun and a sword. His right leg is wrapped in a purple tentacle that emerges from below, a clear reference to other Chaosium products.
The illustrations within the manual are equally impactful; they feature bright colours and a very coherent graphic style. Their frequency is also adequate, embellishing the volume without ever being a hindrance to the text.
The manual is full of tables in each chapter. Personally, I would have liked them a little bigger for readability, but it’s just a detail; for the rest, they are detailed and well understandable. And I also understand the need not to excessively increase the number of pages, thus also maintaining a very honest price.
The Protagonists of All the Stories: the Characters
The first chapter of this manual has about thirty pages and deals with the characters, the protagonists of our stories. Four types are described, based on their skills; there are normal, heroic, epic and superhuman characters. When we create a character, we must characterize it through basic information such as name, age, gender, characteristics, skills, profession and, if we want, personality. The manual provides us with various tables and methods for this creation process; in a short time, we will be able to generate intriguing and well-rounded protagonists.
This general information with a mainly narrative weight is collected in the upper section of the sheet. Here we also find the basic characteristics:
- STR: the physical strength of the character.
- CON: How much can the character resist diseases and afflictions?
- SIZ: dimensions, understood as weight, height and build.
- INT: intelligence, or perspicacity and the ability to rework.
- POW: the affinity with the supernatural, magic, and all that is not earthly.
- DEX: The character’s agility and coordination.
- CHA: ability to relate to others and influence them.
- EDU: the set of character knowledge.
After having shown what the character sheet is made up of, the manual explains step by step how to fill it in, describing the steps and providing useful tables for this purpose. A key element is certainly the profession; the manual presents many of them (from the university student to the grave robber, passing through many others) and explains how to introduce new ones.
Character Skills and Tests
The heart of the manual, what makes it so valuable, is the game system.
Characters have useful skills for solving very varied situations. The volume dedicates an entire chapter to them in which it lists and explains them, also providing the basic score.
Each test can be called by the master or by the players. You then roll a d100 and, if the result is less than or equal to the score of the skill involved, then the test will be successful. The narrator can, depending on the circumstances, assign bonuses or penalties.
The tests can have one of the following five outcomes: critical failure, normal failure, success, special success and critical success. Moreover the manual provides us with a table to check, based on the skill score, what type of result we have obtained.
However, automatic or impossible actions do not require any die roll.
Whenever the character does particularly well or in a delicate situation, the player can place a mark on the square next to the name of the skill. You then roll to see if the skill score increases or not. You make a normal percentage roll and add half your intelligence value, rounded up. If, at this point, the result of the roll is greater than the current value of the skill, then it is successful.
An interesting box is the one that explains the possibility for a character to have more than 100 in a skill. Now, given that bad luck haunts everyone, it can happen (albeit rarely) that a person (or perhaps not a simple human) is infallible in a certain area.
There are every skill you can think of; but, if you feel any shortcomings, the methods for implementing others are provided.
Review of Basic Roleplaying: the Powers
Magic fascinates everyone, young and old, and it is precisely through this that adults ultimately remain small and continue to marvel. On page 53, under a man threatened by tentacles, the chapter opens on magic, the powers of the characters and what this entails.
The magic is described comprehensively and thoroughly. The list and the relative and detailed explanation of the various magic and psychic abilities constitute a rather substantial part of this section of the manual. I found the explanation on the possibility of using these powers even for those who, like humans, do not normally have them, very useful.
Each spell or power has its duration, the range in which it acts and the power points to spend to cast it. Obviously, it is not always successful, but even failures can have very interesting implications.
Personally, I really appreciate this approach to magic; it is a fundamental element, but incorrect use can lead to catastrophic consequences.
The Fight
Combat plays a key role in this game system and, as a result, takes up a considerable number of pages. The mechanics for starting, carrying, and finishing it are described. We also find ways to use maps and miniatures to facilitate identification. Content-wise, the manual also includes equipment that can affect it and specific rules for peculiar situations.
To decide the initiative order, simply check the value of the dexterity (DEX): the highest goes first. On your turn you can, for example, cast a spell (if it is instantaneous) or attack with a weapon or with your bare hands. When you hit, you can check with the roll of a d20 which part of the body you hit (for example, a result between 13 and 15 indicates the right arm). There are three types of wounds: minor wounds, major wounds, and fatal wounds. The latter, which reduce hit points to 0 or less, are fatal if they cannot be treated immediately.
Most wounds will heal on their own; the character recovers one d3 per game week. A successful First Aid roll also immediately recovers the same amount of wounds. The manual, for further clarity, provides us with a very valid combat example.
The Tools of the Trade
In the part dedicated to a character’s resources, such as money and equipment, there are many tables.
The manual includes a large variety of weapons and for each one, it provides us with useful values for combat, such as damage, range and malfunction. This last aspect is particularly fascinating in my opinion, as it gives an extra touch of unpredictability and favors twists and turns. Obviously, this factor also depends on the era and the technology you include in your adventures; a gun in the wild west will have a much better chance of jamming than a modern weapon.
Finally, I also appreciated the conversion table from the metric to the imperial system; it is very useful for customizing the gaming experience based on your traditions.
The Narrator: How do You Tell a Story?
One thing I have learned in recent years as a game master (in particular from the Guardian, the narrator of The Call of Cthulhu) is that in this type of role-playing game, you need to know how to create a story (or study a ready-made one), prepare the session and take care of players’ interactions with the game world. This manual, fortunately, adequately accompanies us in each of these tasks. It essentially provides us with small but important suggestions on how to manage the most critical situations.
We can find a section that deals with the management of game times, useful for punctuating the scenes and giving the right “shape” to your sessions.
Another part that I have extensively exploited is the one that suggests how to describe a non-player character temperamentally and physically, also providing a table with numerous adjectives and their antonyms as a starting point.
Is a player absent from the session? We are looking for a suitable solution; just as you look for it for every type of problem.
A paragraph is dedicated to advice that can easily be read as security systems. Personally, I would have dedicated more space to this part, given its importance, but its presence is already appreciable. They are quite generic, but at the same time versatile; Do players need time to make an important decision? Give them a break where they can think about it. If it is a particularly tense moment, they will also have the opportunity to relax a little.
In summary, this chapter is fundamental for those who decide to become a narrator for the first time, accompanying newbies step by step; at the same time, it represents an excellent tool even for more experienced masters.
Conclusions of the Basic Roleplaying Review
The time has come to draw the conclusions of this review of Basic Roleplaying. Chaosium does not disappoint itself this time either, managing to create an excellent product, with attention to the smallest details. He concentrated the foundations of one of the most famous and successful gaming systems and inserted them into a truly aesthetically beautiful manual. The explanations are all clear and accompanied by examples and explanatory tables.
As anticipated, this manual is suitable for all those who want to experience exciting adventures; it is particularly suitable for adventures in which the characters are simple people, not heroes in the classic sense. The extensive skill system reflects well the skills that can also be had in the real world and is intuitive. If you are interested in this approach, know that you will be happy both as a novice and as an expert.
It’s been five years since I first launched a d100 and, even today, my days (and my shelves) are full of games that are based on this system.
