Chaosium Basic Roleplaying
Chaosium is the game publisher behind many great Cthulhu games, books, and other products. Chaosium released the original books and supplements for the Call of Cthulhu RPG, and publishes a popular line of Cthulhu Mythos fiction collections. Basic Roleplaying is the name of Chaosium’s basic role-playing game rules set, not used for every Chaosium game but a general set of role-playing rules that can be altered to fit different gaming systems. The Call of Cthulhu RPG is one of the Chaosium games that uses Basic Roleplaying for a rules set.
Chaosium History
Chaosium is one of the elders of the role-playing universe, founded in 1975 by game designer Greg Stafford. The first release by Chaosium was not a role-playing game, but a boardgame with fantasy elements. Their first role-playing release was RuneQuest, a popular role-playing game in its own right, but maybe more important as an influence on today’s game designers. RuneQuest used Chaosium’s original role-playing rules collection, known even to today as BRP or basic role-playing. Chaosium (and other game designers) would use BRP rules on many of their later products, including Call of Cthulhu.
Chaosium has continually released updates to BRP, though you can still
play Chaosium games with the original BRP rules set. The updates to BRP are
mostly optional rules tailored to specific genres of role-playing, such as
rules for attacking with arrows in a fantasy setting versus bullets in a
more contemporary one.
In recent years, Chaosium has tried getting into the collectible card game market, seeing some initial success with Mythos, an HP Lovecraft-inspired CCG. When Mythos (and other projects) didn’t catch on, Chaosium split up its products among like-minded groups. Chaosium kept rights to Call of Cthulhu, Stormbringer, and Mythos, handing out other projects to Greg Stafford himself and a publishing company spin-off. Chaosium still produces materials for Call of Cthulhu while Greg Stafford has taken over the duties of HeroQuest.
Chaosium BRP
Chaosium BRP rules are a standard set of role-playing rules designed by Steve Perrin and added to Chaosium’s RuneQuest role-playing game by Greg Stafford. The rules were a success, and Chaosium continued modifying them and using them for new role-playing releases. That’s how Chaosium’s BRP came to be part of the Call of Cthulhu RPG; BRP (or some modified version of it) was the standard for most Chaosium releases. The first edition of Call of Cthulhu was shipped with a BRP rules booklet, though later releases have simple absorbed the rules into the regular editions.
BRP is called a “percentile skill” gaming system that uses one resolution method with lots of different applications. Players in BRP games attempt to roll under a certain number using percentile dice.
Differences Between BRP and D&D
Though BRP is similar in some ways to the original Dungeons & Dragons rule set, there are some key differences. Yes, player attributes are similar in both worlds; in BRP they are: Size, Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Power, and Appearance. In BRP, a character’s hit points are based on that player’s average between Size and Constitution and tend to remain the same for the character’s entire life. In D&D, hit points increase with experience and other game options.
One difference that players really like about BRP is the separation of a character’s armor rating from their defensive abilities. Players can defend themselves (like parrying) to make the attacker miss, and their armor will absorb or prevent some of the damage, two separate events in the game.
Players new to BRP games may notice a big difference in the way skills are learned and experience is gained. In BRP games, a d100 is used to determine if you gain experience, which happens when you roll higher than your current skill rating on a d100. The result of this simple rule is a more realistic learning experience. This rolling system creates a learning curve, where it is easier to learn when your skills are low but harder as your skill points rack up.
BRP is going through something of a renaissance. In 2008, Chaosium published a massive collection of info on BRP as “Basic Roleplaying,” a core book of rules for BRP. This book had all the basic BRP rules along with every optional rules release from all BRP games and supplements published by Chaosium since 1975. Call of Cthulhu is still getting regular updates from Chaosium and other licensed companies like Goodman Games. Alphetar is publishing a ton of role-playing materials based on BRP, and other companies have planned new RPG releases using BRP or some form of it, like Cubicle Seven’s new Laundry RPG based on Charlie Stross’ Laundry books.
Chaosium Call of Cthulhu RPG
The star of the Chaosium show for Lovecraft fans is still the Call of Cthulhu RPG. First published in 1981, Call of Cthulhu has been in active play-testing since the 70s, making it one of the most-tested and played games in the world. Call of Cthulhu uses their publisher Chaosium’s basic role-playing rules with available modifications and optional rules for different types of role-playing.
Chaosium Call of Cthulhu RPG is noticeably different from other role-playing games, for starters because it is set in a world very much like ours, but also because the object of the game is usually impossible. Faced with a twisted mystery in a nightmarish alternate universes, players in Call of Cthulhu take on the roles of various witnesses, investigators, or people involved in these mysteries. Usually professors or intellectuals of some sort, Call of Cthulhu players bring their own skills to an investigation so horrific that players must maintain a check of their very sanity or risk going permanently insane.
Call of Cthulhu is a dark game, based on the horror writings of HP Lovecraft and other writers in the Cthulhu Mythos, and offering a very slim chance of success to the player characters. Using Chaosium’s BRP system allows for skill improvement over time, but in Call of Cthulhu, your character may not have time to improve before he loses his mind.
Chaosium still fully supports Call of Cthulhu with new adventures and other supplemental materials. A recent 30th Anniversary edition was essentially the 6th edition in a fancy cover printed on nice paper and stuff, an expensive edition for true fans. Releasing a book like this in 2011 is proof enough of Call of Cthulhu’s staying power.
Chaosium Books
Chaosium is also a major publisher of fiction collections set in the Cthulhu Mythos. From Chaosium’s own website, their books are an “ . . . ever expanding collection of Cthulhu Mythos horror fiction and related topics from Chaosium. Call of Cthulhu fiction focuses on single entities, concepts, or authors significant to readers and fans of H.P. Lovecraft as well as Call of Cthulhu gamers.” That’s a better summary than I could have come up with.
Chaosium is currently selling twenty-two titles in their Call of Cthulhu series. Writers like Lois H. Gresh, editors like Robert M. Price, and a host of Cthulhu-inspired artists collaborate to put together these Cthulhu Mythos books for Chaosium. Going back to 1993, the books in the current Chaosium collection explore the horror-fantasy world of HP Lovecraft and stay true to the Cthuhu Mythos.
Chaosium Basic Roleplaying has been in constant use since it first appeared in the late 70s. Several updates and additions to the BRP system have made the rules set useful for all sorts of game worlds, from the future to our contemporary world to the fantasy past and future. New games hitting the market now and in the recent past use the BRP system or some form of it, ensuring that Chaosium’s Basic Roleplaying rule system is alive and well.