Reading Classic RuneQuest: Basic Role-Playing

I’m back to reading the classic RuneQuest 2nd edition boxed set! See the first and second articles in the series if you missed them. Today we are reading the “Basic Role-Playing” booklet, written by Greg Stafford and Lynn Willis, with a couple illustrations by William Church.

This “introductory guide” to fantasy role-playing (FRP) and the Basic Role-Playing system (BRP) is a 16 pages-long booklet that, we are told, presents a “whole game system”. So in theory, you could completely ignore the rules in the bigger RuneQuest book and just play BRP directly from this. The BRP rules differ quite a lot from the RuneQuest rules, in that they’re much simpler, but you can tell they share the same chassis. I wonder how many early 1980s players decided to simplify aspects of RuneQuest by “downgrading” select rules to their BRP equivalent?

Anyway, let’s dive in!

1 July 2026 ∞ in Reading Classics

Most of the time, the good fluffy boy is one colour. But sometimes he’s two colours.

The good fluffy boy is walk through the water near Deep Cove, BC (photos taken a few weeks ago)

The good fluffy boy is rolling around on the sand over his ball.

30 June 2026 ∞

Designing new TTRPG mechanics

A meme with pictures of the 1920 movie "Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde".

1. "Thinking of some new TTRPG mechanics" Jekyll is thinking intensely about making his potion

2. "Writing the new TTRPG mechanics" Jekyll is now Mr Hyde and revels in his new ability to engage in sin

3. "Playtesting the new TTRPG mechanics" Hyde beats Sir George to death

4. "Throwing away the new TTRPG mechanics" Transformed back to his old self, Jekyll realizes what a fool he has been and cringes very hard

30 June 2026 ∞

New TTRPG collector’s shopping list has dropped, courtesy of Shannon Appelcline… (it’s a bit scary that I have most of these titles already)

30 June 2026 ∞

I wanted to grab a digital copy of “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow”, the book on which the new Supergirl movie is mostly based, but apparently my choices are (1) Amazon Kindle DRM or (2) DC digital monthly subscription. Digital comics are fucked and I’m tired.

26 June 2026 ∞

“B.C. faces calls to bolster worker heat safety regulations”: it really starts here, I think. It’s only when a whole bunch of industries shut down during heat waves that we might see proper political and economic motivation for climate action and better urban planning.

25 June 2026 ∞

Lol, that Sen̓áḵw building in Vancouver actually looks quite messed up. A 3-bedroom apartment with crooked walls for $9000+/month… but at least you get a nice view?

25 June 2026 ∞

Favourite seasons: (1) Winter, (2) Fall, (3) Spring, (4) Summer.

Yep, summer has always been my least favourite, and climate change isn’t making it any better.

25 June 2026 ∞

I have recently become obsessed with various people’s TTRPG house rules for seduction and flirting, how varied they are, and how they all say something about their authors 😅 Now I kinda want to make a smooching game where each character class uses different rules/styles to different effect.

Pepe le Pew trying to smooch that poor cat.

25 June 2026 ∞

The “Worse On Purpose” blog continues their very interesting investigations, this time turning their attention to Whole Foods. The pre-Amazon history of the chain was a lot more dramatic than I thought.

25 June 2026 ∞