Basic Roleplaying Universal Game Engine
Review by Wazza
Do you crave for the perfect Roleplaying system? One enabling years of consistent play covering all the genres you could possibly yearn for? Then I have some good news: Chaosium's Basic Roleplaying Universal Game Engine is definitely for you. This is a set of game mechanics which have been around since the dawn of roleplaying. What we’re dealing with here is a true pedigree in gaming. People readily bandy around the words ‘iconic’ and ‘classic’ however it's fair to say they can be justified here. Without basic roleplaying there’d be no RuneQuest, Call of Cthulhu, Rivers of London or Age of Vikings.
Basic roleplaying started out from a genesis of medieval combat reenactment rules by Greg Stafford, the founder of Chaosium, who sought a realistic simulation of melee combat where every blow was deadly and armour absorbed damage, revolutionary at the time. These rules were expanded to encompass magic, skills and character creation set in the mythical world of Glorantha with the 1978 release of RuneQuest. This system has been through many iterations since, each building on its predecessors until finally arriving at this latest release in 2024. So what's it like and is this the perfect universal system for you? Read on!
The Basic Roleplaying Universal Game Engine is available in PDF for $24.99 and hardcover for $49.99. I cannot attest to the production quality of the latter as this is a review of the digital product only which Chaosium was kind enough to provide a copy. At 266-pages it’s readable and concise without being overwhelming, an amazing achievement considering this is a multi-genre system. At the very start we’re introduced to a glossary of gaming terms which have become synonymous with roleplaying such as D100, critical rolls, magic points and hit locations.
Characters are designed on a sliding power scale from normal, heroic, and epic through to superhuman making it a cinch to create an aspiring adventurer leaving their farm behind to start on their first adventure or a spandex-wearing superhero saving a metropolis from a rampaging Kaiju. How is this achieved? Simple, by allocating an increasing number of characteristic points. Whereas normal characters have a limit of 24 points to spend of the standard characteristic array of STR, CON, SIZ, INT, POW, DEX, CHA, and EDU, each with a limit of 21, a superhuman starts with 60 points and no upper limit. Every characteristic has its place and is used to determine the secondary stats of movement, hit points, power points, fatigue, sanity and damage modifiers. While not all of these may be necessary in your particular campaign, their inclusion is a welcome addition. Characters can hail from a variety of cultural backgrounds and professions, further defined by distinguishing features, wealth, life events and family to create a unique individual.
Basic roleplaying was the first system to introduce skill checks and the universal game engine covers everything from ploughing a field to piloting a starship. D100 rolls are a concept anyone can grasp making skill checks easily quantifiable and are used to communicate, perceive your environment, perform mental and physical tasks and partake in the all-important arena of combat on any scale from personal to vehicular.
What sets these rules apart are how they deal with the extraordinary powers characters frequently possess whether it's in the form of magic, mutations, psychic abilities, sorcery, or superpowers, this game has you covered. And there’s nothing stopping you mixing and matching any or all of them to recreate your favorite movie, tv show, book or video game.
The game mechanics are logical, consistent and scalable for virtually any in-game situation. Take combat for example, everyone acts on their DEX and is allowed an action and movement. You can choose to dodge and parry with hit locations taking damage after applying armor. This works for both melee and ranged combat whether you’re wielding swords, lasers or spells. Roll within ⅕ of your skill to score special successes and 1/20th to land devastating critical hits. While variant rules tailor the game to your specific requirements, the fundamentals remain consistent throughout allowing you focus on gameplay without worrying about referencing lots of charts and tables.
As you can imagine a mutli-genre game requires lots of gear. Weapons range from primitive melee varieties through modern ballistic weapons up to futuristic blasters and explosives. For the discerning medieval reenactment enthusiastic a plethora of historical arsenals are represented. We have various modes of transport from the humble horse up to starfighters.
The game mastering section offers advice on the GM’s role with optional rules to tweak the game to your liking and advice on running a campaign. As this is a universal game there’s plenty of individual settings. Fancy a historical game? We have prehistoric, the Bronze and Iron Ages, Medieval, Imperial Asia and the Arabian Nights. The 19th century is covered with the ever popular Victorian Age and Wild West. Moving along we have the pulp era with its exotic locales and fiendish villains, WWII, and finally the future with planetary, apocalyptic, cyberpunk and space exploration. A short bestiary follows featuring animals and monsters then the book ends on some useful appendices covering conversion rules for RuneQuest and Call of Cthulhu.
Oh wait, you want more you say? OK how about…
A creatures book! Yes the most recent release is Basic Roleplaying Creatures weighing in at 170-pages available in PDF for $19.99 (thanks Chaosium for my review copy) and hardcover for $39.99. Inside are over 200 animals, dinosaurs, monsters, aliens, robots and Kaiju. With advice on transferring them to RuneQuest and Call of Cthulhu if you so wish. Each entry has an easy to read stat block and the majority have an accompanying illustration. We all love bestiaries and this is a cracker.
What are my final thoughts? A great universal game system allowing you to adventure anytime and anyplace as anyone. Give it a shot you’re guaranteed to have a blast.