Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine - Hardcover

As a typographer and printer with over 20 years industry experience this review focuses mainly on the production and legibility of the book. Basic Roleplaying is hardbound and printed on quality uncoated paper. The text and images are sharp and clear to read. The book has head and tail bands as well marker ribbons and nice quality end papers. The layout of information is orderly with ample line and word spacing. Addressing the size and choice of font we need to remember that the previous edition wasn't called ‘The Big Yellow Book’ for nothing. This book contains ‘A Lot’ of information. Everything you could possibly need to run a game of any genre. This really is the only book you will ever need to run a role playing game. The choice of font is easy to read and while somewhat smaller than other reference books it is most definitely legible and easy to read (8/11pt). Increasing the font size would have pushed this book well beyond the already hefty 260 page count and the resulting production costs would be passed on to the consumer. Reducing the line or word spacing would decrease legibility. In balance a well designed book and definitely well worth the price tag.

I've never owned the basic roleplay gold book but I've been playing Runequest since the 80s. Someone has put a lot of hard work into this and it shows. They've kept the basic system but tuned it up perfect. They've even improved the combat system over the latest version of Runequest, lots of tactical options, grapple/ martial arts and using dex ranks instead of strike ranks, a subtle but important difference. The quality of the pages/book is beautiful, the paper feels like a thicker grade and the finish is beautiful. The text is a little small though. The best part: you can use any of the runequest books or cthulhu in support. The red book of magic is completely compatible. They just need the goods to keep coming in support of the game. Companion 1 for example: sorcery, psionics, the superhero companion and so forth. If you love the runequest system but want to game outside of Glorantha then get this.

The Basic Roleplaying system is my favorite rpg system due to its ease of use and modularity. I can craft the rules anyway I want to fit whatever genre I’m trying to emulate. This book is great with a lot of rules cleared up and streamlined. With this new book alongside my classic BRP gold book I’ve got thousands of options.

If you are comfortable playing Call of Cthulhu or Runequest, you got the system down, and love the easy to understand percentile dice mechanics, why not play EVERYTHING with that same system? This book has it all. You can build a system that suits better your style of play, your own homebrewn setting (or any existing one for any game) or both. You can leave it as simple as you want or add as many rules you want, it's that modular. BRP Universal Game Engine does what it promises, and also is fun to read, it's got plenty of ideas that can spark your creativity. I love the mix and match kind of modular rules. You can use what you think that can work better in your games or leave behind what you think doesn't.

I've only just skimmed through the book. And I'm really intrigued by it! Many of my favorite tabletop rpgs are based on this system! For example Othe old Dragonbane (Drakar och Demoner). I'm really amazed by the quality too!

I was so excited to get the hardcover for this as it's so much easier for me to use than a pdf. Great quality book complete with ribbon bookmark. I was surprised by the fact that the pages were not glossed as in most books these days, but this is a welcome change in my opinion- reduces glare and gives a nice 80's/90's book vibe and feel to it. As for the system itself it gives you so many options that you will have no trouble building just about any kind of game with this, but it's not overly complex so even a beginner should be able to easily pick this up and play.

Important notice: this review concerns only this book's printed form, not the contents. The contents is fine (as much as I can tell after skimming the PDF). The quality of the book as a physical product, though? Agh. Seriously, the book is printed in an insanely small font - I really can't read a single line without my eyes straining painfully. Also, the book is printed on a thick, rough, poor quality paper - and the colour illustrations look worse than in some POD books. I honestly can't believe Chaosium is charging nearly $50 for a hardcover of such poorly quality (and non-existent readability). You dropped the ball here, guys. I'm sorry but it's true :(