Forums of the Megaverse®

dirtyg wrote:I was going to buy BTS and run a game as I have dead reign too. Can I actually NOT run a game as a thread here says its not a complete game?? Does the main book have no rules? I presume that whilst dead reigns main book gives you the game and the other supplements give you extra zombies etc that this game does not and you need these other non existant books to run it? If thats the case what other Palladium game would be a good start for a whole host of good rules that may actually compliment dead reign too?

For what you want BTS2 is probably ok for you to use as is. The two books in question were more for running a BTS2 game properly as it was abook about magic and a book about monsters et al. BTS2 gives you the basic rules and things to get started with BTS2. The only REAL problem you'd run into is if you tried to run a specific BTS2 game as opposed to what you are talking about which is to use BTS2 to supplement Dead Reign.

dirtyg wrote:

jaymz wrote:

dirtyg wrote:I was going to buy BTS and run a game as I have dead reign too. Can I actually NOT run a game as a thread here says its not a complete game?? Does the main book have no rules? I presume that whilst dead reigns main book gives you the game and the other supplements give you extra zombies etc that this game does not and you need these other non existant books to run it? If thats the case what other Palladium game would be a good start for a whole host of good rules that may actually compliment dead reign too?

For what you want BTS2 is probably ok for you to use as is. The two books in question were more for running a BTS2 game properly as it was abook about magic and a book about monsters et al. BTS2 gives you the basic rules and things to get started with BTS2. The only REAL problem you'd run into is if you tried to run a specific BTS2 game as opposed to what you are talking about which is to use BTS2 to supplement Dead Reign.

I kind of wanted to run the BTS in a game set before the zombies rose (maybe have a few zombies in it as a taster) from the dead and for the players to get a back story to the evil that unleashed it trying in vein (though they dont know) to stop it. Is this game basically Palladiums version of Hunter The reckoning???

I don;t know that game. BTS is supposed to be PBs horror RPG. You should be ok to use it as is to do a dead reign prequel game.

You could absolutely run your game with just the BtS-2 and Dead Reign main books. The other threads are probably confusing as all heck if you haven't been following recent developments. Both of these books do use the same basic system with a few tweaks in each. For example, making a head shot against a zombie requires a roll of natural 20, a rule unique to only DR. If BtS is your basis, I would suggest just using DR as a sourcebook and ignoring the game mechanics therein.

The only element listed which isn't found in either book is a simple magic system. This was reserved from BtS-W for a sourcebook, and magic is not a part of the Dead Reign world (following Kevin's rewrite). If these are the only two Palladium books you own, I would restrict magic to the NPC bad guys and/or wing it. BtS does have extensive rules for psychic powers which fill the mystic role very well. DR is very focused on the zombies themslves.

Dead Reign was originally pitched as a sourcebook for BtS, so they should work fine together.

dirtyg wrote:long as it runs by the same core rules and has some ability's to use, character classes, some basic magic, creatures to fight and a good game world description etc I can see no problem with it.

No magic in BTS-2 but don't let that stop you.

dirtyg wrote:long as it runs by the same core rules and has some ability's to use, character classes, some basic magic, creatures to fight and a good game world description etc I can see no problem with it.

It has some good flavour text and some character classes, but the creatures selection is incredibly slim and magic is non-existant.