BESM - OVA conversion

Discuss rule quandaries, supplements, or anything else OVA related here.

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Saint&Sinner
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BESM - OVA conversion

Post by Saint&Sinner »

If I want variable point costs for abilities and I own BESM 1st, 2nd and 3rd edition is there a simple conversion factor for using this material?
wuxiasnake
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Post by wuxiasnake »

I don't think there is such a conversion factor but I'm kinda curious ...

Why would you want variable point costs?

The beauty of OVA is its simplicity. You seem to be trying to make it more complex.
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Clay
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Post by Clay »

Including conversion rules for BESM2e was heavily considered for OVA, but Guardians of Order was charging like $100 to include basic conversion rules, and I didn't think it was worth it.

Now that GoO has gone under, I might have to revisit what is required. If nothing else, I'll need to purchase copies of the three editions of BESM, haha.

In the mean time, I can only suggest pairing each Ability in OVA with an equivalent Attribute in BESM, then try to figure out what level in one game gives a roughly equivalent effect in the other. Although you can simply make the levels equal (I think BESM is 1-6 most of the time while OVA is 1-5...close enough), the scales are rarely exactly equivalent to each other in what each level means.

If you just want to make OVA have variable point costs, that's much easier. Again, just pair up Abilities to their counterpart in BESM, and use the BESM cost.

Sometimes this doesn't work, since I think BESM really loads up the value of combat abilities, but you should be able to hammer out something.
JuddG
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Re: BESM - OVA conversion

Post by JuddG »

Saint&Sinner wrote:If I want variable point costs for abilities and I own BESM 1st, 2nd and 3rd edition is there a simple conversion factor for using this material?
My two is this: "Convert the character not the stats." That paradigm shift makes all the difference. You know what the character is all about in play and in the stories you tell with it, so make sure it will have the same impact it would in OVA stories as it did in BESM ones.

This is the same paradigm I suggest when dealing with converting an character from some fiction into gaming terms - the impact is far more useful to consider than the specific value of the stats.
Joe_Mello
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Re: BESM - OVA conversion

Post by Joe_Mello »

JuddG wrote: "Convert the character not the stats."
Do this, and you can play your character in any RPG. I know someone who only uses a couple of characters, but they show up in D&D, Star Wars d20, Silver Age Sentinels, Exalted, Paranoia, and probably a few other systems I don't know of.
Joe_Mello: Could you make a common sense roll, please, Ryu?
Ryushikaze: With Smart?
Joe_Mello: Sure
*Ryushikaze rolls*
Joe_Mello: SHE'S DEAD!
JuddG
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Re: BESM - OVA conversion

Post by JuddG »

Joe_Mello wrote:Do this, and you can play your character in any RPG.
Yep, and I hope we all agree this is usually a good thing. Usually... :?

I did know a guy that had an astoundingly annoying character who managed to get copied over from game to game to game...

...I have been known to port a favorite character from time to time as well.

Part of the joy of the hobby. :o
Jandar
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Post by Jandar »

Just because it should fit right into this thread, and because someone just mentioned Lina Inverse from Slayers in another tread:

Here is, as an example of the conversion BESM (2e) to OVA, Lina Inverse in the OVA system.

I based this right on the officially approved Slayers stats in the BESM book, "The Essential Role-Playing and Reference Guide to The Slayers, Book #1" from 2003. The numerical conversion went like a breeze. Almost everything from BESM has an equivalent in OVA, and sometimes a drawback or rather "Defect" from BESM even has the same name, like "Easily Distracted" and so on. While I am at this, of course this requires an eye on detail: "Easily Distracted" in BESM is more akin to OVA's "Soft Spot" ...


Lina Inverse (created by Hajime Kanzaka, 1990; this version created June 23rd, 2007)

Characteristics
Abilities

Agile +2
Beauty +2
Charisma +2
Combat Skill +2
Cute! +3
Defense +1
Hobby Skill: Magical Lore +2
Hobby Skill: Streetwise/Gossip +2
Lucky +3
Magic, Arcane +4
Special Ability: Comedic Strength +2
Tough +4
Vitality +4


Weaknesses

Ageism -1
Arrogant -1
Bad Reputation -2
Easily Distracted -1
Impulsive -1
Rival (Eris) -2
Rival (Rezo) -2
Sensitive (her chest size) -1
Soft Spot (food) -1
Soft Spot (wealth/money) -1
Short Temper -1
Special Weakness -1 (eating frenzies)
Special Weakness -2 (loses Magic Ability during “That Time of the Month”)
Wanted -2 (by various police authorities)

Health: 120
Endurance: 120
Point Total: 12
R-90-2
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Post by R-90-2 »

Good effort, but Arcane Magic covers buffing abilities. The Lina's Blow-stuff-up abilities would be covered under the Power Move skill, which is quite absent.
Clay
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Post by Clay »

Thanks for the conversion! I've mentioned before how much I love writeups, and being a conversion of "official" material makes me even happier. Would've been curious to the original BESM stats though, as I do not own the supplement.

R-90-2: While the in-book OVA example mage Auren buys a separate Power Move Ability, it is by no means required. It's just that any combat-focused mage would greatly benefit from the reduced Endurance cost of having their Power Moves not within the Arcane Magic framework.

I've only read a few of the Slayers manga and saw one movie, so I can't really vouch for how Lina uses her magical abilities. In the end, if she only uses magic for the "big bang", it's probably appropriate for her to have extensively draining Endurance costs.
Jandar
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Post by Jandar »

In fact I had thought about making use of the Power Move ability for Lina.

I just couldn't get my mind made up that quickly on whether to use Power Move or Arcane Magic. I figured that the various big spells could always be Arcane Magic mimicking a Power Move.

I could try to adapt/convert the magic spells from Slayers at some point. Those spells are in the BESM books (there are 3 short paperbacks about The Slayers, I only have the first). I decided to submit only a short version of the write-up here, without the various spells.

In BESM terms, the spells are also part of a generic spellcasting ability, i.e. Magic Attribute, not uses of the Special Attack attribute (the equivalent of Power Move).
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