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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 3843021" data-attributes="member: 42582">I am a long-time GM of Rolemaster. It is true that wound penalties in that system can lead to a death spiral, but there are other aspects of the RM mechanics which mitigate against this.In RM combat, each combatant has to split their melee bonus between attack and parry, and (in D&D terms) parry not only adds to AC but also acts as damage reduction. A character who suffers wound penalties can either reduce his/her parry - thus maintaining the same offence but running the risk of greater wounds - or reduce his/her attack - thus maintaining the same level of defence but reducing damage output and thus increasing the duration of the combat. Neither option will lead to a death spiral if the PC overall has the advantage - and thus (in the first case) can finish off their foe in the next round, or (in the second case) can still win with a reduced OB. Even against a stronger foe, the second option will not lead to a death sprial if the PC can maintain their defence until an ally is able to join in the fight.In any case, the interest of these situations to the players arises because of the decisions about allocation of attack vs parry that must be made, and perhaps changed from round to round, even against foes who are overall weaker than the PCs.</blockquote>