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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Imaro" data-source="post: 9240252" data-attributes="member: 48965">So from a thread on the ICE forums titled... What is Wrong with Rolemaster..."RM system isn't bad, it works quite fine until you come to the magic items/herbs part, which are clearly based on a completely different scale. Really, they make absolutely no sense compared to all the other things.And no, imo the "prices are there only as a reference" and "magical items aren't to be sold" arguments are not very strong.If prices are there only as a comparison, that should be another reason for them to make sense! A price based on a totally different scale than everything else is not really helpful if you're trying to compare the value of two items.And if magic items aren't to be sold, then just say so in the book! That would be much better than giving weird prices (that make people think that the items are actually purchasable).""Where it all falls apart is the cost of magic, be it items or spell casting fees.  Herbs in particular are rediculous.  If I don''t outright change the cost, I start by reducing magic items to a silver base in cost and herbs to a Bp base )don't get me started on the broken time for production rules in Treasure Companion...perfect for an elven society, crap for us lesser mortals).  This brings herbs in particular into line with the economy and makes them expensive but affordable to the middle class, who generate 3-10x the base line income.""The cost of magic items and other economics of magic really depend on how magical the setting is. In a rare magic setting, forget hiring mages, you are questing to even find them, and magic items are super rare as well. In a common magic setting with lots of high level casters, it makes sense to have rates to hire a caster and magic items should be common enough that they are feasible to buy. Not sure a single set of guidelines can cover both possibilities, it might be better to discuss them in the context of setting and give two or three options.""I'd rather see guidelines, given the way some folks can latch onto rules. So much of how cheap/expensive magic items are relates directly to the magical prevalence/power level of the setting, along with tech levels and resource availability. I adjusted most costs to suit my world, which was mid-level in terms of magic stuff (nowhere near as common as, say AErth) and fairly advanced when it came to metals and mining. Herbs had a sliding cost based on where they came from and rarity. Some of the RM2 stuff was pretty useful for this, but it always felt like something that was tacked on to the basic rules."Well that all sounds familiar...</blockquote>

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