Rolemaster Unified, Dec 3 2022

[aramis erak]

Who isn't

Me. I've no love for Errol Otus' work. (not that I dislike it, either, but it really holds no special place for me.)

And that cover isn't all that good. The faces are offputting and the scene, while reminiscent of Errol Otus' style, isn't up to the standards I've come to expect from "big names" in the industry. And ICE is still a big name, even if they're a tiny minority of sales.

 

[dagger]

Me. I've no love for Errol Otus' work. (not that I dislike it, either, but it really holds no special place for me.)

And that cover isn't all that good. The faces are offputting and the scene, while reminiscent of Errol Otus' style, isn't up to the standards I've come to expect from "big names" in the industry. And ICE is still a big name, even if they're a tiny minority of sales.

They might be a big name but making RM is a part time gig for them, its not even paying the bills.

 

[aramis erak]

They might be a big name but making RM is a part time gig for them, its not even paying the bills.

Which logic suggests indicates misspent resources, not earnestness.

ICE has for decades, managed to keep the doors open. They have, for over 40 years now, been producing books with excellent layout, good-for-the-era art, and a game that, while table-heavy, plays well and is fundamentally lighter to run than D&D (at least once one gets used to using the tables).

If they spent part of their art budget for that cover art, I have to wonder if they've let the standards slip in other ways, too.

If the team aren't making enough to pay their living expenses, well, very few other companies are, either. Basically irrelevant for judging the product.

 

[dagger]

I personally don't mind the cover and I could care less about the art in general in games. I am waiting until the POD is ready though before I get it.

Whether the cover or art is good or bad is subjective to each person and is irrelevant. Based on that then you don't have to worry about the standards slipping and just determine if you like the game or not.

 

[Lazvon]

It is part time for everyone I believe. Terry would have been the only full time games industry person and he passed away in the last year - and he was dedicated to Shadow World as far as I know, which his will assigned the rights to ICE.

Anyway, Nicholas Caldwell who has produced the Guild Companion for years and is a Professor of Engineering at University of Suffolk, Post-doc at Cambridge is the licensee for the ICE Intellectual Property. John Seal (the owner of the intellectual property) is a long term fan who had the money to do so, but assigned the licenses to Bruce (long term ICE) and Heike who tried to make a go of it full time along with Tim who created HARP and at least one other full time employee, Monica who did the layouts/edits/etc. John acquired it during the bankruptcy back around 2000 when the original ICE owners shut down for various reasons.

John reassigned the rights to Nicholas and The Guild Companion a while back now. I don’t know all the details, nor care to. I like Bruce/Heike/Tim, I also like Nicholas.

Anyway, like I was saying I am not sure there is anyone full time on ICE right now. Perhaps Colin. Jonathan as far as I know isn’t… with his skills with Excel, I’d bet he is a financial guy somewhere… … Jonathan Dale’s character spreadsheet(s) were and I assume still are awesome.

Anyway, I never played Rolemaster or any game for the art. As I said before, brings backs feel of the era when I started for me, so don’t mind it at all. The budget I assume was pretty small for art acquisition and primarily they’re going for the content and the system, fixing things, streamlining, and merging RM2 and RMSS/RMFRP… this the what the U is all about.

The system is simply my favorite Fantasy Roleplaying system out there as a I have said before. As soon as my kids are old enough, we’ll switch to it from DnD and see what they think. Right now, but too complex for them - and I am not personally worried about some the Crit table descriptions of what happens, but might as well let them a be a bit older before exposing them to a few more gory details.

 

[Bravesteel25]

Haven't had a chance to dive in fully yet, but at first glance the layout appears to be a significant improvement over previous editions of the game. I agree with others in that the cover art does the book no favors, however.

 

[pantsorama]

I have played it, for several years once the beta came out. It is a pretty good system, esp. If you like RM/SM. The skills are somewhere between the disappointment of RMC/RM1/etc. and the craziness of RMSS/RMFP. I feel they hit a nice balance.

Spells are basically taken from RMSS, as is the spell progression skills. They are still vague as I'll get out, but that can be a plus.

Crits are still a worry for your PC (but much fun, I'll admit), but no longer a veritable meatgrinder. It still has the issue of StunLock and death spirals, but they are not nearly as bad as before.

I think it needs to be played with some automation. It makes the game so much smoother, and much more fun. The good news is: there are tools. A Roll20 Character Sheet, ERA, Combat Minion, and hopefully soon a Fantasy Grounds Ruleset.