raises hand
I left Rolemaster about 25 years ago (something standard system?) What are the highlights in changes/updates/evolution of the game...
I think then that you were playing Rolemaster Standard System (RMSS for short). That's the second main incarnation of the game (the first being RM1 and RM2, very similar editions commonly just called RM2).
The big news is the publication of RMU, the third main edition of the game. It is an attempt to take what was best of previous editions and provide a new, supported edition.
The RMU Core Law book was published on 3 December 2022; Spell Law followed in March of 2023; Treasure Law in 2024; and now Creature Law I in 2025. They are available for purchase on DriveThruRpg: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/416633/Rolemaster-Core-Law-RMU
Future books are already in production. These include (in roughly pipeline order):
--The Character Companion, which adds new Arms classes (professions), fighting styles and talents, and more detail on skills.
--Creature Law II, with the more exotic creatures and rules for making and levelling your own creatures (archetypes).
--The Wilderness Companion, with new wilderness-focused professions and spells lists.
--The Arcane Companion, which reintroduces Arcane Magic.
RMU also has excellent VTT support now, on Roll20 and Foundry.
As for rules themselves: RMU plays much like earlier editions, though it does make an effort to clean up some of the problems with earlier editions and eliminate unnecessary complexities. For example, when you make a spell attack, instead of checking two separate charts (Base Attack Roll and RR chart), you just roll your Spell Casting Roll (no chart needed) and that sets the target number the defender needs to roll on their RR to succeed. So instead of two different charts, you need none.
Similarly, RMU reduces the number of armor types from 20 to 10, but in a way that actually makes more different types of armor possible. In previous editions, each basic genre of armor actually spanned 4 armor types: e.g. Chain was actually Armor Types 13-16, but really, 13 was just a chain shirt, 14 was a shirt with some greaves, 16 was full suit, etc. So, RMU now just has one Armor Type for chain (AT 8), and the coverage issue is solved by you being able to decide which specific parts of your body have armor on them (head, torso, arms, legs). Thus, RMU actually has 10 different types of armor rather than 5 types with different body coverage. They have at once streamlined the game but also opened it up to allow more types of armor (e.g. Lamellar, Brigandine, Scale).
Overall, then, RMU is considerably more playable (IMHO) while still retaining virtually all the granularity of previous editions.







