Rolemaster

[Votan]

Well it can go two ways.

If your DM does not have an instinctive knowledge of what tables to consult or (more importantly) when to stop with the complexity, it is an awful, grinding game that is frequently bogged down in life-or-death situations that require upwards of an hour (it really happened!) to resolve.

If your DM knows his stuff and (in my opinion) keeps to the more simple tables it is a good game, albeit one where you simply cannot plan ahead (one good/bad roll will utterly ruin you/give you a moment of awesome). If you want to capture the grit and chaos of real-life engagements then rolemaster is for you. And yes, I've played in a game where this happened.

At the moment, my 3.5E group is houseruling in this level of complexity, anyway, so there doesn't seem to be a great deal of penalty for going to a more complex system (the House rules packet grew to > 200 pages).

So I am happy if we can acheive the design goals of a system with complexity but fewer total rules to memorize.

But the point about the need for system mastery on the part of the DM is an exceedingly good one and worth putting some thought into.

 

[Votan]

I've been on a MERP bender lately (mostly due to nostalgia for Angus McBride). The old Rolemaster rules can go fast enough with a competent GM. But man ... invisible turtles still suck.

Edit: Though has anyone read the XP rules recently? Ludicrous.

What is the issue with the XP rules?

I thought that ICE did some amazingly well done supplements for middle earth, back in the day, and they stand up really well to modern gamaing material.

 

[SSquirrel]

Core book, talent law, arms law, the various schools of magic books if you have someone who really wants to focus on casting...there are tons of books available. I always played RM w/someone who had all of those books already and had reinforced his hole punching, sheared off the sides and put everything into binders. Put all the class kits into one section for ease of character creation. Still took 4 hours to teach someone how to make a character if they had never played before, altho once my friends developed their spreadsheet that was cut down o 90 minutes.

Play was reasonably fast once you made it past chargen, but many people got frustrated just trying to make a character. Of course after I hadn't played it in a couple of years I sat down and made a character, then decided I wanted to make a 2nd and had it done in a half hour, including talents and everything.

 

[Andor]

I've been on a MERP bender lately (mostly due to nostalgia for Angus McBride). The old Rolemaster rules can go fast enough with a competent GM. But man ... invisible turtles still suck.

You mock the unseen, imaginary, deceased turtle? You are very confused.

 

[Rel]

I used to do some writing for ICE (I co-wrote the RMSS book The Essence Companion and helped playtest and proofread Castles & Ruins) and it was my gaming group's system of choice for nearly a dozen years. I've played a LOT of Rolemaster over the years.

The game will always have a place in my heart but I've gotta say that my tastes have evolved away from the chart-heavy realism that Rolemaster has as a core design feature. Combat (for us) was always slow and frequently deadly (or else required fudging to keep it from being so deadly).

Over the years we noticed that our games became much more about diplomacy and political intrigue and less about combat. At the time we thought it was because we were becoming "more mature roleplayers". But ultimately I think it was because the combat part of the game had become cumbersome for us.

We adopted 3e D&D like a breath of fresh air and haven't looked back. But we did enjoy many a fun and memorable campaign with RM back in the day.

My advice for anybody running an RM game would be for the GM to let the players help them as much as possible. Make sure you make copies of the weapon tables so that you don't have to flip through that book. Make copies of all Spell Lists known by any of the players. If you know that you're going to need certain skills then make copies of those charts too and have them handy.

Good luck and have fun.

 

[SSquirrel]

My advice for anybody running an RM game would be for the GM to let the players help them as much as possible. Make sure you make copies of the weapon tables so that you don't have to flip through that book. Make copies of all Spell Lists known by any of the players. If you know that you're going to need certain skills then make copies of those charts too and have them handy.

This is great advice. My first time I played we had one guy who had the Arms Law book pretty well memorized and could flip to weapons with no difficulty. We used a battle board and he tracked health for the GM and looked up eveyrone's rolls on the charts.

The next game we played, we all sprung to get copies made of the weapon charts and spell lists we would need. We did our own lookup and our battle guy just had to track health and position. Things moved along much better. Now we have 4E with Power Cards and it just makes sense after my experiences in Rolemaster heh.

 

[forgorin]

Rolemaster is the best game I've ever played. I like the realistic way armor reduces damage rather than just crank up an AC which should actually go down with heavy metal worn. The wide range of character types and quirky skills you can learn like stilt walking are cool. Then there's the lovely critical chart after upending.... ahhh the joy. Playing AD&D (a great game!) after spending time at Rolemaster is like going to MacDonald's when you usually dine gourmet.

 

[Greg K]

I used to do some writing for ICE (I co-wrote the RMSS book The Essence Companion

I love the Essence Companion. It and the Martial Arts Companion were my two favorite supplements (edit: oops add Channeling Companion to the list). During the time when EC was selling for like a $100 + on ebay, I was able to track a copy down for cover price and shipping thanks to the people on the ICE forums.

The game will always have a place in my heart but I've gotta say that my tastes have evolved away from the chart-heavy realism that Rolemaster has as a core design feature. Combat (for us) was always slow and frequently deadly (or else required fudging to keep it from being so deadly).

Over the years we noticed that our games became much more about diplomacy and political intrigue and less about combat. At the time we thought it was because we were becoming "more mature roleplayers". But ultimately I think it was because the combat part of the game had become cumbersome for us.

I was actually very happy to see players more wary of combat and choosing when to fight and when to try another tactic. However, we also got some very cinematic moments as well. The Sorcerer holding on to a gargoyle for dear life while the gargoyle fllew among buildings trying to shake him off. Then, there was the Sorcerer trying to escape a combat on the Cavalier's horse only to have the horse turn and charge the trolls and save its downed master.

We adopted 3e D&D like a breath of fresh air and haven't looked back. But we did enjoy many a fun and memorable campaign with RM back in the day.

I found 3e to be a good meeting point that satisfied both my RM players and those from a strict DND background that didn't like allocating DB in RM. For myself, I found 3e really good provided that I controlled the supplemental material.

My advice for anybody running an RM game would be for the GM to let the players help them as much as possible. Make sure you make copies of the weapon tables so that you don't have to flip through that book. Make copies of all Spell Lists known by any of the players. If you know that you're going to need certain skills then make copies of those charts too and have them handy.

Most definitely agree. We found it very helpful to have one player keep track of eveyone's hit points and power points as well as bleeding, stun etc.

 

[Rel]

I love the Essence Companion. It and the Martial Arts Companion were my two favorite supplements. During the time when EC was selling for like a $100 + on ebay, I was able to track a copy down for cover price and shipping thanks to the people on the ICE forums.

Glad to hear it. I couldn't believe how much copies were selling for back in those days. I heard rumors of one going for upwards of $200, which is just crazy if you ask me.

These days you can get a PDF of it for pretty cheap.

 

[Votan]

Glad to hear it. I couldn't believe how much copies were selling for back in those days. I heard rumors of one going for upwards of $200, which is just crazy if you ask me.

These days you can get a PDF of it for pretty cheap.

It is nice how PDF have made vintage games available, isn't it?

It also makes it possible (even if not always trivial) to recruit new players to the game system as they can get copies of the rules to learn.