req@ubu.UUCP (Russell Quin) (12/07/84)
Has anyone out there been running Rolemaster [the fantasy role playing game from Iron Crown Enterprises] for any length of time (say, 10 sessions or more) ? I've started running this, and would be interested to hear about other people's experiences. How do you find it compares to AD&D[TM] or RQ!, or whatever else ou normally run ? What do you do about one player-character teaching another a skill, for example ? Most important, what are the <<modules>> like ? I have been able to get hold of --- with great difficulty --- Campaign Law and the Iron Wind; is there any point buying Vog Mur ? Has anyone run anything in any of these, and what were the main difficulties? Sorry, lots of questions & low info content. I really like many of the ideas behind the game, although the layout could be better and an index would have helped enormously. The new edition is rumoured [white dwarf] to be better presented, but it will almost certainly be far too expensive over here in the UK; the 2nd Edn. is really a little too pricey already, as well as being quite difficult to get hold of. Please MAIL responses; if there are a lot of replies then I'll summarise. Thanks (in advance) Russell -- ... mcvax!ukc!qtlon!flame!ubu!req Striving to promote the interproduction of epimorphistic conformability ....
jj@alice.UUCP (12/10/84)
Well, I hesitate to say anything, since I remember all the ad-hominem attacks I was congratulated with when I reviewed Rolemaster a year ago, but... I've been using Rolemaster for about a year now. We've played about every 1.5 weeks, at this point, and the campaign is starting to progress nicely. Comments: The "Character Law" book starts characters out much to rich for my likings. The system is hard for AD&D types to learn, easier for others, since it doesn't reduce fantasy life to quite the cut-and-dried flavor of the "Other System". I could go on for an hour, but let me make this a favorable review.
req@snow.UUCP (Russell Quin) (01/11/85)
A few replies, and those who stated how long they'd been running the system have been using it for some time -- probably long enough for first impressions to have been ousted... not long enough for a retrospective look at a campaign, of course. So here is a summary/review, as promised. Most people's impressions were favourable. 1) Presentation: The layout of the books is unhelpful; an index would have been appreciated, and as the reviewer in The Dragon pointed out, the tables are in a somewhat unexpected order. Scenarios are printed in a tiny (around 6pt) typeface which is a real strain to read. On the whole, however, it's certainly not the worst I've seen, and the mail replies tend to agree that it is certainly useable with a bit of practice, although it is ``quite difficult to learn straight off.'' Perhaps it isn't really fair to compare other systems with TSR[TM]'s layout, but it's difficult not to. News of a new Rolemaster edition in a different format means that the situation may well improve. 2) Combat: Possibly the most controversial aspect of the system. Replies vary tremendously. An example: > I *like* the combat system a lot. I think that by combining it with the > wound and healing system in the game you get a much more "realistic" sort of > combat. In a recent knife fight in an alley the players came out with an arm > wound (serious), a chest wound (minor) and a broken tendon (a botched attempt > at a martial art strike). The combat is table-driven: there is a table for each weapon, with a different column for each type of opponent's armour [a total of 20 types]. An open-ended dice roll with added and/or subtracted modifiers gives a column in the table determining if a hit was made, what the damage was, and whether a critical was scored. Criticals involve one of the Critical tables; a roll is made giving further damage to specified locations [broken arm etc]. The main criticisms of the approach are that it's hard to alter a table [but you can always use a different one -- there are certainly enough provided!] and that you can never get to remember all the ``to hit'' scores [cf. Basic D&D]/ The advantages seem to be:- it's fairly fast it's simple to use, although you do need enough copies of the tables to give 1/player, really the comprehensive modifiers allow for GM's judgement in a simple and intuitive manner -- important for fast running -- and are all summarised in a table somewhere. I know 'cos I found it. it provides a certain amount of detail -- more than AD&D, less than RQ! I guess it's a very individual thing, but there are notes about compatibility with AD&D in the back, so you could revert if you really wanted... You could also use Rolemaster's combat with AD&D. 3) The Skill System: I've presented the skill system as being separate, but it is really quite well integrated. There are character classes, but the ONLY difference they make is how much it ``costs'' to develop each skill. It is easy to add new skills, and the class system means that characters are individual. Skills improve on going up an (overall) level; a detailed experience points table suggests what to award points for, including ``idea points'' and bonuses for doing things first time round -- the first Orc is worth much, much more than the fourteenth! -- without too much [for me] book- keeping. The manoeuvre table is a good idea, giving success/failure percentage depending on the relative difficulty and the ubiquitous modifiers: > The manoeuvre table is also a good idea, but difficult to use sometimes. The problem lies in allocating a difficulty [routine,easy,difficult,absurd etc] to a task. Results include -- outstanding success, all nearby foes stunned.. or you can fall and hurt yourself, ending in a coma for weeks or even years. 4) Campaign Law: This volume is sold separately. The first half relates to starting up and running a campaign in general, including world design etc., and is well worthwhile. The second half includes an example ``campaign world'', Vog Mur. More on that below. 5) Modules: These are NOT for the beginning GM. They are not modules in the TSR[TM] sense; they are detailed are descriptions. In tiny print. The layout could be better: > A lot of work has obviously gone into it, but it's not really my cup of tea. > Perhaps that's why my campaign is set in an Eastern/Arabian background rather > than anything else. The modules play far more slowly than most others I've seen. One comment was > I've been using Rolemaster for about a year ... the campaign is starting to > progress nicely. 6) Other Comments: > ... starts characters out too rich for my likings.. > ... hard for AD&D types to learn, easier for others, since it doesn't reduce > fantasy life to quite the cut-and-dried flavour of the "Other System". [I'm not sure I agree about that... ] > I *like* ... combining [the combat system] with the wound and healing system. My own view is that it can provide a detailed atmosphere but requires a good deal of work on the GM's part. The modules don't seem worthwhile (maybe they are cheaper in the US ?), but Campaign Law is a must, and worth looking at even if you don't intend to use Rolemaster. Further comments more than welcome. Russell Quin -- ... mcvax!ukc!qtlon!flame!ubu!snow!req Striving to promote the interproduction of epimorphistic conformability ....