Mankcam
Hallowed Be Thy Swo
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2017
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In my opinion, if ICE/Guild Companion are not going with the more slim approach of HARP (which still isn't anything near rules-lite by contemporary standards), then it makes sense to go back to use Rolemaster 2nd edition (RM2) as a foundation.
I remember things went down a different path with the third (RMSS) and fourth editions (RMFP), but I think 5th edition (RMC) was more along RM2 lines, I remember reading a lot of the fans were happier with the approach that RMC took.
I find it hard to keep up, I know that RM Express was published, I'm not sure if that was a basic version of the RM2/RMC line or the RMSS/RMFP line.
My mate tells me that from what he read RM Unified (currently in project) was initially an attempt to combine both lines of RM, but I think the general consensus was that the RM2 line has been more favoured, which supporrts what was said by the previous poster.
Not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand I would prefer a much cleaner version of the system, but on the other hand this may not be a system aimed at me or aimed at getting new fans. If that is the case, then marketing it towards the older fanbase using the classic era rules does make sense.
As a collector I might grab it out of nostalgia, but as a GM I found RM much more cumbersome to run than RQ back in the 1980s. These days I don't mind HARP, but as a GM I still think I would prefer to run any version of BRP over any of the ICE systems, unless rules/table bloat is dramatically culled (which sounds like it is unlikely thev case). However as a player I'm happy to play a character either in RM or HARP; combat is not quick, but it can be a lot of fun.
For me RM was a much better game to play than AD&D, which it was competing with back then. AD&D was quite a clumsy game with alot of rules inconsistencies, so many rpgs presented viable alternatives, with RM being one of the most popular options.
D&D remains the biggest name in the industry, however I'm unsure how a new version of RM will measure up to D&D 5E. In many ways the D&D line adapted some ideas from RM (Monte Cook acknowledged this when he was doing D&D 3E). Not sure if RM will grab alot of new customers away from D&D these days, but it may catch the attention of some of the older ones.
I think bringing back a lot of the RM classic era artwork will play just a bit as role in whether older fans buy it or not, not just mechanics.
I remember things went down a different path with the third (RMSS) and fourth editions (RMFP), but I think 5th edition (RMC) was more along RM2 lines, I remember reading a lot of the fans were happier with the approach that RMC took.
I find it hard to keep up, I know that RM Express was published, I'm not sure if that was a basic version of the RM2/RMC line or the RMSS/RMFP line.
My mate tells me that from what he read RM Unified (currently in project) was initially an attempt to combine both lines of RM, but I think the general consensus was that the RM2 line has been more favoured, which supporrts what was said by the previous poster.
Not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand I would prefer a much cleaner version of the system, but on the other hand this may not be a system aimed at me or aimed at getting new fans. If that is the case, then marketing it towards the older fanbase using the classic era rules does make sense.
As a collector I might grab it out of nostalgia, but as a GM I found RM much more cumbersome to run than RQ back in the 1980s. These days I don't mind HARP, but as a GM I still think I would prefer to run any version of BRP over any of the ICE systems, unless rules/table bloat is dramatically culled (which sounds like it is unlikely thev case). However as a player I'm happy to play a character either in RM or HARP; combat is not quick, but it can be a lot of fun.
For me RM was a much better game to play than AD&D, which it was competing with back then. AD&D was quite a clumsy game with alot of rules inconsistencies, so many rpgs presented viable alternatives, with RM being one of the most popular options.
D&D remains the biggest name in the industry, however I'm unsure how a new version of RM will measure up to D&D 5E. In many ways the D&D line adapted some ideas from RM (Monte Cook acknowledged this when he was doing D&D 3E). Not sure if RM will grab alot of new customers away from D&D these days, but it may catch the attention of some of the older ones.
I think bringing back a lot of the RM classic era artwork will play just a bit as role in whether older fans buy it or not, not just mechanics.
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