Rolemaster

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I loved Shadow World and Kulthea as it was. StormRiders was pretty good too- I loved the conceit of the basic concepts with Brion and Kella being from a different world.

Yeah, I enjoyed those novels as well.
 
Bladelands was the miniatures battle game based on a continent of Shadow World. John Curtis (of the original ICE) wanted to kill Shadow World to create his Bladelands setting (literally!!!!!). His idea was that Kulthea blew up and thus you have this one continent sailing through space (kinda like Argo City from Krypton) in a magical bubble....

In fact, the intro for the last Shadow World product put out by the original ICE, the forward begins with "in this fatal product" (Curse of Kabis, I think it was).
Yeah, but they advertised the rpg. I ran a couple month long Run Out the Guns campaign in 2019. I really think something similar in a fantasy game could have worked really well for Rolemaster as a jumping on point. I will note however that for a game that revolves around trade and piracy, Run Out the Guns lacks a trade good price list for bales of cotton etc.
 
It's a really good source on piracy in the Caribean. I did a thread on it here. I'm afraid the limitations of the set-up make it less than ideal for long campaigns but it's quick to set up and play.

There it is: PRAISE THE SEARCH ENGINE!!! Run Out The Guns | RPG PUB
 
Yeah, we did want to do something like Run Out the Guns for RM too, but IIRC, there were problems because of rights issues that prevented us from using the format (I don't remember the details)
 
The general issue is that freelancers didn't get paid when ICE went bankrupt and a lot of them wouldn't deal with the new ICE under the old management. Nicholas Caldwell had significantly more success on that side of things. For me, at least, an upfront explanation of that problem would have gone a lot farther to get me on side that the less than communicative approach you guys took. Don't get me wrong, that's pure hindsight. But it would be a clear and rational reason to go forward with new properties. ICE was in a bit of a bind coming out of the bankruptcy. Spacemaster Privateers is what they had on hand and ready to go but I don't think it would have sold if they told people they were going to abandon it.
 
Unfortunately, I was also told not to talk about a lot of stuff as well... (and a few things I wasn't even told until I had a "need to know")
 
This stuff is really interesting... thanks for sharing it!
 
Tim, they should have listened to you. I'm sorry things ended up the way they did. Killing Shadow World is also a very dumb idea. It's almost synonymous with RM at this point. However, it is a bit outré, and all the secret societies and uber NPCs can be grating. The Black this, the Purple that, The Iron Wind, The Cyan Basket Weavers, etc. Like, is everyone on Kulthea in a secret society? Don't get me wrong, I like SW: I ran a Xa'ar campaign using RMC. Super fun. However, getting the Mithgar license would have been pretty great. Rolemaster does generic high fantasy with tons of grit, and does it better than most. And Denis himself uses RM to game in his world, IIRC. So it needs a setting like that to shine. Kulthea is a bit too kitchen sink, as cool as it is.

Rolemaster has basically nada, zilch, zip, and bupkiss for adventures. Get a licence for, or create something akin to a traditional D&D setting, write some badass modules, containing a large roster of pregens to avoid the PITA of post E-crit RM chargen, and it's off and running. Instead they're discussing how many Shards can dance on the head of a pin by playtesting RMU for the better part of a decade. Like, both RMC and RMSS worked fine. RMX was a stroke of genius, and was well-implemented. HARP is great. The RMU playtest files seemed fine, but they didn't knock my socks off, nor blow my hair back. It's just RMFRP 2.1, which is fine but hardly a grand relaunch worthy of the Loremasters.

My opinion is to refine RMC or RMX, have RMSS add-ons, have a fun intro adventure, preferably in a core book, and make easy to run followup adventures that highlight RM in all its gruesome awesomeness. Rolemaster is supposed to look like a Tarantino movie with elves and lighting bolts. But hey, what do I know?
 
It’s sooo good to see people still interested in ICE games. I played in the 80s & 90s, but I and my couple of friends were the only ones I knew of who did.
Honestly, every edition has been excellent but for one simple thing: paperwork. If there was a DDB type application that had all the rules, supplements, interactive character sheet, & dice roller, I’m fairly sure the games’ popularity would skyrocket.
 
It’s sooo good to see people still interested in ICE games. I played in the 80s & 90s, but I and my couple of friends were the only ones I knew of who did.
Honestly, every edition has been excellent but for one simple thing: paperwork. If there was a DDB type application that had all the rules, supplements, interactive character sheet, & dice roller, I’m fairly sure the games’ popularity would skyrocket.
An awful number of games need such an app:grin:!
 
Up until Against the Darkmaster I had thought of Rolemaster as dead and forgotten, mismanaged and not well handled. As I started with MERP and RM it felt quite sad to realize it had come to that. RMU I have given up on, totally.

I think it will be very interesting to see what comes from AtD.
 
My favorite rpg gets a bad rap. The edition I like isn't popular with some of the fan base. I think ICE pegged it at a 60 - 40 split at one point. And I've flame warred hard on the topic over the years because I think going back is regressive. Whatever my issues with the RMU (RM4e) project that I was part of for the first year, at least they're moving forward instead of crawling back. One thing I've maintained for a long time is that Rolemaster needs someone with vision at the helm, there needs to be a direction instead of endless dithering an division. That way we'd have something better to talk about than differences between editions.

For those who looked at the charts and bounced off without really giving RM a good long term campaign in which to shine I'll sum up the core of the system

Characters have attributes that give bonuses to skills. Each attribute has a temporary and potential rating and stats go up and occasionally down each level. Each profession pays a different price per rank of skill and a profession bonus to some skills. Races are balanced by access to background options like magic items, special skill bonuses, and money. Skill ranks give a +5 bonus up to rank ten then +3 for the next 10 ranks and so forth. Hit points are treated as a skill but have different progression rates based on the character's race. The core mechanic is d% open ended on 05- and 96+ + skill total with benchmarks for levels of success but with 110 being a full success.

Magic is purchased in spell lists which are divided into three core realms and one supplemental realm. There are Open, Closed, Evil, and Profession specific spell lists with each profession and realm having its own strengths, weaknesses, and unique specialties. You can cast spells above your level but with a much reduced chance of success. Monsters have a pretty brief, one line stat set, basically, level, movement, initiative, armor type, defense bonus, and attacks. It runs quite fluidly when you're organized, everyone should have the tables they need for their character because this is one game where they GM can't do it all.

Combat is: declare actions including the portion of weapon skill used to parry. The total is looked up on a weapon specific table which yields a number of hits and a critical hit level which is rolled on a chart by damage type. You can have a lot of hit points left and still wind up very dead. People get stunned and knocked down and wounds bleed here.

Experience is awarded for distance travelled, kills, spells cast, hits taken, hits given, crits taken, crits given, skills used, and ideas. Most people hate it, I love it, the secret is to use your scratch pad to figure it out between sessions.

I find it's a lot easier for D&D players to pick up than GURPS but GURPS is easier for new players to pick up than D&D or Rolemaster. I believe this is because Rolemaster is basically a percentile D&D variant with a strong dash of Tolkien.

Rolemaster First Edition was marketed as a supplement for D&D. Arms Law brought an advanced combat system. Spell Law brought a really neat magic system where magic is generally weaker but much more common place. If the master character table is to be believed, the average first level fighter has a +10 magic sword. Character Law brought the flexible character creation system where your mage can learn to use a sword even if it's really expensive for him to do so. There are around 20 core skills and a large number of optional secondary skills. Skills generally get the average of two stat bonuses but there are exceptions. The weapon tables and spell lists are hand written and printed on parchment. Ranks of "concussion hits" give a die type by race and size. Trolls are a viable player race. Spell lists are learned in five level blocks and it's quite possible to have a first level mage who doesn't know any spells.

Rolemaster Second Edition was unified as a system and integrated in a boxed set, the tables are type written, and the Angus McBride covers debut. RM2 was supported in a series of companions covering diverse topics. The text is small and dense and art minimal. RM2 also sees the publication of Spacemaster and a number of genre books for things like Robin Hood, pirates, and cowboys.

Rolemaster Standard System made some major changes, integrating options from the companions. Stats are now purchased with points and a maximum is randomly rolled based on the potential. Skills are grouped into categories which share a cost and receive bonuses from three stats but there are exceptions. There are a number of different skill progression rates. Hit and power points have fixed progression schemes by race. Categories and Skills have different progression rates as do "Combined" skills which don't really overlap or relate to each other (Black Smith and Cooking in the Crafts category). Background options are supplemented with Talents and Flaws. Instead of just handing out development points at first level and having a list of cultural hobby skills, RMSS has fixed cultural skill packages. It also has "Training Packages" like Knight or Apprentice Mage that make it easy to figure out what skills your character needs. RMSS was also supported with companions for all four magical realms of power and martial arts, Space Master Privateers, Black Ops, and Pulp Adventures.

For my own tastes, the rich texture of RMSS is pretty much unmatched in the industry. It's really good and there's nothing else quite like it. You know how they tell you you can't have things both ways? Well why limit yourself to a false binary like that?

I do think there are some problems with RMSS. First, the skill/ category split should have been optional. You should have been able to play with categories, skills, or both. I suspect forcing the 600 skill core one everyone was probably the most divisive mistake. Rolemaster is very modular, everything else is take it or leave it but the culture and training packages don't work if you drop the skill category split. Second, training packages get a discount and take time but they should also give experience points in direct proportion to the discount. This would mean that characters might level up in character creation but it would also fix the issue of stacked training packages massively exceeding first level skill limits. Also, over the years the discount went from a flat 3/4 to a weird sliding scale. It shouldn't have. There are no first level Navy Seals full stop. Spacemaster Privateers sees the training package system developing into a full on life path system. Which would be the way to go. Navy package plus special forces package equals Navy Seal.

And then ICE died in a Tolkien license related bankruptcy and was rescued by a British investor. Really, I hope he's had better luck with his other investments, but that's another story. I did my only published writing in the industry for the second incarnation of ICE. My "The Arcane Confabulation Rules" drew heavily on things I like about RMSS, almost none of them are found in RM2.
Love the hell outta Rolemaster. Shadow World setting is MY ALL TIME TTRPG SETTING FaFaFaFAAAAAVE!!!!!

Your so right in that said game needs visionary leadership. So much to mine. So much to build on. A damn shame.
 
I just fired up Fantasy Grounds and used the Rolemaster ruleset to start making a character. It appears to be there and supported. I can pick from races and professions in Arms Law, Character Law, Spell Law and Creatures and Treasures.

I'm super rusty on character building in RM so I'm only starting but just and FYI it seems supported
 
We tried Merp when I got it for Christmas in whenever (84?) and from there one of the players (whose parents were rich) came in with a stack of RM stuff (1e) and pretty much any/every book/companion whatever out at the time and shovelled it at me to run. As GM, it was too much for me. We'd already ditched Middle Earth as a setting and everyone was having a great time (as far as I could tell as GM seeing as it was nigh on impossible to get the group to play anything else) using the MERP rules for hacking up Orcs, gelatinous cubes and the usual BECMI D&D bad guys converted to Merp/RM. The critical system was hilarious, messy and deadly. So, so much better than chopping away at a grey generic cube o hit points. The gore splattered, drag your own entrails around for 3 rounds before tripping over an imaginary unseen turtle or giving everyone a light show as a lightning bolt spell goes wrong livened up Dungeon crawling no end.

To this day I decided that if I ever ran D&D again one of the house rules would be a critical hit table and I'd go looking through the RM/Merp stuff for inspiration.

What does Rolemaster need? More speed, less crunch. Making a character was a game in and of itself in the pre printer days (dot matrix printers weren't cheap or good). Took an age to write character sheets out. Get character creation down to 10-20 mins and maybe trim down the tables. Chartmaster seemed to be endless pages of eye burning numbers and old me doesn't have anywhere near the enthusiasm of young me. I'm too old and lazy to want anything other than fast, fun and furious whilst I juggle real life, work, kids, girlfriend, friends, beer and so on.

Over the years I think I've bought RM 1e, some newer versions (confused? Hell yeah), RMX and some other version. Also Harp. I really wanted to like/love the game (RM as a whole) but it needs streamlining.

As for Spacemaster... oh god. I bought that and was immediately lost in its swirling mess of errata and typos and stuff missing and crunch. I thought 'Yay! MERP in Space!' when in reality it was closer to space junk, sadly. Even younger version of me lost all semblance of enthusiasm when pitching it to the group. I bought Spacemaster Privateers and a few of those books but was probably scarred too much from my memories of Spacemaster to try it.

In short I think there is a chance of Rolemaster to re-emerge but it needs a basic and advanced version and the basic version needs to appeal to people like me who have not a lot of time and prefer role over roll these days. Perhaps even less stats and grouped together skills. The advanced one can go nuts with endless books of charts and stat blocks, I'll not go there again. I'd forget about uniting the fan base. There are people who would rather argue over rules than play the game, we saw that with D&D and that way lies madness.
 
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My opinion is to refine RMC or RMX, have RMSS add-ons, have a fun intro adventure, preferably in a core book, and make easy to run followup adventures that highlight RM in all its gruesome awesomeness. Rolemaster is supposed to look like a Tarantino movie with elves and lighting bolts. But hey, what do I know?

And that is exactly what we were aiming for -- using RMX as the basis for a revision (I even had the Open Beta version of it ready to release), with expansions that could take you into am RMSS-like game (for example I KNEW I wanted David to write a RMSS-like skill system for us that could be easily swapped out for the core skill system -- in this desired expansion, there would a a table that told you 1 rank in xx skill equaled 1 rank in ## RMSS-like categories/skills -- then all NPCs would be written using the core rules, and those who wanted the more detailed skill system would simply use that table to convert them in a simple substitution process).

The core would be a single book, with MERP-like tables and crits, with Arms Law being an expansion. Spells would have been to 10th level in the core, and SPell Law would expand (and I would like to think that before final release somebody would have said something that would make the inclusion of scalable spells in the core rules definite -- it was already starting in that direction with the Casting Level rules (where the power of the spell is determined by the number of PP put into it, and that effected level based aspects as well).

We also had about half a dozen adventures in the works as well (IIRC), that we would have produced had not the license been yanked.
 
And that is exactly what we were aiming for -- using RMX as the basis for a revision (I even had the Open Beta version of it ready to release), with expansions that could take you into am RMSS-like game .

That would have been perfect! :thumbsup:
 
I've never been able to really like Rolemaster. Why, because in the 90's I met a Rolemaster fanatic. This guy would only run or play Rolemaster. This might not have been such a bad thing. But the edition he insisted on was The Standard System one, and he wasn't a good GM with it either.
I suggested that the game would be easier, if all the numbers got divided by 5 and you rolled a D20 instead of D100. He got really angry about this for some reason. After that, he stopped inviting me to his games.
Years later, I discovered other Rolemaster editions. But my experiences with him had ruined the game for me.
 
I suggested that the game would be easier, if all the numbers got divided by 5 and you rolled a D20 instead of D100. He got really angry about this for some reason.
To be fair, that is kinda selfish thing to ask. That he should re-work all the stuff just to accommodate you. I too would have stopped inviting you over. Sorry.
 
I've never been able to really like Rolemaster. Why, because in the 90's I met a Rolemaster fanatic. This guy would only run or play Rolemaster. This might not have been such a bad thing. But the edition he insisted on was The Standard System one, and he wasn't a good GM with it either.
I suggested that the game would be easier, if all the numbers got divided by 5 and you rolled a D20 instead of D100. He got really angry about this for some reason. After that, he stopped inviting me to his games.
Years later, I discovered other Rolemaster editions. But my experiences with him had ruined the game for me.
I like him already! :p
 
To be fair, that is kinda selfish thing to ask. That he should re-work all the stuff just to accommodate you. I too would have stopped inviting you over. Sorry.

I wasn't asking for it to happen. Quite frankly I didn't really care. It was just a suggestion, since he and some of the other players often struggled with the math. Even if he hadn't stopped inviting me, I would have quit the game anyway. He and I didn't really gel well together. So no need to be sorry.
 
I wasn't asking for it to happen. Quite frankly I didn't really care. It was just a suggestion, since he and some of the other players often struggled with the math. Even if he hadn't stopped inviting me, I would have quit the game anyway. He and I didn't really gel well together. So no need to be sorry.

I've never gotten the whole 'math is hard' thing about Rolemaster combat- it's simple addition and subtraction. There's some in character creation, but really only if you use alternate rules does it get anywhere near heavy.
 
I've never gotten the whole 'math is hard' thing about Rolemaster combat- it's simple addition and subtraction. There's some in character creation, but really only if you use alternate rules does it get anywhere near heavy.
Yeah I have to say when people say math is hard in relation to all but a very select few RPGs it actually makes me worry about our collective education systems. Exponentiation, ok I can see people not remembering that.
 
I really wish DrivethruRPG had all the Rolemaster 2nd edition books in hardcover PoD. That was the version we played at high school, and I still prefer the classic presentation of those books, especially with those Angus McBride covers. The rules may have got smoothed out with subsequent editions, although I felt the books started feeling more bland as the editions progressed.

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We collected RM 2E and MERP back in high school, there is alot of good vibes for me tied up in those books

I must say that I really love the look of my Against The Dark Master book, and I like the system quite a bit, it hits all the spots I like in regards to the ICE system as well as having a great classic fantasy vibe.

But if those RM 2E books were available in hardcover PoD on DrivethruRPG, I'ld definately be collecting them for the sake of nostalgia :thumbsup:
 
Yeah I have to say when people say math is hard in relation to all but a very select few RPGs it actually makes me worry about our collective education systems.
I saw a GURPS player say the same thing yesterday...
I really don't think it's the education system at fault or that RPG math is 'hard'... IMO it's just people being so used to being passively entertained all the time that actively having to calculate ANYTHING seems a boring task.

For me, it's not the difficulty, it's the quantity. Earthdawn math wasn't hard at all, but at higher Circles (levels) I'd have to go through a several steps/rolls (adding and multiplying) every time I used a Talent. It slooooowed down combat and, for me, didn't make combat any more exciting/interesting than games where I just rolled a single time against a number.

I've been trying to learn Anima: Beyond Fantasy on and off for a while... it's kindasorta Spawn of Rolemaster... and, leaving out the poor organization/translation, it often just feels like a game of Numberwang!, where the goal is to generate lots of big numbers to little purpose.
 
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So... weapon/critical charts. How many have actually regularly played with the players resolving some of the rolls? We were just having a conversation elsewhere on the crunch of RM, and IME it's crunchy after character creation to only the GM because they handle everything.

When GMing, I get out only the charts for the weapons the players and enemies are actually using at the start of the combat. They're back from when Arms Law was a separate deal, and had the heavy duty card stock, and I had them laminated.

We tried the way where players kept track of their weapons because of one person that took over GMing and said it would be more efficient than the way the others did. We found that it actually slowed things down, especially when multiple players/opponents used the same weapons. It also took one of the more strategic bits out, i.e. the allocation of OB/DB since it became trivial to figure out the opponents' values from the numbers being used and the dice being thrown.

Anyone else have any thoughts on that?
 
Anyone else have any thoughts on that?
Yeah, removing declaration of intent pretty much destroys the combat system. There`s the one guy who always used to complain about how parrying was pointless. I also think that`s one of the reasons Rolemaster gets a bad rap, lots of gamers tossed out declaration of intent in D&D with no ill effects and think it's meaningless elsewhere. But in Rolemaster everyone can roll their initiative and attacks at the same time instead of one after the other and that's what makes all the difference.

There's a couple basic lazy GM tricks like giving monsters even fives in their combat stats or only adding the tens die to attack rolls. But even the much maligned experience system works well once you get the hang of it.
 
My ICE GM kinda switched over to HARP when it came out, which playes pretty similar to RM at the table, but is a bit more compact when it comes to tables, classes, etc. He likes to handle the charts himself, as least with newer players - that way they aren't overwhelmed, it keeps their character portfolios down.
For experienced players like myself he lets me keep photocopies of the weapon tables that I use, and prefers it when I read them out. In some ways these days I would not mind if it was all kept with the GM as I don't like all those extra tables swamping my character sheet.

If I run an ICE-system game again, it's not likely to be RM or HARP actually. It will be Against The Darkmaster, which uses MERP as the foundation, but it ticks alot of the classic fantasy vibe I liked from both MERP and RM, making the game feel nostaligic yet fresh at the same time. The more recent ICE books like RM Express and HARP just don't capture that vibe for me, even if the mechanics are good. The Against The Darkmaster book grabs me like MERP and RM did back in the 1980s, it's more aesthetics than anything, but if itworks it works.

I prefer less maths when I GM, and that's a bit of a negative for ICE games for me. However it's not a huge factor, as the ICE maths is not as weighty as it's reputation. One thing I do like about the weapon/crit tables is the colourful descriptions really add to alot of fun at the gaming table, as well as making things gritty. I think my favourite was something like 'Try a spatual!' or something like that heh heh

The weapon/crit charts are a spotlight feature of the ICE-system, and really add to the fun of the game at the table :thumbsup:
 
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If I run an ICE-system game again, it's not likely to be RM or HARP actually. It will be Against The Darkmaster, which uses MERP as the foundation, but it ticks alot of the classic fantasy vibe I liked from both MERP and RM, making the game feel nostaligic yet fresh at the same time. The more recent ICE books like RM Express and HARP just don't capture that vibe for me, even if the mechanics are good. The Against The Darkmaster book grabs me like MERP and RM did back in the 1980s, it's more aesthetics than anything, but if itworks it works.
I really like Against the Darkmaster too. It helps that they allow themselves to work in a few more mechanics to really nail the feel of the type of fantasy fiction they're out to emulate (not just Lord of the Rings, but a lot of the 1980s imitators like Terry Brooks' stuff), rather than following the MERP approach of essentially just offering "Rolemaster, but less of it" (though as far as condensed edits of Rolemaster to fit a particular setting go MERP isn't bad).
 
I really like Against the Darkmaster too. It helps that they allow themselves to work in a few more mechanics to really nail the feel of the type of fantasy fiction they're out to emulate (not just Lord of the Rings, but a lot of the 1980s imitators like Terry Brooks' stuff), rather than following the MERP approach of essentially just offering "Rolemaster, but less of it" (though as far as condensed edits of Rolemaster to fit a particular setting go MERP isn't bad).
I really liked the vibe of Middle Earth. Sure it doesn't capture some of the inteinsic elements of the setting, but it was a very detailed fantasy setting all the same. So was RM's Shadow World, but MERP moreso.

Regarding RM, I was not like my friends baxk then who thought having detailed weapon charts for every weapon was cool. I was happy with the broad charts that were in the other ICE games like MERP, Cyberspace, and later, HARP.

They still feel very much the ICE system, although I thought that RM was overly-granular (which was the sign of a 'serious' rpg at the time).
Against The Darkmaster does well with using the MERP mechanics as the mainframe, as I think that is about as far one should go with granularity anyway

The finished product of Against the Darkmaster is a work of art to behold, and I'm eager to test drive it
 
I really liked the vibe of Middle Earth. Sure it doesn't capture some of the inteinsic elements of the setting, but it was a very detailed fantasy setting all the same. So was RM's Shadow World, but MERP moreso.

Regarding RM, I was not like my friends baxk then who thought having detailed weapon charts for every weapon was cool. I was happy with the broad charts that were in the other ICE games like MERP, Cyberspace, and later, HARP.

They still feel very much the ICE system, although I thought that RM was overly-granular (which was the sign of a 'serious' rpg at the time).
Against The Darkmaster does well with using the MERP mechanics as the mainframe, as I think that is about as far one should go with granularity anyway

The finished product of Against the Darkmaster is a work of art to behold, and I'm eager to test drive it

You would have likely liked the very first version of HARP then. The first draft had professions like those in MERP (but the guy who owned the IP had trouble understanding them, so we were made to change them) and they had combat tables like the one I put the image of down below, but I was eventually talked into removing them as well...
 

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I started running a MERP game on my 13th birthday, and ran basically nothing but MERP, RM2 and RMSS for the next 12 years or so.

For a long time, I had plans to do my own ultimate edition, combining RM2 and RMSS, and eventually got around to doing it. In the end, it was mostly RMSS, with some minor tweaks to classes, and an overhaul of the skill list, stripping out unncecessary skills and consolidating a lot of the categories (eg, Art becomes a single category, with a combined progression).

The ESF/static spell casting rules are great, but fiddly. That was fixed by a well-constructed spreadsheet where you click a few radio buttons and all your mods are auto-calculated. In fact, all the fiddliness of character gen and the stuff that takes a bit of time in play is easily fixed with a good spreadsheet.

I eneded up running a very successful campaign for about two years, that came to a close a little early due to Covid. That's probably my last hurrah for RM, but I might go back to it again some time. I think the only signficant change I'd make if I went back again would be to fold MA Combat Manoeuvres into the main Combat Manouevres category.
 
We played MERP for awhile, then RM. Probably somewhere 85-88, based on Mankcam's post above those covers look familiar so it was probably 2nd Ed. I remember really liking some elements and becoming irritated with some elements but details have been lost to time.

At the time RM was an improvement over MERP which was a simplified system (1980s so all crunch all the time = mo betta :hehe: ). I think these days I'd be more attracted to a system closer to MERP. I recall liking the skill system, and of course the crit / fumble charts were epic.

A couple of things I do remember was at some point it felt like magic items and dice rolls were more important than actual character abilities but it is certainly possible that it was due to the play style of the GM.

Almost nobody ever went down due to hit points, it was usually the result of a fumble or crit result. Personally I don't find that a fault of the system, but it was a problem for players used to D&D type games where there is a hit point economy.

There was much frustration with the system when it branched out beyond fantasy, the major issue being that like many skill based games there was not an adequate boost in skill points to reflect the more skill heavy genres with the result that PCs felt much less competent than their fantasy counter parts.

As with many games at that time we dove deep, played it quite a lot and then after months upward of a year or two found the new shiny.
 
[ . . . ]A couple of things I do remember was at some point it felt like magic items and dice rolls were more important than actual character abilities but it is certainly possible that it was due to the play style of the GM.

Certainly with spell casters, it felt that having spell multipliers was more less necessary to have a reasonable spell casting capacity. Once upon a time I tweaked the system to have 75=1, 85=2, 90=3, 95=4, 98=5, 100=6, 101=7, made it so spell adders added 1 point per level and nerfed multipliers a bit to things like +25%, +50% and so forth.
 
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