From: Petri.Wessman@hut.fi (Petri Wessman)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Rolemaster
Date: 27 Jan 93 03:31:30 GMT
	<1k07sbINN7od@shaman.nexagen.com> <1993Jan25.184609.19963@lclark.edu>
Reply-To: Petri.Wessman@hut.fi
Organization: La Gata Encantada

On 25 Jan 93 18:46:09 GMT, matta@lclark.edu (Matt Alexander) said:

Matt> You know, I've always hoped beyond hope that some day ICE would
Matt> take Character/Campagin law, the Companions, and anything else
Matt> handy and compile them into some kind of whole, single...
Matt> coherent... MASS, of sorts.

Matt> I mean, Rolemaster _is_ my favorite system, but wading through all those
Matt> books is sort of like swimming in snow shoes. My ref actually SCREAMED
Matt> IN TERROR when he saw the new oriental book in the store the other day.
Matt> (On further purusal, however, he said it looked pretty good...)

Sounds familiar, I GM myself and am getting a bit sick of needing a
cart to carry everything around :-)


Matt> Have any of you considered publishing a ... (ohh, this hurts to say..)
Matt> Second Edition(tm)??

I second that. That's one of the most common complaints you hear about
RM here on the net: "I't kind of neat, but it's just too spread out
and badly organized for me to make any sense of it". The sheer mass of
the (optional) stuff out there is enough to seriously deter beginners,
even if they've played other RPG systems before.  I'd *love* to see a
semi-total rewrite, maybe as a couple of (hard-bound?)  books -- game
mechanics in one and magic/lists in the other.

Actually, by what I've talked to people *very* few people play by the
"core" rules. I think it's time for ICE to re-think the core rule set
and build a rule set that's closer to playable "out of the box". Some
kind of Init point / AP system is a must (I use Joel Lovell's system
from RMC VI, but the other ones in the companions have looked good
too). A fixed Spell Phase / Missile Phase / Melee Phase system is a
left-over from board wargames, it doesn't really cut it nowadays.
Likewise, I think the new Skill System from RMV VI is *much* better
than the stock system, it removes the need for the zillion "Tie Left
Shoelace" skills that clutter most of the Companions. Having one
official skill list makes a GM's life *lots* easier, and the one in
RMC VI has the advantage of having general skill classes
(Interdisciplinary skills -- ugh, hate that word :-) built into it, so
we don't need the ton of ridiculous specialized skills.

In other words: less Companions and more though on re-organizing the
base rule set. It's a great system but it's falling under its own
weight.

About the Companions that I've read so far:

RMCI	- Lots of good stuff, lots of useless trivia. Useful.

RMCII	- Great. The collected skill list was *badly* needed by the
	  time this came out. The most heavily used companion in
	  my game (until VI came out).

RMCIII	- Not too hot. Lots of bizarre professions, Yet More Spell Lists.
	  Ho hum.

RMCIV	- Like III. A grab-bag, mostly useless.

RMCV	- A bit better, but who needs more lists & professions?

RMCVI	- Just when I was seriously considering not buying any more
	  Companions this comes out. A great melee system (CEATS) and
	  a great skill system in one package. I loved this so much I
	  could even forgive the new professions & spell lists :-)

EC -	  Interesting idea and fairly well presented. I liked this
	  one, mainly because the concept behind it was a bit
	  different from your usual new collection of spell lists.
	  Needs some though on the GM's side before using this in
	  a game, tho'.

SUC	- Nothing really new, but some unusual lists to add spice to
	  a campaign. So-so.

Hmmmm... what else could I comment on... oh, the Eidelon (or was it
Eidolon?) / Sel-Kai city module was *great*! I've been using it for a
few game sessions now, and must say it's the best Shadow World module
I've run into so far (though I am fond of the old Tanara module :-).

//Petri
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc