Having been in a conversation about Burning Wheel, a game built very tightly to a specific specification, I think back on how amazingly modular Rolemaster is.
Anyone who have seen the long series of companions published for the system probably know what I mean. Almost any part of the system can be tweaked, added to or subtracted from. It would still be Rolemaster! I think I have at least four different initiative systems in my collection, and that not counting the fan made stuff free on the internet!
I think that was the same thing that made me a fan of GURPS back in the day. Take the parts you like and the core is still the same. Learn some basics and then you know the game, but there's more flavour if you need it.
Contrast that with modern iterations of D&D.
Do you remember how convoluted, complex and contradictory the 3rd ed D&D rules became when you started hacking them with all the splat books that came out?
I still look favourably on Rolemaster, and even though I don't expect to play it again soon I almost always start make up new and exciting rules tweaks as soon as I start to read it. I like that quality in a game.
Showing posts with label Rolemaster. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rolemaster. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Sunday, November 25, 2012
A Rolemaster combat variant
Way back in the days, Rolemaster was one of those big systems used in fantasy campaigns all over the place. Then the company who published it, I.C.E. suffered some setbacks and eventually folded. Through all this a few new iterations of the game saw the light of day, and being an old fan of the system, having started my GM career with MERP, I own more than a few of these books.
Now the company is back again, and it's time for consolidation and a new edition of the rules. Will it be viable in today's marketplace? I have my doubts, but for old times sake I took a peek at the play test documents.
One thing I never liked was how every weapon in the system had its own attack table. If for nothing but logistical reasons, it was unwieldy. But, it also made no sense. While the difference between getting hit by a small piece of sharpened metal and a bigger one might might be significant, the steps in between were just way too fine grained. It was often lauded as realistic, but in reality that was a simulationist dream. But, in MERP and in RMFRP they did something else.
In those variants of the rules (I consider them all to be kind of the same, even HARP), you had groups of weapons, like one handed edged weapons. It was easier to handle, and kept a level of verisimilitude. Today, considering the effects of what this about to model, I came upon an idea of how to present this even more concisely.
The individual hit points matter little in RM. What kills you is the critical hits, which are divided into levels of severity. So, I thought why not boil it down to those crits? Since a critical shows up in the upper level on the hit charts, you can see how big a percentage of the hits are of a specific level. Those percentages could be rolled in tandem with the attack roll, skipping the roll on the hit table. If you beat your opponents roll, add the overlap to the crit roll and see what level of crit you inflicted. It will make a bunch of simplifications to the RM system, but keeps some of the flavour. The obvious thing missing is of course the difference against different kinds of armour. Maybe I can shoe horn that back in somehow as well, given some time.
I wont be able to do a proper play test, since I'm lacking a group to test with. But, I felt like throwing it out there for anyone who happen to see it, and for my own archival purposes. Enjoy.
Now the company is back again, and it's time for consolidation and a new edition of the rules. Will it be viable in today's marketplace? I have my doubts, but for old times sake I took a peek at the play test documents.
One thing I never liked was how every weapon in the system had its own attack table. If for nothing but logistical reasons, it was unwieldy. But, it also made no sense. While the difference between getting hit by a small piece of sharpened metal and a bigger one might might be significant, the steps in between were just way too fine grained. It was often lauded as realistic, but in reality that was a simulationist dream. But, in MERP and in RMFRP they did something else.
In those variants of the rules (I consider them all to be kind of the same, even HARP), you had groups of weapons, like one handed edged weapons. It was easier to handle, and kept a level of verisimilitude. Today, considering the effects of what this about to model, I came upon an idea of how to present this even more concisely.
The individual hit points matter little in RM. What kills you is the critical hits, which are divided into levels of severity. So, I thought why not boil it down to those crits? Since a critical shows up in the upper level on the hit charts, you can see how big a percentage of the hits are of a specific level. Those percentages could be rolled in tandem with the attack roll, skipping the roll on the hit table. If you beat your opponents roll, add the overlap to the crit roll and see what level of crit you inflicted. It will make a bunch of simplifications to the RM system, but keeps some of the flavour. The obvious thing missing is of course the difference against different kinds of armour. Maybe I can shoe horn that back in somehow as well, given some time.
I wont be able to do a proper play test, since I'm lacking a group to test with. But, I felt like throwing it out there for anyone who happen to see it, and for my own archival purposes. Enjoy.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
T&T hacks - Rolemaster
This is the second post in this series, and today we are going to take a look at Rolemaster from I.C.E., which happens to be an old favourite of mine.
The first thing I remember when I think of Rolemaster is the tables. There are tables for spells, attacks, fumbles and crits. I loved those.
I guess everyone who has played Rolemaster remember the critical hits tables. Let's see if we can hack T&T to get something with a similar feel.
So, did you managed to get any Spite dice on your attack? Congratulations. Now, did you also manage to get any doubles? Now we get into crit/fumble territory.
But, just like in RM there should be continuous effects. Those spite points are now bleeding, and you take that amount of damage, every round. Now, let's get on with the crits and fumbles.
Count the numbers of dice that are the same, that's the level of your crit/fumble. If the doubles where ones, it was a fumble and any other kind of number is a crit.
For crits, roll a SR on CON on the level of your crit. For fumbles, roll a SR on LK on the level of your fumble. As you understand, this means lvl 2-6. If you fail your SR, this is what happens.
Critical hits
Lvl 2 - roll 2 to more dice of damage
Lvl 3 - stunned, you loose your next action
Lvl 4 - you fall unconscious
Lvl 5 - random limb is now useless
Lvl 6 - save or die
The level of SR is the extra points of damage you take (regardless if you make your save), and that's spite damage folks! Don't forget the bleeding.
Fumbles
Lvl 2 - drop your weapon
Lvl 3 - your weapon break
Lvl 4 - damage random ally
Lvl 5 - damage yourself
Lvl 6 - damage yourself, and you roll one more die. That number is the crit level you just inflicted, on yourself.
Do you think it hurts enough yet? I think in this system you can probably get the same kind of feel as in RM, where a lucky schmuck can kill himself if he is "lucky" enough.
What did you say? Is the math wonky? It probably is, I have not tested this, and am not that great at crafting mathematically sound rules. But, take it and run with it! Let me know what you think.
The first thing I remember when I think of Rolemaster is the tables. There are tables for spells, attacks, fumbles and crits. I loved those.
I guess everyone who has played Rolemaster remember the critical hits tables. Let's see if we can hack T&T to get something with a similar feel.
So, did you managed to get any Spite dice on your attack? Congratulations. Now, did you also manage to get any doubles? Now we get into crit/fumble territory.
But, just like in RM there should be continuous effects. Those spite points are now bleeding, and you take that amount of damage, every round. Now, let's get on with the crits and fumbles.
Count the numbers of dice that are the same, that's the level of your crit/fumble. If the doubles where ones, it was a fumble and any other kind of number is a crit.
For crits, roll a SR on CON on the level of your crit. For fumbles, roll a SR on LK on the level of your fumble. As you understand, this means lvl 2-6. If you fail your SR, this is what happens.
Critical hits
Lvl 2 - roll 2 to more dice of damage
Lvl 3 - stunned, you loose your next action
Lvl 4 - you fall unconscious
Lvl 5 - random limb is now useless
Lvl 6 - save or die
The level of SR is the extra points of damage you take (regardless if you make your save), and that's spite damage folks! Don't forget the bleeding.
Fumbles
Lvl 2 - drop your weapon
Lvl 3 - your weapon break
Lvl 4 - damage random ally
Lvl 5 - damage yourself
Lvl 6 - damage yourself, and you roll one more die. That number is the crit level you just inflicted, on yourself.
Do you think it hurts enough yet? I think in this system you can probably get the same kind of feel as in RM, where a lucky schmuck can kill himself if he is "lucky" enough.
What did you say? Is the math wonky? It probably is, I have not tested this, and am not that great at crafting mathematically sound rules. But, take it and run with it! Let me know what you think.
Monday, February 27, 2012
A small Rolemaster hack
I am running a Call of Cthulhu campaign, just generated a character for a 3rd ed D&D game, have a play by post S&W character kind of still in play and an active play by mail De Profundis character. Guess what? I know had my brain bounce unto another game. Gamer ADD...
Savage Worlds is a game where they explicitly in the book tell you not to invent new stuff for it when adapting it to another setting. Since I have been there myself (WH40k, for those who are curious), I can confirm that that is sound advice. The stats are the same in all settings, the skills are the same and most of the Edges and Hindrances are the same. What do differentiates are the so called Trappings, and some specific setting and flavour enhancing Edges. I kind of like this idea, and I guess it makes sense for most people who had played a bunch of D&D characters who actually differed very slightly from the others within the same class and level.
So, I know that I never managed to feel comfortable with the skill list in Rolemaster 2nd ed. It was something like 15 skills, and they were very general. You did have the optional so called Secondary Skills, which on the other hand in some cases was ridiculously specialized. I guess the line developers thought something similar when they developed 3rd ed which had something more like a 100 skills! Maybe you could combine old school Rolemaster with the Savage Worlds way of thinking?
What I'm thinking of is to make each of the Professions in RM each give you a few of those Secondary Skills and differentiators, just like the setting specific Edge in a Savage Worlds game makes that character with the same skills different from another character in another setting. It is the same line of thinking that lies behind the old school feats suggestion (which might or might not be a popular idea. I got many visitors to the blog that day, but few comments...) of making two level 2 fighters be different somehow.
The question is of course if I managed to develop the idea before I get interested in another game...
Savage Worlds is a game where they explicitly in the book tell you not to invent new stuff for it when adapting it to another setting. Since I have been there myself (WH40k, for those who are curious), I can confirm that that is sound advice. The stats are the same in all settings, the skills are the same and most of the Edges and Hindrances are the same. What do differentiates are the so called Trappings, and some specific setting and flavour enhancing Edges. I kind of like this idea, and I guess it makes sense for most people who had played a bunch of D&D characters who actually differed very slightly from the others within the same class and level.
So, I know that I never managed to feel comfortable with the skill list in Rolemaster 2nd ed. It was something like 15 skills, and they were very general. You did have the optional so called Secondary Skills, which on the other hand in some cases was ridiculously specialized. I guess the line developers thought something similar when they developed 3rd ed which had something more like a 100 skills! Maybe you could combine old school Rolemaster with the Savage Worlds way of thinking?
What I'm thinking of is to make each of the Professions in RM each give you a few of those Secondary Skills and differentiators, just like the setting specific Edge in a Savage Worlds game makes that character with the same skills different from another character in another setting. It is the same line of thinking that lies behind the old school feats suggestion (which might or might not be a popular idea. I got many visitors to the blog that day, but few comments...) of making two level 2 fighters be different somehow.
The question is of course if I managed to develop the idea before I get interested in another game...
Saturday, March 5, 2011
How to get XP
Today I read a short note about a groovy house rule, where you got XP for inflicting and receiving hits. Only. (I wonder where that link is gone?) This got me thinking about way back when I was playing MERP/Rolemaster. In MERP/RM you get XP for each mile travelled, for spells cast and for maneuvers rolled for. It also had that pet hate of mine, XP for delivering the killing blow. In group that meant an insane rush when the monster stared to stumble and become stunned. Realistic maybe, but cowardly. It felt like you got XP for just about everything and it was quite a book keeping effort.
What can you give out XP for that makes sense? It will affect play, like XP for gold does. These are mine ideas for your classic S&S game:
What can you give out XP for that makes sense? It will affect play, like XP for gold does. These are mine ideas for your classic S&S game:
- XP for gold spent
- XP for hits taken
- XP for sites and wonders visited and explored
- XP for new facts learned from NPCs
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Collecting games, or playing them?
A few days ago I got a package in the mail. It was my second copy of DragonQuest. Yes, I have bought a second copy of a game I have not yet played!
This even got me thinking. You could imagine that if you were playing some games fairly frequently, you would like to have another copy for the collection. Sadly, that's not the case. These are the games I have multiple copies of.
Well, one session of AD&D, two or three of B/X D&D. Yes. That's it.
There are some games which I have played and for which I have multiple copies. Oddly enough they are all just different editions. Looking at that list you find games like Stormbringer, Fading Suns, Call of Cthulhu, Mage: The Ascension, Tunnels & Trolls and Traveller.
From that list I have played FS once, CoC multiple times, Mage a few sessions and T&T I've played a lot and still do. Stormbringer even used to be my main frpg. But, the games I have multiple copies of the same book are games I would like to play, but haven't. This realization made me sad.
This even got me thinking. You could imagine that if you were playing some games fairly frequently, you would like to have another copy for the collection. Sadly, that's not the case. These are the games I have multiple copies of.
- AD&D1 PHB
- Menzter Basic D&D
- B/X D&D
- Rolemaster 2nd ed. Character Law/Campaign Law
- Savage Worlds Explorer's Edition
- DragonQuest 2nd ed.
Well, one session of AD&D, two or three of B/X D&D. Yes. That's it.
There are some games which I have played and for which I have multiple copies. Oddly enough they are all just different editions. Looking at that list you find games like Stormbringer, Fading Suns, Call of Cthulhu, Mage: The Ascension, Tunnels & Trolls and Traveller.
From that list I have played FS once, CoC multiple times, Mage a few sessions and T&T I've played a lot and still do. Stormbringer even used to be my main frpg. But, the games I have multiple copies of the same book are games I would like to play, but haven't. This realization made me sad.
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