rolemaster as a guide for fantasy

[Wardsman]

I enjoy the Essence Flow concept as well.

 

When I was setting up my campaign, I had to decide exactly how I was going to model the flows and foci since they are an essential element of the Shadow World setting.

 

Ultimately I decided to model the Flows themselves as a Recovery to Essence pools. The size of the Flow determining how much Recovery. If you tap a Flow, its Rec score augments your own, though while personal Essence Recovery is on an hourly basis, Essence Flow Recovery is available per minute. Thus one can refill their own personal stores very quickly. A minor Flow has a Recovery between 5 and 10 points per minute. A major Flow has a Rec between 10 and 20. Some larger flows are possible which can have a Recovery as high as 50, but these are rare.

 

A Foci is where multiple Flows intersect and this convergence of Flows creates a pool of Essence that can be tapped and utilized as an End Reserve. A minor Foci might have between 50 and 100 Essence available. A major Foci could have 100 or more Essence in the pool. 500 Essence in such a pool is not unheard of. A Key Foci is one of the essential Chakra points of the world and can hold as many as 1000 Essence in the pool. Wars are often fought over the possession of a Key Foci and damage to such a Foci can have devastating consequences felt across the entire world.

Don't forget bonuses to working magic and enchantment.

[Old Man]

Thanks NSG for revisiting the material and your comments.  I was starting to take it a little bit personal there ;-)  My wife pointed out that since I have now acknowledged doing those conversions, I should expect some criticism after 25+ years. Also, now you folks know my real name.

*Peeks out the basement window with a paranoid look on his face*

 

Chiming in late to say thanks for doing all that conversion work.  You're the only reason FH had more than zero support as far as published adventures and settings in the twentieth century.

 

Although the power level for Rolemaster was often... substantially higher than the FH campaigns we usually ran.    I remember thinking that some of them read more like fantasy-themed Champions adventures...

[NuSoardGraphite]

Chiming in late to say thanks for doing all that conversion work. You're the only reason FH had more than zero support as far as published adventures and settings in the twentieth century.

 

Although the power level for Rolemaster was often... substantially higher than the FH campaigns we usually ran. I remember thinking that some of them read more like fantasy-themed Champions adventures...

It wasnt intended to be that way by the original author, but the focus on very powerful signature characters who were often near god-like gave people that impression. The actual meat and potatos of the setting itself is fairly reasonable.

[Old Man]

It wasnt intended to be that way by the original author, but the focus on very powerful signature characters who were often near god-like gave people that impression. The actual meat and potatos of the setting itself is fairly reasonable.

Of course not all the supplements are like that--not even most. But Rolemaster and FH are capable of much higher power levels than other systems, and sometimes it really showed.

[NuSoardGraphite]

Of course not all the supplements are like that--not even most. But Rolemaster and FH are capable of much higher power levels than other systems, and sometimes it really showed.

Both RM and Hero have no upper limit built in. It is possible to represent god like characters in both systems without needing to handwave rulesf to make them work.

[Richgee]

I loved the rm game. I came to it in the late 80s. Combat is dangerous so the death rate and extended healing didn't seem like an issue. The system out shone dnd which is where I started. Only real problem it had was the exp system. The worst example I can show is as a player I had a 3rd level magic user who had picked up a wand of fire bolt as reward on the last adventure. We encounter a dark drake the gm had placed to discourage us from travelling in a certain direction. We foolishly thought cool let's take it down. After some sneaking we got close on round 1 two out of 6 pc's died and I hit it with a fire ball. I then topped out on my first crit role, topped out on the second then again on the 3rd. This was enough to pretty much vaporize the drake. If you still have the books check how much experience you get for killing a creature 27 levels higher than you for the first time, using a magic wand for the first time, with killing blow bonus and it was your attack plan that lead to the victory. If your having trouble it elevates you to about level 12 if I remember right. All that from one fluke hit and stupidity. Also it annoys your gm hugely

[NuSoardGraphite]

Yeah, with RMs open ended rolls, it allowed even low level characters to defeat extremely high level enemies by luck. I had a scene in the veginning of one of my campaigns where one of the Big Bads (Lorgalis for those in the know) invaded Nomikos Library looking for a rare tome. The PCs happened to be there and decided to aid the Changramai monks and librarians in defending the library. One of the PCs saw an important looking guy being flanked by some tough looking Lugroki (orcs) and decided to take a shot at him. He let his arrow fly and ended up with a total of about 350! The characters were around 5-7 level. Even with Lorgalis's incredible defenses, that ended up with a C level crit and severly injured him. His Lugroki bodyguards formed a wall to protect him and a mage teleported them all away.

 

When the Librarians informed the character who he had shot, the player nearly shat himself. He spend the rest of that campaign paranoid as hell, looking over his shoulder expecting Lorgalis to personally hunt him down for revenge. Of course during the final confrontation, Lorgalis recognized him and went after him with extreme prejudice, but by that time the character was 20th level and more than capable of defending himself adequately.

 

Fun stuff!

[tkdguy]

Yup, those open-ended rolls can make for some epic battles. My dwarf PC defeated a 25th-level vampire while he was only level 6 (IIRC). This can go both ways; this dwarf met his end when he was level 10 at the hands of a couple of level 2 orcs. Open-ended rolls can also be low, but mainly for maneuvers, not combat rolls (see below).

 

If you roll low enough in combat (01-08), it can be an unmodified roll. If your roll is within your weapon's fumble range, you roll a fumble. At the very least, your character will lose his attack. Hopefully, any rolls against your PC don't result in a critical hit.

[Wardsman]

I never really got Role Master's need for mentalism as a separate spell system. Like D&d's Psionics it seem superfluous.

Why not have those effects under essence(Arcane)?

[NuSoardGraphite]

I never really got Role Master's need for mentalism as a separate spell system. Like D&d's Psionics it seem superfluous.

Why not have those effects under essence(Arcane)?

Well, RM breaks magic down to Essence, which is using ambient magical energies to maipulate reality, Channeling, which is using the power given to you by gods and entities and Mentalism, which is using internal spiritual enrrgies to effect reality. So I can see the difference between Essence and Mentalism. Some people see it as magical psionics. I see it as the difference between a classical wizard who learned magic via academic study and a mystic who gained control over their own spiritual energies via meditation and self reflection.

[dgulledge]

I never really got Role Master's need for mentalism as a separate spell system. Like D&d's Psionics it seem superfluous.

Why not have those effects under essence(Arcane)?

 

I'll second NSG's interpretation.  With RM, the mechanics for studying spell lists, gaining power points with each level, recovering power points each day, casting spells, resistance rolls, etc. were the same across the realms of magic.  Each realm was there to represent a separate source of power.  Because of that, casters from one realm didn't share spells with another realm, thus each realm had separate base lists, even though some of them were very similar.  You can find certain common spell effects in all three realms, grouped into different lists and available at different levels.

 

Part of what makes RM fun for me is that there is so much variation from character to character.  Two 5th level Magicians don't have to be much alike.  The chance that they'll have a spell list or two in common is fairly high, but with 10 open, 10 closed and 6 base lists to choose from, they can be very, very different.

[tkdguy]

Even fighters can be quite different. Considering the players choose which categories of weapon skills are cheaper for their characters, you can end up with a lot of variation among the warrior types.

[Wardsman]

hey guys just want to know for your fantasy game, if rolemaster inspire your campaign  in a way or other. Personally the healing system of rolemaster is very flavorous (is it a word in english ?) and i use it a lot. Another example, anecdote etc etc are welcome.

 

Steph the bad english man

If you want a digested version look into middle earth role playing (MERP)

It was a Role Master lite system. Something of a gateway into how role master does things with the Middle earth setting.

[tkdguy]

I ran a MERP session last weekend. I forgot how much bookkeeping the GM has to do. In the end, I just gave everyone a set amount of experience points.

 

Critical hits and fumbles can be fun, but they make for a brutal fight. One PC with bruised ribs, another with a broken shoulder, an orc permanently paralyzed - all those happened in the game. Only one PC and an allied NPC came out unscathed, mainly because they stuck with spells and missile combat instead of wading into melee.

[NuSoardGraphite]

I ran a MERP session last weekend. I forgot how much bookkeeping the GM has to do. In the end, I just gave everyone a set amount of experience points.

 

Critical hits and fumbles can be fun, but they make for a brutal fight. One PC with bruised ribs, another with a broken shoulder, an orc permanently paralyzed - all those happened in the game. Only one PC and an allied NPC came out unscathed, mainly because they stuck with spells and missile combat instead of wading into melee.

Sounds like a typical MERP session. Its pretty difficult for the fighters to come out unscathed.

 

How did your players like it?

[tkdguy]

Sounds like a typical MERP session. Its pretty difficult for the fighters to come out unscathed.

 

How did your players like it?

 

They liked it okay. One player is familiar with MERP, so he knows how it works. The other doesn't do much roleplaying. He thinks D&D is simpler. I tried some Fantasy HERO with them, but the campaign didn't last very long.

[Wardsman]

They liked it okay. One player is familiar with MERP, so he knows how it works. The other doesn't do much roleplaying. He thinks D&D is simpler. I tried some Fantasy HERO with them, but the campaign didn't last very long.

What was the issue with the FH campaign?

[tkdguy]

I ran a low fantasy game: no magic, but lots of martial arts and swashbuckling action. I think I gave them too many combat options, since they were just learning the system. They seemed to find it too crunchy for their tastes. Also, they didn't care for the setting too much. Some players wanted a superhero campaign. However, I have no interest in running that genre; I'm just not into superheroes nowadays.

 

MERP also seems a bit more crunchy and complicated than AD&D for some of the players. And while I enjoy old-school AD&D, I get bored running the same genre/system all the time. I need some variety. Fortunately, the players seem to enjoy Stormbringer and Classic Traveller.

[Richgee]

If you want to move people into hero, try running a hero "lite" game to begin with. I was introducing my son and his friends to the system, all they had played before was ad&d. So I took some basics on what they wanted to play created characters let them tweak them, only told them the base simple skill check and combat rules. Then ran the game. I positively encouraged them to go dramatic on the combat descriptions then interpreted their ideas to combat rules. It was really satisfying to hear "no way is there a rule for that" for every action they tried. After the first session I handed out combat extension base manoeuvres and hit location charts, by the end of the 3rd session they were desperate to build their own characters and my son is now running a campaign for them.

 

I find the sheer number of options is what frightens most first time players off the game. As gm if you can shield them a bit till they are more open to the idea you may get them more on-board.

 

I have to say though classic traveller(little black books) is still class. Nothing says traveller like wondering how you will pay the mortgage this month. That's a hook in and of its self.

[Wardsman]

If you want to move people into hero, try running a hero "lite" game to begin with. I was introducing my son and his friends to the system, all they had played before was ad&d. So I took some basics on what they wanted to play created characters let them tweak them, only told them the base simple skill check and combat rules. Then ran the game. I positively encouraged them to go dramatic on the combat descriptions then interpreted their ideas to combat rules. It was really satisfying to hear "no way is there a rule for that" for every action they tried. After the first session I handed out combat extension base manoeuvres and hit location charts, by the end of the 3rd session they were desperate to build their own characters and my son is now running a campaign for them.

 

I find the sheer number of options is what frightens most first time players off the game. As gm if you can shield them a bit till they are more open to the idea you may get them more on-board.

 

I have to say though classic traveller(little black books) is still class. Nothing says traveller like wondering how you will pay the mortgage this month. That's a hook in and of its self.

That seems to be the key. Have pre digested bits of rules and make basic setting decisions with their preferences in mind.

Don't hit them with fact you can simulate almost any magic system at first. Their eyes will glaze over.

 

And while I'm leaning to the create effect for enchantment. It might be too much for beginner mages. I may use the enchant skill from 4th edition.

That seems cleaner for a noob to me.

[Cantriped]

If you want to move people into hero, try running a hero "lite" game to begin with. I was introducing my son and his friends to the system, all they had played before was ad&d. So I took some basics on what they wanted to play created characters let them tweak them, only told them the base simple skill check and combat rules. Then ran the game. I positively encouraged them to go dramatic on the combat descriptions then interpreted their ideas to combat rules. It was really satisfying to hear "no way is there a rule for that" for every action they tried. After the first session I handed out combat extension base manoeuvres and hit location charts, by the end of the 3rd session they were desperate to build their own characters and my son is now running a campaign for them.

 

I find the sheer number of options is what frightens most first time players off the game. As gm if you can shield them a bit till they are more open to the idea you may get them more on-board.

 

I have to say though classic traveller(little black books) is still class. Nothing says traveller like wondering how you will pay the mortgage this month. That's a hook in and of its self.

 

That is excellent advice which I wish I had followed when I last tried introducing players to the HERO System. I threw them in the proverbial deep end, and I still ended up writing all of the characters. Of the two players in that group completely unfamiliar with the system; one of them enjoyed the gameplay but never did learn the system, and the other eventually learned the system well enough to read a character sheet (and appreciate how must work I was putting in) but never had the patience to write their own or the time to play often enough to get the hang of the system. All in all it was disappointing for everyone involved, and I had to switch back to running Pathfinder. Which isn't any less complicated (what with the entire bookshelf I have to keep dedicated to it), but at least it was familiar to 3/4s of my group.

[Wardsman]

How would you implement the unlife, ant essence , the iron wind?

RQ has even the darkness pantheon fighting chaos which is from outside the known world of the gods and is alien.

I equate anti essence with Qlippothic universes or realms dead or dying realms.

[NuSoardGraphite]

In Shadow World, the Unlife us much like the Dark Side of the Force. It is a corrupting influence on those who utilize it. Thus I would treat it similarly.

 

I would require the character to purchase (an inexpensive) Endurance Pool which represents the Unlife. Whenever a character uses this Unlife pool to power their spells, they activate a Side Effect attached to the Pool that is a Mental Transform (turns the character Evil where they become a slave to the Will of the Unlife). The dice of Transform rolled is based on the active points of the spell being cast (1/2D6 per 10 active points or 1d6/20 active). It Recovers per month based on their Essence Recovery characteristic (I use a derived characteristic of [int + EGO + PRE] ÷ 5) so just like Rolemaster, one can lightly dabble in dark magics without falling to them completely, but those who delve too deeply often find themselves lost to it.

 

I also allow other ways to recover Transform Body from Unlife use. Staying in a Temple of Eissa (goddess of Life and Healing) will heal an amount based on the power of the temple. There are clerical spells that can relieve some of the burden (Benediction spell) and there are ancient Animist (Druid) spells known to the elves that can relieve it as well.

 

Once one has fully Transformed, they lose access to their regular Essence End Pool and MUST use their Unlife pool to power magic spells of any kind. This means that the character will fall further and further into darkness if they continue using magic. Only swearing off spell casting and a regimine of prayer, fasting and meditation will return the character to normal. This could take months or years depending how far a mage has fallen. Most never return to normal.