First use of ERA for RMC. My initial reaction was that I didn't like it. I realize that you can't be all things to all people. However, this may be because I don't understand the program fully.
My complaints, in no particular order:
1) RMC has a lot of options, so no two GM's run the game the same way. In setting up the program, you appear to have made a number of baseline assumptions that I don't use. (Power point development, individual spell development, level bonuses using the RMSS conversion rules, etc....)
2) I use the character development option "all characters get 40 DP per level, regardless of stats". There doesn't appear to be a way to implement this.
3) Several background options appear to be missing. (+10 to primary skill, +15 to secondary skill, 10 ranks w/s in a language, 5 ranks in a secondary skill, etc....)
This greatly limits my ability to use the program. However, I purchased ERA to support my favorite game company. For that reason alone, ERA was worth the price I paid for these three modules.
First of all, thanks for supporting the application, and for sharing your thoughts. This is the only way in which ERA can evolve and accommodate as many different play-styles as possible.
I believe some of your questions have appeared before, and the answers may be somewhere in the forum, but just to make sure you get a clean answer for them, here they go:
0) The location of the advanced settings directory for RMC is shown when you click on the about button on the main module selection screen. The settings file inside that directory is called "ERA-RMC-Settings.conf".
1a) Power Point Development: there is a setting inside the RMC Configuration file called:
PowerPointsFormula, which defaults to RMCPowerPointsFormula. This means that although you will see a Power Point Development skill, there is no need to develop it, as power points will be computed depending on the character level. In fact, to change the behavior so that the ranks are considered, you would have to change the setting to:
PowerPointsFormula = PowerPointsEqualToPowerPointDevelopment
1b) Individual spell development can also be omitted, although this is more of a manual procedure. The idea is that you should only develop the "Learn Portion" skill in the "Spell List Acquisition" category. Then, after you complete the level up process, roll for the acquisition. If successful, manually change the number of ranks for "Learn Portion" back to 0 and change the ranks for the list to the level learned.
1c) Level bonuses with RMSS conversion was chosen as the best compromise to offer a skill list and structure that was more compatible between different RM versions. You could get to other skill sets and level bonuses, if you would manually change some of the configuration files and then adjust the profession bonuses accordingly. This can all be done but it would require some care and at least basic XML knowledge.
2) To fix the number of development points you need to configure that in the settings file mentioned before. You will see by default a line that reads:
;DevelopmentPointsFormula = [RMCDevelopmentPointsFormula] | 50
The semicolon indicates that the line should be omitted and the default rule used. To change to a fixed amount, replace it with:
DevelopmentPointsFormula = 40
The next time you start the server, all characters will get 40 DPs to spend during level up.
3) Table 06-02 Set Options Category is not included in the Background Options when you purchase RMC Character Law... but I have no idea as to why. My guess is simply that I forgot and that nobody mentioned it until now. So rest assured that the next time an update is published this will be corrected... Thanks!
In any case, please consider reviewing the different topics discussed in the
advanced customization thread, you might find interesting posts there as well.
I know that a set of better tutorial videos would work wonders to help explain the more advanced features of the system, but this requires time (specially to determine the contents of the video, then to record them), and I haven't yet been able to free that amount.
