Topic: Kingdoms of Kalamar

[lionrampant]

I am thinking about running a Rolemaster game in the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting (I have the old boxed set that I got in the mid '90s), and I was wondering if anybody has done previous work setting that up for RM (character generation tweaks, changes to classes, etc.).  I saw in the Forum archives that some people had mentioned working on that a few years ago, and I am wondering if that stuff is posted online or somewhere that I could reference.

[yammahoper]

Welcome to ICE.

Isn't that the KOTDT setting? 

I have never read, seen or bought it, but I understand it is 1st edition AD&D rules?

There should be some info on conversions in the conversions area, which is found at the bottom of the forum.

lynn

[lionrampant]

Thanks for the welcome.

KOTDT has the guys playing Hackmaster, which is published by the same company that does Kingdoms of Kalamar, but is separate.  The original Kalamar boxed set was system neutral, and did not include any rules at all.  It was all setting, with descriptions of the races, countries, dieties, religions, etc.  You had to select a rules system to use with it, though of course since AD&D at the time had the largest player base, you could see how some of it was written toward that structure.

Even the D20 version of the Kalamar setting book, which I have seen, has basically no rules in it, as it is just the old boxed set text put in a prettier package.  Can't speak to the other current Kalamar products, though, as I haven't seen them.

I was just wondering if someone has come up with culture descriptions (adolescent skill development, "racial" skill bonuses, etc.) that are appropriate for the various Kalamar cultures, and stuff like that.  This is really tacking RM onto the setting, rather than any kind of conversion.

[yammahoper]

Learn something new when I least expect to.  Life is good.

I am off to Google.  A stat nuetral setting is always worth checking out.

lynn

[RandalThor]

I really like the Kalamar setting, and have used some of their modules - though never for RM. (Sorry......bad Rand  )

I especially like what they did for hobgoblins: they made them a major race and gave them their own nation. Very fitting for a lawful (evil) race that is generally a little tougher than humans - not to mention more willing to utilize the lesser humanoids as fodder.

[Hawkwind]

Even the D20 version of the Kalamar setting book, which I have seen, has basically no rules in it, as it is just the old boxed set text put in a prettier package.  Can't speak to the other current Kalamar products, though, as I haven't seen them.

I have several of the d20 Kalamar adventures, and they are certainly statted for 3.0 or 3.5, depending on release date. I've only used them for D&D though.

Hawk

[Koraq]

KoK is a great setting, for any system. I have never considered RM and thus have nothing to share. It's good to hear it's getting appreciated, though.

[lionrampant]

So, based on the responses, I will assume that nobody active on the forums has done this work, or is aware of anyone else having done it.  That's what I needed to know.  Thanks!

[yammahoper]

Lionrampant, I can tell you the easiest way.

For adolescence, assign a number of ranks players can spend on their adolescent skills, including languages and the like.  If you tally and average the totals on the RMFRP/SS table, you will see 55 ranks is human norm, with 62 ranks being the average of all the races (one of the elves has the high with just over 80 ranks).

I myself now just give all players 75 ranks to develop adolescent training with...OR they may use one of the pre existing races adolescent development.  While a bit more work, most players prefer the flexibility of 75 ranks AND it has saved me a ton of work.  Just watch how they spend the ranks and vette them before going to level one training (4 ranks in body dev might be acceptable for a farmboy, outdoorsman or very athletic PC, but shame the player who slaps that down on his cloistered acedemic mage).

lynn

[lionrampant]

Yamma, that is actually a really nice fudge around the problem, though I would lean more towards 65 points for humans rather than 75.  Thanks for the advice!

[Koraq]

lynn,

Great houserule. I bet you have mentioned it before, but now it goes into my folder with "good stuff" to consider when I run RMSS again. Thanks!

[RandalThor]

On a side note: I just picked up a little booklet with a bunch of city maps for Kalamar that is very nice. With very little effort they can be used for nearly any setting.

[Apeman]

So, based on the responses, I will assume that nobody active on the forums has done this work, or is aware of anyone else having done it.  That's what I needed to know.  Thanks!

Not that it helps any, but I did run KoK using RM back in the 90's.  I had a number of NPC's statted up for both RM2 and RMSS but it is all long gone two computers ago.  My lesson learned, however, was that KoK really isn't the best setting for RM due to the volume of work required for creating accurate NPC's in either RM2 or RMSS formats.  I also had set TP based on regions of origin that players were required to purchase.  My players disliked the KoK setting, thinking it too generic for Rolemaster, so I've since moved on to my own setting.  Ironically I then moved back to D&D due to the stagnant Rolemaster development.