Topic: Creatures and Monsters confusion

[neaceul]

I could not find the answer to this in the book. I was looking at the entries in the Rolemaster Creatures and Monsters book for RMFRP. After each name of a creature or monster there are -, A,G, @, 4 and/or other symbols. Some are in parenthesis some are not. For example, on page 11 the buffalo is shown like this:

Buffalo: (h)-(-),(GIOZ),CDP-3; 6-11.5' long, 1 young

I get the last part about how long it is and number of young. However, I am confused about all the letters, parenthesis, and symbols that can appear after the creatures name. How do I find out what these mean? Thank you.

[tbigness]

This is at the front of the book describing traits. (H) refers to size Huge for example.

[rdanhenry]

This is at the front of the book describing traits. (H) refers to size Huge for example.

Your first statement should be correct. Your second is not. These are the encounter codes. I only have the RMSS C&M, but I don't think there was any change except to clear out IP ICE no longer had rights for. The parentheses indicate "not"... the creature may be found in any of the places other than those listed.

The first part of the encounter codes is the habitat code, where "h" is a "hot/humid" climate. So, no buffalo in the jungle. (-) second is the Special Features environment code. (-) indicates that none of the special features are excluded: you could find buffalo anywhere... even cave complexes oddly enough. (GIOZ): the third set as Water Sources environment codes. Buffalo are not found on glaciers and snowfields (G), on tropical islets, reefs, and/or atolls (I), in the ocean (O), or in the desert (Z). The fourth set of codes is Terrain and nothing is listed, which like (-) means that it has no preference. These codes include A (alpine), R (rough terrain), U (underground), and W (waste/barren land). So, again, we see that RM buffalo like to live underground. This is probably a species much hunted by dwarves and goblins. The fifth set is vegetation, and we find that buffalo live where there are coniferous forests and/or taiga (C), deciduous forests (D), or plains/grassland (P). So, if you don't have underground forests and grasslands, there won't be subterranean buffalo after all. The number at the end indicates the frequency of the creature within its normal areas of habitation. 3 is pretty common.

[Peter R]

I really hate those codes.