Topic: New products and your wishes for the future

[Voriig Kye]

Hi everybody! Starting today you can get not one (1), but two (2!) new packages for ERA.

For RMC, we are now offering the Oriental Companion. This is more than races and professions: we are including all talent descriptions for the different "ways" and the creature templates for the oriental world.

For RMFRP, you can get the Races and Cultures package. This is a mix of Shadow World and generic races, plus some very interesting cultures for your characters.

And now, what next? As I've said time and time again, RMU is top priority, and I try to stay up-to-date with all the proposed changes, but until the singularity comes, there is some room for adding more book packages from RMC or RMFRP, or maybe... Spacemaster?

I'd like to know if there's something:

• ERA does, but not quite the way you need it
• ERA does, but in a complicated way, and you'd like it simplified or maybe a have a tutorial for it
• ERA doesn't do, and it's forcing you to mix it with another solution (software/paper)
• ERA doesn't do, and until it does you refuse to use it

Also, please let me know if you'd be interested in us making available an ERA for Spacemaster (Privateers?). I've never played it, but with some thorough reading of the books and your invaluable help, I'm sure it can be done.

[Hurin]

Do you think there would be more interest in Privateers or SM2? Personally, i would vote for SM2. I do like the Privateers races though.

[Jenkyna]

I would say Spacemaster, and specifically Spacemaster 2. Privateers is a good system, but not a lot of official material is available beyond the basic books. Also I believe I read at some point that Terry is planning to revisit / update the Imperium setting as a future project.

[tbigness]

I would like to see the Talent law flaws added and Training packages built in.

[Voriig Kye]

I would like to see the Talent law flaws added and Training packages built in.

You should be able to find flaws in RMFRP Character Law, they were added by user request last year. If you have already purchased it please see if there is an update pending in your RPGNow account. If they are not showing please let us know so we can check the issue.

Training packages are still a pending feature, that's true. I'll make sure to consider it for the next releases.

[Ephraim]

I would love to see the ability to add a custom default avatar to the templates of creatures and characters.

And I throw another vote in for SM2 modules :-)

[Jenkyna]

One thing I will add in here about SM2 is that while it is a stand alone system, it can also be used as a Sci-Fi companion to RM2.

It would be nice if it would be possible to get the SM2 rules set as a stand alone version of ERA, but be able activate an optional rule in RMC ERA that makes the skills / spells / crit tables available for games that mix sci-fi and fantasy.

[Hurin]

Indeed! I often find in Spacemaster games that we want to use the old RM2 weapon tables when the players are visiting low-tech planets, and the natives get hostile.

[Voriig Kye]

Hmmm, so adding RMC packages with Spacemaster skills, profession, spells, attack tables, criticals...
That is doable I guess.

I'm not sure about "magic" (psionic?) in SM2, is it compatible with RM2/RMC spell lists/casting system?

@Ephraim You can change a character's avatar as shown at this point of the tutorial video.
In case you are referring to changing it during the adventure, I'll see if it can be added in the future.

[Hurin]

I'm not sure about "magic" (psionic?) in SM2, is it compatible with RM2/RMC spell lists/casting system?

Yes, as far as I know, it uses the same system: ABCDE picks, powerpoints, etc.

[Jenkyna]

You were supposed to be able to use SM2 Psions in RM2 games, and RM2 Spells in SM2 games. You were also strongly cautioned to think it through before allowing it. I think there were some slight differences in how the systems approached casting, and combat rounds, but the basic mechanics were the same.

If memory serves me the psionic professions didn't have professional base lists, instead there were 4 or 5 psionic disciplines that you choose from the construct your psionic characters available powers.

[Jenkyna]

Pulled out my old books and checked a few things.

The profession True Telepath chooses a base field from the four available fields, and after that the basic rules for learning lists apply in what seems to be a similar fashion to how it works in Spell Law. Up front, I didn't check this exhaustively.

This sort of reminded me that with Spacemaster games the profession names are pretty generic, and you really wanted to rename them to fit your setting. Armsman might be renamed Space Marine, and Arms Tech might be called Gunsmith. A True Telepath profession might be called a Psi Cop or Commercial Telepath if your setting was Babylon 5. The names are so generic (Sorry Terry XD) it almost seems like you really need a way to give them a custom name within the software, without having to create a custom .xml file for every profession.

The combat round differed between RM2 and Spacemaster 2 in that the Missile Phase is replaced by Fire Phase A, then after the movement phase you have a Fire Phase B followed by the Melee phase.

The Spacemaster 2 GM book has some general advice on Science Fantasy games on Page 23, but not a lot of specifics. Spell Users Companion has a section on Psions for Rolemaster starting on Page 12, and Magic for Spacemaster starting on Page 14.

The bad news is I couldn't find a combat round chart in the RMC books. I know Arms Law has a section on resolving combat, but I am just not as familiar with RMC, so I am hesitant to draw a comparison between RM2 and RMC combat in the context of merging it with SM2. In the case of RM2 it really didn't take much to insert Sci-Fi elements into the combat round.

[Nightblade42]

Dark Space touches on Sci-Fantasy integration as well as RoCoVI.  If those are available, then you can check them as well for how to mix Psions & Magic.  IIRC, both follow similar lines as what is presented in SUC (Spell User's Companion).

Nightblade ->--

[Voriig Kye]

Thanks for all that info. It seems I have a lot of homework... 
Don't be surprised if smaller requests are completed first.

[Jenkyna]

One other feature that might be useful would be the ability to change the stats associated with a skill. That way if you want add a skill that logically gets categorized with other skills in a group, but has a different set of stats, you could do so without modifying the .xml files.

[Hurin]

One other feature that might be useful would be the ability to change the stats associated with a skill. That way if you want add a skill that logically gets categorized with other skills in a group, but has a different set of stats, you could do so without modifying the .xml files.

I would definitely make use of that.

[RandalThor]

OK, if the question is specifically about ERA, then I would love someone to come to my place and sit me down and show me how to use it. This will likely take several hours, so I am more than willing to supply food and drink, I even got an extra bedroom if they have to stay before heading back out. I am terrible about learning programs on my own or with the instruction books or just from small snippet of instructions I might[I/] find on-line. The best way for me to learn to use a program is by someone teaching me. That immediate response to questions/problems is crucial.

If it (the question) can be opened up for other ICE subjects, then I would love to see a full Shadow World/HARP booklet - basically like the core HARP book (plus College of Magics and stuff like that) done with Shadow World races, cultures and professions (more professions added from RMFRP). I would love to run Shadow World, but I fear that RM (any incarnation) would be too much for the players I can find.

[NicholasHMCaldwell]

OK, if the question is specifically about ERA, then I would love someone to come to my place and sit me down and show me how to use it. This will likely take several hours, so I am more than willing to supply food and drink, I even got an extra bedroom if they have to stay before heading back out. I am terrible about learning programs on my own or with the instruction books or just from small snippet of instructions I might[I/] find on-line. The best way for me to learn to use a program is by someone teaching me. That immediate response to questions/problems is crucial.

If it (the question) can be opened up for other ICE subjects, then I would love to see a full Shadow World/HARP booklet - basically like the core HARP book (plus College of Magics and stuff like that) done with Shadow World races, cultures and professions (more professions added from RMFRP). I would love to run Shadow World, but I fear that RM (any incarnation) would be too much for the players I can find.

A HARP Handbook for Shadow World is one of our desired future products. Once we have Bestiary out and Something Wicked, Something Wondrous  complete in draft (because SWSW will give you Mentalists/Seers and Demonologists) then it is likely viable to start on for someone.

Best wishes,
Nicholas

[Ephraim]

How about a section under the Adventuring module that allows the use of random encounter tables similar to those in gamemaster law. I'm thinking a popup something like the static maneuver tables, but for random encounters.

This could be used to generate random monster encounters, city encounters, etc..

[Voriig Kye]

One other feature that might be useful would be the ability to change the stats associated with a skill. That way if you want add a skill that logically gets categorized with other skills in a group, but has a different set of stats, you could do so without modifying the .xml files.

That shouldn't be too hard. I'll try to add something like that in the short term.

How about a section under the Adventuring module that allows the use of random encounter tables similar to those in gamemaster law. I'm thinking a popup something like the static maneuver tables, but for random encounters.

This could be used to generate random monster encounters, city encounters, etc..

Mmmhhhh, ok, I'll think about it. But I think this kind of feature would be more on the long term part of the ToDo list...