Topic: Question about Great Men

[ChaosKats]

Hello! First and foremost, my apologies if this is the wrong place for this thread.

I'm looking for more information about the great men race, which I've only seen mentioned in RoCo I.  I haven't been able to find anything out about them other than what is detailed in the small paragraph in that book, and as you might imagine "Great Men" is a search term that can return a lot of unrelated results even when coupled with terms such as "ICE" or "Rolemaster".  If anyone knows where I can find more information about them, I'd greatly appreciate it! 

[VladD]

As far as I know there hasn't been any elaboration on the Great Man race. RoCo I is it. Perhaps there has been an idea of including them in a game world somewhere, but I'm not aware of such.

Now we get to the speculation bit. I have always handled Great men as if they were a race of half giants. Not born immediately of a human and giant parent, but in ancient history, and slowly grew more numerous and proving to be a fertile union. A sort of furry troll, but without being really dumb. Such formidable beings live in small family units, intermarrying after non lethal duels between clan elders. As a consequence of their low technology, they don't build elaborate castles or even villages, instead preferring to live in comfortably furnished caves that they extend further and build halls on the entrance. Their weapons are primitive: clubs, stone maces and axes, but they quickly adopt metal and steel if they get the chance. The fur of a Great man is thick and soft and in the winter they grow a much thicker one. if known to other races, the fur is coveted and sought after, but its rarety is not due to scarcity, but due to the aggressive nature of the great men's adherance to their skin. As such they not not require clothes, but they do wear some form of armor. Some Great men get the opportunity to have special metal suits made for them, but those suits require 5-8 times as much materials and time to construct.

Although I would disallow my players to pick the race, they might make pretty good adversaries, or allies.

[ChaosKats]

Thanks for the quick reply!

I figured that to be the case, but I wanted to make sure.  Thank you for your own personal take on them, I've been trying to put together a bit of great men lore for my current group's campaign and it's always nice to see how other players interpret something when given little to go on.

[Zat]

I use Arctic Men as 'half giants'. It's not so much stats but lineage that makes the difference there

[ChaosKats]

Thanks for the tip Which book(s) are Arctic Men detailed in?

[rdanhenry]

Right in the same section of RMC -- er, RoCo [yuck] I -- as Great Men.

[ChaosKats]

Oh woops, I should have looked before I asked. Thanks 

[yammahoper]

I still type RMCI.  There is no Rolemaster Classic I.  It is obvious gthat RMCI means Rolemaster Companion I.  The writers of RMC thought there was a need to avoid confusion.  I just ignored them.

Join me on the dark side 

[arakish]

I still type RMCI.  There is no Rolemaster Classic I.  It is obvious gthat RMCI means Rolemaster Companion I.  The writers of RMC thought there was a need to avoid confusion.  I just ignored them.

Join me on the dark side 

I feel the same way.  But since they insisted on RMC = Rolemaster Classic, I have begun to type RoCo1, RoCo2, etc.  Still prefer the RMC1, RMC2, etc.  They are easier to type.

rmfr

[intothatdarkness]

I always took RMC I as being taken from an existing campaign and went from there. That means I used some of the stuff presented in it (especially the races) and ignored other stuff (especially the races). VladD's explanation is a good one, although I suppose one could treat them as a remnant of an earlier race of humans (a lost offshoot, if you will) and have them populate a region that hasn't been explored or is in the process of being mapped by the PCs.

[ChaosKats]

I could definitely see them as being reclusive race and inhabiting lesser known regions -- perhaps that itself can be the cause for such scarce information!

[yammahoper]

The history of the Greatmen is lost in time, and to all appearances, even to the Greatmen.

Towering an average 8' tall, the physical prowess of this race stems from the blessings of an ancient war god.  They served their god with honor and great loyalty and enjoyed great prosperity.  Their culture was a wonder and they enjoyed mastery of arms and magic.  For a century, they faced all foes and crafted a mighty empire.  After the century of war came a great peace, as all foes on all borders had been defeated.  What followed was decades of peace and great prosperity.

On the century aniversary of their last victorious battle, their god forsake them.  Angered by their peaceful ways, he struck them dumb, hoping to cast them all into the brutal savagery of ignorance.   Such was the will and spirit of the Greatmen, they resisted the intent of the curse.  While suffering reduced mental and magical capacity, striken unable to voice their history for fear of the curses madness possessing them, they pledged to make war no more, to never harm each other, to fight only in self defence or to strike against the forces and desires of the god that had forsaken them.

The nature of the curse prevents the Greatmen from speaking openly or amongst themselves about their history.  Over the passing of the time, all that remains is their code, taught to each youth as they grow into adulthood.  While the name of the god is forgotton with the rest of their history, the intent of the oath is never forgotton.  Peaceful and surprisingly gentle, the entire race remains dedicated to opposing the forces of injustice, whatever for they might take.

Mostly, they farm, raise their battle cats and live peaceful lives, rarely called to to arms.  On occassion, one of their number will rise in the name of justice, fate creating a hero that harkens back to their days of ancient glory.