Topic: Some basic RMSS and RMFRP Questions

[Foxabril]

Hi All!
I recently came into posession of a great deal of RMSS, RMFRP and MERP stuff - about 30+books easy (the gentleman who gave them to me is moving and knew I had an interest from years ago when he ran a short campaign at the local hobby store).

I have spent some quality time reading and working on understanding the system(s) and I do have a few questions:

1.  In regards to spell lists one develops with a bonus progression of -30*1*1*0.5*0  so if I understand this after one has spend DPs on 30 ranks after that they recieve no bonus regardless of how many ranks they develop?  So if a character wants to cast 50th level spells they will have to purchase 20 additonal ranks which will not improve thier spell casting?  I just want to be sure - no judgement on this at all.

2.  Rather than use the MERP system for games in Middle-Earth I am going to use RMSS - so how would you convert the races in MERP to RMSS?  Some of it is intuitive while others are not (for example the Riders of Rohan don't fit into the Men Cultures easily...)

Thanks and I am sure to have more questions.  I loved this system when it it was more around but now that I have boxes of the stuff I am going to endevor to bring it my gaming group (if I can ever get them away from D20!)

Thanks in advance!
Todd

[wilcoxon]

1.  Yes, that is correct.

2.  I would strongly suggest looking at Talent Law (RMSS 5523) as it includes a race creation system (also works for cultures).  However, a lot of the costs and abilities were revised in Character Law (RMFRP 5806).  The race creation system may also be in GM Law (RMFRP 5807 (it is not in RMSS 5521)).  For many examples (not broken out unfortunately) and a good method of splitting race from culture completely, I'd suggest looking at Races and Cultures (RMFRP 5816).

[providence13]

Welcome to the Forums!
You might start them out a little at a time. Just let them know that up front and you'll be using more RAW (rules as written) as they get a better handle on the mechanics.
Perhaps just convert the stat bonuses; I think they're different from NOT RM to RMSS and wing the rest for now.

IIRC, casting is a lot riskier in RM than Not RM and especially D20. Warn them before game. RM can be daunting for new players.
 I don't mean to talk down to you if you already understand the rules.

[Foxabril]

Not at all!  I appreciate all feedback and suggestions.

My history with Rolemaster is a bit off the norm - about 10+ years ago (hard to remember exactly) a guy named Jim started a Rolemaster game up at the local hobby store - I remember the 3 in 1 slip case fondly!    Well he talked us through the character creation process and we started out playing and dying and making new characters - I stuck with the fighters and thieves as I did not want to try to tackle the spell casting aspect yet.

Then doomsday struck the gaming store - D20 was released!  Well that was it for Rolemaster - everyone wanted to play anything and everything related to D20 and all other games just ceased (including Jim's Rolemaster game which was going good at the time - I believe we were on our 3rd of 4th characters! LOL).  Well he lost his players to a whole slew of D&D games and that was it.

Well over the years I asked him about trying it again from time to time and nothing ever came of it.  Well as it happened this summer he mentioned to me that he was moving to Oregon for a job and wondered if I wanted his Rolemaster stuff.  I said sure and he brought over 3 boxes with most of RMSS and RMFRP as well as a bunch of MERP stuff.

I have been reading and learning ever since!  I believe now as I believed many years ago that this is one of the best Roleplaying games ever devised!  Rolemaster Classic is not tuning me on as much and I am not sure why but we will see.

Cheers!
Todd

[markc]

  IIRC, the answer to #1 is that if you have no ranks in the spell list it is at -30 for every rank after that you get a  1 or depending on your skill total. IE every 10 ranks the bonus can change.
 
  #2 As said above I would try and keep it simple at the start and then you can branch out. I would tell the player this and say you will reward them when you start the real game somehow. Also run a few combats for fun for the PC's. I like to run a 1 on 1, many on 1 and spell examples. Or you can do this with each player as they finish their PC. I also like to deal with players 1 on 1 when creating their PC as it is easier to deal with the options and questions. Also PC gen can take a while especially compaired to other games.
 
MDC

[ob1knorrb]

You might want to check out this article on the Guild companion:
http://www.guildcompanion.com/scrolls/1998/dec/merp_adolesence.html

There might be additional articles on MERP races in RMSS/RMFRP but I didn't see them with just a quick search.

[yammahoper]

You can find more appropriate races for the merp mannish races in the Race lae whatever compnaion.  The old RM2 races are given RMSS stats (Like northman, your rohirrim), orcs, and many shadow world races (which could be used for easterlings, dunlendings, etc).

[Ynglaur]

Something that's a little tricky to get when it comes to Spell Lists...there seems to be an implied distinction between Spell Lists one knows, and Spell Lists one has skill in.  Stats and Category bonuses definitely weigh heavily with Spell List bonuses.  That said, there's nothing in the rules that precludes a character from knowing a Level 50 spell.  Good luck casting it, though.

Personally, instead of using character level, I use the number of skill ranks one has in a Spell List to determine the caster's level.  Thus, lower level characters can overcast a little bit easier and get access to slightly better spells (though they don't have many Power Points to play with), and higher level characters aren't automatically casting powerful versions of low-level spells as soon as they learn them.

[providence13]

Personally, instead of using character level, I use the number of skill ranks one has in a Spell List to determine the caster's level.  Thus, lower level characters can overcast a little bit easier and get access to slightly better spells (though they don't have many Power Points to play with), and higher level characters aren't automatically casting powerful versions of low-level spells as soon as they learn them.

I do about the same thing. Everyone casts "at Rank" in the spell List. This totally eliminated overcasting for us as they only know the List up to their Ranks in that List.
To balance it, each "per lvl" increase for the spell (10ft/lvl,
1 target/lvl.. whaterver), requires an additional PP. Now, it's much easier to cast spells, but can you power the spell up to it's max potential.

[Ynglaur]

Hmm, I think I'd take that a step further: your casting "level" is your Skill Rank.  Knowledge is distinct from skill, so you may be highly skilled--Rank 20--but have limited knowledge--Rank 10--due to lack of a tutor, time to research, etc.  Likewise, you may have Rank 50 knowledge (there's a Flaw for this, I think), but only low Skill--Rank 5.

If you have knowledge of it, you can overcast it past its level to get longer duration/range/whatever from the description, but that affects the level you're casting at (though not Power Point expenditure).  Thus, a Skill Rank of 10 can cast the 10th level spell at 11th level, but only with a successful SCMR.  Heck, the same caster--assuming he/she had the knowledge--could cast the 20th level spell on the list at 30th level, but only with a successful SCMR.

Options are good, so long as they have risks and costs.

[Ecthelion]

Hmm, I think I'd take that a step further: your casting "level" is your Skill Rank.

You can take it another step further if your casting level is determined by the number of PPs put into the spell - which again gets limited by the number of ranks in the spell list or the caster's level (whichever you prefer).

[providence13]

Ynglaur, that is very similar to the SpaM:P (SpaceMaster: Privateers) systems of Psionics. There is a distinction between having Ranks in the Category and having Ranks in a skill under that Category.
One might have low Ranks in the Cat Telekinetics, but a lot of Ranks in Telekinesis. They can't lift a house cat but could thread a needle.
It's worth checking out.
Personally, I don't want to have a distinction between the Category Fire Law and the number of Ranks in the Spell List, for example.

You could however, assume that Spell Mastery was implied in the 'understanding' (Category..?) of the List and the 'knowledge/skill (Ranks) in the List.
Someone has mentioned this before.. somewhere.

Just some ideas.