Author Topic: What should I know about the stats, skills and all else?  (Read 1036 times)

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Offline Yabvi

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What should I know about the stats, skills and all else?
« on: July 16, 2021, 07:58:09 PM »
Looking into playing Rolemaster FRP;

My questions are sort of general questions I feel. What makes someone good/acceptable at a thing? I've not really been able to get a good handle on what do these numbers really translate to?

How damaging to my character is it to have a low stat? I haven't really been able to gauge what these numbers mean yet and I would like some help on that.

Also stuff like, what's generally considered good and bad; some like absolutes, like, have a weapon skill at X or this at X. Also, is taking a Lifestyle Package and a Vocational Package good or bad? Stuff like that.

Offline RandalThor

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Re: What should I know about the stats, skills and all else?
« Reply #1 on: July 16, 2021, 08:16:32 PM »
Like most games, answers to these questions will be down to personal taste and preferences. I think the best way to explain this is to equate it to another game system that you know. So, what other rpgs do you know well?
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Offline Yabvi

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Re: What should I know about the stats, skills and all else?
« Reply #2 on: July 16, 2021, 08:39:10 PM »
Stuff like Exalted 3e, Call of Cthulu 5th edition, Burning Wheel, D&D 5th - the list goes on.

Offline jdale

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Re: What should I know about the stats, skills and all else?
« Reply #3 on: July 16, 2021, 10:45:07 PM »
Stat penalties don't make a huge difference if they are not in your key skills. And in RMFRP, you will reach your potential stats relatively quickly (probably all of them by level 7 or so), so those penalties are likely to go away reasonably soon. Go ahead and give yourself a weakness. It also makes a more interesting character. But try to keep your development stats high, it's easy to overlook the importance here but they determine how many DP you have to buy skills and DP.

In general, if you have a skill bonus of +50, you will succeed at a medium maneuver half the time, and get partial success about a quarter of the time. So that's a reasonable measure of competence. You can certainly start with a higher bonus for a skill that is a focus. For a couple of your most important skills, buy them every way you can: adolescence, training package, DP.

Take a training package or two if they fit the skills you want to develop. The DP discount is substantial, and it makes a better-rounded character. Generally a spellcaster will only want one, because they'll put a lot of DP into spells. Others might take two.
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Offline Yabvi

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Re: What should I know about the stats, skills and all else?
« Reply #4 on: July 17, 2021, 07:17:26 AM »
Alright, that makes sense! For a Dabbler, I assume you should also put a lot of DP points into spells because oh how useful they are? I've not been able to evaluate the general usefulness of spells so far.

Offline RandalThor

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Re: What should I know about the stats, skills and all else?
« Reply #5 on: July 17, 2021, 08:11:54 PM »
OK, so let's use D&D 5e (as that is the one from that list I know the best): In that game they are about 500% more important than in Rolemaster, a not-so-great attribute for your main abilities is really harmful as it makes all the bonuses and save numbers based upon it to be significantly lower. With "Bounded Accuracy" meaning your skill modifier has a range of 5 (+2 to +6), which is the same range as attribute mods (+1 to +5), means that your attribute mods are equal to that of your skill mod.

In RM - especially RMFRP - your attribute mods go to +10 (not including racial mods) where your skill bonuses are +50 at 10 ranks (assuming both Category and Skill were developed equally), so they will ultimately be outshine your skill mods, especially since they can continue to be developed and the bonus increased. Though at low levels good stats do give a nice bump in capability. Now, the game does let you know which attributes are important for your profession so you know where to assign your good numbers so you are unlikely to have bad mods for those. You do want to make note of any racial mods and how they can affect certain professions.

I highly recommend using the Talent & Flaw system out of Character Law if you are concerned with characters not being capable enough - but I also believe differently than most RM people about what "capable" means. As far as I am concerned, being able to succeed half the time at a medium maneuver is a low capability. I like to think of it this way: If I messed up half of the time work threw me a curveball, I would not be able to keep my job. So, for me, baseline capability doesn't start until they hit +70 or so, when they can handle medium maneuvers most of the time. You can, of course, be the judge of what you want it to be.
Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Scratch that. Power attracts the corruptible.

Rules should not replace the brain and thinking.