Author Topic: Do you build your own worlds for RoleMaster?  (Read 6178 times)

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Offline Cory Magel

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Re: Do you build your own worlds for RoleMaster?
« Reply #40 on: June 19, 2020, 05:54:40 PM »
I think it's pretty hard for most people to get past their preconceptions of how the world works. That's great if you can break those expectations, it forces players to think from a more in-game perspective.

My RMU game has real-world physics because of what I'm doing with the magic system, but in our LARP, the stars are actually features of the dream realm, which is visible from the waking world (this is why astrology works, glimpsing the movements of the stars gives you hints about what most people are dreaming about). The moon is literally the celestial palace where the guardians of the dream realm are based.

In my setting mortal beings who became demi-gods did so using Mentalism.

Essence is harnessing elemental energy.
Mentalism is using the power of your own mind to manipulate your own or other living thing's energy.
Channeling is gathering and receiving energy from an 'idea' which is sort of being 'broadcast' into the world by (typically) other living things.

So, demi-gods are basically Channeling the Mentalism energy from sentient creatures.

This means that even if a living creature is not, in any way, religious it may be inadvertently providing energy to a god or demi-god simply by believing in or doing something.  This also means that you could, potentially, kill a demi-god of say... the forest... by destroying the forest itself.  If  the demi-god was drawing its power from the forest itself (those trees are alive and therefor have an energy that is being gathered by that demi-god) once that forest has been destroyed the demi-god will be powerless and likely revert to whatever form it held before demi-god-hood.

If the entire world is at war, the god of war will grow stronger.
If the world is at peace, the god of war will be weak.
- Cory Magel

Game design priority: Fun > Balance > Realism (greater than > less than).
(Channeling Companion, RMQ 1 & 2, and various Guild Companion articles author).

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Offline Witchking20k

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Re: Do you build your own worlds for RoleMaster?
« Reply #41 on: June 19, 2020, 10:17:08 PM »
In the past I dabbled at building a world, but more recently I have kind of cobbled together my favourite locations and NPCs from a combination of MERP & SW books into a setting. I find it makes it easier to have these familiar places because we have less time to play. Most of us are gaming to enjoy the down time from work & family obligations, so for me to use Bree or Kelfours Landing as adventure "hot spots" in the same "world" builds some nice repetition into the game and saves time.
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Offline mathieuvart

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Re: Do you build your own worlds for RoleMaster?
« Reply #42 on: July 16, 2020, 01:56:37 PM »
I am currently using the Dreamlands of Call of Cthulhu supplement as a campaign setting. I changed it a little bit while adding elves, dwarfs and halflings.

Offline OLF, i.e. Olf Le Fol

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Re: Do you build your own worlds for RoleMaster?
« Reply #43 on: July 19, 2020, 06:27:48 PM »
I think it's pretty hard for most people to get past their preconceptions of how the world works.
It may be easier than you think. As I wrote when I asked for some feedback, one easy move is to change the units for measuring length, time or even weight. Merely changing the naming goes a lot toward that goal, though changing the units' scaling is even better. The key idea IMO is to make the changes small that it doesn't disturb the players' scale of things yet big enough so as it reminds the players that, no, you're not on Earth. For instance, my days last 26 miletz (the equivalent of hours) and my years 13 months, which is close enough to Earth's 24 hours and 12 months, yet different enough in that a gwaedan year is roughly 1.63 earth years.
The world was then consumed by darkness, and mankind was devoured alive and cast into hell, led by a jubilant 紗羽. She rejoiced in being able to continue serving the gods, thus perpetuating her travels across worlds to destroy them. She looked at her doll and, remembering their promises, told her: "You see, my dear, we succeeded! We've become legends! We've become villains! We've become witches!" She then laughed with a joyful, childlike laughter, just as she kept doing for all of eternity.

Offline Bilo

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Re: Do you build your own worlds for RoleMaster?
« Reply #44 on: August 24, 2020, 04:41:08 AM »
I am currently using a heavily home brewed version of shadow world minus the weird stuff like space travel, flowstorms, etc  just made it somewhat low magic just old school fantasy world with monsters and people who use magic :)

Offline Hurin

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Re: Do you build your own worlds for RoleMaster?
« Reply #45 on: August 24, 2020, 09:25:38 AM »
I am currently using a heavily home brewed version of shadow world minus the weird stuff like space travel, flowstorms, etc  just made it somewhat low magic just old school fantasy world with monsters and people who use magic :)

I tend to do the same. I don't mind the odd tech element in my fantasy, but my players find it kind of jarring. They don't seem to mind adding fantasy elements to their tech gaming though, so when we play Spacemaster, we often visit Kulthea.
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Offline Shottglazz

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Re: Do you build your own worlds for RoleMaster?
« Reply #46 on: April 28, 2021, 08:27:48 PM »
I normally create my own worlds. I've made worlds based on the Dishonored video game series, Etheria from the old Warlords PC game, lots of fantasy and steampunk worlds. I don't think I've used a published RM world yet. We'll be starting a Middle Earth game with RM soon, so I won't be able to say that any more!
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Offline Nightblade42

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Re: Do you build your own worlds for RoleMaster?
« Reply #47 on: April 30, 2021, 08:09:41 PM »
Hey everyone,

It's been quite a while since I've logged onto the forums (sort of got lost in the server change shuffle).  It's good to be back.  I'm enjoying catching up on all these great discussions.

Well, enough about me being back, I had better answer the question  ;D

I've been developing my world of Nytheun since about 2009.  I also have a Pulp world (Jeopardy Exile) and a Sci-Fi Galaxy (my Argentrooper Chronicles).  Ironically, none of these worlds have ever been used for actual play - though they've all used RM/SM/Cyberspace in their development.  I guess that's what happens when you go gun-ho on world building & only ever use those worlds in Creative Writing.  ;)

When it comes to Nytheun (my fantasy millieu), it's basically an RM world (with some hints of SM, sort of like Shadow World in that respect…).  One of the original ideas for the world was to build it to be able to use every supplement released for RM/RMSS/RMFRP in one way or another.  And I'm pleased to say I've kept true to that vision.  The magic system is built around the movement of Mana from Earthnodes (RMCI) to Anti-Magic Zones (SUC) via Ley Lines (and Negative Lines as well - which is a whole other concept).  Every profession listed in RM2 & all the Companions is available in some way (maybe not every culture, but across all the cultures, every Profession exists).  There are aliens that have landed on the planet that are refugees from a massive galactic empire that self-destructed in a civil war - as well as a race of extra-planetary beings (from one of the moons of a planet in Nytheun's solar system) who have drastically changed the history & balance of power on Nytheun (hello SM2, thank you  :D ).  Elementalism (Elemental Companion - the major gods are all related to particular elements) and Psionics (SM/SUC) have a large influence on the world as well, and there are some cultures that have developed Ki powers (Oriental Companion).  I've created standing armies (War Law); Navies (Sea Law); Fortresses (Castles & Ruins) as well as a dark, magical underground 4-8-0 Locomotive that steels the souls of those unfortunate to be seduced by its song (Armoured Assault).  For the record, it serves the Goddess of Fate & Death.  There's a deeper story behind this, one I'm still figuring out.  There's one culture that has begun developing steam technology & is starting to become a little Steam Punkish (RMCVI comes into play here as well as At Rapier's Point in a strange way).

So yeah, you could say its a high-magic world  :P

Just a few examples of how RM has helped me create worlds.  Keep rolling those 66's  :)

Nightblade ->--