Official ICE Forums
Systems & Settings => Rolemaster => Topic started by: Ramoran on November 28, 2007, 11:42:20 AM
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Hey guys. Did a search on this topic and didn't find anything. If I'm a GM and want to start a Rolemaster campaign, what books should I pick up to start? I was thinking about picking up the rules, Character Law, and Arms Law to start. Will I need the Spell Law books as well?
Also, are the pdfs really 5800 pages long? Because I'm going to have to print them off, and that's a pretty hefty amount of paper and ink. I'd probably have to take it to a print shop or something.
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Hi,
Minimum is Rolemaster Express and nothing else.
For full RM you have to decide whether RMC or RMFRP.
For RMFRP you need only the basic book at the beginning, but its complicated.
For RMC you need all books.
And 5800 is not the page count but the order number. So its about 200 pages max per book.
Br
Juergen
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Yeah, bare minimum is the RMX core book PDF.
That gives you the taste of RM, from there choose RMC or RMFRP.
RMFRP core book is all you need to basicly cover the center, expanding out you'd buy the other titles as they interest you. If you ask, you'll likely get lots of different answers on which direction to go in terms of what books in what order. (You'd need to ask an RMFRP person that one.)
RMC wise, RMX is essentially the "core book" extracted from it, so you can then expand out by purchasing the bit of the rest that interests you. Again, here you'll likely get different priorities and choices from different people. If you want more magic, buy Spell Law, if you want more in depth character choices, races, professions, skills and more GM stuff, buy Character Law. If you want more in depth combat, buy Arms Law. My preference there would be to expand RMX to Character Law, then Spell Law, then Arms Law.
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Hey guys. Did a search on this topic and didn't find anything. If I'm a GM and want to start a Rolemaster campaign, what books should I pick up to start? I was thinking about picking up the rules, Character Law, and Arms Law to start. Will I need the Spell Law books as well?
Depends on the version of Rolemaster you want to play.
If you want Rolemaster Classic, you can start with just RMX (SKU #6500p) -- http://shop.ironcrown.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=40_42&products_id=304 (an 88 page PDF)-- and then expand from there into the core RM Classic rules as you see fit, or take things a bit more slowly with the Express Additions PDFs.
If you want Rolemaster Fantasy Roleplaying, then all you need to get started is the Rolemaster Fantasy RolePlaying book (SKU #5800p) -- http://shop.ironcrown.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=35_38&products_id=252 -- a 256 page PDF. You can then expands things from there with Arms Law, the 3 Of xxx books for macic, Character Law, etc...
Also, are the pdfs really 5800 pages long? Because I'm going to have to print them off, and that's a pretty hefty amount of paper and ink. I'd probably have to take it to a print shop or something.
5800 would be the stock number, not its page count.
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Thanks for the tips, guys. I've been playing SM:2, and I'm interested in playing with the additive rules, so I think I'll try RM:FRP. I've already started marinating some ideas in my brain for a campaign. A few more days and I should be scrawling ideas all over a notebook or something. Then I just need to rope in some players.
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5800 pages :D
I'd hate to be the writer with that deadline.
lynn
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SM2 would mesh to RMC
SM:P would mesh to RMFRP
Other than tiny variations, those two pairs of systems are the same, so moving from SM to RM you'd have the least trouble keeping inside a pair. SM:2 I'm not certain which version you mean, it's the text of one in the format of the other.
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Okay, now I'm a little confused. Is RMC Character Law the core rule book for RMC, or is RMX the core book for RMC?
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RMX is a standalone book that gives you everything that you NEED to play Rolemaster in a small, compact package. RMX is meant as an introduction to RM Classic.
It does not have as many races, professions, skills, spells, etc.. as the core RMC books have, it is like a sub-set of that information, but still fully playable.
ROC Character Law is one of the 3 core books for Rolemaster Classic. You would need Arms Law and Spell Law as well to have a fully playable game (you could get away with RMC Character Law and RMC Arms Law so long as you didn't want to include spells).
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The Express Rules (RMX) (http://shop.ironcrown.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=40_41&products_id=303) includes 4 Professions, 4 Races, a Condensed Combat System,
30 Spell List (up to 10th level, covering 2 realms) and 20 monsters.
It is all there to play (even a little adventure).
RMC Character Law includes more professions, more races and the skill system.
It is one of 3 Core Books you need to play; the other are RMC Arms Law and
RMC Spell Law. Arms Law contains the complete combat system; Spell Law gives
you Spell List (up to 50th Level, covering all 3 realms).
Perhaps RMX is sufficient for the start, but you will soon need more ...
Ramoran, you are a brave person.
Even as you thought Rolemaster Fantasy Role Playing has 5800 pages,
you still was about to give it a try.
(OK, now you now that 5800 is the Stock number of the product and
the following 'p' indicates the pdf version of the product)
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Still...58 HUNDRED pages :o
Good lord, I would run for the hills. My really big and expensive dictionary is about 2400 pages.
It still makes me chuckle. Obviously this man should take the talent "Immune to fear."
lynn
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Coming full circle.
The smallest playable version of RoleMaster Classic is the RMX book.
The smallest playable version of RoleMaster Fantasy Roleplay is the RMFRP Core book.
I think, to give you the right answer, I need one bit from you.
Are you playing Spacemaster 2, or are you playing Spacemaster: Privateers?
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Spacemaster 2. I've been leaning toward RMFRP, though, just because I want to try out the newer system. RMX sounds like a nice, simple way to start, but after playing SM2 and running DnD with no real playing experience, I think I can probably handle a full system without too much trouble. I'm probably going to end up scrapping much of the setting and using strictly the rules, races, creatures, etc. when I build my campaign. Call me ambitious, but I just like to build my worlds from the core out. I figure it'd be more useful to go ahead and invest in a full system rather than a streamlined one, and the RMFRP core book seems to be the one book that actually has a complete base system rolled into it.
I might get supplements later, or I might bundle the pdfs, but I'm going to start simple. The campaign I want to build will be played "wake 'em up" style, meaning my characters will wake up not knowing who they are, where they are, why they're there, or even what system they're playing. I was introduced to SM2 this way, and it was actually a really fun and interesting way to learn the system. We didn't even get character sheets until just recently, after a few months of play. All we needed was dice and notebook paper, and it allowed a lot of room for exploration and character establishment without having to hash out the system. Right now I'm fresh out of cash, though, so this will have to wait 'till closer to Christmas to really get rolling. Even once I've got my campaign ready to play, there's no guaruntee I'll be able to get anyone to play it. If I can get this thing off the ground, I'll probably be posting here for tips fairly often.
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RMX/C would meld to your previous experience almsot seemlessly.
OTOH, I think RMFRP is close enough that your familiarity will get you over the hump of comprehension quite fast. (For that matter, I think you'd probably pick up HARP pretty easily too, it's not all that different.)
I never took to FRP, but I can't fault your logic, it is the one beefy book option.
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There are long discussions on "which RM" without a clear outcome. Personally I prefer RMC, but many other prefer RM:FRP.
The reason for mentioning this is that this shows that you don't have to switch to RM:FRP, especially as you are familiar with SM2, as it is not a superior but a different system. But at the same time switching to it would not be a bad choice.
BR
Juergen
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Here's a question. If I want to go the RMC route, wouldn't it be cheaper to get the RM2 books? Are there actually any differences between RMC and RM2?
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Buying the RMC books will give ICE cash to produce more books that you can buy later. The difference between RMC and RM2 is that with RMC they actually had ease of usuablity as one of the design goal.
For the record I am a RMFRP guy.
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Hmm,
There are in my opinion 2 reasons why ICE published RMC:
a) RM2 is no longer in print but has a large fanbase and is also less complicated than RM:FRP.
b) At the end - with so many companions, of which some seem to have undergone only limited playtesting (to put it that way) - RM2 was very unbalanced and also a bit confusing. So ICE brought options from the oldcompanions into the RMC core books, clearly stated what is optional and what not (and what the impact of choosing an option is) and reorganized the content into a more modern format.
So going for RM2 instead of RMC is doable, but whether its the better or cheaper option, especially since you seem to have no RM2 material so far, depends on your preferences and eBay prices.
BR
Juergen
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I think RM2 became cheap on ebay since RMC was released....
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I hope so :)
There some books that I would like to have again, since my old ones are rather used :)
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If you're playing SM2 and want to go to RMFRP, buy just the Core Rules first (and probably in pdf) and see how you like it. Maybe get RMX to compare as it is so cheap.
There is a major shift in the way skills work and you really need to take a close look at the character creation process to see if you prefer it. It has a lot more skills and you can also develop a category of some skills (e.g. you develop missile weapons to get +2 OB per rank, and longbow for +3 OB per rank and add the two together)
I tried this but found that there were too many skills and that the category system was overcomplicated. However I now run a hybrid RMFRP/RMC game with the spell rules from RMFRP but everything else from RMC.
Oh, and the versions of Arms Law (or 10 million ways to die) are pretty much interchangable, so if you decide to change systems, it's the one book that you will not need to replace.
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I'm probably going to end up scrapping much of the setting and using strictly the rules, races, creatures, etc. when I build my campaign.
You won't be tossing setting at all, since all RM is setting-free.
You might want to check out the "which version do you play?" thread, Ramoran; lots of pro/cons on systems in there.
For the record, I'm RM2, probably switching to RMC upon funding.
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I would get the core book or look at one in a shop near you to see if you like it. Then I would read the descriptions on the other products in the online store to see if you would like to have them in your game.
I would also do a little ground work ahead of time since I generally have had trouble adding in things as they come out to my game world.
IMO since I like RMSS/FRP is buy the RMSS Core, Spell Law and Arms Law as PDF's. Then you can print out the pages you need for each charcter. Also IMO RMSS, SL and AL are easyier on the pocket book then RMFRP, SL:C, SL:E, SL:M, AL and monster book. Oh I forgot to mention the creature book in the begining it will help a lot but as you game you get used to the rules it is very easy to make up your own.
Have Fun
MDC