Topic: Newbie Questions

[Rabenschwinge]

I am currently having only a look at rolemaster - being a bit disappoinited with the current development of D&D rules, and looking for a better, less flashy and more detailed rule set. I want to have a look at both RMFRP and RMC. Currently I am trying to understand RMC, but all the forward references in the rule books give me quite a headache...

So I got the following questions:

• Did I understand that right: During adolescence skill development you may buy as many of each skill as you want for the DP cost of a single buy. The DP you have available is the same as for a level up - whatever your total DP is. During apprenticeship skill development you get the same number of DPs again, but you cannot spend more than on on a skill (unless they appear with either x/*  or x/y in list 07-03.
• Where do the "Combat Level Bonus" and the "+1 bonus to base spell casting" in the two examples come from? (Pg. 29 of Character Law, PDF version)
• What is the skill bonus for Manuvering in Armor good for? As far as I understood it the skill manuvering in armor is not to be rolled on but five times the rank of it is substracted from the Max Manuvering in Armor (Table 07-05). The resultung value is a malus to all move equivalent actions. But where does the modifier resulting from stats come in.

Also I got some questions to optimization:

• At the skill point distribution, you can replace two of the temporary stats you rolled with 90s and put them to your primary attributes. In this example would you have done as I did: The worst scores I rolled were a 41:100, 28:39 and a 34:43. I used the 41 and the 28 for my primary attribute, so that I had a potential for 100 in a primary attribute. For the total skill points, escpeciall on the long run, it would have bin a lot better leaving the 41:100 be, turning into a 41/99 attribute (and I'd already have had to roll on to rise that attribute)
• Despite the fact that - as far as I understood 35 DPS on the adolescence training and 34 at the apprenticeship training (I lost one since I rolled a 04 for "rising" the Re stat) I seem to have sever difficulties to get along... would you say that using chain armor as ranger is something you just don't? Or that three weapons (Longsword, Longbow and Dagger for the off hand) are too much?
• Is it normal that rangers start without a successfull SGR? I bought twice two skill points each, which gave the chance of once ten and once twenty percent. (Resulting in a total chance of 28% (1 - 90% * 80%) of success... it is quite likely that it will succeed if I go two or three levels on like this...)

And finally... for those who love the rules and picking on others characters... could you look over what I've done so far and see wether you find a mistake. I know that's actually a little too much to ask for, but I bet there are some of you out there that just love the rules too much to resist the opportunity finding an error in someone elses helpless (though not unconcious) fiddling with the rules. I'd be happy if anyone had a look.

I decided for a half elven ranger from the dale lands, having grown up mostly with his father, i.e. among humans. I've got a few pages with pencil scribbled with some detailis on child hood and some more ideas not pinned down yet, but that doesn't really matter here.
The stat rolls were 34:43 (to Em 34/47), 72:80 (St 72/86), 56:60 (Pr 56/74), 67:90 (Me 67/91), 41:100 (In 90/100), 89:71 (Qu 89/90), 66:51 (Re 66/66), 28:39 (Co 90/90), 93:95 (Ag 91/98), 77:43 (Sd 77/77).

So the initial stat  table looked like:

Stat	Temp	Pot	Bon	Race	Total	DP
Co	90	90	+10	+5	+15	8
Ag	93	98	+10	+5	+15	8
Sd	77	77	+5	-10	-5	7
Re	66	66	0	0	0	6
Me	67	91	0	0	0	6
St	72	86	0	+5	+5
Qu	89	90	+5	+10	+15
Pr	56	75	0	+10	+10
In	90	100	+10	0	+10
Em	34	47	0	0	0

I calculated the skill modifiers due to stats. Not much sense repeating them all, notworthy is only the -5 in Hiding, and the +10 in Stalking, coming from the the malus in Sd for the half elven race - nothing much I can do about it though, I already swapped two attributes to compensate that a bit. (Originally Pr and Sd were transposed). Manuvering in armor - which I don't understand as above - gets +20. (Are those 20 substracted from the maximum armor malus along with five times your ranks?)

For the background I am not sure. I think acute hearing would be nice and a skill bonus on hide & stalk. Gotta look up something typical for the dale lands for the rest.

I decided my primary weapon group to be 1 handed edge (for dagger and longsword) and second to be missile (for longbow).

On the adolescence training I added:

Amount	Skill	@	DP	Sum DP
1	Longsword	3	3	3
1	Dagger	3	3	6
1	Longbow	4	4	10
4	Stalk & Hide	1	4	14
2	Spells	4	8	22
1	Ride	2	2	24
1	Swim	2	2	26
3	Manuver in Armor (Chain Armor)	3	9	35

The spell gain roll failed, with a 50 +10 = 60 < 101

For the Stats Gain I rolled: 08, 01, 87, 04, 14, 74, 27, 70, 97, 70, adding 9 to Me, 12 to Pr, 10 to In and 11 to Em, and substracting 2 from Ag and 8 from Re . Leading to:

Stat	Temp	Pot	Bon	Race	Total	DP
Co	90	90	+10	+5	+15	8
Ag	91	98	+10	+5	+15	8
Sd	77	77	+5	-10	-5	7
Re	58	66	0	0	0	5
Me	67	91	0	0	0	6
St	81	86	+5	+5	+10
Qu	89	90	+5	+10	+15
Pr	68	75	0	+10	+10
In	100	100	+25	0	+25
Em	45	47	0	0	0

At last I'll raised the skills for apprenticeship, with one DP less due to the loss in Re:

Amount	Skill	@	DP	Sum DP
4	Manuver in Armor (Chain Armor)	3	12	12
2	Spells	4	8	20
1	Body Development	3	3	23
1	Stalk & Hide	1	1	24
1	Climb	3	3	27
1	Longsword	2	2	24
1	Swim	3	3	30
1	Longbow	4	4	34

The problems I have by now is that I don't have any perception at all, which is a little inappropriate for a ranger, especially one whose proposedly a stalker in first place. And that I have only a single body development... The only thing I am willing to sacrifice at the moment is the riding skill, though...

The second SGR was a 69 + 20 = 89 < 100 and therefor also a failure.

That's as far as I got for now. Thanks for reading.

[Rasyr-Mjolnir]

I am currently having only a look at rolemaster - being a bit disappoinited with the current development of D&D rules, and looking for a better, less flashy and more detailed rule set. I want to have a look at both RMFRP and RMC. Currently I am trying to understand RMC, but all the forward references in the rule books give me quite a headache...

Yeah, we tried to make RMC more user friendly (you should have seen the RM2 versions -- whew! they were convoluted). You would have likely done better starting off with Rolemaster Express, which is a more streamlined version of the rules - though it does have a few options implemented (intended to make it easier on low level characters). One such option implemented is the implementation of Option 2.2 from RMC Spell Law (i.e. this lets you buy ranks in lists and those ranks are the level the list is known to).

So I got the following questions:

• Did I understand that right: During adolescence skill development you may buy as many of each skill as you want for the DP cost of a single buy. The DP you have available is the same as for a level up - whatever your total DP is. During apprenticeship skill development you get the same number of DPs again, but you cannot spend more than on on a skill (unless they appear with either x/*  or x/y in list 07-03.

If a skill has a single cost of x, then you may only purchase 1 rank per ddevelopment cycle.
If a skill has a cost of x/y, then you may only purchase 2 ranks per development cycle, one rank at the first cost, and one at the second.
If a skill has a cost of x/*, then you are allowed to purchase as many ranks as you want (all at the same cost), provided that you have enough points.

To become a first level character, you go through 2 development cycles. So, that means you could have 2 ranks in a skill with a single cost, or up to 4 ranks in a skill with a double cost, or any number of ranks in a skill with skills that have the asterisk.

There is no "unlimited buy" for any skill unless the cost is structured as x/*.

• Where do the "Combat Level Bonus" and the "+1 bonus to base spell casting" in the two examples come from? (Pg. 29 of Character Law, PDF version)

Pages 126 and 127 -- there are also some level bonus options as well on those pages.

• What is the skill bonus for Manuvering in Armor good for? As far as I understood it the skill manuvering in armor is not to be rolled on but five times the rank of it is substracted from the Max Manuvering in Armor (Table 07-05). The resultung value is a malus to all move equivalent actions. But where does the modifier resulting from stats come in.

Wearing armor imposes the Maximum Maneuver Penalty upon all primary skills marked with MM in parenthesis next to its name (and for any secondary skills that have Qu or Ag as one of its stats).

You get 5 for each rank in Maneuvering in Armor, so 5 ranks gives a +25. Now Agility and Strength are the stats for MiA, so having a +10 in each will give you a total Maneuvering in Armor skill bonus of +35. This +35 is then subtracted from the Maximum Maneuver Penalty of the armor being worn.

Thus, if you character has on AT 13 (Chain Shirt), its Maximum Maneuver Penalty of -70 is reduced by the +35 you have in the Maneuver in Armor skill, making the Penalty be -35.

Also I got some questions to optimization:

• At the skill point distribution, you can replace two of the temporary stats you rolled with 90s and put them to your primary attributes. In this example would you have done as I did: The worst scores I rolled were a 41:100, 28:39 and a 34:43. I used the 41 and the 28 for my primary attribute, so that I had a potential for 100 in a primary attribute. For the total skill points, escpeciall on the long run, it would have bin a lot better leaving the 41:100 be, turning into a 41/99 attribute (and I'd already have had to roll on to rise that attribute)

First off, you should have likely waited until AFTER you placed your two 90s before rolling for Potentials, as you should have all of your Temporary Stats completely set before rolling for potentials.

• Despite the fact that - as far as I understood 35 DPS on the adolescence training and 34 at the apprenticeship training (I lost one since I rolled a 04 for "rising" the Re stat) I seem to have sever difficulties to get along... would you say that using chain armor as ranger is something you just don't? Or that three weapons (Longsword, Longbow and Dagger for the off hand) are too much?

Stat bonus increases, IMO, should only be rolled on level gains. This means not when creating a first level character. Wait until you actually go up a level.

As for Chain Armor for a ranger - that is a personal decision, but in Rolemaster (any version), you will find that it is much more likely and often much better that characters start off in the lesser armors and then work their way up to the heavier armors as they gain levels (so that they can pre-purchase the ranks needed to lower the maneuver penalties as much as possible).

• Is it normal that rangers start without a successfull SGR? I bought twice two skill points each, which gave the chance of once ten and once twenty percent. (Resulting in a total chance of 28% (1 - 90% * 80%) of success... it is quite likely that it will succeed if I go two or three levels on like this...)

This is one of the reasons that Rolemaster Express goes with option 2.2 from RMC Spell Law. Using that option, if you buy 2 ranks in a list, you know that list to 2nd level. It makes things easier for spell casters overall. I would also recommend using the "Base Power Points" option (don't remember its number off-hand), and it also makes low level casters more viable overall.

I think that I will leave the character critique to others to do. Especially since my response to the one question may mean that you purchased ranks in a skill that you should not have.

[Rabenschwinge]

Well, you're kind of a Judge Dread ("I am the law!" *reloads gun*)  around here I guess. But about creating the potentials only after assigning the stats - on page 22 of the PDF Character law there is the subchapter generating the stats which includes generating potentials... on the next page is the chapter assigning the stats which clearly includes stats that do already have their potential rolls...

About the Spell Gain Rolls: While I do not see that explicitely written anywhere the on top of Page 26 (to the page numbering, 27 to the Adobe Reader) the example character Lauren makes a spellgain roll after adolescence training and an the bottom of the left column another SGR after apprenticeship training. She succeeds on one list, buys another list out and fails on a third...

PS: About manuvering in armor: I guess that means that the minimum manuvering in armor malus applies not only to the skill ranks, but also to the skill bonus through stats. For example my character* has already 7 ranks giving it +35 and a skill bonus of 35 (2x10 Str + 15 Ag) if I added another 6 ranks I'd hit the minimum manuvering in armor malus (5 for type 13). If I applyed the skill bonus afterwards I'd actually get a bonus of 20 for move manuevers if I wear a chain mail - which probably cannot be.

Gonna re-distribute the skill points later I technically am...  working. *sneaks away*

PPS: Well, ok. The onlything illegal I can find about the skills is buying 4 Hide & Stalk for four points. Since I still need both perception and body development there I buy buy one of each, go with only one Hide & Stalk, strike the swim and pick one perception. That should be legal then. If I could find three points for ambush anywhere it would be perfect.

Modified Adolescence training:

Amount	Skill	@	DP	Sum DP
1	Longsword	3	3	3
1	Dagger	3	3	6
1	Longbow	4	4	10
1	Stalk & Hide	1	1	11
2	Spells	4	8	19
1	Ride	2	2	21
1	Perception	2	2	23
3	Manuver in Armor (Chain Armor)	3	9	32
1	Body Development	2	2	34

[Rabenschwinge]

Just noticing... the skill bonus because of stat is the average of the listed stats, not the sum, of course. Makes bouncing around in armor a little harder again.

[Rasyr-Mjolnir]

As I said before - the organization of RMC isn't perfect (but not as bad as it was in RM2). 

Also -- the GM is the Law for his game, not me. I am simply what you might call an interpreter of (possible) intentions when it comes to the rules. Nothing more. (unless I am issuing errata or an official ruling).

Spell Gain Rolls -- Personally, I don't like them. They are an unneeded bit of randomization in a system that is designed around purchasing specific ranks with points.

Here is another explanation of how Spell Gain Rolls work -- http://www.ironcrown.com/ICEforums/index.php?topic=7937.0;msg=102118 -- I hope that it clears it up for you.

Armor Maneuver Penalties

1) Yes, the stats are averaged, just as the stats for all other skills are averaged.

2) The skill bonus from Maneuver in Armor cannot reduce the Maneuver Penalty from armor below the minimum.

AT 13 has a minimum maneuver penalty of -10. This means that regardless of how high you get that skill, you cannot reduce that modifier below a -10. The armor also has a Quickness Penalty of 5, which means that it reduces your Quickness Bonus by 5 points (and Qu Bonus is used to determine base DB).

The Quickness Penalty is not the same thing as the Maneuver Penalty.

Now having said that, the Encumbrance rules on page 142 state that if your character's Strength Bonus is greater than the Encumbrance modifier, then that overage MAY be used to reduce the Quickness Penalty (i.e. you have a Quickness Penalty of 5, a Strength Bonus of +25, and an Encumbrance Penalty of -20 -- Since the +25 is greater than the -20 (by 5 points), that 5 point overage may be used to reduce the Quickness Penalty).

[Rabenschwinge]

hmm. In case of doubt I am the game master, just generating a character to try to understand the system... convincing the rest of the lot to try out RM rules would be the next step. If not it's gonna be a new group. I am gonna give RMFRP a try, too.

About the randomness: That would have been my next question - are there variant rules where character generation and level ups work completely without random? At this point I took the default rules because I try to understand a system before I change it. I am pretty used to systems without random since D&D 3.0; I don't really see the point of including random at all, I don't want players to play the hand that they get but to play whatever they want and have some mechanism to ensure "fairness". Typically discussions who's better and what is balanced at what is not tire me mostly, but randomless systems keep them at bay from start. And I have made bad experiences with exceptionally good characters who managed to outshine the rest of the group in combat completely just for some lucky rolls.

[Rasyr-Mjolnir]

Check out the download found here --> http://www.ironcrown.com/index.php?page=igames/CharGen

These are the rules that ICE will be using for detailed NPCs in future modules for RMC. They are based on the rules found in Rolemaster Express, which is a version of the RM rules with a few minor options used to remove that randomness and to make low level characters more viable overall.

[Hurin]

I agree with everything that Rasyr said, though I would give the OP two pieces of advice:

--Personally, I think chain armour is fine for a Ranger. Start off with AT 13 (a chain shirt) and you should be fine (especially if using the optional rule in Rolemaster Companion I where metal armour does not interfere with channeling spell casting). Once you get a bit better in maneuvering, you can get more chain armor to turn it into AT 14, 15 and eventually 16. I would not recommend starting out with leather or anything less than chain, partly because maneuvering in leather is a different skill than maneuvering in chain, and you will essentially be wasting those DPs you spend in leather. AT 13 is really not that bad, in terms of its minuses, to start off with-- and if you're going to be a melee fighter, you will need some armor.

--Three weapons does seem one too many to have to start off, at least for a hybrid class that has to spend DPs on melee skills AND spells. One melee weapon and one ranged weapon should be enough for you for now. The cost is not that bad for your third weapon  -- namely, a cost of 6-- but I have found that you will very rarely need to use a third weapon (if you are using weapon breakage rules, try to carry a shortsword or another sword with you if your one breaks). If you really want to be able to do something if your sword breaks or you get disarmed, you could consider taking martial arts strikes, at a DP cost of 4, rather than dagger, at a DP cost of 6.

Just a few bits of advice

[GrumpyOldFart]

Hmmm... I dunno if I'd put a Ranger in chain armor, myself. Not because of any maneuver limitations, but rather because chain armor jingles when you walk.
I would think a Ranger wouldn't want anything that clinks, jingles or shines.

[Rabenschwinge]

That's true... the character is supposed to be a stalker and - while I never like live rp and only had a short trip to it - I know it's difficult to sneak in a chain armor. But I guess with the right dampening, and considering the years of trainig as opposed to weekend adventuring on Fr?h K?lsch beer it's probably not completely impossible... especially if the armor is regularly adjusted to fit well and strapped tight with belts and so. Fortunately it requires little skill to adjust an armor (at least if you don't solder the rings), just patience, pincers and spare rings.

Chain armor also has an advantage over leather armor: It is not as stiff. While I only wore chest armor the leather armors I wore (even though they were more decorative costumes than actual armor) limited your ways to move arms and turn head, whereas chain armor didn't. While it is heavier you are actually more mobile in chain.

I think it's reasonable that a character can handle it and fair to assume that the manuvering in armor modifier reflects the difficulty well for a trained hero. I just like the idea of a fine elven chain mail (though of course just made of steel) and find a light chain (13 - 15) appropriate for a hero with partly elven heritage.

I would certainly agree that the noise a chain armor creates is not ideal, and probably most rangers will prefer leather armor. I am just saying that I think it's makeable. And that effort is represented by all the DP it costs. (Plus pincers and spair rings in the backpack.)

About the weapon for the off hand: It just seemed a waste to me to leave a hand empty. I though a dagger for parrying might be a fine weapon. Off course... I might well need the skill points elsewhere. This was not so much about the fear for a breaking weapon (isn't it a lot more likely to simply be disarmed than a weapon made of steel actually breakinig?)

[thrud]

A chainmail doesn't "jingle". I can't find the proper words to describe the sound but it's definately possible to sneak around in it if you dampen it somewhat.

[pastaav]

My comment as a LARPer would be that an leather armor may creak even when you move very slowly. Any armor is a bad idea if you about to stalk.

On the other hand you select armor for the occasion. A knight typically have plate mail on the battlefield, but more light armor when the knight does not expect combat.

Talk to the GM if he change difficulty, assign penalties or ignore the sound armors can create. Personally I am in the ignore camp...it does not add anything to the game to give extra penalties beside the moving maneuver penalty.

For the off hand I would recommend some kind of small shield. Give better protection and does not cost extra DP.

[GrumpyOldFart]

A chainmail doesn't "jingle". I can't find the proper words to describe the sound but it's definately possible to sneak around in it if you dampen it somewhat.

I chose "jingle" because it came closer to describing the sound than any other word I could think of. But you're right, it's not exactly a jingle. Perhaps I should make up a new word and call it a "clinkle", as it's a more "dead" sound than a jingle, somehwere between "jingle" and "clink".
The problem with "dampening" chainmail is that yes, you can do that where the chain lies against the body. Where it hangs free, as from the hips to mid thigh or at the front of an aventail, it's pretty difficult to dampen its motion, and thus its sound.

My comment as a LARPer would be that an leather armor may creak even when you move very slowly.

True. But you can pull most of the creak out of leather by oiling it much more easily than you can pull the "jingle" out of chain.

The only reasonable answer I ever saw to the sound chainmail makes when in motion was someone whose gambeson's outer surface was fur. The hair underlying the chainmail did a lot to soak up the sound. A practical solution in a cool-to-cold climate, but not in a subtropical-to-tropical climate.
I have also noticed when playing a LARP game known as "Picts in the woods" that the creaking of leather armor is often mistaken for the creaking of trees. However, that may be a result of the fact that the listeners had their ears covered by helmets, and thus were "hearing impaired" anyway.

Also note that the only times I would bother with such at all would be when dealing with Thieves, Rogues and Rangers, in other words, those professions that have stalking ability as central to the functioning of their profession.

Personally I am in the ignore camp..

As am I, really. I don't change how it affects things as a GM. As a player though, I do allow it to affect the choices I make when developing armor skills.

[markc]

 I seem to remember from a japan source that Ninja used to place cloth between the links of chain mail to damen the sound. But it did add some weight to the armor also.
MDC

[Rabenschwinge]

Just another question: How comes that people in armor are actually easier to hit on the weapon tables? Even if they only take a few concussion hits... shouldn't the lack of mobility already be represented by the Qu malus? If you were armor that does already cause your enemy to score higher than if you were not and you're easier to hit? I don't get that..
Especially soft leather looks a lot more dangerous than there normal cloth equivalents, I compared type 5 and type 1 and while it is a little less dangerous for row 100 in the tables for short swort sword, rapier and scimitar it's the same or even more dangerous in all others..

[markc]

Just another question: How comes that people in armor are actually easier to hit on the weapon tables? Even if they only take a few concussion hits... shouldn't the lack of mobility already be represented by the Qu malus? If you were armor that does already cause your enemy to score higher than if you were not and you're easier to hit? I don't get that..
Especially soft leather looks a lot more dangerous than there normal cloth equivalents, I compared type 5 and type 1 and while it is a little less dangerous for row 100 in the tables for short swort sword, rapier and scimitar it's the same or even more dangerous in all others...

 You have picked a very comon question here is how I deal with it. Move no armor to AT2 and save AT1 for very fast creatures.

 The idea behind the charts is that with armor it protects you vital areas better but also it slows you down so it is easier to hit you. The armors do have a max Qu bonus associated with them so those would apply to the PC.

 All in all IMO the charts work very well. BTW what version of RM are you playing?

MDC 

[Arioch]

Just another question: How comes that people in armor are actually easier to hit on the weapon tables? Even if they only take a few concussion hits... shouldn't the lack of mobility already be represented by the Qu malus?

Yes, this is one of RM system "bugs": just ignore Qu penalty for armor or use Combat Companion armor rules and attack tables (which resolve this problem).

[rdanhenry]

While there is a double penalty that arguable should not be there, AT-5 is *not* really armor. It is to protect you against the environment, not weapons. If you want protection from attacks, you at least need to harden your leather. Getting metal between you and the enemy is an even better idea. Don't just put on a jacket and expect to be protected from anything more than cat scratches.

[Rabenschwinge]

I am not playing any version of rolemaster yet. As I said in the original post I am just trying out rules for RMC in this case. I bought a set of the three PDF corebooks of that to have  a look and a used copy of RMFRP is going to arrive with mail today or tomorrow.

I hope to get one or two folks from my usual gaming round to the table for a few hours this weekend, so we can try out some rules - have the PCs attacked with different weapons, have them overcome different obstacles under fire, try out different meanings of healing, throw poison and diseases at them... until they are dead 

Background is that I absolutely don't like D&D4 rules anymore and I am trying to get away from this D20 a bit. I actually like a lot of ideas in GURPS, too, especially the lack of classes and levels, that you buy what you want directly from your XP - comparable to Shadowrun. But it seems to me rather a framework to build your own rules whereas RM is very detailed and filed out rules.

About RM I find appealing that on the threat really seems real. A goblin weakling can kill a character if he's lucky and may wait around any corner... that creates that feeling of horror in dungeon delving comparable to nightly sessions of Doom, Resident Evil. Where you never know what jumps at youin the next second.

The downside is that I am affraid to waste the characters a little too fast, or have to tune so many dice rolls that the players recognize it - it's absolutely bad if the players realize that their GM is protecting them. It's quite an act of balance to let the players feel that they may be killed or crippled by even seemingly little obstacles if they don't watch out (or even if they watch out), but not actually kill or cripple a character - or at least only as often as absolutely necessary to remind them that adventuring is dangerous. Let them definitely know that something terrible might happen at any time, but not actually let it happen...

RM might be too "realistic". The thing I actually want is cinematic. Conan the Barbarian, Excalibur (though I'll never forgive the sex scene in full plate armor), Gladiator, The Lord of the Rings, Beowulf, a few Robin Hood movies, even a few from the less fantasy but more monumental, historical alley like Kingdom of Heaven, The 13th Warrior or Gladiator.

PS: Soft in soft leather does not mean that it's actually soft as in soft cloth. I think it's still made of several "plates" that partly overlap, just that those are not entirely stiff, but may be bend. The difference is that Hard Leather is entirely stiff, not more flexible than a breastplate, and thicker, but even soft leather has a fair chance stopping a sword strike. The soft is meant relative for armor, not for clothes...

[markc]

Rabenschwinge:
 IMO, RM is more cinematic than GURPS do to the fact that PC's can have more HP. If I remember right in GURPs [1st] a PC was lucky to have 14 hits. Also I start PC's out at 3rd level plus as this is IMO closer to what new players think a starting PC should have in skills. A good rule I use is to take a routine roll on the skills chart and subtract the modifier from the success number, that will give you the skill level that a PC would need to hold down a job at a entry level.

MDC