Topic: Question

[big_country_wi]

I'm new to RMFRP and i have a question.  Do you roll for stat gains every level for every single stat?  or am i just missing something.  Also, training packages, are you allowed to stack them, or is it only one?  *i plan on being a gm with these rules, and am just looking out for potential powergamer pitfalls.  Thanks in advance.

[Defendi]

You roll every level for every stat (except one, of course, but a TP might give you a roll).

You can have as many TPs as you can afford.  You can only have one lifestyle TP on a given level.  You have to pay the price in time to get them, so getting them after 1st can be difficult logistics-wise.

By default, a TP can't raise a skill above 10 ranks, but later they added Lifestyle skills to TP and those allow 15 ranks (IIRC).  Anyone correct me if I missed something.  Don't have my books.

[Rivstyx]

This may be a little known rule but you can also buy stat gain rolls with 8 DP.  I never really knew when to apply this though.  Say I spend 8 DP for a stat gain roll on one of the 5 attributes do I then recalculate the gain I get from that into my current DP or does it apply to my next level?  If a stat gain in one of the 5 attributes that make up the dp count adjusts the total dp immediately you could completely nullify the dev points spent or at least significantly discount it.  This could create an almost perpetual stat gain roll scenario.
 
Training packages to me also seem to unbalance the game somewhat being that they can add ranks to skills over and above what 1st level characters should have.   If I have a 1st level character running around with 10 category and skill ranks in two handed sword that can make for a pretty awesome fighter but not really a challenged character.  In a word "BORING!" Time as a limiter only really hurts mortal characters.  We opted that you cannot learn more than 5-7 years of training packages no matter whether you are immortal or not during apprenticeship.  We justify this in that if you were that academic in your studies you would be a cloistered, non-adventuring character.

[rafmeister]

This may be a little known rule but you can also buy stat gain rolls with 8 DP.  I never really knew when to apply this though.  Say I spend 8 DP for a stat gain roll on one of the 5 attributes do I then recalculate the gain I get from that into my current DP or does it apply to my next level?  If a stat gain in one of the 5 attributes that make up the dp count adjusts the total dp immediately you could completely nullify the dev points spent or at least significantly discount it.  This could create an almost perpetual stat gain roll scenario.
 

     The last thing that you do is roll the stat advances. The new stats are used to calculate DP for the next level. By the way, you would need an ability to go up by 40 to break even on one level, and the max is +20 with double tens. The real benefit is when a character has suffered a huge CON loss after an encounter with undead.

[big_country_wi]

ok, so my next question is this:  what other books do i want to pick up?  i have my own campaign world made already, just changing rulesets.  i know i want to pick up arms law, character law, and spell law volumes.... do i need any other books?  or are they just flavor?

[markc]

 First I would like to say welcome to the boards.

 Next I would like to say most new players to RM find PC's weaker than other RPG games. I have pure arms start out a 3rd, semi's at 4th and pure spell users at 5th.
 A note on TP's, using TP's that max you can impove a skill is 10 ranks. This means you should track ranks gained by TP's seperatly. Also thier are special lifestyle skills in some TP's they have a max rank of 15 ranks not 10.
 
 Books, Do you mind PDF's? If you do not the best way to go is the RMSS line as it saves you money. RMFRP is a reorginazation of RMSS with some small fixes. They split RMSS spell Law into 3 books and RMFRP does not have as many professions as RMSS. Also in the past I generally print out playes profession sheets and this is easy with books on PDF's. I would also recomend Arm's Law on PDF so you can print characters weapons tables for them to have.
 You do not have to have the essence comp, channeling comp or ment conp but they can add a lot to a game world by adding their information to your setting. They have new professions, spells rules for specialist priests etc.

 Also please remember the golden rule you can change anything if it does not fit your world. For example maybe the swashbuckler does not fit your world do not allow PC's to pick this professions. You can do the same thing with skills, spell list, races etc.

Have Fun
MDC     

[dutch206]

As far as books go, I would reccommend "Creatures and Monsters", "Treasure Companion", and "Character Law".

[big_country_wi]

i was under the impression that rmss and rmfrp are basically the same thing.  i already have the RMFRP book.... will the books/pdfs for RMSS be compatible with the book i already have?  i dont mind pdfs, actually planned on it, just for all the tables and what not.

so, i should go with spell law, arms law, character law, creatures and monsters, and treasure companion.... with the channeling/essense/mentalism companions optional.  thanks for the tips, and for the welcome to the boards.

as for starting off, we are going to convert their characters from the dnd campaign over... granted, not a straight convert, rather, they are at 7th lvl in dnd, im going to let them create their characters 'again' in rolemaster, at 7th level each, and i will make sure that some of the skills that they take at least resemble those they had in dnd 3.5.

after that, i plan on running a campaign with my three main players and i need to pick up one more... its going to be mandatory for two pure spell users and two arms/semi's... any spell users will do, the reasoning is because it will be a caster bonded to their lifelong guard, sort of like a familiar type bond with another person (anyone read the wheel of time?  rip robert jordan.) to get them to work together... should be fun.

[markc]

big-co,
 The RMFRP books tried to have everything you need to play in one book. So thier is spell law stuff, creature stuff and char stuff. I my self like the 3-4 book approch with RMSS, Spell Law, Creatures & Monsters, Arms Law and maybe GM Law. Like the said the other books each add things that can make a campaign better or in some cases worse. I also recomend the older version of AL than the newer one. Thier are some changes fom the new to the old version. Also I do not think Chan Comp is on PDF so you might want to find a hard copy.
 Another big one is Martial Arts Comp but finding one can set you back lots of $. Instead I would take a look at the weapon style and MA style rules in the Combat Comp. I have not taken a look at the rules but I think [and hope] they are as good or better then the rules in the MAC. 
 If you like running mass combat I would try and find War Law and adapt it to your game. It was written for RM2 but it can be adapted to RMSS with a few alterations.
 I find Ment Comp, Ess Comp and Chan Comp to be great books for my campaign setting. Also if you do not like to view mentalism as psionics I love the rules in Space Master Peivateers for Psionic use.
 As for $, I think the PDF's of RMSS, SL, AL and C&M are cheeper then RMFRP, SL [M, C, E], C&M, AL. 

MDC

[Urbannen]

its going to be mandatory for two pure spell users and two arms/semi's... any spell users will do, the reasoning is because it will be a caster bonded to their lifelong guard, sort of like a familiar type bond with another person (anyone read the wheel of time?  rip robert jordan.) to get them to work together... should be fun.

I wanted to do the same thing with my current character!  I'm kind of into Wheel of Time right now.  I wanted my character to come from a magic college in which clerics and magicians train and when they pass a series of tests they become full-fledged members and get a paladin or monk warder.  They have to root out users of the evil spell lists, along with all mentalism users, especially magents.     

Unfortunately another party member wanted to be a magent so I went with animist.  But I would love to do this concept...

[Arioch]

ok, so my next question is this:  what other books do i want to pick up?  i have my own campaign world made already, just changing rulesets.  i know i want to pick up arms law, character law, and spell law volumes.... do i need any other books?  or are they just flavor?

Creatures and Monsters is useful if you're the GM, so I'd reccomend arms law, spell law, character law and C&M. All the others are optional.

[Rivstyx]

This may be a little known rule but you can also buy stat gain rolls with 8 DP.  I never really knew when to apply this though.  Say I spend 8 DP for a stat gain roll on one of the 5 attributes do I then recalculate the gain I get from that into my current DP or does it apply to my next level?  If a stat gain in one of the 5 attributes that make up the dp count adjusts the total dp immediately you could completely nullify the dev points spent or at least significantly discount it.  This could create an almost perpetual stat gain roll scenario.
 

     The last thing that you do is roll the stat advances. The new stats are used to calculate DP for the next level. By the way, you would need an ability to go up by 40 to break even on one level, and the max is +20 with double tens. The real benefit is when a character has suffered a huge CON loss after an encounter with undead.

I have never actually had anyone spend DP for a stat gain roll so I never had to apply it but I would apply it to the next level just as you said.  Yes 40/5 would be an average of 8 but you get my point that even a 20 would be a 50% discount on the cost and so it makes sense to apply it to the next level. 
If you are thinking to the future though it could be well worth it to go ahead and buy at least one stat gain with every level.  Your next level would have a bit more dev points than it would have no matter what(unless you happen to roll bad doubles )and if you are lucky two levels could actually pay off the cost entirely. A 2-4 level ROI is not that bad.

[Rivstyx]

ok, so my next question is this:  what other books do i want to pick up?  i have my own campaign world made already, just changing rulesets.  i know i want to pick up arms law, character law, and spell law volumes.... do i need any other books?  or are they just flavor?

Creatures and Monsters is useful if you're the GM, so I'd reccomend arms law, spell law, character law and C&M. All the others are optional.

Knowledge is power and so Creatures and Monsters can be helpful for anyone if your GM lets you read it

[big_country_wi]

i am the gm, and i will try and pick up all the SS stuff i can... however, i already picked up the RMFRP book, and my question now is, is it compatible enough to use with the SS stuff?  thanks.

[markc]

i am the gm, and i will try and pick up all the SS stuff i can... however, i already picked up the RMFRP book, and my question now is, is it compatible enough to use with the SS stuff?  thanks.

 Yes it is. But the RMFRP book has some stuff that the RMSS main book does not and vice versa. The main thing RMFRP did was to try and have enough rules in one book to play. RMSS does not do this and instead it has 3 books you need to play. Thoes being RMSS, Spell Law and Arms Law. RMFRP split the rules into more segments RMFRP, Char Law, GM law, Arms Law and the three "of books" for magic.
 The RMSS book has all of the professions and the RMFRP book has a limited number and spread the rest out over the series of books. The same goes for Spell law [RMSS] which just has spells and the three "of" books have spells and added professions. The FRP book Char Law has more added prof but thease are all included in the RMSS main book. [I think thier might be 1 new profession but I cant check me books right now.] The Char book also adds more skills but if you have the RMSS book they are all included so thier is less confusion as you have it all right thier.
 My recomendation is to get the PDF of RMSS and buy that line instaed of the RMFRP reorginization of RMSS rule set. I have not looked at the $ amount but I think you can save $ but getting the RMSS line of RMSS, SL, AL vs the PDF's of RMFRP, CHr Law, 3 "of" books and RMFRP AL.

Did that answer your question?
MDC

[Temujin]

     The last thing that you do is roll the stat advances. The new stats are used to calculate DP for the next level. By the way, you would need an ability to go up by 40 to break even on one level, and the max is +20 with double tens. The real benefit is when a character has suffered a huge CON loss after an encounter with undead.

And even then its not worth it, since you can always rest, or donate to a church to have a priest restore your CON.

[yammahoper]

I like using the melee tables in RMFRP.  It greatly reduces look up time and the like in combat.

Of course, I also like using TMWTD tables for the same reason, and oddly, I think the condensed tables are in many ways better balanced.

Though I do not like the condensed spell attack tables.

lynn