Topic: Too many Classes/Professions?

[StrongInTheArm]

I would call it "example"  .
No, sorry, I got the point. We solve the problem by creating a similar one. But I was thinking more in taylor-made characters than in "professions" (or whatever the label you want to add). More in the line of a player saying "hey, I've got an idea for a character" and instead of showing her the Big Book of the Thousand Professions you just sit down with her and offer several posibilities: "Why don't you create a semi-figther with this folio of nature based spells and some improvement in outdoor skills?".
And for the interesting concepts, you can "publish" them in other forms, like the clerical orders for HARP. Then you can have sections like "folios for the different Mage Guilds in the Land of Oz" or the "recommended spell lists for Merlin-like Magicians" that you can use (or not) for your specific settings.

[solmead]

If your using RMSS you can make those "Folios" Training Packages, That's what I do, as I explained in my first message someone wanting to play a classic Magician, would have the Sage Profession, the Pure Talent.

Then I would have them pick up the Training Package Magician (Each of the old spell professions in the base RMSS, become a TP which gives one rank in each of the 10/6 base lists)
At that point I would call them a Magician, not a Mage, nor Sage.

Yes this creates a lot of Training Packages, but I think that is their point, what type of "Career" path did you go. So they need to be able to represent any Career path.

[OLF, i.e. Olf Le Fol]

We solve the problem by creating a similar one. But I was thinking more in taylor-made characters than in "professions" (or whatever the label you want to add). More in the line of a player saying "hey, I've got an idea for a character" and instead of showing her the Big Book of the Thousand Professions you just sit down with her and offer several posibilities: "Why don't you create a semi-figther with this folio of nature based spells and some improvement in outdoor skills?".

But History proves that any good idea that works and is made public can and will be reproduced. In other words, whatever idea/concept your player has that is a good idea, and proves to work well (as a concept) in your world can and will be re-used by other people in your world. As such, it's IMO useful to take notes of such an idea/concept and give it a label, therefore effectively creating the concept of "profession" (or "packages", or "folios", or whatever)

And for the interesting concepts, you can "publish" them in other forms, like the clerical orders for HARP. Then you can have sections like "folios for the different Mage Guilds in the Land of Oz" or the "recommended spell lists for Merlin-like Magicians" that you can use (or not) for your specific settings.

That's just doing the same, but disguising under another name: in essence, you're packing together spell lists, with possibly appropriate skill tweaks --lowering the Directed Spell for spell list packages with elemental bolt attacks, for instance, and giving it a "name". Whether you call your package "Magician" or "basic folio for Mages of the Yellow Guild of the Country of Oz", whether you call your grouping of spell lists and skill tweaks a "package", a "folio", a "template", or a "profession" is only cosmetics and amounts to exactly the same.

[OLF, i.e. Olf Le Fol]

Yes this creates a lot of Training Packages, but I think that is their point, what type of "Career" path did you go.

And so you end with a plethora of "training packages" instead of a plethora of "professions", which is exactly the same to me.

[providence13]

In AD&D we called them Secondary Skills. In 2ed, they were non-weapon proficiencies and then later described as "kits", which were essentially training packages. Now, I believe the idea is to split up class functions and "sale them off" as feats.

It appears that many systems are going for the 'non-profession layman is able to do anything' route.
And as that might be more realistic... I actually enjoy the quick and direct method of bundling ideas/concepts/concentrations of things you're good at into Prof's and TP's.

The weird thing, for me, is that Spell Law has an option of making magic items tunable to Professions... To make a scanner that was trying to detect a particular mind-set and then only be usable by that mindset is pretty specific magic.  

[OLF, i.e. Olf Le Fol]

The weird thing, for me, is that Spell Law has an option of making magic items tunable to Professions... To make a scanner that was trying to detect a particular mind-set and then only be usable by that mindset is pretty specific magic.  

Not mindset.
The thing is that, while Realms are akin to OSes (so an Essence spellcaster cannot cast spell from the Mentalism Realm without some kind of conversion, no more that a Windows application can run on a Mac or a *nix without some kind of conversion), while Semi/Pure/Hybrids are akin to computer power (so a Semi is more limited on his spell choice than a Pure spell user the way a computer with 10 MB of harddrive space, and 32 MB of memory, is more limited on the number and kinds of applications it can run than one with 100 TB of harddrive space, and 8 GB of memory), a Profession is akin to exact hardware configuration so even if two computers (I mean spellcasters) have the same overall hardware configuration (they both have at their disposal a 8-bits video card, a 8-bits sound card, 10 MB of harddrive space, and 32 MB of memory --I mean, they're both Semi-spell users of the same Realm of Magic), if someone creates an item specific to some exact video card (I mean, Profession), only the character with that video card (I mean --OK, you got it) would be able to use that item!

In fact, when one uses an item linked to a Profession different from his, one gets a magical balloon with written "no compatible hardware found; please check current item's instructions manual for compatible material" popping. Obviously, said instructions manual mentions: "This item can only be used with video cards provided by Paladin Corporation Inc., and Ranger Softwares Associated*, of models 'Level 10 and up'".  

*For items tied to the Paladin and Ranger professions

[providence13]

Not mindset.

For me, yeah, this is an acceptable term to describe Prof's.
From a characters perspective, no one is a Prof. This is a collection of things they're good at and they can get faster/slower results if they concentrate on this or that (skills/Cats). I totally understand it from a gaming standpoint and think it's easier than a "no Prof" game. I love professions! There, I said it, and it feels good.

I did love your examples, by the way. I just have an alternate view.
Think about it... Write a program that isn't usable by teachers or plumbers, but is usable by veterinarians. Now, if it is written for their field of expertise, of course they will understand it better. But how would it simply and absolutely not work for a volunteer firefighter and not the executive director of the local Girl Scouts of America office? 

Design/engineer a device that shuts down if a barber comes within 13 feet...

Like I said, just a different view. If, it is your expertise, or you have a special thought pattern generic to that way of life that the device "trawls" you aura/psyche for... I get it. It's just a pretty specific notion, IMHO.      

[OLF, i.e. Olf Le Fol]

...I was actually being facetious, you know? It was a (poor?) attempt at humour, and didn't reflect my personal vision of how magic works. I thought the ridiculousness of the images made it obvious, but I guess whether it wasn't obvious enough, or ridiculous enough? ^^;;;;

[Nders]

I think you go about this profession thinking all wrong. Keying items is more a thing of keying them to the way different classes cast spells than keying to a certain craft, life style, mindset or classic profession as we know them.
Also I find that whilst this thread is about rolemaster having too many professions I have the opposite view. Rolemaster has far from enough professions and many a time have I listened to my poor players mournings of the shortage of professions when creating new campaigns. The thing just is that all the professions cannot exist in the same space at the same time - or it can but it would get confusing. Spread it out across your worlds so that some classes exist in some places and others exist elsewhere. This distinction is rather obvious actually as many classes fit pretty specifically with certain levels of technology and cultures.
So all in all I think that you should all keep on inventing new professions for your various regions or needs having them be general or specific as you please. And if I could then persuade you to post them here on the forums so that the rest of us can benefit from your ideas. If they are good they will surely be coppied and reused by others

[OLF, i.e. Olf Le Fol]

So all in all I think that you should all keep on inventing new professions for your various regions or needs having them be general or specific as you please. And if I could then persuade you to post them here on the forums so that the rest of us can benefit from your ideas. If they are good they will surely be coppied and reused by others

I think people can deduce from my posts that I agree with such an idea, though it'd be off-topic here. Mayhap we could start a topic about "post your original professions, detailing the basic ideas and concepts behind them, and the reasons for the skill tweaks, profession bonuses and spell lists (if applicable)"?

[Nders]

Grand idea but I would prefer that it be done in the rolemaster classic or general forum as I care little for RmFRP classes and costs

[markc]

Grand idea but I would prefer that it be done in the rolemaster classic or general forum as I care little for RmFRP classes and costs

IMO it would be good to open one up in each section as they are very different in creation and construction.
MDC

[Nders]

true