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The Winners!
Thom @ ICE:
Arms Law - Thrill of the game post
With many incredible posts, it was decided that this post (1st post by LonePaladin) managed to capture the thrill of gaming, the thrill (and agony) of Rolemaster, and the thrill of Arms Law. Well done.... All of the other posts will continue to be considered as we look forward to next week's selection of the best Arms Law - Fumble post....
--- Quote from: LonePaladin on August 07, 2012, 10:35:42 AM ---
My tale goes back nearly 30 years to my high-school days. My friends and I have primarily played a different fantasy RPG (it had "basic" and "advanced" types at the time), with a smattering of other systems and genres. At our local game store, we encountered Keith.
Keith had a milk crate filled with rulebooks we've never seen before, accompanied by some spiral notebooks, a cardboard box crammed with unpainted miniatures, and a pair of ten-sided dice. He was wandering the store, looking for a group of open-minded players to introduce to a unique RPG system.
You guessed it: Rolemaster.
Keith played things fast and loose. He didn't bother dragging us through three hours of character-creation; rather, he just handed out pre-generated characters, explained the important bits, and turned us loose. Before the sun has set, we've had a tavern brawl, a run-in with an angry boar, and a knock-down drag-out with about a dozen orcs.
You can bet we showed up next week for more.
Keith kept things moving. We never worried much about encumbrance, or counting ammunition. The only thing we really counted carefully were our coins. When we gained a level, he would take up our character sheets, and the next week he'd hand them back with updated stats. We took this in stride, and didn't give the rules much of a critical eye.
Memory fades after a couple decades, so I can't tell you what the other players had for characters. All I remember was my own: a cleric. I came into this with the preconceptions of the unnamed RPG above, so I had to learn a lot of new things with this character.
The good news? I could wield a sword. My skill with it didn't compare to the fighter and the rogue, but I was competent at it.
The bad news? No heavy armor. I accepted this as the Cost of Doing Business and focused on smiting the bad guy and keeping my friends intact.
For all that my cleric was competent with a blade, the dice didn't care. He only hit about one time in six. I remember one of my friends remarking that he couldn't hit the right side of a fat cow. This bad luck stayed consistent over several months of play. I was pretty quiet about it -- I was having fun, after all -- but frustration was gradually building.
About the time we were 6th, maybe 7th level, we ended up having to fight off a young dragon of some sort. (The type isn't important.) We had the front-line types in its face, keeping it busy; the rogue was looking for spots that were amenable to a knifing; the mage was pelting it with blasts of fire and lightning and such. My hapless cleric was off to one side, futilely swinging his sword at its flank and doing no good whatsoever.
My frustration finally gave me an idea: perhaps it was my dice? I had the usual dice superstitions that all gamers naturally develop. So I ran to the front of the store and bought a brand new pair of ten-siders. I get back to the table just in time for my turn.
The new dice rolled, in order, a 96, a 98, and a 90.
Keith tapped these into his calculator, along with the dragon's Defensive Bonus. He asked me, "What's your OB?"
I stood up, slammed my hands on the table, and cried, "Does it matter?! I HIT HIM!"
It turned out to be a middling strike -- I think, maybe, a 'C' critical. The dragon managed to paralyze my character with a tail-slap to the neck, so that was the only real contribution I made to that fight. That didn't stop it from etching itself into my memory, and I always think about it when I crack open a copy of Arms Law.
--- End quote ---
ironmaul:
I haven't been reading the thread as I've way to much other things going on, but that story is hilarious!!! Congrates to you!
markc:
Congrats.
MDC
Khorah:
Congrats!!
GrumpyOldFart:
Congrats. Nicely done. 'Thrill of the Game' indeed. ;)
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