I think the session went pretty well, and am giving a write-up of it here, with a bit of feedback. I gave my email address to all the players, and encouraged them to send me their impressions, so if any of them do that, I will add that to this thread.
Let me first just say thanks to Monte at the ICE booth in the Exhibitors Hall for a fun conversation, and to Nick for the free books they gave me as a thank you for running the session. I did not expect that at all, so that was a wonderful surprise!
Group Makeup: We had six players, five of whom had Rolemaster experience. They seemed quite knowledgeable about the old mechanics. The one who did not have experience was the son of one of the other players, so he had heard about RM by reputation (and said his dad makes him roll criticals even when they play DnD!). So I got to see both how both a novice and some old hands reacted to the rules.
Class Choices: The characters had a choice from the following list (the characters I posted above in this thread):
--Fighter (Dwarf)
--Fighter (Hvastonn)
--Rogue (Idiyva)
--Warrior Monk (Human, Common)
--Paladin (Human, High)
--Magent (Elf, Grey)
--Monk (Elf, Wood)
--Magician (Sstoi)
--Mentalist (Human, High)
--Lay Healer (Human, High)
--Sorcerer (Nycamerith)
I told them that someone had to play the Healer, as he was central to the plot (and would help them not die), and the novice player was happy to oblige. They chose the following party:
--Fighter (Hvastonn)
--Rogue
--Magent
--Magician
--Lay Healer
--Sorcerer
Adventure: The session was a level 5 adventure that began in Haalkitaine, where the characters were hired by the Lay Healer to free his town of a tyrant who had taken it over by marrying a prominent local council member and bringing in a bunch of mercenaries. This tyrant had captured the Lay Healer’s brother when he spoke out against him. The party marched out of Haalkitaine towards the border with the Zori wastes, where the town was located (the Lay Healer was a Zori, some of the remnants of the Zori kingdom who still try to eke out a living near the Rhakaan border; this isn’t canon, I just invented it for the session).
The first encounter occurred as the PCs were halfway across a bridge. They found it suddenly blocked at both ends by burly guards in Rhakaan uniforms, but these were actually mercenaries hired by the tyrant to stop the PCs. There was also an enemy Assassin (Magent) hiding, invisible, on the bridge, waiting for the characters to stop moving so he could backstab the Lay Healer (thinking that this would put an end to the whole quest).
This battle was fun. The PCs had one round to prepare as the Healer (a former Legionnaire himself) could tell something was off, and the mercenaries first demanded tribute (buying time for the assassin to get into position). The spellcasters all cast shield, while the arms users maneuvered to close the gap with the mercenaries. The combat began as the PC Fighter engaged the mercenary captain, trying to smash him to a pulp with his big-sized War Mattock; they went toe-to-toe for several rounds. I built the Hvastonn fighter for two-handed combat, with a high quickness because he needed the DB (since he did not have a shield), and I wanted to see how much help the new two-handed rule (+10 OB and 1.5x item bonus) gave to him versus if I had made him sword and board. I have to say I still think shield is slightly better – the shield-wielding mercenary captain took a lot of hit point damage but was able to hold his own against our Fighter – but the new rule is definitely an improvement.
As the two big guys were duking it out, the rest of the battle ebbed and flowed around them. Our Idiyva Rogue avoided getting caught on the bridge by climbing the bridge rail and leaping onto the riverbank, rolling well on an acrobatics check, to position himself behind one of the other mercenaries. From there he started rolling up the enemy flank. The Lay Healer followed along the bridge supporting the Rogue and flanking the mercenary there. The Sorcerer very effectively employed a Shatter spell (one of my favorite spells) to destroy another mercenary’s shield and damage the captain. The Magician started blasting the two mercenaries at the other end of the bridge with various bolts and balls, rolling well enough to damage one and prevent him from getting his crossbow attack off effectively. The Magent got into a bit of trouble when he came too close to those two mercs, but by combining full OB arrow attacks with Deflections and Bladeturns, he proved very difficult to harm; his high Quickness really made a big difference too.
The mercenaries were definitely taking the worst of it when the invisible enemy assassin climbed up from the middle of the bridge to survey the situation. He wanted to go for the Lay Healer, but the nearest soft target happened to be the Magician standing all alone in the middle of the bridge, and that proved just too tempting; but the assassin’s critical roll was low so the Magician lived to fight another day. The PCs by now were really pressing the mercenaries at both ends of the bridge, but the captain proved a tough nut to crack, knocking down the party fighter (who shook the bridge when he fell – he was 8’ tall and 400 pounds after all!) with a hard blow to the leg. However, the combination of cold balls, firebolts, and longbow arrows eventually forced the two mercenaries at the one end of the bridge to flee (they were both wounded and low on hit points), thus allowing the party to concentrate all its attention on the Assassin, captain, and remaining mercenary at the forward end of the bridge. When the mercenary got a lucky swing on the Lay healer and knocked him down, the assassin took his last opportunity, ran towards him, and tried to end him while he was on his back; but again a mediocre critical roll saved a party member. The PCs then piled on, mopping up the remnants and finally downing the obstinate captain.
This battle took the better part of two hours. It was to be fair a rather complicated one, with six enemies total, arriving in two stages, and the players were just learning the system, so that was fine with me. They picked things up quickly though. I never had to explain anything more than once. They quickly warmed to the action point system as well. We did not use the pace chart, and no one asked if there was one or not; we just didn’t need it. The battle turned out to be a moderate challenge, but only because the PCs won initiative, rolled well, and were optimized for combat. I think if they had not rolled well or made good choices, the battle could have been tougher, so I think the challenge was set at an appropriate level.
I had a whole second/middle battle planned but had to cut it out at that point, since we were now about 2.5 hours into the session. We did lose about 20 minutes or so at the beginning of the session because Gen Con double booked us with another group, and we had to move rooms hastily before we could even start to play. That sucked.
The next challenge for the PCs was navigating the wastes. I had intended to showcase the disease and fatigue rules by having the characters roll against the ‘choking sickness’, a respiratory disease, but again, I judged that there probably was not enough time for that.
The players next arrived at the entrance to the old tombs that the tyrant had holed himself up in. They made their perception rolls to see a mercenary guard waiting just inside the tomb entrance. The players discussed how best to take him out for a bit, and in the end decided on the very sensible strategy of casting Invisibility and Quiet on the Idiyva Rogue and letting him sneak up solo and do his Rogue thing. The Rogue made a good stealth roll, approaching the guard unaware, and rolled a 64 on his (E) Puncture critical. With his bonus in Ambush, this became the session’s only 66 critical. He thrust his sword through the guard’s back, bisecting a lung, killing him before he even hit the floor.
This is why we play Rolemaster folks.
With the passage clear, the characters made their way into the tombs. I had some lesser challenges and encounters in reserve, in case the players were ahead of schedule, but since we were behind, I shifted forward to the door to the Big Bad’s lair. The Fighter first tried to open it, but it was locked. The Rogue tried to pick it, but failed. The Magent cast Lock Lore on himself, but failed in his subsequent attempt to pick the lock; then he explained the lock to the Rogue, so I gave the Rogue another chance to pick it; and he failed again. At that point, the Sorcerer had had enough, and vaporized the entire door with an Undoor. Again, some Rolemaster magic, and laughs all around!
However, all of this jiggling, picking, discussion, and spellcasting had alerted the Big Bad Evil Guy and his henchmen on the other side of the door, so they were ready and waiting for the PCs. I won’t spoil the plot exactly (because I will be using this encounter as my submission for our challenge of writing introductory RMu adventures), but the PCs pushed into the room and a general melee ensued. The BBEG sent his henchmen in first (because really, that’s what henchmen are for, amIright?), while he hung back slinging spells. BBEG did over 80 hit points of damage to the Hvastonn Fighter in one round with a Major Pain, but the big lug still had enough to spare. BBEG also cast a Shatter of his own on the Lay Healer’s mace when the PCs got too congested, but mediocre critical rolls limited the damage. A cool moment happened when the party Magician used a Firebolt to incinerate all the flesh off one mercenary’s hand and forearm, leaving only blackened bone from the elbow up. Savage.
The climax of the battle arrived when the party Rogue moved swiftly behind a pillar and took a turn psyching himself up with an adrenal speed. The next round he was able to run smartly and unnaturally swiftly from pillar to pillar, successfully catching the BBEG from behind and by surprise (BBEG failed his Perception). The Rogue thus delivered a devastating dual Scimitar attack that ended the tyrant once and for all. At that point, the remaining mercenary surrendered, and the town was saved.
The second battle proved to be another moderate challenge. The Lay Healer was the most beaten up, taking several wounds and having his mace shattered, but I never rolled more than something in the 70s for criticals, so no one went down. Again, a party that was poorly optimized for combat, or that made poor tactical decisions, would have had a harder time here. But most of these guys were old RM vets, who stayed frosty and worked together well.
This is where I’ll end the write up. Since this is not the RMu section of the Forums, I just wanted to describe the session in general terms. I do have some feedback specific to RMu mechanics, but I’ll take that to the RMu boards. If anyone has any questions related to Rolemaster in general or any non-mechanics aspects of this session, please feel free to ask.
Again, thanks to the ICE folks for all they do. From the comments by the players, Rolemaster is still very fondly remembered. Everyone has a story about an epic critical hit; I even heard one at our Pathfinder table when we were playing that game but mentioned that we liked Rolemaster. I also think the new system held up well. The size rules were not a problem in practice, and added a really fun element to the Hvastonn Fighter (though I would still like to have charts that did the math for me rather than doing so much of it in my head). In conclusion, I think Rmu delivered the type of experience players want and expect from Rolemaster. It definitely felt like Rolemaster to me.
