Topic: Character Creation Guidelines v1

[kreider204]

Yup, I gotcha.  I meant more like, GMing a game at my house one weekend and then going over to a friend's house and letting him GM the next time.

On that note, I'm going to post a related thought on the "RMX revised" . . .

[kreider204]

ON page 3:

"Clerics: Unlike other professions, the Cleric is a
special case. Instead of 10 Base Lists, he only receives 8
Base Lists. However, the Cleric may select those 8 Base
Lists from any realm or profession so long as the list is
one that reflects the spheres of interest for the deity . . .

"Example: A Cleric of a Sea God would not know Fire
Law, though Water Law would be a good choice."

OK, so in that case, is Water Law treated as a Channeling realm list rather than Essence, since the spells come through the cleric's deity (directly or indirectly)?

Besides the philosophical implications, it would affect the type of armour the cleric could wear (or not) while casting the Water Law spells, stat-based modifiers, and so forth.

[thrud]

Hmm, interesting...
What kind of spells would a cleric of Kesh'ta'kai (God of magic and a little on the darkish side of things but not really evil) be able to choose?

[Rasyr-Mjolnir]

OK, so in that case, is Water Law treated as a Channeling realm list rather than Essence, since the spells come through the cleric's deity (directly or indirectly)?

Yes. Water Law would be treated, for THAT Cleric, in all ways as a Cleric Base List. The basic premise is that a spell list is a spell list, and it is the realms of magic that are different.

Besides the philosophical implications, it would affect the type of armour the cleric could wear (or not) while casting the Water Law spells, stat-based modifiers, and so forth.

In all ways, the list would be a Cleric Base list. There would be no special restrictions or rules for casting it.

Note: If you used the RMC options that allowed learning lists from another realm, there would still be no changes in your casting requirements if you learned a Magician Base List when casting from that list. You armor, casting times, etc. are all dependent upon YOUR realm, not the original realm of the spell list.

Hmm, interesting...
What kind of spells would a cleric of Kesh'ta'kai (God of magic and a little on the darkish side of things but not really evil) be able to choose?

Don't know, never really thought about it. But off the top of my head I would guess a couple of Closed Essence lists (Spell Enhancement, Spell Reins), a couple of Evil Cleric Lists (Dark Lore specifically), and a few other lists along those lines.

[kreider204]

Groovy, thanks!

[Erik Sharma]

Well a bit late but do have a question, that I need answering if possible.
The Weapon Catogries that are listed in the Consolidated Skill Table are they fixed or do you still place then according to your wish for the character?
Couldn't find anything about that but would be fun to know if I ever want to write anything and send it in.

[Rasyr-Mjolnir]

Well a bit late but do have a question, that I need answering if possible.
The Weapon Catogries that are listed in the Consolidated Skill Table are they fixed or do you still place then according to your wish for the character?
Couldn't find anything about that but would be fun to know if I ever want to write anything and send it in.

To answer your question - yes, you would still assign the weapon costs accordingly.

[Erik Sharma]

Thanks!

[Popoi]

In page 2 you say: "Not recommended as "adventuring" professions. Use only if really needed for the adventure." talking about Alchemist, Healer and Lay Healer.

I want to know in deep what you mean with this, I want your opinion about it, 'cause I'm new to Rolemaster Classic and I would like to setup a campaign.

Thanks!

[Rasyr-Mjolnir]

Those guidelines are primarily for folks writing adventures for ICE. ICE is saying to those authors, to not use those professions unless it is really important for the story, as it basically takes a lot of back story to have a reason why such professions might be involved.

The secondary purpose of those guidelines is to allow GMs to know exactly what rules we used in creating any NPCs or major characters presented in such products.

[Fnord]

There is a small thing that I miss in this guidelines: the skill cost for the unified "Maneuvering in armor" single skill of the RMC Combat Companion (section 3.2)

Is there any reason why this is not included?

[Rasyr-Mjolnir]

The main purpose of the Guidelines is to provide potential authors with the rules/options that we want them to use in creating NPCs or other characters for things that they write for ICE.

A Secondary purpose if for GMs to know what rules were used so that they can adjust things accordingly to their specific rulesets for their games.

Since the rules in the Guidelines are based on RMX, we essentially kept things simple by not introducing any more options than we absolutely had to (even if we liked that option better than the base rules from RMX).

[Fnord]

I see.

I find the Consolidated Skill Table in this document really handy for GMs. I use it during character creation, so my players can have a clear view of the different professions aptitudes. Otherwise it is really messy to keep track of all the skill costs across all the books and EAs. I'm sure that other GMs find it a valuable table too.

Have you considered creating a pdf with this and other info of all the professions? I will gladly invest in such document, specially if you update it each time a new profession or skill is created.

A master table with all the spell lists with just the spell names in it could also be a good idea. IIRC RM2 Spell Law had something similar. It could be a nice tool for creating Folios.

Cheers.

[Rasyr-Mjolnir]

You mean something along the lines of this?

http://www.ironcrown.com/ICEforums/index.php?action=tpmod;dl=item600

[Fnord]

Yes, but including the lists of all the other books and EAs.

I currently use that pdf, but the lists outside Spell Law are scattered over so many pdfs... (and I'm such a lazy ass

By the way, how can we know if the new lists published after the Mage and Mentat EA are suitable for inclusion in folios?

[Rasyr-Mjolnir]

By the way, how can we know if the new lists published after the Mage and Mentat EA are suitable for inclusion in folios?

Any list that the GM deems suitable is suitable. It depends on HIS setting and how he runs his game.

[Fnord]

Any list that the GM deems suitable is suitable. It depends on HIS setting and how he runs his game.

That's what I usually do, but I was a bit confused about the issue because of the 2 tables in EA9 detailing exactly which lists of other realms the Mage and Mentat are allowed to pick for their folios. I guess then that those tables are more guidelines than rules.

[Rasyr-Mjolnir]

That's what I usually do, but I was a bit confused about the issue because of the 2 tables in EA9 detailing exactly which lists of other realms the Mage and Mentat are allowed to pick for their folios. I guess then that those tables are more guidelines than rules.

Okay, you are referring to those Master Tables. My previous comment was a little too broad as I didn't include them in my thinking when I made that statement (I should know better than to try and answer questions from memory.. hehe).

It is strongly recommended that the spell lists used in creating a given Folio be limited to the Base lists (from any profession) for the given realm, and the Open and Closed Lists from ANY realm. Only rarely should a GM ever use a Base List from one realm in the Folio of another realm.

While, the GM is quite rightly allowed to include any spell list that he wishes, the above recommendations should always be kept in mind.

[Fnord]

Ok, that's more in line with my question

I usually take ICE's "strongly recommended" advices as strict rules, as they are always quite right when it comes to game balance.