I'm not a big fan of pre-mades for novice players. If the players can create their own character they can identify with it far better. Pre-mades are fine for quick-starting more experienced roleplayers who can more easily drop into the character, but for those without experience that's not so easy. Sometimes you can drop players into play too quickly - and while character customisation does take some time, it gives them more time to get comfortable with their character and role.
I don’t agree. I rule games for complete beginners in a ludothèque (it’s like a public library, but with tons of games and no books) in Bordeaux and pre-made characters are great for newcomers. If I had to create characters, it’d take the whole night.
Same here. My first experience with RM was rolling up characters...and it did in fact take ALL night!!! we didn't even get to have a game.
Well, OF COURSE it takes all bloody night if you're doing Rolemaster characters. I thought the whole point here was creating a light version? However, it seems you're looking to essentially change pretty much everything about Rolemaster... and when you change everything about something... it ends up nothing like the original. You need to strike a balance between what you're changing and what you're keeping. Aside from the critical tables and 10 stats in number, I can't really see a whole lot you're keeping. And crit tables and having the right number of stats is not the basis for a game. You're not creating "Rolemaster Lite" here, you're creating "A whole new system based on replacing anything slightly clunky about RoleMaster". Which can also be seen as just cherry-picking the best bits.
I can imagine players being introduced on this "lite" system and then wanting to try the big version, only to be stuck thinking "hang on, this is a completely different game." Which means you'll have not succeeded at all in your original goal of making RM more accessible. Don't get me wrong, there are some cool ideas in this thread, I just think that you shouldn't be trying to use absolutely all of them in one go.
But, good luck with it
You are right, but with all the topics about mechanics and such, it’s hard to stay focused :p
However, the point is not to change everything. There is an incredible number of mechanics that work marvelously well in Rolemaster. Skills, for one. Critical hits, the way combat puts enouch pressure on the players to make them THINK before getting in over their heads, and magic is awesome, even though I am not a great lover of spell lists (but I admit Fire & Ice did a marvelous job in this area, the spell mechanics in this book are really good) - actually I never met a French player that liked spell lists, but all my players love all the rest of RM magic.
In my opinion, the way actions are dealt with, the probabilities and game mechanics that revolve around them are more RM than professions and DP.
A. Disuading preconceptions: These are the "chartmaster" and other negative ideas that existing gamers have for
Oh my, what a pain it is.
I had the new players in the ludothèque play Rolemaster. They loved it.
Right after, I have a chat with the staff of the ludothèque and one of their friends, who also works in a ludothèque in a town next to Bordeaux (When I say next, I mean "on the other side of a boulevard").
Guy: So you have people play PnP rpgs here? That’s great!
Me: Yes. They actually loved it. I had them play a bunch of norse teenagers that come back to their village just to find it was plundered and burnt to the ground during the night.
Guy: So they had to inspect the place and ask around to piece what happened.
Me: Exactly. It worked beyond my expectations.
Guy: And what system did you use.
Me: Rolemaster, 4th edition, full version.
Guy: You did? But it’s too complicated!
Me: It’s not. The GM manages the rules, the players play their role, they don’t have to deal with them, so who cares if the rules are heavy?
Guy: Beginners can’t start with this game, they won’t hook on rpg with this.
Me: They did. Both.
Guy: No way!
Me: Ask them. They are here, look. Go ahead, I’m confident.
The guy never did ask. That’s the kind of reaction I get too often. Fun part, RMFRP wasn’t ever translated in French. The guy just does not know what he talks about.
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Regarding professions and my proposal, I’d be so happy if my proposal was just read and remembered whole.
If I want to put archetypes (call them professions if you want, words don’t matter but the ideas, mechanics and concept they translate do) in there, it’s for all those people who need or want rails. Those who don’t can do without them.
Here is an example of why I want to allow my players to switch to other ways:
"Personne" (French for nobody AND person) is a rogue in my campaign. His player chose a rogue for he wanted to play a man of the wilds, illiterate, unwilling to live among me but open minded and good hearted. Personne was agnostic, and did not really care about anything religious to be honest. He lived many adventures and, during one of those, discovered the folk of Earth, who prayed the All-Mother. The player took interest in her, and thus so did his character. After hanging with the folk, becoming friend and witnessing miracles, he decided to take up arms to champion her cause. And here comes the frustration.
The player asked me: is there any way to become a kind of priest of the wilds, or a shaman, or a witchdoctor? He really wanted this. And he
can’t. There is no way this can be done, for all his dp costs should be changed, his profession bonuses too, and some skills would change their class (e, o, r). He’s locked. That’s what I call an hindrance.
If it was all about power leveling and min maxing, I’d refuse. But that’s a logical development of the character, who discovered a faith that resounded with his soul. He heard the call, and I can’t let him heed it because there is a hole the size of a meteor impact in the character development rules.
Now to answer Pastaav, about the fact that every player would just pick what they want here and there to do a character that can do everything, and the point about the access to magic.
First: that’s something that is monitored by the rules and by the setting. In DD3, you can easily multiclass but there are rules to prevent the mess.
Second: the access to magic should be regulated. Always. Let’s have a look about it.
Arcane: need a power source, or a mentor. In my setting, you also must have the necessary talent.
Channeling: you need to obey a god. Give commands. Let the players that overlook them feel the fury of their divine patron.
Essence: already covered in essence companion, but a talent would also be useful.
Mentalisme: same than essence.
Then, there is the way to acquire talents. Can you acquire it during the campaign, why? How?
It is obvious you can’t have everybody become a magician because they want to fry goblins with fireballs. That’s when the setting and things like the source of power and apprenticeship come in handy. That’s the job of the GM to decide what, how and when character devlopment occurs. An examble from RMSS/FRP: even if a fighter has the necessary DPs, he won’t be able to buy ranks in an arcane base spell list if I say he can’t.