Disclaimer: please don't take the title of this thread too seriously. I use the term "hardcore" (inspired by Diablo hardcore characters
) here to talk about those RM games that make no use of things like Fate Points, where all dice are rolled in the open (i.e. no "fudging) and where therefore characters' death is relatively easy.
I'm
NOT using that term to say that this particular style of playing is better than others or that's the one true way RM is meant to be played. Rolemaster is first of all a game, and if you're having fun playing it, you're doing it right.
As I've said in another topic, I used to use options like Fate Points in my RM campaigns, to make the game a little more predictable and to limit PCs mortality rate, but after a while I stopped, embracing the randomness of RM tables.
We don't use a GM's screen, so all our rolls (players and GM alike) are made in public, where everyone can see them. All critical, attack, spell casting, fumble and maneuver tables are also shared by the players and GM, so each action outcome, not just the rolls, are there for everyone to see.
This makes basically impossible for the GM (or a player!) "fudging" a result or changing the outcome of an action.
It also obviously means that each character (PCs and NPCs alike) can die for a single bad/lucky roll or that they can fail miserably critical actions or succeed when everyone thought they would fail.
For the players, it means they have to be extra-careful when they act or plan their actions and avoid any unnecessary danger (fights, maneuvers, spell casting,...) if they want to survive. It also means that they have to be slightly "fatalistic" and not grow overly attached to their PCs, as they'll probably die a horrible death (and yes, dead is dead most of the times even if you've got access to magic because Lifegiving is a 12th level spell and good luck finding someone who knows it and is willing to cast it).
OTOH, I find this style of play extremely rewarding for players: even just surviving an adventure is a real achievement, and reaching a new level is extremely gratifying, as you know that everything you got, you've gained purely with your own strenghts.
For the GM, it means you cannot prepare plots or scenarios or count too much on your NPCs; since each NPC can be killed (actually, the purpose of almost every NPC is to be killed
) and the players can just decide they don't want to go somewhere or that they don't want to commit to a specific adventure because it's too dangerous.
It also means that
you don't have to grow too attached to your NPCs, locations, worlds, etc. since everything you do can be easily undone by the PCs.
OTOH, you don't have to prepare any plot! You just prepare a number of locations for the PCs to explore, give them some rope and they'll hang themselves
It's quite liberating and leads to really surprising situations.
So, that's basically what I mean when I say "no Fate Points" and why I like playing this way. What about you? Do you prefer to use Fate Points or other ways of avoiding PCs death or would you rather play "harcore" rolemaster? Why?