My best friends, who are like a second family to me, introduced me to roleplaying when I was young. The father had been playing since Chainmail, and he taught his son and daughter the family-fun of roleplaying. I was brought into the flock, and had a session of AD&D2.
When I was maybe fifteen, some other friends from school wanted to try D&D. We bought the starter kit, and had a blast. Well we loved D&D, but we thought we could make it better. We started working on our own roleplaying system.
Then I met up with my best friends again, and they brought me into a game of Rolemaster, Dad's favorite game; he even had a copy of the original Arms Law. Rolemaster was everything I wanted in roleplaying, and it was more.
I didn't make a race/class combination with bonuses, I made a character with certain natural affinities. Combat was long, but tense. I didn't care that we didn't have pieces on a board; hearing "E critical" was far more satisfying than knocking a piece on its side (conversely, when you're told you take an "I Electric Critical", your brain dies for a moment. Apparently there's more than five letters in the alphabet. Never stick your long sword in an electrical outlet).
Since then, I've obtained my own Rolemaster FRP books, and am currently working hard to make a campaign setting (and completely overhaul the magic system). Rolemaster gives me everything I want. It gives me detail as a player, but most importantly, FLEXIBILITY as a GM. Despite being a youth in a generation of preferring free things on the internet (because they're not going to support "the man"), I love Rolemaster.
