We have just released a brand new Rolemaster system with the aim of unifying fans of previous versions under one system and supporting a single system moving forwards. This new edition includes the best of all versions of Rolemaster as well as new enhancements and improvements to the system that we believe will make it a real world-beater.
 
The vanguard of the new Rolemaster edition will be five books – Core Law, Spell Law, Creature Law (in two volumes), and Treasure Law. In due course, these will be followed by other products such as a multi-adventure set, a Character Companion, a new Campaign Law, a Rolemaster System Handbook for Shadow World, and many more.
 
Once we had announced our plans, and once we released the first product, we were faced with a number of questions which we have done our best to answer below:

What is the status of Rolemaster Unified products?

Core Law and Spell Law are complete and available exclusively from DrivethruRPG in PDF, hardcover and Softcover formats.

Treasure Law is currently being edited and we expect to be available in PDF in the coming months.

Creatures I almost has all its artwork complete and will then join the editing queue.

Is this a new edition of Rolemaster or an update of a previous edition?

In some ways, it is a new edition. In some ways, it is very much a “best of” drawing upon the best ideas of the past three decades along with various other enhancements and improvements. It is not a cut-and-paste job but remains definitively and definitely Rolemaster.
 
The RPG industry and the hobby have been around a long time now with a myriad of mechanics explored in games mainstream and indie. For a game to survive and to flourish, it needs quality and stability in order to attract and maintain the interest of players and GMs, and it needs to be supported by its publisher.
 
Of course you as fans have to give unified Rolemaster a chance and support it in turn as that support enables us to produce more products for it, encourages software creators to develop high-quality virtual tabletops and support tools, and so on. Living, growing rpg systems attract more players and GMs, which means more opportunities for existing gamers to find new folk to game with. A win for everyone.

Why has it taken so long?

ICE is a small, independent publisher with no full-time staff. Rolemaster Unified is brought to you through the dedication and hard work of freelancers and volunteers. In addition to that, we don’t want to rush it. We believe that RMU is the future of Iron Crown Enterprises so we want to make sure that it is as good as it can be before we release it.

Why five books? Why not one?

Our assessment is that while many fans would like an introductory, lightweight or streamlined version of Rolemaster in one book, many more will want a full-blooded, full-featured version of Rolemaster. From the publishing perspective that we want to support Rolemaster through new Shadow World and Cyradon material and adventure/campaign modules, we need the complete Rolemaster Unified now.
 
There will be a “Lite” one book edition of Rolemaster in due course, but it will be fully compatible with the full version. It will not be a conflicting or variant edition – the voice of the community is very clear that multiple competing editions are a major problem.

Will you continue to support previous versions of Rolemaster?

Moving forward Rolemaster Unified will be Iron Crown Enterprises core focus. We will not be putting out additional rules or supplements for previous versions. However, as long as we can find writers willing to convert stats to previous versions, we’re hoping that most adventures and setting material released for RMU will also have stats for Rolemaster Classic and Rolemaster Fantasy Role Playing.

Will their be a bundle discount for print copies and PDFs?

We expect to offer a bundle option for print copies and PDFs with a slight discount. If you can’t wait and want to purchase your PDF before the print copy comes out, please do and then contact us with your email address and we’ll let you know when the print copies are out and give you a discount code.

Will it be available in different languages?

We currently have an agreement with a French language company to translate RMU and we’re open to hearing from other organisations who are keen to translate into other languages.

If you have more questions about Unified Rolemaster, check out the Q&A we held at UK Games Expo 2020. If you still have questions you can ask us on out Discord server, Facebook page or on Twitter and we’ll do our best to answer your query.

Catch up on all the latest news regarding RMU by following the RMU tag on the Iron Crown blog.