One thing I’ve noticed from my visits here and on the RM forums is that I appear to be alone in the method I use to develop both cultures and backgrounds for characters. Most GMs use the No Profession skill costs and a number of development points to generate both cultures and background options. I’ve gone a different route.
Which Version of Rolemaster Do You Normally Play
For the past eternity, or so it seems, there have been small polls running here that ask a random question.
I recently did a reshuffle and so we have a whole new set of questions going on now but I thought I would share some of the results.
Today it is the results of the Which Version question.
I am not that familiar RMX (by which I mean I have never even seen the rules) so I don’t know which family it falls into but even without RMX the RM2/RMC camp is by far the largest segment.
Rolemaster Fanzine Issue #3 is here!
I am really pleased to announce that the third edition of the Fanzine is now on sale on RPGnow.
You will notice that I have skipped a month in the dates. We have an April, May and July. It just takes too long to get a print publication approved.
I cannot select the articles to include, write the additional fanzine content, page layout and submit the newsletter fast enough when RPGNow take up to 18 days to approve, print and mail out the first proof.
Blogging Shall Resume!
Back from a great trip to Iceland! Not sure if Peter feels the same way, but it gave me a great “Iron Wind” vibe and the landscape was certainly surreal and fantastic.
Lots going on to finalize the upcoming 50 in 50 adventure hooks and the 50th level adventures so I’ll be posting once or twice a week for the rest of the summer so I can focus on these other projects.
Play Test Session #2
This actually took place a while ago now but what with Christmas and the #12daysofRolemaster this post got pushed back somewhat. My playtest player is back from university soon and it suddenly dawned on me that I never posted this write up. It was also useful to me to come back up to speed with where Gao is.
We left Gao out cold after losing a sword fight with a couple of assassins. Unbeknownst to Gao the assassins had left him for dead. The Emperor had used the body of the assassin that Gao had disabled to cover himself with fresh blood and had played dead. Eventually the assassins had been discovered by the palace guards, the alarm raised and a running battle ensued as the assassins attempted to flee though the Forbidden City.
Big Beasts and Big Hits
There is an ongoing discussion on the RMU beta test forum over weapon sizes. How do you handle a halfling wielding a trolls dagger? Is the dagger a shortsword or a broadsword to the halfling. Does the fact that it was made for different hands make a difference to how you wield the weapon? There were complications where using an under or oversized weapon such as a undersized two handed weapon may be more effective than using a one handed weapon specifically made for you race. So all your human warriors are using halfling two handed swords rather than broadswords.
Managing the narratives in your Shadow World or RPG Campaign.
Unless you are running single session, one-off adventures, you probably have three layers of narratives in your Shadow World campaign: your immediate adventure plot, the regional politics and power and then the world overview/timeline. If you enjoy world building, or are using a comprehensive setting like Shadow World, you want your group to discover the details of the setting. But much of the disclosure has a longer-term payoff when the PCs reach higher levels of power. Coordinating these narrative layers is like building a house—you lay the “foundation” and then erect the structure, brick by brick, floor by floor.
Monster Weekend
I have spent the weekend thinking about monsters. I have said many times before that I am a monster snob. I think Gelatinous Cubes and Black Puddings are better suited to nouveau cuisine than for battling player characters. I just cannot buy into them.
I think I put my finger on what it is that a monster needs to have for me to want to use them and it comes down to two factors.
Which Witch?
In my game most villages will have access to a spell caster. These spell casters will often be the local witch or wiseman/woman.
I know there is a Witch RM2 profession that works with RMC but for me I have found that the Sorcerer hybrid is the perfect fit for this role.
The sorcerer has access to the closed healing lists which fits with the idea of turning to the wise woman when there little hope of normal healing.
The sorcerer also has access to their own base lists which are great for putting ‘curses’ on people in the form of inducing neuroses.
Legends of Shadow World pt3: The %#!@ hits the fan.
Last night the group attempted Chapter 3 of “Legends of Shadow World”. It did not go well. The session only ended up being 2.5 hours with 3 out 5 players killed and the other two “tapping out” since they could see the writing on the wall. This section was just too hard, and there are still 2 more! However, there is a gap between C4 and C5 where the group can rest, heal and gear up for the final confrontation.