Will the real Chartmaster please stand up?...

Rolemaster has been criticized for years for being too crunchy, or having too many tables. It might be helpful to remind ourselves that AD&D had it’s share of charts and tables too. Update: Rolemaster (and RMU) got mentions in the comments!

The “Rings of Power” and “The Court of Ardor”....

I am no Tolkien scholar, but I’ve been reading a bit about the new Amazon show Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power. A summary that I think is from the Silmarillion: Morgoth was the most powerful of a race of beings known as the Ainur, which were immortal spirits who existed before Creation Previously …

A look at Kulthea’s “other” continents: Folenn and Falias....

I’ve been meaning to follow up on a comment Terry had made in my interview with him a few years back: BH: Are there any other continents besides Emer and Jaiman that you’ve written notes/materials that you’d like to tackle? TKA: A couple (Folenn and Falias) are kind of taken-care of. I would like to …

Shadow World “Droloi”: Race or Monster?...

Welcome to the 4th Rolemaster Blog entry of “Race or Monster” where I raise the question of certain races in Shadow World and their suitability for being PCs. You can find the other posts here: Hirazi, Krylite and Neng. To be honest, I generally forget about Droloi even though they are listed in the various …

Gunpowder in Shadow World...

It’s no secret that Shadow Worlds history encompasses a vast range of civilizations with “technological levels” ranging from Stone Age tribes to advanced post-physical societies. Terry often stressed that magic and high technology could often be indistinguishable and most of his SW books contain high tech items. In between those two extremes are a spectrum …

Earthwardens & Dragonlords...

Two of my favorite elements of Shadow World are the Earthwardens and the Dragonlords. Both groups represent incredibly mysterious but powerful influences in Shadow Worlds history. Until the Xa’ar supplement, which delved into the origins of the Earthwardens in more depth, we only knew that both groups sprung up in the early Interregnum without further …

Shadow World Timeline Dive: The “Empire of a Thousand Dawns”....

As I continue my review of the extensive Shadow World Timeline, I’ve noted a number of prominent references that haven’t been developed in further SW books. I’ve created a list of these and will delve into them in further blogs, but today I wanted to deal with the “Empire of a Thousand Dawns”. There isn’t …

Ancient Sites in Shadow World. How old is “OLD”?...

Now that I’m back from Malta I’ve had time to ponder the issues of time, civilizations and “ruins” from a RPG perspective. It feels like most of our RPG experience is based on some quasi-medieval concepts: dank tombs, cobwebs, giant spiders and the mandatory undead all dating back to a medieval period; perhaps 500-1000 years …