I just had a strange idea. I was thinking of the normal Rolemaster positional bonuses (+15 for a flank attack, +35 for rear), and what they represent. It seemed to me that characters got these bonuses because targets would find it more difficult to parry, dodge, and block attacks from these awkward directions, due to the fact that it is harder to see them coming and to turn to parry, block, or dodge.… Read the rest
Emotional Beats
Emotional beats are a game feature that designers try to identify and maximise. I will try to explain what they are and then why they are important to Rolemaster.
Every roleplaying game I know goes through the following process.
- The GM sets to a challenge
- The players plan their reaction
- Dice get rolled
- GM describes the result
So that cycle could be a combat round as easily as a negotiation or hanging off a place balcony as the mortar crumbles under your grip.… Read the rest
Micro Settings
I saw a discussion on the Tenkar’s Tavern* discord server today. One participant pitched a suggestion for a game setting to get feedback from the community. I will call him the Pitcher as it is nicer than participant. The Pitcher was actually looking to do an entire world building job.… Read the rest
RMU Update: An Action Point System in Action — Divinity: Original Sin 2
Tell me if this sounds familiar: Each character gets 4 Action Points to spend on activity each round. Spells like Haste increase that number. You can spend action points to move.
That sounds much like RMu’s new action economy, but in fact it is also the system in the videogame Divinity: Original Sin 2.… Read the rest
Adventure Writing
I saw this exchange on Reddit today…
Adventure Writing
Hey guys, I am writing an adventure for a campaign set on Skull Island and I was wondering what advice you guys can offer to make the campaign and adventure great. 🙂
Reply…
Don’t “write adventures”; doing that creates a tendency to railroad players.… Read the rest
Rise of the Nerds.
For those following this blog you might have noticed that I’ve been pretty quiet for the last year. Happily, my schedule is now settling down and I’m going to get back into regular postings on the Rolemasterblog and start uploading new material here and on the Forums.… Read the rest
Many Coppers
With RPGNow being shut down, sales figures for that site have been added to those from DriveThruRPG. This has resulted in many of the 50 in 50 supplements reaching Copper level. Sixteen of them in fact, a third of the 48 published so far, and a few are not that far off reaching Silver (and close to 80% of supplements on DriveThruRPG are not even Copper).… Read the rest
RMU Update: Power Point Regeneration
One of the problems playtesters of the RMu beta often encounter is that they find it hard to keep up with the latest changes in the beta. The beta rules are free to download, but as the developers work towards completing the system, they are also continuing to make changes, and discussing them vigorously on the ICE forums.… Read the rest
Power Point Development
All long term readers will know that I am a fan of ‘fixed’ #hits. It gets rid of a DP sink, removes the concept of people being able to be hit several times with a sword and survive just because they are high level and it makes low levels slightly more survivable.… Read the rest
Stepping Forward
I am going to get to the big step forward later but I am going to tell you a story first.
My step son is an artist. He qualified with a degree in Fine Art last year and to the best of my knowledge he is the only one of his contemporaries that is actually keeping body and soul together working in art.… Read the rest