As I continue to work on finalized Mentalism spells I’ve had some conversations that raised some questions or thoughts I usually like to work out via a blog post!
- Why the hell did you start this? I started posting my Spell Law revisions starting 11 years ago, but the project really started back in 2010 or 2011 when Matt started tackling the RMU project. I already had a bunch of spell lists and some distinct thoughts on the strengths and minuses of Spell Law; by 2010 Rolemaster was already 30+ years old! So as a personal challenge to myself, and to mix thing up for my players, who had SL memorized and collated, I sat down and dug into RM2 Spell Law. However, my goal was not just to fill in blank spell slots, or to adjust spell levels for balance. I wanted to write Spell Law for Shadow World.
- What’s left to do? Luckily I’m 95% done. There are some spell lists that are half finished, but because they were never used in game I never had a reason to. Sitting down and finishing them up is just time and focus, one of which is generally in short supply! However, I’ve expanded the “realms” to include 7, beyond the basic 3 in Spell Law but the core “3” have the most spell lists. I think there are 8-10 more mentalist lists and then 35 or so to finish things up.
- Why finish this now that RMU is out? Again, I never saw this as my own version of RMU Spell Law. My goal was to bridge the gap between the SW setting and the Rolemaster ruleset; something I’ve written about repeatedly. As a point, if you were to build a setting based on RMU’s implications, it would look nothing like Shadow World.
- There seems to be some spells/spell list redundancy? Is see this as a feature and not a flaw. I don’t see or use BASiL as a standalone spell resource. The RM lists, the companions list and other alternative lists are all possible resources for my Shadow World campaign. There doesn’t need to be a single “Fire Law” list; there can be many, each derived from a unique or different source or culture. I also don’t think spell lists need to be “balanced”. Different cultures, groups or organizations my actually have better (more efficient) spells than another group. Think of it a legal education. A degree from Harvard Law and Oral Roberts U. will provide you a pathway to a J.D. but they aren’t necessarily equal. Spell Lists are knowledge and systems. Better teachers, better transmission systems and better processes can result in better results (spells). In my campaign the Navigators have Flow spells, but so do the Alliance. The Navigator spells are “better” but the Alliance still has Jump abilities.
- It doesn’t fit RM, it doesn’t fit RMU, what’s the point? My spell law rules do use some ideas that weren’t eventually adopted by RMU and have some functions that weren’t really in RM. (size rules and fatigue both come to mind). Again, I’m writing this for my SW campaign and throw them up on the forums in case anyone else wants to use them, modify them or even grab a few ideas! It’s open source!
- How does it all come together? While I’m finishing up these lists I’m also finishing up my Shadow World: Book of Essaence. Note that it isn’t a book of “essence” but instead details how magic progressed in Shadow World from the 1st Era onwards, the origin of some lists and/or types of magic, “Primal” and “Arcane” magic, Elven/Orhanian magic and little bits and bobs of other things. This is probably the book I should have written first, since it would have provided a clear roadmap for all of my BASiL work. Instead this is more of an interpolation of the work product.
Anyway, despite my time constrains I’m really enjoying my creative writing process now. My work tends to come in bursts and I’m feeling like I’m in that bubble right now. Hopefully it will carry me through completion of these next 2-3 concurrent projects and then I can pause and assess my direction. It’s clear to me though that writing adventures for Shadow World will be my main effort! Lots of cool places left to explore!!