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RMU: Mission Accomplished?

I’ve been reluctant to comment directly on RMU; the rules are still in Beta and I’ve already decided what pieces to adopt in my own game. I think there is a lot of fantastic stuff in RMU–some of it inspired me to modify my own house rules or change the way I think of an RM mechanic. That’s a positive sign for any new rules in a system played predominantly by older games who are fairly set in their ways. Early versions of RMU inspired me to make wholesale changes to my game. In all honesty,  despite the time I’ve spend re-writing Character Law and Spell Law, I was never going to tackle Arms Law. I just didn’t have the interest or patience in re-writing the attack tables–but they did need work. So thanks for that guys!

My last blog, I talked about the need for RMU to fully integrate a game setting. But let’s talk about the most over-arching criticisms of Rolemaster, deserved or not: character generation (chargen) and “chartmaster”. Do a google search: “rolemaster chargen“, “rolemaster chartmaster“, “rolemaster system” etc. Scan through the results. Read other RPG blogs that discuss Rolemaster. Putting aside comments about grittiness, granularity, verisimilitude and deadliness, the most common comments about Rolemaster are the length of time of character generation and the profusion of charts. This isn’t my opinion–it’s intertwined with the Rolemaster brand.

Here are a few examples:

“Character creation and advancement became a bear.

However, character creation and, even more so, levelling up, is where the system’s crunchiness really shows. I think its even accurate to say that the massive crunch of the system is very front-loaded. Making a new character is a session-long endeavour, I used to dread going up in level, because it meant another 15 – 20 minutes of calculations

Now, next question….

Does RMU address or solve these 2 most common criticisms?

I’ve already blogged about a variety of ways that RM(U) can reduce or eliminate charts. I’ve also blogged about character gen in 15 minutes. Both discuss my own solutions for these two cited issues. Those are just my solutions, and per the comments, there are many people who don’t agree. So let’s just tackle the base question.

Unifying the various rules systems and updating the ruleset are great goals. But if the two most frequent criticisms of Rolemaster are left unaddressed, how does the system move forward with a new player base?

 

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Can Rolemaster survive as a generic game system anymore?

While originally designed as a bolt on system to DnD, the Rolemaster “Laws” were always unwieldy to adapt to a d20 system. That didn’t matter for long, as the full suite of rules were published in fairly short order: Rolemaster was a standalone system.

Unfortunately from there, Rolemaster became ‘bipolar’: it contained quite a bit of DnD DNA but tried to establish an RM specific setting with the Loremaster line of products. (Iron Wind, Cloudlords, Vog Mur). Rolemaster was torn between the path forward in the gritty world of the Iron Wind or the well established cartoonish tropes of DnD. And soon after that, ICE rolled out the Middle Earth setting, although there is general agreement that the first few ME books (Court of Ardor & Umbar specifically) had more the feel of the Loremaster world than Middle Earth.

In balancing out these various constituencies, ICE decided to spin off a simplified version of RM for the Middle Earth products (MERP) to better fit the system with the setting, but Rolemaster continued to be torn between its roots in DnD and its flavor and style represented by Loremaster. When Shadow World was introduced in the late 80’s it established it’s own DNA, but still drew from the standards found in Creatures & Treasures to maintain product line conformity. Third party Shadow World products were more generic, diluting the world flavor–since then most have been stamped as “non-canon” by Terry.

Now 35 years later, MERP is gone and Rolemaster has been redesigned and soon to be published. Unfortunately, the redesign only united the previous versions of RM (RM2, RMC, RMSS) and NOT united the game system with a game world. That was a mistake.

I’ve blogged quite a bit about the “gap” between the RM rules and Shadow World, and deconstructed different rule mechanics and how they are in conflict with that world setting. Rolemaster has one foot in and one foot out of the established game setting (Shadow World) leaving RM as an orphan: a generic fantasy game system in a market place that doesn’t need one with mechanical bits that are remnants of early 80’s 1st Edition AD&D.

ICE has little chance in reliving their heydays of the 80’s. There is more competition, more niche products, more OGL’s and more self published material than ever. Shadow World may not be for everyone, but it has a following, is a good setting and Terry continues to write new material and improve existing material. Shadow World needs to embrace it’s uniqueness and Rolemaster needed to fully adapt the rules to fit the setting.  A comprehensive and unique eco-system can bring in new players and/or unify exiting ones.

The new rules, the creatures and the spells in RMU should have been fully united with Shadow World. That would require, among many other things, Pantheon specific spell lists, rational rules for death and resurrection, elimination of some earth/cultural weapons for clarity, expansion of unique SW creatures, Professions for Loremaster, Navigators and other SW specific organizations, clarity in Essence manipulation/perception with Essence Flows and Focuses etc etc. The rules should reinforce the setting and the setting should reinforce the rules.

There has been a lot of discussion about who the target market is for RMU. There is skepticism that the existing user base will adopt RMU entirely after decades of playing and modifying earlier versions. It’s been pointed out that many RM players are older, in their 40’s and 50’s.  These are important questions and discussions–how can ICE generate a all new base of younger roleplayers?

Putting aside OSR self-published products, it seems to me that new game systems are packaged with the setting. In fact, the setting itself becomes the draw while the rule set supports the setting. This was even true in the 80’s.  Gamers didn’t play Ringworld or Twilight 2000 because the rule set was excellent–they played for the setting. Numenera didn’t market it’s rule set–it marketed the unique setting (which I think Monte borrowed heavily from Loremaster/SW).

It’s not too late. RMU doesn’t seem that close to publishing that an intensive effort to adapt SW to the new system couldn’t be done. It’s not like SW would require much work to adapt to RMU–most of the work would be tweaks to RMU to conform with SW. But the roll-out needs to be a combined effort of rules and setting. If that could be executed, ICE and SW would be a multi-platform property: rule expansions, modules, fiction, graphic novels and maybe a small allowance for open license materials. This isn’t revolutionary–ICE has done some or all of that but via a fragmented strategy. RM was used for online MMORPG for a bit, Terry has started his SW novelization, fans have written comics, SW art etc.

This doesn’t mean that RMU can’t be used as a rule set for other settings. But another iteration of a generic Rolemaster isn’t going to differentiate  it from other new products on the market and may not appeal to much of the established player base that have years invested in one of the past editions.

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80’s redux. An embarrassment of fantasy riches.

This week I’ll be turning 48! If you are following this POST on the RM forum, my age seems fairly typical of other Rolemaster players. We grew up in the 80’s, played RPG’s, and waited hopelessly for movies (and TV) to embrace our passion for fantasy roleplaying. Yes, there was Excalibur, Ladyhawke, Conan, Willow, and the Beastmaster; but most weren’t great and were considered “B” movies. There was a long gestating D&D movie that never happened (until the Jeremy Irons fiasco in the 2000’s), but otherwise fantasy fans were really left wanting. A lot has changed since then.

Let’s give credit where it’s due. The Lord of the Rings trilogy not only mainstreamed fantasy for the masses, it paved the way for HBO’s Game of Thrones and opened the door for a host of new fantasy and scifi movies and shows. This on top of a dozens of comic book shows and movies and a steady diet of great SciFi movies. We are living in the golden age of fantasy and science fiction!!!

Many writers, actors and directors in tv and movies are or were roleplayers. There childhood and background not only influences their style, but directs the types of projects greenlit for production. Right now, nerds rule the world–and we are better for it!

So not only do I have a birthday, but a few days later, I’m going to see a movie that I’ve waited 35 years for: Bladerunner 2049. This December we have a new Star Wars movies coming out!! On TV we have The Expanse, The Handmaidens Tale, The Man in the High Castle and Game of Thrones. What other shows or movies do we have to look forward to in the near future? Here are just a few:

  1. A new season of Stranger Things in October. I blogged about the first season last year and anticipating this new season of a show that celebrates 80’s pop culture.
  2. The Name of the Wind. Movie, TV show…sign me up!
  3. Ringworld. I never received my high school diploma because of overdue library books (yes, I still graduated, just never got the piece of paper). The two I didn’t return: The Dirty Dozen and Ringworld.
  4. Snowcrash. One of the seminal cyberpunk books
  5. Ready Player One. Much like Stranger Things, the book was an ode to all things 80’s.

It might have taken 35 years, but what a time it is. How about a Shadow World movie! What fantasy or Sci-fi are you looking forward to in the coming years?

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The writing and work process. Embrace the 80% rule.

If you are reading this, you probably play RPG’s and, at some point at least dabbled in writing adventure material. Peter and I have solicited for new contributors to this blog–both articles and adventures but without a lot of response. I know writers are out there…so where are they?

Writing ready to publish material is tough and takes a lot more work than jotting down some adventure notes that might be suitable for a GM running an adventure. But we aren’t asking for print ready material and at this point, a steady stream of adventure or support material can only help the game.

I encourage readers that have written material, adventure ideas, or want to try their hand at putting out there work to embrace a simple trick. What am I talking about: the “80% rule”, which is also known as the “Pareto Principle“.

The Pareto principle (also known as the 80/20 rule, the law of the vital few, or the principle of factor sparsity) states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. … 

Similarly, you can get 80% of the work done with 20% of the effort. Don’t worry about page setting, sentence structure, spelling or graphics. Get the bulk of the idea down, the rough narrative finished or the new spell list outlined out. Don’t sacrifice the perfect for the good! When you hit a writers block or run the idea or creative process out, either take a break or work on something different. This 80% rule isn’t hard and fast, it’s a guideline.

I’m a big believer in the 80% rule in many aspects of my life. This makes me a prolific writer but an imperfect self-publisher. Most of my material is pretty raw, but the trick to my writing is the 80% rule–get the bulk of the idea, concept, narrative or story down in writing and move on. The rest of it–finalizing, small details, proofing, editing, layout is the more arduous work that takes time, perhaps expertise and PATIENCE. I would rather be prolific than perfect. Now I’ve started to go back through my various projects: BASiL, SWARM, Legends of SW, Book of Pales, Empire of the Black Dragon, and Priest-King of Shade and finalizing it. I had hoped to have editorial support for some of these works, but now I’m just pushing ahead on my own. So now I’m dealing with the other side: the last 20% takes 80% of the time!

What does all this mean? Writing is EASY! However, writing good, finished ready-to-print material is HARD. Peter and I pumped out 50 adventure seeds of varying length in just a few weeks. Sure, much of our work could use competent editing and feedback, but it was down on paper. 80% was easily done. After that, the adventure hooks need layouts, formatting and finishing up.

 

the take away is this. Don’t be intimidated by the lack of professionalism or polish in your material. And if you have an adventure, world setting, or just an idea send it to RolemasterBlog. It doesn’t have to be “published ready”–follow the 80% rule and just get it out there. Maybe we can help polish it up. Maybe it really is ready for a free download. Or maybe an experienced GM can fit it to their game or campaign.

 

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More Musings on Professions: Are they Necessary in Rolemaster?

For a game system that was predicated on “no limitations” for player characters, I still find the need to cling to Professions curious. More importantly–beyond PC creation and occasionally leveling–do Professions serve any other purpose? Is a Professional label important for NPCs–the most generally the predominant characters in a game world?

Besides acting as a general trope label, NPC’s in ICE products still list out all skills, skill bonuses and spell lists. Unlike D&D, there are no intrinsic skills or abilities imparted to professions at various levels in Rolemaster. The Profession listed on an NPC stat might give a GM a “sense” of that character, but what really matters is the stat block itself. There is really no need to know a Profession for an NPC–only their stats and abilities. That’s the whole point of a skill based character system.

In Shadow World Terry pretty much throws away strict adherence to Professions; in my mind this an acknowledgement of the creative limitations such a system produces. Loremasters and Navigators are clearly a Profession, but due to RAW, are first assigned a standard RM Profession and then given extra base lists. The Steel Rain, Priests Arnak etc are all given extra lists on top of the Profession (whether it be Mentalism, Channeling or Essence) with NO REGARD to realm limitations.

As a GM do you build an NPC from the ground up? When creating a 22nd level NPC do you go through all 22 levels of character build using Profession skill costs??  I don’t, I just fill in stat blocks based on a general sense of power level and the narrative needs the NPC serves. Have you looked at any NPCs in MERP or Shadow World and analyzed whether the skill stats have any relation to Profession skill costs, ranks or bonuses?

My point being that “descriptors” are more useful to me than some arbitrary Profession assignment in an NPC stat block that serves no other purpose in the game mechanics. Unless PC’s know the NPC’s Profession and then make meta-gaming decisions based on that, they serve no purpose.

That means, in practice, that Professions only serve a purpose for a handful of people; the 2, 3 or even 5 players in your group. All those rules, all the arguments about skill costs and the nitpicking about whether Weather Watching should be 2/3 or 2/4 for a Animist seem complex for complexity sake.

I’m building a city in Shadow World: Nontataku.  Like any RPG city, this is an NPC intensive environment. Per RAW (RM2), I need to assign a Profession to shopkeepers, blacksmiths, porters, etc. Obviously giving them a RM Profession is absurd. Assigning a shopkeeper the Profession of “Figher, Thief or even Mage” is pointless. Some versions of RM do add non-adventure tropes as additional Professions (craftsmen, laborer and even “no-Profession”) but, for me, that is just another example of “Rule for Rules”.

For me, simple descriptors like “Shopkeeper” or “Loremaster” or “Merchant” work better than some arbitrary, and limited, Rolemaster profession.

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What’s on My Mind. Rolemaster, Shadow World & Cool News

A mixed bag of stuff this weekend; a combination of Random Musings, Weekend Roundup and Commentary on Rolemaster, Shadow World, news, and my projects in the queue.

  1. One is the loneliest number. Excluding Rolemasterblog.com and RMForums, are there any consistent blogs out there on Rolemaster or Shadow World? A quick search only shows 1 or 2 posts in 2017 (see THIS ONE, an interesting take even if I don’t agree with much of it). Part of this can probably be explained by the lack of RM players and partly by the effort needed to maintain new content and postings to stay relevant. Even Grognardia burned out after an impressive output of posts. User habits are changing and I wonder if the “Forum” template used by ICE is as relevant or appealing to younger consumers.
  2. Caltrops. Cool article HERE. I believe there are mechanics for caltrops in one of the Companions or 10′ Pole? I have my own mechanic that accounts for movement rate and damage (using the size scaling rules).

Anantha Padmanabha.

3. Real life tomb treasure.  Sealed vaults filled with gold, silver, gems and jewelry are just a fantasy or legacy of a time long past? I think not. This is the last unopened tomb–in 2011 another tomb in the same temple was opened to find treasure expected to be valued at over $500M!!!!

4. Cool Statues. I blogged about cool statues last year. Here is a new one I just read about: The Appenine Colossus.

The Apennine Colossus.

Even cooler:

Within the statue there are “countless caves, water cascades and ravaged by time mechanical, hydraulic and acoustic devices intended to amuse and impress any visitor of the park.”

Section of Appennino. Illustration by P. van der Ree.

It’s a Dungeon!

5. Priest-King of Shade. Depending on final feedback from Terry and Nicholas I may be posting up my SW module for free here on the RolemasterBlog. It will be mostly formatted, but many of the maps are hand-drawn. I’m looking to purchase clip-art to include to punch things up a bit. Any advice on the best place to look for art? Deviantart? RPGNow? I like old school line art over renderings but open to anything. Priest-King clocks in at over 150 pages with maps, charts and illustrations so it covers quite a bit of material. The module covers the peninsulas in SW Agyra:

Here is a quick blurb I wrote a few years ago:

Agyra. Far from the historic events of Emer and Jaiman, this region has been cruelly shaped for thousands of years by both natural cataclysms and the powerful flows of Essence.  Scattered and isolated tribes are a faint legacy of a powerful nation that sunk beneath the waves in millennium past.  Monolithic blocks scattered along deserted coasts and leagues of enigmatic ruins lying in shallow waters are remnants of a lost civilization.

However, these lands are not dormant. Powerful nations and secretive groups are at odds: a war of not just arms but of politics and commerce. Into this conflict a new power has risen. A mysterious Priest-King and his devout followers have occupied an ancient citadel and are slowly expanding their power across the lands.  For the tribes that inhabit the coasts and jungles, these newcomers are viewed with outright fear. Rumors of demonic armies, dark cults, missing children and empty villages have cast a pall throughout these lands.

But adventurers have come nonetheless. Ancient ruins have been discovered: a sprawling city lying submerged in the shallow waters off the coast of Agyra. Many believe the ruins date millennia back to the First Era and holds untold wealth and the secrets of the Ancients!

The Priest-King of Shade is a module detailing the lands of South West Agyra. This product contains a regional guide, maps and layouts of key places, detailed description of key NPCs and 10 adventures ready to play.  Designed for players levels 5-15th.  Will you confront the minions of the Priest-King?

My group has playtested the whole module–it’s quite extensive and is the prelude to “Empire of the Black Dragon” that runs up to 25th+ level. Plus, I have another 5-10 other side adventures that I will publish over time that fits into the region. I’m outlining the city of Nontataku which would be integral to both but would fit well as the 1st Chapter for players 1st to 5th or so. I’m expecting Nontataku to run about 100 pages and Empire is around 80-100 so all together it would be a great long term campaign. With add-ons they all could hit 500 page count w/o extensive artwork.

6. The Book of the Pales. I was at 32 pages w/o charts but added in some supplementary stuff on the Void Knights. I think it’s going to push well past 50 pages. It’s a Shadow World supplement for adventuring in the various Pales.

7. Legends of Shadow World. Since this is meant as a stand-alone Shadow World tourney series I’m keeping each chapter to 10 pages or less. But…I think I’m going to flesh out the “Temple Complex” which will add quite a few layouts and GM notes. I hope to have Chapter 1 ready for download by the end of the month. Again, I’m prowling for good artwork with a budget of $50/chapter. Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

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Shadow World Adventures & The Power of the Vignette

 

Vignettes. These small story bits were originally used in the Iron Wind and have been a mainstay in subsequent Shadow World books.  I think the use of vignettes as journal entries, 1st person narratives, or book excerpts really breathes life into Shadow World. Glancing though the books you can see the start of Kalen and Jad that Terry spun into a full length book, The Loremaster Legacy.  Take this short narrative found in the Master Atlas p. 152:

Half a dozen men waited on the Haalkitaine dock holding mooring ropes, keeping the skyship Starwind from drifting. The Navigator Sulfean stood at the ships’ railing, staring into the sky.
“How soon before we can depart?” Randae asked the captain.
“Momentarily. I will not be rushed,” the tall Laan woman snapped, then turned to her first mate. He stood with another man at a windlass, one hand on a nearby lever. He nodded to her, tightening his grip.
Sulfean strode quickly to stand by Randae and the captain. “We must leave at once!”
On his usually expressionless face Randae thought he detected a faint betrayal of —uncertainty? Fear? Impossible.
Captain Nankara looked annoyed. “Navigators! He forgets who the captain is here,” she muttered. But a moment later a crewman called the ‘all ready’ from the rigging. Nankara rang the final ascent warning bell and braced herself at the wheel.

“Stage One!” She called out. The mate pulled the lever, then he and the other crewman began to slowly turn the windlass. The ship trembled as a system of pulleys and gears and chains controlled the unfolding of the Xenium plates towards the bottom of the Starwind’s hull. After two full turns they stopped. Meanwhile, Sulfean templed his fingers, obviously concentrating on a spell. A faint blue-violet aura danced along his hands. He thrust his palms out and forward, and translucent rays of light fanned outwards, splashing over the sails and the crew, and finally swirling around the ship like a huge, ethereal soap bubble. The Starwind creaked
and bobbed upward, rising perhaps twice a man’s height, then held steady by the mooring ropes.
“Stage Two!” Nankara’s voice cut through the night, and the first mate cranked the windlass around again, while crewmen extended the ventral sail spars and began to unfurl the mainsail.
Then the world ripped apart.
From the northwest came a flash of lurid green lightning. For an instant it turned the night to eerie day, illuminating everything in stark light and shadow. There followed utter silence and darkness for the space of perhaps three heartbeats, during which everyone was frozen in surprise — except Sulfean. He alone fully understood what that flash foretold, even as he felt his spell of Wind Mastery torn from his grasp. The Tall Elf braced himself and, turning towards the lightning, called upon the full
power of his Compass.
While not as knowledgeable in such matters as Sulfean, Randae had a pretty good idea of what was about to happen. He grabbed the nearest railing and shouted “Hold on!” At the same time, Nankara and her mate heard Sulfean’s urgent thought voiced in their heads: Drop the panels to Stage Five and come hard around to the west at once!
Next came deafening thunder, a sound so loud as to press against your very eardrums. The first mate released the windlass and the Starwind lunged upward and spun, tearing the mooring ropes from the dockmens’ hands.
And finally the wind: like a great hammer it smashed into the aft port side of the ship just as she was turning with it — and that is possibly what saved her from capsizing. Even so, her structure protested with awful creaks and groans and she pitched prow down and hard to starboard, lurching forward and earthward at a terrifying angle towards the docks.
Men on the rigging were tossed about like rag dolls — and one crewman was thrown from the foremast, falling towards certain death on the pier.
But Sulfean, bathed in a shimmering radiance, thrust his hands out and up, sending a surge of light out to engulf the plummeting ship. Then with one hand he reached forward as if to grasp something: a filament of light whipped out from his fingers to ensnare the tumbling crewman and stop his fall. Tto those on the ship the gale seemed to die away, while Starwind’s descent slowed and her bow came up.
Randae clutched the balustrade, wishing he could help but knowing that he dare not try magic in this storm; it could backfire and endanger the Navigator.
Slowly… slowly the ship leveled off and turned, encased in an iridescent sphere of Essænce. Sulfean drew the semiconscious crewman in and lowered him onto the deck, where his mates ran to help him. It was about that time the snow began, like a wall of white outside the sphere, yet only a few flakes drifted inside. Finally the Navigator relaxed a bit, shoulders slumping as the sphere around the Starwind dimmed to a phantom glimmer.

Randae approached him slowly. “That was spectacular.” He said softly. “Thank you.”
“Not as spectacular as my fee.” The corner of Sulfean’s mouth twitched just a bit. “But now that things are under control, I am a bit tired. I shall be in my cabin.” He pulled his black cloak over his shoulders and strode away.
From ShadowStorm, Part One

While it’s only a page long, the short scene allows Terry to provide quite a bit of information that GMs can use in their SW games:

  1. Visualization of the operation of a skyship and the docking system in Eidolon.
  2. The role of a Navigator.
  3. Insight into personalities/behaviors of key people (Navigator and Loremaster).
  4. Spell manifestations and Essaence eruptions.

While I’m not even close in writing skill, I like to follow Terry’s example of including vignettes to add atmosphere or exposition.So I’m finishing up the Book of the Pales, a GM guide for using the Pales in Shadow World. As a writing challenge, I wanted to create a scene that imparted information with the fewest words possible. Here is a bit from the Book of the Pales that touches upon the first Althan experiments into accessing other dimensions…

Log 1458.223. System Initiation.

Log 1469.190. All Systems Check

Log 1473.565. Zero Point Telemetry Confirmed.

Log 1538.329. Power Fluctuation Normal.

Log 1577.838. Door access. ID Check 581. Dr. Orwen D’Coste.

Log 1882.110. Door access. ID Check 275. Dr. Presam Dvora.

Log 2355.661. Quantum Foam Injection Confirmed.

Log 3202.992. Power Load Stable.

Log 3876.222. Quantum Brane Active.

Log 4789.830. Quantum Brane Penetration Detected.

Log 5391.312. Unknown Biology Detected.

Log 12435.439. ID 275 Terminated.

Log 1731.912. ID 581 Terminated.

Log 2123. 378. Emergency Quarantine Protocols Activated.

END

Physic Lab #13 Subroutine Monitoring Log.

I also use vignettes extensively in Priest-King of Shade. Here is a short passage that was inspired by Terry’s passage I cited above:

A cool wind whipped across the water churning up whitecaps, the vanguard of the fast approaching storm-front of menacing dark clouds and flickering lightning. The Navigator Turo Vekaram stood at the prow of the ship calmly studying his compass, but his unhurried movements did little to calm the fears of the crew and passengers. The ship was fast, but by now it was clear they would not outrun the storm. The navigator let out an almost imperceptible sigh, his normally implacable Dyari features revealed resignation…and perhaps a flicker of fear.

“I’m afraid there is little I can do now Captain, this storm appears to be an abnormally strong manifestation of the Essænce. I have neither the ability nor the power to save the ship–we are at the mercy of the Lords.”

The Captain paused, considering the Navigator’s assessment. Turning to his helmsman he began to relay his orders, “Steersman, four points….”

Suddenly, a shout erupted from one of the crew pointing towards the storm. The last few rays of sunlight pierced the roiling clouds, and glinted off a thousand dazzling points. The Navigator squinted, his brows furrowed in concentration as he tried to discern the source of the luminescence. One of the passengers screamed as the threat became clear. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of crystalline insects were skimming over the water directly towards the ship….The Swarm had arrived.

Excerpt from the travel journal of Caylis Deveran

Nomikos Reference: Travel; Barrier Sea. Section 14.7

And here is one of my personal favorites I wrote quite a few years ago. Via this narrative scene, I wrapped up quite a few questions I wanted to answer in my own SW campaign: What happened to the Earthwardens? Where did the Dragonlords come from? Who is the Storm Wizard etc.

We stood silent; a circle of shadowed figures swathed in simple brown robes. Above us the ceiling of the vast cave soared into flickering darkness among the stalactites. The only light came from the coruscating glow of the vast pool in the center of our circle. Crude steps carved from the living rock led down to the edge of the churning Jewel Well: it’s power radiated out in waves that buffeted us like blasts from a forge.
At the top of the steps stood a solitary figure similarly garbed in plain brown. Jrek Okentu, leader of the remaining Earthwardens. Next to him  was a wide pedestal of black stone, the flat top adorned with rows of jagged crystals, each pulsing, as if in answer to the scintillating Essence Well.
“Brother and Sisters. For countless years we have labored as healers and guardians of this scarred planet. We have achieved much and left talismans to protect future generations, but it has been costly. We have lost many friends, and our time is ending. Most of our order has long departed this world, now, only us few remain. Should we stay, we would
continue to diminish, challenged by the remnants of our ancient brethren and the new powers that call Kulthea home. We gather here, our new birthplace, for our final act: a journey to become immortal guardians of Kulthea, imbued with its very Essænce”.
After a weighted silence, Jrek carefully selected one of the crystals and beckoned to the nearest robed figure. Stepping forward the chosen man shrugged off his robe and stood naked before Jrek and accepted the crystal.
“With this acceptance you are born anew. I name you Ssamis T’zang, Wind’s Fury”
The naked figure eyed the Well in trepidation for just a moment and then, gathering his will about him like armor, he
strode down into the bubbling pool, until his head finally disappeared below the surface. We knew not what to expect, and a humming of power washed over us all. Slowly, a shape rose out of the pool: higher, and higher it loomed over us. A long sinuous neck of iridescent scales glistened in the light, and a shadows spread out from the lithesome form. The creature’s wings unfurled, casting jagged shadows across us.

A Dragon had been Born. One by one, each accepted a crystal and entered the Well to be reborn…emerging, growing, and spreading their wings….
Finally, when the last of the outer circle had passed, Jrek turned to look at us, the last remaining few. Gesturing to
the podium and the few remaining crystals that lay there he addressed us:
“For you, my closest, most trusted companions, I offer you these last remaining jewels. Long have I labored over their investiture, for you that stand so high in abilities and my esteem. With our ascendancy we ensure our stewardship of Kulthea, immortal guardians of the Essaence and one with the Flows.”
The first of us stepped forward, her robes slipping from her shoulders. She was a tall woman of black flowing hair and flawless alabaster skin bathed in the scintillating lights of the Jewel Well. She stood for a moment contemplating the crystals, and after a moment Jrek picked up a long slender crystal black in color. Light flickered and peering deep into
the shard she could discern a shadowy form of wing and claw.
Jrek dipped his head and handed her the crystal. “I name you Ulya Shek, Black Queen” he intoned, touching her forehead as he spoke. Then without even a backwards glance at us, she descended the steps into the coruscating pool.
One by one they stepped forward… each named in turn…
“…Drul Churk: Green Seer”
“…Vorig Kye: Silver Eye”
“…Oran Jatar: Ice Lord”
“…Sulthon NiShaang: Red Flame”
Finally only I remained. I stepped forward, pondering the cerulean crystal, it’s center swirled with a cloudy blue haze.
Picking up the crystal I felt the shock travel up my arm… though I was most pussiant, my knees almost buckled from the power. It’s power called to me, but I knew my mind and had made my decision. Jrek raised
his hand and began to speak.
“ I name you Riin Awduu “Sky Storm”
I shook my head.
“I must refuse this gift my brother.” I paused, carefully considering my next words. “ I fear this power will subsume us. We will be lost.”
Jrek beckoned me forth again.
Again I shook my head. “My path no longer lies with you.”
It was all I spoke, and I offered no further explanation. Jrek regarded me for some time, but he noted my resolve and his eyes saddened. He laid his hand upon my shoulder and spoke softly: “You know the path of ascendancy, and the caves of Ssoiayig Saer will lie open for you always. I wish you well.”
Stepping back he raised his own crystal, a shard of soft golden light. “I name myself Kydak Dûm, Sun Sword”.
With those final words he stepped into the Well. Suddenly I was beset with doubts and I turned quickly and left the caves alone, the blue crystal shard still held tightly in my hand.
The Ascendancy of the Earthwardens
Histories, as recorded by the The Storm Wizard

I don’t know if other settings use vignettes, but I think it gives Shadow World added depth and allows a writer to offer information in a more personal way.

Do you have a favorite vignette from any of the SW books?

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Assorted Musings! Rolemasterblog, Rolemaster and random topics!

So I’m heading to Spain for some vaca time but wanted to get a few blogs scheduled to post while I’m gone or getting prepped. I still have some work to do on 50 in 50 adventures so I thought I would post misc. points for thought and/or discussion. In no particular order:

  1. Noble Games has a “cloth bound” edition of Spell Law for $195 and a “leather bound” edition for $95. I have the a copy of the leather bound Rolemaster book which has SL, CL, AL. Anybody remember these Spell Law products? Did ICE do leather or cloth bound versions of other products?
  2. Why/how is the BASiL Essence Pt 1 being downloaded at a ridiculous rate? As of Thursday its averaging 50 downloads/day. It’s hard to imagine RMBlog has tapped into a secret reservoir of RM players. Some sort of ‘bot’ doing this?
  3. In reference to a recent blog post on Summoning. Peter, the idea that summoning a creature means drawing a concept or consciousness from a alternate plain that then manifests in a physical form is a powerful concept. For me it raises some setting issues: in reverse, how can players visit these alternate plains? Do they DeManifest there physical form while visiting these plains and then reconstitute upon returning? (btw: read the Punch Escrow for some thoughts on this via a technological solution).
  4. Following up on #3, we are confronted with the setting driving the spell mechanics. Yes, once RM was a bolt-on for DnD, but those days are long gone. RM needs to pick a setting (Shadow World by default given the amount of existing material) and build the rules around the physical and meta-physical world described.
  5. New games are as much about the setting that they create, or imply, than the actual game mechanics. NO ONE is really choosing RM first and then selecting a non-conforming game environment, barring an experienced minority. The new reality is that rules and setting are synonymous. Based on some ‘googling’ many RM users initially adopted RM to play MERP. Since MERP is no longer an option, my advice is to put resources into a setting and then adjust a default rule set to support it. That’s what I have done with BASiL(Brian’s Alternate Spell Law) and SWARM (Shadow World Alternate Role Master). Much of what I did with those projects was to adjust RM to integrate with Terry’s SW. Shadow World sets meta-physics for magic and death, diverges from standard RM profession standards, incoporates hi-tech, connects with Space Master etc. My theory is that creating a great adventure setting drives rule adoption. I’m not sure continually rewriting rule sets (planned obsolescence) drives new customer growth.
  6. 50 in 50 is starting soon. Many of these are simple ideas than full fledged adventures, but I’m excited that RM Blog will be publishing real content.
  7. I’m even more excited for the RM Blog 50th level adventures.
  8. One profession that really struck me when I first started with RM was the Astrologer. It was quite different than the D&D tropes we left behind, and IIRC, city maps in the early MERP products had color keyed buildings for Astrologers. I’m not sure if Astrologers fit into the Tolkien world, but by integrating them into the world build, it inferred the profession with social context. Interesting.
  9. I’ve read a lot of good blog posts about waiving the need to roll dice for simple actions as well as simplifying rules to reduce dice rolls. I agree with the former but not the latter. Players like to roll dice! They are chomping at the bit to make rolls during combat! Is that just my group?
  10. After “50 in 50” and “5 of 50” I had a few other themed adventure challenges: “5 Adventures for Evil Groups”; “5 Grand Heist Adventures”, “5 at 50′, (underwater adventures)”.
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Legends of Shadow World. Using “Slug Throwers” in Rolemaster.

I’m fine tuning my “Legends of Shadow World” adventures and debating the mechanics of firearms used by some particular nasty Demon Warriors: basically a large caliber gatling gun! Here is what I used:

Gϋthϋraxx Auto Gun

Weighing 22lbs and 42” long, this ornate hand held rotary gun is the preferred weapon of Gϋthϋraxx Shock Troops. The guns are ornate constructions with a bulbous receiver, curved metal stock and a cylindrical clip of grey/black metal.

Each gun holds a 12 round clip of .80 caliber slugs that are fired from 6 rotating spring powered barrels. The gun can fire up to 6 slugs/round. Each clip takes 1 round to change and the spring rewound every 12 shots.

Stats:

  1. Use Heavy Crossbow Table. 4x Damage. 4x range.
  2. Each shot after the first will receive a cumulative -10 penalty due to recoil.
  3. Requires 95 strength to fire w/o penalty. For every point under 95 there is a cumulative -1 penalty. For every 5 points under 95 winding the barrel takes an additional round.

 

Since I’m using RM2 stats (like other SW products), I wanted to keep things simple. Using the Heavy Crossbow chart with a damage and range multipliers made sense.

Anyone have a better idea or thoughts on this?

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Rolemaster Spell Law Deconstructed: Are Summoning Spell mechanics broken?

I thought the commentary on “Illusions” in my last blog post was pretty good, so I thought I would discuss another spell mechanic that might need to be re-examined: Summoning.

Spell Law contains a number of spells to summon/conjure Demons, creatures and other beings in Essence and Channeling.  But really it’s a just a big hot mess of vague, confusing spells.

The 2nd level spell Summoning (Evil Magician Base) says “Caster can instantly summon a first level non-intelligent creature”….  Does this mean that the creature teleports to the caster or does the creature have to travel to the caster. Is a teleport affect powerful for a 2nd lvl spell? Is this a Summoning spell or a Gating spell? Per the spell, the duration is 10 min/lvl normally (or 1 min/lvl when put in danger). What happens at the end of the duration? Does the creature disappear and teleport back from whence it came? Does that mean the spell generates 2 separate teleport effects?

Now lets contrast that with a 9th level spell “Animal Summons I” from the Animist Base. You would assume that an Animist would be better at summoning general creatures than an Evil Magician? Well, you would be wrong. The spell states: “Caster can summon any 1 animal within radius (1 mi/lvl). That’s a ninth level spell compared to a 2nd level spell and implies that the creature has to travel to the caster. Yes the Animist has a built in control function when concentrating but the duration is only 1 min/lvl. I think there is a discrepancy here.

“Gating” also opens a number of questions about spell mechanics. (Some of this really depends on the setting and implied meta-physics of the world.) I’m finishing up “Book of the Pales” which is expansion material on the Demonic Realms: more creatures, environment, adventuring in etc. That effort along with my re-write of Demon summoning spells made me think about the whole premise. Let’s review:

Spell User casts “Lesser Demonic Gate”, a 5th lvl spell on the Evil Magician base list Dark Summons. This calls a Demon (Type I-III) that will slowly appear over a few rounds. If the Demon is not controlled in some fashion (control, master, barter, binding etc) the Demon “leaves”.

So what’s going on here? Does the spell open a doorway to the Pales and call a Demon through the gate or is this just a materialization? Now let’s assume that the Caster Masters the Demon in some fashion. Demon Mastery has no duration, just contingencies (range, kill or release).  But how does the Demon eventually return to it’s world/plane/Pale? If the Gate is now closed by what method does the Demon dissipate? Is there some spell reserve around the Demon that activates another Gate?

Some would argue that Demons  are just physical projections created by magic. When the spell “ends” the magic unbinds that projection and the Demon disappears. That’s a good solution but pretty powerful. In effect it’s creating a powerful physical form for a spirit creature from another Plane! And what about the other Summoning spells that work the same but on real creatures of the game world? They aren’t spirit beings given a physical form through magic. What about existing Gates that allow Demons to enter the world? Do the Gates have some implied “form physical body” ability?

For my own game, I am more interested in Shadow World and how Demon Summoning would work; and that required a spell re-write. Under my game, the Pales are other planes of existence and most Demons are physical creatures (thematic Demons are manifestations or possessors). That means that Demons do need a “Gate” or doorway to go from the Pales to Kulthea–or vice versa. This can be a spell, conjuring circle, natural Essaence Gate or other construct. Like any door, if it’s present and open it allows for 2 way travel: once a Demon enters Kulthea it’s there unless it returns via a door/gate willingly or sent back the same way. How else does Kulthea get populated by Demons? (Under Spell Law RAW I think  they would de-materialize when no longer controlled.)

For purposes of this discussion let’s delineate two different types of mechanics (despite naming conventions used in Spell Law) and use Shadow World for the default setting:

  1. Summoning. This “calls” a specific or general creatures from the local area to come to the caster. The creatures must physically travel to the caster.
  2. Gating. These spells create a magical “doorway” that teleports a creature directly to the caster.

So far so good, right? This is a simple differentiation that lays the framework for a variety of spells. The second part of the equation is “control”. I like the established vernacular used by RM: Control requires concentration. Mastery does not. Ranges and duration can be set by spell level, base list, profession etc. The final piece is protection. Without Control/Mastery there is no implied protection for the Caster. The Gate itself is a doorway, not a Circle of Protection or Ward. Opening a Gate and calling forth a Demon is no guarantee that what you want is what shows up!! Even a normal animal may not react well when Summoned and end up attacking the Caster if uncontrolled.

In conclusion, while various types of Summoning/Gating should be dependent on the world or setting, a few basic tweaks can vastly simplify these Spell Mechanics.