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#RPGaDAY2017 15th to 18th

I am having a frustrating week this week. I had so many plans, my wife is away at the Edinburgh Fringe so I could really dedicate loads of time to just writing (and horse riding whenever I get stuck). As it happens I have spent the week mostly in the car going from one place to another and have achieved very little and I have the same in store all weekend! This was supposed to be the week I tackled my Rolemaster for young players project (GameMaster Kids). For a bit of light relief I was going to put some more meat on the bones of my HARP/FATE hybrid under the working title of FART. I am way behind with my 50 in 50 adventures and that just about sums up my week.

This weeks questions for #RPGaDAY 2017 could be answered in just two words. I am not a hoarder of games and books and nor do I buy stuff I have no intention of using. When you see the questions you will understand…

15th Which RPG do you enjoy adpating the most?

Well Duh, that would be Rolemaster.

16th Which RPG do you enjoy using as is?

That would be Rolemaster and more specificaly RMC.

17th Which RPG have you owned for the longest but not played?

This would be HARP that I bought last Christmas and is still as yet unplayed.

18th Which RPG have you played the most in your life?

Anyone for Rolemaster?

So the answers were either Rolemaster or HARP. I think RMC specifically works well as is and without any house rules if you want a pretty generic fantasy RPG. I have dropped wholesale into the Forgotten Realms without modification and as D&D was equally generic it just works. I could just have as easily dropped it into Greyhawk and had the same results.

My adaptation of RMC into my own game is a result of wanting to make the rules invisible during normal play. If I had may way there would be no need to pick up a rulebook from the start from the session to the end. I haven’t achieved that because of Arms Law or which ever flavour of combat system you prefer. About 50% of the effort went into adapting the rules to what I wanted and the other 50% went into adapting my prep time. The better organised I am the less time is lost at the gaming table. That is true of every GM but as you all probably know I go so far as to copy and paste sections of the rule books from the PDFs into my game notes so that if someone were to be at risk of drowning then the rule for that is the next paragraph in my notes, if you may fall off a cliff the next page in my notes is the Fall/Crush table from Arms Law and so on. I have merged rules and adventure notes so I need no other documents beyond characters sheets, my notes and the combat tables (and even those I have as individual sheets that I sort so that I only have the weapons/attacks I need for that session to minimise the number of pages. The less pages then the less page flipping to find the right table!)

So there you have it. I fairly uninspiring set of answers this week. Next week is more about publishers and different games so the answers will not all be RM & HARP.

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Random Musings. High Level Channeling Spells in Rolemaster.

In last weeks BLOG POST, I discussed issues I had with high level Essence spells; specifically combat oriented spells from the Open and Closed List. These posts are a result of the intersection of two projects: BASil (my rewrite of spell law) and 5 of 50 (50th lvl adventure series). This puts me in a position of familiarity with spell law and  creating and testing high level adventures.

It’s been a few years since my first iteration of BASiL, and I haven’t bothered reviewing my notes and analysis in quite some time. Instead I’m looking at RM spells from this new perspective: how useful and powerful are they for very high level adventuring. Today I want to offer my thoughts on the Channeling realm. Again, just focusing on combat oriented lists and just the Open and Closed.

Barrier Law. I’m not sure that much of Barrier Law is Channeling appropriate–seems more elemental. This also goes to a Gods “aspect” and what type of powers a cleric would have. Should a Cleric of the God of Fire be able to cast Ice Wall? Anyway, let’s just talk about “Wall of Force”–the 50th lvl spell. It creates an impassable barrier of energy…but…it’s only 10′ x 20′, lasts up to 1 rnd/lvl and the Cleric must concentrate! This feels more like a 25th or 30th lvl spell with a better version at 50th lvl. Maybe no concentrations and AoE scaled to level?

Concussions Way. Here is a good example of a great high level spell, but a awkward power progression. 30th lvl provides “True Healing” which heals 1 target of all their hits, but the cleric must be touching the target. Then the next spell (50th lvl), Mass True Healing, does the same but for 1 targetlvl (50 targets!) and they can be up to 100′ away. That’s a fantastic spell, but seems quite a bit more potent than the next highest? On a  side note the 25th lvl spell “Regeneration” is a missed opportunity. It should heal 5 hits/rnd, last 1 rnd/lvl and not require concentration.

Lights Way. 50th lvl Mass Utterlight. Not a great 50th lvl spell. I”ll leave it at that.

Spell Defense. The 50th lvl Resistance True requires concentration–taking the Cleric out of action.

Calm Spirits. Not sure about this–“Calm True” has a duration of P. Does this work in the game–permanents pacifying a target?

That’s it for Channeling! I definitely think that the lack of protective or augmentation spells nerfs the profession compared to other systems. Looking at just those spells/lists, the most effective role for a Cleric is to cast Concussion Ways when needed. Spell Defense requires concentration and Wall of Force would only be needed in extreme circumstances (and require concentration.)

My Channeling BASiL lists, including all the Orhan/Charon pantheon specific lists really pumped up Clerics. In fact a group of Clerics in my SW campaign are as powerful as almost any other mixed profession group!

 

 

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#RPGaDAY2017 12th, 13th & 14th plus more!

So I am continuing with the #RPGaDAY but I have more exciting news!

The August issue of the Rolemaster Fanzine is now for sale on RPGNow and this is the Shadow  World special.

This issue has a reprint of two of my favourite BriH Shadow World articles from the blog, the interview with Terry and chapter one of the Loremaster Legacy, Terry’s novel.

Whilst not RM related I am really pleased to be able to link to my game on Amazon. This is my latest achievement and it is really nice to see the book in print. The PDF and print version should be on OneBookShelf this week and the Kindle edition the week after.

So with that out of the way here are my RPGaDAY questions.

12th Which RPG has the most inspiring interior art?

One of the funny things about these questions is that it makes you think about things that you may otherwise not given a thought to.  I think the original MERP art was probably the best I have ever seen and was definitely in keeping with the original LotR books.

13th Describe a game experience that changed how you play.

I think I have told this story before. We were meeting for the first session of a spacemaster game. Rather than all sitting around creating characters together we were split up and the GM started us playing our characters, describing the scenes and we started role playing before the characters were rolled up. The GM shuttled between us nipping from kitchen to living room and I had drawn the short straw and had the bathroom! This was the first time I actually knew my character before I put pen to paper and picked skills. Now I always have that really strong concept before I even start. Incidentally, that was the shortest campaign I ever played in as we all accidentally killed each other at the first meeting after only one character uttered just one word. There had been a sort of cat and mouse game going on with each character thinking they were being followed or were following a bad guy. We ended up in a mexican stand off but with concealed weapons in a taverna until one character who seemed to be oblivious to all of this walked in, came to our table and said “Hello” at which point everyone opened fire. I was using an assault blaster at point blank range and I remember rolling a straight 66 for my critical. I also ended up bleading about 8hits a round from several wounds by the end of the round, stunned and about to pass out. I don’t think anyone survived beyond fire phase A of the first round.

14th Which rpg do you prefer for open-ended campaign play?

This has to be Rolemaster and RMC for me and to further clarify my level-less and profession-less variant. I am not going to bang on about it because you have all heard it before.

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Legends of Shadow World. Player Introduction.

Von l’edor, First Secretary to the High Scion hastily adjusted his robes and consulted his schedule book once again. This meeting was highly unusual; unscheduled with no information provided to his office. He hoped his last-minute apologies to the Delgaran Trade Delegation would suffice; the Laan merchants were generally insufferable and easy to offend. He made a notation to provide them with a cask of Vermillion House Red—a rare vintage that should appease their egos.

The door to the inner Sanctum open and close with a resounding boom. His master, the Elder Scion of Kuor swept into the hall, followed by two harried looking seers or scholars. The Scion was wearing his most formal attire, robes of gold thread hemmed in black and he carried his Sceptre.

Curious, he thought, perhaps this will be a religious meeting…

Upon closer inspection, the two scholars seemed more noteworthy. Their robes were functional but well-made of fine cloth, sewn with mystical or astronomical symbols.

Probably another obscure sect or cult with more apocalyptic visions—they seemed to be showing up with more frequency.

Despite their subtle finery, they both looked drawn and dusty from travels. He sniffed, hoping they would detect his disapproval of their appearance in such a holy sanctuary.

The Elder Scion settled into his chair, the black wood gleaming from hours of polish, but his presence was dwarfed by the towering statue of Kuor that dominated the background, overlooking the pillared hall. The High Temple was the grandest building in Eidolon and the center of power for the Lords of Orhan in Kulthea–despite what the Elves in Palia argued he thought. Von looked to his Master for some direction or clue to this meeting, but the Elder Scion seemed focused on the far end of the hall. Finally, he motioned for the scholars to take their place on the lower audience platform.

At the far end of the hall, the burnished doors swung open slowly and a small group assembled for introduction. Even from the distance, Von could hear Scion Oberon clear his throat nervously.

“Elder Lord, may I present Knight-Captain Gorge Kroger, Commander of the Sun Guard and First Protector of the Light Bringers of Phaon.” The tall soldier strode forward, resplendent in his gold and red enameled armor. Kroger was a regular visitor to the High Temple but the unexpected nature of the audience implied a military matter. The Knight-Captain stopped at the foot of the stairs to the Holy Dais and removed his helm. His blond hair spilled out over his shoulders and he bowed his head respectfully to the Elder Scion but was otherwise silent.

Oberon spoke again, “Elder Lord” may I present Chomen Drah, High Builder of Iorak”. My breath caught, and my writing faltered slightly. The Builder-Priests were rarely seen at the Temple and having a High Builder was even more unusual. Like all the Priests of Iorak, Chomen was wearing simple gray tunic and pants, a worn leather tool belt around his waist. Short and squat, he radiated strength and purpose and seemed to study the stone work of the High Temple as he approached the Dais. He stopped. “Elder Scion, I have come as summonsed.” He intoned in a deep baritone voice. A serious man, indeed. Von thought.

Oberon called out again. “Elder Lord” may I present Malim Pelax, of the Order of Loremasters.”

A Loremaster, a Knight of Phaon and a Builder of Iorak? Auspicious company indeed. Von peered down the hall. Who else is present for this meeting? He had met Malim before—a pompous ass to be sure, but supposedly a powerful Mage. He strode down the hall confidently and stopped between the Knight and the Priest.

“High Priest, this summons is highly unusual and inopportune. The Loremasters and Clergy of Orhan work as equals, not as master and servant. I would have you know I was involved in consequential matters to the south. Do the whims of the Priesthood outweigh the work to counter the forces of the Unlife? I demand an explanation!” Malim exclaimed loudly.

The High Scion contemplated the Loremaster as if considering his words. Calmly but forcefully he spoke. “Loremaster, your presence was ordered by the Council at my request. Answers will be forthcoming shortly, but do not presume to question me.” The Scion’s voice had slowly risen as he spoke, with just a hint of anger underneath. “While the Loremasters and followers of Orhan work together, make no mistake as to primacy. Kuor rules all above AND below and your services and loyalty or required.” At the last, the High Scion sat forward in his chair holding the Sceptre before him. With his words, the air had grown heavy, and the very walls of the Temple seems to bend inwards and groan from a great weight or pressure. My pen dropped from my hand and my knees buckled. The High Scion was barely invoking the Wrath of Kuor but those present could feel the force of will. My eyes cleared and I noted that both the Knight Commander and Loremaster had fallen to one knee, but the Builder-Priest still stood straight and was examining the High Scion’s Sceptre with open curiosity.

“Enough”, the High Scion said, and the pressure disappeared. “We don’t have time for foolishness. Malim, your reservations are noted but irrelevant. Oberon, announce our last two guests.”

Oberon’s voice squeeked once and then settled. “High Priest, may I present Sumendar of the Guides of Vurn-Kye and Jan Jo’drin..” Oberons voice faltered once again but he continued “…Changramai Warrior of the Tenth Veil”.

Both figures walked forward, a contrast in style and appearance. The Navigator, while dignified in his black uniform was pudgy and older and he moved with a bow-legged gait. The Changramai…glided…his movements precise and economical, conveying a coiled deadliness. He wore plain white robes with a gold collar signifying his rank. Tenth Veil! Von thought. Changramai of that skill were only rumored or heard about in legends!

Malim, perhaps exercising caution after Malim’s rebuke, bowed deeply to the High Scion. The Changramai matched Malim’s bow and added a fist to the heart in the traditional Changramai salute. All five abreast, waited for the High Priest to begin.

The High Scion inspected each figure below and then nodded to himself. He stood and indicated the Scholars that stood quietly to the side.

“These are the Seers of Strok. They have a crisis and they’ll need your help.”

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Random Musings. Thoughts on RM Spell Law high level spells.

My last post mused on the impossible goal of designing balance into a high level adventure. Among one of the issues I touched upon was the lack of effective buffs in RM Spell Law. But the problem is much broader than that–there is a breakdown of spell design at higher levels. Perhaps the original designers didn’t see much game play use for high level spells?

When I deconstructed and rewrote Spell Law I reviewed every single spell, spell list and compared similar spells between the realms. There are tons of inconsistencies, useless spells, redundant spells or spells “out of order” in power level. I started a detailed commentary on the RMU Spell Law forums, but there was so much pushback I just went ahead and started uploading my own version of spell law!

Rather than go analyze all of Spell Law, I wanted to comment specifically on high level spells. And to keep things shorter, let’s just tackle Essence open and closed in the post and only in the context of combat and not general purpose spells. (I’m using 6503 RMC Spell Master for reference btw.)

Elemental Shields. The 50th lvl spell combines the 15th, 17th and 19th spells Lightning, Fire and Ice Armors. These are good spells, but not great spells. Each is +20 to, 1/2 hits and decrease of crits by 1 severity. Fine for 15-19th lvl spells, but for a 50th just combining them, limiting them to 1 target seems inadequate.

The 20, 25 & 30 level spells are Mass–but in game use to buff 25-30 targets is limited. There are a few blank slots, but in my mind the real issue is trying to differentiate the same spells into different categories. Having Resist Light, Lightarmor, and then Lightning Armor is confusing and doesn’t allow much progression.

Overall, the list can be consolidated, improved protection at high levels and needs a good increase on the 50th lvl spell; either make it 1 target/lvl or increase the protection a bit.

Essence Hand. Calling Seal Team 6 Sniper group. The 50th lvl spell, Aim True is perhaps one of the most deadly spells available to Essence users! The spell automatically does max damage, “E” crit with a missile attack. (for large or superlarge it does a slaying crit) Sure the caster has to touch the shooter, but a group against 1 opponent or just a few opponents could make swift work of any adversary. Too powerful?

Spell Wall. The definitive list for protection v. magic. How good is it? The 20, 25 and 30 lvl spells provide +50 v a specific realm magic. Not too shabby…but…it’s 1 target and concentration only. Sad. Or the caster can just utilize Protection V which provides +25 RRs v. ALL REALMS and is 1 min/lvl. Which one would you choose?

Dispelling Ways. A far better list than Spell Law? Dispel XX Sphere creates a moving barrier around the caster that causes any inbound spell to make an initial RR before proceeding against a target in the Sphere (and then requires another RR). Those are good odds…but the caster has to concentrate the whole time. The 16th lvl spell creates a sphere with a RADIUS of 100′!!!! These need some work I think. The 17-19 “Un” spells strip spell casting ability from casters and items for 1 day. That’s pretty good.

Rapid Ways. The 50th lvl Mass Haste provides 50 rnds of Haste (no after penalties) of DOUBLE action. This one is a no brainer! Use this with Aim True and you have a killing machine.

Shield Mastery. Putting aside the issue that Essence Hand and Shield Mastery are doing the same thing (telekinesis), and that the instantaneous but contingent use of these spells creates huge game mechanic issues, is this even a good spell list? I think a lot more can be done. The 50th lvl spell is cool, but how practical for actual game play? Will the caster encounter that much missile fire? Will they be willing to cast this spell every round to the exclusion of all else? A better 50th lvl spell would be 1 rnd/lvl duration vs missiles within 5′ of caster (or target). That would be a great player buff and worthy of 50th lvl.

Spell Enchancement. Rubbish and breaks spell mechanics. Easier and more logical to scale range, radius or duration by PP expenditure than some “spell for a spell” list.

Spell Reins. Not many spells on this list, and really should be combined and improved with Spell Wall. Some good spells, but the 50th lvl, like Shield Mastery only works 1 round. How many possible spells would be directed at a caster during actual game play? Sure in a battlefield with tons of mages it might be useful…this spell needs a duration.

Spirit Mastery. The 50th lvl spell allows you to cast 1 spell/rnd..but only 10th lvl or lower. So this is really only a “economics” spell–it just reduces PP cost but locks the caster into only casting these spells.

So out of those lists, the 50th lvl spells for Essence Hand and Rapid Ways are awesome, but the others are either good spells but too limiting or just not very useful. Feel free to check out BASiL lists for my solutions to these spells and lists.

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#RPGaDAY2017


I was tempted to try and post every day for August but that would have crashed a lot of other people’s posts so instead I am going to do a few days at a time in my normal, regular slots.

So here goes.

1st What published RPG do you wish you were playing right now?

I have had a hankering for a while now to play Car Wars, the Steve Jackson Games game from the 80s. I know it wasn’t released as a RPG we we always played it as one. The original rules are available for free. All I am lacking is another player or 5. It is one of those games where you could while away a lot of down time just designing and building cars. Fast and simple mechanics, what not to love?

2nd What is an RPG you would like to see published?

This has to be RMU. I think all of us would like to see the finished product and to see that particular production bottleneck cleared so ICE can get on with releasing more and more varied products.

3rd How do you find out about new RPGs?

For me it is from other bloggers. In particular http://www.stargazersworld.com/. I don’t have enough players that meet often enough to try every game I would like to play. Like most of us we have shelves of games we have bought and played a handful of times, if at all. I find it more interesting to read the opinions of people who have actually played a game rather than the marketing hype put out by the games designers.

4th Which RPG have you played most since August 2016.

This has to be Rolemaster Classic. In a close second is my own game, 3Deep, which is due to be released in print as a 2nd edition. There was a lot of play testing of that in the last year.

Third in line is RMU.

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Random Musings. Very High Level Adventures. Is “Balance” even possible?

This coming Tuesday (last night when this post is published) I’ll be running the final chapter to my 5 part series: Legends of Shadow World. The last chapter could be a stand alone adventure but is the denouement to the adventure path, typing up a lot of loose threads and presenting the group with an incredibly powerful adversary.

I’ve been parsing some data from the previous 4 sessions and feedback from the other 2 test groups (chapter 1) and will probably run my group through the series again. It won’t have the surprise/reveal elements from their first iteration, but we’ll be able to have a more open analysis during game play.

I’m using RM2 RAW, something I haven’t done for a VERY long time but want to maintain continuity with Terry’s ongoing SW material. The lack of our own house rules (combat maneuvers, multiple opponent rules, missile parry and initiative) makes RM melee feel very restraining. Most players are stuck with simple OB/DB split decision, although this becomes paramount when fighting high level foes.

RM has always been tricky in balancing encounters. DnDs Hit Point attrition system made matching groups and opponents more linear. Rolemaster criticals are the joker in the deck–a wild card that can immediately upend any possible balance a GM designs. This is not to say that the RM rules are broken at higher levels, but there are some immediate issues that are even apparent at lower levels.

  1. Outnumbering. Many, much lower level combatants can overwhelm powerful creatures. A dozen Warrior Monks (15 lvl) annihilated a 50th level character. Easily. The chance of at least 1 in 12 of scoring a potent crit result each round is quite high. Once a PC is compromised by a critical it’s “game over”.
  2. Lack of Buffs. RM2 Spell Law is really lacking in effective buff spells. People have commonly criticized my BASiL and Orhan lists as being too powerful (of course I disagree), but original Spell Law lists are pretty ineffective at high levels.
  3. Spell Attack/Counter Attack. While RM2 melee feels too simplistic, Spell Casters have SO MANY spells to choose from that strategic casting feels arbitrary. (a 50th lvl caster can have 300-500 spells!!)  Casters rarely have the luxury of countering a specific incoming spell, and to do so, would require them to forgo an offensive attack.
  4. Mixed Abilities/Protections. A hostile mixed group of NPC’s can be very deadly to a party. Even a small group comprised of a: creature immune to normal weapons; creature with high magical immunity; creature that is blinding fast, and one that is super strong could decimate a group. Each creature will require a different strategy or spell suite to counter effectively–basically dividing the groups economies of scale.
  5. The well balanced party….just does not work at high levels in RM. One effective critical against the M-U or Cleric will pull the rug from the whole group. Optimally the group needs to be almost all semi-spell users or have magic items that can allow each player to attack/defend/heal independently.

Let me end by saying that my players have had a blast with these high level adventures. They get to play known personalities, utilize spells they only have ever read about in Spell Law, encountered some CRAZY opponents and adventured in very unusual environments.  But no matter how I adjust the encounter levels in these adventures, I’m not sure there can be anything like “Balance”.

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Three Wheels On My Wagon

I am intrigued by ITDs critical tables. I have never seen them but it came up recently in a discussion on on armour by the piece that there are different critical tables by location and only three locations; limbs, head and body.

For me the only piece of RM that has to be retained is the critical; everything else has to earn its place at the table. If it is more effort that it adds to the game I am inclined to cut or replace it.

Despite my slash and burn approach to rules I am mostly still following the roll your dice, find the right table, look up the roll and roll your critical procedure.

In all the companions and discussions I have never seen a superior system. I don’t care about the #hits, the rounds of stun, the bleeding or whatever. It is the wit and dark humour I like and the graphic descriptions of wounds. You will never get that with 1d8 damage. Decades ago rolling a 20 and getting double damage used to excite me but “Your bolt goes right through his temple and stands there quivering. Astonishingly enough, he’s still standing. But any attempt to remove it will kill him instantly. +25 hits, stunned no parry 2 rnds and bleeding 12 hits/rnd.” is a level above.

I have a half formed diceless RM combat system and I have an outline for HARP/FATE bastardised system. That uses the HARP critical tables and FATE dice and has a working title of FART.

FART is really good fun and fast to play. It just needs some time spent on it writing it up and putting it out there to the FATE community. The mission objective would be to hook FATE players into trying RMU once it is released. It is my understanding that FATE is one of the most successful games of recent years but despite that you will never get to put your crossbow bolt into someone’s head.

So we have ripped just about everything apart recently on here. What, in your perfect combat system, are the absolutely non-negotiable elements?

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Legends of Shadow World Pt 4. The Plains of Despair.

Due to a vacation it’s been a few weeks since out last session playtesting our “Legends of Shadow World” tourney series for 50th lvl characters. Last night the group reconvened for Chapter 4: “The Plains of Despair” (or alternatively The Fortress of the Dread Lord).

Narrative wise, it felt a bit broken; the PC’s got killed or beaten badly in Chapter 3 and the few weeks off disrupted the story line. However this is playtesting, so the group was brought back to life, I doled out some moderate damage, adjusted hits, PPs and item charges etc and sent them on their way through a Portal.

This one was tricky for me–while the main encounter is between the PC’s and a small group of powerful creatures there is also this “army” that the players could confront. How do you handle 5 PCs versus thousands of soldiers? Combat mechanics aside, the good news is that all those cool high level spells in Spell Law, the ones that affect 1 target/lvl or large AoE, come in REAL handy!

The PCs actual triumphed in this one, maybe a bit too easily. Unlike the others, this Chapter ends with a victory–the group retrieved the artifact they had been chasing. Now the players get to return home, get a break and then head out. Chapter 5 ties up all the threads and puts the group in direct confrontation with the mastermind behind it all.

Now that I have run 4 chapters I can start processing issues around high level adventures. This was one of the intents of this project. Some issues and questions I am hoping to resolve:

  1. How does RM combat work between high level opponents? Is it the same as low level since high OBs are offset by high DBs, buffs, and parrying?
  2. Spells. Do spells scale appropriately or do some high level spells break the game or aren’t effective enough?
  3. Do spellcasters really have an advantage at high lvl vs pure arms users?
  4. How do you design challenging encounters for those levels?
  5. How do players roleplay a 50th lvl character? Especially iconic personalities like Navigators and Loremasters?
  6. What types of opponents are effective?
  7. What types of environments can the players handle?
  8. Do high level characters lend themselves to Rolemasters gritty “low fantasy” mechanics?

I’m collecting feedback from my other two playtest groups and hopefully have meaningful data I can post soon!