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BASiL & Thoughts on “Narrative Spells”

As I’m working through the last iterations of my BASiL mentalist spells, I’ve grappled with the scope of RM spells in general. Specifically what I would consider tactical vs narrative spells. From the outset, spell law proposed individual spells of a more modest nature than the Vancian style magic of D&D. RM spells were technical with clear parameters of scope, range and AoE. Tactical spells are typically combat related or replaced a skill. Narrative spells in Rolemaster are much rarer and I would define them as having open-ended results and could direct the story line.

In D&D spells like Plane Shift, Quest, Astral Spell, Imprisonment don’t have quick game specific effects. Instead they open up possibilities and perhaps redirect the direction of the narrative. Rolemaster spells are more workmanlike: straightforward, without any needed interpretation of spell effects or application. Even higher level RM spells are just iterations of lower level spells, or perhaps just allow a caster the ability to cast 1 lower level spell/rnd. More an increase in casting efficiency than a paradigm changing spell you would assume for 50th lvl.

Rolemaster does have some narrative spells. Certainly divination spells allow for impacts on the storyline. One of my favorite: Cloud of Darkness (50th lvl). This was definitely influenced by Middle Earth/Sauron, but as a spell it’s more atmospheric than having any real tactile impact. Is it a spell worth it’s 50th lvl slot? Perhaps not, but it’s cool!

I’ve grappled with narrative spells with my Orhanian dream lists and now with Mentalism, I had to consider spells around memory. Yes, some memory spells could have an immediate in game impact, but overall these spells are driven as a plot device. I feel there is some design tension between these two types of spell and RM’s grittiness lends better to the technical aspect of most spells. This technical nature can make some spell lists feel dry and boring and also lends to the argument against HARP style spell scaling.

RMU’s new ritual magic seems a fantastic mechanism for narrative style effects, but most of the comments I’ve seen imply that people are just using rituals to emulate tactical spells and effects? Basically another work around of the realm and open/close/base restrictions.

Narrative spells can be challenging to write, since they are wider in scope but I enjoy the flexibility it delivers to the game. What spells do you feel are more narrative than tactical? Do they work in your game?

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Rolemaster & Progression Fantasy.

A comment(s) over at the discord server caught my attention. In the RMU thread, “Thrud” questioned the need for the skill “Maneuvering in Armor”. If you’ve read this blog or downloaded my SW Combat Companion you’ll know that we dropped that skill long ago. I’ve made quite a few arguments here and on the forums about my reasons, but the topic raised a broader issue I wanted to touch upon: the ingrained trend of progression fantasy in Rolemaster and TTRPG’s in general.

As a skill driven system, Rolemaster was more similar to Runequest than D&D, but there is still an undeniable level progression that is baked into the rules. There seems to be 3 basic systems that use character level in Rolemaster: RR’s, HPs and PPs. While those are completely level dependent, the skill system itself is built with restriction that make it mostly level driven as well. This is generally done by limiting skill progression to 2 ranks per level. Sure, the player has to expend development points and make a conscious choice to develop a particular skill, but it’s still bound by level driven resources (DPs). It creates an illusion of development choice, but ultimately PC’s increase in power in an incremental process.

So it’s really quite curious to me to read arguments against accelerated skill development or “level-less” mechanics as unbalancing in the same thread that people combine chargen, talents, traits and other rules to generate low level characters with extreme skill bonuses! So basically a min/max strategy to get the end result they want. These are just work arounds and “rules for rules”. They make a more complex process and path to achieve the same result. In this case you could simply remove rank progression limitations to allow characters to be focused on a single or few skills at the expense of a broader skill set.

We’ve been playing level-less and no profession Rolemaster for over 25 years so I feel comfortable with long term game testing (in Shadow World). However, it’s only been in the last 5 years that I finally decoupled Resistance Roles, Hit Points and Power Points from levels entirely. While I’m still playing around with several competing solutions, I haven’t seen any game breaking symptoms. Of course a gaming group of 4-5 players is a small data set, and RM needs to be built with a wide customer base.

To be clear, I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything or argue for this rule or that rule. I’m just trying to look at game mechanics in a deconstructive way. When I do, I see too game mechanics that actually replicate D&D tropes but camouflage it with a veneer of different rules. That’s not a judgement, I’m just calling balls and strikes as I see it.

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Balancing access to Realms

I’ve been following a discussion on realm limitations over on the Forums. While this was an RMU discussion, I’ve written extensively about realm access in my own rules (SWARM) and as a house rule in general for Rolemaster.

We’ve been playing without any realm limitations for years and haven’t seen any functional or mechanical issues. For instance, a PC with Mage lists can also be a High Priest and have access to Channeling lists from that religion. A Hedge Wizard or a Witch has spells lists from multiple realms as they are really dabblers of magic.

RM has allowed multiple realm access in it’s baseline: hybrid casters in the regular rules and the “Archmage” in the Companion. I don’t see much push back on those classes, and I attribute this to the basic theory that if someone writes it into the rules it becomes generally accepted and assumed to be “balanced”. Part of the problem is the idea that a PC is aspected to a specific magical realm, when a more useful perspective is that each realm is a different casting mechanic.

This circles me back to one of my pet peeves: the worship at the altar of balance. To be clear, balance is a personal construct that is usually driven by someone’s measure of over or underpowered character builds. Reality is that balance is purely driven by the GM in the way they run their game, the types of challenges and story lines they bring and their choices of mediation of rules.

The simple takeaway is that it’s really hard for a PC to develop multiple lists in multiple realms. It costs a lot. This is without some sort of balancing mechanism using higher skill costs, or talents, or some other arbitrary “balance tax”. Casters can either be narrowly focused and really good, or generalized with great utility. The specialist versus jack of all trades.

I thought about writing a more in depth and compelling argument for this, but it’s exhausting. I’m usually amazed at how much D&D DNA is still imbedded in our game system that really doesn’t make much sense!

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Shadow World Master File List. 7-8-26

Please note that some of these files may be here on the Rolemasterblog, but to access these links to the RM Forums will require a Forum account–otherwise you cannot see or access.

Here we go:

  1. SW Healing Chart. This was a quick reference chart for cinematic healing, but taking into account cultural access to healing skills. I use it between adventures to quickly establish healing times & costs without a lot of more complicated calculations. It was included in my Master Atlas, but probably needs to fleshed out.
  2. RM/RMU Class Comparison. Another chart from my Master Atlas, this was a quick guide to mapping RMU professions to classic RM professions with notes specific to SW.
  3. SW Research Chart. Small chart to generate research results.
  4. Invoke Chart. I’ve blogged and written about invocation quite a bit. This chart allows PCs to call/pray for their gods intervention. This is a common mechanism in my SW campaign and brings the gods into gameplay in a less abstract way.
  5. SW Lore Table. Incomplete, but the start of summarizing skill levels/competence level and knowledge of various skills and lores.
  6. SW Metal Chart. Summary of SW metals and alloys with a unifying “breakage” number that use for material RRs and enchantments/imbedding.
  7. Master Herb Chart. Collated list of all herbs, plants, and poisons found in all RM books. May need some updates to include Terry’s more recent books.
  8. SW Crystal Summary. Crystals play a key role in SW, but Terry never really fleshed out a full system for the. This chart assumes that all “Essence Crystals” are basically the same–even if know as Zirix Crystals, or Essaence Crystals or Jewel Slime etc. It needs some work, but I use crystals as PP storage devices that can be drawn upon or recharged with channeling skill.
  9. Cantrips. Really this is part of BASiL, but in the thread.
  10. God Invocation Summary. This chart is used with the Invocation chart. Summarizes modifiers to SW’s gods responses and specific things they may do.
  11. SW Encounter Chart. This is a comprehensive chart for random encounters by region. Includes weather and Essence effects. Inspired by the encounter tables in the AD&D DM’s guide. Needs a little updating but I think a very useful tool!
  12. Void Knight Base List. Spell list for a organization I use in my SW campaign and features in “Priest-King of Shade”. It needs some touch up.
  13. Soulless. Update Pending. This is my effort to consolidate the concept of the Unlife, traditional fantasy Undead, corruption and possession. In my SW campaign, the Unlife possesses or inhabits creatures to various degrees.
  14. Hierax Guard. Organization dedicated to fighting Demon’s. Uses the Void Knight base list.
  15. Xiosians. My interpretation of the Xio Warriors mentioned in a few places and a way to integrate them into the larger SW story.
  16. History of the Earthwardens. I went through every single SW book and collated all the references to the Earthwardens. This is my conclusions.
  17. Notes on Tech & Languages. Quick excerpt from my Master Atlas.
  18. Elves. Again, this is my fleshing out of Elves: how they came to be and their place in the larger story. Plus a Shadow World explanation of the various types of Elves beyond the Tolkien archetypes.
  19. Alchemy Notes. I use alchemy skill a lot in my game. This is my simplified but flexible rules on alchemy. I plan on expanding on it at some point.
  20. SW Trade Goods. Treasure is more than gems, jewelry and gold!
  21. SW Civilization Summary. Chart from my Master Atlas with overview of the various ancient civilizations.
  22. Cult of Hraask. I wanted a “spider/insect” spell list grounded in SW.
  23. SW Cultural Skills. This is part of SWARM rules (Shadow World Alternate Role Master) and my “build a character in 10 minutes. Includes specific SW cultures rather than the broader types in RMU.
  24. SW Professions. List of vocations and skill packages for quick character generation.
  25. SW Background Table. Random background table, SW specific.
  26. SW Material Strength. Unifying method for breakage, VS RR’s and imbedding, enchanting and weapon runes.
  27. Weapon Modifier Chart. Combat modifiers and stats for specific weapons rather than general modifiers used in RM.
  28. SW Racial Chart. Conversion of bonuses to RMU. Probably will need a re-edit after RMU publication.
  29. Orhanian Base Spells Lists. God specific lists for Clerics and Followers. See “Religions & Channeling Handbook” below in #49
  30. Charon Base Lists. See “Religions & Channeling Handbook” below in #49
  31. Religious Organizations. Orhan. See “Religions & Channeling Handbook” below in #49
  32. Religious Organizations. Charon. See “Religions & Channeling Handbook” below in #49
  33. History of SW in narrative form. My Master Atlas version.
  34. SW Languages. My notes, needs some work.
  35. SW Special Armor. Cool armors.
  36. SW Archaeology. Notes on ancient SW civilizations.
  37. SW Antiquities. Price chart for REALLY ancient, “priceless” stuff!
  38. Jaiman Tradegoods. More trade items specific to Jaiman cities and cultures.
  39. Iron Wind Base Lists. Lyak. Yarthraak. Gaath. Athimurl. Dansart. Thargondaak.
  40. SW Notes on Currency. Summary of various coins and currencies.
  41. Shrapnel & Swarm Crit Chart. I use for explosions or insect swarms.
  42. SW Trade Goods: Drugs & Alcohol. Small file that needs more work!
  43. BASIL: Essence Lists.
  44. BASIL: Channeling Lists.
  45. BASIL: Mentalism Lists. Still working on these.
  46. For links to the spell lists above.
  47. Legends of Shadow World. Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5. Alternate all Priest PCs.
  48. Priest-King of Shade. Priest King Charts. Small module that takes place in SW Agyra.
  49. The Book of Pales. Summary and overview of the Pales.
  50. SW Religions and Channeling Handbook.
  51. Book of Herbs. White background version. Illustrated guide to all of the herbs found in the Shadow World books.
  52. SW Channeling Canticles. (Adventure Paths). Kuor. Phaon. Teris. Shaal. Updates Pending.
  53. Shadow World Suggested Patrons. Suggestions for patron Gods (Orhan and Charon) based on Professions.
  54. SW Transport Costs.
  55. Earthwarden Base Lists. Updates in Progress. Creations. Essaence Master, Dimension Mastery, Shapechanging & Life Mastery, Time Mastery, Mana Fires, Earthworks, Sound Mastery, Words of Power, Warding.
  56. Matt (Vroomfogle) Hanson Files. Languages of Kulthea, SW Combat Styles, Vroomfogles Magic Treasures, Compass Rules. Legacy of the Y’Kin.
  57. Misc Files & Maps. Esov Inquirer, Esov Inquirer 2, Meluria Map, Rhakhaan South Map
  58. Martin’s “Lethys” file.
  59. Jengada’s Files. Scorpion Attack, Rip/Tear Critical Strikes.
  60. Ultimate Shadow World Trivia Test.
  61. Empire of the Black Dragon. PENDING. Companion supplement to Priest-King covering the realms of Uyla Shek.
  62. SW: Book of Trade Goods
  63. SW Spell List: Breath of Power. Used in Agyra.
  64. Updated: Book of Channeling 2.0
  65. Shadow World Vocation Packages. Replaces apprenticeship step in chargen.
  66. Shadow World & Rolemaster: Combat Companion
  67. Updated and formatted Shadow World Master Encounter Table
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Appearance as a stat?

During my deconstruction of the Rolemaster ruleset for my Shadow World campaign I kept hitting a wall with stat redesign. Sometimes I tried to reduce the stats from 10, other times I tried to come up with a better framework of qualities that represents a “being” and works with the skill list. I have to say that even after 45 years, the 10 basic stats in Rolemaster work pretty well and it’s hard to come up with something better. It’s a good balance between tangible physical components and intangible or mental attributes. That is not to say that I don’t use stats differently (stats as skills) or apply different stats to skills then RAW, but I can’t come up with any real improvements that are worth further effort. That’s a testament to the original design.

However, there is 1 physical quality that I think should be included and one that I use–but not wholeheartedly. “Appearance”. It’s easily argued that physical appearance is an incredibly relevant attribute, but decisive as well. Recent game design theory has moved away from stressing physical appearance and embracing full-inclusivity, but beyond in-game efficacy, an appearance score is a quick indicator, a short-hand, when describing a PC or NPC. As part of my writing, I’m trying to focus more complete character descriptions and I don’t think every PC or NPC should be heroic in appearance or from “central casting”. Certainly a character could be less traditionally attractive (physical appearance) and yet highly charismatic. And yet, I don’t want to lean into the normal advantages that physical appearance provides: in real life or in gaming.

I’ve always been intrigued by player’s decision to embrace a PC with unusual attributes: obesity, unattractiveness, physical disabilities etc. In a game environment of min/maxing, fantasy and escapism, many players want to be an idealized figure. Does anyone really want a score of “20” in physical appearance? Should this be addresses through the flaw system or incorporated into the stats and related skill resolution (charm, leadership etc)?

Anyone else use Appearance as a 11th stat or a more prominent role in their game?

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SW 4th Era: Road Map for History

How do you know where you are if you don’t where you’ve been?

For the last 20 years I’ve found my campaign hovering around the last few decades of the 3rd Era. The great story arcs are still in progress and the conflicts arising from those story lines are intersected by the PC’s again and again without them being the main characters. Strangely, I’ve never run a group completely through one of Terry’s campaigns.

Shadow World now feels like a game of the greatest hits, or similar to Star Wars RPG where the players run their adventures during the lead up to the original trilogy. Great moments, world shattering events and completions of story arcs are there but not for the party to enjoy directly. I’ve talked with quite a few Shadow World GM’s over the years and most run games with characters between 1st and 10th lvl and then reset. Some of Terry’s storylines are going to need very high level characters and based on feedback from my “Legends of Shadow World” their also seems to be little appetite for high level adventures as well. Not everyone can be a lowly Hobbit and save the world!

So, to circle around, before I can build the 4th Era I need to finish the last few pages and chapter of the 3rd Era. Each of Terry’s new books slightly advanced the timeline, but I think it was his fiction, “Loremaster Legacy” where he hoped to finish his opus rather than through incremental SW supplements. While there are many story arcs in Shadow World, the higher level narratives need to be resolved to determine and inform what happens next. For all my ideas about the 4th Era, any changes need to have a logical justification and not just the simple hand-waves that annoy me!

So what are these large story arcs?

  1. The Northern Eye. The loss of the Northern Eye plunged the hemisphere into erratic Essaence activity and Terry hinted at more several issues. Clearly, the return and placement of the Eye is a key event in the 3rd Era.
  2. The Shadowstone Chronicles encompasses the “World Crisis” story arc that has driven the setting from it’s earliest form. Several items play here: the Shadowstone, the Soulsword, the Ark of Worlds and the Heart of Agoth are key elements. There is a lot of Middle Earth DNA here and some elements of the Court of Ardor that is leading to a grand confrontation between the good guys and the bad guy(s).
  3. The Nameless One. Something is happening here. A mysterious figure that shows up before a major disaster needs a conclusion.
  4. The Gods. Since the Wars of Dominion, the friction between the Orhan and Charon pantheons has reached a boiling point.
  5. Lorgalis. For many settings, Lorgalis alone might be the main antagonist. While not world spanning, his influence and plans regarding Jaiman are significant.
  6. The Gold Dragon. He hasn’t played much of a role in the 3rd Era, but setting him up for the 4th seems appropriate.
  7. Andraax. Should the story of Andraax be put to rest, finally? Perhaps a deep sleep for now?
  8. Legends of Shadow World. I consider this critical narrative and set’s the stage for several SW elements: the Lense of Strok, the rise of Andaras, the disposition of Nynaku and the Demons of the Pale.

I’m not sure any definitive ending to these stories will satisfy everyone; but these stories need an end. My goal is to write the ending first and then see where it leads us, rather than write the ending that meets my needs and plans for the 4th Era. That’s going to be difficult since I’m not sure what’s working subconsciously in my creative process!

I’m curious if anyone has run to the end, have any ideas on an ending, or feel like there are other major plot points that I didn’t discuss that need commenting!

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SW 4th Era: Initial Books

As many of you already suspect, I’m further along on this project than just concepts. I’ve fleshed out the first 3-5 supplements that could be brought to market as a cohesive RMU 4th Era launch. Arguably having several books ready to go creates more momentum and incentives player buy-in of the setting. Of course, any new users for SW would likely want the older material from Terry as well giving the entire product line a great boost.

I’m not getting into too much detail, but here is my working list.

  1. SW: 4th Era Addendum. I’m not sure it should be called a Master Atlas since it doesn’t need to rise to that level of detail and/or it would include some redundancy. Nonetheless, this is the essential primer for the new setting that would include a “history” (I’m starting this on year 20 after TBotNE) that establishes the current state of affairs, politics and power and high level topics. 150 pages. Plus Map Gazatteer.
  2. A Grand Adventure: “Rise of the Loremasters”. I’m envisioning this as a fusion of the Druid narrative from Sword of Shanara, and Star Wars sequels. The Loremasters, decimated by the final battles, are absent from the affairs of Shadow World. Worse still, Karilon has been quarantined by powerful magic and inaccessible. Starting with the “Search for Randae Terisonen” this multi-part campaign has the group seeking out surviving Loremasters and eventually helping restore the order. 60 pages.
  3. A Dungeon Crawl. RM and SW has never had a tradition of dungeon adventures, but several expansive facilities were abandoned at the end of the 3rd Era. Are they still occupied? What evil resides in these remote places. The players are tasked with gathering intel, recovering or destroying a powerful talisman or artifact. 50 pages.
  4. A Wilderness Adventure. Without the aid of Navigators, the group must traverse a land ravaged by a last battle. Now overrun by XXX, the players are tasked with connecting to a remote enclave in a traditional hex or wilderness crawl. 35 pages.
  5. A City Supplement. With Eidolon destroyed and Norek drowned in a cataclysmic tidal wave, a new city has arisen as the center of commerce in Emer. 120 pages.

I see most of the focus still on Emer and Jaiman but with clear development guidelines, third party authors could start utilizing and/or developing other parts of the hemisphere.

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Shadow World and the 4th Era

There has been some discussion about resetting the Shadow World setting with the start of the “4th Era”. The purpose is two fold: first, to respect the canon work that Terry has built and second to create a starting point for new Shadow World material with a clean slate (more or less).

There is no dispute that Terry’s work in the Master Atlas’s, Emer books, Loremaster Legacy, Grand Campaign and other supporting material was building towards a finale. The converging narratives were built around the loss of the Northern Eye, growing influence of the Unlife, and world spanning cults. Similar to the end of the 1st Era, and to a lesser extent, the Wars of Dominion at the end of the 2nd Era, the current 3rd Era was going to end, and likely messily!

Clashes of great powers, meddling of Gods both noble and malign, key and notable NPC’s and the players themselves could result in seismic events. Perhaps this grand battle would not result in world-wide destruction, but it could certainly lead to triggers that would then unleash secondary destruction. Floods, tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions could be as destructive or more so than cataclysmic releases of the Essaence.

I see 4 major categories of change:

  1. Geographic impacts. This could be destruction of coastal areas, loss of land mass due to a rise in sea levels, subsidence of continental shelves, massive volcanic activity.
  2. Changes in the Essaence. Would major Essaence flows change in scope or power? Would flows reroute or diverge from current paths? Would the ambient level of Essaence change, become more or less volatile?
  3. Political. If major population centers and/or empires were dramatically impacted would new powers emerge? Which major powers, NPC’s or historical figures survive?
  4. Gods. IF the gods were involved with the end of the 3rd Era, what is the end result? A shift of the current pantheon? A change in the hierarchy of the gods? Do the Gods of Charon benefit or lose from these events?

I think this is an exciting pivot point for Shadow World! Terry’s setting up to this point, becomes history– a time of legend and mystery! Functionally, this reset could coincide with the new RMU ruleset and some of the changes built into the 4th Era could better engage with Rolemaster rules.

As I work on this I’ll post some updates, but curious if anyone else has some thoughts?

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Shadow World: Retconning the Dyari.

There was a recent discussion on the forums about Dyari. I’ve written about Elves before here, but the recent conversation brought me around again.

Musings on High Elves in Shadow World
Elves, Elves, Everywhere! Elves in Shadow World and fiction.

I’ve put together a more detailed history of the Elves and posted it on the forums a decade ago. In the subsequent years I’ve fine tuned and expanded upon it as part of our definitive Master Atlas and now in the SW: Book of Essaence I’m working on. I feel that most of my material is well within Canon, but there is one significant change I made: I demoted the Dyari to a cultural group.

The Dyari are a more philosophical issue for me. First and foremost, I have no interest in strict racially dictated moral and cultural traits: i.e. Orcs are “evil”, Gnomes are good with tech or devices, Dwarves like to work with stone and metal. These monolithic ideas that beings were born into specific abilities, attitudes and predilections were simple and appealing 40 years ago. IIt allowed us to easily drop races into convenient trait and identity buckets for game play. And, it gave free reign for player groups to attack and kill any person or being inherently “evil”. Per the MA:

The Dark Elves instead gained their name because
of an earned reputation for associating with
the powers of darkness. It is true that many of their
kind have been seduced by the lure of the Unlife
(many of the Priests Arnak are Dyar, for instance),
but most Dyari are merely what one might call
“mercenary.” They embody the worst traits of the
Loari but to the extreme: they are vain and arrogant,
considering all other races (including other
Elves) to be inferior. They have a lust for power:
political, magical, physical, and spiritual.

    I am uncomfortable with an entire race, male, female and children being painted in such broad strokes, I feel that the origins of the Elves lends themselves to worship or alliance with the Lords of Orhan, but ultimately there should be a role of self-determination. For me, the solution was to have Elves that withdrew from the Lords of Orhan, become inherently “outcasts” from the collective Elven community. That is not to say that they would become evil, or automatically follow the Charonic pantheon. This solution allows for a variety of motivations: moral independence, agnosticism, allegiance to a local god, atheism etc. This of course introduces aspects of religious indoctrination, complicated cultural forces, and player choice.

    It’s important to note that SW Dyari are not DnD Drow with black skin and white hair. That is a powerful image used throughout fantasy pop culture and VERY popular with players. Instead Terry wrote this:

    The Dyari (Iy: “Delvers”) are, despite their nickname
    of “Dark Elves,” no darker in skin pigmentation
    than their brethren; in fact they are very
    fair-skinned.     While most have raven hair, a few
    are born with pure white locks. Their ears frequently
    have more pronounced points than the
    other Elves; their eyes are grey, black, or sometimes
    amber. Often, however, they are so similar to their
    Loar cousins that it is difficult—at least for mortals—
    to tell the difference.

    For me and my campaign, that was the opening to retcon Dyari and provide a more nuanced approach to “fallen” Elves. Notably, during gameplay, I’ve framed Ilyar to be more intolerable, insufferable and judgmental in their approach to mortals and other lesser beings, while Dyari tend towards libertarianism. Certainly some contemporary parallels!

    A final point, and one that I’ve also written about extensively. I don’t see the Charonic gods to be inherently evil or part of the Unlife. Certainly some of the gods of Charon embrace less celebrated behaviors and personality traits, but these aspects are all inherent to the human condition. I’ll have more on this in the upcoming SW: Book of Essaence!

    For many, or even most GM’s, this is probably too much of a retcon, but I’m happy to hear everyone’s thoughts!