#role master

So I play Role Master with a group of old nerds, and that shit is so heavy with all the tables and the maths and all the bullshit, it's hilarious.

Before we headed out of the village we bought a mule to carry some stuff. Named it Sa-mule. Then we were traveling along and some sort of a demon first kidnapped one of the PCs and then showed up a bit later with our pal in a sack, saying we can have him back if we trade him for a soul. I suggested the mule, the DM rolled in secret, and then his face did a thing (I assume because the roll indicated that this fucking demon is actually going to accept the mule offering). So the demon goes "yeah actually I am kinda hungry", sucks the life out of the mule and gives our friend back.

Ok so now we are muleless. We distribute the stuff that the mule was carrying amongst ourselves and carry on traveling. The DM rolls a random encounter table, and his face does a thing.

And there, hanging out in a glade, is a mule. So we inspect the situation, and it's genuinely just, there's a mule, no owner in sight, perception check indicates that this mule's owner has not been around in months. So I guess we have a mule now, again. Set up all the previous mule's gear like saddle bags and things on the new mule, name it Sa-mule the Second, and off we go.

DM rolls the random encounter table. Him face.

OK, Rolemaster time! This is Arms Law and Claw Law (1989) and it is part of the 2.5 edition of the Rolemaster rules. This and the other Law books that form the core rules were issued both in a boxed set and separately, but the box is insanely expensive (relative to the books it contains) so I don’t own that.

Arms Law is the earliest ICE product, while Claw Law came around a bit later to do the same for beast as Arms Law did for weapons. Eventually, the two rulesets were combined, because why put those things in separate books, really? The two sets were originally intended as a replacement for D&D’s “simple” combat system but as it developed into a fully fledged skill-based percentile system it seems to owe quite a bit to RuneQuest as well.

There’s also the open-ended dice rolling mechanic which…I honestly do not understand the point of it (feel free to illuminate me). Essentially, it functions like “exploding” dice (and might be the first example of such?), but also serves some mathematical/mechanical function that escapes me. There are also the famous (and grisly) critical hits and fumble. Also, charts full of very fine print for every individual weapon, which is no doubt how the game earned the nickname Chartmaster.

Tequila, my RoleMaster Dwarf White Sorceress. Will heal you and be nice about it, will complain about you life choices.

our GM is chronicling our playthrough here. unfortunately you may have to sign up for an account to read, but it could be fun if you wanted to. :3

I am player 5, where it is noted that:  “ Player 5) "Goblin Dabbler that seeks to escape her people's past enslavement" Player 5 had never played before, but was interested in the Goblin's history as slaves, and really liked the idea of a magical thief. She rolled up stats and made only 1 swap to have a better empathy. She, like everyone else, did random height weight, and her character's height and weight qualified for Medium size. She is still registered as a small character, but it did open a discussion about fact vs talents; when do the numbers outweigh talents? Regardless she is happy with her fat goblin that has the token tag line: "My people were slaaaaves!". She is an Urban Goblin, and was raised in the city life. She is traveling on the boat to get away from the oppressive nature of human culture. She chose Opportunistic Strike as her talent, and purchased off Light-Sensitivity so she can maneuver in the day time with the party. I recommended that she also get the talent "Foiler" so her Opportunistic Strike has a higher chance of working.”

not noted however, is that my Goblin is actually male, named Fenn, and is a giant dickbag.

Kate is Player 2. Notations include: “Player 2) "Half-Dwarf Laborer fleeing false arrest" Player 2 knew exactly what she wanted from the moment the setting was described: "I want to be the captain of the ship that is taking the party to West Shield". She chose Laborer to reflect her characters focus on running her trade, and rolled up her stats and made the two swaps to reflect the stats needed to maximize Vocation: Boat Captain and Leadership. She wanted to a be a dwarf, but -for reasons unknown- felt strongly about being a half dwarf, so I cut the racial bonuses in half (to a minimum of +/-1), reduced the base hits from 30 to 25, left the racial talents/flaws, and left the magic resistances the same. I recalculated the bonus DP based on what came out in the end. She chose Mariner as her background, and I offered her a retired war-ship with 2 small swivel cannons (black-powder is a thing ,but reserved for artilery during military campaigns) free of charge...I did not inform her that I have every intention of attacking, if not destroying, the ship during the first or second game. When it came to talents and flaws, she was very excited and asked if there was a way to randomly roll them. I said it would be difficult with the way tier's work, and she was very bummed out. I offered to make a chart, but she declined on the grounds of "I don't want to be difficult". She chose Adrenal Defense, a level 1 innate power, and a number of leadership talents like Golden Throat and Look of Eagles.“