Tenkar's Tavern: Thinking Critical - Some Thoughts on Rolemaster

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Thinking Critical - Some Thoughts on Rolemaster

I was thinking earlier about the rulesets I have installed for Fantasy Grounds 2 (VTT) and Rolemaster kinda stuck out in my mind.

I always had big ideas about running a Rolemaster campaign back in the 90s, but I never got around to it. I did run some MERP, and we had a short but intense Spacemaster campaign that I ran when we were short players, but we never stuck with it.

It always seemed like it was too complicated. We loved reading the charts, but we hated referring to the charts. Heck, I think I winged at least half the modifiers.

Fantasy Grounds 2 automates the modifiers and the charts. It ALMOST makes it a viable choice for me to run a game of Rolemaster. It still may be too complicated for me. Swords & Wizardry Complete, ACKS and the other clones are more my taste these days.

It would be nice to have some of those criticals pop up on the screen. I might just have to play around with it tonight and see how it plays out.

Yes, I'm getting much closer to getting my game on. Or games. Fun Fun!

1 comment:

kelvingreenNovember 23, 2011 at 3:55 PM
Given that Rolemaster has its origins in a D&D add-on, theen it's probably not too difficult to take the critical hit charts and bolt them onto something like Swords & Wizardry.
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Why "Swords & Wizardry?"

Believe me when I say I have them all in dead tree format. I have OSRIC in full size, trade paperback and the Player's Guide. I have LL and the AEC (and somewhere OEC, but I can't find it at the moment). Obviously I have Basic Fantasy RPG. Actually, I have the whole available line in print. Way too much Castles & Crusades. We all know my love for the DCC RPG. I even have Dark Dungeons in print, the Delving Deeper boxed set, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. BOTH editions of LotFP's Weird Fantasy and some dead tree copies of the Greyhawk Grognards Adventures Dark & Deep

I am so deep in the OSR when I come up for breath it's for the OSR's cousin, Tunnels & Trolls

So, out of all that, why Swords & Wizardry? Why, when I have been running a AD&D 1e / OSRIC campaign in Rappan Athuk am I using Swords & Wizardry and it's variant, Crypts & Things, for the second campaign? (Actually, now running a S&W Complete campaign, soon to be with multiple groups)

Because the shit works.

It's easy for lapsed gamers to pick up and feel like they haven't lost a step. I can house rule it and it doesn't break. It plays so close to the AD&D of my youth and college years (S&W Complete especially) that it continually surprises me. Just much less rules hopping than I remember. (my God but I can run it nearly without the book)

I grab and pick and steal from just about all OSR and Original resources. They seem to fit into S&W with little fuss. It may be the same with LL and the rest, but for me the ease of use fit's my expectations with S&W.

Even the single saving throw. That took me longer to adjust to, but even that seems like a natural to me now. Don't ask me why, it just does. Maybe it's the simplicity of it. At 45 52, simplicity and flexibility while remaining true to the feel of the original is an OSR hat trick for me ;)

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Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Thinking Critical - Some Thoughts on Rolemaster

1 comment:

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