Rolemaster (originally Role Master) is an extremely complex fantasy tabletop role-playing game published by Iron Crown Enterprises in 1980. The game system has undergone several revisions and editions since then.
Description
Rolemaster uses two ten-sided dice
Rolemaster is a fantasy role-playing game system that has been characterized as highly complex, with a large number of charts and tables to be consulted for every action.[1]
Character creation and development
Rolemaster characters have ten attributes such as physical strength, memory, self-discipline, and agility with scores between 1 and 100. These scores can be determined either through a point-buy system or randomly. Each attribute is then used to relevant skill bonuses.
Skills are purchased in Ranks; the more ranks a character has in a skill, the more able they are at actions covered by that skill.
Task resolution
When a player wishes to attempt an action, the player rolls percentile dice, applies relevant modifiers, and looks the result up on the appropriate chart to determine the result.
Combat
An attacking combatant rolls percentile dice, adds their Offensive Bonus to the total, adds modifiers, and subtracts the defender's Defensive Bonus. The total is then applied to a table for the attacker's weapon. The attack total is cross-indexed with the type of armor (if any) worn by the defender and the result will be a number of concussion hits dealt, which are then subtracted from the defender's running total. If sufficient hits are dealt, the defender may become unconscious.
In addition to concussion hits, some dice rolls will result in a critical hit, which can vary in type and severity. The system of tables details what part of the body has been damaged, describing, as one reviewer noted, "various horrific wounds in graphic detail."[2]
In 1984, an initial boxed set was issued containing both expanded and revised rules. The box included Spell Law, and a combined Arms Law & Claw Law, Character Law, as well as the Vog Mur campaign module for the Loremaster setting.
Shortly after the first box, a new boxed set was released, containing all of the previous contents as well as The Cloudlords of Tanara, a detailed setting and adventure supplement. The supplement introduced ICE's original Loremaster setting, which would later develop into the more sophisticated Shadow World.
Several additional supplementary books were published individually for the second edition, including three Creatures & Treasures books, and many companion books that expanded the core rules.
Rolemaster Standard System: 1994
In 1994 the game was revised and re-released as Rolemaster Standard System (RMSS). The biggest changes were to character generation, particularly in the number of skills available and the method for calculating bonuses for skills.
Many supplementary rulebooks and accessories were subsequently published.
Rolemaster Fantasy Role Playing: 1999
In 1999 the game underwent a slight restructuring when Rolemaster Fantasy Role Playing (RMFRP) was released, but this was mostly a rearranging of material with very few changes to the rules themselves.
The older single-volume Spell Law was divided into three separate books, Of Essence, Of Channelling and Of Mentalism, each of which expands that realm of power with additional professions and spell lists.
Rolemaster Unified: 2022
Rolemaster Unified is a new edition based on a number of revisions from RMSS/RMFRP editions.
Variant systems
Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE) went defunct in 2000, and in 2001, they sold the intellectual rights to Rolemaster to the London-based company Aurigas Aldebaron, while the ICE brand name was licensed to a U.S.-based company named Mjolnir LLC.[3] In 2016, the licensing went to Guild Companion Publications, with whom Aurigas Aldebaron merged. From 2017, the merger changed its name to Iron Crown Enterprises, effectively returning to its original, well-known publisher name.[4]
Throughout the various ownership and publisher name changes, Rolemaster remained sufficiently popular that the original books eventually sold out and went out of print. This led to several reprints by the new owners and publishers, resulting in three variants of the original Rolemaster game system.
In 1995, the boxed set Rolemaster: The Basics was issued as a simplified version of the Rolemaster Standard System. The box contains rulebooks with all rules necessary for playing this simplified variant of the game.[5]
In 2007, the second edition (RM2) rules system was revitalized and issued under the name Rolemaster Classic, or RMC for short. The revitalization was published by Guild Companion Publications and included new versions of all the old core rulebooks of Arms Law, Spell Law, Character Law, and Creatures and Treasures, but also an updated Rolemaster Companion and a new Combat Companion from 2008.[6][7]
Also in 2007, Rolemaster Express, or RMX for short, was issued by Guild Companion Publications. It is a simplified version of the Rolemaster Classic System, with all necessary rules combined into a single book.[8][9]
Reception
In the August 1984 edition of Dragon (Issue #88), Arlen Walker queried whether the hefty $48 price tag for the second edition boxed set was worth the money, and provided a long and in-depth examination of the box's contents. Walker had quibbles over the combat system, which seemed to generalize rather than individualize weapons; and he felt the book on animal encounters had very little information about the actual animals. Walker concluded, "Is the Rolemaster system worth the $48, then? The answer is a resounding 'maybe.' If you want a freer, more open game than you are currently playing, I’d say it is probably worth it. Even with the inconsistencies noted it still allows more freedom of choice than almost any other game. Although the physical size of the game is rather imposing, the actual mechanics run rather smoothly and simply."[10]
Walker also reviewed the separately published books Character Law, Campaign Law, Spell Law, Claw Law and Arms Law.
Character Law Although Walker liked the ability to move randomly generated ability scores around to produce the most beneficial results for the character class sought, he disagreed with the system of rolling dice ten times in order to generate character abilities, and then raising two of those abilities up to 90, if they were not already 90 or better. Walker felt this created a monochrome cast of characters and non-player characters. Walker liked the different ways that characters could gain experience points, such as travel, having religious experiences such as visions, and for coming up with a brilliant idea — although he thought this one would probably lead to arguments over which player had originally voiced the germ of the idea. But he didn't like the idea that characters get experience points for dying.
Spell Law Walker was impressed with the variety of spells detailed in Spell Law, numbering over two thousand. He found that the "spell-casting system is somewhat more complicated than in other games, but not unplayably so."
Arms Law He had quibbles about Arms Law — combat was very fast and lethal due to the high amount of damage inflicted by a single blow, and he believed that new players used to other role-playing systems should be made aware of this. Walker also questioned why a character could not parry with a two-handed weapon, although he realized it was probably "a concession to speed of play."
Claw Law Walker criticized the lack of descriptions of the animals covered in Claw Law, saying, "The animal descriptions have little if anything to do with animals. Calling them descriptions, in fact, is probably overstating the case dramatically... We are told nothing else about the animal, including what it looks like, where it can be found, and how it will behave if found." Walker went on to question why "Historical Weapons" were found in this book, which was supposed to be about damage from animals and monsters, rather than in Arms Law. He also criticized the lack of variety these weapons represented, since to calculate damage and other combat-related numbers for these exotic weapons, referees were simply referred to equivalent weapons in Arms Law. "For example, if you wish to have your character use a Katana, you use the same chart as if he were using a broadsword. The cover blurbs (for Arms Law) say, 'Because a mace is not an arrow or a scimitar...' yet this section says a broadsword is both a long sword and a sabre (as well as a Katana) and a dart is a dagger, because they use the same tables."
Campaign Law Unlike the first four books, Walker had high praise for Campaign Law, saying, "Whether you’re looking for a new system to run or not, Campaign Law is definitely worth the $10 price of admission. The information and guidelines this book will give you on fleshing out and filling in a consistent campaign world are almost invaluable. All I can say is that if this book had been available when I first began running campaigns, it would have saved me at least a year of development time."[10]
Rick Swan reviewed various editions of the game system:
In his 1990 book The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games, Swan thought that the second edition game system "reads more like a collection of supplements than an integrated system ... it's still extraordinarily complicated and by no means for beginners." Swan concluded by giving the game a rating of 2.5 out of 4, saying, "Rolemaster lacks the flavor of classic fantasy RPGs such as Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and Runequest, coming off as a dull collection of numbers and tables."[1]
In the September 1995 edition of Dragon (Issue 221), Swan reviewed the updated 144-page Arms Law book that had been released in conjunction with the revised Rolemaster Standard System edition. Swan still found the complexity of the Rolemaster system astounding, saying, "With its tidal wave of numbers, formulas, and tables, the Rolemaster game always struck me as the kind of fantasy RPG that calculus professors play on their day off." Swan found Arms Law to be "mainly a book of tables — more than 100 pages worth." He gave the book an average rating of 4 out of 6, and recommended it only for the mathematically inclined: "If you read computer manuals for fun, if you get misty-eyed thinking about your high school algebra class, if you wonder why your friends complain about something as trivial as filling out tax forms, then Rolemaster ought to be right up your alley. Arms Law is as good a place as any to begin your investigation."[11]
In the July 1996 edition of Dragon (Issue 231), Swan reviewed the new supplement Arcane Companion that had been published in conjunction with the revision of the magic system in the Rolemaster Standard System edition. Swan reiterated that the Rolemaster system was a mathematician's delight: "Saturated with charts and numbers, it's for players who buy pocket calculators by the crate... If you're the kind of guy who needs his fingers to do arithmetic, this ain't your kind of game." Despite this, Swan found Arcane Companion to be "not only comprehensible, but entertaining, thanks to the designers’ efforts to infuse the facts and figures with vivid imagery." Swan concluded that because this supplement was so solidly linked to the Rolemaster system, it could not be ported to another game system, but "experienced players should welcome this ambitious expansion with open arms. And if you’re among those who’ve dismissed Rolemaster as not worth the effort, sneak a peek at Arcane Companion; it might tempt you to reconsider."[12]
In a 1996 reader poll conducted by UK games magazine Arcane to determine the 50 best roleplaying systems, Rolemaster was ranked 15th. Arcane editor Paul Pettengale commented: "Often used as an archetypal example of a complex roleplaying system, Rolemaster is a fairly numbers-heavy game that also relies on the use of a lot of tables. Most notable are its notorious 'critical hit' charts, which are subdivided by damage type and describe various horrific wounds in graphic detail. If you're looking for a highly detailed and fairly complex system, Rolemaster has a great deal to recommend it. The rules are fairly well organised and very flexible, easily adaptable to a wide variety of situations. On the other hand, if you're not one for tables and calculations, it's probably not going to ring your bell."[2]
Scott Taylor for Black Gate in 2013 rated Rolemaster as #6 in the top ten role-playing games of all time, saying "Also attributed to the frame of the Middle-Earth Role-Playing Game, which was the 2nd most popular fantasy RPG of the 1980s, I.C.E.'s Rolemaster must certainly make a showing as something of a heavyweight in the industry, even if it no longer exists as an entity".[13]
Several publications and magazines with supplementary game material has been issued under the ICE brand over the years.
For the Rolemaster Standard System, Rolemaster Annual 1996 and Rolemaster Annual 1997 included new additional rules for that game system, including new professions, races, spelllists, and errata.
For the Rolemaster Fantasy Role Playing system, Guild Companion Publications (GCP) issued Rolemaster Quarterly from April 2006 to August 2007. The magazine was dedicated to presenting optional rules and play material, and a total of seven magazines were published.[18]
Several Electronic Roleplaying Assistants (ERAs) have been issued for use with the RMC, RMSS and RMFRP systems since 2005. They are computer applications, developed for use with Windows, Mac OSX and Linux, helping players and game masters running the game digitally, including character creation and management.[19]
