I created an excel spreadsheet that, by using data look up functions (e.g., vlook) and dropdown boxes significantly decreased the time it takes to create a character. Automatically updates all the modifiers as you change all the inputs. I can create a RMC character in about 1/2 the time it takes to create a 5e character.
I really like the fact that pretty much all the spell-casting classes have class-specific lists as opposed to the way D&D & many other games do it with just having them pull from a Druid or Cleric list or whatever. Adds more flavor. And as you noted in your overview video, these spell list choices can have a major effect on the game due to critical effects.
Class-specific, theme-specific, and with logical escalation in relational power down a list. I've always imagined a list as being representative of a field of study, with the spellcaster gaining greater understanding of that field as he pores over ancient texts, converses with others wise in that knowledge, and experiments with the lore he acquires. Mechanically, the character is just developing his way down a spell list. Narratively, it becomes far more evocative than "I can cast Web now" :)
33:49 Ack! All this time I've only been doing stat gain rolls during the Apprenticeship step of character creation, not the Adolescence step. I think I must have been thinking of the adolescent (level 0) version of the character as their baseline, and then during Apprenticeship they gain 10,000xp and "advance" to Level 1. Doing stat gains during character creation is more generous, but of course barring the odd 01-04 stat gain roll characters tend to reach their "potential" stat maxes pretty quickly during campaign play anyway. Thanks for the great overview!
It's not wholly intuitive, I know. But it does follow a pattern of every development stage being (more or less) the same. Anyway, as you say, I don't think you've been missing a huge amount in the grand scheme of things.
No kidding... I actually fast-forward through sections! It's been an interesting project so far, if only to see how long each game system's character generation video turns out to be.
This game is the best Fantasy RPG. I play it all the time and I GM this game. Considering both of your Prime Stats can be brought to 90, I would have put my two lowest rolls in IN & CO and then put the 96 and 97 in either ST or AG depending on my choice of a ranged fighter type or melee fighter type. My only change.
Gread video, as always, illustrative and complete. Unrelated to Rolemaster -Classics or otherwise: have you ever considered playing a solo game (like Four Against Darkness, for example) and recording sessions? Suggesting for selfish reasons - I would certainly enjoy listening to gameplay with that British accent of yours. It somehow feels very Tolkien-esque (in a good way, provided there is a non-good way to be Tolkien-esque, which I doubt).
That's a novel idea... I have Tunnels & Trolls on my "to do" list, and a solo play would fit in there! Call of Cthulhu is also coming, and the "Alone..." books may also fit. I think I also have the old D&D solo modules somewhere...
@@WillyMuffinUK Yes, T&T can totally work, I remember there are several (some quite interesting) solo modules. Do you have the 1980's British edition of the books?
@@BlaueCookieFan I do - the Corgi Books versions. I'll have to extract them from my son's room, as that is where they currently live! I do have some of the US scenario releases, and PDFs of a couple of other editions. Another fun solo game from way back I enjoyed was Star Smuggler... all this could add up to an entirely new playlist!
If you're using the optional Power Point Development skill, then total PPs are (PP rank) x (PP from realm stat). So, a stat of 95, which gives 2PP, for a character that has developed 8 ranks of PP Development, would have 8 x 2 = 16 Power Points. Effectively, the PP Development rank replaces the character's level for determining total Power Points. This is the same as "Option 2" for the PP Development skill from RM2 Companion II. The default is simply level x PP from realm stat, no skill development required. I prefer using the PP Development skill, because it gives spellcasters a similar flexibility as afforded to combat-focussed characters through Body Development. Your mileage may vary, as with all optional chunks of the game!
@@WillyMuffinUK I feel as though I'm still misunderstanding something. Regardless of the build, would you not always turn your two lowest rolls into 90s? I've never played so I really don't know the reasons for doing the numbers that way you did.
@@foxtrotalphaone Not always. It's a choice to do so. Actually, a choice to assign any of your scores to your profession's prime stats and, if you want to, switch them to 90s. I chose to assign the lowest and up to 90s to illustrate this. At the end of the day, what you do depends on if you are trying for an optimal build, or to model a particular character concept. The rule is, you can optionally exchange your prime stats for 90s. In RMSS, it's a little different. There, because it is more a points-based stat generation method, you have minimum values to assign rather than the 90 exchange option.
I am pretty sure you could have whipped up a character in less time than that but you would have had to cut out all the explanations. 🙂 Though I did spend hours reading skill lists, spell lists, esp. w the Companions; the game is so open ended.
Why a wood elf... anything but an elf. A human would have been much better. I do want to thank you for this video as it is long overdue. I stared with classic went to SS and now RMFRP. Best system out there by far.
What can I say - I like wood elves! RMSS/RMFRP video will be along... eventually. At the moment, I'm aiming to cover BattleTech next, then RuneQuest 3 - but stay tuned for more RM :)
D&D's character generation is slightly faster. But I'm glad you managed to do Rolemaster Classic (RM2). I like Rolemaster, it's my favorite RPG.
I created an excel spreadsheet that, by using data look up functions (e.g., vlook) and dropdown boxes significantly decreased the time it takes to create a character. Automatically updates all the modifiers as you change all the inputs. I can create a RMC character in about 1/2 the time it takes to create a 5e character.
I really like the fact that pretty much all the spell-casting classes have class-specific lists as opposed to the way D&D & many other games do it with just having them pull from a Druid or Cleric list or whatever. Adds more flavor. And as you noted in your overview video, these spell list choices can have a major effect on the game due to critical effects.
Class-specific, theme-specific, and with logical escalation in relational power down a list. I've always imagined a list as being representative of a field of study, with the spellcaster gaining greater understanding of that field as he pores over ancient texts, converses with others wise in that knowledge, and experiments with the lore he acquires. Mechanically, the character is just developing his way down a spell list. Narratively, it becomes far more evocative than "I can cast Web now" :)
Another great video you've made. Thanks!
Thank-you!
33:49 Ack! All this time I've only been doing stat gain rolls during the Apprenticeship step of character creation, not the Adolescence step. I think I must have been thinking of the adolescent (level 0) version of the character as their baseline, and then during Apprenticeship they gain 10,000xp and "advance" to Level 1.
Doing stat gains during character creation is more generous, but of course barring the odd 01-04 stat gain roll characters tend to reach their "potential" stat maxes pretty quickly during campaign play anyway.
Thanks for the great overview!
It's not wholly intuitive, I know. But it does follow a pattern of every development stage being (more or less) the same. Anyway, as you say, I don't think you've been missing a huge amount in the grand scheme of things.
I'm 20 seconds in and just realised the video is 1 hour 20. I reckon you must have rushed char-gen on this one ;)
No kidding... I actually fast-forward through sections! It's been an interesting project so far, if only to see how long each game system's character generation video turns out to be.
Cool enfin une vidéo qui explique clairement comment faire un perso pour rolemaster jdr
I hope you find it useful :)
This game is the best Fantasy RPG. I play it all the time and I GM this game. Considering both of your Prime Stats can be brought to 90, I would have put my two lowest rolls in IN & CO and then put the 96 and 97 in either ST or AG depending on my choice of a ranged fighter type or melee fighter type. My only change.
Hey, I wasn't overtly min/maxing! 🙂
Gread video, as always, illustrative and complete. Unrelated to Rolemaster -Classics or otherwise: have you ever considered playing a solo game (like Four Against Darkness, for example) and recording sessions? Suggesting for selfish reasons - I would certainly enjoy listening to gameplay with that British accent of yours. It somehow feels very Tolkien-esque (in a good way, provided there is a non-good way to be Tolkien-esque, which I doubt).
That's a novel idea... I have Tunnels & Trolls on my "to do" list, and a solo play would fit in there! Call of Cthulhu is also coming, and the "Alone..." books may also fit. I think I also have the old D&D solo modules somewhere...
@@WillyMuffinUK Yes, T&T can totally work, I remember there are several (some quite interesting) solo modules. Do you have the 1980's British edition of the books?
@@BlaueCookieFan I do - the Corgi Books versions. I'll have to extract them from my son's room, as that is where they currently live! I do have some of the US scenario releases, and PDFs of a couple of other editions. Another fun solo game from way back I enjoyed was Star Smuggler... all this could add up to an entirely new playlist!
@@WillyMuffinUK Hope so :)
Does the skill of pp add to the pp? How it works in rmc?
If you're using the optional Power Point Development skill, then total PPs are (PP rank) x (PP from realm stat). So, a stat of 95, which gives 2PP, for a character that has developed 8 ranks of PP Development, would have 8 x 2 = 16 Power Points. Effectively, the PP Development rank replaces the character's level for determining total Power Points. This is the same as "Option 2" for the PP Development skill from RM2 Companion II.
The default is simply level x PP from realm stat, no skill development required.
I prefer using the PP Development skill, because it gives spellcasters a similar flexibility as afforded to combat-focussed characters through Body Development. Your mileage may vary, as with all optional chunks of the game!
@@WillyMuffinUK Thanks!
Option 1 is the best!
@@Rolemastery If Option 1 works better for you, then it is best for you :)
Did I misunderstand something? Why didn't you put the 41 into Intuition and make it a 90?
Because that wasn't the build I had in mind.
@@WillyMuffinUK I feel as though I'm still misunderstanding something. Regardless of the build, would you not always turn your two lowest rolls into 90s? I've never played so I really don't know the reasons for doing the numbers that way you did.
@@foxtrotalphaone Not always. It's a choice to do so. Actually, a choice to assign any of your scores to your profession's prime stats and, if you want to, switch them to 90s.
I chose to assign the lowest and up to 90s to illustrate this. At the end of the day, what you do depends on if you are trying for an optimal build, or to model a particular character concept.
The rule is, you can optionally exchange your prime stats for 90s.
In RMSS, it's a little different. There, because it is more a points-based stat generation method, you have minimum values to assign rather than the 90 exchange option.
This is fuc*ing insane...
Wait until I get to RMSS!
I am pretty sure you could have whipped up a character in less time than that but you would have had to cut out all the explanations. 🙂 Though I did spend hours reading skill lists, spell lists, esp. w the Companions; the game is so open ended.
I'm certain I could! And frequently do, occasionally mid-session while describing an area to players :)
Why a wood elf... anything but an elf. A human would have been much better. I do want to thank you for this video as it is long overdue. I stared with classic went to SS and now RMFRP.
Best system out there by far.
What can I say - I like wood elves!
RMSS/RMFRP video will be along... eventually. At the moment, I'm aiming to cover BattleTech next, then RuneQuest 3 - but stay tuned for more RM :)
@@WillyMuffinUK Great... I will be looking forward to it.
It is a great system. The Beta for RMU looks promising.
@@Tjrush-rm4jj it does :) A long time in the works, too!
Oh god, why Ranger? They are the absolute WORST in RM!
Because I like them. :p
Plus, a semi let me delve into combat and magical skills.