FantasyCraft not stand-alone?!

[Typhon]

I've never considered basic math much of number crunching. It's not like you're trying to multiply 43 by 8 then divide by 12 in your head or anything. Most of the math you got out of the way at character creation. It's just a better representation of what actual possibilities are, not to mention allowing for smaller than 5% increments for...well, whatever.
But that's just my preference.
The only downside to RM was how long it took to do the combat (but at least it was fun to do). lol I did really did enjoy all the charts (each weapon having different results based on 20 different armor types! now that's dedication to detail), especially the crit charts. It would be a lot faster today since I could easily just copy the most commonly used (nobody had home scanners back then, we're talking late 80s, early 90s here) weapon and crit charts needed per player. Not to mention I think it was the only game I ever played that had multi-stat mods for many of it's skills, something I'm slightly surprised nobody else did.
I've still got a ton of my old rolemaster stuff laying around here someplace...probably next to all my vanilla D&D and GURPS crap....where ever that is.

[ArawnNox]

The laws of probability warp around dice.

That's all I've got to say on the matter. 

[Forcegypsy]

I got swallowed by the Towers of Midnight, but had to pop in to say how much I enjoy reading/participating on this board. Great discussion.

[Sletchman]

The only downside to RM was how long it took to do the combat (but at least it was fun to do). lol I did really did enjoy all the charts (each weapon having different results based on 20 different armor types! now that's dedication to detail), especially the crit charts.

That right there was exactly what I didn't like about Rolemaster, to the point where I would only play it if there were absolutely no other options available.

The laws of probability warp around dice.

That's the truth - the way I roll dice totally blow statistics out of the water.  One of my d20's has had more 20s and 1s then every other number combined [seriously].  One of my group said it might have been a moulding error, but when anyone else rolls it it rolls normally, with a nice standard result range.

[Catodon]

As someone who enjoyed Rolemaster as extended MERP, I wish to disagree on the use of d100. Although mathematically it may look nice, at the end of the day, the "resolution" is higher than needed. 20 steps is really enough. As much as I liked the presentation, the number crunching was too much. (Not that I couldn't do it, just that it was more work than was needed.)

Sometimes, too much detail can be the enemy at the table. Where a computer can quickly handle large or complex calculations, most players can't. When Scott designed his Edge mechanics, he capped the Edge pool at 5. I think that was a great design choice. Many mass wargames use d6, because too much detail slows down the game. At some point, we need to say, "This level of detail is fine enough." I draw the line at d20. The gains for going from d20 to d100 do not justify the work.

I'm intrigued by your comment that Rolemaster has gone over to the d20 darkside. What happened? (I stopped following Rolemaster when ICE went under.) Has the new incarnation adopted d20 mechanics?

I'm with you on most of this. d20 (or 3d6

(click to show/hide)

death to the bell curve

) is enough resolution IF you want to play a human or near human. Very small characters have issues. Haven't played a tiny character in anything d20 (FC is pretty much my first d20 game). I'm currently playing an uplifted raven in GURPS 3rd. plays nice as long as we don't look too hard at anything STR based or hits.

Anyway getting away from the topic of this resurected thread.

[Typhon]

The only downside to RM was how long it took to do the combat (but at least it was fun to do). lol I did really did enjoy all the charts (each weapon having different results based on 20 different armor types! now that's dedication to detail), especially the crit charts.

That right there was exactly what I didn't like about Rolemaster, to the point where I would only play it if there were absolutely no other options available.

Well, that and it could be deadly as hell! lol Which was at least "realistic" and made it so the players had to be 100% SURE they wanted to fight (you didn't just get careless with "yhea, lets trash these trolls!"). Goes both ways, though. Ran some high lvs through Moria and some Demon Beyond the Pale IV was crossing a bridge, archer lets loose, nails an E peirce crit and rolls a 66. "And the table goes wild!" lol

[Sletchman]

Well, that and it could be deadly as hell! lol Which was at least "realistic" and made it so the players had to be 100% SURE they wanted to fight (you didn't just get careless with "yhea, lets trash these trolls!"). Goes both ways, though. Ran some high lvs through Moria and some Demon Beyond the Pale IV was crossing a bridge, archer lets loose, nails an E peirce crit and rolls a 66. "And the table goes wild!" lol

Deadly I'm down with.  I'm a huge fan of making the players pick their battles.  What I am decidedly not a fan of is having to go through 37 different charts to find the result of each and every attack roll, of being able to critically fail walking and die [because of something requiring balance].  The point at which realism detracts from fun is the point that I leave it behind.  It goes the other way too - if a game is too unrealistic [within genre confines - I'm down with Mutants and Masterminds] it can detract from the fun too.

Obviously everyones different [otherwise we'd have one universal system, which would never need new editions], so that's just my opinion, and I respect that yours is different.

[Typhon]

lol well people die every day (or at least break things) from tripping on stuff. Not many, mind you! Besides, if your GM is making you roll to walk, the problem isn't the game.

And now adays, the system wouldn't be nearly as slow since you'd be able to just copy off any significant charts the player would need and thus, cut down on the whole chart digging shuffle.
But yhea, at the time that was the big downside.

[Sletchman]

lol well people die every day (or at least break things) from tripping on stuff. Not many, mind you! Besides, if your GM is making you roll to walk, the problem isn't the game.

Heh - that example is something that actually happened to me in game.  We were walking along a loose rock surface in a mountainous region - the adventure itself called for balance checks - I critically failed and rolled on the appropiate chart.  Result was a broken neck causing death.

I get that it happens in real life, but it certainly isn't heroic.  For what it's worth the GM decided it was an uncool result and changed it to one a bit less instant-death - a broken or dislocated arm if I recall correctly.

[Catodon]

Had a real life critical fail running for a cab on yesterday shoulder is totally busted 

[Desertpuma]

Sorry to hear it, hope it heals soon

[paddyfool]

Ouch, Catodon.  What's the prognosis from the docs, was it a break or a dislocation, and if a break, which bone(s)?

[Typhon]

Had a real life critical fail running for a cab on yesterday shoulder is totally busted 

Ouch, man.
Well, if it makes ya feel any better, a guy at my bud's work was sitting in his chair and was just stretching (both hands over head clasped together by the fingers leaning backwards) and blew out his rotator cup.

On another note, in a game we were playing one of the characters stuck his finger in a hole and got bit by a rat. GM rolled an open ended crit. Juggular cut, bleeds out in 5 rounds LOL!

[MilitiaJim]

What did the rat do?  Claw through his arm and pop out of his neck?

[Typhon]

LOL! Yhea, I think the GM was so tickled to ACTUALLY land a lethal crit on the tiny bite chart (not an easy thing to do lol) that he said it ran up his arm and bit him in the neck. I don't remember what happened (if he actually died or not) just that it happened and AJ was like "Dude! WTH!?" lol It was some 20+ odd years ago.