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Rolemaster is one of the longest-lived fantasy role-playing games in the business. It's also one of the most complex and comprehensive. Due to its propensity for using charts in its task resolution process, the RPG acquired the nickname of "Chartmaster."

The current incarnation, published by Iron Crown Enterprises, is titled "Rolemaster Standard Rules" and it has plenty of good improvements over past editions. None of them are earth-shattering revisions-- this edition is backwards compatable with past ones-- but the cumulative effects of these revisions does add up to one very signifigant improvement.

The first big change concerns Body Development and Power Point Development. Now they're tied into your character's race, instead of being free-standing skills. The second big change is Adolescant skill development; this is also tied to your race, and if you're PC is a Common or Mixed Man, then it's also dependant upon your PC's culture. In both cases, these are fixed and immuntable- all PCs of this race possess these regardless of what Profession the player chooses.

The third change is how a player creates his PC's attributes. He receives 600 + 10d10 points to allocate around the usual ten stats, and the prime requisites still require scores of 90 or more. The ratio is 1:1 up to 90, but raises above that are increasingly inefficient.

Skills originally published in the many Companions of the previous edition find their way into the new rulebook. Three Professions-- Astrologer, Alchemist and Seer-- left the rulebook while the Healer became a hybrid Channeling/Mentalism spell-caster. (The three excluded professions resurfaced in the new Treasure and Mentalism Companions.)

The misnamed Professions remain, such as the Magician (a mage who deals in elemental powers) and the Sorceror (a mage who deals in destruction spells), and so do the scores of magic-using Professions. This is always a pet-peeve of mine, because I don't feel that the Paladin or the Ranger (for example) should be spell-casters; their abilities should be skills or investments, not spells. Many of the spell-casters should be grouped together into one or more consolidated Professions, and their magics should be purely a character concern- not a function of character class.

The old-school notions of adventuring also persist. The book has three classifications; civilized area, the countryside and adventure sites. These are self-explanatory, but the book does take the time to explain that "adventure sites" can be anywhere; the reality is that most sites are far from civilization, as the game emphasizes old-school adventuring over the contemporary focus on interaction within society. For what it's worth, the book does this very well.

If you've never played Rolemaster before, please play under a skilled GM before trying your hand at it. The game's complexity is in character creation and adventure creation; actual gameplay flows like water once you learn the core mechanic, but learning that may take a bit because it's not spelled out in plain English and it's buried under a lot of data.

There's a bonus. If you're a Tolkien fan, and you find Middle-Earth Role-Playing lacking, then this is what you're looking for. Rolemaster is the de facto deluxe MERP; every MERP suppliment has full Rolemaster stats, so you might as well play Rolemaster for Middle-Earth. (The proof is in the rulebook's racial stats; they're straight out of Tolkien.)

If a complete and comprehensive system for fantasy gaming is your goal, and you're not afraid to fork over plenty of cash, then this is what you want. Go ahead and snatch a set today.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Rolemaster Standard Rules
Author: Coleman Charlton, John Curtis, Pete Fenlon, Steve Marvin Category: game Company/Publisher: Iron Crown Enterprises Cost: $30 (US) Page count: 352 pages ISBN: 1-55806-223-5 Capsule Review by Bradford C. Walker on 11/18/98. Genre tags: Fantasy	Rolemaster is one of the longest-lived fantasy role-playing games in the business. It's also one of the most complex and comprehensive. Due to its propensity for using charts in its task resolution process, the RPG acquired the nickname of "Chartmaster." The current incarnation, published by Iron Crown Enterprises, is titled "Rolemaster Standard Rules" and it has plenty of good improvements over past editions. None of them are earth-shattering revisions-- this edition is backwards compatable with past ones-- but the cumulative effects of these revisions does add up to one very signifigant improvement. The first big change concerns Body Development and Power Point Development. Now they're tied into your character's race, instead of being free-standing skills. The second big change is Adolescant skill development; this is also tied to your race, and if you're PC is a Common or Mixed Man, then it's also dependant upon your PC's culture. In both cases, these are fixed and immuntable- all PCs of this race possess these regardless of what Profession the player chooses. The third change is how a player creates his PC's attributes. He receives 600 + 10d10 points to allocate around the usual ten stats, and the prime requisites still require scores of 90 or more. The ratio is 1:1 up to 90, but raises above that are increasingly inefficient. Skills originally published in the many Companions of the previous edition find their way into the new rulebook. Three Professions-- Astrologer, Alchemist and Seer-- left the rulebook while the Healer became a hybrid Channeling/Mentalism spell-caster. (The three excluded professions resurfaced in the new Treasure and Mentalism Companions.) The misnamed Professions remain, such as the Magician (a mage who deals in elemental powers) and the Sorceror (a mage who deals in destruction spells), and so do the scores of magic-using Professions. This is always a pet-peeve of mine, because I don't feel that the Paladin or the Ranger (for example) should be spell-casters; their abilities should be skills or investments, not spells. Many of the spell-casters should be grouped together into one or more consolidated Professions, and their magics should be purely a character concern- not a function of character class. The old-school notions of adventuring also persist. The book has three classifications; civilized area, the countryside and adventure sites. These are self-explanatory, but the book does take the time to explain that "adventure sites" can be anywhere; the reality is that most sites are far from civilization, as the game emphasizes old-school adventuring over the contemporary focus on interaction within society. For what it's worth, the book does this very well. If you've never played Rolemaster before, please play under a skilled GM before trying your hand at it. The game's complexity is in character creation and adventure creation; actual gameplay flows like water once you learn the core mechanic, but learning that may take a bit because it's not spelled out in plain English and it's buried under a lot of data. There's a bonus. If you're a Tolkien fan, and you find Middle-Earth Role-Playing lacking, then this is what you're looking for. Rolemaster is the de facto deluxe MERP; every MERP suppliment has full Rolemaster stats, so you might as well play Rolemaster for Middle-Earth. (The proof is in the rulebook's racial stats; they're straight out of Tolkien.) If a complete and comprehensive system for fantasy gaming is your goal, and you're not afraid to fork over plenty of cash, then this is what you want. Go ahead and snatch a set today. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)