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Roma Imperious is (obviously) Roman themed fantasy RPG. Roma has strong fantasy elements to it, so if your are looking for a strictly historical Roman RPG this game is not for you.
The basic premis is that instead of the Roman Empire falling Constantine learned magic from Druids who had aided him in an earlier campaign. With the discovery of magic schools(schola magi) were established and new magi were trained. Magic has become essential to the Empires existance. Magic has improved farming, communications, transporting goods & people (the legions), and everyday life in the Empire. While magic has improved most every aspect of Roman life,it has also spawned it's own share of monsters, beasts, and tyrants. Some rogue magi summon demons, beasts, and monsters. When left alone monsters to do what they do, they multiply! In some areas of he empire wandering bands of cannibal dwarves,Cyclops and giants roam and if you are to close the Alkatian border maybe even some Terragena.
Roma uses Hinterwelt's Iridium system which is a skill based system that uses percentile dice for skill resolution and d20 for attacks and stat checks. It also uses a hit location system that (despite what some peple think) does not hinder or slow the flow play.
In play the system is very much workman-like. It does not wow you, but it does the job well and stays out of the way. One the best things about the system is that characters are generated basically freeform via a points system. Sure you choose a class, but in this system the class mostly just provides skills. Any character of any class or race can cast magic and wear armor at the same time. In my book, that's a good thing.
Combat is much faster than expected, given that it uses hit locations. In my games a typical combat take about the same as the average D&D encounter. You roll a d20 + your attack bonus (this is calculated very diferently from d20) and if your roll is higher that the targets defense you hit. Then you roll under your targeting with percentile to determine if you hit what you were aiming for. If you make your targeting you roll damage and choose which area you hit. If you fail targeting you roll a random d10 to determing targeting.
The combat tends to be pretty lethal, so players coming from another game may find their first character dies quick. This can be minimized by reminding players to try and parry or dodge attacks and also through proper supplies and magic skill. Also armor can be repaired or mended magically so players should keep that in mind when creating characters. Once you get used to the gritty nature of Iridium combat, you will find that your charcters don't do so often.
Magic is handled with three different systems:
Spell Point Magic: Magi are primary and most powerful users of this system, but nearly any character can learn to cast spell magic. When a character uses spell magic he is channeling power from whichever plane the character is schooled in. Casting spell magic takes a toll on the character by draining their spirit points.
Free Form: Priests, Druids, and Shamans are character types that have access to this type of of magic. Instead of channeling magic from the planes as it is done in spell point magic free form magic channels it power from an external source (Gods for example)and through his body. A free form characters body acts as both a capacitor and resistor. To use free form magic the character uses his or her imagination and tells the GM what effect they are trying to get. The GM tells the player if it is possible and if so tells the player what the penalty will be, if any. Then the player rolls their base chance to see if they ge the desired effect and next they make a channeling roll to determine if they had a backlash from channeling. Both rolls should be made @ the same time to speed things up.
Dictated: Monks are the only users of this system which is hybrid of Free form and Spell Point magic. Like Spell Point Magic the effects are fixed and like Free form it requires a roll to use chi. If you make the PIE roll then you can spend Chi to gain the benifit of the discipline you are using.
The magic systems give the players many options and also each system suites the character types they are used for.
Roma is easily the best looking core book that Hinterwelt has published to this date. The cover captures the feel of the game but seems a little cartoonish. Interior art is for the most part well done in B/W with the best piece being the Kuie done by one of the Carmona brothers. The layout is clear and easy to navigate and the pdf has very good book marking.
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