Looking for someone who speaks Rolemaster

[Evil Roy Slade]

I recently picked up a Rolemaster supplement to lift some stuff out of it for use with GURPS and I find myself blanking on some of the stats for equipment. (I did buy a copy of Rolemaster maybe 20 years ago, but I think my rules are long gone.)

I notice that the equipment tables, as well as having self-explanatory stats like Cost and Weight, has three additional columns for which I find no definition: B, Rel/Str and F. Any ideas?

[mib2932]

Originally Posted by Evil Roy Slade

I notice that the equipment tables, as well as having self-explanatory stats like Cost and Weight, has three additional columns for which I find no definition: B, Rel/Str and F. Any ideas?

Ahhh, must be the (excellent) "... And a 10' Pole" supplement.

Those colums are for weapons (or stuff that can be used as weapons). B# is the breakage numbers, Rel/Str is the item's strength, and F is the fumble range. From the rules:

"7) Fumble: This shows the chance that this weapon will fumble in an attack. If an unmodified attack roll falls within the range shown, the attacker fumbles his weapon and must then roll on the appropriate Fumble Table.

"8) Breakage #s (optional): These numbers show how often the weapon should be checked for breakage. Anytime the attacker rolls doubles of the numbers shown (e.g., 1,2, 3,etc.), the weapon will check for breakage. For missile weapons, the word "Auto" indicates the need to check for the missile’s breakage every time it is fired.

"9) Strength (optional): The standard range of strengths for a normal weapon of this type. If the range is followed by a "w," the weapon normally has a wooden shaft. This type of weapon should have its Strength lowered by 15 when hitting an "edged" object (e.g., one-handed edged weapons, etc.). Similarly, an "s" indicates a "soft" weapon and its Strength should be lowered by 30 when hitting edged objects. It is possible to have a unique weapon of this type that falls outside the range(s). Breakage for the missile weapon itself is handled through the Weapon Fumble Table (4.13). For missile weapons, the indicated ranges apply to the missile."

Remember; nearly all die rolls in Rolemaster are percentile rolls (2d10).

Edit: Just noticed that how to check for breakage was not described. Roll percentile, and add the modified strength. If less than 100, your weapon breaks.

[Evil Roy Slade]

Thanks for that!

[DanHoward]

What weapons are there in Rolemaster that aren't in a GURPS supplement? What would you need to lift out of Rolemaster to convert to GURPS? If you want realistic weapons and armour stats then Rolemaster is no better than any other RPG.

[capnq]

Originally Posted by DanHoward

What weapons are there in Rolemaster that aren't in a GURPS supplement?

If you don't already have access to all of the GURPS supplements, you won't be able to tell which of the GURPS supplements includes the equivalent of a given item in the Rolemaster supplement that you do already have.

[mib2932]

Originally Posted by DanHoward

What weapons are there in Rolemaster that aren't in a GURPS supplement? What would you need to lift out of Rolemaster to convert to GURPS? If you want realistic weapons and armour stats then Rolemaster is no better than any other RPG.

I don't know - I don't remember the weapon stats for a hacksaw in GURPS...

There are even attack tables for Rolemaster for fish. Yeah, that's right, in case you want to hit someone with a fish.

But the supplement "... And a 10' Pole" has pretty much everything you can imagine in it. Not just weapons, but anything (or at least a close substitute) that a player might think to go out and buy. And it's broken down by time period, going from stone age to far future.

It's a book with nothing but page after page of equipment lists.

[DanHoward]

I've got the weapon lists and they don't help any more than any other roleplaying game. The cost is irrelevant to GURPS and the weights are simply wrong. What makes people think that the other equipment is any more useful? May as well just look at a modern shopping catalogue online somewhere.

[nightgaunt98c]

Originally Posted by DanHoward

I've got the weapon lists and they don't help any more than any other roleplaying game. The cost is irrelevant to GURPS and the weights are simply wrong. What makes people think that the other equipment is any more useful? May as well just look at a modern shopping catalogue online somewhere.

Seems like you have a problem with rolemaster.

[Asta Kask]

No, his problem is that he already has access to all the stuff in Low-Tech. Which the rest of us won't have for some six months or so.

I wish I had that problem.

[Þorkell]

Originally Posted by Asta Kask

No, his problem is that he already has access to all the stuff in Low-Tech. Which the rest of us won't have for some six months or so.

I wish I had that problem.

To be fair, he also had the headache of writing some of it and listening to a bunch of whiny nitpickers (or playtesters) critique what he wrote.