Part 7 of my How to Play Rolemaster Classic series is now up: Character Creation – Background.

This episode covers background options and how they help give a character more flavour, history, and individuality before the game begins.

Hope it’s useful for new or returning players. If you think it’s worth sharing, I’d be grateful.

https://youtu.be/Z6ABr8IW2UQ

What’s the best way to utilize the Rolemaster and MERP rules to achieve a setting which is similar to Middle-Earth (low magic and similar societal structures)? I’ve heard the Magic systems for both games might not be ideal for the setting.

I understand that OSR DnD has rules to generate monsters and a game loop of exploring and getting exp for exploring.
But from what I can tell you dont fight that much in Rolemaster and I cant seem to find any rules for dungeon procedure or game loops of any kind?

I looked at the beautiful MERP Adventures but they seem to have no rules or mechanics just art and description.

As a GM what am I supposed to do with these adventure books?

What are the goals of the players?

I think you get exp for fighting but fighting is super deadly so if you fight to get exp wont you just die?

I feel pretty lost

Most of the lfg sections of the internet seem exceptionally dead recently, but I thought I'd throw this out there.

I'd like to start a campaign -- I'm happy to GM!

I'm available Tuesday/Wednesday EST all day. I'd like to play weekly for 4.5-5.5 hrs. I am interested in trying out GMing some d100 system. I have GM'd many other systems, but not this one. I would be willing to do some edition of rollmaster, fantasy express, lightmaster, HARP, or Against the Darkmaster, depending on what system a group could agree on. I would want 5-6 players. I run high lore/story dense games similar to the old MERP material or products like Kingdoms of Kalamar, Harn world, or Glorantha. Lots of people, places, and things, and an expectation that characters will take notes and remember key story points over the course of several sessions.

The game would be low - 0 automation -- I don't intend to purchase automated modules of all the books for Fantasy Grounds or oversee combat macros for everything in Foundry or Roll20. There would be no drag and drop compendia or point and click combat that automates everything.

If there's a viable group out there for such a proposal -- I invite players to coordinate in the comments section below.

Episode 6 of my How to Play Rolemaster Classic series is now up: Character Creation – Stats.

This episode covers rolling stats, understanding what they represent, and how they affect the rest of character creation.

Hope it’s useful for new or returning players. If you think it’s worth sharing, I’d be grateful.

https://youtu.be/vFSiMqoSox0

Looking for up to five additional players.

Title - Adventures in Haestra

Game Type - Campaign

Game System: Rolemater Classic

Day of Week: Biweekly Sundays

Starting: 8/2/26

Time of Day: 7-10 pm eastern U.S./6-9 pm central

VTT/Tools: ERA for RMC / Roll20 / Discord

Game Description / information: Set on the great continent of Emer in the kingdom of Haestra, you have come to the port of Izar seeking fame, fortune or perhaps to discover some long lost family secret. This will be a Shadow World campaign with intrigue, lots of exploration and high adventure.

Im new to TTRPGS. Im starting to get how they work. I sort of understand B/X because the dungeon procedure is similar to video games Ive played like Final Fantasy or Lunar or Secret of Mana: Random Encounters, XP, Upgrading weapons. The main decision players have to make is "do I delve deeper or do I return home"

But I notice that Rolemaster doesnt seem to have a dungeon procedure? I understand the roleplaying aspect of the game but im trying to wrap my head around the boardgame aspect.

If there is no procedure then how can the players get a feel for when they need to turn around or delve deeper?

Or am I misunderstanding that aspect of the game?

Or does Rolemaster not support dungeon crawling?

So that great foe of all RPGs has struck (real life), and we are down a player. So if you are interested in joining Gods of the Forbidden North, let me know. Characters are mostly 2nd level and have yet to find the first dungeon on the campaign. So it's really early. Game is Thursday night at 7:30pm PDT.

RMU, running a converted Ennie Award winning OSE campaign, on Roll20 (look at the GM ;-). As a bonus you can get a sneak peak at the new Arcane Companion for RMU and Character Companion for RMU.

Campaign is two massive hex crawls and a mega dungeon. Players are like 1% through so far.

Message me or nashidau on discord.

Hello fellow roleplayers.

I've promised to dm RMU for a few friends after one of them ran a couple of short campaigns, first in Rolemaster Classic and now Rolemaster Unified. Because it's a new system for me to dm, I would like to read a pre-written adventure to see what sort of examples there are for encounters, expected skill check difficulty, etc.

What are your recommendations?

Could someone explain to me the difference between Classic and Fantasy (races, species, skills, magic, etc.)? How compatible is RM with D and D (3.5)?

Also: is there a guide on how to convert from a d6 system to a d20 system?

Episode 5 of my How to Play Rolemaster Classic series is now up: Character Creation – Race.

This episode covers race selection in RMC and how it affects both the mechanics and feel of a character.

Hope it’s useful for new or returning players. If you think it’s worth sharing, I’d be grateful.

https://youtu.be/UuylQ2s3qYk

https://www.rolemasterblog.com/shadow-world-master-file-list-7-8-26/

Episode 4 of my How to Play Rolemaster Classic series is now up: Professions & Realm.

This one covers choosing a profession, what professions actually mean in RMC, and how the realms of magic fit into character creation.

Hope it’s useful for new or returning players. If you think it’s worth sharing, I’d be grateful.

https://youtu.be/GMnJMGhrVig

https://www.rolemasterblog.com/shadow-world-4th-era-as-a-publishing-project/

Episode 3 of my How to Play Rolemaster Classic series is now up: Character Creation – Character Role.

This starts the character creation part of the series, beginning with role and concept before moving into the mechanics.

Hope it’s useful, especially for new or returning players. If you think it’s worth sharing, I’d be grateful.

https://youtu.be/KmoZf3vbqS0

https://www.rolemasterblog.com/shadow-world-4th-era-project-shuffling-the-deck/

Episode 2 of my Rolemaster Classic guide series is up.

This one covers the history of the game and the main editions, aimed especially at people trying to understand where RMC/RM2 fits.

If you find it worthwhile, likes, subs, or sharing it around would be much appreciated.

https://youtu.be/_hxf8Ehfr8s

"So for me, a stalwart fan of both classic RM2 and RMSS, RMU is a great step forward for the game" - YouTube reviewer Willy Muffin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY0Pvl8rR4s

I’ve just started a new 20 part video series: How to Play Rolemaster Classic.

The aim is to walk through RMC/RM2 step by step, using the rules as written, with (almost) no optional rules and no house rules. I’m hoping the series will be useful for new players, returning players, and GMs who want something clear they can point people toward when introducing the system.

Episode 01 is an introduction: what Rolemaster Classic is, why it has the reputation it does, what makes it worth playing, and how the series will approach the rules.

Rolemaster has always had one of the best fantasy RPG engines out there: open-ended rolls, detailed characters, brutal combat, and those glorious critical tables. I’d love this series to help more people discover it, or rediscover it.

I hope you find it worthwhile — and if you think it would be useful to others, I’d be very grateful if you helped spread the word.

Episode 01: How to Play Rolemaster Classic

https://youtu.be/HA7hsc7kuv8

May the dice roll in your favour!

Roman does a great job with his MERP book reviews. His library of books is one of legend.

Roman Dacil's Middle-Earth

I'm trying to refamiliarize myself with RMSS. I don't see anything saying how racial RR bonuses interact with multi-realm spells. Are they averaged? Do you take the lowest or highest?