A Classic ReturnsRolemaster, the greatest RPG

system of all time, is back andcelebrating its 25th Anniversary.Rolemaster Classic: CharacterLaw marks the return of theoriginal revered Rolemaster sys-tem. This volume encompassesthe Character Law section ofthe hallowed “red border edi-tion” Character & CampaignLaw and has been completelyupdated and expanded.

The original Character Lawpio-neered many of today’s gaming concepts and still sets theplatinum standard for fantasy RPG character creation.Within these pages you’ll find thepower to create the character ofyour dreams, from the toughest

w w w . i r o n c r o w n . c o m

fighter to the most powerful spellcaster. Say goodbye to level, racialand alignment restrictions.Character Law lets you do it all.

Character Law includes:

• 20 Professions and over 5 dozen skills to choose from

• A flexible skill system that lets players increase their characters’ skills without absolute restriction

• A stat system that enables your stats to increase over time

• Optional rules that add depth and detail to character development

• A complete set of guidelinesfor running Rolemaster

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CharaCter Law TM

Guild Companion Publications Ltd 2011

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Original Character & Campaign Law Design: Coleman Charlton and Pete Fenlon

Original Character & Campaign Law Playtesting & Special Contributions: Mike Allen, Terry K. Amthor, Deane Begiebing, James Blevins, Brian Bouton, Steven Bouton, Richard H. Britton, Chris “The Culpeper Kid” Christensen, Leonard “Swamp” Cook, Bill Covert, Bill Downs, Kurt H. Fischer, Charles P. Goforth Jr., Joy Hatchette, Judy Hnat, Howard “Hotline” Huggins, Sam “Manwe” Irvin, Roger Jarrett, Olivia H. Johnston, Heike Kubasch, Mike Lazar, Robert Lawson, Chuck “Is it live or is it Memorex?” Moran, Bruce R. Nei-dlinger, Jessica Ney, Ted Pfaltz, Carl Pitt, Sheldon Price, Terry Pryde, Kurt Rasmussen, John David Ruemmler, Bruce “Cool Guy” Shelley, Larry “Rogue” Simms, Ruth Sochard, Brenda G. Speil-man, Gary Stipe, Mark & Polly Strovink, David Wagner, Mitch Walker, James D. Walter, Tommy “Honest, I Won’t Work Today” Williams, The De-sign Group, THE, and last but not least those two little “beasts” Tory and Swink.

Rolemaster Classic Character Law Copyright © 2006-2011 Aurigas Aldebaron LLC. Produced, published and distributed by Guild Companion Publications Ltd. All rights reserved. Purchasers of the pdf version of this product are entitled to print one copy from the pdf for personal use. Print edi-tions are also produced through OneBookShelf. All other reproduction, re-selling, and redistribution of this work are strictly and expressly forbidden without written permission from Guild Companion Publications Ltd.

Iron Crown Enterprises, I.C.E., ICE, Rolemaster, Rolemaster Classic and all products related thereto, are all trademark and copyright © properties of Au-rigas Aldebaron LLC, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902 USA. All rights reserved. Material derived from Rolemaster and associated products is used in this product under license from Aurigas Aldebaron.

Guild Companion Publications Ltd is registered in England and Wales under No 7094505. Registered office: 77 Speedwell Close, Cambridge CB1 9YS

Director: Nicholas HM Caldwell

CreditsCover Art: Jason Engle;Interior Art: Torin “MacBin” Atkinson, Peter

Bergting, David Bezzina, Joel Biske, John Dollar, Jesper Ejsing, Craig Henderson, Mike Jackson, Jeff Laubenstein, Pat Ann Lewis, Larry MacDou-gall, Jennifer Meyer, Cara Mitten, Christopher Swal, Colin Throm, Kierston Vande Kraats, Kieran Yanner;

Art Direction: Jeff Laubenstein;Project Specific Contributions: Editor: Tim Dugger, Heike Kubasch, Marc Rosen;Cover Graphics: Jeff Laubenstein;Pagemaking: Sherry Robinson;Proofreading: Monica Wilson, Tim Dugger, Heike

Kubasch, Sherry Robinson & the RMC Team;Manuscript Enhancements: RMC Team;Original New Material: Cormac Doyle, Andrew

Ridgeway, Marc Rosen;Character Sheet: Andrew Ridgeway;RMC Team: Marc Rosen (LordMiller - Team

Leader); Neil de Carteret (Ned); Cormac Doyle (Cormac Doyle); Ryan Fuerst (Eiseg); Michael Garcia (Maikeru); David Gor (The Shadow); J. Mance Haines (Melkor); Matt Hanson (Vroom-fogle); Brent Knorr (Ob1knorrb); Allen Maher (allenrmaher); Marian Münch (munchy); Andrew Ridgway (Ictus);

Special Thanks to The ICE Forum moderators: Nicholas H.M. Caldwell, Robert J. Defendi, Thom Jones, Jay Moran; Sa

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TABLE OF CONTENTS1.0 Introduction..................................... 61.1 Something Old,

Something New ............................... 61.2 A Word from the RMC Team ............ 71.3 What Is Rolemaster? ....................... 81.4 Rolemaster Basics ............................ 81.5 How to Use Rolemaster ................. 101.6 Definitions and Conventions

Definitions • Die Rolling Conventions •Percentile (“1-100”) Rolls • Non-“1-100”Rolls • Unmodified Rolls ................... 11-14

2.0 Character Creation Overview ...152.1 The Role of the Character ............... 152.2 The Character Record ..................... 172.3 Choosing Profession,

Realm & Race .................................. 19Choosing Your Character’s Profession& Realm of Magic • Choosing YourCharacter’s Race & Culture ............. 20-21

2.4 Generating YourCharacter’s Stats............................. 22Generating Your Character’s Stat Values •Assigning YourCharacter’s Stats .............................. 22-23

2.5 Determining Your Character’s Back-ground ............................................ 23

2.6 Choosing YourCharacter’s Skills ............................ 25Adolescence Skill Development •First Stat Gain • ApprenticeshipSkill Development .......................... 25-26

2.7 Final Character Preparation ......... 27Outfitting • Encumbrance • Totalingthe Bonuses ............................................ 28

2.8 Bringing the Character to Life ...... 32

3.0 Professions ................................ 363.1 Professions of the Realm of Arms .... 37

Fighter • Thief • Rogue • Warrior Monk .. 373.2 Professions of The Realm

of Channeling ................................ 38Cleric • Animist • Healer ...................... 38

3.3 Professions of The Realm Of Essence ... 39Magician (Mage) • Illusionist • Alchemist .... 39

3.4 Professions of The RealmOf Mentalism ................................. 40Mentalist • Lay Healer • Seer ............... 40

3.5 Professions That Combine TwoRealms of Magic ............................ 40Sorcerer • Mystic • Astrologer ........ 40-41

3.6 Professions That Combine ArmsAnd Magic ....................................... 41Monk • Ranger • Bard ........................... 41

4.0 Race and Culture ...................... 434.1 Races ............................................... 43

Humans • Dwarves • Elves • Half-Elves • Halflings • Orcs • Trolls .............. 43-45

4.2 Special Racial Capabilities ........... 464.3 Culture ............................................ 474.4 Languages ....................................... 484.5 Physical Appearance ...................... 49

5.0 Stats ........................................... 525.1 Generating Stats .............................535.2 Development Stats ........................ 555.3 Primary Stats.................................. 565.4 Stat Bonuses ................................... 57

Defensive Bonus • General Moving ManeuverBonus • Bonus to Total Concussion Hits •Resistance Roll Bonus........................ 57-59

6.0 Background .............................. 606.1 Special Abilities and Equipment.... 616.2 Special Abilities Descriptions ...... 63

Special Items • Special Wealth ............. 666.3 Special Status ................................. 676.4 Starting Monetary Resources ....... 686.5 Experiences and

Family Background ....................... 68

7.0 Skills and Ranks .......................707.1 Skill Rank Bonuses ........................ 707.2 Skill Rank Development ................ 71

Development Points • Skill DevelopmentCost • Normal Skill Development • RapidSkill Development ........................... 73-75

7.3 Maneuvering In Armor Skills ....... 77Notes on Armor Characteristics .......... 78

7.4 Weapon Skills ................................ 78Weapon Skill Categories • AssigningCosts to Weapon Categories • Skill forWeapons Within a Category .......... 78-79

7.5 General Skills .................................. 81Climbing • Swimming • Riding Animal •Disarming Traps • Picking Locks •Stalking and Hiding • Perception ... 81-82

7.6 Magic Skills ................................... 82Learning Spell Lists • Developing SkillRanks for Spell Lists • The Spell GainRoll • Channeling • Transmitting PowerPoints • Transmitting Spells • Burnoutdue to Channeling • Runes • Staves andWands • Directed Spells ................. 83-88

7.7 Special Skills .................................. 88Linguistics • Adrenal Moves •Ambush • Adrenal Defense •Martial Arts • Body Development ... 88-90

7.8 Skill Options ................................... 917.9 Secondary Skill Descriptions ........ 91

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8.0 Equipment and Commerce ..... 968.1 Coinage Standards ........................ 968.2 Computing Prices .......................... 97

Calculating Costs .................................. 978.3 Equipment ...................................... 98

Base Cost Multipliers • Set Cost forSpecial/Magical Properties • Spell BonusItems • Imbedded Spells • EnchantedProperties • Critical Modification •Failure and Fumble Modification •Range Modification • Returning Ability •Slaying and Holy Abilities •Miscellaneous Properties ............. 98-102

8.4 Purchase And Sale Of Goods ...... 102Using the Purchase and ResalePrice Table ........................................... 103

8.5 Price Tables .................................... 1038.6 Combat Use Breakage .................. 105

The Breakage Roll •Accessory Breakage ............................. 105

9.0 Experience and Advancing Levels9.1 Experience Guidelines ................. 119

Basic Experience Point Values •Experience Point Multipliers •Negative Experience Points •Miscellaneous Experience Points ... 120-121

9.2 Advancing A Level ....................... 124Stat Gain Rolls •Skill Development ....................... 125-126

9.3 Level Bonuses ............................... 126Combat Bonuses • LevelSpell Bonuses • Level AdvancementSummary....................................... 126-130

10.0Running Rolemaster ............... 13110.1 Start the Players With A

Rich Background ........................... 13110.2 Start the Game With A Manageable

Yet Challenging Adventure .......... 13210.3 Employ A Framework For Creating

Adventure Options During TheCourse Of The Game .................... 132

10.4 Resolving Actions AffectedBy Skills ......................................... 133Maneuvers • Moving Maneuvers •Assigning a Degree of Difficulty •Maneuver Roll • Maneuver Bonusesand Penalties • Maneuver Results •Moving Maneuver ProcedureSummary • Static Maneuvers •Offensive Bonuses • Special PurposeBonuses • Canceling an Action ... 134-138

10.5 Movement, Encumbrance,And Exhaustion ........................... 140Movement • Base Movement Rate • Pace• Movement Maneuvers • Encumbrance •Exhaustion • Summary • MovementProcess Summary ......................... 140-144

10.6 Injuries, Healing And Death ...... 144Body and Soul .................................... 145

10.7 Healing .......................................... 14510.8 Injuries ......................................... 146

General Degrees of Injury • Treatment •First Aid • Recovery from Wounds •Permanent Damage ...................... 146-147

10.9.Death ............................................. 148Death due to Concussion Hits • Death dueto Critical Strikes • Death due to SoulDestruction • The Effects of Death •The Deterioration of Stats due to Death •The Departure of the Soul ........... 148-149

10.10 Disease ........................................ 149Disease Descriptions • EffectDescriptions • Bubonic • Chemical •Genetic • Pneumonic • Psychiatric .... 150-152

10.11 PoisonsPoison Descriptions • Effect Descriptions Circulatory Poisons • Conversion Poisons •Muscle Poisons • Nerve Poisons • ReductionPoisons • Respiratory Poisons ....... 152-152

10.12 Non-Player Characters ............... 15410.13 The Player Characters .................. 15610.14 The Starting Scenario .................. 158

Appendix......................................... 15911-01 Character Record Sheet .............. 16011-02 Experience Point Sheet .............. 16211-03 Gamemaster Summary Sheet ..... 163

Index ............................................... 164

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INDEX OF OPTIONAL RULESOption 1: Power Points Based On Stat Bonus ............................................................... 31Option 2: Professions Versus Realms Of Power ............................................................36Option 3: Animists As Herb Specialists ......................................................................... 38Option 4: Dwarven Alchemists As Channeling Users. ................................................. 39Option 5: Mentalism Monks & Essence Bards. The “Monk / Bard” Controversy ....... 41Option 6: The “No Profession” Profession .................................................................... 42Option 7: Random Height, Weight, And Size............................................................... 50Option 7.1: Alternative Stat Generation Method 1 (Random-Fixed) .............................. 53Option 7.2: Alternative Stat Generation Method 2 (Three Column Method) ............... 54Option 8: Background Options ..................................................................................... 61Option 9: Hobbies .......................................................................................................... 71Option 10.1: Additional Requirements For Skill Acquisition ........................................... 71Option 10.2: Partial Skill Acquisition At Half-Level .........................................................72Option 10.3: Practice For One Skill Rank Each Half-Level ...............................................72Option 11.1: Development Points Based On Stat Bonus .................................................. 74Option 11.2: Flat Development Points ............................................................................... 74Option 11.3: Additional Development Points For Secondary Skills ............................... 74Option 12.1: Weapon Skills For Similar Weapons 1 (Half Bonus) ................................... 79Option 12.2: Weapon Skills For Similar Weapons 2 (Half Rank) .................................... 79Option 13: Riding Skills For Similar Animals ................................................................. 81Option 14: Stat Bonuses For Spell Gain Rolls ................................................................ 84Option 15: Channeling Burnout When Using Spell Law ............................................. 86Option 16: Power Point Development (Sp) ..................................................................... 88Option 17: Adding New Skills .......................................................................................... 91Option 18: Secondary Skills .............................................................................................. 91Option 19: Equipment Size ............................................................................................. 104Option 20: Additional Experience Point Suggestions ................................................... 121Option 21: Extra Stat Gain Rolls .................................................................................... 126Option 22: Stat Reduction Due To Old Age .................................................................. 126Option 23.1: Expanded Level Bonuses For Professions (RM2) ....................................... 129Option 23.2: Expanded Level Bonuses For Professions (RMSS Conversion Friendly) . 129Option 23.3: Stepped Level Bonuses For Professions ...................................................... 130Option 23.4: Static Level Bonuses For Professions .......................................................... 130Option 24: An Alternative Static Maneuver Table ......................................................... 138Option 25: Hiding And Stalking Versus Perception (Opposed Skills) ........................ 138Option 26: Quickness & Agility For Base Movement Rate ........................................... 140

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Rolemaster Classic: Char-acter Law. This new version of Rolemasteris based on the rules found in Rolemaster2nd Edition—our favorite version ofRolemaster. It turned out that many ICEfans felt the same way, so we decided tomake the “original” Rolemaster availableagain, via pdf, and as a special hardcoveredition. Neither Tim nor I were completelysatisfied with this approach however—as wereacquainted ourselves with the originalbooks, we discovered major organizationalproblems and small rules inconsistenciescrying out to be fixed. This proved to be adaunting task, since none of theRolemaster 2nd Edition books existed indigital format. There was no way that Timand I could fix these problems single-handed. Tim sent out a call for help on theforums, and assembled the RolemasterClassic Team, a group of hardworking,dedicated Rolemaster fans who madeRolemaster Classic possible.

1.1 SOMETHING OLD,SOMETHING NEW…

What did we change? Hardcore RM2fans will notice two major changes inCharacter Law; the first and most obvious

is in how the book is organized. Theessential rules remain basically unchanged,except for minor tweaks and places wherewe fixed rules inconsistencies. The secondchange is the absence of the “CampaignLaw” material. We decided that CharacterLaw should focus exclusively on charactercreation. We removed the Campaign Lawchapters, which will become the basis forthe new RMC Campaign Law, the fifthbook to be released in the RolemasterClassic line.

SPECIAL THANKS

The RMC team, the folks who workedso hard and so diligently to rework thismaterial are the real heroes of this project.They not only took on the monumental taskof re-organizing the classic rules, but theyworked extremely hard in rewriting them toprovide for greater clarity within the rulesand to also provide a large number ofexamples throughout the text.

In addition to the massive amounts ofwork spent on clarifying the rules and re-organizing them, we have also added a lotof new optional rules to the game as well.These options can be used to customizeyour game to make it work the way that youwant it to work. Some of the options

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included are meant to make it easier for aGM to convert material back and forthbetween Rolemaster Classic andRolemaster Fantasy Role Playing.

Very few actual changes were made tothe rules themselves though. The largestchange being the correcting and clarifica-tions of the spell types that can be found inSpell Law for Rolemaster Classic.

—Tim Dugger & Heike A. Kubasch

1.2 A WORD FROM

THE RMC TEAM

When Tim from ICE approached mefor this project, I jumped at the opportu-nity. I didn’t start role-playing on RM2,but it is the only game system I havecontinued to play as an adult. No othersystem has been able to compete since theday my friend Darrell placed the red coverbooks in my hands. This book has seen alot of re-organization, but few changes tothe actual rules. I can only hope it becomesyour favorite, as the original became mine.Once Tim had me, he gathered up a crewfrom around the world:

Words from a Newbie: I would like tostart off by saying that I am very pleased withthe work that we have done on reviving thisclassic game system. Being new to theRolemaster world I am quite impressed withhow this system works and I am sure that youwill be also. I am confident that you will behappy using this as your new favorite gamesystem or if you are an old time gamer you canuse this in place of your old wrinkled books. Ithink long time players will be pleased toknow that we didn’t change anything thingthat wasn’t screaming to be changed. All therules were left as is except a few clarificationsand very few changes. I would like to givespecial thanks to my wife, who was ever sopatient, and all the other guys of theRolemaster Classic Team. It is an amazingtime we live in now where people from all overthe world can work together for one commongoal with almost no loss in communication.

Michael Garcia (Maikeru)

Working on a project like this is alwaysinteresting. Even though I’ve played variousversions of Rolemaster for many years, I

still found myself saying, “Wow, is that howthat is supposed to work?” I think manylong time players and GMs reading thisbook will find the same thing. When you’veplayed a game for so long, you have oftenadapted certain rules to your own likingand used them that way for so long thatyou don’t even realize that it isn’t the waythey were originally written. I hope youenjoy the newly formatted book, and, asalways, feel free to change anything youdon’t like to suit your game better!

Brent Knorr (Ob1knorrb)

Hello. You must be the reader. Welcometo Rolemaster Classic.

Neil de Carteret (Ned)

The “red-cover box-set” RM2 was myfirst introduction to role-playing of anysort, and I’ve never looked back. It hasbeen a real pleasure to be involved withthe reinvigoration of Rolemaster Classic -reliving all of the old memories ... I hopeyou all enjoy it as much as we have!

Cormac Doyle (Cormac Doyle)

Working on this project has broughtback memories from my beginning days ofrole-playing and has made me realize, neveractually reading the books until now, whaton earth were we doing back then? Eitherway I hope the re-release of RolemasterClassic will bring back good memories foreveryone and maybe create some new ones.

Ryan Fuerst (Eiseg)

I’ve been roleplaying now for over 25years, which makes me quite old in gamingterms, I started playing basic D&D thenAD&D, but they didn’t give me the depthand excitement I wanted from this hobby.Then a friend got hold of a copy ofRolemaster, in a boxed set with parchmentsheets, huge lists of spells, a charactercreation system that meant you couldcreate the character you wanted, not whatsomeone thought you should have, and acombat system that was fast, exciting andrealistic. Our very first characters tookabout an hour to create, then we startedplaying, and suddenly realized Orcs couldkill you and even Kobolds were dangerous.Magic wasn’t just for magicians in robes,

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but there for anyone to learn, and yourmage could wield a sword if they chose to.This wasn’t a game for stereotype charac-ters, but a fun recreation of reality with afantasy twist. I was hooked.

Over the years Rolemaster has hadmany changes and many things added, butI still like what became known as RM2,which was the first development of theoriginal boxed set. For me it was everythingI needed in a game, with enough scope todo what I wanted, but not too much thatyou get bogged down in rules.

So here is a recreation of those originalrules, with a few small changes to reflecthow I and most others have played thegame for the last 20 years. If you are new toroleplaying you will find it quite easy topick up, if you are looking for somethingmore realistic than you are used to this is it,without sacrificing speed and playability.If, like me your books are old and worn thisis what you need to replace them with, anew version of the original Rolemaster,recreated by the people who play it.

Rolemaster is a great game, dynamic,fluid and exciting, that is a fact!

Andrew Ridgway (Ictus)

It was a birthday present to get to knowabout this project and an even greater giftto be invited in on it. Rolemaster has givenme many great years and finally I was ableto give something back. For this I wouldlike to thank ICE, the RMC team and mostof all my beloved Katharina who made allthis possible!

Marian Münch (munchy)

They’re a great crew, and I thank themall for the hard work they’ve put in. Iwould like to thank my wife Rose, forputting up with the disruption of mytaking on this project on top of my regularjob, and extend that thanks to the familiesof the crew, who have done the same. I’dalso like to thank everyone at ICE for theopportunity to bring this book back intoprint. That’s enough from us, move on tothe meat of the book, and enjoy!

Marc Rosen (LordMiller)

1.3 WHAT IS ROLEMASTER?Rolemaster Classic is a re-release of

ICE’s original Rolemaster System.Rolemaster was designed to be used as afantasy role playing (FRP) system, or asindividual component systems: Arms Law&Claw Law, Character Law, and SpellLaw. Arms Law is the Rolemaster combatsystem, Spell Law is the spell system, andCharacter Law covers character creation.The RM system is geared towards playerswho are looking for guidelines and mate-rial to inject into their existing games, andplayers who are looking for a realistic, yetplayable fantasy role playing system.Rolemaster Classic contains rules forhandling most of the situations that arisein FRP games.

Character Law (ChL) is a set of rules forcreating frp characters and running anfrp game. It is a set of rules and guide-lines for generating, developing,maintaining, and detailing the capa-bilities of characters to be used in afantasy role playing environment.

Arms Law & Claw Law (AL) is adetailed combat system covering themechanics of weapon attacks, animalattacks, martial arts attacks, movingmaneuvers, fumbles, and criticalstrikes. It has been designed to pro-vide a logical, detailed, manageableprocedure for resolving combatbetween individuals and smallgroups. AL also provides a tacticalsequence to be followed when resolv-ing melees involving from 2 to 30combatants. It integrates spell casting,missile fire, maneuvers, melee, andopportunity action.

This combat system provides 30weapon attack tables, each of whichintegrates the strengths and weaknessesof one specific weapon versus 20different armor types. Additionalguidelines are given for dozens ofother weapons. AL also provides animalattack tables and martial arts attacktables that handle all kinds of unarmedattacks. To handle specific, detailedoccurrences during combat, AL in-cludes a moving maneuver table, afumble table, and 5 critical strike tables.

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When using AL, a simple process canresolve any one attack. Make a singleroll, adding any appropriate modifica-tions, and cross-indexing the result onthe appropriate attack table. If theattack is especially poor, a second rollmay be required on a “fumble” table; ifon the other hand the attack is espe-cially effective, a second roll may berequired on a critical table to determinespecific damage. A player may kill or bekilled with a single swing. Provisionsare made for specific damages, such asthe loss of an eye or limb, and for theresults of such damage to the player,ranging from stunned inactivity toinstant death.

Spell Law (SL) is the Rolemaster magicsystem. SL describes over 2000 spells,organized into three realms of powerand keyed to 15 different professions. Itprovides characterswith a wide variety ofspell-using options.Each spell user isallowed to know arelatively large num-ber of spells, butusually he can onlycast a few in a giventime frame. Real skillin play is emphasized,since the choice of aspell and its applica-tion to a given situa-tion become the keyelements of success.

The spells in SL areorganized into spelllists, each of whichconsists of spells,which are related, infunction or baseapplication. A spelluser becomes able tocast new spells bylearning an entirespell list of relatedspells, not by learningindividual spells.Normally, a spell userwill not immediatelybe able to cast all ofthe spells on a list hehas just learned.Higher-level spells on

such a list will only become castable asthe spell user increases his experience,knowledge and efficiency by using thelower level spells on the same list.

Spell lists are grouped into categoriesbased upon professions and realms ofpower (Channeling, Essence, andMentalism). There are 162 spell listsdivided into: 15 sets of professionalbase spell lists (i.e. spell lists learnableonly by characters in that profession), 3sets of open spell lists (one set for eachrealm of power), 3 sets of closed spelllists, and 3 sets of evil spell lists.

Creatures & Treasures (CT) is ICE’scompendium of information andstatistics for three key elements offantasy role playing: creatures, trea-sures, and encounters. It also includesguidelines and statistics for dozens ofnew races.

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1.4 ROLEMASTER BASICS

In Rolemaster, any character may learnany skill. That is one of the basic tenets ofthe game that has been around since itsinception. Different Professions will havedifferent development point costs for agiven skill to reflect how easy or hard it isfor that character to learn that specific skill,but just as a Magician can learn to use asword, so to can a Fighter learn how to castspells. This core tenet is one of the thingsthat sets Rolemaster apart from just aboutevery other game system out there.

Rolemaster is also a relatively simplegame overall. It has a lot of detail, and thatdetail can make it appear more compli-cated than it really is. In short, everythingis resolved through the roll of percentiledice. You roll, add in your bonus, and addin any modifiers assigned by the GM andlook up the result on a table to determinesuccess or failure. It really is that simplefor players.

If you are a GM, well you need to knowa good bit more than the player does. BothPlayers and GMs should read section 1.5How to Use Rolemaster and read thechapters as suggested. It will help you tounderstand the game before you beginplaying, which is always a plus.

1.5 HOW TO USE ROLEMASTER

Since Rolemaster is a modular system, usethe components that will enhance yourgame, or use the system in its entirety.

The GM should first skim ChL, ArmsLaw, Spell Law and Creatures & Treasuresto get an overall view of the system andthen read all of the rules in ChL, AL and SLthoroughly. The GM does not need tomemorize or fully analyze all of the rules.The rules are organized so that manysituations can be handled by referring tospecific rules sections when they first arise.

Note: If you have rules question, thencontact ICE, at www.IronCrown.com, orpost a question on our forums at:www.ironcrown.com/ICEforums/index.phpThe GM should also read the optional

rules and decide which he feels are appro-priate for his game and world system. He

should make sure that the players are clearas to which optional rules are being usedand which are not to be used.

The players should read ChL chapters 1-2 first to get an overview of charactercreation and game dynamics. Then theyshould generate a character by followingthe procedure and examples outlined indetail in chapter 2, referring to chapters 3-10 for explanations of the various aspectsof character creation and development.

Before play begins, the players shouldalso read (or have explained to them) theAL chapters on combat, movement andmaneuvers so that they will understandwhat their options are in a tactical (usuallycombat) situation. In addition, playerswhose characters are spell users shouldread (or have explained to them) the SLsections describing casting, in order toobtain an understanding of the spellcasting process. It is not absolutely neces-sary for the players to immediately read therest of the Rolemaster material, since muchof that material is concerned with how theGM can handle the setting of the game, theplot elements, and other factors. However, acomplete reading of the system will enablethe players to understand the mechanismsthat govern play.

If a GM (or player) wishes to “sit downand read Rolemaster”, we suggest thefollowing order for the standard rules:ChL, AL, and SL. Any appropriate tablesand tables should be examined as they arereferred to in the text. The optional rulesare included in the sections they modify,but clearly identified as “Options” Eachplayer should keep in mind that his GMmay decide to use some of these optionalrules and not to use others.

Abbreviation Note: All specific sectionand chapter references to Character Law,Arms Law, and Spell Law in this book, andin the upcoming new editions of Arms Lawand Spell Law, refer to these versions ofRolemaster only—and not to the olderversions of the Rolemaster books

In general, a specific rules section inRolemaster is referenced by using theabbreviation for the appropriate set ofrules, the word “section”, and the appropri-ate section For example, this text is in ChL

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section 1.5. If a section is referencedwithout a book code, it’s in the rules youare currently reading, for instance this issection 1.5.

Optional Rules: All optional rules aredesignated by a special symbol:

OPTIONAL RULE

10-10 I DEXEDN S FOSTE R SELU

waLretcarahC )LhC(

waLwalC&waLsmrA )LA(

waLllepS )LS(

serusaerT&serutaerC )TC(

1.6 DEFINITIONS

AND CONVENTIONS

The majority of unique terms foundin Character Law are not describedbelow; rather they are described whenthey are used in the text, the terms de-fined below are frequently used or arevery important for using and under-standing Character Law.

Action: An action is activity that acharacter may perform during a round(10 seconds).

Area Spell: An Elemental Attack spellthat attacks an area rather then aspecific target: Coldball, Fireball, etc.

Attack Roll: A “Roll” that is used todetermine the results of a melee ormissile attack.

Base Attack Spell: A spell that attacks atarget, but that is not an elementalattack spell.

Base Spell List: A spell list that is learn-able only by one specific profession.

Campaign: An ongoing fantasy role-playing game that takes place as a seriesof connected adventures, with respectto both time and circumstance.

Chance: Often an action or activity thathas a chance of succeeding or occurring,and this chance is usually given in theform of #%, this means that if a roll (1-100) is made (see below) and the result isless than or equal to #, then the action or

activity succeeds (or occurs); otherwiseit fails, alternately, you can roll (1-100)and add the result to the #; if the resultis greater than 100, then the activitysucceeds (or occurs); otherwise it fails.

Channeling: One of the realms thatprovides the source of power for spells(see section 3.2).

Closed Spell List: A spell list that islearnable only by the Pure and Hybridusers of he spell list’s realm.

Combat Roll: See “Attack Roll.”

Concussion Hits: See “Hits.”

Critical Strike: Unusual damage due toparticularly effective weapon andelemental attacks, the term “critical” orjust “crit” will often be used instead of“critical strike”.

Defensive Bonus (DB): The total sub-traction from a combat roll due to thedefender’s advantages, includingbonuses for the defender’s quickness,shield, armor, position, and magic items.

Dice Roll: See Roll.

Elemental Attack Spell: A spell thatcreates and uses fire, cold, water, ice, orelectricity to attack a target, the “ele-ments” created by these spells are realwhen the spell is cast.

Essence: One of the realms that pro-vides the source of power for spells(see section 3.3).

Experience Level (Level): A character’slevel is a measure of his current stage ofskill development, and usually is repre-sentative of his capabilities and power.

Failure: See “Spell Failure.”

Fire: (verb) To make a missile attack.(Noun) Missile attack(s).

Fumble: An especially ineffectiveattack that yields a result that is disad-vantageous for the attacker.

GM: The GM, judge, referee, dun-geon-master, etc. the person who isresponsible for giving life to an FRPgame by creating the setting, worldevents, and other key ingredients,they interpret situations and rules;control non-player characters, andresolves conflicts.

Group: A collection of player characters.

Hits (Concussion Hits): Accumulatedpain and bleeding that can lead toshock and unconsciousness (also

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called Concussion Hits). Each charactercan take a certain number of hits beforepassing out (determined by his “BodyDevelopment” skill).

Hybrid Spell User: A spell user who cancast spells of two different realms. (Seesection 3.5)

Initiative: The factor that determinesthe order in which combatants resolvetheir attacks, i.e. the combatant with thehighest initiative attacks first.

Level: See “Experience Level.”

Maneuver Roll: A roll that is used todetermine the results of a maneuver.

Martial Arts (MA): Forms of attackand self-defense that involve special-ized mental and physical training andcoordination, most unarmed andcombat using weapon kata fall intothis category.

Melee: Hand-to-hand combat (i.e.combat not using projectiles, spells, ormissiles) where opponents are physi-cally engaged – be it a fistfight, a duelwith rapiers, or a wrestling match.

Mentalism: One of the realms thatprovide the source of power for spells(see section 3.4).

Missile weapon: In Rolemaster thisindicates a low velocity airborneprojectile, usually from manually firedweapons, such weapons include anarrow from a bow, a quarrel from acrossbow, a stone from a sling, etc.Normally, missile weapons do notinclude projectiles fire by explosions orother high-velocity propulsion means(e.g. guns are “projectile weapons”).

Monsters: Creatures with enchantedabilities or form, and lacking both cultureand a complex and tightly knit socialorganization; e.g. mutations or perver-sions of wild beasts or social beings.

Non-Attack Spell: A spell that does notattack a target.

Non Player Character (NPC): A being ina fantasy role playing game who’s actionsare not controlled by a player, but insteadare controlled by the GM.

Non-Spell User: A character with verylittle spell casting capability, but with agreat deal of capability in non-spellareas. (See section 3.1)

Offensive Bonus (OB): Each character hasan “offensive bonus” when he is using aweapon – this OB includes bonuses forthe character’s stats, superior weapon,skill rank, magic items, etc. this OB isadded to any attack rolls that are madewhen they are using that weapon.

Open Spell List: A spell list that islearnable by any profession of the spelllist’s realm.

Orientation Roll: A roll representing acharacter’s degree of control followingan unusual action or surprise.

Parry: The use of part of a character’soffensive capability to affect anopponent’s attack.

Player: A participant in a fantasy roleplaying game who controls one charac-ter, his player character.

Player Character (PC): A character whoseactions and activities are controlled by aplayer (as opposed to the GM).

Power Point Multiplier (PP Multi-plier): An item that increases thewielder’s inherent power points (seeSL for more details).

Power Points (PP): A number that indi-cates how many spells a character mayintrinsically cast each day (i.e. betweenperiods of rest) in order to cast a spell, thecaster must expend a number of powerpoints equal to the level of that spell.

Profession (Character Class): Acharacter’s profession is a reflection ofhis training and thought patterns; ingame terms, it affects how much effortis required to develop skills in variousareas of expertise.

Projectile weapon: As opposed to amissile weapon, this indicates a devicethat mechanically fires a high-velocityprojectile (e.g. a gun).

Pure Spell User: A spell user who canonly cast spells in one of the threerealms. Most spell using professionsfall into this category.

Realm: All spells and the power re-quired to cast spells are classified in thethree realms of power: Essence, Chan-neling, and Mentalism.

Resistance Roll (RR): A dice roll whichdetermines whether or not a characterunsuccessfully resists the effects of a

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spell, poison, disease, or some otherform of adversity.

Roll: Two 10-sided dice are used toresolve any activity requiring a “Roll”;such dice are available in most hobbyand toy stores, or online, each of thesedice has the numbers: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8and 9 these dice can be used to obtain avariety of results these various resultsare described at the end of this section.

Round: The time (10 seconds) requiredto perform one action.

Semi-spell user: A spell user with somespell casting capability in one realm,but also with considerable non-spellcapabilities. A character is a Semi-spelluser by virtue of his profession only;non-spell users who somehow learnspells are still termed non-spell users.(See section 3.6)

Session: A single sitting of a gameadventure, a number of sessions forma campaign.

Shot: A missile attack.

Skill: Training in an area which influ-ences how effectively a character is ableto perform a particular action oractivity. The term used here is to referto abilities that are particularly appli-cable to FRP adventuring.

Skill Rank: A measure of the effective-ness of a specific skill.

Spell Adder: An item that allows itswielder to cast a set number of spellswithout expending power points (seeSL for more details).

Spell Failure: This occurs when aparticularly low roll is made whencasting a spell; it indicates possiblemalfunction or backfiring of the spell.

Spell Level: The experience levelnecessary for a spell user to know orinherently cast that particular spell.

Spell List: A grouping and ordering ofrelated spells based upon a correlationof level, intricacy, and potency of thespells, a character who has “learned” aspell list is able to cast a spell fromthat list if its level is less than or equalto his own experience level.

Stat (Characteristic): One of 10physical and mental attributes thatare considered most important to anadventurer in an FRP game, statsdictate how well a character developshis skills, moves, fights, takes dam-age, absorbs information, etc.

Static Action (Static Maneuver, SM): Anaction performed by a character thatrequires unusual concentration orthought under pressure and does notinvolve pronounced physical movement.

Swing: (verb) to make a melee attack.(Noun) A melee attack.

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Target: The term “target(s)” refers to thebeing(s), animal(s), object(s), and/ormaterial that a melee attack, missileattack, or spell attempts to affect.

Wild Beasts: Traditional animal specieslacking enchanted form or abilities.They are capable of social organization,but lack culture.

DIE ROLLING CONVENTIONS

Each die used in Rolemaster is a 10-sided die that gives a result between 0 and9, if two of these dice are used, a variety ofresults can be obtained, however, resultsbetween 1 and 100 are the primary basis ofthe Rolemaster system (i.e. RM is a “percen-tile” system).

Note: 10-sided dice can be obtainedat your local hobby and game stores, oronline.

PERCENTILE (“1-100”) ROLLS

1-100 Roll — Most of the rolls inRolemaster are 1-100 rolls (also called“D100” rolls) to obtain a 1-100 resultroll two dice together – one die istreated as the “tens” die and the otheras the “ones” die (designate beforerolling, please) thus a random resultbetween 01 and 100 (a “00” is treated as100) is obtained.

Example: The GM asks a player to makea 1-100 roll, the two dice are rolled; theten’s dice is a “4" and the one’s die is a“7”, Thus the result is “47”.Low Open-ended Roll — To obtain a lowopen-ended roll first make a 1-100 roll,a roll of 01-05 indicates a particularlyunfortunate occurrence for the roller,the dice are rolled again and the resultis subtracted from the first roll, if thesecond roll is 96-00, then a third roll ismade and subtracted, and so on until anon 96-00 roll is made, the total sumof these rolls is the result of the lowopen-ended roll.

Example: The GM asks a player to makea low open-ended roll, and the initialroll is a 04 (i.e. between 01 and 05) asecond roll is made with a result of 97(i.e. between 96 and 00); so a third rollis made, resulting in a 03, thus, the lowopen-ended roll that the GM requestedis a -96 (= 04 – 97 - 03).

High Open-ended Roll — To obtain ahigh open-ended roll first make a 1-100roll, a roll of 96-00 indicates a particu-larly fortunate occurrence for the roller,the dice are rolled again and the resultis added to the first roll, if the secondroll is 96-00, then a third roll is madeand added, and so on until a non 96-00 roll is made, the total sum of theserolls is the result of the high open-ended roll.

Example: The GM asks a player to makea high open-ended roll, and the initialroll is a 99 (i.e. between 96 and 100) asecond roll is made with a result of 96; soa third roll is made with a result of 04,thus, the high open-ended roll that theGM requested is a 199 (= 99 + 96 + 04).Open-ended Roll — An open-endedroll is both high open-ended and lowopen-ended.

NON-“1-100” ROLLS

1-10 Roll — In instances when a result(roll) between 1 and 10 is required, onlyone die is rolled. This gives a resultbetween 0 and 9, but the 0 is treated as a10, such a roll is referred to as a “1-10” or“D10”.

1-5 Roll — Roll one die, divide by 2 andround up (“1D5").

1-8 Roll — Roll one die; if the result is 9or 10, re roll until a 1 to 8 occurs (“1D8”).

5-50 Roll — Roll 1-10 five times and addthe results. (“5D10”)

2-10 Roll — Roll two dice, divide eachresult by 2 (round up), and then addthe two results to obtain the “2-10”(“2D5”) result.

Other Required Rolls — Any requiredrolls are variants of the above.

UNMODIFIED ROLLS (UM)

Certain results on some rolls indicatean immediate effect and no modifica-tions are considered. These rolls aremarked on the appropriate tables with a“UM” for example, all weapon attacksresult in a fumble if the initial unmodi-fied 01-100 rolls falls within the fumblerange of the weapon.

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