A detailed fantasy simulation with percentile rolls, deep skill lists, and long critical hit tables that make combat gritty.
From 44 firsthand play reports in 5 r/rpg threads. The threads alone average 7.3.
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113 r/rpg posts named it, October 2023 to October 2026.
Very heavy. Hype 1.7 for its age.
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Players who ran Rolemaster mostly remember it warmly, often after years or decades of play. The draw is gritty, detailed combat and point-buy characters. The cost is table lookups and bookkeeping, much of it on the GM. Tables cope with spreadsheets and trimmed rules, and some drift to lighter games.
Each thread is rated for the play it describes, from the firsthand reports in it. Load one here or read it on Reddit.
People who actually played Rolemaster mostly remember it fondly. They ran or played it for years, even decades, and say the crits and simulationist detail make it memorable. The recurring problems are GM bookkeeping, slow combat with big groups, and unclear rules for stacking crit effects, though several veterans say tracking is manageable with practice, spreadsheets and shared workload. 17 firsthand · 110 comments
People who ran Rolemaster at the table mostly report that players loved it, and two GMs call their best campaigns RM ones. The cost was heavy table lookup, long character creation and vague stat guidance, which groups handled with photocopies, post-its, spreadsheets or databases. Much of the thread is side talk about MERP, HARP, ATD and other games, which I ignored. 11 firsthand · 30 comments
People who played Rolemaster mostly remember it fondly: brutal, funny crit and fumble tables, a combat system they liked, and years of regular play. The cost is heavy crunch and bookkeeping, lethality that can kill characters fast, and long character creation, so most keep it as a nostalgic memory and don't return to it. 10 firsthand · 83 comments
The thread is mostly a historical and real-world coinage discussion, with only a few people describing Rolemaster at their own tables. Those reports suggest the currency system is rarely felt in play, since players skip the lowest denominations or drop the system, and the original poster still enjoys the crunchy feel. 4 firsthand · 54 comments
The thread is mostly about BRP, Mythras and D&D, and Rolemaster comes up only in passing. The few people who ran it say it flows fine without software if the GM keeps the rules simple, and one calls it very elegant for its era. 2 firsthand · 111 comments