Many dislike the training packages, but I love them. These were removed from the Rolemaster Unified rules to streamline character creation and development. They were not popular since they slowed down character creation, were prone to min-maxing, and added "another step" to the process that players had to sort through. Still, they provide me with numerous options and choices for a character's background, making them indispensable to the system.
This marks the first significant divergence between the Rolemaster United philosophy and the classic Rolemaster FRP philosophy that I have identified. Yes, RM FRP is bloated and takes a considerable amount of time to create characters for. And RMU does not need to be a "modern" game like 5E, and I have a simplified version of Rolemaster...
If I want simple, I have HARP.
For me, Training Packages are a significant part of the Rolemaster experience, and they provide me with more than just a skill list to purchase.
They give me a reason for my character to be the way they are.
For those who are unfamiliar, Training Packages are purchased during character creation and have a point cost associated with each profession. They are essentially a "package deal" of skills, items, contacts, bonuses, and other features unique to the training package, along with a required time in months that adds on to your character's age.
The list of training packages for the RM FRP Character Law book is provided above. There are likely others in other expansions, but this is the core 'base game+' list of choices you have. Packages have a different cost per profession; for example, if a bard chooses the performer, that costs only 16 DP. If a fighter picks the performer training package, it will cost 28.
You can get skills, items, contacts, stat-gain rolls, and a few other items with these packages, and they are not always the same, even within a package.
Each training package adds time to your character's starting age; for example, a performer is 40 months. If you picked the traveler alone, that would be 18 more months, a cost of 14 DP (for our bard), plus the list of things gained by the package.
These packages are fantastic since, instead of "paying for skills and claiming you are something," you are buying a package deal that includes items, skills, contacts, and stat gains, and writing your backstory in the world. If I choose the Diplomat training package, then for whom am I a diplomat? And who was I a diplomat to? Am I still in the role? Do I have contacts? Do I work out of an embassy? Who are my contacts back home, and in the foreign location? How do these two countries get along? Are they allies, neutral, hostile, or at war? Are you an elven diplomat working within the orc nation, and your two nations are at war?
Performer? Where? Was it bars, theaters, plays, orchestras, street performances, or other forms of entertainment venues? Do you have any popular songs, plays, books, poems, or other works of performance art that people know you by? Did you stick to one town or travel to others? Did you have a schedule, play at fairs, work at playhouses, or were a part of a band? Do you know anyone who can help you find work in different towns? Do those people sometimes ask you for help, knowing you are the adventurous sort? Do you have a stage name? Are you reviled or beloved in a few towns? Have you ever missed a performance or gone above and beyond what was expected of you? Have you performed for anyone notable, like at a prince's wedding?
You picked this package! Make it work for you! This is now part of your backstory.
I pick a sailor. What ship? Was this a merchant, scout, fishing, whaling, other, or navy? Who is my captain? Did anything happen during my voyages? Where were the ports of call we visited? Do I know others on the crew? Do I have contacts at various ports?
The Loremaster is a significant faction in the Shadow World setting. Are you a part of that? Do you have contacts there? Do they have bounties and missions for information and exploring lost sites? Are you a lore-master for another faction?
The who, what, where, when, how, and why questions are all on the table and need to be answered for every training package. Significant events can be thought up and added to the time spent in the role. Locations can be added. People, places, and things. Battles. Shipwrecks. Monster attacks. Mysteries and lost expeditions.
A few of these sing to me. Spy, diplomat, explorer, detective... mix these with the professions of the game, and perhaps a second training package, and all of a sudden, my "I am a magician" character becomes a magician, loremaster, and explorer. I have two sources of contacts and missions. My role in the world changes at the first level.
Fighter, merchant, soldier? A caravan guard. Mentalist, herbalist, con-man? Snake-oil salesman. Ranger, hunter, detective? Bounty hunter.
D&D does not give you this.
Every training package is a potential source of contacts, missions, adventures, business opportunities, information, expeditions, travel, and those asking for help.
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