I know all the attention is on HARP, either that or Rolemaster Classic (RMC). Still, Rolemaster Fantasy Roleplay (RMFRP) version is my high-water mark for presentation, and the designers trying to explain how the entire game is supposed to work. I still prefer Rolemaster Classic, just because this version went crazy on skills and spreadsheets needed to fill in skill values.
If filling out one spreadsheet for skills wasn't enough, the game has you fill out TWO for each character. Compare this to an average Rolemaster Classic character:
Um, we are talking at least an order of magnitude easier character creation for Rolemaster Classic versus Rolemaster FRP. The difference is that RMFRP became a skill-based system in the 1990s and tried to move beyond the combat and dungeon play of the 1980s RMC. If you want to "do more" and have fun skill challenges as a part of an adventure, I will lean towards RMFRP because the skill list support is there.
But be prepared to pay a hefty time and amount of work getting these skill values calculated, unless you spend time working up a spreadsheet that does all the work for you.
RMFRP's system lets you raise a category of skills by a level and increase several in an area, versus focusing directly on one skill and leaving the others alone. Do you really need that level of detail, though? It is like the difference between raising a base animal handling skill versus raising one skill, such as animal handling/dogs or animal handling/horses. We felt like rolling "animal handling" was enough in my games.
Plus, anytime a skill list got longer than a quarter-page, we felt the game was bloated on the number of skills the game expects players to manage. We always felt 9-12 skills on a character was a good number that should cover most of their primary and secondary specializations. Over 20 skills were a nightmare to manage, level up, track, and find during play.
It feels strange, as RMC feels too skill light, and in RMFRP, it feels like they way overdid it with skills.
Against the Darkmaster
I like the choices they made in Against the Darkmaster for skills. They kept the original simple skill level calculations but added skills that we have come to expect for various classes and backgrounds.
The skill list is tight, but it covers a lot of ground. There are five in most skill classes, and I can see uses for these on almost any adventure. There aren't narrow specializations under a category, such as acrobatics/tightrope. One thing the game does is it has optional specialty skills.
These optional skills are more accessible for non-magic-using classes to buy at cheaper rates of progression and for magic-using classes to buy at a more expensive cost. They offer a balance to high-level spellcasters with the rogue and martial classes. High-level mages can cast powerful magic, and high-level non-magic classes will have high levels of specializations.
And this list is just a sample; the game says you can make up your skills. Want a unique combat move, art skill, winemaking, rope tricks, dancing, bartender, seduction, juggling, camouflage, farming, wine-making, or another skill type? Get GM approval and add it to your sheet. I like this model of skill lists, a core list of skills the game supports, an optional list to get you started, and leaving the rest open to whatever your group wants and what your game would be enhanced by.
This avoids the "complete-ism" problem that RMSS and GURPS have, where every skill in the universe needs to be written down and rules created for, even if your group has no use or interest for 90% of the skill list. This also allows players to use unique skills to customize their characters, such as the group's blacksmith (or even blacksmith specialty skills, such as blacksmith/horseshoes, and forcing everyone's character to have that as an entry on their character sheets).
Massive Skill Lists are So 1990s
When the desktop publishing revolution came around in the 1990s, game developers could write forever, and we got a lot of games with bloated skill, power, spell, and gear lists. One of the problems of classic games is dealing with this bloat, and I like it when modern clones and games take serious looks at the skill and spell lists and pare things down to "what is the most essential and fun" for the game. Does the game need a dozen mind-control spells or just one?
While I love options and lots of choices, there is a point when meaningful outshines more.
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