Hi,
I've been looking into getting back to epic fantasy roleplaying for some time now. These three games all interest me, but I wondered which one you guys think is better suited for epic,multi-year campaigns. I know that Pathfinder is still in the beta period and I have a pretty good grasp on 3.5 D&D, so this leaves HARP and MRunequest. Which of the two games lends itself better to homebrew worlds which grow with every adventure.
Thank you for your input.
Quote from: vomitbrown;280356Hi,
I've been looking into getting back to epic fantasy roleplaying for some time now. These three games all interest me, but I wondered which one you guys think is better suited for epic,multi-year campaigns. I know that Pathfinder is still in the beta period and I have a pretty good grasp on 3.5 D&D, so this leaves HARP and MRunequest. Which of the two games lends itself better to homebrew worlds which grow with every adventure.
Thank you for your input.
Pathfinder has the same issue as 3.5e as character grow far to fast in relation to the rest of the world. I.e. a city guard doesn't have any chance of killing a 15th level characters or even a 10th level.
HARP and MRunequest both work by making the characters more capable rather than more invulnerable. I found this approach make for a longer game where the players are involved with the setting.
Harp lends itself best to long-term, gradual accretion. I feel like Pathfinder accelerates quickly, becoming epic early and capping out, eventually. Runequest becomes epic in sort of fits and starts in my experience. It grows strangely. I like that, personally, but Harp is generally easier to follow as it becomes more epic.
Thanks for the prompt response!
HARP claims to have a very simple and extremely flexible system. ICE talks a very good "game," but does the system reflect this simplicity? Runequest is based on the BRP, which I know is a simple and amazing system, but I don't know anything about HARP.
Harp is a simplification of Rolemaster. It's pretty simple in play, but you do have to manage (add and subject) three-digit numbers in your head quickly. Some people get irritated with that. I don't know. It's really not bad. There are no thrice-nested tables that typically bothered people in RM. I find it simple.
Mmmm just for the sake of argument, let's say I added Chaosium's Basic Roleplaying System to the mix. I'm pretty enamored with that system's simplicity, but I don't know how it would run in a fantasy environment.
Well. There you go, then.
Use BRP, shake out the epic elements from RuneQuest, and let the characters develop more evenly. Easy as pie. Take the epic elements from RuneQuest and just add them in when you feel like it.
Damn,
I'm totally stuck on HARP or the BRP. HARP's dreaded math isn't too horrible and i've read some really good reviews. Like I said earlier, BRP is such a great-time honored system.
I want to take a totally hands approach with this campaign. I want to create the world and the feel of the game. I want to mix in stuff that I've picked up from years of fantasy roleplaying and literature.
It all boils down to what system is easier to "play" with.
If you think that characters level too fast in Pathfinder, please take note of Table 4-1 on page 13 of the Beta Playtest where you are given three different experience point advancement options to choose from with which to decide how rapidly PCs advance. You choose the rate at which PCs advance.
Well, while I'm not the biggest fan of the new ICE, I'd go HARP because it's a fine little system in one book. It's not glorious and depravedly wallowing in it's own baroque nested table glory like Rolemaster Standard System which I'd pitch at you without reservations. But it's a nice clean little system that's got most of Rolemaster's strong points and few of its bugs intact.
But seriously, get Rolemaster Standard System because bugs are tasty and being abandoned by ICE in favour of RM2 means the complete game is an achievable goal. Well, except the Martial Arts Companion, that one's lost to the ages.
Why not try the free HARP lite rules (i will try and find a link later) and see what you think. I really like HARP. As you say, the maths is not that bad.
There are some excellent companion books as well, expanding the magic system (more caster types, spells and magic items) and also the combat systems (alternatives, new critical types etc)
Direct PDF link for HARP Lite (http://www.harphq.com/free_downloads/3000L_HarpLite.pdf)
Quote from: Zachary The First;280479Direct PDF link for HARP Lite (http://www.harphq.com/free_downloads/3000L_HarpLite.pdf)
Thanks for that. I was on my way out and didn't have the chance....
Quote from: David Johansen;280458But seriously, get Rolemaster Standard System because bugs are tasty and being abandoned by ICE in favour of RM2 means the complete game is an achievable goal. Well, except the Martial Arts Companion, that one's lost to the ages.
The idea of getting into Rolemaster in these 4th Edition days sounds pretty damn cool. There's something "i'm old-school hardcore" about it. But, why would I get into Rolemaster when HARP, which is RMlite, is around and supported?
You should check out Rolemaster Express (http://shop.ironcrown.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=40_41&products_id=303). It is a simplified version of Rolemaster Classic. The PDF is relatively cheap, and it's a good way to ease back into Rolemaster.
Quote from: vomitbrown;280519The idea of getting into Rolemaster in these 4th Edition days sounds pretty damn cool. There's something "i'm old-school hardcore" about it. But, why would I get into Rolemaster when HARP, which is RMlite, is around and supported?
Let's see, HARP hasn't really seen much support in the last year or two. RMSS is very well supported, just not with new stuff. But outside of the War Law / Sea Law for RM2, RMSS is the most complete and best supported version of the game and will continue to be for a couple decades at ICE's current rate of production.
RMSS is in print, you can order the books or pdfs from ICE directly. ICE does their own POD and binding these days so you can always get hard copy.
As for RM-Lite. That's a little like having a lite cheesecake.
Quote from: Drohem;280526You should check out Rolemaster Express (http://shop.ironcrown.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=40_41&products_id=303). It is a simplified version of Rolemaster Classic. The PDF is relatively cheap, and it's a good way to ease back into Rolemaster.
Rolemaster Express is a great way to ease into Rolemaster. I dig it! :D
Quote from: Akrasia;280731Rolemaster Express is a great way to ease into Rolemaster. I dig it! :D
I do wish we'd see some more HARP support, though. It seemed to just stop about 18 months or so ago.
Welcome to my world Zachary. They dropped theSpacemaster Privateers and RMSS magazines right around the same time.
ICE is too small to support everything and so when they're doing one thing they do nothing else. Right now it's RMC.
All told I really believe they dropped the ball when they did HARP in the first place. What was needed was an RMSS compatible entry level game that would bring back the RM2 fans. No it's not easy to do, I've wasted a great deal of time on the project myself. It'd help if they'd made a few more changes to RMFRP but like all of this that's water under the bridge.
Instead what we have is three incompatible systems and a company that can't reasonably support even one of them.
And Tim, if you can hear me I'd love for you to prove me wrong.
Quote from: David Johansen;280955Welcome to my world Zachary. They dropped theSpacemaster Privateers and RMSS magazines right around the same time.
ICE is too small to support everything and so when they're doing one thing they do nothing else. Right now it's RMC.
All told I really believe they dropped the ball when they did HARP in the first place. What was needed was an RMSS compatible entry level game that would bring back the RM2 fans. No it's not easy to do, I've wasted a great deal of time on the project myself. It'd help if they'd made a few more changes to RMFRP but like all of this that's water under the bridge.
Instead what we have is three incompatible systems and a company that can't reasonably support even one of them.
And Tim, if you can hear me I'd love for you to prove me wrong.
We ran a RMFRP/RMSS hybrid. Just when picked all that up, they started the big RM2 push. It's like I'm always one game off. :)
Some of my players are interested in a side game using HARP, but the harphq site hasn't been updated in a while--makes it look stagnant and unsupported.
Quote from: David Johansen;280955All told I really believe they dropped the ball when they did HARP in the first place. What was needed was an RMSS compatible entry level game that would bring back the RM2 fans. No it's not easy to do, I've wasted a great deal of time on the project myself. It'd help if they'd made a few more changes to RMFRP but like all of this that's water under the bridge.
Instead what we have is three incompatible systems and a company that can't reasonably support even one of them.
HARP is a fantastic game though. It really does something different. Does it really have to be a zero sum game for ICE?
And not to derail the thread, but are there any hotbeds of HARP activity out there on the internet? Fan forums and the like?