I love Rolemaster/HARP criticals!

Akrasia · January 26, 2007, 07:05:28 PM

Even though MERP and Rolemaster 2e (or 'Rolemaster Classic,' as the revamped version is called) are two of my all time favourite RPGs, it's been many years since I've played either of them (1999, iirc).

So last night I played my first full session of HARP (which, like RMC and the now defunct MERP, is an ICE game), and the Rolemaster-style critical charts appeared in full force.

Ears went flying! Elbows were crushed! Groins were pierced! Enemies were vividly disemboweled, singed by flame, and skewered to walls!

Great stuff. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed those critical results. (In contrast, the WFRP critical charts seem terribly limited.)

Nobody has better critical charts than ICE. Good times.

Casey777 · January 26, 2007, 07:56:51 PM

Needs a Motivational Poster if there isn't one already.

(Some screencap from a Horror or Action movie)
ICE Criticals (or the quote here)
"Quote from a Critical Chart"

I remember coming across the critical charts in MERP. Great stuff even if I didn't recall any instances of "bring a spatula" in LotR. :cool:

Dominus Nox · January 26, 2007, 08:53:10 PM

I love the crits in spacemaster, they are some of the most entertaining pages printed in gaming history.

The fumbles can be funny too, like the one for projectile weapons that basically says you somehow manage to shoot straight up and bring down a bird passing overhead. If you survive, you have dinner.

Now, as to how one would apply this if rolled while fighting on a spaceship or spacestation......

Caesar Slaad · January 26, 2007, 09:39:23 PM

I'm past that stage.

I still have them sitting up in my closet with a bunch of other stuff I don't use anymore. I found them an interesting way to spice up a game, but ultimately not conducive to the flow of an ongoing game. I also didn't like table flipping and lookups. I opted for my own home-rolled system that requires no lookups and only gets invoked when players the victims are in trouble anyways.

Akrasia · January 26, 2007, 10:52:31 PM

Quote from: Caesar Slaad... I also didn't like table flipping and lookups....

I agree with that (at least when I GM; others are more versatile).

Which is why I've always been fond of a 'dual system': viz. MERP charts for the GM (since they can be easily contained on a single screen), and RM Arms Law charts for the players (since they can easily keep track of the charts for their PCs' weapons). (Of course Arms Law charts can be used for 'special NPCs'!)

Akrasia · January 26, 2007, 10:53:39 PM

Quote from: Caesar SlaadI'm past that stage...

I do object that this is a 'stage'. It seems like a simple aesthetic preference, that you no longer happen to have.

Kyle Aaron · January 26, 2007, 10:56:14 PM

It became no longer entertaining when we knew them all off by heart. But that was eight years ago now, and I've a worse memory, so it might be entertaining if I went back to it

On the whole, though, it's not to my taste. I find my fellow players generate enough humour and silliness without its being hardwired into the game system.

KenHR · January 26, 2007, 11:02:18 PM

I enjoy the RM charts. They made for quite a few fun memories from our not-quite-Vikings game. Like when Kevin's fighter whiffed every roll in a combat vs. goblins. One of the goblins facing him hit.

Kevin: Aw, figures, my guy gets hit with a crit!

Me: Don't worry. It's only an A crit...

Kevin: Yeah, I can take a couple more hits no problem!

*rollroll*

Me: 100! Your carotid artery is severed and your neck is broken. You die in one round.

Kevin: Damn, and that was only an A crit!

Akrasia · January 26, 2007, 11:03:17 PM

Quote from: JimBobOz... I find my fellow players generate enough humour and silliness without its being hardwired into the game system.

Fair enough, but it's not as though humour and silliness generated by players is incompatible with good fun from the Crit Charts. The two can work together quite well!

Kyle Aaron · January 26, 2007, 11:13:55 PM

Quote from: AkrasiaFair enough, but it's not as though humour and silliness generated by players is incompatible with good fun from the Crit Charts. The two can work together quite well!

I find the humour and silliness in a game to be like the radiation in a nuclear reactor. You need a bit to keep the thing hummin' along, but too much leads to a rather messy meltdown.

James McMurray · January 27, 2007, 12:07:27 AM

If it's a stage may I never mature. I loves me some RM/SM crits!

One Horse Town · January 27, 2007, 05:38:08 AM

Yeah, i like me some of that too. Two favourites are:

"Graceless display leaves you out of action for 2 rounds with pulled groin. Opponent out for 1 round laughing."

"You stumble over an imaginary deceased turtle."

Ah, happy days...

jrients · January 27, 2007, 09:31:44 AM

I love the crits. My problem with Rolemaster/Spacemaster/MERP is that the crits happen too often. I'll brutalize the PCs and slow down the game for a little extra graphic violence once in a while, but not all the frickin' time. That's why last D&D campaign I used the Arduin crit charts, but statistically only for 1 in 400 strikes.

Caesar Slaad · January 27, 2007, 12:33:38 PM

Quote from: AkrasiaI do object that this is a 'stage'. It seems like a simple aesthetic preference, that you no longer happen to have.

Just because it was a stage for me does not mean it's a stage (or that there are subsequent stages) for you. Don't buy into the pop psychology that everyone has identical stages in life.

Akrasia · January 28, 2007, 09:33:55 AM

Quote from: jrientsI love the crits. My problem with Rolemaster/Spacemaster/MERP is that the crits happen too often. I'll brutalize the PCs and slow down the game for a little extra graphic violence once in a while, but not all the frickin' time...

Yeah, with MERP/RM you definitely need a healer/lay healer/animist with lots of herbs all the time. I remember having at least one 'devoted healer' in any given MERP/RM party, along with a huge store of healing herbs (especially necessary if the healer is the one knocked down in battle!).

If I run MERP/RM again, I'd definitely implement a system of 'fate points' to enable PCs to shrug off a couple of criticals per session.