Quote from: RedFoxWell personally I don't care much about historical innacuracies.  Honestly, it could be Romulans with harpies and I'd be cool with it.

Does anyone have any information on the system that they could offer up?  I downloaded the character sheet and (other than being scared of the toner loss in potentially printing even the b&w version) I must admit that I find it a bit intimidating.

There is a toner friendly version in the ISCR (our SRD for the system) here.

Thanks for your interest,
Bill

Quote from: BalbinusWell, in actual history they didn't have the only working magic in the world, did they?

I take your points, but if the Romans had encountered magic that worked they'd have coopted it, that bit I don't particularly struggle with.  They were a pragmatic people.

The Romans did encounter magic that worked, all the time, at least from their point of view.

Hell, Simon Magus made public demonstrations of Levitation in Claudius' palace.
Apollonius of Tyana raised people from the dead, and not in some rare fucking corner of Nazareth, right there IN ROME.

The Romans had all kinds of magic, and had seen all kinds of magic. Most of what they saw convinced them all the more of the desperate need for civilization's light to be brought to the world, and the guilty parties to be wiped out.

Shit, the Druid Magic was WHY they wiped out the druids as completely as they did, because it involved horrific human sacrifices and thoroughly offended Roman sensibilities.

RPGPundit

Quote from: HinterWeltProbably. Yes. But guess, what? Magic is not real either.

Edit: Also, if there was a place where the Druids would be able to hide in small numbers, it would have been Britannia.

Bill

Saying "magic is not real" doesn't really counter my historical issues (or better put, my historian's issues)  with your game, it just absolves yourself from the argument.  Its like saying "well it doesn't matter, its JUST A GAME". Ok, fine, sure, its just a game. So what? It doesn't make me suddenly like it.

And as for your edit comment, I very much doubt it. There's a lot of evidence that in Britannia, where the Druid cult was never as strong as in Gaul, the druids were already more or less dying out by the time Aulus Plautius' armies arrived in the name of Claudius Caesar.

RPGPundit

Quote from: flyingmiceThe Romans didn't control all of Brittania, and never set foot in Ireland. I assumed for my game that some Druids got away from the great persecutions in southern Brittania to Pictland and Ireland, and set up training centers there.

-mice

The Picts were mortal enemies of the Britons. A lot of the Roman success in Britannia came from the promise that they would kick the shit out of the Picts. That's why one of the first and most firm allies was Queen Catumandua, who came from far in the north of Britain (near where York  is today), who actually allied with Rome long before any Romans arrived in her territories, because she wanted help against the picts.

Ireland had its own separate religious structure.  If you wanted to assume that Irish "Druids" were magical, well, fine. But that still wouldn't explain where the fuck Constantine would have seen them in action, or why Rome would suddenly choose to adopt religious practices (and you CAN NOT divorce magic from religion, that shit works in the Forgotten Realms, but NOT in our own classical history) from a culture that they considered so utterly abhorent and repulsive that they did everything they possibly could to commit cultural genocide against them.

I mean fuck, face it, you will NOT find a good historical explanation for how this debauchle could possibly make sense. The point was never for it to "make sense" either, it not a real "historical" game, its just a product of the author thinking Druids really rock, or wanting to cash in on the stupid STUPID obsession people have with a gang of manure-stained bog-dwelling celts and their superstitions.

RPGPundit

Quote from: McrowThe problem with that statement is that people tend to hide beliefs and be very secretive when people are trying to kill you for them.

Also, the game IS Alternate History and obviously has fantasy elements, so why the hell complain about the historical inaccuracies? Just makes no sense to me. Its obvious to me that the game was written to be fantastical Roman Alternate history game.

Its like asking why I get pissed off that Gladiator made a mockery of Roman history.
Same reasons.
Worse, in fact, because everytime "Hinterwelt Bill" has talked about Roma Imperius he tries to make out justifications and tries to claim its really a historical game, that reflects what Romans were really like (while at the same time ignoring one of the most significant character traits of the Romans, their abhorrence for human sacrifice and barbarian magic).
If he'd just say "oh shit no, its all made up, its not meant to be historical!" I would have no problem with it.

RPGPundit

Dude, I don't care about the historical accuracy of Roma Imperius.  If you really must flame out some guy about it, can you start a separate thread to do it in, please?

Quote from: RPGPunditWorse, in fact, because everytime "Hinterwelt Bill" has talked about Roma Imperius he tries to make out justifications and tries to claim its really a historical game, that reflects what Romans were really like (while at the same time ignoring one of the most significant character traits of the Romans, their abhorrence for human sacrifice and barbarian magic).
If he'd just say "oh shit no, its all made up, its not meant to be historical!" I would have no problem with it.

RPGPundit

Sorry, Pundy, but I have to call bullshit here. I have never seen Bill running around here or anywhere else proclaiming the high level of historical accuracey in Roma. I think that that vast majority of the setting that is meant to be historically accurate, IS. Bill will fully admit that a good portion of the setting is made up/based on mythology. I think one look through the game by someone that who doesn't have his head buried in his historically inclined ass could tell that this is not Roman simulation RPG, nor is it meant to be.

Quote from: RPGPunditSaying "magic is not real" doesn't really counter my historical issues (or better put, my historian's issues)  with your game, it just absolves yourself from the argument.  Its like saying "well it doesn't matter, its JUST A GAME". Ok, fine, sure, its just a game. So what? It doesn't make me suddenly like it.

And as for your edit comment, I very much doubt it. There's a lot of evidence that in Britannia, where the Druid cult was never as strong as in Gaul, the druids were already more or less dying out by the time Aulus Plautius' armies arrived in the name of Claudius Caesar.

RPGPundit

I have never said this was a "Historic" game.

Bill

Quote from: RedFoxDude, I don't care about the historical accuracy of Roma Imperius.  If you really must flame out some guy about it, can you start a separate thread to do it in, please?

Redfox,
I am sorry for my part in the side track.

Is there anything I can do or question I could answer for you pertaining to Roma?

Bill

Pundit:

The game obviously isn't intended as a serious alt history. I yanked it further that way because I prefer it, but there is no real attempt to make it so from the design. However, even so, the Romans in the game do not use druidic magic. They evolved their own system.

-clash

Ok, anyways, I did say that if you aren't a historian you probably won't have that particular issue with the game.

RPGPundit

Quote from: HinterWeltRedfox,
I am sorry for my part in the side track.

Is there anything I can do or question I could answer for you pertaining to Roma?

Bill

It's cool, thanks.  I was wondering what people could tell me about the system.  Is it complicated?  Simple?  How's it work in play?  What should I expect?  Are there any good tips for a first-time player?  The equivelant of "new guys should play the big dumb fighter" for D&D?  That sorta thing?

Quote from: RedFoxAnyone have any experience with this game?  Could tell me more about it, what to expect, or whether I should bother?

Well, how about I tell you a little about the system.

The Iridium System has 11 stats that range from 1 to 20 for humans. Super natural creatures may go up to 30 but seldom exceed 25.

Skills are roll under percentile and proceed int he following manner:
Rank - %
1 - 40
2 - 60
3 - 70
4 - 75
5 - 80
6 - 82
7 - 84
8 - 86
9 - 88
10 - 90
11 - 91...

Skills are split into six groups and are modified by Levels attained in the related class. For instance, for each level attained by a thief type class, Pick Pockets would go up by 3% while anything outside the Thief type skills would only advance 1%. Skills are also modified by high or low stats.

Combat flows in the following manner:
1. Initiative (d6 mod by Agility, highest goes first)

2. Highest initiative gets all attacks for their weapon. Weapons have multiple attacks and this is the advantage of winning initiative.

3. Access hits. Hitting an opponent is determined by rolling higher than their Defense (STR+AGL+CON/3, usually determined at chargen) on a d20 + modifiers for DEX.

4. Determine location by skill check vs Targeting. Pick location if check is successful or determine location randomly with a d10.

5. Determine Damage as indicated by weapon, plus STR bonus + weapon skill bonus.

6. Repeat as necessary.

The character sheet helps a lot.

Magic
Depending on what you play, you may use one of our three magic systems. The strength of the Romans is their Artificer and they can be a lot of fun to play. They use a version of our free form system. The Free Form system uses a check against two stats, one to determine if the feat is carried off or not and one to determine if any damage is taken from channeling the energy. The Shaman and Druid use this form of magic.

The Magi of the Empire use spell lists divided into Realms. There are seven known Realms but more are suspected. Essentially this is a point based spell lists. You receive spell/spirit points based on your 1/2 Piety and a roll of the d20. This gives you a range of 2-30. You may drain spirit points from other sentient creatures, and if enough is drained, you will kill them. Your magus may cast until they reach -10 where they die. A magus will have between 3 and 5 first level spells initially and possibly 1 second level spell. A magus may cast from two realms (lists).

The final form is the Dedicated form. It is used by the Oriental Monk and involves precise defined powers that they use CHI for. They may not drain CHI from others and require Meditation to recover their CHI.

Well, that is the quick tour...well, maybe not so quick.

Hope this helps and, again, let me know if you have any particular questions.

Bill

Quote from: HinterWeltIf the guy who wrote the game can chime in (and honestly, I will butt out if the OP wants it), you play humans. That is all the players are. There are traditional (read taken from actual mythology) foes in the game. So, there are Alfar, dwarves and harpies but there are also twists on those. For instance, the cannibal Eastern Dwarves and the Atrox.

So, no, you so not play anything but humans in this game. Sorry if that disappoints.

Bill

I'm curious about the system you use, can you tell me about it?

Quote from: Dominus NoxI'm curious about the system you use, can you tell me about it?

He just did.

-clash