u/tarotnottaken

I've been reading the Core Law for Rolemaster Unified partly for pleasure, partly to eventually play. Based on its reputation and from what I've heard over many years, I was expecting to feel like I was taking in a fire hose of information that would be dense, unfathomably "crunchy," and look incredibly slow to play.

Yes, there are many tables. I can see how cascading through them after applying modifiers to a percentile roll, or perhaps going several levels deep into them like a Russian nesting doll, may have felt overwhelming back before virtual tabletops. I can also see how it may feel downright archaic in 2026. All that said, at its core, the system seems relatively simple: roll a percentile die, add any modifiers, and then look up your result on a table based on the number you come up with. And some of the results are downright WILD.

To me, looking things up on these tables seems like it would add a lot of richness to combat and playing out skills on the table. There's the potential to roll a critical and do things that are downright outlandish, such as defeating opponents that seem nigh impossible on first blush. I am reading them with glee.

I can see how it would take a handful of sessions to get your bearings, but if you have your tables printed out or somehow ready at hand with computer software, I have my doubts that combat would really become a slog that much. Kind of like Dungeon Crawl Classics — look it up and let 'er rip!

Maybe older editions read differently, but reading Rolemaster Unified, the game doesn't seem... that bad? Not nearly as rough as I was expecting. It's too bad the artwork is poor compared to older editions of the game.

I'd like to hear others' thoughts who have played Rolemaster or enjoy playing it today. Or who don't enjoy it, and why!

Thank you all for your insights into Troika. I have since picked up the rule book and a few supplements. I think that it reads well and I am so excited to play. The only things that seemed kind of weird were the initiative system and the "skill" stat, which seems like if you roll low your character is just f***ed. But I've read it plays well at the table regardless.

I have also been made aware of Cairn, second edition, which looks like it play smoothly and is much closer to vanilla fantasy. I've read the rules online and will likely swing by the local store to pick up the box set. I'm particularly struck by the sheer volume of modules that have come out for it over the past few years. Kind of reminds me of how much people are still churning out for AD&D 1e.

I wanted to ask after experiences playing either of these games in the "long term," which for me would mean anything beyond about a dozen sessions. How did they "hold up"? Did players continue to enjoy them or did they eventually grow weary of how light on the rules the games were?

I'm preparing to run a one shot of each and I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks in advance, again.

While my preferences lie with old-school systems that reward player skill through dungeon and hex crawling, my group is intrigued by Daggerheart and would like to give it a go. I confess I have never watched anything related to Critical Role, so I'm coming at this totally blind. I have the box set on the way. I have never played a narrative-forward game in my life, I think it's called...

I like to build worlds and act as an impartial referee as players romp through them, discovering their stories along the way. I guess that's a good way to describe my frame of reference. So, I have a hunch this will be wildly different and I'm curious how it'll play. Hooray for variety.

What are your impressions a year in, for those who have spent a good bit of time with the system?

I see some folks over on RPG.net have sworn off Goodman Games, but I've always thought they were one of the more "palatable" and considerate publishers. Did something happen I'm unaware of that would lead to them being treated harshly? I'm not online much...

Can’t decide between these crunchier games:

- Imagine RPG

- OSRIC 3.0

- Hyperborea

- Traveller5

I picked up Troika after seeing all the positivity about it around here and it’s awesome, but I also want to play a crunchy game alongside it. I cannot decide which.

Imagine RPG I don’t think is very well known but it looks freaking awesome: https://www.role-playing.com

OSRIC seems like it would open up the best OSR modules and settings with 0 conversion necessary.

I have a deep love for all things swords and sorcery and I’ve heard Hyperborea is a little “cleaner” or more easy to pick up than OSRIC.

I like the idea of an incomprehensibly vast, dense toolkit to build science fiction campaigns and Traveller5 seems like a dream in that regard.

Not sure which path to take. I would buy print regardless of what I choose. I want to hear your opinions and HELP! TIA!

I came across a game called Troika! in a game store I go to sometimes. I was taken in by the weird cover and font and spent about 15 minutes flipping through the game, as it didn't look terribly complex. Lovely artwork.

I'm equal parts intrigued and confused because it is so wildly not the kind of fantasy I'm used to. I'm not even sure how I'd roleplay lots of the backgrounds which leaves me wondering if it's a bit too weird. I've since discovered that it has spawned an ENORMOUS third-party scene, so clearly it has resonated with lots of people. Or maybe it's a lot of art projects that have actually never made it to a real game table......

Anyone here played or heard of it? How has it served you and your gaming group?

I am looking up European cartoonists in order to expose myself to anything beyond Asterix and Tintin. I came across Guido Crepax on the Fantagraphics website.

I did some research and sampled some pages online, and while I can appreciate he's a master of the craft, I feel a bit ashamed that I don't think I could convince anyone, be it my wife, family, or friends, that it's high art or worthy of deep study/introspection, which I associate more with Fantagraphics than say Marvel or DC. Though I'm aware of the Fantagraphics "Underground" line and that they've published Johnny Ryan, lol.

I guess I'm just rambling a bit here but I'm curious what your take on it it. Nudity in a museum as fine art, or lower on the artistic expression totem pole?

I'd like to get into fighting games and saw that this one is on sale on PSN, has crossplay, rollback netcode, and is comparatively new — about a year old. Would this be a good one to get my feet wet with?