“If you don’t like their rules, whose would you use?”

Charlie Brown

I use Rolemaster Standard System (RMSS) as the gaming system. RMFRP is nearly nearly identical to RMSS so those books would suffice, but the notes here reference mostly RMSS books except as noted otherwise. If you want a brief intro and description to Rolemaster see What is Rolemaster? (pdf) from the ICE website. For more info on the difference between RMSS and RMFRP see Brent Knorr’s RMSS vs. RMFRP article. There’s also a good page with various Rolemaster rulings that may be worth a gander.

The most important rule in my campaigns is to stay away from online resources dealing with The Shadow World. The game will be much more fun if you discover the world in-game rather then reading about it. The Player Guides on this site give you all the info you need to know as a player.

I have made specific notes on each book used below. There are details on which rules are used, which are not, and which are modified.

Rolemaster Standard Rules

There are official addendums to the first printing of RMSR. Reprints were in the Arcane Companion but the addendums are also on the ICE website. All rules presented are used as is with the following exceptions and notes:

• 3.0, 11.1 CULTURES AND RACES: Cultures and Races are not used - instead use Shadow World specific Races and Cultures.
• 7.0, 31.0 EXPERIENCE: Experience points are not used, instead levels will be assigned. In some cases Development Points will be assigned to be spent right away. In this case those DP’s are subtracted from those available when increasing a level. I may experiment with a goal-based experience system (going to take a look at the rules in HARP)
• 10.0 CHARACTER SHEET: An Excel character spreadsheet is used for keeping track of characters and development rather then the RMSS character sheets.
• 11.4 ADDITIONAL BASE LISTS: The normal rule of Pure spell users getting an additional 4 bonus lists is not used. See the House Rules on Additional Base Lists for Pure, Hybrid, and Semi spell users.
• 12.1 TEMPORARY STATS: The 600+10d10 system is not used for assigning temporary stats, instead a flat 660 points is used for everyone.
• 13.0 ADOLESCENCE SKILL DEVELOPMENT: Because the Races/Cultures from RMSS are not used, Adolescent ranks for specific races and cultures from Shadow World will be assigned by the GM on a case by case basis. This will be based on character background and will total 50 ranks, with 11 ranks designated as Hobby Ranks to be assigned by the player. Ranks in languages are provided separately and are not included in the 50 ranks.
• 14.0 BACKGROUND OPTIONS: The Background Options in RMSR are not used, instead the Talents from Character Law (RMFRP), or the (I think equivalent) Talent Law (RMSS book). I only own Character Law so that’s the one I officially use. See the page on Background Options for complete details.
• 15.0 TRAINING PACKAGES: Training Packages are used, but they must fit in with the background and only one Lifestyle TP can be taken. No more then 3 TP’s can be taken total, and rarely after level 1. For TP costs, the super-official-master TP cost list (pdf) is used from the ICE website.
• 17.1, 17.2 AGE AND OUTFITTING: Age and starting equipment is determined by the GM and character background. The pricing on the Equipment charts is also not applicable and have been replaced with Shadow World specific equipment charts.
• 26.0 CASTING SPELLS: For Essence users, The Spell Casting Modifications Table (T-4.6) is replaced with the appropriate one from Essence Companion (based on type of casting: Nomenist, Catalyst or Somaticist). Channeling, Mentalism, or Arcane users use the table from RMSR, or Arcane Companion.
• 32.2 INJURY, HEALING & DEATH: All rules are used as is. However, see the House Rules on Healing & Herbs. Also used is the specific notes on healing skills in The Skill Companion (however, Second Aid has been removed, use First Aid or Surgery).
• A-9 OPTIONAL RULES: Some of the optional rules presented are used:
• A-9.2 Variable Stat Bonuses: This optional rule is used and all variable stats are accounted for on the character spreadsheet.
• A-9.6 Missile Weapons in Melee: Used as is.
• A-9.7: Shield Bash: Used as is.

Spell Law

Also note that Bladeturn (Open Mentalism->Attack Avoidance) gives a +50 DB, not +100. This is an ommision from the Mentalism list but this rule makes it the same as the corresponding spell from the Essence Realm. Spell Law is used as is except some Spell Lists are not generally accessible:

• Channeling:
• Essence: Lofty Bridge
• Mentalism: Mind’s Door, Movement

Arcane Companion

The concepts and premises of the Arcane Companion are all valid, except instead of Earthblood, Earthnodes and Ley Lines in The Shadow World this is the Essænce which can appear as foci or Flows. However the concept and general rules still apply. See the SW Player Guide on Essænce and Magic for more info. All Professions (except Chaotic), Training Packages, and Spell Lists are used. However, access to certain lists is severely restricted: Arcane Forces (Open), Shifting Law (Closed), Arcane Motions (Chaotic Base). Teleportation type spells suffer from serious risk in The Shadow World and are normally only available to special groups such as Navigators. The Chaotic is not typically available as a profession.

Martial Arts Companion

Most of the Martial Arts Companion (MAC) is used including all Professions, TP’s, and Spell Lists. Weapon and Martial Arts Styles are used.

• 7.0 SKILLS: The skills presented are reorganized slightly. All new skills are included on the character spreadsheet. Here are the skills added by Category in the M.A. Companion:
• Combat Maneuvers: Blind Fighting, Weapon Style (Basic), Weapon Style (Advanced), Martial Arts Style (Basic), and Martial Arts Style (Advanced) have been added. Note that I do not use the new skill category group “Martial Arts Combat Manuevers (MA:CM)”. The DP cost different between Combat Manuevers (CM) and MA:CM is small and all the skills in MA:CM were duplicates of skills in CM except for Martial Arts Styles. MA Styles are now in Combat Manuevers and all classes use the lesser DP cost of the two groups for the CM category. Also note that the skills Missile Deflecting, Tumbling Evasion and Two-Weapon Combat have been revised. Use MAC for the new descriptions.
• Lore-General: Martial Arts Styles Lore and Weapon Styles Lore have been added.
• Martial Arts Skill Group: The 4 separate Degree skills for Martial Arts Strikes and Sweeps have been replaced with a single skill for each type of attack. The new skills Nerve Strikes in the Martial Arts Strikes category and Locking Holds in the Martial Arts Sweeps category.
• Special Attacks: Feint and Racial Atacks have been added. Disarm Foe has been revised.
• Special Defenses: Adrenal Resistance has been added. Adrenal Defense and Adrenal Toughness have been revised. NOTE: The DP costs for the Special Defenses category has been revised. See the House Rules section for details. Adrenal Resistance is a restricted skill, but Adrenal Defense and Adrenal Toughness are not.
• 10.0 CHI POWERS SKILLS: Chi Powers are not used.

Essence Companion

Most of the Essence Companion is used including all Professions, TP’s, and Spell Lists. Specific notes follow:

• 2.0, 6.0 SCHOOLS OF MAGIC: The Schools of Magic are used and it should be noted that this is a large addition to the way the Essence realm works. The majority of Essence users are Somaticists, with Nomenists being in a close second. This is especially true in urban areas. Catalyst casters (Herbalists, Corpists, and Crystalists) become more common in rural areas and in some specific cultures they might dominant (certain hunter tribes, if they use Essence at all, would probably be Corpist casters). Often times certain professions nearly always follow a specific school (Dabblers tend to always be Somaticists because it lends itself to more stealthy casting then the Nomenist school).
• 2.4, 6.5 Nomenist Casters: “Nomenist casters control the Essence through their knowledge of words of power, also known as the Primal Tongue. Because the Primal Tongue is ever changing and impossible to catalogue, Nomenists must continuously study languages old and new to find resonances of this Primal Tongue.” There is a huge error in the calculation for the number of ranks in the Primal Tongue in section 6.5 that has been officially corrected via errata. The formula should be divided by 10! For a listing of Shadow World languages and their Tiers see Languages.
• 3.0, 9.0 RITUAL MAGIC: The rules (and the skill) of Ritual Magic is used, but I have yet to have a character ever actually use it. Ritual magic tends to be out of place in most campaigns, but the option is there.
• 4.0, 7.0 LEARNING SPELL LISTS: All the methods listed may be used to learn spell lists. In cities, Universities and Guild are quite common. In more rural areas Mentors tend to be the more traditional way of learning spells. However Books, while rare and valuable, exist for most spell lists (and different Schools of Magic). It is important to understand that the Spell List represents a very formalized method of spell casting that has refined over many years. Spell Lists therefore are almost always recorded in books and at higher levels, books tend to be the primary source of learning spells. At lower levels however, teachers, whether through Univerisity, Guilds, or Mentors, are much more common. Self-teaching is very unusual and rare. Those who do self-teach tend to tap into the Flows of Essænce themselves and thus utilize the realm of the Arcane not the Essence. However not to say that self-teaching does not occur in the Essence realm. New Spell Lists were developed somehow, and these are nearly always from those who experiment and learn through trial and error. The Learning Static Maneuver rules are NOT used. From the official errata: Students in a University can learn from more lists in a level then normal. The first 6 lists are at normal cost, the 7th-12th lists are x2 the DP cost, and more then 12 spells are x2 the DP cost.
• 5.2 TRAINING PACKAGE SPELL LISTS: The Spell Group does NOT have two new categories added to it (Own Realm TP Spell List and Other Realm TP Spell List). Training Package Spell Lists do not use separate costs, they are treated as Open Lists. For NON Spell users, they are treated as Everyman Open Lists (as long as they are “associated” with the training package). Training Package Spell Lists are usually associated with specific groups/professions and as such are not normally available to everyone.
• 5.4.2 CHANGES/ADDITIONS TO OLD SKILLS: See the additional notes on: (Crafts) Horticulture; (Lore-Technical) Herb Lore and Stone Lore; (Outdoor-Environmental) Caving and Foraging; (Power Awareness) Power Perception…use the chart given and Read Runes; (Sci/Analytic-Specialized) Alchemy. Additional changes:
• (Lore-Magical) Circle Lore, Symbol Lore and Warding Lore: Combined into one skill: Symbol Lore.
• (Power Manipulation) Spell Mastery: skill is taken in a School of Magic rather then a specific list. Because this greatly increases the usability of Spell Mastery it is now classified as a RESTRICTED skill for everyone, no exceptions (overrides specific Professions).
• (Technical/Trade-Vocational) Preparing Herbs: See House Rules on Healing & Herbs.
• 5.4.3 NEW SKILLS: The new skills Teaching, Glyph Lore and Corpus Lore are NOT used (instead of Corpus Lore, use Fauna Lore). There isn’t any good rules presented for using the Teaching skill so it is not used. The skills added are:
• Outdoor-Animal: Familiar Mastery: has been added. In addition to the description, it is used in cases where the character wishes to directly control the Familiar, or order the Familiar to do difficult or dangerous things. This skill is classified as an Everyman skill to anyone who has a Familiar but it must be taken for a specific Familiar (and you can only have one at a time). If the Familiar dies the character loses the ranks in this skill for good (but can start again with a new Familiar).
• Power Manipulation: Summoning, Spell Artistry, Spell Trickery, and Targeting have been added and are as described. Note that Spell Trickery can also be used to hide the aura from spell casting (See Essænce and Spells).
• 8.0 RESEARCHING NEW SPELLS: Like Magic Ritual the option is there but not usually used.
• 10.0 FAMILIARS: All the rules for Familiars in this section are used.

Channeling Companion

Users of Channeling gain several advantages over the users of Essence. First and foremost they don’t need access to special materials, books, or teachers in order to learn new spell lists. They also have the potential of getting divine intervention from the deities in extraordinary circumstances. However there is a price to be paid. These advantages are not without a price however. Channeling users must work at maintaining favor with their deity. Comments about specific sections follow:

• 1.0 - 4.0 CONCEPTS AND PREMISES: All the concepts given in Part I are valid.
• 5.0, 8.0, 10.0 USING THIS COMPANION: All Professions and Training Packages are used. All Spell Lists are used except for those dealing with the Spirit World: The Priest lists Chants, Spirit Law, and Spirit Domination.
• 6.0 DIVINE STATUS: The rules given in this section are used as is. Characters (of Channeling, or with faith) typically start at Status Level 5.
• 7.0 DIVINE INTERVENTION: It is possible that deities intervene in special circumstances. The Divine Intervention Static Maneuver Chart is used with the Prayer Modifiers used from the “Passive” column.
• 9.0, 16.0 PRIESTS: Priests are basically Clerics customized for specific religions/dieties. Customized Priests professions will be made (eventually) for Shadow World Priests professions.
• 11.0 FATE POINTS: Fate Points are used. All characters start with 3 Fate Points (regardless of level) and will gain 1 FP per level. As described in this section, Fate Points may be used to re-roll a critical, a Resistance Roll, or a maneuver roll. Fate Points are not meant to get characters out of situations they are in due to bad decisions, they are meant to help mitigate the effects of unlucky dice rolls. The Two Fate Point rule is used - If a second Fate Point is used for the same roll (the second roll was also bad) the effect is simply canceled, not rolled a third time. NOTE that IMPORTANT NPC’s ALSO GET FATE POINTS. However, when a character forces an NPC to use a Fate Point (from a critical for example) they gain an additional Fate Point.
• 12.0 THE SPIRIT WORLD: This section is not used.
• 13.0 TALENTS AND FLAWS: These are all available Talents and Flaws subject to GM approval.
• 14.0, 15.0 OTHER: Both these sections are used.

Mentalism Companion

The realm of Mentalism is much more subtle then the flashy realm of Essence but also much more narrow in it’s ability affect large areas. Mentalism spells are normally limited to the caster himself, or a small number of targets. Mentalism users are also unmatched in their ability to gather information about the past, present, and future. Specific comments on what sections are used in the Mentalism Companion follow:

• 1.0 - 3.0 CONCEPTS: All the concepts in these sections are valid. The approach I take is the middle ground between total Free Will and Predestination where a foretold future (whether through spells or skills) is a future but not neccessarily the future.
• 4.1.2 SKILLS: Only the new skills listed below are used.
• (Power Manipulation) Mental Control (Assault) and Mental Control (Defense): Both these skills are used for the use and defense of mental spells (those with sub-type ‘m’).
• (Self Control) Spell Concentration: is a very important skill for casters that utilize Concentration spells. It is Restricted for non spell users, normal for semis, and Everyman for pures and hybrids. Spells can not be concentrated on indefinitely and periodic Spell Concentration rolls are required. The skill can also be used to maintain concentration in difficult circumstances (e.g. when being attacked).
• (Technical Trade - Professional) Sanity Healing: This skill is used for recognizing and treating mental disorders. It can be used to restore points to one’s Sanity Stat (See section 9.0).
• 4.1.3 APPEARANCE: The optional appearance rules are used for Appearance:
• Potential Appearance = d100 + 3*(Presence Stat Bonus).
• 4.2 TRAINING PACKAGE SPELL LISTS: As stated under the Essence Companion, Training Package Spell Lists do not use separate costs, they are treated as Open Lists. For NON Spell users, they are treated as Everyman Open Lists (as long as they are “associated” with the training package). Training Package Spell Lists are usually associated with specific groups/professions and as such are not normally available to everyone.
• 5.0, 6.0, 17.0 PROFESSIONS, TP’s, AND SPELL LISTS: All Professions and Training Packages are used. All Spell Lists are used except for the Dream TP Spell Lists: Dream Law, Dream Lore, and Dream Travel.
• 7.0 MENTALISM MAGIC AND RITUAL: This entire section is used. The most important sections are on the use of the Spell Concentration skill (7.1), and the resolution of mental spells (7.2). As noted for other books, Magic Ritual is potentially available, but rarely comes into play in campaigns.
• 8.0 THE PHILOSOPHIES OF ILLUSION: All the concepts in this section are valid and are importnat in distinguishing between the different kinds of illusions.
• 9.0 THE FRAGILE MIND: All the rules in this section on sanity are used. This introduces a new stat called Sanity.
• 10.0 LANGUAGE AND LORE: TBD
• 11.0, 12.0, 13.0 EVOKING, SCRYING AND DIVINATION: These three sections deal with using divinatory skills on the past, present, and future respectively. All the rules presented here are used.
• 14.0, 15.0: ASTROLOGY AND THE TAROT: These sections are not used. The section on astrology is not used because of the lack of astrological detail laid out for the Shadow World (at this time).
• 16.0 DREAMS: Not currently used.

Character Law (RMFRP)

The only sections used in Character Law are those on Talents and Flaws as the rest of the material is contained in the RMSR book. The Talents and Flaws rule is comparable to that found in the older Talent Law book. Sections 5.0 and 6.0 are used for Talents and Flaws. Section 6.0 is not used as Status, Wealth, and Items are determined wholly by the GM supplied background. See the page on Background Options for detailed information.

School of Hard Knocks: The Skill Companion (RMFRP)

The Skill Companion contains extended descriptions of all the skills and several optional rules. While some skills are not used the majority are. The classes and TP’s are also potentially available. Specific notes follow:

• 2.0, 5.0, 6.0 SKILLS: These sections cover skill resolution (how to handle skill resolution when multiple people are working on a task, subsequent manuevers, and maneuver durations), general modifiers for each of the skill categories, and specific Skill descriptions. All these sections are very useful and will be the main book used for skills.
• 3.0 SKILL DEVELOPMENT: Skill specialization and skill generalization are not used. Some skills must be specialized in by taking them in a specific region or topic and these are indicated on the character spreadsheet.
• 4.0 HEALING: This is a great addition to the normal rules on healing by expanding exactly what healing skills (First Aid, Surgery, etc.) can be used for. Note that Second Aid has been removed, use either First Aid or Surgery.
• 8.0, 9.0 TRAINING PACKAGES AND PROFESSIONS: All the TP’s are available but the only profession used is the Sage.
• 10.0 OPTIONAL MAGIC BALANCE RULES: Some of the rules in this section are used.
• 10.1 Expanded Risk Factors: The magical risk factors in RMSR don’t fit in with the high magic setting of The Shadow World. However, using magic can potentially cause problems. The Expanded Risk Factors in this section will be used, but environmental changes due to magic use will be very rare except in the most powerful of spells OR close proximity to the Flows of Essence. It makes sense that in the high magic world parasites that feed off of magical energy may have developed so the distributed evil risk chart is used. Things such as parastic ticks that feed off of spell users essence become a very real problem.
• 10.2 Resistance as Skills: Very good idea, but currently not used.
• 10.3 Spell Visibility: Spell casting is visible and usually quite obvious. See the SW Essænce and Spells section for information on this. Spell Trickery can be used to mask the visible effects of spell casting.