Rolemaster is a role-playing game published by Iron Crown Enterprises.

The third edition, first published in 1995, is also known as the Rolemaster Standard System ( or RMSS for short ).

Rolemaster Fantasy Roleplaying ( or RMFRP ) was first published in 1999 as a reorganized edition of RMSS, and is largely compatible with that edition.

The most recent publication of the Rolemaster rule set is Rolemaster Classic ( RMC ), a republished set of the second edition rules.

Almost all die rolls in Rolemaster are ' open-ended ', meaning that if a result is high enough ( or low enough ), you roll again and add ( or subtract ) the new roll to the original result-and this can happen multiple times, so in theory, there is no upper limit to how well ( or poorly ) one can roll.

Rolemaster is a skill-based system in which no absolute restrictions on skill selection are employed.

The term Rolemaster First Edition ( RM1 ) is generally used to refer to the products released between 1980 and 1982, including the original versions of Arms Law, Claw Law, Spell Law, Character Law and Campaign Law.

This means that, in common parlance, the term " Rolemaster Second Edition " ( RM2 ) is often used to refer everything published from 1984 to 1994.

Rolemaster Fantasy Roleplaying is the current edition of the Rolemaster rules, and is thus well-supported and easier for interested new players to pick up and try out.

Rolemaster Express is a single, 88-page book that contains everything necessary to play.

It is an adaptation of, and mostly compatible with, the Rolemaster Fantasy Roleplaying system, and as such any perceived failings / strengths of the latter also apply to Space Master.

Rolemaster uses a percentile dice system and employs both classes ( called " Professions " in Rolemaster ) and levels to describe character capabilities and advancement.

Rolemaster characters have ten attributes, called " stats ", which represent their natural abilities in such areas as physical strength, memory, self-discipline, agility.

Thus, unlike, for example, Dungeons and Dragons, Rolemaster describes wounds not only in the number of points of damage dealt ( which are then subtracted from an abstract pool of ' Hit Points '), but with specific details of the injury inflicted.

However, the fact that one's opponents also fight using these same rules can make Rolemaster a very deadly game for both PCs and NPCs ; a lucky shot may let Joe-Bob the Ignorant Scullery Boy kill the Mighty Thargad, Orc Warmaster of the North, with a kitchen knife ; and Angar the Strong, 30th-level fighter in full plate with a wide array of combat skills, can die to a lucky kobold fighting with a broken bottle.

Over the years, a large number of products have been brought out for Rolemaster and it can be rather confusing to figure out which of these were put out for which version of the game and what books are needed to actually play.

* Campaign Classics line-dual stated for Hero System and Rolemaster:

Much of his early work was for Iron Crown Enterprises as an editor and writer for the Rolemaster and Champions lines.

* Loremaster, a series of campaign modules for the Rolemaster role-playing game

* " The Armory ", a weapons supplement for Rolemaster Fantasy Role Playing system, contains a " Nodwick attack table ," showing damage resulting from henchman throwing in the same format as normal weapon damage in that system.

* Channeling ( Rolemaster ), in the Rolemaster role-playing game

There was then a fairly major revision to the game when the third version, Rolemaster Standard System was released ( RMSS ).

However, with the publication of Character Law, the full Rolemaster system became able to stand on its own as a distinct game system.

In 1995 the game was revamped and re-released as Rolemaster Standard System ( RMSS ).

In 1999 the game underwent a slight restructuring when Rolemaster Fantasy Roleplaying ( RMFRP ) was released, but this was mostly a rearranging of material with very few changes to the rules themselves.

It initially used exclusively the ICE MERP and ICE Rolemaster role playing game systems, but has since expanded to include other Tolkien-centric game systems.

* John Curtis ( games designer ), designer of the Rolemaster game systems

* Rolemaster ( role-playing game )

Many of ICE ’ s better-known products were related to JRR Tolkien ’ s world of Middle-earth, but the Rolemaster rules system, and its science-fiction equivalent, Spacemaster, have been the foundation of ICE ’ s business.

Much of this material, and the material that was published under the aegis of the first edition, took the form of optional and variant rules ( some of which, like the greatly expanded skill system of Rolemaster Companion II, were widely adopted ), and new professions and spell lists.

Some variants even replaced whole sections of distinctively " Rolemaster " rules, such as the combat system, with more traditional systems closer to the line established by Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.

As a result, Iron Crown cleaned up and republished the RM2 rules with new typesetting and illustrations in 2007 as Rolemaster Classic ( RMC ).

Iron Crown also published the core of the Rolemaster Classic rules, with most of the options removed, as Rolemaster Express.

Rolemaster has come in four separate editions.

Strike resolution in Rolemaster requires one, or at most two, die rolls, with no additional modifiers made to the second ( critical ) roll, except in certain circumstances when specific special abilities are in play.

In addition, the common flaw pointed out in pure hit point systems ( such as D & D's ), where a fighting combatant functions at full ability until the point he or she drops unconscious or dead, does not exist in Rolemaster.

First Edition and Second Edition Rolemaster belong to the first group, usually just referred to as RM2.

Lists of the various Rolemaster publications, including cover photos, may be found on the ICE Web Ring.

Several additional books were published from 1985 to 1988, including Rolemaster Companions 1, 2, and 3 and the first Creatures and Treasures book.

The official start of the Second Edition Rolemaster series came with a Boxed Set ( the so-called " Red Spine " set ) containing redesigned editions of Arms Law & Claw Law, Spell Law, and Character Law & Campaign Law, all with red-bordered covers.

Technically, the products released between 1984 and 1988 are also First Edition Rolemaster products, but actual differences between RM1 and RM2 were slight ( limited to a minor modification to the combat sequence, some rearranging of material, and a major graphical overhaul ), and few ( if any ) compatibility issues ever arose.

In particular, Rolemaster Companion II included the complete Skill list and descriptions section and Master Development Point Cost Tables as well as several Professions that are often considered the distinguishing features of Rolemaster Second Edition.