1 Character, 13 Systems - Part 13: Rolemaster

    I described my character, Korsanian, in a previous post here. 
    I almost decided against using this system, since I remember how long it takes to make a character, but if I survived GURPS then I can survive the Rolemaster system:

Books Used: Rolemaster core rulebook
Approximate time to create: 2 hrs

Korsanian Vambrae  -  Wood Elf, Magician

Agility               35  /  86  /  +4
Constitution      40  /  63  /  +0
Memory            90  /  92  /  +7
Reasoning         90  /  100  /  +5
Self Discipline  90  /  99  /  +0
Empathy           90  /  96  /  +7
Intuition           90  /  97  /  +5
Presence           60  /  83  /  +2
Quickness        40  /  72  /  +2
Strength            35  /  80  /  +0

Racial Abilities:  Cold Resistance, Disease Resistance, Immortality, Rest Requirements, Night Sight, Superb Hearing

Background Options:
+10 to 2 skills
+1 spell adder or +10 magic item
daily 4 item or +2 spell adder or +15 magic item or 5 doses of potion (level 1-5)

Loremaster:  Book (+10 to one Lore category)

Skill Categories:
Athletics/Brawn  1  (+6)
Athletics/Endurance  1  (+6)
Athletics/Gymnastic  1  (+6)
Awareness/Searching  1  (+12)
Awareness/Senses  1  (+12)
Communication  2  (+23)
Lore/General  10  (+40)
Lore/Magical  4  (+37)
Lore/Technical  2  (+23)
Lore/Obscure  2  (+23)
Outdoor/Animal  1  (+20)
Outdoor/Environmental  5  (+22)
Power Awareness  1  (+36)
Science/Analytic - Basic  1  (+19)
Subterfuge/Stealth  4  (+17)
Tech and Trade/General  1  (+14)
Weapon/Missile  3  (+14)
Weapon/1H Edged  1  (+6)

Skills:
Swimming  3  (+15)
Climbing  2  (+12)
Alertness  6  (+16)
Body Development  1  (+6)
Own Region Lore  3  (+49)
Own Race Lore  3  (+49)
Riding  1  (+23)
Stalking  4  (+29)
Hiding  4  (+29)
Short Sword  1  (+9)
Short Bow  4  (+26)
Power Point Development  1  (+19)
Dispelling Ways (closed)  3  (+15)
Detecting Ways (open)  3  (+10)
Fauna Lore  3  (+49)
Flora Lore  3  (+49)
Herb Lore  1  (+26)
Demon/Devil Lore  1  (+26)
Spell Lore  3  (+46)
Alchemy  1  (+22)
Research  1  (+22)
Wood-crafts  1  (+16)
Leather-crafts  1  (+16)
Foraging  1  (+25)
Survival  1  (+25)
Hunting  1  (+25)
Weather-watching  1  (+25)
Tracking  1  (+15)
Animal Handling  1  (+23)
Direction Sense  1  (+15)
First Aid  1  (+17)
Basic Math  1  (+22)

Level- 1  XP- 10,000
Age- 16 yrs +40 mos

Equipment:  clothes, weapon belt, belt pouch, scabbard, 2 weapons, 2 GP

Power Points: 19
Hits: 6
Defensive Bonus: 6

Known Spells:
Detect Essence
Detect Channeling
Detect Mentalism
Cancel Essence
Cancel Channeling
Cancel Mentalism

Resistance Rolls:
Channeling  +10
Essence  +16
Mentalism  +1
Poison  +10
Disease  +100
Fear  +0

Base Movement Rate:  36'  (for being 4"2' tall)


    Two hours, the longest yet to make a character (and it felt like 4).  Rolemaster is a harsh mistress.  This is system knowledge taken to the most ridiculous degree possible (thank god I've made a few characters in the past).  It is extremely hard to just pick up the book and whip out a character.  The complicated relationships, the tables - oh dear god the tables - the complex relationships, and all the information you need is scattered in multiple locations (you cannot simply start at page 1 and go on, you have to jump to page 80 for your race, back to page 2 for the next step, then page 90 for your class, back to page 3 for the next step, then page 100; no, no, it's killing me thinking about it again, you get the picture).  It is horrible and terrible and traumatizing.  It is character creation as torture test.  If you think Pathfinder is too complex, look at Rolemaster and you'll quickly change your yardstick.
    So for all this work, did we get a better character than any of the other games?  No, not really.  He did come out well, I'll give him that.  He's a good mix of smart guy wizard and a little ranger/fighter.  He hit almost every point except for the animal companion and alchemy (again there's a skill but no real items to buy/make/use).  But while he was complete, was he any better than the hour-average for the other systems?  No, not really.  Hero System and GURPS did at least as well, and took a little less time (and a bucketload less aggravation).  The sad part is that for all the extra detail and insane calculations he still ended up about the same as most of the other games.  So without any significant improvement there's no way to justify the extra time and headache (literally, I had a tension headache after making him) in using this system.  Rolemaster is a good idea, it has some nice concepts, that is way, way, way too bloated with numbers.  Divide all stats by 10, using a single d10 for resolution (instead of percentile), and make the levels have a direct 1-to-1 relationship to effect (instead of each level being so many percentage points to whatever) - and maybe then you'd have a really good system.  It's just funny that this took only about 15 min longer than GURPS or Hero System, but felt like far, far longer.  Though, actually, I didn't completely finish him- I still have to choose my item bonuses for my background choices and buy my gear and stat my weapons, but I won't, I refuse, I give up - I can't take it any more.  I don't want to spend one more second working on him and I really don't even want to bother playing him.