R bin
ood
ampa gn A dend m
By Dan M ers
F r Cha lie “Ham th Hobb t” My rs
Forew rd Initially, the Robin ood Camp ign © was designed fo r Rolemaster ™ (Secon Edition), ero System users, and Middle E rth Role Pl ying™ Syst m (MERP).1 Although, the campaig n was super ly written it is after all the best role playin adaptation of Robin H ood) MERP users have had to filte r through t e confusing and insuff icient chara ter generati n rules to p lay the cam aign. The p urpose of th is article is o fill in c aracter gen ration gaps and to clari fy the rules. It is hope that the ar ticle will all ow players o switch t eir charact rs from on campaign world to th next with no problem . Hence, ERP players should b e able to enj oy the Robi Hood campaign in man ways.
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Staplehurst, Graha m. Robin Hood Campaign. Charlottesvi lle, VA: Iron Crown Enter rises, Inc., 19 87.
Introduction2 This addendum clarifies character generation rules set forth in Robin Hood Campaign for MERP characters. It also provides additional additional game mechanics for the Game Master to use in their Robin Hood games. Sections 1.0 and 3.0 flesh out and simplify the Character Creation rules presented in Robin Hood . They also provide an additional Profession Profession (Knight) (Knight) and expand on the the use of magic. Section 3.0 provides additional information on the Background Background Descriptions, Descriptions, which were presented in in the Campaign book. The GM can elect to use all or part of the rules when creating a Robin Hood character. Section 2.0 presents rules concerning languages in medieval England and how languages relate to Background Descriptions. Section 4.0 provides provides a table table of European and mystical herbs. Section 5.0 simplifies Medieval England exchange rates and their equivalent to the normal MERP rates. rates. Section 6.0 provides role-playing statistic statistic for fauna and human human encounters in Robin Hood .
1.0 Character Creation This section shows players how to create Robin Hood characters characters with MERP rules. When creating a Robin Hood character, players follow the normal rules of MERP: rolling for stats, developing skills, choosing professions, etc. However, magical magical abilities have been been curtailed. curtailed. In Robin and dragons do do not exist. exist. Instead, there are greedy barons and and scheming sheriffs. sheriffs. Magic, if Hood , wizards and there is any, is very very limited in scope and power. In Robin Hood , the player must roll to determine the character's magical potential as part of character generation to limit the use of magic. This will be discussed later in section 1.5 Magic. 1.1 Creating a Robin Hood Character in the MERP System
The first part of creating a Robin Hood Character Character is to choose a background description. description. In Robin Hood , all player characters (PC) are human and typically native to England. Robin Hood lacks lacks any of the character races normally found in MERP. The different character character race descriptions descriptions have been substituted substituted by Backgrounds Descriptions. Descriptions. Backgrounds Descriptions Descriptions represent represent the type type of upbringing upbringing the character had. A character brought up by monks would would choose the Priest/Monk background. Similarly, a character brought up as a serf would choose choose the Peasant background. Descriptions and more information information on Background Descriptions can be found in Section 3.0. 1.2 Rolling Stats & Choosing a Profession
The PC is constructed constructed following the the MERP rules for rolling rolling stats. In choosing a profession, profession, the PC is restricted to the professions listed listed in Table 1.1 shown below. The background chosen by the player further further restricts the availability availability of these professions. Spell-users of Essense (and Mentalism) are unknown in Robin Hood ; therefore they do not exist—at least not as PC options.
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Original material copyright © 2004 by Daniel M. Myers. Rolemaster ™ and its component parts, including Robin Hood Campaign, are the property of Iron Crown Enterprises. Fantasy Hero™ and its component parts are the property of Hero Games. Both are used by the author in the context of producing a role-playing game supplement.
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TABLE 1.1: MERP Professions in Robin Hood Standard Professions Optional Professions Warrior Knight Animist Rogue Ranger Conjurer Scout Scholar (Sage) Bard Civilian Note: The Bard Profession can not learn any Bard or Essence spell lists. The Conjurer Profession can can not learn any Essence spell lists. The Knight Profession is a new Profession and is discussed in detail later in this section.
1.21 New Profession: Knight
In Robin Hood, Knights play a significant significant role in the ballads. ballads. Sir Richard of the Lee, Sir Guy of of Gisburne and Ivanhoe are all knights playing a crucial role in the stories of Robin Hood. The following provides a description of the Knight profession.
jousting. Their primary areas of development development are weapon Knights are trained in the arts of combat and jousting. skills, riding, and body body development. It is difficult for knights to learn spells spells and magic; they have little little interest in or aptitude for such pursuits. pursuits. Knights can use any weapon and any armor but favor chain or plate armor and large weapons. Knights also must have Jousting as their secondary skill (see Robin Hood Campaign Hood Campaign ©).
Note: In Robin Hood , Knights are limited to PCs with Noble or Mercenary/Soldier backgrounds. Table 1.2 lists the Knight's Development Points and Profession Bonuses.
Table 1.2 Knight's Development Points and Profession Bonuses Profession M&M Development Points: Skills
Knight
2
Weapon Skills
General Skills
Subterfuge Skills
Magical Skills
Languages
Spell Lists
Body Development
Secondary Skills
5
3
1
0
1
0
3
0
Profession Bonuses:
Realm
Prime Stat
Bonus
Knight
None
St
(+2) Weapon Skills, Body development, Ride, Perception
1.3 Background & Role Traits
The PC follows the MERP MERP rules for obtaining obtaining background and role role traits. A player may choose from from six options: special abilities, hobby skill ranks, stat increases, heirloom, magic potential improvement, and languages. Each option option is worth 1 Background Option Option Point (BGO). Table 1.3 provides provides Background options. Special Abilities give the character extraordinary talents that distinguish the PC from the rest of the population. Hobby Skill Ranks give the player two options. options. He can increase one of the PC’s primary skills skills by two ranks or one of his secondary secondary skills by five. Stat Increases also give the the player two options. options. He may increase one of the PC’s stats by 2 points points or three stats by 1 point each, to a maximum of 101. The category provides provides the player with with exceptional exceptional items. items. The Magic Potential Improvement Heirloom category category allows a player to receive an additional +10 to his roll when determining the magical potential of the PC. The Languages category allows a character to learn one additional language to rank 3 (fluency). Language ranks are handled differently in Robin Hood . For more information, see Section 2.0. The GM may restrict which languages a character may learn, see Section 3.0.
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