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Weird...I just realized that all three winners have the same last name. But rest assured the only reason that I chose these 3 is because their Moments were really great! it's still a weird coincidence though...
<< RM Moments Homepage | 1 | 2 | next >>
Well, one of my favorite Rolemaster Moments came when the group's monk, paladin, and sorcerer were stuck on a bizarre island with no conceivable way off. Having found themselves on an island seemingly peopled by headless zombies who were sustained by being fed worms of some sort through the hole in their necks which slurped them down to their gullets by equally strange zombie fat guys with no eyes or mouths or noses or ears...well, things were looking dismal. Hitching a ride on a cart bearing a small stack of neatly quarried and shaped iron ingots or steel ingots or gold ingots, the troupe slowly wound their way up the pass, seemingly inconsequential to the headless or eyeless zombies they passed (which would make sense, no?).
Well, after about a half hour on this slow moving cart eerily steered by a headless man in the carriage seat driving a team of zombiefied horses that moved painfully slow, the sorcerer, an elf of some reputation, got bored and began to harp on the Monk. The monk had been a thorn in the side of the elf, telling him he was foul for wanting to make money, or that he was a man-whore, or that he was messing around with evil magics and etc. Well, their diatribe had gone back and forth, usually with the elf starting the trouble. Well, the mood was pretty somber and the team looked desperate, so to lighten the mood the Elf sorcerer more or less told the Monk that he lacked personality and charisma so much so that the headless zombie was not only infinitely more entertaining than the monk was, but that the headless zombie was also a better conversationalist and had way more charisma AND personality than the monk. The entire troupe got a good laugh out of it, so much so that the game came to grinding halt as the Storyteller/GM himself had to compose himself. Needless to say, the monk was not amused and argued vehemently that he was, in fact, more charismatic than the headless zombie and that the sorcerer was indeed, still foul.
Granted, not a earth-shattering moment, but pretty damn funny when you consider the circumstances.
I think it was about ten years ago...I was in a campaign with my best friend where we each played a character, taking turns GMing. It was my turn to run a game so I decided to take our 2nd level characters through a MERP module that I can't remember the name of (like many others, we used RM2 rules but played in Middle Earth). I was an Urban Man Mage with a few spells and a deadly quarterstaff, while my comrade was a dastardly Urban Man Rogue who was a crack-shot with the bow. Everything went pretty much normal (we bumble around, win a few fights...you know the drill) until the end where we happened upon the "Villain's Lair" (ominous music begins).
Being 2nd level characters, we decided that the best plan of attack would be to just go in there like gangbusters and dispatch our evil foes (I believe our reconnaissance consisted of looking around the corner once). There were two of them in there, a woman seated at a desk and a man lying on a bed. So we rush through the open doorway and win the initiative. The man starts to get out of bed, but he shouldn't have even bothered. I let loose a Shock Bolt and roll something like a 9A, but the critical was the killer (pun intended) -- a 100. "Head strike. Foe's brain falls victim to massive shock and surface burns. Foe drops into unconsciousness, and dies in 6 rounds. +20 hits." Rock on!
Not to be outdone, my partner in crime lets an arrow fly at the woman who hasn't hardly had time to get out of her seat. He rolls something like a 23E -- not bad for 2nd level -- and then proceeds to roll the always sought after but rarely seen 66. "Strike through both of foe's lungs. Foe dies in 6 rounds. Add +10 to your next attack." Who da man?!?!
Suffice to say we were feeling pretty confident after that adventure, but after a trip down to Tharbad we soon came to realize that life isn't always quite so easy and that a club to the back of your head isn't the best way to spend a romantic evening...
Why howdy! My name is Tanka-Rea. I am an Elfin bard. I play music for the people. *hick-up* My cousin Mud and I have just meet with a long time friend of ours named Shamus. Tho I haveta’ say I don’t remember his name be’ in that before. Anyways, he wants to put the band back together. I haveta’ say I am excited. It has been a long time since we all played together. *hick-up* Dag’Gone it I need another beer.
So we end up going with Shamus and some strange guy named Randavi. Shamus said we need to get this thing from this place and take it to another place. I figure that I am a travelin’ gal and playin’ music to the people is my thing. Besides, I have slept with all these guys here anyways and they are borin’. So we packed up and are all ready for the journey ahead us when sudden like, we were in a totally different place. Shamus said it had something to do with a portal or somethin’. All I know is we all were there lickidy’ split.
That is when I heard it. The loudest darn crin’ I ever did heard. It was a big; I am talking 9 feet tall, ugly, baby. This sucker was huge! Now wouldn’t you know it, it was comin’ for us! *hick-up* Well, I felt sorry for the poor thing. So Mud and I played a nice calmin’ song for it. Well it stopped crin’ thank goodness. The only problem is, it took Mud in its arms and went off run-in’. I was screamin’ “MUD MUD! YOU COME ON BACK HERE!” So we dun chased after it. That giant baby was throwin’ my cousin around like a rag doll my baby sister, cousin, aunt, had a long time ago. This big ugly baby finally put him down. When he did we all noticed we were surround by circus folk! Just my kinda of people. There was a bearded lady, a wolf man, the prince with no arms; well you get the point and all. They were everywhere, so Mud and I played some music for the people. Later on we all found out the big ugly baby’s name was shitsley or something like that. I personally think it looked like a dodo bird. *laughs*
Well it is pickin’ time and I have to play. You all come back now and hear some music, you hear?
It just so happens that with this makeshift group of misfits, we had a completely insane Cobalt in our group. Now the Cobalt thought he was a giant, and he couldn’t fit into small spaces. Now we all know a Cobalt is a tiny little thing that wouldn’t have a problem fitting into say a small carriage. Not him—he would say, “I can’t fit in that tiny space!” Not this little guy. He of course refused to sleep in such a small space. So our wayward group had to find an Inn.
We had just stopped in this small town that happened to have an Inn. As we walked up to the Inn the smell of chicken floated through the air. Well, that is all it took for the Cobalt to go NUTS! He went rushing into the Inn and went directly to the where the chickens were in the tavern and sat there right in front of the chickens over the fire. The group watched him knowing exactly what he was going to do. We told him NO eating the chickens! So he sat patiently till no one was looking. I happened to see the friend that was playing the Cobalt and his eyes got really big. That is when he says “I GUM THE CHICKENS!” That is when it happened, he brought the chickens out of the fire and gummed the chickens! That is right—he didn’t eat it, but he put his mouth all over them and gummed them!
Well of course the Innkeepers wife saw this and screamed and started hitting the Cobalt over the head. Also since the chickens just came out of the fire they were hot. So he kept screaming in pain, and then put his mouth on them again. This lasted for a good 10 minutes till he stopped gumming the chickens and put them back over the fire. Apparently, the thrill of eating them was gone.
I have to say it was the funniest moment this group has ever had playing. It still brings up laughs when we talk about it. This group has had some crazy moments but this was the best.
OK. This only happened last night so I'll tell it while it is still fresh
in my head.
My friend Steve was playing a character who is a second level rogue/entertainer
with a penchant for throwing daggers.
Through one thing and another, he managed to come into contact with a group
of underworld figures including a chap named Kolman (NPC) who is somewhat
reminiscent of a medieval Billy Batts (see Goodfellas). First off, on entering
the bar where these charming chaps hang out, Ollie (my friend's character)
is attacked by a somewhat overzealous bouncer as no one is expecting any visitors.
Not really knowing what to do, Ollie throws a dagger and severs the bouncer's
carotid artery, killing him. The criminals are impressed and let him come
in and sit down. So far, so good you may think. HAH!
Ollie then decides to see if he can pick up any clues as to what may be going
on and I judge streetwise is the best skill for this. I roll the dice for
Steve and don't tell him it's -173 oh dear. Ollie has stepped over the mark
and the criminals decide to "whack" him. He is lured to a back room
by Kolman and another chap with the promise of some work. One lucky perception
roll and a few lucky stabs later, Ollie is standing in the back room with
2 bodies. He rolls them, turning up two purses.
The only problem now is how to get out of the bar.
After some thought, Ollie decides to make a dash for it. He puts on Kolman's
jacket and waits a few seconds. Luckily enough, the other bouncer goes out
for a smoke and the coast is clear. Deftly rolling 257 Ollie is out of the
bar in a flash, incidentally knocking the remaining bouncer down, but not
out. A few seconds of running leads him to a convenient hiding place in the
stairwell of a basement apartment. I roll the hide for Steve and its a natural
66!
With a step back, Ollie falls down a manhole into the sewer. As if this is
not bad enough, one of the bar's denizens is also in the sewer. Kolman's jacket
catches on a protruding pipe and Ollie is left rather foolishly swinging.
Luckily, the criminal's perception roll is appalling and he does not see Ollie.
The pipe breaks and Ollie lands on his opponent's head. Time for an ambush.
Steve rolls an unlikely 02 (not a fumble, but not a hit either, especially
since the second roll is around 60). At this point, I cannot believe Steve's
bad luck, so I roll a bash attack for Ollie actually landing. The critical
achieved is a D and I roll 91! The criminal is dead, I decide the dagger must
have got under him as he fell, and Ollie is a lucky boy again. Ollie is, however
at a total -48 due to hit damage and injury.
Finding some handy torches, Ollie goes off in search of an exit, as there
is no ladder here. I roll an observation roll and it comes up as -98. Sure
enough, Ollie finds a ladder and can even climb it, but this particular exit
is in the bar he just left! The only person left is the bouncer he previously
knocked for 6 and he does another unbelievably bad perception roll!! Ollie
kills him and takes the opportunity to ransack the bar. Luckily everyone else
is out looking for him.
In the end, Ollie got away with 550 GP in cash and fled the city.
Amusingly there are still criminals there who live in terror of his return
as all they know is that he effortlessly killed 5 of them, escaped and returned
to steal all their money...the work of a master criminal, I think you will
agree. All Ollie knows is that he had the worst night of his life and somehow
escaped alive (and rich!); and all I know is I have never seen anyone have
such a ridiculous combination of incredibly good, and incredibly bad luck!
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