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RM Moments Homepage | 1 |
To outsiders, RM players seem to be the ultimate number crunchers, and will take any opportunity to put that skill to work. That couldn't possibly be true, could it? Well yeah, I guess it is...
It all started when the dwarf in our party got his hands on an ancient dwarven artifact: a ring of great power. It forced him (and therefore the rest of the party, unwilling to abandon the dwarf to his fate) on a quest to clear out a dwarven city that had become overrun by orcs. The odds didn't look good, until dwarves seemed to just start finding us and joining our ranks as we travelled, drawn in by the power of the ring. And they just kept coming... for days.
So of course the players decided that the greater mystery was not the dwarves themselves, but their quest. Quite obviously, we reasoned that there must be a world-wide shortage of Snow Whites, thereby leaving said dwarves unattended and wandering about. So the greater mystery was: What happened to all the Snow Whites? And just how many were missing? And that's when the calculators came out. We kept a running tally of missing Snow Whites by dividing out current number of dwarves by seven (of course). Our first calculation determined that there were 17.57 missing Snow Whites. Then some dwarves left, resulting in 16.71 missing Snow Whites. Hmmm... seems like they've almost found one. What a relief. It was at this point that someone started calculating "dwarves per hour" and "dwarves per mile" as a way of predicting what our total supply of dwarves would be by journey's end.
So yeah, we're number crunchers, alright... just try and stop us!!!
A druid of mine, Tibs by name, was traveling with his companions through a fairly heavily wooded area when they came upon a bear. The bear turned towards the group, and slowly but menacingly began to approach the adventurers. Quickly convincing his friends that it would be better to talk to the bear than to kill it, Tibs cast an Animal Speech spell and begged the bear not to harm the group. He informed the bear that the swords the fighters had pulled out (long sharp claws he called them) would most assuredly do the bear in.
The bear plopped himself down and seemed on the verge of crying as he explained to Tibs how he was sooooooooo hungry. It turned out, he was very old and his reflexes and his eyesight were not what they used to be. He no longer could corner a rabbit or swipe a salmon from a stream with his paws. He was slowly starving to death.
Tibs, animal lover that he was, felt his heart go out to this poor creature. He puzzled over what he could possibly do to help the miserable animal. The adventurers had barely enough food to feed themselves, much less a 2000 pound bear. Then he struck upon an idea. Some time before, the party had come into possession of a magical rod that could cast a Haste type spell which would increase the speed of the target five times normal for a period of half an hour once a day. A "walk" would become a "sprint", a "sprint" would become blindingly fast. If Tibs could convince the group, he could use the daily allowance to increase the speed of the bear and it would be able to sustain itself. He suggested the idea to his friends and, much to his surprise, they agreed to it.
Then came the tough part, explaining to the bear what was about to happen.
Tibs: I'm going to throw a spell that's going to make you faster and you'll be able to go catch some animals, at least for a little while.
Bear: Throw a what???
Tibs: A spell, magic
Bear: Don't throw nothin' at me. I'll have to hurt you.
Tibs: No, No! I won't actually throw it at you. That's a figure of speech.
Bear: I don't care what you call it. Don't throw spells or figures at me.
Tibs (changing tactics): Okay I won't. I will make it so you can run much faster and can catch rabbits.
Bear (chuckling): Even in my youth, I wasn't fast enough to catch rabbits. You're stupid.
Tibs (ignoring bear's remarks): You'll only have a short time so you should go hunting right away.
Bear (starting to get to his feet): I'm glad I didn't eat you. You'd probably make me ill anyway.
Tibs, completely frustrated, uses the haste spell on the bear. "Now, you can catch rabbits."
Bear: Yeah right. And with those words, he started walking. To his short lived surprise, he was moving at 5 times his normal speed. He promptly walked headlong into a tree and knocked himself unconscious.
Tibs and the others quickly decided it would be best if they weren't around when the bear woke up and they moved off. It was an experience that Tibs never lived down; his friends wouldn't let him. "Hey Tibs, look, a slow porcupine! Let's speed him up and see what happens..."
The characters playing in the Rolemaster campaign that I GM have been very successful in what has been an extremely difficult and costly adventure, spanning two worlds. Comprised of an arch-mage with double power points, a hobbit rogue, human rogue, female elven dabbler and a renegade Idiyva (cat-man), this group always managed to command a presence and held its own against many powerful adversaries. Needless to say, they could be a little cocky sometimes…
They had just entered a port city that was the dominant trade site for a large continent. After discovering some black market magic for sale, they realized that they needed more cash than their pocket picking skills would provide. There were a variety of jewelers in town, but they had their eye on the big one – right across the street from the palace of the Mayor and the associated guard barracks. This seemingly modest two-story jewelry store was family owned and operated by the Billig’s , who were relatively combat fit and supported by a small group of men-at-arms. They were also closely associated with the local watch and part of the city’s overall network of defense. This would be a formidable foe to face head-on.
I tried to remind my players that this was a well-patrolled part of a well-patrolled town. ( I wanted to dissuade them from this course , but I will only go so far…) The risks were great, but invisibility spells and greed can make a molehill out of a mountain sometimes. Who knew how it would turn out?
At first, only a couple characters were planning to go, but they all decided to tag along in the end. Three 10’ Invisibility spheres allowed them easy access to the roof and they entered through an open upstairs balcony into a comfortable bedroom. Four of the five of them were in the room rummaging through belongings when Mrs. Billig walked in from the powder room and was startled to find her bedchamber in disarray.
The dabbler quickly dispatched her, leaving her bloody body in the doorway to the makeup room as she discovered a girl’s dream- the jeweler’s wife’s private collection. All five party members were frantically rifling through some exceptional quality items when the man of the house entered the room and cried out upon seeing his wife and the (now visible) dabbler, as well as the rogue who was outside the invisibility sphere pocketing bracelets. Mr. Billig ran from the room and down the stairs, calling for his men-at-arms nearby to intervene as he hurried to set off a general alarm. The three guards who first met the party were little more than a nuisance, so the party decided to lock the door and remain in the room to continue raiding the makeup room.
Again I tried to warn the party, alerting them to the horns blaring across the street at the barracks, but due to the interference of the men-at-arms, only 2 characters had an opportunity to really investigate their newfound hoard. Obviously, some of the jewelry might just be copies of original works, so they decided to pack it up and take it all.
By this time , Mr.Billig had assembled the remaining men-at-arms and launched a counterattack, tossing a lit brazier into the balcony with a burning herb that produces euphoria and unconsciousness when inhaled.
The hobbit, seeing his group’s peril, heroically ran to the brazier and tossed it out to the street- disorienting some of the assembled guards but getting a serious dose of the smoke himself. He quickly brought out his stone fly figurine and spoke the word to call its spirit. As it grew to full size, he crawled on its back and began to fade from consciousness.
The wizard saw his compatriots dwindle as the human rogue and the cat-man made hasty exits from the balcony, with the town guard now clamoring through the streets. The dabbler went down from smoke inhalation, so the wizard tried to climb on the fly with the hobbit, who slouched and fell off unconscious. He tried to lift the portly hobbit but he did not have the strength, so he lifted the female elf dabbler (60 lbs lighter) and flew off on the back of the fly as the house was surrounded.
Unfortunately, the hobbit was captured and put to death for the murder of the Lady Billig. The poor catman (after a remarkable leap up a stairs and over the town wall) was felled by a lucky spear in the back and died as he escaped. The wizard escaped with the fly and the dabbler escaped with her life (and the fortune of real jewelry she had pocketed). To this day, the player whose hobbit died contends that he was robbed and the wizard contends that he did all he could and saved another character besides. From a GM ‘s point of view, they’re both right.
Back in the late 80's my friends and I were all in college, and had recently begun a middle earth campaign. One of our members, Brian, was going off to a school out-of-town, so we decided to have one last session with Brian before he left. We'd keep his character as an NPC, and Brian could join us later whenever he was in town. The other pertinent party members were Hale playing a sorcerer and Jim (me) playing a fighter.
So we're in this deserted village, and we split up to explore. Brian and Hale go off together, and I go elsewhere with another team member. Brian and Hale find a dried up old well, with something glinting at the bottom. Brian volunteers to climb down a rope to investigate. Hale decides to stir up trouble. Since there are no witnesses, Hale decides to kill Brian and take his stuff. What the heck, Brian's leaving town anyway. So Hale starts prying up the crumbling paved stones from the old well and dropping them on Brian's head. Kills Brian after a couple tries, climbs down and takes his stuff.
Well of course, we the players all know what happened, but our characters don't. Hale is pretty cocky, because he has a ring that allows him to cast Vacuum 3x/day, and he has 2 charges left today. The one charge he used, he rolled well on the crit and blew the head off a zombie. Well, Jim the fighter is the valiant noble type, and has always considered Hale the sorcerer to be evil, never trusted 'im. So after climbing down the well, with other members keeping an eye on Hale, Jim declares that Brian was murdered by Hale, and justice must be executed. Hale says, "aw come on Jim, you know you don't want to mess with me... just look what I did to that zombie today. And besides, I'm telling you I didn't kill him!! He slipped and fell I tell you!!" Jim says "justice must be served," and draws his sword. Truth tell, Jim is seeing red at this point, and is rather enraged. This little fight has been brewing for awhile, and this is just the excuse to get it on.
Hale knows that without their fighter, He and the only other team member left are unlikely to survive out in this harsh wilderness. Also, he knows that his results with the Vacuum aren't -usually- as spectacular as the incident with the zombie earlier that day. So he runs away at a sprint. A chase ensues, with many maneuver rolls by both parties as they race through crumbling buildings, up and down tottering staircases, across rubble-strewn plazas. Jim catches up to Hale, is almost on his heels, within range of a wild sword strike. In desperation Hale gets off a Vacuum, but it doesn't do much but stun Jim for a couple seconds, enough for Hale to gain a bit of a lead.
Meanwhile, Everett the GM is begging Hale and Jim not to kill each other. With Hale and Jim as 2 of the 3 remaining team members, losing either will be disastrous for the team. Jim knows that without Hale's 3x/day Vacuum things will be really tough. And besides, Hale loves his sorcerer character, and the group dynamic would be...strained...if the remaining team members kept at each others throats.
Eventually, as both Hale and Jim start to tire, Hale trips on a stair and hurts himself in a nasty fall. Jim comes up on Hale sprawled out on the floor. He raises his sword to smite his fallen enemy, then...
stops it just short of Hales neck. Hale says "I don't want to Vacuum you". "Not before your beheaded, " Jim replies. Jim's rage begins to subside and he sighs "With Justice there is also mercy" Jim lowers his sword. "And you're right, I have no proof that you killed Brian" Hale grins and holds his hand out for help up. Jim spits, turns his back, and walks away.
Jim and Hale (Azeaglin and Tim.. Tim the sorcerer get it?... were the character names, btw) end up going through many amazing adventures together over the next 5 (real) years, with Everett as GM. Hale learns a little mercy, and becomes a great mage. Jim loses a bit of his naivete, and grows into a veteran warrior. But the night that Brian died was the best night of gaming I've ever experienced.
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