My books just arrived early today. I am going to start reading now and should be able to get a character made pretty quickly.

Now that I have RMX and MERP2e which should I buy between RMC and RMFRP in order to get the other professions and races for the extra options, including spells?

Are the alternate character creation methods and XP system found in RMX fair game to use? I am speaking of things like the ability score array that is used instead of random attributes, the alt xp advancement method, etc.

I am in the character creation chapter and getting the impression this system might be terribly cumbersome. You all did not like the Decipher LotR game? lol

Easy to make one using MERP 2nd edition. The RMX might take a bit longer, but should be doable too.

What professions are you looking for? Character Law and RMFRP have a majority of the professions. There are additional professions in some of the spell books/companions and the like. All kinda depends on what you want to play.

Not sure what alternate methods you're talking about. I got RM1/RM2 (printed)and RMSS/RMFRP now (mostly on pdf) and MERP1st/2nd printed. Of course I've played/GMed it since the 1980s/1990s so its not new to me.

If you don't like RM user MERP it is a lot simplier as I've mentioned previously. I love MERP and didn't like what I saw of LOTR really.

There are differences in character creation I've noticed in RMX. For one, your ability scores are given to you and you assign them in an array of 90, 80, 75, 75, and 70 to your Development stats and then again to your Primary stats. The skills in RMX are somewhat different too. There are 28 total core skills and you get 35 DPs to spend on skills per level. You put in 35 DPs in skills in your Adolescence Skill Development and in your Apprenticeship Skill Development periods at character creation.

I am a bit confused at the AT and DB calculations at the end of character creation. I think I am ready to sit down and try my hand at creating a character in RMX if anyone wants to jump online some time on voice chat or something to check my work as I go to make sure I'm doing things correctly, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Also, does it look like this game will indeed go forward and get played? I have seen very little interaction with the GM in this thread and I have not seen any other interested players really. I just don't want to put forth a ton of effort learning this system and creating a good character if this campaign is likely not going to get off the ground.

AT (Armor Type) and DB (defensive bonus) all depend on the type of armor you're wearing and whether you bought any rankes in Defensive bonus or maneuving in armor etc. The better the armor and DB the less damage/criticals you'll take. You subtract your DB from the to hit die roll from your opponent and then the GM cross references the appropriate weapon/critical tables in Arms Law or MERP.

I recommending not using RMX previously if you'll recall since the GM said to use RMSS/RFRP. We waited for you on the Mayhem server for over an hour, but you didn't show. I think he got upset about that, but he might just be busy with life/work (don't know his schedule). Did you try to email him directly? His email/YIM is posted on these forums under several of his game threads.

I can walk you through some stuff if you'd like to meet / chat sometime just tell me your schedule or page me on yahoo or something.

I like MERP and could run it or play it just fine. I'm intending to actually run it locally here in person so even if I don't get to play online at least I'll get some enjoyment with it again.

I had no idea you all had gotten on that night so that was a wash for me. I apologize I did not see you all had gotten on that night. Most of the Rolemaster experts over at rpg.net actually suggested I simply use RMX and MERP 2e since RMSS is a lot more intense and most of them vehemently disliked RMFRP, calling it needlessly complicated. You can check out the threads I generated here: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=546332 and here: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=547934

I had a guy contact me online over at rpg.net about playing the Decipher LotR game and I think I will likely just play that since it is much more my style and I own most of the stuff for it. I also like some of its mechanics and how they add to the Tolkien-esque feel of Middle Earth. I appreciate everyone's help here though and wish you luck with your game.

Ohwell sorry to see you not give it a try, but to each their own. MERP is a good system and it'd work fine whether you used RMSS/RFRP or not. MERP has Tolkien's feel just right. You can see for yourself over at MERP.com site.

However, good luck, I hate the Decipher remake so I'll not play that.