Roy Veira posted a question about comparing role-playing systems.
Sandy's response was right on, but left off the ROLEMASTER system by ICE
(Character Law, Claw Law, Arms Law, and Spell Law). It's better than
most others I've played (and I was a full-time gourmet game player during
college). It's much more realistic than AD&D, maybe even more than RQ3.
But it sacrifices playability. Battles take forever (as much as an hour
for a four person fight, if you're not used to the system). It uses
extensive critical tables. And the magic system is refreshing. But RQ
has been my favorite system since I first encountered it in 1984. One of
the main reasons is that players are unlimited in what areas of skill and
knowledge they may attempt to learn. This is slightly less true in
ROLEMASTER. Then RQ has Glorantha going for it, which is undoubtedly the
most developed creation in existence, even more so than Tolkien's Middle
Earth (From which ROLEMASTER was conceptualized).
Tim Torres