WRT Andrew Joelson on my previous skills post.
Yes the system was originally inspired by role-master (I like the
open-endded idea). However, I hate rolemaster as it is full of
tables and other unnecessarily complex garbage. The critical tables
are fun to read through once, but after that they are just tedious.
Also I don't know how many people here would like to add together
two 2-to-3 digit numbers then add/subtract any modifiers every time
they wanted to do something...
Also the RM skill increase system is fairly arbitrary and the whole
game requires alot of book-keeping. Basically, RM is a complex
simulation (but is it realistic) that is too much hassle to play.
I believe that complexity discourages roleplaying, or at the very
least it reduces the time that can be spent on it.
Cheers
Lewis