Rolemaster

First Edition
Product:
Character
Edition/Printing)

Law

(1st

Stock #: CL 1700
Producer: Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE)
Designers: Coleman Charlton and Pete
Fenlon
Release date: 1982
Category: Rolemaster System
Format: Book with Character Law rules
(Saddle-stapled softcover ANSI A, 52
pages).
Comments: This book is the first in the ICE
line of products which has a color cover
bound to it, designed by Matthew Jorgensen.
With these rules on character generation,
which includes character sheets of various types, the ICE standard game took the next natural
and major step from simply being a more complex appendix to AD&D into being a fully
independent game known as Rolemaster, each Law constituting one system of RM and
Character Law being the fourth following Claw Law. With this first edition (or more properly
first printing) of Character Law the Gamemaster (GM) now could generate 19 different
character classes, categorized into six realms, viz. the Realm of Arms (Fighter, Thief, Rouge
and Warrior Monk), the Realm of Essence (Magicia, Illusionist and Alchemist), the Realm of
Channeling (Cleric, Animist and Healer), the Realm of Mentalism (Mentalist, Lay Healer and
Seer), Combinations of Two Realms of Magic (Sorcerer, Mystic and Astrologer), and
Combinations of Arms and Magic (Monk, Ranger and Bard). Each player would generate
temporary statistics (stats), which could be developed (or raised) during play, as well as
determine the potential stats, or static statistic representing the maximum level to which a
temporary stat could be raised; the statistics are groped into development stats, viz.
Constitution (Co), Agility (Ag), Self Discipline (SD), Memory (Me) and Reasoning (Re), as
well as the primary stats Strength (St), Quickness (Qu), Presence (Pr), Intuition (In), and and
Empathy (EM), which gives a total of ten statistics, which is more than enough and superior
to any other RPG that I have played. Each stat gives a bonus that is added to the different
skills that have been generated through character development. Each skill has a rank which
determines its bonus added to the open-ended percentile roll, and each is also catergorized
into either Maneuvering in Armor Skills, Weapon Skills, General Skills (such as Climbing,
Swimming, Riding, etc.), Magic Skills, or Special Skills, such as Linguistics, Adrenal Moves,
Ambush, etc., these being primary skills; there are also 40 more secondary skills, such as

Acrobatics, Caving, Dance, Gambling, Navigation, Rowing, Trading, etc. There are also rules
on how to develop background skills through adolescence and apprenticeship. There are also
rules presented for Character Levels, how to handle experience and advancing levels, and thus
raising stats and developing skills through play, as well as rules on races and culture, and how
they affect character generation. The nice thing about ICEs Character Law, on this last
account, is that the races and cultures very much reflect that which later would develop into
MERP, i.e. all of the non human races described are existent in Middle-earth, which makes
Rolemaster even more compatible with MERP.