I love this system, it captures the flavor of Tolkien while making for an efficient roleplaying system. Great for fans of Tolkien, even if they aren't interested in roleplaying. The supplements for this game are some of the best RPG supplements I've seen. Loads of fun!

This is one of the most comprehensive and realistic RPG systems I've encountered. I love it, and not just because it lets you adventure in the amazing realms of Middle-earth. The system is detailed and difficult to get to grips with at first but it is certainly worth the effort.

tolkien middle-earth will coming alive for you if you enjoy roleplaying games... you'll love it....

You will, I believe, be fascinated by the side-by-side comparisons of photographs taken in 1923 and 1991, and the remarkable degree of change or lack of change in many of them over the span of 68 years. If you have run the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, or hiked it extensively, you will undoubtedly recognize many of the river and rock features that are depicted in this relatively slim volume (167 pages). A favorite of mine is plate 17, Nankoweap Ruins, taken high above the river. This must be one of the most photographed scenes in the Grand Canyon below the rim, and I know that many river runners have their own shot of this same down-river vista in their personal photo albums. There are 45 sets of photographs in the book, and each set comes with a description of the shot, any significant changes that may have occurred, and other information useful for appreciating the photographs.

The authors achieved a nice balance between text and photos, and provided informative historical summaries of both Grand Canyon river running and the 1923 Birdseye Expedition that produced the original photos. Of possible interest to reader/photographers are overhead maps of locations of all of the shots. With the maps yet more "rephotography" can take place in coming years.

If you love the Grand Canyon, especially at river level, I think you'll love this book.

Okay, people, if you are interested in purchasing the Rolemaster system, here is what you need to know. Firstly, the black and white illustrations are terrible, and one some pages the print is not centered perfectly. ICE publishes a hard back version of the standard book, something players who get into this game will want to buy. This soft backed version of the book should have been bound with lay flat binding to aid in photocopying (see below).
Now on to the meet of the game...
The rules for character generation are complex, and can be a 95% diceless generation if desired. This is a nice break from players who feel that d20 system rules are too random. This allow players to design exactly what they want to play. The book could have been laid out better, to aid in new players understanding the rules. If will take a few read throughs and flipping back and forth to determine all the "hobby ranks", development points, proffesion bonuses, racial bonuses, etc. etc. to calculate all the stats.
There are ten basic stats, too many in my opinion. I like GURPS' system with four basics stats allowing every stat to be very influential on the character.
This is not a "player handbook" as other RPG core books are. Players will have to purchase the Arms Law book to have complete explanations of weapons, three Spell Law books (Essance, Channeling, and Mentalism Laws), Character Law (for extended character generation rules), and Gamemaster Law (the equivent of D&D's DMG) to have what Rolemaster calls the "standard system". All are neccessary to fully enjoy the game's versitility.
Is it worth it to buy these books and spend the time learning all the rules and tables? Depends...
Rolemaster is for you if 1) you have "improved" other FRPG with homemade rules, skills and combat tables. Buy rolemaster instead 2) Combat is fairly rare in your games but in the combat that is there you want to be very descriptive and real 3) You are a seasoned gamer and are looking for something other than the generic d20 system games and other RPGs that are all getting to be the same. Rolemaster has a very "old school" feel to it. 4)You like "low fantasy" adventures. Rolemaster feels very grounded, but can be made high fantasty by GM. 5) You think having players who can shrug of five strikes from a halberd swung by an giant and three quarrels stiking in him from his goblin buddies is STUPID. Getting hit in the chest with a halberd swung by a normal man HURTS and rolemaster reflects that. 6) As a player character, you sigh as you attack the troll because there is no way you can heroicly slay it (like the hero you are supposed to be) because you know the troll has more hit points than your longsword is capable of doing in one hit. No matter how big and bad the troll is, jamming your sword through his jugular and into it brain will HURT it, no matter who you are. Rolemaster reflects that, and even low level characters can get in deadly strikes. 7)You don't think being assured of victory against the troll becasue you have four attacks a round, weapon specialization, weapon mastery, a plus 80 vorpal long sword of freezing and blah blah blah is very heroic either.
Rolemaster is not for you if... 1)You are not willing to invest some time in learning a "heavy system" 2) You hate tables. Everything is based on a percentile roll applied to a table. Everything. And everything has its own table. Everything 3) You are looking for a fast playing game. Rolemaster does not have to be slow, but it can be. There are other systems where combat is fast and furious and colored by the imagination. In RM, everything is detailed, explained, and goes to a table. 4) Combat is constantly going on in your game. Playing out a dozen fights before the main fight in a night's worth of gaming may not be possible for all but he most experienced players. 5) This is your first RPG, especially if you have to learn it by yourself. The rules might over shadow the fun of the RPG. Look into D&D,GURPS, or Lord of the Rings Role Playing Game.
Overall, I do not think it is a bad investment. I will with hold the "best RPG" title. I would have a hard time dealing this out to any RPG. It all depends on what the gaming group is looking for in its RPG. There are a few things I would recommend doing though in a RM game: 1)Photocopy all the tables for a GM's notebook and order them in an alphabetized list with dividers clearing marking the tables. There are so many tables the game will get slowed down with flipping pages, especially if there is only one copy of the basic rules in the gaming group 2) download MERP Lite copyright 2000 by Craig Pay (run a search on Google, and apply the rules to Rolemaster (MERP and RM are compatible systems). This will speed game play up dramatically. Save the ultra technically rules for the "big showdowns" with the big bad guys worthy of the time. 3) Don't let "rule lawyering" slow the game down. Keep the game flowing.
Anyway, hopefully with this information you can make a better informed decision on what the Rolemaster system really is. As always, happy gaming!!

This system is unbelievable! I've played D&D 2nd and 3rd ed., GURPS, and many others, and none of them can even be compared to the greatness of this system. This is, no doubt about it, the BEST RPG system there is! The combat, the spells, the character creation, all worked to perfection. It's possible to leave your character EXACTLY like you want. The ONLY possible disadvantage to this system is that its extremely complex(which can be a good thing for those who are experienced players)and so it takes quite a while to create a character, for begginers i suggest sticking to simpler systems and then buy this RoleMaster. I think, no, I'm SHURE that this is the best system I've ever seen in my entire life, I'ts worth the cost!!!

Rolemaster is the best RPG system you may dream of. Now it has being simplified, but still you can say it's the best. Buy it, but remember you should buy two other core books (now 4 because spell law is divided in 3 books), but there will be no sorry - Rolemaster makes possible to creat a hero just like you want and the combat system is the most realistic known, there are lots of magic (over 2000) and a great skill system, the best one. Buy it!

This book presents a catalogue of the animal figures produced by the famous Beswick ceramic factory in Britain prior to being taken over by Royal Doulton. Fully illustrated, it also includes information about some of the artists who designed these attractive models, as well as details about the figures themselves, the dates when they were produced, and a price guide for each piece. A must for the serious collector or antique dealer, and a nice addition to your bookshelf for any animal lover.

Charlton Press, a noted publishor of collector's guides, uses collector-authors for its guides as Charlton feels this provides important insights needed in a collector's guide. From what I've seen, book height and format are consistent between guides. Each book starts with a blurb about the collectible, such as information on the company or the modeling artists. Item listings come next. These include photo (if available), the item name, number, designer, height, color, issue date, and price. Prices are listed in three currencies: U.S. Dollars, Canadian Dollars, and U.K. pounds. An index is located at the back of the book. Also, included are ads from companies, clubs, and magazines that specialize in the particular collectible.

An important aspect of any collector's value guide is the basis of the valuations. Charlton uses a method based on the actual going price in each quoted region. They gain this data by contacting dealers in the various countries and getting the actual prices the applicable collectibles are going for in that area. This method eliminates the fluctuations of currency exchange rates that would occur if the item was listed, say in U.S. dollars, and than an exchange rate applied to calculate the prices for Canada and the U.K. Now we can move on to specifics.

I already had The Charlton Standard Catalogue of Beswick Animals, first edition, so my main concern was how did the millennium edition compare to the first edition. After all, you can invest in a new collector's guide or use that money for a new collectible, so the guide just better be worth the replacement cost. Five years lie between the first edition (1994) and the millennium or fourth edition (1999). So right, there you have five years of change. (You also have two editions I haven't seen, but I can't tell you about them.) The first edition only had four pages of color photos and all were of the horses. The millennium edition now has sixteen pages of color photos: eight pages dedicated to cats and cows, four pages display horses, and four pages miscellaneous other items. That sounds like the same amount of horse models pictured, but it isn't. The millennium edition presents horse groupings; the first edition only presented a single horse/photo. The photos are different, which brings up the question of whether to let the old edition go or keep it for the color photos.

The introduction is greatly expanded as well. It now has club information, dealer/show listings, and a discussion on how internet pricing may eliminate regional pricing by creating a new universal price. (Good discussion by the way. I recommended it to anyone concerned with values theory.)

The millennium edition maintains the high quality of the first edition, so if you are looking for a replacement, you won't be disappointed.

This is a rolemaster sourcebook filled with lists and lists of priestly spells. It is one third of the _spell law_ sourcebook (3rd ed.) which is now out of print. The other two are _of essence_ covering straight mage magic and _of mentalism_ covering psionics. It also includes the various priest based rolemaster professions. It is useful for spell ideas for any system. In particular GURPS or D&D and of course Rolemaster or MERP. For D&D it works well for expanding the list of domains as the spells are categorized by theme with one spell for each level

The spells are clear in what they do and easy to translate into other systems.

This is a rolemaster sourcebook filled with lists and lists of wizard spells. It is one third of the _spell law_ sourcebook (3rd ed.) which is now out of print. The other two are _of channeling_ covering priest magic and _of mentalism_ covering psionics. It also includes the various wizard based rolemaster professions. It is useful for spell ideas for any system in particular, even GURPS or D&D and of course Rolemaster or MERP.

The spells are clear in what they do and easy to translate into other systems.

This is a rolemaster sourcebook filled with lists and lists of psionic spells. It is one third of the _spell law_ sourcebook (3rd ed.) which is now out of print. The other two are _of essence_ covering straight mage magic and _of channeling_ covering priestly spells. It also includes the various psionics based rolemaster professions. It is useful for spell/power ideas for any system. In particular GURPS or D&D and of course Rolemaster or MERP.

The spells are clear in what they do and easy to translate into other systems.

This book is well-organized for touring Kansas--It describes things in the order you will pass them on each major highway. It does have lots of trivia, but about 2/3 of the information is geological; much of the rest is historical. Natural history, other than geology, is poorly covered. Unfortunately, even much of the geological information is not explained well or given any context or interpretation. Obviously a tremendous amount of work and research was put into the book, but it ends up seeming like a long list of geological feature names and obscure historical trivia. Interesting, but not really informative on a profound level.

If you are touring Kansas, have plenty of time, and are very interested in geology or fossils, this is the book for you. If you are touring Kansas, and have an interest in history, it is okay. If you have an interest in wildlife, plants, or generalized natural history, it won't be of much value.

Easy is the word that describes this book. The mile markers, bridges, towns, and other landmarks makes this text THE guide for the investigator from out of state. The museums described were excellent sources of information with plenty of friendly people to guide you toward additional landmarks. The roadcuts were full of described fossils, even my teen daughter found bags full of whole shellfish that littered the byways.
A small amount of research before hand can pay off big time in collecting the best fossils still on the back roads of America. Take this book along and the trip through Kansas will be one that you will remember for years to come.

I found Roadside Kansas by chance in the gift shop at the Old Mill in Lindsborg. I had been showing my wife and daughter some of the sights I knew about from growing up in Ellinwood, Kansas which is located right on the Santa Fe Trail (Highway 56).

Little did I know what a treasure we had found. Beginning as a geological research project by the authors the book took on a life of its' own as a very nice directory of various interesting attractions and oddities in Kansas. Its' photographs also prove to readers once and for all that Kansas IS NOT FLAT.

The first item of note we found was that we were just minutes from Coronado Heights, named after the Spanish explorer. We also found that wheel ruts from wagons traveling the Santa Fe Trail were still visible only a few miles east of my hometown. And I found that after having spent the better part of 27 years driving past and through Fort Zarah that the old cemetery still exists just north of the park out in a field only a few yards from where I had spent many evening hours with female companionship. Imagine my surprise!

Additionally, we found that about 25 miles west of Castle Rock, which I had visited and photographed many times while in college at Fort Hays, are what is known as the Kansas or Chalk Pyramids (just off Highway 83).

Needless to say I was excited and impressed. We spent the rest of our trip running the roads looking for mile markers and the treasures that lay beyond.

The book is laid out quite simply. Find the highway number you are traveling and what mile marker you are at and the book tells you what attraction is coming up with excellent directions for the directionally impaired. Oh, and I guess the geological information is pretty good too.

Since I found this text in 1995 I have wholeheartedly recommended it to anyone traveling the Land of Ahs, both visitor and resident, and all have been impressed. If you like to seek out items of interest off the beaten path, then this is your guide. I only wish those guys would do a book like this for every state in the Union.