I gave the system my 'big test' today, when I converted my long-time Middle-earth character from Merp/Rolemaster to the new system. I was a bit hesitant, as I had expected problems (none in particular, but you know the feeling...).
Anyway, it took a fair bit of time, but I have to say that the new system met the challenge head-on and, now that I'm done (having converted the character and his primary equipment) I have to say that I'm quite pleased! The Orders meshed perfectly with the way that I built him up over the years (actually moreso than Rolemaster had), and the Edges, Flaws and Special Abilities all managed to allow me to capture the flavor of the character (again, better than Rolemaster had, I think). A few issues came up, but they were easily dealt with by slightly modifying the basic rules (such as attribute maximums, which I didn't have to bend nearly as much as I thought I would), and some slight alterations of a couple of Edges. Renown would have been a bit confusing, but I've kept a timeline for the character, so, by looking at key events and comparing them to the Renown triggers, the calculations were quite simple.
The area that I had the biggest problem was in equipment conversion, but, my letting some minor items that I never really used and altering (again, slightly) the characters primary items for a better system fit, I found that things went well enough. Here I found that the magic system did quite well, with spells that work well for enchantment purposes, along with the basics of the Enchantment ability.
What it boils down to is that I can look at the new character sheet and totally recognize the character, and have him feel far more 'Middle-earthy' than I had before. It was a first for me, in terms of character conversion, and I was quite pleased. My one real surprise was the number of advancements that the character had when I was done, but, on the other hand, he was fairly high level in Rolemaster, so I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was. Still, I don't think that any conversion can work as perfectly as you'd hope, though this one was the closest yet, by far.
So, I'd like to thank Steve and The Gang at Decipher(though I doubt that you'll see this, but hey, who knows, maybe Doug would be kind enough to pass the thanks along for me). You've met my expectations, and exceeded them, and for that you have my gratitude. I can finally return to a character that I had thought was forced to the wayside, simply because of a system that I don't have enough books for (Rolemaster and MeRP), or, now, any real desire to play anymore.
If I didn't think that it would make me look like some sort of munchkin powergamer, I'd post the character and his stats, but my fragile ego wouldn't be able to take the taunts of 'uber d00d'!
Once again, just to reiterate....this game, IMHO, rocks!
Greg
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