Rolemaster Character Management System (RCMS)

Version history (newest entries first)

2.2.2 (alpha)

fixed bug that caused all racial stat bonuses to be 0 after loading a character
when clicking 'Cancel' during Apprenticeship, you are now asked to confirm before aborting the character generation process
Appearance value is now correctly cleared whenever the potential stats in the 'Generate Stats' dialog are cleared
'Background Options' dialog is now automatically closed when no BGOs are left

2.2.1 (alpha)

fixed bug with multiple dice rolls, e.g. affecting Potential Stat generation (thanks to David Andrews and Stéphane for their detailed bug reports)
fixed bug causing a 'runtime error "91": Object variable or With block variable not set' when printing (thanks to Kyle Briggs for pointing this out)

2.2.0 (alpha)

Character and rule system data are now split into two database files to allow for easier backups and updates.
Slightly improved Starting Money handling and dialog
Language ranks are now handled correctly (only written, only spoken or always both are checked)
Added option to use the new official TP costs (have a look at the ICE homepage for those)
Implemented correct racial TP availability (only to members of the given race) and added option to skip this check
Implemented spell list ranks handling and TP spell lists
Added TP descriptions from the books
Lifestyle TPs are now displayed bold (only in the TP selection dialog, not in the character view)
Added support for TP Lifestyle Skills
Added option to allow TPs to be taken more than once (user request), number is displayed in brackets in the character view
Time to Aquire for TPs is now modified based on the Self Discipline stat bonus
The four Lifestyle Caster TPs from Essence Companion now do not count towards the Lifestyle TP limit.
Fixed bug that caused the training package skill rank assignment to disregard the character's weapon order
Fixed wrong database entries for Inventor Training Packages (yes, there were two: one from C&R and another from R&C:U)
Fixed wrong database entry for Famulus (ArcCo) Starting Money, Spell Researcher (EssCo) vocational, and Inventor (R&C:U) Stat Gains
Dialog to select skill qualifier now lists all already existing qualifiers
Redesigned the Skills/Skill Categories tabbed pane, it now offers a similar look for both infos, added a Spell List pane
Improved size of the list boxes of Extra Money, Languages and Selection dialogs
Fixed label width so that the Applicable Stats are all shown (in some cases, all three did not fit so the last one was invisible)
Optimized the validation of Temporary Stat fields in the Generate Stats dialog
RCMS now updates Hits/PPs display after increasing/decreasing skill ranks for the appropriate skills
Evil spell users (and their base lists) are now handled correctly: six evil lists as automatic base lists, choose four additional base lists from own realm open and closed lists and the base lists of the corresponding profession.
Evil Alchemists are now possible
Added alternative appearance formula (as found in Mentalism Companion)
Implemented variable stat bonus based on skills (optional rule)
Implemented linear stat gains (optional rule)
Improved the way RCMS handles modified Exhaustion Points by certain talents/flaws
Made some minor changes to Hit and PP recovery formulas. I hope RCMS now correctly interprets the rules (unfortunately there is no official rules dude to ask any more)
Skill (Category) Rank Bonuses are now rounded down, that means a .5 progression will only give you a bonus if ranks are even
Hybrid spell users' base lists do now count as base lists of both realms (see RMCR: A single realm spell user learning a hybrid list learns the list as Own Realm Other Base, as long as the hybrid shares a realm with the single realm user.)
Hobby ranks now correctly calculate skill rank cost (previous versions required the total rank cost for the skill/skill category to be less than 40)
Racial spell lists and individual spells are now treated correctly (see sections 4.4 and 4.5 in R&C:U).
Added support for variant professions (Dwarven Clerics (R&C: UR), Priests)
Skill classifications are now treated correctly (profession classifications take precedence over race and culture classifications, race and culture classifications take precendence over skill description classifications)
Fixed bug that did not allow to add new multiple skills in the skill type selection dialog (this could even prevent you from continuing)
Fixed bug that did not decrease your hobby ranks for increasing a spell list rank during Apprenticeship skill development
Fixed wrong realm information in the database for Taoist Monk and Zen Monk base lists
Fixed wrong database entry for Taoist Monk profession (Spells * Own Realm Closed Lists did not have a cost assigned)
Fixed bug that did not load (apply) the Talent & Flaw special bonuses for skills/skill categories
Fixed bug that caused the special stat bonuses of a previously generated character to appear in the Generate Stats window when starting a new one
Remaining DPs are now saved with your character (for later levels, but you might also save the character during a level advance and continue later)

2.1.7

Fixed bug that caused the program to choose the wrong skill category for a rank increase due to TP selection if the right category already has a rank > 10
Fixed bug that caused a Run-time error 3020: Update or CancelUpdate without AddNew or Edit when saving (updating) existing characters

2.1.6

Changed the Generate Stats dialog: made Temporary Stats editable and redid the up/down arrows, added a field for Appearance (which was previously generated, but not shown
Added lists for displaying Talents & Flaws, Special Items, Training Packages and TP Specials
Added an option to allow a single TP to be selected more than once
Moved stat generation options (fixed temp points, fixed pot modifications) from Generate Stats dialog to Options, RCMS now remembers these settings
Moved the rename character function from the View/Update Character dialog to the main dialog
Added a field to display Heat/Cold Resistance Roll bonuses (View/Update Character)
Merged the Adolescence and the Apprenticeship Skill Development dialog (View/Update Character) into one for easier maintainance and smaller executable
Removed "Character Generation - " from many dialog title bars so the titles fit in the bar
Fixed bug that caused some printer drivers (at least some HP ones including mine) to print empty boxes (content was overwritten by a transparent (!) box)
Fixed bug that caused restricted skills to be treated as regular skills (i.e. restricted skills did not cost more to increase)
Fixed bug that caused wrong rank cost calculations for spell lists (this bug really messed up development points)
Fixed bug that caused the program to give only the first Skill Category of a group a bonus (e.g. Weapons group for Fighter profession)
Fixed bug that caused a Run-time error 5: Invalid procedure call or argument for example when assigning the Architect TP
Fixed bug that caused a Run-time error 3077: Syntax error (missing operator) when saving or renaming a character with a ' character in the name

2.1.5

Re-added the few lines that cause the Stats to be updated after a stat gain roll (somehow these lines were deleted while restructuring the Stat Gain dialog)
Fixed bug that caused a Run-time error 13: Type mismatch when assigning training package ranks
Fixed bug that caused the Talent/Flaw costs to be messed up, reorganized the dialog by changing the text boxes to combo boxes and deleting the list box
Fixed bug that caused a misbehaviour in the TP rank selection dialog for special skills (ranks remaining messed up and could cause RCMS to lock up)
Fixed bug that caused a Run-time error 381: Invalid property array index when selecting Special Items (random)
Fixed bug that caused a Run-time error 381: Invalid property array index in the Special Bonus dialog if no item from the list was selected
Fixed bug that caused a Run-time error when double-clicking the Adolescence Development dialog, improved behaviour (not shown in the taskbar)

2.1.4

Fixed bug that caused a Run-time error 13: Type mismatch when assigning skill classification by race/culture or profession
Fixed bug that caused a Run-time error 9: Subscript out of range when selecting the "Skills (+10 to one)" option (BGO - Special Bonus dialog)
Made Special Items (random) selection more intuitive by disabling the OK button until you select an item from the list

2.1.3

Fixed bug that resulted in odd realm stat calculations (applied to all training packages giving realm stat gains, PP development etc.)
Fixed bug that could lock up stat gain rolls in some cases (all controls are disabled/greyed and neither OK nor Redo button works)
Made stat gain rolls more intuitive by disabling the OK button until you have really rolled the required stat gains
Fixed bug that displayed and printed "/-" for applicable stats (eg. "Em/-/-" for Essence spell users' Power Point Development)
Fixed bug that calculated skill rank bonuses based on skill category progression instead of skill progression

2.1.2

Added a Generate button to both temporary and potential stat option boxes
Slightly changed the spacings of Adolescence and Apprenticeship Skill Development dialogs to free some room for list entries
Added INI-file support to save program & sourcebook options
Changed main dialog to include sourcebook options and display more information about characters
Completely rewrote the print routine, it is now adjustable and should work with all DIN A4 and Legal/Letter printers
Sped up many skill/skill category related operations by changing internal data structures and optimizing loops
Internal: all parameters are now passed by value (this is slower and results in a bigger executable, but will not produce side-effects
Fixed bug that caused misinterpretation of "." in progressions, so a 0.5 progression gave a +5 bonus instead of a +0.5! Furthermore, this caused the skill/skill category list of the Special Bonus dialog (Background Options) to be empty in some countries (this was not an international problem ;-)
Fixed bug that did not give all multiple skills the Race/Culture/Profession bonuses
Finally allowed a (slow and ugly, but working) vertical resize of the Adolescence and View/Update dialogs to display more skills on large screens (I am working with a 17" monitor at 1024×768, too)
Many internal improvements, changes and additions that do not result in more functions, but might perhaps cause new problems

2.1.1

Fixed bug that caused RCMS to lock up on some Stat Gain dialogs (OK button did not work)
Fixed bug that allowed you to press the OK button on the Weapon/Cost dialog without having assigned all costs
Fixed bug that allowed you to Update your character a second time without asking if you had DPs left from the last level
Fixed bug that caused RCMS to go in an infinite loop (hang up) in some cases when Skill bonuses by Culture where applied

2.1

Updated the links on the splash screen to point to Bruce A. Gulke's new homepage
Fixed bug that prevented the program from assigning more that one rank to a spell list
Added an automatic track-keeping of spell lists developed this level to always get the lowest DP cost possible
Added support for "undeveloping" spell lists correctly even if there are multipliers due to high ranks or number of lists developed
Added a dropdown combo filled with default values for selecting qualifiers for multiple skills
Again I rewrote many parts of the database to provide more flexibility especially with TP ranks
Updated all list boxes to multi-column list views - no ugly fixed width (typewriter) fonts any more
Added requests to prevent you from unintentionally proceeding without having spent all ranks/points
Added support for cultures - so far, each culture/race combination was treated separetly, no duplicate database entries any more
Added support for skill groups to provide more flexibility and decrease the number of database entries for profession bonuses
You can now select which sourcebooks you own so you are not faced with information from foreign ones any more
New version of the programming language brought a new installer (finally in English!) and fixed the Jet VBA runtime error
Increased speed of almost all database access routines resulting in a much smoother program response
Added all races/cultures, professions, training packages, skills & skill categories and spell lists from Races & Cultures: Underground Races, Castles & Ruins and Martial Arts Companion
Many more corrections, improvements and additions I do not remember any more...

2.0.2

Fixed bug that prevented the program from automatically giving the last (zero) TP special if the option "Always give last TP Special" was not selected and no Special was generated before
Fixed bug that prevented the "Allow skills not listed as Standard Hobby Skills during Adolescence" from working properly
Fixed bug that caused some problems increasing and/or decreasing skills after Adolescence (via View/Update) - wrong costs were calculated
Fixed bugs that resulted in a weird printout - lines and boxes were not calculated correctly and thus printed in the wrong place

2.0.1

Fixed bug that crashed the program after allocating adolescence language ranks
Fixed bug that prevented the Extra Languages dialog from listing any languages
Fixed bug that crashed the program after undoing any spell list increase
Fixed bug that crashed the program after selecting anything in the Extra Money dialog
Added support for the three Alchemist profession (Essence, Channeling, Mentalism) from Treasure Companion
Added support for all Alchemy spell lists (except Divine Alchemy) from Treasure Companion
Added support for all four Arcane professions (Arcanist, Wizard, Chaotic, Magehunter) from Arcane Companion
Added support for all six training packages from Arcane Companion
Added support for all Arcane spell lists from Arcane Companion

2.0

Change in authorship, RCMS remains freeware
Updated the program to use a new version of the programming language
Rewrote and normalized the whole database, adding some new tables and partly wrote new structures for old ones. Due to these changes, the old database is not compatible to RCMS 2.0 at all! Furthermore, the additions mentioned in 1.2 were removed.
Fixed many bugs crashing the program (e.g. when increasing/decreasing certain skills during Adolescence)
Allowed printing to be enabled/disabled for every single skill & skill category to avoid serious overhead (printing all spell lists for non-spell users, printing undeveloped skills etc.
Added support for most talents & flaws affecting values managed by the RCMS
Added "Magic-poor setting" option
Although equipment & money is not yet supported, Special Items, Talents & Flaws and TP Specials are now saved in the database
Added links to the author's homepage and e-mail address on the splash-screen (hope it works on all systems...)
Reorganized many dialogs and rewrote even more algorithms (in fact, I have to admit that I do not remember all the changes I made)

1.2

Changed Additional Base Spell Lists listbox from extended to simple
Fixed bug that prevented selection of more than one skill for certain Everyman options
Added the Alchemist professions and spell lists from Treasure Companion
Added Arcane professions/spell lists/training packages from Arcane Companion

1.0b

Initial Release

There is one important thing to notice: I am not the original author of this tool! Without Bruce A. Gulke, this project would perhaps never have been started. He wrote the program up to version 1.2. When I started to learn the RMSS, I soon found out that creating your first character was great fun - except the last few instructions: calculate all skill & skill category bonuses!

Thus I searched the web for a small program to ease this pain. All I found were programs for old versions of Rolemaster (RM2 and earlier). Some spreadsheets for Excel did not help much, either. Then I found RCMS, a very comprehensive program. After some crashes I visited the programs homepage to get an update and found out that RCMS was not developed any longer.

Finally, I managed to (hopefully) remove all bugs, rewriting the whole database and some parts of the program to eliminate every single error. Especially the database took me a lot of time, but in the end, I was ready to add new features instead of rewriting old ones. The result of all my efforts can be downloaded here. I hope you enjoy it, then it's worth all the work and time Bruce and I invested!