It is based on Rolemaster but is using a D20 roll high system with exploding dice. It has borrowed some stuff from D&D but levels can go as high as lvl 50. Like D&D ability scores increases, in this case every second level but not after level 20. Character don't start superweak and don't become gods like in D&D, but there is more progress than what can seen in BRP based games, a newbie mage in Lightmaster has 20 Hitpoints, and archmage 120, the Famous Hero has like 180. As in Rolemaster criticals are very important in battles.

As for accesibility it is night and day compared to Rolemaster. It has a crystal clear layout, good use of examples that are not in the way. Not much art but very printer friendly if one want to hand the rules for character creation to the players for example, not to mention that the pdf is free.

It lacks ready made adventures but looking at the section for "Extras" will give you ideas how to adapt adventures made for other systems to Lightmaster easily.

Very easy and playable Rolemanster clone. It uses d20 instead of d100, but all the good aspects of Rolemaster are here. It's a very well done and professional game. I have the print copy Pay What You Want. The pdf is free.

The art is sparse, but very good. I only miss more details of the world, and the solar system, but it seems to blend correctly with with the SpellJammer campaign and, in less extent, the Space 1889 rpg. So it will be easy to adapt all of that stuff to LightMaster.

All in all, a hidden gem!

A great mashup of two very venerable systems: Dungeons & Dragons and Rolemaster.

The author created a game similar to this, titled Blood, Guts & Glory. But the tables aren't seperate and anthropomorphic animals aren't the spotlight. Nonetheless, this is basically BG&G but pulpy, fantasy and science-fiction (To some degree), and maybe... Even better. [;)]

So go grab it and see for yourself! The PDF is free so you got nothing to lose (In fact, all of the author's products are Pay-What-You-Want, which is quite generous for the insane quality he provides).

Overview: Imagine if the d100 system and the d20 system had a love child. Lightmaster would be that baby.

Lightmaster requires two books to play: the core rules and the book of tables, both available on this website.

Fair Warning: I am a huge fanboy of the original famous d100 game. Your mileage might vary.

LIKES: -Much easier to navigate than the famous d100 game it emulates. -No "humans in funny clothes" races. All PC's are considered to be human. -The setting is a combination of C.S. Lewis, H. P. Lovecraft, Robert Howard, and Spelljammer. The GM is largely free to construct a world of their own choosing. -The entire character sheet is ONE PAGE long!

DISLIKES: -A minor quibble, but I would like to see more interior artwork. -Some spells take up to thirty seconds to cast, making any spell user a sitting duck for archers.