What are the differences between the first and second editions of Rolemaster?

Question

I've been in the mood for some old school RPG love ala Rolemaster recently and discovered that there were some differences between the first and second editions of the game (I'm familiar with 3rd and Classic already) - can someone list the differences between the two versions and comment on the compatibility of the sourcebooks?

Answer 1

According to both my memory and RPG Geek, it boils down to layout, formatting visual look, and a few options.

2nd ed has additional options, too, added.

2nd ed revised has few additional options, but is a complete reformat to bring it up to then modern publishing standards.

1st Ed Arms Law and Claw Law were two separate books, for example, but 2nd ed of them was combined into a single volume.

Character Law and Campaign Law likewise were two separates that got bound into a single volume for 2nd ed.

1st Ed Spell Law was a boxed set of 4 booklets; 2nd ed was a single book, and added 3 pages of additional options

2nd Edition Revised (The "Red Stripe" edition) was errata and artwork, as well.

Mechanically, they're the same game.

RM Classic is also the same game, but with a few options stripped out.