diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c3530eab7..dcee5d692 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -118,3 +118,4 @@ ENV/
 .idea
 eos.iml
 gitversion
+*.swp
diff --git a/gui/characterEditor.py b/gui/characterEditor.py
index 4a02d5994..626e705ad 100644
--- a/gui/characterEditor.py
+++ b/gui/characterEditor.py
@@ -38,9 +38,21 @@ from logbook import Logger
 
 from gui.utils.clipboard import toClipboard, fromClipboard
 
+import utils.roman as roman
+import re
+
 pyfalog = Logger(__name__)
 
 
+def arabicOrRomanToInt(s):
+    m = re.match(r'\d+$', s)
+    if m:
+        i = int(s)
+    else:
+        i = roman.fromRoman(s)
+    return i
+
+
 class CharacterTextValidor(BaseValidator):
     def __init__(self):
         BaseValidator.__init__(self)
@@ -407,7 +419,8 @@ class SkillTreeView(wx.Panel):
                 lines = text.splitlines()
 
                 for l in lines:
-                    skill, level = l.strip()[:-1].strip(), int(l.strip()[-1])
+                    s = l.strip()
+                    skill, level = s.rsplit(None, 1)[0], arabicOrRomanToInt(s.rsplit(None, 1)[1])
                     skill = char.getSkill(skill)
                     if skill:
                         skill.setLevel(level, ignoreRestrict=True)
diff --git a/gui/utils/roman.py b/gui/utils/roman.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0a75ccadc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gui/utils/roman.py
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+"""Convert to and from Roman numerals"""
+
+__author__ = "Mark Pilgrim (f8dy@diveintopython.org)"
+__version__ = "1.4"
+__date__ = "8 August 2001"
+__copyright__ = """Copyright (c) 2001 Mark Pilgrim
+
+This program is part of "Dive Into Python", a free Python tutorial for
+experienced programmers.  Visit http://diveintopython.org/ for the
+latest version.
+
+This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+it under the terms of the Python 2.1.1 license, available at
+http://www.python.org/2.1.1/license.html
+"""
+
+import re
+
+
+# Define exceptions
+class RomanError(Exception):
+    pass
+
+
+class OutOfRangeError(RomanError):
+    pass
+
+
+class NotIntegerError(RomanError):
+    pass
+
+
+class InvalidRomanNumeralError(RomanError):
+    pass
+
+
+# Define digit mapping
+romanNumeralMap = (('M', 1000),
+                   ('CM', 900),
+                   ('D', 500),
+                   ('CD', 400),
+                   ('C', 100),
+                   ('XC', 90),
+                   ('L', 50),
+                   ('XL', 40),
+                   ('X', 10),
+                   ('IX', 9),
+                   ('V', 5),
+                   ('IV', 4),
+                   ('I', 1))
+
+
+def toRoman(n):
+    """convert integer to Roman numeral"""
+    if not isinstance(n, int):
+        raise NotIntegerError("decimals can not be converted")
+    if not (0 < n < 5000):
+        raise OutOfRangeError("number out of range (must be 1..4999)")
+
+    result = ""
+    for numeral, integer in romanNumeralMap:
+        while n >= integer:
+            result += numeral
+            n -= integer
+    return result
+
+
+# Define pattern to detect valid Roman numerals
+romanNumeralPattern = re.compile("""
+    ^                   # beginning of string
+    M{0,4}              # thousands - 0 to 4 M's
+    (CM|CD|D?C{0,3})    # hundreds - 900 (CM), 400 (CD), 0-300 (0 to 3 C's),
+                        #            or 500-800 (D, followed by 0 to 3 C's)
+    (XC|XL|L?X{0,3})    # tens - 90 (XC), 40 (XL), 0-30 (0 to 3 X's),
+                        #        or 50-80 (L, followed by 0 to 3 X's)
+    (IX|IV|V?I{0,3})    # ones - 9 (IX), 4 (IV), 0-3 (0 to 3 I's),
+                        #        or 5-8 (V, followed by 0 to 3 I's)
+    $                   # end of string
+    """, re.VERBOSE)
+
+
+def fromRoman(s):
+    """convert Roman numeral to integer"""
+    if not s:
+        raise InvalidRomanNumeralError('Input can not be blank')
+    if not romanNumeralPattern.search(s):
+        raise InvalidRomanNumeralError('Invalid Roman numeral: %s' % s)
+
+    result = 0
+    index = 0
+    for numeral, integer in romanNumeralMap:
+        while s[index:index + len(numeral)] == numeral:
+            result += integer
+            index += len(numeral)
+    return result