Review of The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game Core Book – RPGnet RPG Game Index

I didn’t see anything good coming out of this. but it’s like I always say: “stay out of the wizards’ business, because they are hard to understand and they get angry very easily”.

content

introduction

Aside from your explanation of RPGs, which I guess might make sense in the case of a licensed game like this, as likely as any RPG to attract newcomers to the hobby, this chapter is noteworthy for two reasons. first, it is here, not at the end, that the glossary was placed. and second, this is where the book introduces the lord of the rings role-playing adventure game as an introduction to this, the complete role-playing game. Having played both now, I have to say this is a pretty shaky premise, given that the adventure game is just an RPG in the broadest sense. however, to be fair, the basic mechanics remain the same.

chapter one: back and forth: the kingdoms of middle-earth

This chapter quickly dispelled any lingering fears I might have had that the game would ditch the books in favor of the movies. Rather, this tour of middle-earth goes into much more detail regarding certain areas of the books than the story itself, drawing heavily on the appendices to touch on history going back to the second age, and even to a limited extent. , the first age. he was particularly interested in seeing the lost kingdom of arnor over two pages, as well as a couple of pages going north infested with orcs and dragons. Well off the beaten path of the trilogy’s central story, these areas would provide plenty of room for adventure without much fear of continuity issues with the novels.

also, for those of you disappointed by his absence in the movie: yes, the description of the old forest speaks of that jolly guy, tom bombadil. (sorry no stats, but at least the book acknowledges their existence).

The chapter even goes so far as to mention bereliand and elvenhome, which we’re told are…

well, okay, then mention them.

In any case, I was certainly impressed by the research that was carried out in the geography and history of the environment.

creating a hero

This isn’t so much a chapter as it is an introduction to character creation, which takes up the next five chapters. As well as encouraging players to think about their character’s appearance, personality, and goals before jumping into the numbers, it offers six ready-to-play archetypes, complete with names and backgrounds:

• human warrior (dúnadan)
• dwarven warrior
• elven warrior (sindarin)
• hobbit (fallohide) rogue
• human (dúnadan) magician
• human (intermediary) noble

Note that this selection, like the command list itself (see below), is quite heavy. if this sounds off-putting, consider the number of warrior types in the books.

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playtest: This didn’t seem to bother my players too much. Of the group of four, one was satisfied with the human mage in all but name, and another simply changed a language ability to make the human noble a noble of rohan instead of gondor.

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chapter three: power and majesty: attributes

characters have six primary attributes, for which 2-12 is the normal range of human ability: poise (brg), agility (nim), perception (per), strength (str) , vitality (vit), and resourcefulness (wit). the initial scores of these can be determined randomly, by rolling 2d6 nine times and taking the highest six, or selected by allocating 10, 9, 7, 7, 5, and 4 and allocating a further 8 points between them.

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playtesting: I let my players select the method they wanted to use and we didn’t see much of a difference either way. but it’s nice to have the option.

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Just like in d&d3e, these scores serve no purpose other than to translate directly into attribute modifiers ranging from -3 to +3. given the comparatively large range of attributes with a zero modifier (4-7), the low modifiers at the extremes (-2 on 2, for example), and the low overall range of scores, the value of the attributes seems quite low. I’m not entirely sure this was a wise design decision for lotr, given the emphasis placed on truly extraordinary individuals. racial modifiers (see below) mitigate this problem somewhat, but not much.

characters also have four reactions (stamina, quickness, willpower, and wisdom) that are roughly equivalent to d&d saving throws. Players can choose between two main attributes to be the starting score for each reaction. for example, wisdom can be based on the character’s demeanor or perception of her. this feels quite appropriate to me. many characters in the novels seem to resort to one trait to make up for their deficiencies in another. Sam, for example, manages to be wise in his own way, despite his humble and unassuming nature.

characters have a defense score equal to their agility modifiers + 10, which is used as the base target number (tn) for attacks on the character.

The game uses a injury level system to track damage to characters. characters have six wound levels (five, for hobbits), and each wound level has an associated modifier. characters can take damage equal to their health (their vitality score plus their strength modifier) ​​before moving to the next level of injury.

the system also takes into account fatigue. exhaustion also has six levels, and a stamina roll is required to prevent the hero from going down to the next level in exhausting circumstances.

characters start the game with three points of courage. lotr’s version of a hero point mechanic, these can add +3 to a roll or allow the character to perform some action for which his nerves might otherwise fail him, for example facing a dragon.

known determines how well known the character is. Another strong setup emulation mechanic, it starts at zero by default and grows based on the character’s actions. it can make the character easier to recognize and can serve as a bonus or penalty to NPC reactions, depending on the source of the recognition.

Finally, size can make a character harder or easier to hit, depending on the size of their opponent, and affects the number of wound levels the character has.

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playtest: the organization of the book had already become a problem at this point. all scores that depended on the final primary attribute totals had to wait, as they would not be known until the next chapter’s racial modifiers were taken into account.

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chapter three: the free peoples: races of middle earth

The game allows players to create characters from one of four races: Dwarves, Elves, Hobbits, and Men. each race’s description includes its general nature, lands, languages, names, notable individuals, favored professions, racial attribute modifiers, free skill and trait selection, and racial skills. In their case, the races have been divided into sub-races: Elves in Noldor, Sindar, and Silvan, Hobbits in Falowhide, Harfoot, and Stoor, and Men in Dúnedan, Midmen, Darkmen, and Wild Men. . Additionally, each item includes multiple background packs with skill and trait selections already made.

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playtest: Since this stage of character creation requires skipping the traits and abilities chapters in the same step, most of my players were very appreciative of that background . packages.

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As befits the setting, the elves are not balanced compared to the other races. what surprised me a bit was the fact that this imbalance stems more from the sheer number of racial abilities they receive than from overwhelming competition. no race, not even elves, gets an attribute bonus greater than +2, which in turn means that no race can get an attribute bonus greater than +4. so while elves in this game can do a lot of things that men can’t, there is much less of a divide between elves and men in terms of overall competition than in warhammer frp, for example.

however, for some reason, the authors seemed to change their minds about balance when it came to the dúnadan. while they are obviously superior to other men in the books, their advantages are neither more numerous nor better than those of the middlemen (+1 poise and wit instead of +1 strength and vitality). the dark men – easterners and southerners lumped together, which seems wrong to me – are a bit less well-off, at +1 agility and strength but -1 wits. but the really shocking thing is that the true supermen of middle earth (at least from the perspective of the game) are not the dúnadan, but the wild men. they end up with +1 bonuses to perception, strength, and vitality, and also gain a +2 bonus to all outdoor skills.

On a more positive note, men of all types have their own racial advantages, which prevent them from being a run-of-the-mill “default” race. the chapter also allows men of elven blood (but not half-elves) such as prince imrahil, and explains that while there have only been three unions of man and noldor or sindar in the history of middle-earth, unions of men and wood elves that were unregistered could have occurred.

Chapter Four: Warriors, Wizards and Kings: Orders

lotr uses a class/level system, or order/advancement, as the game calls it, which resembles d&d3e taken just a few steps further. the order determines most of the skills the starting character has access to, the skills and attributes that the character can advance the fastest, and the special order skills that the character can have. (one per advance). While I have doubts about the need for classes, particularly in Middle Earth where so many characters defy easy classification, this seems like a reasonable way to apply them. in any case, combat ability is a function of ability, not order, which is a marked improvement over d&d3e in my opinion.

orders are:

• barbarian
• craftsman
• loremaster
• mage
• sailor
• player
• noble
• rogue
• warrior

not a bad selection, really.

however,

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“sailor” seems like an odd choice to me. while there are undoubtedly sailors in the setting, there really aren’t that many places to go for an aquatic adventure. you can sail from north to south along the coast, along the rivers, or, if you’re an elf, all the way to the west (and thus out of the game), but that’s about it.

“craftsman” is a useful catchall for non-adventurer types. the system allows characters without commands as a way to simulate individuals like the inexperienced hobbits, but the hobbits were blessed with script immunity. I wouldn’t recommend doing the same in-game unless the GM is willing to spend a lot of money to protect said characters.

Again, each order includes several time-saving professional packages. These nicely illustrate the rank of each order: the Hobbit Shirriff Pack for Warrior, for example.

* * * * *

playtest: I really liked having multiple levels of customization to choose from during character creation, from ready-made archetypes, race packs, and orders, to fully created characters from scratch. zero.

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Those special abilities I mentioned are the kind of abilities you’d expect for each order, for the most part, abilities to let rogues hide in the shadows and give warriors more attacks, for example. among the more exotic skills are the craftsman’s ability to create shelters that erase weariness and the minstrel’s ability to create illusions with his music. the text notes that several of them, such as the aforementioned shelter ability and the noble’s ability to hold a domain, aren’t particularly useful for adventurers, who tend to move around a lot. the mage’s ability to cast spells is an order ability, so the first choice of that order is predetermined. (Loremasters can also cast spells, but the ability is optional and weaker for them.)

Speaking of loremasters, one of their abilities is known as “vala virtue”, which gives them the ability to summon one of the valar to gain certain boons. but what are the valar?

Now, even if we are not told what the Valar are, we have the blessings of the only two Valar mentioned by name in The Lord of the Rings, Elbereth and Oromë, as examples. . we are told that gms “can easily create similar bonuses for other valar”, but who are the other valar?

…

I get that decipher walks a fine legal line here, but this is ridiculous. presenting a concept without a definition is bad enough, and forgetting to indicate where a definition can be found – in this case, the silmarillion – is worse, but gives the impression that more information could be obtained when necessary. It can’t be, it’s inexcusable. even a simple “more information would be beyond the scope of this license” would have been an improvement.

but I digress.

In addition to the nine basic orders, there are five elite orders (similar to the d&d3e prestige classes) that characters can aspire to:

• archer
• captain
• knight
• ranger
• spy
• mage

Now, if you’re the kind of tolkien geek that I am, I can guess what you’re thinking: “how can a pc become a wizard? the wizards of middle earth aren’t just powerful wizards! they’re mai- “

*sigh*

anyway, the wizards in the books are emissaries from the west, with all that that entails. The game sidesteps this somewhat by suggesting that the Five Wizards were merely the first of their order to arrive in Middle-earth, and that they trained worthy wizards and loremasters to join them on their quest. that’s a good explanation for any of the pc wizards in this setup i guess.

I’m a little less comfortable with rangers as an elite order, but for slightly different reasons. while rangers are certainly “elite”, I’m pretty sure they’re a character type that a sizable number of players would like to play early on. and from the point of view of the environment, it seems to me that the northern rangers, at least, assume that position through their lineage and do not exercise a “minor” profession first.

chapter five: clanging anvils and lore rhymes: skills

the basic mechanics of lotr resemble d20 with a different die type: 2d6 + modifier Attribute + Ability Range vs. a target number. skills are tied to attributes, but not “rigidly” (ie skills are paired with the attributes they are most often used with, but not always). the degree of success, where applicable, is determined by the amount by which the total exceeds the target number. many skills are divided into skill groups (eg Armed Combat: Blades), with most requiring the selection of a specialty (eg Armed Combat: Blades (Axes)), the latter granting a +2 to print runs involving the specialty.

Each skill described in the chapter has a fairly detailed description, including a sample list of target numbers and specialties, additional modifiers (if any), whether or not the skill can be used for extended tests, and what, if there are, skills provide a bonus to the use of the skill.

I especially like the last part, which the game calls “affinity”. characters can get +1 for each skill they possess that relates in some way to a specific use of a separate skill. for example, someone using climb might get a +1 if they also had the acrobatics skill. this reflects a character’s focus on a particular area very well, even if it doesn’t really reflect the true degree of that focus (i.e. the aforementioned character would get the +1 for acrobatics on their attempt to climb, regardless of their score actual stunt).

chapter six: severe and determined men: traits

This chapter covers edges and flaws, the availability of which is determined by the character’s race.

* * * * *

playtest: Again, if you don’t opt ​​for an archetype or a pack, there are many pages to go between this chapter and chapter three.

* * * * *

One thing that struck me was how arbitrary the placement of certain abilities between order and edge abilities seems to be. for example, dodge, weapon mastery, and accuracy are all traits, but evasion, favored weapon, and lethal shot are command abilities.

Adding to the confusion, traits could also use some more descriptive names. Quick! you want your character to be fearless! Do you take boldness, lion heart, courage or courage? (answer: only courage helps the character to resist fear).

However, I give the game credit for its generosity in this area: the chapter includes 52 edges and 23 faults. and there’s some config emulation quality in there to complement this amount as well. command armor, for example, grants characters a couple of points of damage resistance when fighting without armor (like most of the community in most books). and healing hands grants a +5 bonus to healing checks with risk of exhaustion in direct proportion to the severity of the wound (as demonstrated by aragorn in houses of healing).

I have a major issue with the treasure trait, which governs riches, but that will have to wait until the gear chapter below for proper context.

chapter seven: words of power and runes of strength: magic

magic in middle earth is a subject of much debate, and the general consensus I’ve heard regarding merp is that the magic system was too “balls of fire and lightning” to do material justice to the source. well, for the most part, i’m happy to report that when it comes to middle-earth magic, figuring out “gets it”.

The first sign of this understanding comes from his emphasis on the “subtle magic” of Middle Earth: the clouds parting just in time to let the sun gleam on a raised sword, the land becoming desolate and filthy afterwards. of conquest by the enemy, blessed rivers that wash away weariness, etc.

This subtle magic offers more than just special effects. Any character can call down a curse, for example, or call on the names of the Valar to hurt Sauron’s servants or dispel despair. (Of course, you already know the story about the names of the Valar…)

(to the right.)

But now we get to the really tricky part: spells and spellcasting.

loremasters, wizards, and sorcerers must use the spellcasting order ability to get spell selections. loremasters gain two spell selections each time that skill is selected, while wizards and sorcerers gain five. each spell costs a variable number of spell selections, and more selections can be applied to a spell to make it more effective and/or easier to cast.

The actual casting is, in my opinion, the weakest part of the process. casting spells can be tiring, which is fine since it fits the source material and has a long tradition in game design. the problem is that the success of the spell and avoiding fatigue depends on a resistance roll, which is based on strength or vitality. Now, going back to chapter four, I look at the attributes considered most important to wizards and see wit, bearing and perception, with willpower and wisdom being the usual favorite reactions. in other words, spellcasting characters are not expected to excel in the attributes that govern their signature ability. in game terms, he’s the burly young man, not the erudite scholar, the more natural mage. this goes directly against the source material and as such is deeply flawed mechanics. willpower, it seems to me, would be a much more logical choice of reactions to use to cast spells.

As I said, however, tiredness itself is not a problem for me. I even like the fact that the difficulty of the tn resistance increases for repeated casting of spells within a limited period of time, as this helps explain why gandalf didn’t repeatedly attack his enemies with fire and lightning.

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playtest: Make sure your spellcasting characters have something to contribute to a fight other than casting spells, however, if you want them to be close to a fight. one player took the mage archetype, which lacks combat skills, entirely from the book. in our test match, all I could really do was repeatedly cast the lightning spell. the accumulated penalties also killed that quickly.

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However, things pick up noticeably from there, as the chapter takes basic spellcasting through a series of useful permutations that mesh nicely with the setting. for example, casting spells normally requires both words and gestures, but additional spell selections can be spent to remove the need for either or both. Additionally, enough selections can turn certain spells into innate magical abilities, such as Beorn’s shapeshifting. and since not all middle-earth beings with such abilities are wizards (again, see beorn), non-wizards can acquire innate magical abilities with the expenditure of enough advancement spikes.

Given the specialties of wizards in the books, it stands to reason that the game’s magic system also incorporates specialties. For example, spellcasters can become particularly adept with fire, smoke, and light like Gandalf, or with beasts and birds like Radagast. the system also accounts for the fact that some of the magic in the books clearly takes forms other than “traditional” spells: spellcasters can learn spellcasting methods such as runes (popular among dwarves) and songs of power (popular among dwarves). with elves). both increase the effectiveness of the spell at the expense of increased casting time: duration of runes, power of songs of power. spellcasters can further adjust the potency of their spells by increasing the ton for the resistance roll or by combining multiple spells.

but what about the spells themselves? again, the extensive deciphering task shines through. each spell comes straight from the books, albeit with a few of the necessary spellcasting options to match here and there. as a result, the spells are relatively inconspicuous as far as fantasy settings go: while there are things like lightning bolts and blasts of magical power, there’s no teleportation, flight, or summoning of demons. spells fall into two general categories: sorcery (good magic) and sorcery (bad magic). the characters can learn either, though using sorcery risks corruption (see below). however, countering a spell requires the defender to know that spell, so good wizards can safely learn sorcery spells as long as they only use the knowledge to block their use.

A discussion of magical items ends the chapter, complete with notable examples: dwarven doors and toys, elven food and gear, magical swords, ent drafts, morgul knives, the palantíri, and of course, the rings of power. . i like the fact that the book distinguishes between literally enchanted items, like gandalf’s glamdring sword, and “heroic” items that gain their power through fine craftsmanship, lost secret methods, or lineage and history, like gandalf’s andúril sword aragorn.

Even by Middle-earth standards, magical weapons seem to be very underpowered. andúril, for example, gives its wearer a mere +2 to hit and +3 to inspiration attempts, hardly something legendary.

chapter eight: ax and sword: weapons and equipment

The chapter suggests that the general manager should not pay his players a nickel for the team, just let them have whatever is reasonable. not that there are many options, as no means of determining starting wealth other than the accumulation trait are given. which of course makes the hoarding trait a bit silly: the pc that don’t hoard get everything the GM thinks they should have, and the pc that hoard get everything the GM thinks they should have plus something extra.

The list of weapons is quite small, which makes sense, given that there aren’t many different types of weapons in the books. the weapon and armor lists strive to be as authentic as possible, not just for what’s included, but also for what’s excluded: no crossbows, for example, and no full armor.

There really isn’t much differentiation between the different weapons in terms of stats. almost all have a score of 2d6 plus a modifier ranging from 1 to 7, and some offer a small parry bonus.

some weapons don’t make any sense to seize others. for example, both the mace and the mattock do 2d6+4 damage, have no parry bonus, are medium in size, and cost 3 silver. but the mattock weighs 15 pounds to the 9-pound mallet and requires two hands to one of the mallet. this, in turn, means that the hoe cannot be used with the two-handed attack maneuver, which gives +4 damage when using a one-handed weapon with two hands at the expense of giving enemies a + 2 to hit the character. .

the text and the shield table disagree on the value of the shields. the text says that shields grant a bonus to parry/block attempts and a penalty to attacks on the wielder, while the table states that the attack penalty is for ranged attacks only. and whatever the attack penalty is, the text says it’s -3 for a small shield, while the table says it’s -5. From what I can tell, the table is correct as to what the attack penalty is, but the text is correct as to the value of the small shield. just one of many annoying bug fixes in this book.

chapter nine: good words and truth: rules of the coda system

the skill chapter introduces the basic mechanics of the game. this chapter goes into detail, which mostly consists of many modifier tables and accompanying descriptions.

Important details are often hard to find. for example, the main text doesn’t mention the fact that it rolls an open ending with a single d6 when both dice come up 6, that’s relegated to a sidebar. in at least one other place, the sidebar seems to contradict the main text: one sidebar on one page talks about “action permission” as the number of actions a character can perform per round (normally 2, with certain abilities allowing more ), while the text on the next page states that it is just the limit of non-penalized actions a character can take per round.

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combat

Aside from the many possible modifiers, combat is pretty easy: a standard roll using armed, unarmed, or ranged combat with the target’s defense score as tn. the defender can choose to dodge or parry/block in response to a successful attack roll, dodging using a quick reaction check, and parrying/blocking using armed or unarmed combat. the total from a successful dodge becomes the new tn for all attacks against that character for the rest of the round, but parries/blocks apply to a single attack. there’s a nice symmetry there, as the quick reaction score will likely be lower than the armed/unarmed combat scores.

the problem is that the defense score is already agility + 10. therefore it is quite unlikely that a dodge attempt will make any difference.

* * * * *

playtest: Our elven warrior managed to dodge, just barely, but he had the dodge skill, which improves dodge.

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However, the biggest problem I have with combat is that it’s impossible to kill almost anything in one hit. And I mean just about anything. on a successful hit, the player rolls for damage based on the weapon type and subtracts any armor. any remaining damage begins to fill the victim’s wound levels. damage rolls are not open-ended, and superior attacks can result in automatic maximum damage without the need for a roll or some kind of special effect, such as dismounting a mounted enemy.

but remember that each wound level takes damage equal to the character’s health score, which in turn is based on the vitality score plus the strength modifier. therefore, an average person will have six levels of wounds of six points each, meaning they can take a total of 36 points of damage.

The Balrog of Moria can deal a maximum of 31 damage with its huge sword.

* * * * *

playtest: The wizard in our party hit a troll with a lightning spell, which the text says is “powerful enough to kill even mighty warriors.” he only managed to drop the troll one level of wound. now maybe you’re thinking that trolls are supposed to be really tough? fair enough… except that the same spell wouldn’t have killed the orc involved in the same battle either, not even at max damage. the fight went on so long that the characters were hitting each other that I called the fight out of boredom.

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corruption

middle earth is a morally absolute arena, and corruption is a very real threat. therefore, it stands to reason that corruption is also a very real game mechanic. characters tempted by evil or using sorcery must make a willpower roll to resist collecting corruption points, and learning sorcery spells (with the intention of actively using them, rather than countering them) adds corruption automatically. A disastrous failure forces the pc to give in to the temptation at hand, and a pc whose corruption score equals his stature has been totally seduced by evil and serves sauron, knowingly or unknowingly.

Heroes can reduce corruption by taking selfless actions or, ironically, by making a high enough result on their willpower roll to resist corruption. that’s the only real flaw I see in this mechanic: a character with a lot of willpower can lose the corruption by deliberately seeking out temptations or using sorcery.

battles

The game offers two methods of resolving battles: the basic method and unit combat.

The former involves the gm assigning modifiers to opposing sides based on their relative strength advantage, then applying those modifiers to opposing rolls and bringing the winner one step closer to victory. if desired, separate table rolls can be used to determine the placement and general arrangement of the pieces during the conflict. it’s a nice and simple system, although I prefer to represent the actions of the heroes instead of relying on a table.

Unit combat is a bit more complicated, ranking units in terms of size, strength (general offensive prowess), toughness (general defensive prowess), mobility, and morale, with attacks based on the leader’s siege skill . again, not a bad system, except that damage to units is based on (strength + size of attacker) – (resistance + size of defender). if those scores are equal, it becomes impossible for the attacker to affect the defender.

A hodgepodge of other rules in the chapter include sieges and siege engines, horses, healing, fatigue, and travel.

chapter ten: saga and greatness: elements of epic fantasy

It is in this chapter that the book really sets itself apart as a Tolkien RPG, emphasizing easily overlooked aspects of all that it implies. for example, the natural world plays a huge role in the grandeur of the setting and should be highlighted wherever possible. authority figures are treated with respect – a stark contrast to the typical pc attitude, in my experience. more importantly, heroes are expected to be heroes, not anti-heroes, and creatures like orcs and trolls are evil, not wrong or misunderstood. good must be preserved in the face of overwhelming evil. The in-depth analysis of this chapter will be as valuable as any list of names and places to introduce to a newcomer to the environment, if not more.

Chapter Eleven: Historic Heights and Firelit Halls: Creating and Executing the Chronicle

If the previous chapter was the “what” of Tolkienesque games, this chapter aims to be the “how”.

begins by breaking down the elements of a campaign down to individual scenes and examines the wide variety of possible campaigns. these include adventures set before the war of the ring (the default setting), during the war, and in the fourth, second, and even the first ages. again, I find the suggestion of the first age terribly false, as the text gives no indication that that time period can ever, ever be supported by decryption. On the plus side, the chapter includes helpful advice on keeping your group’s saga from overlapping with the course of the books, providing a sample chronicle set in the North to illustrate the point.

However, the chapter is not limited to just tips; it also includes even more rules and rule options.

Now, in my opinion, a sure warning sign that a system is in trouble is a bunch of advice for the GM to ignore that system for the sake of history. such is the case here.

First, I’ll admit a slight bias against the concept of “mook rules”. ideally i would prefer pcs to be able to cut a swath through lesser npcs because pcs are quantitatively better, not because npcs are at a qualitative disadvantage. Still, I have played and enjoyed feng shui, so I can accept the concept in practice.

What I can’t stand, however, is the way lotr implements the concept.

Remember how I said you couldn’t kill anything in one hit using the standard rules? well clearly that won’t work if you’re trying to simulate the orc slaying festivals of heroes like gimli and legolas. so lotr here suggests that instead of unimportant npcs taking hits, they should be able to take 1-3 success levels on hits before going down.

There are two problems with that.

First of all, this method totally removes damage as a factor. as a result, the strength of the attacker and his weapon and any armor the defender is wearing become irrelevant. It’s just a game of tag. skilled but frail characters take a sudden and inexplicable leap in proficiency compared to burly warriors when facing nameless hordes. (yes, I know this is also an issue in feng shui).

* * * * *

playtest: Just as an experiment, I pitted the pc against two orcs, one using the standard rules and the other using the one hit “mook rule”. as a result, the little hobbit of the group was able to take down the last orc with a single stone.

* * * * *

Second, the huge disconnect between what’s possible using the standard rules and “mook” completely breaks the suspension of disbelief, hitting players with the fact that they’re fighting npcs that don’t matter. why? because players even remotely familiar with the rules will know that there is no way to take down an enemy in one hit unless the GM is using the “mook rule”. (Compare this to feng shui, in which it is at least possible to drop a “named character” in one hit.)

And since damage doesn’t matter, the GM has to decide whether to let his players waste their time rolling damage that doesn’t count or blow their cover by telling them that rolls aren’t necessary.

* * * * *

playtest: my players were completely stunned when the aforementioned hobbit girl dropped the orc with her rock, especially when the elf in the group fought round after round with an identical orc using the standard. rules. it was transparently obvious that the hobbit hadn’t done enough damage to warrant a legitimate kill.

* * * * *

and as if this wasn’t enough rule tweaking, the chapter also suggests that the GM should only intend to make a roll to hit the characters for all enemies except the main ones, or at least shouldn’t allow the characters to fall below the first level of the wound. the reason for this, we’re told, is that while characters shouldn’t be loaded down with weapons and armor, healing is very hard to come by on stage.

It seems to me that it would have made much more sense to develop a combat system that actually fit into the environment in the first place, rather than creating a system and then devising a series of ways to work around its shortcomings.

experience

Of all the game mechanics, experience rewards seem to be the biggest throwback to old school d&d; or rather, the biggest throwback to a “d&d well done” attempt. In addition to gaining experience from completing story objectives, the points of which are divided equally among party members, individual pc’s gain experience equal to tons of successful story-related tests, and the other pc’s get half as much. that amount. that seems terribly gamist to me for a setting like middle earth. instead, the rewards for good role-playing are relegated to an undefined and optional “little extra.” we’re told that “depending on the storyteller’s personal style and the type of game she runs, a good role-play can [emphasis mine] be just as important as completing story objectives.” after all the effort this chapter and the previous one go into explaining how to evoke the feel of the stage, this basically absolves the players of any responsibility to assist in that effort, subject to the GM’s discretion. seems like a really strange approach to me.

chapter twelve: fear and shadow: the enemy and his servants

In any new game, but especially a new licensed game, one of the first things I check is the bestiary. overall, it seems to be a good indication of how thoroughly the core rulebook claims to cover your build. in the case of lotr, I’d say the bestiary is a decent start, but not much more. statistics are included for: