USH'S LORD OF THE RINGS GAME- Character Creation Thread

Ok, hello and welcome to the character creation process for my Lord of the Rings (or more accurately, Middle-Earth) game! Some of this may look a little daunting, but with a small amount of effort, it is really quite easy.

This process allows me to know what kind of character you are, and what your skills and talents are. Unlike my other games, this one is not all focussed on how dangerous you are in combat. Some players will be very much more dangerous than others in that regard. No matter which way you cut it in the films, Aragorn is a better swordsman than Merry- yet they are both heroes.

However, when it comes to imagining how powerful your characters are, it does you better to think of Merry than Aragorn. Like the Hobbits, you are competent heroes. Many of you are trained soldiers, scouts, spies, students of lore. But none of you are close to being the legendary heroes that are Aragorn, Boromir, Legolas- and certainly not Gandalf the Grey!

Creating your LOTR character is a five step process. This process is a little more involved than my Matrix game, with its broadly simple characters, but then you do not have to worry about Paths or Tricks or anything like that so it actually works out as being a lot easier once you start playing. The steps are:

1. Stats. These tell me what your character is naturally good and bad at, physically and mentally, before any other consideration.
2. Profession. This tells me what area your character has chosen to become good at. Whilst there is plenty of room in Middle-Earth for carpenters and farriers, this all rather assumes you will be wanting to be some sort of warrior or tracker or some other more active vocation. This will affect your stats and skills.
3. Racial Origin. This is where Tolkien’s world really hammered down its differences. I am sure many of you have a good idea of what race you want to be, choosing between Man, Elf, Dwarf and Hobbit- and, if Elf or Man, what kind of Elf or Man? Tolkien devised many. Your choice affects your stats and skills again, and may also give you special abilities.
4. Skills. These tell me what you have learned to be good at. This will be, at creation, a combination of your stats, profession and race, plus some small alterations you get when you start out at first level. You get to make the same small alterations each time you increase in level thereafter.
5. Backgrounds. Backgrounds give your character certain advantages- maybe he is rich, owns an item of power, or has a special talent for spotting things. This part of character creation acts as a power balancer for your Racial choice- a standard man or Hobbit is less powerful than, say, a Noldor Elf, but gets more background points to spend to make up.

Of course, on top of all this, you will most likely want a name and small history for your character- feel free to put any amount of effort into this that you wish!

Stats

Your statistics tell me of the natural talents and physique of your character. They are:

Strength: A simple measure of your physical power

Agility: A measure of your dexterity and nimbleness

Constitution: A measure of your hardiness and toughness

Intelligence: A measure of your sheer brainpower

Intuition: A measure of your intuition, wisdom and common sense.

Presence: A measure of the personal impact you make on others.

All these stats start with a base of zero. This is the average for a hero! A normal person would start lower.

They go up and down in fives rather than ones. For comparison, your typical troll has a strength of about +20, a typical Hobbit has –25.

Now, because you guys can be a cut above the rest, even other heroes, you can put in two increases of +5 to increase the base of your stats, put anywhere you like. You might want to put +5 in strength and +5 in agility, or maybe combine them and put +10 in, say, intelligence.

Think carefully, though. Stats are not something that change easily, if at all, once gameplay starts. Also, your profession (see below) gives you an automatic base of +10 in one of your stats- this does not stack with what I am letting you do here! So make sure you put these +5 bonuses in somewhere that your profession will not set.

Other things will modify your stats beyond their base- your race will change things, as maybe will powerful items you find in your travels. But your base levels will be very hard to ever change.

Professions

You have six choices of things it is useful to be in Middle-Earth, in this game. I give you a description, I say which of their stats gets set to +10, and then I tell you what automatic skill increases they get each level- the Profession bonus (you get to add your own skill increases by level as well). You do not need to worry about them at this point.

WARRIOR: Let’s face it, whilst pure Warriors may end up with a reputation for knowing nothing but violence, they are perhaps the most directly essential members of any group. The forces of evil are not going to be stingy about the quality of bad guys they send out to face you, and you need sturdy people to face them down. A Warrior is a man trained in the arts of combat- be that as a mercenary, a wandering defender of the free world, or a soldier of his nation. They spend some time learning more general skills as well, but have little time for subtleties and subterfuge. And why should they? Look at Boromir, Gimli and Eomer, all accomplished warriors- they had no need of subtlety…

All Warriors get their Strength stat set to a base of 10.

Their profession bonuses by level are as follows:

+3 to all weapon skills
+2 to Stamina
+1 to all General skills

Hobbits may not be Warriors- it is simply not in their culture. Physically minded Hobbits should look at being an Adventurer or Scout.

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RANGER: Not literally one of the Rangers of the North from the books and films- they do not exist yet- but a Profession based on the idea of being a trained combat type, but with training also devoted towards the areas of tracking and survival. This could be because, like Aragorn, you spent your life in the harsh wilds and learned accordingly. Or like Legolas, you are a keen fighter with an affinity for things natural. Or like Faramir, you are a solider trained to act for long periods of time behind enemy lines, living off the land. All Rangers get natural abilities in herbology and other forms of outdoor living and survival, and geographic knowledge, that increases by level.

All Rangers get their Constitution stat set to a base of +10.

Their profession bonuses by level are as follows:

+2 to all weapon skills
+3 to all General skills
+2 to Perception
+2 to Stalk/Hide

Only Men or Elves may be Rangers- other cultures have no real chance to be one.

-

ADVENTURER: Middle-Earth is an interesting place, though very dangerous. Many who travel it frequently quickly learn to take care of themselves. Adventurers are hardy, independent, fighting types- good warriors but not permanently beholden to any nation’s fighting force. They are all-rounders, having had to learn to fend for themselves wherever they go. They seek riches, glory, or even just the thrill of adventure, and easily attach themselves to a righteous cause. The Hobbits in the books are Adventurers, though as their stories start they haven’t actually started adventuring yet!

Adventurers can choose between either Strength or Agility. Their base in that stats is set to +10.

Their profession bonuses by level are as follows:

+2 to all Weapon skills
+2 to all General skills
+2 to all Subterfuge skills

Anyone can be an Adventurer! Probably rare for Elves, though.

-

SCOUT: A Scout is a person trained in light, fast manoeuvres. He can fight, though not as well as others, but he also excels in sneaking, hiding, and intrusion. Whilst a Scout might be some sort of forward agent working for a nation, he could just as easily be a thief, as the Dwarves mistook Bilbo for in The Hobbit.

All Scouts get their Agility stat set to a base of +10

Their profession bonuses by level are as follows:

+1 to all Weapon skills
+1 to all General skills
+2 to all Subterfuge skills
+3 to Perception

Anyone can be a Scout

-

MAGE: A Mage is a person of power. Now, those of you who have played other fantasy games may be surprised my Middle-Earth Mages. They do not fire lightning bolts or call down hails of fire- not even the likes of Gandalf and Saruman. In fact, Gandalf the White, most powerful Mage of all, does little more overt than create sunlight and the like. And you would play someone far less powerful than him. Which is not to say you can do nothing- Mages can, over time, develop significant and powerful effects, including offensive actions against others (normally based around one of the elements; Gandalf was the Fire type). But it must be noted that a Mage’s advantages lay also in the realm of being able to read ancient runes, knowing lore, and deciphering the use of items- in many ways the brains of the party. Note that even Gandalf was good with a sword and it is a good idea for a Mage to learn how to fight as best he can.

All Mages get their Intelligence stat set to a base of +10.

Their profession bonuses by level are as follows:

+2 to Read Runes
+2 to Use Item
+3 to Directed Spells
+2 to Offensive Spell use

Only Dunadain and Elves can be Mages- arcane power is not available to the more mundane races.

-

ANIMIST: An Animist is also a person of power, but his powers are devoted more towards the physical than the Arcane- healing, herb lore, animal mastery, connections with the land… it might sound less powerful than a Mage, but Elrond is an Animist- the most powerful on Middle-Earth- and who wants to argue with him, hmm? Animists are also more combat capable than mages, if a little less directly intellectual.

All Animists get their Intuition stats set to a base of +10.

Their profession bonuses by level are as follows:

+1 to Read Runes
+1 to Use Item
+1 to all general skills
+2 to Directed Spells
+2 to Offensive Spell Use
+1 to Perception

Only Men and Elves can be Animists. Non-Dunadain Men who are Animists would be Wise Men, Sages, Seers, Witches, that kind of thing.

Racial Origin

This is not only the thing that most immediately distinguishes you from others, it also dictates your beliefs, background, skills and physical capacity. At the end of the day, an Eotheod is going to be the best horse rider and a Silvan the best bow-shot.

Middle-Earth offers a wide variety of races to choose from. Some are just blatantly better than others (i.e. Elves are better than men). To make up for this, the more powerful you are, the less background points you will get to spend later on. The racial descriptions also show you what your skills start at, and also give racial modifications to your stats. They may also give you special abilities.

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ELVES
The first and greatest race of Middle-Earth, fair-featured immortal beings some of whom date from the earliest times of the cosmos. They are wise and powerful, know the ‘Gods’ (Valar) well and respect them not through organised religion but via songs and poetry. They need not sleep, instead meditating each day, and are virtually immune to disease and extremes of temperature. Their senses are far beyond that of a man's. Yet the Elves sometimes curse their immortal lives and envy the humans who are driven by their gift of mortality to do so much more in such short a time. A starting Elven character will be young- a few centuries old- and driven to explore the world outside the major remaining Elven settlements on Middle Earth. For even a thousand years before they will leave forever, it is no longer the time of the Elves, and they have been in decline since Sauron was defeated and the Ring cut from his finger.

The Elves, as Men, have suffered major splits in their culture over time. By this time, three major distinctive types of Elf remain in Middle Earth.

ALL Elves are completely immune to disease. They are also somewhat resistant to poison.

NOLDOR ELVES: Or ‘High’ Elves, these are the nobles of Elven society, the most fair, beautiful, powerful, magnificent- and arrogant. The Noldor actually left Middle-Earth in ages past- rather bucking the trend (and in direct violation of the wishes of the Valar) they returned to pursue a personal vendetta against Evil, this pursuit being a curse which all but doomed them. The Noldor now are the descendants of those times (a very few, like Elrond (actually a Half Elf) and Galadriel actually remembering them), and they have lost some of the insane stubbornness and anger that led them to past error, but much of what they were remains.

A Noldo’s Racial Stat modifiers are… (deep breath needed here…) +15 to Agility, +10 to Constitution, +5 to Intelligence, +5 to Intuition, and +15 to Presence! Wowsa!

They start with base skills of:
Unarmoured- 5
One-handed edged weapons- 5
Missile Weapons- 5
Ride- 5
Swim- 10
Stalk/Hide- 10
Read Runes- 10
Use Item- 5
Perception- 15
Stamina- 6

Noldor are DAMN hard and so only get 2 background points.

SINDAR ELVES: Or ‘Grey’ Elves, this is the dominant Elven culture on Middle-Earth. Many Sindar went West and never returned ages ago, but some of the Sindar nations never really made it out that far and continued to live in Middle-Earth instead, where they developed into the Elven powers of today. Sindar are well known as the most curious, accessible and friendly of Elves, and most bonds between Elves and non-Elves have been via the Sindar.

A Sindar’s Racial Stat modifiers are: +10 to Agility, +5 to Constitution, +5 to Intuition and +10 to Presence.

They start with base skills of:
Unarmoured- 5
One-handed edged weapons- 5
Missile Weapons- 10
Climb- 5
Ride- 5
Swim- 10
Stalk/Hide- 15
Read Runes- 5
Use Item- 5
Perception- 15
Stamina- 6

Sindar are pretty powerful, and only get three background points.

SILVAN ELVES: Or ‘Wood’ Elves, these are the descendants of those Elves who decided to never go West in the first place. They have never trusted Man, who they remember as a wild and barbarous people, and often think they were abandoned by other Elves. Still, in these days, they live a little more harmoniously with others- whilst fiercely defending their forest homes. They tend to be capricious, playful and tricky.

A Silvan’s Racial Stat modifiers are: +10 Agility, +5 Intuition, +5 Presence

They start with base skills of:
Unarmoured- 5
One-handed edged weapons- 5
Missile Weapons- 15
Climb- 10
Ride- 5
Swim- 15
Stalk/Hide- 20
Read Runes- 5
Perception- 15
Stamina- 6

Sindar have less power than their ‘purer’ brethren and get four background points.

HALF-ELVES: These are very rare- in fact, coupling with the true Elves of old is so rare that Tolkien only notes it happening three times, including with Aragorn and Arwen. Still, I am happy to be a little more lax and allow Half-Elves to be more common- but not with Noldor, please! Half-Elves get a good mix- the power and drive of humans, and much of the grace and power of the Elves. However, they are always caught in the tragedy of having to chose between two paths- do they stay immortal as an Elf, or chose a mortal life? Elrond chose Elf, his brother Elros chose Man and died after five centuries (that decision makes more sense if you bear in mind what Elves think of mortality, that it can be considered a gift).

Half-Elves ‘only’ get a 50% disease immunity, and less resistance to poison.

A Half-Elf’s stat modifiers are as follows: +5 Strength, +5 Agility, +5 Constitution, +5 Presence

They start with base skills of:
Unarmoured- 5
Rigid Leather- 5
Chain- 5
One-handed edged weapons- 5
Missile Weapons- 10
Climb- 5
Ride- 5
Swim- 5
Stalk/Hide- 10
Read Runes- 5
Perception- 5
Stamina- 6

Half Elves get a good deal, and so only get 3 background points.

DWARVES

They don't get much of a look in in LOTR but then they were all over the place in The Hobbit. Dwarves came after Elves (even though the Gods conceived of them beforehand) but are hardly the Elves equal in power and longevity. In fact, a Dwarf is eminently understandable to a human- short, gruff and obsessed with physical things. They do actually have rich spiritual beliefs, but they do not share them. When seen by others it is normally in the form of their soldiers, who are hardy and tough and very vicious.

Dwarves are tough- all somewhat poison and disease resistant

Dwarves may wield one-handed axes using their concussion instead of edged skill.

A Dwarf’s Racial Stat modifiers are as follows: +5 Strength, -5 Agility, +15 Constitution, -5 Intelligence, -5 Presence

It’s not that Dwarves are stupid, they are just not very academically minded.

They start with base skills of:
Unarmoured- 5
Rigid Leather- 5
Chain- 15
One-handed concussion weapons- 20
Thrown Weapons- 5
Climb- 5
Pick Lock- 5
Disarm Trap- 5
Perception- 10
Stamina- 18

Dwarves are tough but also get liabilities; they get 4 background points.

HOBBITS

You can, if you wish, play a Hobbit. You pretty much know all that is important about them from the film, for they are a simple folk (but people oven overlook them too easily, of course). Whilst there are some varieties of Hobbits it matters little for gameplay purposes. They are cheerful, conservative, hardy people who make good scouts and thieves.

Even more so than Dwarves, Hobbits are hardened against disease and poison.

A Hobbit’s Racial Stat modifiers are as follows: -20 Strength, +15 Agility, -5 Intelligence, -5 Presence

They start with base skills of:
Unarmoured- 5
Thrown Weapons- 10
Missile Weapons- 10
Climb- 10
Stalk/Hide- 25
Pick Lock- 5
Disarm Trap- 5
Perception- 20
Stamina- 12

Hobbits need as much help as they can get- five background points.

MAN

Obviously the most diverse and complex people of Middle-Earth. Easily corruptible, short-lived, violent, ill-tempered power-obsessed maniacs, you can see why the Elves do not like them sometimes. Yet it is more than just their numbers that gives them power, and one of the lessons of Middle-Earth is that Men have the potential to be as great as the greatest... just about... There are many diverse human cultures but many cannot be played because, well... they are evil... Each human culture fits into one of three types. The Men of the West (descendants of the first generation of men who aided the Elves in times past, led by the Dunadain), the bad guys (Haradrim, Southrons, Easterlings… all the evil people who work for the bad guys) and the Northmen (the less civilised, somewhat barbarous, but good hearted men who originally lived in the northern areas of Middle Earth).

Except for Dunadain, ALL men get the following:

A Racial Stat modifier of +5 Strength, and that is it! Yup, not as good as Noldor, are you?

5 background points, which you will need.

For your skills and individual talents, however, you must chose one of the following cultures:

ARNORIAN/GONDORIAN: The citizens of the major realms of the Men of the West are the most civilised cultures of men in Middle-Earth. Arnor and Gondor are both modern realms with all the comforts of civilised life. Their people are hardy, determined men of many skills who can easily turn their talents directly towards the thwarting of evil. They have no special talents but are very widely skilled.

They start with base skills of:

All manoeuvre skills except Plate: 5
One-handed edged weapons- 5
Throw weapons- 5
Missile weapons- 5
Polearms- 5
Ride- 5
Swim- 5
Stalk/Hide- 5
Perception- 5
Stamina- 12

BEORNINGS: These Northmen are an unusual culture- big and hairy guys, with a great affinity with nature. Whilst reclusive and somewhat loners, they have a social structure and a noble class. Beorning Noblemen have the noted ability to shape change into bear form! The Beornings are no friend of the forces of evil and finding common cause against that foe is a good reason for them to make contact with others.

Aside from their shape change ability, Beornings only need to sleep two in every three days, and start with the following base skills:

Unarmoured- 5
Two-handed weapons- 5
Thrown Weapons- 5
Pole-arms- 10
Climb- 10
Swim- 10
Stalk/Hide- 20
Perception- 5
Stamina- 18

EOTHEOD: These Northmen the Elves call the Rohirrim, or ‘Masters of Horses’ are yet in this time to move into Rohan and become more universally known by that name. Instead they still live in the North where they have just formed a true civilisation out of their old tribal lifestyle, having recently thrown off the yoke of oppression from the Wainriders. They are mostly the same as the Rohirrim from the films- superb horsemen and warriors, few in number but stout in heart. They are not a subtle people, and their attitude to evil is predictably violent.

Eotheod are ferocious warriors on horseback- when in close combat on horse, they get +20 to all attack rolls.

They start with the following base skills:
Unarmoured- 5
Rigid Leather- 5
Chain- 10
One-handed edged weapons- 10
Missile Weapons- 5
Pole-arms- 5
Ride- 40 (yes… forty…)
Swim- 5
Perception- 5
Stamina- 12

DUNADAIN- They are the greatest of men- Man Plus, even. They can trace their lineage, long ago, via the Elves, from Numenor (hence Elrond's words in Fellowship that 'the blood of Numenor is spent in men now' as a form of insult). This small piece of Elven genetics gives them life some twice that of a normal man, better senses and physical capacity, and certain inherited rights. For it is the Dunadain that rule man- Isildur was one, and the great royal families of Gondor and Arnor are Dunadain all.

Dunadain get +10 Constitution and +5 Presence as racial stat modifiers in addition to their +5 Strength as men. They also get a small amount of poison and disease resistance.

They start with the following base skills:
Unarmoured- 5
Rigid Leather- 5
Chain- 10
One-handed edged weapons- 10
Thrown Weapons- 5
Missile Weapons- 5
Pole-arms- 5
Ride- 5
Read Runes- 5
Use Item- 5
Stamina- 18

Phew!

Skills

Skills are simply what you are and are not good at. By this point, most of your skills have been decided- a factor of your stats and racial choice. However, for every level you have, you get to customise some of your skills, and as everyone starts at Level one, you get to make one such custom alteration at character creation.

First, here is the skills list. Each skills is linked to a stat; the link is provided.

MANOEUVRE SKILLS: These skills are all about how trained you are in moving about in certain types of armour. Technically speaking, anyone can wear any armour, but without these skills you would fall over if you tried to move anywhere. Note that because armour gives you a huge penalty to your manoeuvre value, this skill is normally about trying to make your final total less negative, rather than getting very positive. The types are:

No Armour (Agility): Points in this simply mean you can move with great nimbleness when unarmoured. There is a maximum base of ten in this skill. Note that all other Manoeuvre skills have a maximum equal to your final No Armour total.

Soft Leather (Agility): Soft leathers are not much of an encumbrance. There is a maximum base of 15 in this skill, and your final total is reduced by 15 when it is calculated (that is the encumbrance penalty of soft leather).

Rigid Leather (Agility): The lowest level of ‘serious’ armour. You can only get a base of 25 in this skill, and your final total is reduced by 30 when it is calculated.

Chain (Strength): The most common military wear. You can only get a base of 35 in this skill, and your final total is reduced by 45 when it is calculated.

Plate (Strength): Hardcore armour for hardcore duty. You can only get a base of 45 in this skill, and your final total is reduced by 60 when it is calculated.

WEAPON SKILLS: These are easy. The more you have in one of these, the better you are with it! The categories are:

One-handed edged weapons (Strength): Swords, axes, daggers, knives…
One-handed concussion weapons (strength): Maces, flails, morning stars, clubs, cudgels…
Two-handed weapons (Strength): Two handed-swords, large axes, double-handed maces…
Thrown weapons (Agility): Throwing knives or spears, javelins…
Missile Weapons (Agility): Bows, crossbows, slingshots…
Polearms (Strength): Lances, pikes, halberds…

GENERAL SKILLS: Handy survival skills for Middle-Earth
Climb (Agility)
Ride (Intuition)
Swim (Agility)
Track (Intelligence)

SUBTERFUGE SKILLS: For times when violence will not help
Stalk/Hide (Presence)
Pick Lock (Intelligence)
Disarm Trap (Intuition)

MAGICAL SKILLS: For the more arcane inclined among you…
Read Runes (Intelligence)
Use Items (Intelligence): That’s magic items, of course.
Directed Spell Use (Agility): For use with the direct casting of a non-offensive spell on any object
Spell Offence (no base): This is your ‘weapon skill’ for Magic.

OTHERS: Some other important things to keep track of
Perception (Intuition): Your ability to spot things
Defensive Score (Agility): Your base ability to get out of the way of things
Stamina (Constitution): How much you can take in combat until you drop. Stamina goes up in sixes rather than fives and has no limit. It has an automatic special bonus of +5.

Now, your final total in each of these skills is defined as follows

1. Your base score. This goes up in fives until it reaches 50, and after that it goes up in twos. Your starting base score is given by your Racial Choice, above.
2. Your stat bonus. Look at the stat that each skill is linked to. You get to add that value on.
3. Your profession bonus. Your chosen profession, as noted above, gives you a bonus to some skills by level.
4. Special bonuses- from natural abilities, magic items etc.

So, let us take, as an example, a Dunadan Warrior whom I shall call Arthas (though maybe he should be a Black Numenoarean…). His Strength base is 10, then he gets a racial bonus of +5 to that as a Man. So his Strength score is +15. He wants to know what his one-handed edged score is at character creation, so he can go chop things.

Well, looking up, the Dunadain description tells me that Dunadain start with a one-handed edged of 10. That is his base score. Then he adds his strength onto that, so add 15, makes that 25. Then he gets to add his profession bonus onto that. He sees that Warriors get a profession bonus of +3 to all weapon skills per level, so at level one he has +3. So his one-handed edged skill ends up at 28!

LEVEL INCREASES

Of course, you won’t stay like that forever. Each time you go up a level, not only do you get to add your new profession bonuses on, you get to increase your base score in your skills as well. How much you get to spend on this is also dependant on profession. Each time you go up a level, you get a certain amount of points in each category of skills to spend. You can use one point to increase a base by 5, or three points to increase a base by ten. You can only increase a skill once per level. There are four special rules for this:

1. You can take points from anywhere to increase your Perception base
2. You can increase Manoeuvre skills as much as you like at a flat rate of 5 per point you spend on them (remember their maximums)
3. Stamina goes up at a flat rate as given by your profession.
4. You can take two points out of any category and turn them into one point in another.

Here is what the Professions get.

WARRIOR: Manoeuvre (3), Weapon Skills (5), General Skills (2), Subterfuge Skills (2), Stamina (+18)

RANGER: Manoeuvre (2), Weapon Skills (3), General Skills (4), Subterfuge Skills (2), Stamina (+12)

ADVENTURER: Manoeuvre (2), Weapon Skills (3), General Skills (3), Subterfuge Skills (3), Stamina (+12)

SCOUT: Manoeuvre (1), Weapon Skills (3), General Skills (3), Subterfuge Skills (5), Stamina (+12)

MAGE: Weapon Skills (1), General Skills (3), Subterfuge Skills (1) Magical Skills (5), Stamina (+6)

ANIMIST: Manoeuvre (1), Weapon Skills (2), General Skills (3), Subterfuge Skills (2), Magical Skills (3), Stamina (+6)

And so the final thing you need to do now is add on your points here for your first level. So, if we go back to Arthas, we see that he has 5 points to on Weapon skills. He uses three of them to increase his one-handed edged by ten, and so his starting one-handed edged skill is 38!

Note- everyone who played through the FIRST of my LOTR stories… starts at level 2! So you may do that process twice.

Backgrounds

Finally, you may spend your background points. The amount you have is given in your racial description. Each background point can do one of the following:

1. Increase your riches. Each background point spent here gives you ten gold pieces to play with…
2. You may increase the base of a stat by +5. You may only do this once. Remember, your profession choice SETS your base so you cannot increase that.
3. You may have a good quality item or weapon, worth +5 to a relevant skill (so a weapon would add +5 to your relevant weapon skill when using it, or Elvish rope would add +5 to Climb).
4. You may buy a special ability. Choose from this list:

Animal Empathy. +20 to all manoeuvre/ride rolls made with the chosen type of animal, +50 to all communication attempts with it.

Nimble: a special +10 bonus to all manoeuvre skills

Observant: a special +10 bonus to perception and Track

Lightning Reactions: +5 to all weapon skills, and your defence score

Pain Resistant: Stamina increase in nines rather than sixes (and so your racial base becomes 9, 18 or 27 rather than 6, 12 or 18)

Ok! Now, I am sure a lot of people are confused or troubled by this at this point so I am willing to help... well... anyone. It really is rather less complex than it looks- it just involves a bit of time is all.

Incdidentally, some of you may be wandering exactly how your skills and fighting abilities work. One thing at a time- I shall cover that later.

Here is Arthas, as an example, in full.

1. Stats

Arthas adds +5 twice to Agility, making it +10.

2. Profession

Arthas choses Warrior- his Strength sets to +10

3. Racial Origin

Arthas choses Dunadain. Now on top of his Strength and Agility bases of ten, he gets +5 strength, +10 constitution and +5 Presence.

4. Skills

Hwre are his skills as a Dunadain:

Unarmoured- 5
Rigid Leather- 5
Chain- 10
One-handed edged weapons- 10
Thrown Weapons- 5
Missile Weapons- 5
Pole-arms- 5
Ride- 5
Read Runes- 5
Use Item- 5
Stamina- 18

Then, when he adds his stats onto those:

Unarmoured: 5 (+10 Agility) = 15
Rigid Leather: 5 (+10 Agility) (- 30 encumbrance)= -15
Chain: 10 (+15 Strength) (- 45 encumbrance)= -20
One-handed edged weapons: 10 (+15 Strength) = 25
Thrown Weapons: 5 (+10 Agility) = 15
Missile Weapons: 5 (+ 10 Agility) = 15
Pole-arms: 5 (+15 Strength) = 20
Ride: 5 = 5
Read Runes: 5 = 5
Use Item: 5 = 5
Stamina: 18 (+ 10 constitution) = 28

Ok, then he adds hos bonus for being level 1. First, his profession bonius gives him:

+3 to all weapon skills
+2 to stamina
+1 to all General skills

Then, he gets to spend his level points. He has three points to spend on Manoeuvres, five points to spend on weapon skills, two on General, two on Subterfuge, and then another 18 to stamina!

Manoeuvre points can be spent easily- five onto the skill base for each point he spends. Arthas spends two points adding ten to Rigid Leather, and the other point adding five to Chain.

The other skills are more tricky. His five points in weapons go like thus:

He spends 3 points adding ten to one-handed edged

Then with the other two points, he adds 5 to thrown and 5 to missile.

He adds five to climb and 5 to ride with his General skills points

He adds 5 to stalk/hide with one of his subterfuge skill points, and with the other he adds to Perception, which can be done with any such points.

And then simply adds the stamina on

So, here is how Arthas looks now!

Arthas, Dunadain Warrior

Strength: +15
Agility: +10
Constitution: +10
Intelligence: +0
Intuition: +0
Presence: +0

Unarmoured: 5 (+10 Agility) = 15
Rigid Leather: 15 (+10 Agility) (- 30 encumbrance)= -5
Chain: 15 (+15 Strength) (- 45 encumbrance)= -15
One-handed edged weapons: 20 (+15 Strength) (+3 profession) = 38
Thrown Weapons: 10 (+10 Agility) (+3 profession) = 23
Missile Weapons: 10 (+ 10 Agility) (+3 profession) = 23
Pole-arms: 5 (+15 Strength) (+ 3 profession) = 23
Ride: 10 (+1 profession) = 11
Climb: 5 (+1 profession) = 6
Stalk/Hide: 5= 5
Read Runes: 5= 5
Use Item: 5 = 5
Stamina: 36 (+ 10 constitution) (+2 profession) = 48
Perception: 5 = 5
Defensive Score: 10

And that is Arthas! For convenience and space saving, I will write out scores like this:

(base/stat bonus/profession bonus/special bonus)= total

So Arthas is:

Unarmoured: (5/10)= 15
Rigid Leather: (15/10/-30)= -5
Chain: (15/15/-45)= -15
One-handed edged weapons: (20/15/3)= 38
Thrown Weapons: (10/10/3)= 23
Missile Weapons: (10/10/3)= 23
Pole-arms: (5/15/3)= 23
Ride: (10/1)= 11
Climb: (5/1)= 6
Stalk/Hide: (5)= 5
Read Runes: (5)= 5
Use Item: (5)= 5
Stamina: (36/10/2)= 48
Perception: (5) = 5
Defensive Score: 10

Vardalain:
Noldor Animist

Animist gets +10 intuition. And i choose my two +5 upgrades to be at agility. Therefore, i would have these (adding with the noldor default stats)

Strength:0
Agility:25
Constitution:10
Intelligence:5
Intuition: 15
Presence:15

These are the animsit profession bonuses:

+1 to Read Runes
+1 to Use Item
+1 to all general skills
+2 to Directed Spells
+2 to Offensive Spell Use
+1 to Perception

and these are the base skills of the noldor

Unarmoured- 5
One-handed edged weapons- 5
Missile Weapons- 5
Ride- 5
Swim- 10
Stalk/Hide- 10
Read Runes- 10
Use Item- 5
Perception- 15
Stamina- 6

What the prefoession gets me:

ANIMIST: Manoeuvre (1), Weapon Skills (2), General Skills (2), Subterfuge Skills(1), Magical Skills (2), Stamina (+6)

Now..i’m having trouble adding these 3 up 🙂..especially, calculating my level two stats. can you help me with that?

As a noldor, i have two background points (don’t know if they increase by level)

So...one goes to lighting reactions (+5 to all weapons and defence), and one to animal empathy(+20 to all manoeuvre/ride rolls made with the chosen type of animal, +50 to all communication attempts with it.).

So..if you can help me by adding those stats and skills...😄...how do i look so far.

I didn’t get if i can choose or HOW MUCH i can choose out of those skills....what’s the points limit (dload space in the matrix game)?
That’s about it....
Show me how does vardalain look so far..and what more do i have to do?..
thanx

Ok, well, the stats are fine.

With those Animist per level points, the Manoeuvre point and Stamina are easy- just spend the Manoeuvre point to add 5 to any Manoeuvre base, and add 6 to your stamina.

Then with the others, you can increase a skill only once, spending one point to increase it by five, or 3 points to increase it by ten. You can use points from any category to increase Perception (though still only once) or trade them between each other on a two for one basis (so you could dump your two general skill points for an extra weapon skill point)

As you do not have any natural 3 points in a category, you will basically chose one skill per point (so two weapon skills, two general skills etc.) and increase them by five each.

As you are level two, you do that twice!

Do not forget your profession bonus goes up by level as well.

Background points do not increase, they are a one off.

So, your points at level 0- before you add your levels- are:

Unarmoured- (5/25) = 30
One-handed edged weapons- (5)= 5
Missile Weapons- (5/25)= 30
Ride- (5/15)= 20
Swim- (10/25)= 35
Stalk/Hide- (10/15)= 25
Read Runes- (10/5)= 15
Use Item- (5/5)= 10
Perception- (15/15)= 30
Stamina- 6

So, that is you as a Noldor with your stats. Now add your level bonuses twice. Also I have not included Lightning Reflexes yet.

Ok, I'm confused.
I know it can't be harder than the Matrix one but I just don't know what to do, or what to add.
I wanna be a Sylvian Mage

Well... first of all, do you have a degree in Maths?

Heh...

Ok, well Silvan Mage is 2/3rds of the work done, really- most of it is just adding.

First of all, you have your six stats, right? You can add two lots of +5 to them, they are currently at zero. Don;t add to Intelligence, though, because as a Mage that will go to +10. With me so far?

Look at my work in the Matrix game and get back to me about math!

Strength:0
Agility:10
Constitution:+5
Intelligence:10
Intuition: 5 +5=10
Presence:5

Is that good?

well...it IS harder than the matrix 🙂...kind of

so..how does this look

ooh..ooh...i think i got it, yeah...let's see...
so basicly i take these:
Manoeuvre (1), Weapon Skills (2), General Skills (2), Subterfuge Skills (1), Magical Skills (2), Stamina (+6)
choose, and add them twice....i think...

so..here goes
level 1:
manouvre (1) rigid leather
weapon skills(2) missile skills, One-handed edged weapons
general skills(2) ride, swim
subterfuge skills(1) stalk/hide
magical skills(2): Directed Spell Use, read runes
stamina: +6

level2
i take my two points of the general skills to make one weapon skill point.
manouvre(1):rigid leather
weapon skills(3): missile weapons
subterfuge skills(1): stalk/hide
magical skills(2) read runes, use item
stamina +6
that ok?

Ok, Dexx, lemme see. That all looks fine. And that gives you:

Unarmoured- (5/25) = 30
Rigid Leather: (10/-30)= -20
One-handed edged weapons- (10/5)= 15
Missile Weapons- (20/25/5)= 50
Ride- (10/15/2)= 27
Swim- (15/25/2)= 42
Stalk/Hide- (20/15)= 35
Read Runes- (20/5/2)= 27
Use Item- (10/5/2)= 17
Directed Spell Use= (5/25/4)= 34
Perception- (15/15/2)= 32
Stamina- (18/10)= 28
Defensive Score (25/5)= 30

There you go. And a damn good shot for an Animist, Vardalain! Happy? No offensive spell use- you ok with that?

-

Ok then, Tpt! Let me give you what that gives you.

Strength:0
Agility: 10
Constitution: 5
Intelligence:10
Intuition: 10
Presence: 5

Unarmoured- (5/10)= 15
One-handed edged weapons- (5)= 5
Missile Weapons- (15)= 15
Climb- (10/10)= 20
Ride- (5/10= 15)
Swim- (15/10)= 25
Stalk/Hide- (20/5)= 25
Read Runes- (5/10)= 25
Perception- (15/10)= 25
Stamina- 6

Ok, now you need to add your level bonuses. How are you with that?

yep..fine with everything....i see you added my background points stuff too..the animal empathy and lighting reactions ...
looks fine.
phew!..glad to have finished

I think I can handle that, But I want my char to Use his staff as a primary weapon, Like a blugon on one end and a knife blade on the other. How can I advance that skill so he is competent with that.

Argentis: Eotheod Warrior

Unarmoured: (10/5/0/-0)= 15
Rigid Leather: (15/5/0/-30)= -10
Chain: (35/15/0/-45)= 5
One handed edged weapons: (30/15/6/5) = 56
Missile weapons: (5/5/6/5)= 21
Pole-arms: (15/15/6/5)= 41
One handed concussion weapons: (10/15/6/5)= 36
Ride: (50/0/2/20)= 72
Swim: (15/5/2/-)= 22
Perception: (5) = 5
Stamina: (72/5/4/-)= 81

if anyone wonders about background:

-Lightening Reaction
-Pain Resistant
-Animal empathy Horse
-2 left: the best horse I can bloody hell get

Ok, Burn, a staff like that is a two-handed weapon. Mages are kinda cruddy with that kind of thing but just put all you can into that.

-

I think that all looks right, Fire. So long as it is noted that that +20 on Ride is only with horses.

ofc