USH'S LORD OF THE RINGS GAME- Spells and Spell lists

Here are the rules for Magic use and the spells lists in my LOTR game. This is a work in progress- as of yet, only the Channelling and Animist spells are available.

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Please note the following:

1. The Development Points category 'Spells' has now been put into character creation. Mages and Animists get plenty, Rangers get a tad, no-one else gets any. Like all Dvelopment, you can put points into Spells if you wish by transferring from others- in this way, even Warriors an learn spells, but if you are not an Elf or Dunadan I'll want to know how (it's not actually illegal though). Note the old Magical Skills category has disappeared- not worth the hassle. The only skills you need to support your powers are the Animist choices Herbalism and Animal Ken (both secondaries)

2. Magic is very rare on Middle Earth and not to be taken lightly- the 'Shock and Awe' rules partially account for that, but good play is needed as well. Don't just sling it around casually- it is arcane and rare and odd.

3. Elves don't call it Magic- a term they do not understand and which certainly confuses them when also used in connection to the dark arts of the Enemy- but functionally it is all the same, so I call it Magic for convenience.

4. Some license has been taken- more blasting spells are available than Tolkien ever really refers to. They are not plentiful, but they are there. That's a dramatic license I ask you to forgive in the name of gameplay.

5. The spell list names are in Sindarin. Blame my brother.

MAGIC FUNDAMENTALS

1. Essence vs. Channelling

Two different types of magic here- the control of Essence and the Chanelling of powers. On a really basic level, Animists do the latter and Mages the former; Chanelling is more physical, Essence more arcane.

Actually, anyone who uses Magic splits down these lines. Rangers and Animists are Chanelling and Mages Essence. Anyone else, should they delve, can choose, but are unlikely to choose Essence due to the armour mess-up it causes.

Talking of which, the full rules are complex, but to simplify- you can't cast Chanelling spells in metal armour, and you cannot cast Essence spells in any armour at all.

2. Power points

These are damn important, and dictate how many spells you can cast. Spells cost power points- it is also a great physical strain to cast them. Power points refresh each day, and are very sparse.

Power points are gained from having a high magical stat, and going up in levels.

The important stat for Chanelling is Intuition.

The important stat for Essence is Intelligence

If your relevant stat is 0 or less... you have bugger all power points!

At +5 to +10, you get one power point a level

At +15 to +20, two a level

+25 to +30, three a level.

And anything beyond that is four a level.

3. Combat

Offensive spells have their own built-in attack bonuses and roll on their own attack tables, and have their own criticals. Note that Magic attacks cannot be parried under any circumstances! Shields work against some spells but not others.

4. Levels

Note that knowing spells and being able to cast them are two different things. Spend your Spell development points as you like, but in general you may not cast any spell with a level higher than your character level.

Shock and Awe

Magic is rare in Middle Earth. When something is rare and as spectacular as magic, it tends to produce a reaction of fear. Scaring the locals is sometimes an inevitable consequence of being a magic user. These rules covers this. The GM decides if and when to use the rules; generally rather than rolling lots of times he just rolls once for all the bystanders to judge the general reaction. He can also decide to ignore the reaction - its just a general guideline.

Shock spells
Spells that cause shock are marked with a S. Any one who sees a Shock spell and who is less than sixth level must immediately make a Reaction Roll against a first level spell. If this roll fails, people become fearful of the user and will try to keep their distance from him and his friends. All Leadership and Influence rolls will be at a penalty of 30 from now on. If the roll fails by more than 30, then their fear will trigger a hostile reaction. Any Leadership and Influence roll will fail, and they may demand the caster leaves the area. It may even incite a mob to attack the caster.

The chance of passing the Reaction Roll is decreased if the people are particular insular or distrustful of outsiders (check the race descriptions). Note that Shock will never stop someone from attacking the caster if that is their intention.

Spell casters and Elves, being generally more used to seeing magic, always pass Shock rolls. For Half-Elves it depends if they have brought up as a man or elf, but even one raised as a man will get a bonus of 30 to pass the roll.

Dunedain get no bonuses. While it is fair to say they would be more familiar with magic, it is the familiarity of books and stories. This is quite different to seeing it for real. (it is like the difference between seeing an attack helicopter on TV to an attack helicopter shooting at you for real).

It is generally assumed that these rules only apply to "white hat" spell casters. For creatures such as the Nazgul Shock may actually increase their leadership over races like Orcs which are controlled by fear rather than inspired by valour.

Awe
Spells that cause awe are marked with an A. Any one who sees an Awe spell must make a Reaction Roll against Fear. If they fail, they will fear the caster. In combat with the caster they will take 20 off their OB and invest this in DB whenever possible. In general they will prefer not to be in combat with the caster. If they fail by more than 50 they will flee in terror. The level of the Fear is level 3, BUT may be modified in the following way.

If the spell was target on that person increase the level by one
If the spell was a "bolt" spell increase the level by one
If the spell was a "ball" spell increase the level by two

Again it is down to the GM to use this rule as he sees fit. Some creatures are too stupid (like trolls) to recognise fear. Orcs do, but if they are lead by something like the Witch King or Nazgul they would probably fear that more. In this case a failure would still mean they'd re-invest their OB into DB but but you could probably ignore the rule over fleeing.

Anyone who fails an Awe test can be considered as having failed a Shock test by 30 as well (just in case that becomes relevent). Unlike Shock rolls there are no modifications for Awe rolls. Elves may be used to magic, but magic like this is so rare even they will be awed by such spells.

On the flip side, anyone who passes an Awe roll is almost certain to target the spell caster as the most significant threat within the group.

Once someone has made an Awe roll and passed, you don't need to make another Awe roll UNLESS the Fear level of the Awe spell is higher than the one you past. (If an Orc sees a bolt spell and passes his 4th level Awe roll, he will not have to make another one unless it is a 5th level or higher - such as a bolt spell directed at him or witnessing a ball spell).

Channeling Spells

All these spells are Channeling Spells. Under each is a little formula, broken down like this

(A¦B¦C¦D¦E)

Where A is level of spell, B is Power Point Cost, C is the area of effect, D is the duration of the spell and E is the range of the spell. Some spells may also have an S or A marking; this spells cause shock and awe.

Some of these spells are reserved for Animists only. The rest are Open Channeling spells. Any one can learn an Open Spell. However Scouts and Warriors can only learn up to level three, while Rangers and Bards can only learn up to level five.

Finally some spells are Aura spells. Only one Aura spell can affect a target at one time – when you cast an Aura spell any current Aura on that target is cancelled.

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I Cherdir o Levain
Animist only

Find Familiar
(1¦2¦Target¦P¦30)
This creates a familiar for the caster. The familiar gives skill bonuses in tracking, stealth, detect traps and perception. The familiar has a mystical link to the caster and will always remain loyal to him. However, this link has a price. Should the familiar die, you lose an amount of experience dependent on your level.

Level 1 - 5 1,000
Level 6 - 10 2,000
Level 11 - 15 4,000

The familiar will always stay near you, and should the two of you be separated it will know the way to find you again.

You have the choice of the following as a familiar -

Cat
Level 1, 30 Hits, No Armour, 25 DB, Attack 30 Claw (Small Attack)
The Cat Familiar gives you the following bonuses: +10 Perception, + 20 Stalk/Hide, +20 Tracking,

Raven
Level 0, 15 Hits, No Armour, 40 DB, Attack 25 Beak (Small Attack)
The Raven Familiar gives you the following bonuses: +20 Perception, +20 Foraging, +10 Tracking

Hound
Level 2, 60 Hits, No Armour, 25 DB, Attack 50 Bite (Medium Attack)
The Hound Familiar gives you the following bonuses: +5 Perception, +20 Tracking, +10 Foraging

Once you have cast Familiar you cannot cast this spell again until your Familiar has died.

Emissary
(2¦1¦Familiar¦1min/lvl¦30)
The familiar can introduce the caster to other animals, giving a +30 bonus to any skill roll to influence and control them (such as with Herding).

Recce
(3¦2¦Familiar¦10min/lvl¦10 mile radius)
The familiar can now leave the caster's side, and track / search another area, reporting what he or she finds back to the caster. Use the caster's base track / perception as the basis of the roll for the familiar (remember to include any bonuses the familiar gives the caster to this).

Major Familiar
(4¦6¦Familiar¦P¦30)
Once cast, your familiar becomes a major familiar. Double the base creature level and hits for the familiar. Once cast, you may not cast Major Familiar on the same Familiar again. This spell takes two days of rituals to perform to cast and cannot be shortened.

Symbiosis
(5¦5¦Familiar¦1min/lvl¦30)
While this spell lasts the caster may voluntarily reduce his concussion hits to increase his familiar's by a similar amount OR increase his concussion hits by decreasing his familiar's by a similar amount. You may not increase either your hits or your familiar hits to above your normal maximum or below 1.

Link to the Arda
(6¦12¦Familiar¦P¦30)
Once cast this deepens your connection to your familiar and strengthens your link to the Arda. Once cast, you cannot cast this again on the same familiar. Link to the Arda increases your Power Points by a quarter (so if you have 8 Power Points you will now have 10 Power Points). If your familiar is a major familiar the increase in Power Points is by a third; if the familiar is a Greater Familiar the increase is by a half. If the increase results in a fraction, round the fraction up. Should your familiar die, Link to the Arda is broken. This spell takes two days of rituals to perform to cast and cannot be shortened.

Greater Familiar
(7¦12¦Familiar¦P¦30)
Once cast, your familiar becomes a Greater Familiar. The effect is as with a Major Familiar but instead you treble the basic level and hits of your familiar.

Far Seeing
(8¦5¦Familiar¦10min/lvl¦30)
While it lasts, by closing your eyes you can see what familiar sees.

Far Casting
(9¦4¦Familiar¦10min/lvl¦30)
Must be used with Far Seeing, but allows remote casting (so you can cast spells on anything your familiar sees).

Lives Entwined
(10¦12¦Familiar¦P¦30)
With this spell the caster binds part of his life essence into the familiar (and some of the familiar's into the casters). While one endures the other cannot be destroyed - (that is, you can be brought back to life). While dead, the caster's corpse (or that of the familiar's) will not rot (though it can still be damaged by deliberate action). If the spell of Greater Healing is cast on the corpse it can restore you to life and 1 hit (although you may have suffered stat deterioration if your remains were badly mangled).

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I Vellus o Araw
Animist only

Rot Wood
(1¦1¦Target¦P¦30)
Under the influence of this spell, any non-living wood will rot and warp. While it might not destroy the wooden structure it will make it weak enough to smash aside. The Wooden object is allowed a resistance roll; decide the level based on the size and strength of the object (so an elm stick might be only level one whereas a stout oak door might rate level 6 or higher).

Corrosion
(2¦2¦Target¦P¦30)
This spell targets metal and accelerates the process of natural corrosion, making sharp edges dull and seizing up armour. It reduces the OB of any sharp or edged metal weapon by 10. If cast on metal armour it reduces the wears MM skill by 10.

Thorny Staff
(3¦2¦Target¦1min/lvl¦Touch)
This is cast on a wooden staff, one strong enough to use in combat. It causes the staff to sprout stout thorns and become wreathed in stinging and toxic plants. The staff gains +10 OB and a secondary critical (class PU). Usually use a Quarterstaff for a Mage's staff in combat, although smaller staffs might be counted as Clubs.

The Wilderness
(4¦4¦Group of 10¦1 day¦5 miles)
This subtle spell is usually cast on a group of people pursuing you. They find that for whatever reason they find travel harder than normal - the ground the walk over is soft, or the undergrowth keeps snagging around their ankles, their horses become harder to control etc. Reduce the number of miles they cover per day by one quarter if walking, or one fifth if mounted.

Thunderclap
(5¦5¦Enemies in Range¦3 rnds¦40 radius)
This spell causes a sudden loud thunderclap noise to reverberate around the caster. All enemies must make a resistance roll or be stunned for three rounds.

Wall of Air
(6¦7¦10x10x0.5¦1rnd/lvl/1)
By suddenly raising his hands the caster causes the air in front of him to swirl and churn to form a barrier like a wall. Passing through the Wall of Air subjects you to the buffeting winds and any small objects caught up in swirling air. This means you suffer B Unbalancing Crit with NO RR. The Wall can be seen through but any projectiles passing through the Wall have a penalty of 50 applied to the OB.

Insect Swarm
(7¦9¦10x10x10¦1rnd/lvl/50)
With this spell the target area is filled with flying, buzzing, biting and stinging insects. Anyone in the area is at -20 OB and Perception. Any enemies in the area take a single attack from the Swarm, which is at 75 OB and resolves as a Tiny animal attack on the Tooth and Claw table.

The Wasteland
(8¦8¦Group of 20¦1 day¦5 miles)
As The Wilderness except they find nature seems to purposefully trying to hinder them. Any Foraging, Stalking and Tracking rolls are at -50 to succeed. The MM rolls they need to make every 4 hours are at -30 to succeed. Their rations rot so that they use up 50% more per day. Fords become washed out, rivers raging torrents and mountain passes blocked.

Curtain of Air
(9¦10¦10R¦1rnd/lvl/1)
As Wall of Air but the Wall is 10 high and forms a circle of 10 radius (still six inches thick) with the caster at the centre. The Curtain cannot move, but the caster can "draw" aside to create gaps that people can move through unharmed.

Wind of War
(10¦12¦10x100x10¦1rnd/lvl/50)
With this spell a wind picks up behind the caster. It rushes past the caster as a breeze, gaining strength as it approaches its target until it reaches storm force at the target area. Anyone in this area must take a D Unbalancing Crit with NO RR as they are buffeted by winds and debris. To stay on your feet and get out of the wind requires a Hard MM roll. To move towards the caster requires a Sheer Folly MM roll. Use Strength modifier as a bonus to these rolls. As the wind needs space to pick up speed Wind of War has a minimum range of 15.

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I Alu o Elbereth

Shield
(1|1|Self|1min/lvl|self)
Creates an invisible force field in front of the caster. It acts exactly like a shield for the caster, adding 25 to DB for Melee and Missile attacks (caster gets no advantages if already using a shield).

Prayer (Aura)
(2|1|1 target¦1 min/lvl¦100)
Target gets +10 bonus to all RRs and any maneuver roll.

Bless (Aura)
(3|1|1 target¦1 min/lvl¦100)
Target gets +10 bonus to DB and any maneuver roll.

Resistance (Aura)
(4|1|1 target¦1 min/lvl¦100)
Target gets +10 bonus to DB and all RRs.

Safekeeping
(5|3|1 target¦1 rnd/lvl¦20)
The next attack that inflicts a critical (or criticals) on the target has a penalty of -20 when resolving the criticals. The spell ends as soon as that attack is resolved.

Deflections
(6|3|1 missle|-|100)
Deflect the path of any one missile that passes through your field of vision. That missile gets -100 to its OB.

Smile of Estë
(7|4|1 target¦P¦Touch)
Cast while binding or tending to a wound. The bandages will help staunch any blood flow by an extra three hits a round.

Bladeturn
(8|3|1 melee attack|-|20)
As Deflections but affects one melee attack.

Greater safekeeping
(9|6|1 target¦1 rnd/lvl¦20)
As Safekeeping, but the penalty is at -40.

Blessing of Estë
(10|6|1 target¦P¦Touch)
As Smile of Estë, but stops an extra seven hits a round.

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I Vellon o Levain

Animal Tongues
(1|1|Target|1min/lvl|100)
Caster gains ability to communicate with one animal that is within range.

Cloaking
(2|2|Target|1min/lvl|100)
This spell affects the senses of non-intelligent creatures so that they just do not see or sense him. Add 50 to any hiding or stalking roll against such animals.

Summons
(3|3|Target|1min/lvl|100)
Caster can summon a first level non-intelligent creature who will remain for one minute and then disappear (unless the caster can persuade the creature to remain of its own will). The caster can specify the caster but exactly what the creature should be determined randomly.

Find Familiar
(4¦2¦Target¦P¦30)
As I Cherdir o Lavan Find Familiar spell

Animal Passing
(5¦5¦Area¦-¦100)
By examining the surrounding area the caster is able to tell what animals have passed by and or near. The caster is able to tell precisely what animals are within range of the spell.

Major Summons
(6|6|Target|1min/lvl|100)
As Summons, but the caster can summon a 1st level creature for three minutes or a 3rd level creature for one minute etc (The sum total of (level) x (minutes) has to be three).

Turn Claw
(7/3/One attack/-/20)
Deflects one natural attack, that is to say one that uses no weapon. So a bear claw or punch from an Orc would be affected, but a tree branch being used as a club by a troll would not. Therefore the attack must resolve on the Tooth and Claw or Unbalancing attack table. Such an attack gets -100 to its OB.

Calm Animal
(8¦8|-|10min/lvl|50)
Target will take no aggressive/offensive action and will fight only if attack. This spell can only target non-intelligent creatures.

Befriending
(9¦9|-|10min/lvl|50)
All animals within 50 will act friendly towards the caster and his friends; however the caster does not control them.

Greater Summons
(10|10|Target|1min/lvl|100)
As Major Summons, but the sum total cannot exceed 5.

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I Cherdir o Rych

Riding
(1|1|Caster|1min/lvl|Self)
Caster gains +20 to Ride rolls

Charge
(2|2|Caster|1min/lvl|Self)
Caster gains +10 bonus to all OBs when attacking from horse back.

Sturdy mount
(3|2|Target|1day|Touch)
Increase the maximum weight your horse may carry by 50%

Fodder
(4|2|-|P|20)
Providing you can find some form of grassy vegetation, casting this spell will make it enough to feed one horse.

Horse whisperer
(5|5|-|P|20)
This creates a stronger bond between caster and horse, increasing its ride bonus by 10. Once successfully cast on a horse, it may not be cast on that horse again.

The Long Ride
(6|3|-|1 day|20)
The horse can ride for 12 hours a day without any fatigue problems for a slow ride (rather than 8) or ride for 8 hours a day without fatigue for a fast ride (rather than 4).

The Fast Ride
(7|3|-|1 day|20)
Increase the miles covered in any 4 hour period by 20% (check table ST9 - Strategic Movement Table)

Call Horse
(8|3|-|10min/lvl|3 miles)
If your horse is within range, it will come to your summons. The horse will instinctively know where you are, even if you move (providing you don't move out of range of the spell).

Horse of Princes
(9|9|-|P|20)
This increases the level of your horse by two, and its maximum hits by 60. Once cast, you cannot cast this spell again until that horse has died.

Horse of Kings
(10|12|-|P|20)
Can only be cast on a horse which has had Horse of Princes cast on it. Again, this increases the level of the horse by another two and its maximum hits by 60. It also increases its ride bonus by 10. Once cast, you cannot cast this spell again until that horse has died.

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I Cherdir o Selaib

Animist only

Herb Foraging
(1¦1¦Target¦P¦Self)
Gives a bonus of 40 to any Foraging roll if searching for herbs

Herbal Cure
(2¦1¦Target¦P¦Self)
Gives a bonus of 40 to any Herbalism roll if preparing a herb.

Plentiful Ingredients
(3¦3¦Target¦P¦Touch)
If cast on a raw dose of any herb, that dose will provide enough to create two prepared doses of the herb.

Balm
(4¦2¦Target¦P¦Touch)
Balm is a quickly made healing preparation. It uses a raw dose of herbs, and turns it into an application that will heal 1 - 6 hits if pressed against a wound. However, it can only be used on herbs that in their prepared state can heal at least 9 hits.

Bountiful Harvest
(5¦3¦Target¦P¦Touch)
If you find a single raw dose of a herb, casting this as you pick it means it will count as two raw doses.

Instant effect
(6¦3¦Target¦P¦Touch)
Cast on any prepared dose, it will take effect immediately rather than after than time it should take.

Salve
(7¦4¦Target¦P¦Touch)
As Balm, but it heals 2 - 12 hits and the herb must be able to heal 20 hits in its prepared state.

Herb growth
(8¦4¦Target¦P¦30 radius)
When cast, the caster must specify one herb that is currently growing within the area of effect. 24 hours later, numbers of that herb in the area of effect will have doubled.

Cure Mastery
(9¦6¦Target¦P¦Touch)
Turns a raw herb into the prepared herb immediately.

Fast growth
(10¦6¦Target¦P¦Touch)
If the caster plants the seed of a single herb into the grow and casts this spell, in ten minutes there will be a fully grown plant there providing a single dose of raw heb.

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I Gam o Estë

Animist only

Smile of Estë
(1¦1¦Target¦P¦Touch)
Cast while binding or tending to a wound. The bandages will help staunch any blood flow by an extra three hits a round.

Balm
(2¦2¦Target¦P¦Touch)
Balm is a quickly made healing preparation. It uses a raw dose of herbs, and turns it into an application that will heal 1 - 6 hits if pressed against a wound. However, it can only be used on herbs that in their prepared state can heal at least 9 hits.

Stun Relief
(3¦2¦Target¦P¦Touch)
Reduce the time a target is stunned by two rounds

Blessing of Estë
(4¦3¦Target¦P¦Touch)
As Smile of Estë, but stops an extra seven hits a round.

Salve
(5¦4¦Target¦P¦Touch)
As Balm, but it heals 2 - 12 hits and the herb must be able to heal 20 hits in its prepared state.

Cure Disease
(6¦6¦Target¦P¦Touch)
With this spell you are capable of healing disease and curing poisons. The spell gives the patient a RR against the level of the poison (use your level as a the other base). You must have a hyerb capable of tackling the illness as in the Herbs, Poisons and Diseases table.

Speed Healing (Aura)
(7¦5¦Target¦1 day¦Touch)
Target heals at the rate of two hits an hour when resting, or every three hours if not. Requires a herb capable of healing 6 hits.

Greater Stun Relief
(8¦5¦Target¦P¦Touch)
Reduce the time a target is stunned by five rounds

Shattered Body
(9¦6¦Target¦P¦Touch)
With this spell you are capable of healing broken bones, torn cartilege and shattered limbs. You need to have a number of herbs able to heal the damage on the table below.

Muscle damaged 10 Hits 3 Days
Broken Bones 20 Hits 1 Week
Crushed Bones 50 Hits 2 Weeks

The healing time is until fully healed; prior to then the character can normally move around (maybe with a crutch or some support). In these cases any penalties due to injury are halved. If no penalty was specified apply a penalty of 40.

Greater Speed Healing (Aura)
(10¦8¦Group of 10¦1 day¦20)
Everyone in the area of effect heals at the rate of two hits an hour when resting, or every three hours if not. Requires a herb capable of healing 10 hits.

Essence spells to follow

Ok folks, all feel free to start choosing Spells now- remember, anyoen can use these so long as they have Power Points and Development points in Spells.

Do note that a lot of these 'spells' are more intuitive powers than Mahgic in the standard fantasy sense, so they make appropriate compliments to any Elf or Dunadan- for that matter, to anyone who has Intuition/Intelligence enough and wants to put the effort in.

If you want Essence spells, lay off spending for no and do it later. Note that some Essence spell lists will be for Mages only in the same way some of those Chanelling ones are Animist only.

Also note that Rangers will likely get a Chanelling spell list of their own, to represent their famed powers of tracking and wilderness lore.

waiting for essence....

Just an update- the Essence list will be ready soon, as will some special Chanelling paths for Rangers.

Sweet..
I get to do stuff!