# [The One Ring] The Marsh Bell: Character Creation



## JoeNotCharles (Sep 5, 2011)

*Setting:*

Five years ago, two momentous events shook the lands east of the Misty Mountains: Bard the Bowman slew the great dragon Smaug, allowing the dwarves of the Iron Hills to reclaim their ancient halls beneath the Lonely Mountain; and a council of the Wise at last united to drive the foul creature known as the Necromancer out of his fortress of Dol Guldur, lifting the shadow on southern Mirkwood.  But a thousand years of Shadow are not dispelled so easily, and fell creatures still shelter beneath the eaves of Mirkwood and descend from the high passes of the mountains.

Five free peoples make their homes throughout the Wilderland, and members of a sixth can occasionally be found as travellers:

*Bardings:* Bard the Bowman has been crowned King of Dale, the human kingdom at the foot of the Lonely Mountain.  With the help of the dwarves, they are replanting the Devastation of Smaug and making it bloom again.  Bard's kingdom also includes the ruins of Lake-town, which was destroyed in Smaug's attack: many of the men of Lake-town have travelled north to rebuild the city of Dale, ruined ages ago in Smaug's first attack on the Lonely Mountain; others have remained on the shores of the Long Lake to rebuild their home that was destroyed in Smaug's final attack.

Bard's people have noble blood - they are tall and strong-limbed, usually with fair hair (although dark and even black hair is not unknown).  They shave their beards completely unless they are very old, and men cut their hair short while women wear it in braids.  They are known for their craftsmanship and wealth, from trading with both Dwarves and Elves, and the Dwarves are teaching them enough metalwork to craft the best weapons seen among humans in these lands.  As Dale regains its former glory, it is becoming a place of learning as well as enterprise, and has many scholars as well as craftsmen, traders and warriors.







*Beornings:* Beorn the skin-changer, who lives on the stony island of the Carrock in the upper Anduin, has also become a leader of men after the Battle of Five Armies.  His legendary ferocity has attracted mountain-hunters, warriors of the hills who lost their families or forsook their clans due to their violent tempers, and needful souls drawn to his protective nature.  His followers have now settled the lands around the river, breeding cattle and horses and keeping hives of great bees.  They watch the mountain passes and the road that crosses the river and enters Mirkwood, extracting tolls from honest travellers but also guarding against Orcs and other creatures of the Shadow.  They remain suspicious of other men, Dwarves, and Elves, but none can deny that they are fierce enemies of the Shadow.

Beorn's people are rugged, brawny men with unkempt beards, and lively women with long, wild hair.  They value their freedom and bow to no lord; even Beorn is only the most respected of their many clan chieftains.  Beorn has taught his arts to some of his followers, who may have inhuman strength, thick, bearlike hides, or even be able to prowl the hills in the form of an animal.  Many young warriors are naturally adventurous people who leave their land to explore the wide world, but their blunt speech and uncivilized nature sometimes leads them into trouble.






*Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain:* Until 5 years ago, these Dwarves lived in the Iron Hills, mining base metals - a respectable trade, but nothing compared to the splendour of their forefathers that was stolen from them by the dragon, Smaug.  Now that the dragon is dead, King Dain Ironfoot and the surviving 12 companions of Thorin Oakenshield are leading them in rebuilding their ancestral home beneath the Lonely Mountain.  They are staunch allies of the Bardings, but although they are in theory allies of the Elves of Mirkwood, they still distrust them for the time they imprisoned legendary hero Thorin and his companions.






*Elves of Mirkwood:* Nearly alone of the free peoples, the Elves still remember when Mirkwood was known as Greenwood the Great, before the Shadow fell on it.  Although their forest has become a dark and terrifying place, they still maintain an underground fastness in the north, protected by the Elvenking's spells.  There they have grown ever more insular and suspicious of trespassing foreigners.  But since the Battle of Five Armies, the Shadow on Mirkwood has begun to lift, and the elves have become more willing to leave their hidden realm and work with others to oppose it.






*Hobbits of the Shire:* These mysterious folk come from an idyllic land far to the West.  Unknown until the fall of Smaug, now stories are told among the free peoples of the cunning of the oddly-named Bilbo Baggins.  What would bring more of these peace-loving people in Bilbo's footsteps? Perhaps you are a young Hobbit lass, listening to Bilbo's tales, has had the wander-lust inflamed in her.  Perhaps you are one of the Shire's bounders, tracing its borders to watch for threats, who heard rumours of dark things abroad and decided to keep his home safe by fighting them at their source.  Perhaps you were approached by travellers who heard stories of Baggins, and are looking for their own good luck charm.  Perhaps you are a Took.






*Woodmen:* These frontiersmen, related to the Bardings, have been living under the eaves of Mirkwood despite its dangers for many years.  They live in isolated villages and homesteads surrounded by wooden stockades, always on guard for danger.  The wizard Radagast the Brown lives among them, in his homestead of Rhosgobel, a place of safety from which he kept watch on the evil in Dol Guldur.

Similar to the Bardings, these men are tall an often light-haired, but they are brown-skinned and ruddy from time spent outdoors.  They are great hunters and trackers, often pursuing orcs and spiders into the depths of Mirkwood with their spears and great bows.  They breed great hounds for hunting, and Radagast has taught them great skills in the tending of beasts, as well as exceptional herb-lore and woodcraft.






So, that's the 6 cultures.  The first step in creating a character is to choose one.  If you don't want to bother creating your own character, I also have one premade character from each culture you can use.

Before you start creating your character, though, I have one more thing to discuss: Fellowship.  At the end of character creation, you can (if you want) choose one of your fellow adventurers as your "Fellowship Focus", a friend or family member who you are especially close to (like Sam and Frodo).  You can recover from hardship faster if your Fellowship Focus is with you, but if they are hurt the effects of despair are magnified.  You also get a bonus in combat to defend your Fellowship Focus.

So, as you're creating characters, think about whether you want your characters to know each other before the game starts, and if you might want to choose one as a Fellowship Focus.  If you don't all know each other, anyone who isn't part of the group will meet the others during the first adventure.

So, everyone choose a culture, and then I'll tell you what you get for being in that culture, and your choices for the next step.


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## JoeNotCharles (Sep 6, 2011)

Forgot to mention, the game will be starting in Lake Town.

And before finalizing your cultures, you might want to discuss whether you want to all go for a theme (like "the 7 Dwarves", or "everybody's from the Lonely Mountain - so Dwarves and Bardings - except for the hobbit").


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## Voda Vosa (Sep 6, 2011)

Dwarf, I choose you! *Throws pokeball* 

Sorry, couldn't resist.


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## JoeNotCharles (Sep 6, 2011)

From the other thread:



FourMonos said:


> The hobbit I was thinking of would be more "Tookish".  I can't recall the name of the town east of the Shire that had mostly men and some hobbits, but he would be from that area.  And he would be a treasure seeker by choice!  Quite un-hobbit-y of him.  He knows there is grand treasure out there, and he can't wait to find it.




That would be Bree.  The Tooks, being a major noble family in the Shire, have their own county there, "Tookland", which isn't all that close to Bree - but it makes sense that a black sheep of the family might have moved out to Bree.


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## Iron Sky (Sep 6, 2011)

I'm fine with the "unusual companions" mix of of characters.

I'm probably going to play an elf of Mirkwood.


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## CaBaNa (Sep 6, 2011)

I'm with Iron Sky diversity is a good thing!

Putting together a character currently, I'll post and take feedback. FM, Hobbit from the Shire was my second choice after wizard. Want to link the two?
[sblock=old concept]
*Name:* *Culture:* Hobbit of the Shire  *Standard of Living:* Prosperous
*Cultural blessing:* Hobbit-sense  *Calling:* Scholar  *Shadow weakness:* Lure of Secrets
*Specialties:* Herb-lore, Smoking, Rhymes of Lore
*Distinctive features:* Merry, Patient
*Body*: 3 *Heart*: 6 *Wits*: 5
*Body (favoured)*: 4 *Heart (favoured)*: 8 *Wits (favoured)*: 8
*-Common Skills-*

*Awe*: 0 *Inspire*: 0 *Persuade*: 2
*Athletics*: 0 *Travel*: 1 *Stealth*: 3
*Awareness*: 2 *Insight*: 2 *Search*: 2
*Explore*: 1 *Healing*: 2 *Hunting*: 1
*Song*: 2 *Courtesy*: 3 *Riddle*: 2
*Craft*: 0 *Battle*: 0 *Lore*: 2
*-Weapon Skills-*

*Bow*: 2 *damage*: 5 *edge*: 10 *injury*: 14 *enc*: 1
*Short sword*: 1 *damage*: 5 *edge*: 10 *injury*: 14 *enc*: 1
*Dagger*: 1 *damage*: 3 *edge*: G *injury*: 12 *enc*: 0
*Missing:localizeKey*: 0
*-Virtues-*: Art of Disappearing
*-Rewards-*: 
*-Gear-*
*Endurance*: 22 *Starting Endurance*: 22 *Fatigue*: 2 *Hope*: 18 *Starting Hope*: 18 *Shadow*: 0 *Armour*: 0 *Headgear*: 0 *Parry*: 5 *Shield*: 0 *Damage*: 0 *Ranged*: 0 *Wisdom*: 2 *Valour*: 1 *Experience*: 0 *Total Experience*: 0
[/sblock]


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## Walking Dad (Sep 6, 2011)

Can I vote 'dwarfs and some strangers'?

Here is a repost from the other thread:

*Name:* *Culture:* Dwarf of the Lonely Mountain  *Standard of Living:* Rich
*Cultural blessing:* Redoubtable  *Calling:* Slayer  *Shadow weakness:* Curse of Vengeance
*Specialties:* Smith-craft, Trading, Orc-lore
*Distinctive features:* Bold, Wrathful
*Body*: 6 *Heart*: 3 *Wits*: 5
*Body (favoured)*: 9 *Heart (favoured)*: 5 *Wits (favoured)*: 6
*-Common Skills-*

*Awe*: 1 *Inspire*: 2 *Persuade*: 0
*Athletics*: 1 *Travel*: 3 *Stealth*: 0
*Awareness*: 2 *Insight*: 0 *Search*: 3
*Explore*: 2 *Healing*: 1 *Hunting*: 1
*Song*: 1 *Courtesy*: 0 *Riddle*: 2
*Craft*: 3 *Battle*: 2 *Lore*: 1
*-Weapon Skills-*

*(Axes)*: 2
*Short sword*: 1 *damage*: 5 *edge*: 10 *injury*: 14 *enc*: 1
*Dagger*: 1 *damage*: 3 *edge*: G *injury*: 12 *enc*: 0
*Missing:localizeKey*: 0
*-Virtues-*: 
*-Rewards-*: Dwarf-wrought Hauberk
*-Gear-*
*Endurance*: 31 *Starting Endurance*: 31 *Fatigue*: 0 *Hope*: 9 *Starting Hope*: 9 *Shadow*: 0 *Armour*: 0 *Headgear*: 0 *Parry*: 5 *Shield*: 0 *Damage*: 0 *Ranged*: 0 *Wisdom*: 1 *Valour*: 2 *Experience*: 0 *Total Experience*: 0


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## JoeNotCharles (Sep 6, 2011)

So far, that's 2 dwarves, 1 elf, 1 hobbit.  We're heading for a no-humans party...  Still waiting to hear from FourMonos (who was leaning towards another hobbit), garyh (who was leaning towards another dwarf) and treex.



CaBaNa said:


> Putting together a character currently, I'll post and take feedback. FM, Hobbit from the Shire was my second choice after wizard. Want to link the two?




If you want to be a wizard, your best bets are Elf (can learn elven magic), Beorning (can learn shapeshifting and some spirit magic), or Woodman (no real magic, but can learn herb-lore and healing songs, and has an explicit "Wizard's Pupil" background to represent being trained by Radagast the Brown.)  But "wizard" comes down to "knows a lot of lore" rather than flashy spells in this setting, anyway, so a hobbit scholar works as well.


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## Voda Vosa (Sep 6, 2011)

My dwarf, Kurin. Blacksmith and stonecrafter, he is an old dwarf with many skills, a wandering maese whose skills have renown and is searched for advice an expert craftmanship. 

*Name:* Kurin  *Cultura:* Lonley mountain dwarf  *Life standards:* Rich
*Cultural blessing:* Fearsome *Calling:* Buscador de tesoros  *Shadow weakness:* Mal del dragon
*Specialities:* Herrería, Cantería, Hurtar
*Distinctive features:* Endurecido, Terco
*Body*: 6 *Heart*: 2 *Wits*: 6
*Body(favorito)*: 9 *Heart (favorito)*: 3 *Wits (favorito)*: 8
*-Common Skills-*
*Awe*: 0 *Inspire*: 2 *Persuade*: 0 
*Athletics*: 1 *Travel*: 3 *Stealth*: 0 
*Awareness*: 0 *Insight*: 0 *Search*: 3 
*Explore*: 2 *Heal*: 0 *Hunt*: 0 
*Sing*: 1 *Courtesy*: 0 *Riddels*: 2 
*Crat*: 4 *Battle*: 2 *Lore*: 2 
*-Common Skills-*
*Pike*: 2 *damage*: 8 *edge*: 10 *injury*: 18 *enc.*: 3
*Short sword*: 1 *daño*: 5 *filo*: 10 *herida*: 14 *Imp.*: 1
*Dagger*: 1 *daño*: 3 *filo*: G *herida*: 12 *Imp.*: 0

*-Virtues-*: Broken Spells (Open and Close)
*-Rewards-*: Dwarf forged armor
*-Gear-*

*Endurance*: 30 *Starting Endurance*: 30 *Fatigue*: 10 *Hope*: 8 *Starting hope*: 8 *Shadow*: 0 *Armor*: 0 *Headgear*: 0 *Parry*: 6 *Shield*: 0 *Damage*: 0 *Range*: 0 *Wisdom*: 2 *Valor*: 1 *Experience*: 0 * Total Experience*: 0


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## CaBaNa (Sep 6, 2011)

[sblock=Hidden during edit]I'll play around with the other "wizard" like character classes today during my downtime between classes. 

 @Iron Sky  are you sticking with the elf of mirkwood, wood-elf magic character you posted?
 @FourMonos  if we both go hobbit, would you like to link the characters?

This is three concept characters, in case, in order of "I'd like to play".
[/sblock]


  Hobnob Hornblower, a young Hobbit from Southfarthing, sent by his father to establish stronger pipe-weed trade in the newly rebuilt Dale and Lake-Town. Rumors of the rich and bountiful farmland returning to Dale, attracted the Hornblower family's attention. With Longbottom Leaf and Old Toby, two of their most popular pipe-weeds, Hobnob set out to prove himself to his father.

"Patience is a virtue, have it if you can, often in a hobbit, rarely in a man."
*Name:* Hobnob Hornblower   *Culture:* Hobbit of the Shire  *Standard of Living:* Prosperous
*Cultural blessing:* Hobbit-sense  *Calling:* Scholar  *Shadow weakness:* Lure of Secrets
*Specialties:* Herb-lore, Smoking, Rhymes of Lore
*Distinctive features:* Merry, Patient
*Body*: 2 *Heart*: 6 *Wits*: 6
*Body (favoured)*: 3 *Heart (favoured)*: 8 *Wits (favoured)*: 9
*-Common Skills-*

*Awe*: 1 *Inspire*: 0 *Persuade*: 2
*Athletics*: 0 *Travel*: 1 *Stealth*: 3
*Awareness*: 2 *Insight*: 2 *Search*: 2
*Explore*: 1 *Healing*: 2 *Hunting*: 0
*Song*: 2 *Courtesy*: 3 *Riddle*: 2
*Craft*: 0 *Battle*: 0 *Lore*: 2
*-Weapon Skills-*

*Short sword*: 2 *damage*: 5 *edge*: 10 *injury*: 14 *enc*: 1
*Bow*: 1 *damage*: 5 *edge*: 10 *injury*: 14 *enc*: 1
*Dagger*: 1 *damage*: 3 *edge*: G *injury*: 12 *enc*: 0
*-Virtues-*: Art of Disappearing
*-Rewards-*: 
*-Gear-*

Shield *enc*: 3
Flint & Steel
Miniature torch
Short Sword
Sickle (Dagger)
Sling (Short Bow) and rocks (arrows)
Pipes; a wooden Strider, a wooden Gandalf, a clay Sherlock, and a clay Briar.
Three different types of pipe-weed, in bulk and seeds enough to test the nearby areas for growth potential. <- Left in the care of the dwarves (Contracts drawn)
Three differing types of pipe-weed, amount to be determined upon Kurin's estimation of travel time.
Letterhead for potential contracts.
Horn
Water-skin
First aid kit (strips of cloth, varying herbs and poultices, sealed boiled water, thread and needle.)
Notebook with various herb-lore and medical information, pressed herbs between some pages.
*Endurance*: 22 *Starting Endurance*: 22 *Fatigue*: 6 *Hope*: 18 *Starting Hope*: 18 *Shadow*: 0 *Armour*: 0 *Headgear*: 0 *Parry*: 6 *Shield*: 2 *Damage*: 2 *Ranged*: 2 *Wisdom*: 2 *Valour*: 1 *Experience*: 0 *Total Experience*: 0 


[/sblock]


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## Iron Sky (Sep 6, 2011)

@CaBaNa , I was thinking of playing the elf below. Magic is (appropriately) small and subtle in this game. Wizards are far more rare than even a master "magician" like David Copperfield, Chris Angel, or Houdini in our own world - and even then, the Wizards are important more for the breadth and depth of their knowledge of the world and its creatures, cultures, and dangers than for any magic they might possess.

I think of a Wizard like what a modern person with a PDA with the internet on it back in the Dark Ages might be like. Oh, and they have a pistol with six bullets in it, a laser pen/flashlight, a swiss army knife, and night vision goggles.

Even someone with the "small magics" like our characters might possess are _extremely _rare.
*
Name:* *Culture:* Elf of Mirkwood  *Standard of Living:* Martial
*Cultural blessing:* Folk of the Dusk  *Calling:* Warden  *Shadow weakness:* Lure of Power
*Specialties:* Mirkwood-lore, Woodwright, Shadow-lore
*Distinctive features:* Hardened, Keen-eyed
*Body*: 5 *Heart*: 3 *Wits*: 6
*Body (favoured)*: 6 *Heart (favoured)*: 6 *Wits (favoured)*: 8
*-Common Skills-*

*Awe*: 2 *Inspire*: 0 *Persuade*: 0
*Athletics*: 3 *Travel*: 1 *Stealth*: 2
*Awareness*: 2 *Insight*: 0 *Search*: 1
*Explore*: 1 *Healing*: 1 *Hunting*: 1
*Song*: 2 *Courtesy*: 0 *Riddle*: 0
*Craft*: 1 *Battle*: 2 *Lore*: 3
*-Weapon Skills-*

*Bow*: 3 *damage*: 5 *edge*: 10 *injury*: 14 *enc*: 1
*Sword*: 1 *damage*: 5 *edge*: 10 *injury*: 16 *enc*: 2
*Dagger*: 1 *damage*: 3 *edge*: G *injury*: 12 *enc*: 0
*-Virtues-*: Wood-elf Magic
*-Rewards-*: 
*-Gear-*
*Endurance*: 25 *Starting Endurance*: 25 *Fatigue*: 3 *Hope*: 11 *Starting Hope*: 11 *Shadow*: 0 *Armour*: 0 *Headgear*: 0 *Parry*: 6 *Shield*: 0 *Damage*: 0 *Ranged*: 0 *Wisdom*: 2 *Valour*: 1 *Experience*: 0 *Total Experience*: 0


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## fireinthedust (Sep 7, 2011)

Just throwing my hat into the ring as an alternate.  I hope it's not needed, but it would be rather fun.  (currently re-reading the Hobbit isn't helping either).

As a character I'd want to have one who can smoke, guess riddles, and get into and out of trouble.  All the archetypes look terrifically fun, however, for different reasons, so I suppose I'd have to see what the party needs IF it ever comes up.

Until then: let the lurking begin!


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## garyh (Sep 7, 2011)

Here's my character from the first thread.

*Name:* *Culture:* Dwarf of the Lonely Mountain  *Standard of Living:* Rich
*Cultural blessing:* Redoubtable  *Calling:* Slayer  *Shadow weakness:* Curse of Vengeance
*Specialties:* Stone-craft, Tunnelling, Orc-lore
*Distinctive features:* Hardy, Vengeful
*Body*: 6 *Heart*: 3 *Wits*: 5
*Body (favoured)*: 9 *Heart (favoured)*: 5 *Wits (favoured)*: 6
*-Common Skills-*
*Awe*: 0 *Inspire*: 2 *Persuade*: 0 
*Athletics*: 1 *Travel*: 3 *Stealth*: 0 
*Awareness*: 0 *Insight*: 0 *Search*: 3 
*Explore*: 2 *Healing*: 0 *Hunting*: 0 
*Song*: 1 *Courtesy*: 0 *Riddle*: 2 
*Craft*: 3 *Battle*: 2 *Lore*: 1 
*-Weapon Skills-*
*(Axes)*: 3
*Short sword*: 1 *damage*: 5 *edge*: 10 *injury*: 14 *enc*: 1
*Dagger*: 1 *damage*: 3 *edge*: G *injury*: 12 *enc*: 0
*Missing:localizeKey*: 0
*-Virtues-*: 
*-Rewards-*: Axe of the Azanulbizar
*-Gear-**Endurance*: 31 *Starting Endurance*: 31 *Fatigue*: 0 *Hope*: 9 *Starting Hope*: 9 *Shadow*: 0 *Armour*: 0 *Headgear*: 0 *Parry*: 5 *Shield*: 0 *Damage*: 0 *Ranged*: 0 *Wisdom*: 1 *Valour*: 2 *Experience*: 0 *Total Experience*: 0


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## FourMonos (Sep 7, 2011)

Here's what I was thinking:

*Name:* *Culture:* Hobbit of the Shire  *Standard of Living:* Prosperous
*Cultural blessing:* Hobbit-sense  *Calling:* Treasure-Hunter  *Shadow weakness:* Dragon-sickness
*Specialties:* Smoking, Story-telling, Burglary
*Distinctive features:* Curious, True-hearted
*Body*: 3 *Heart*: 7 *Wits*: 4
*Body (favoured)*: 5 *Heart (favoured)*: 8 *Wits (favoured)*: 7
*-Common Skills-*

*Awe*: 0 *Inspire*: 1 *Persuade*: 2 
*Athletics*: 1 *Travel*: 2 *Stealth*: 3 
*Awareness*: 2 *Insight*: 1 *Search*: 2 
*Explore*: 1 *Healing*: 0 *Hunting*: 0 
*Song*: 2 *Courtesy*: 3 *Riddle*: 3 
*Craft*: 0 *Battle*: 1 *Lore*: 1 
*-Weapon Skills-*

*Short sword*: 2 *damage*: 5 *edge*: 10 *injury*: 14 *enc*: 1
*Bow*: 1 *damage*: 5 *edge*: 10 *injury*: 14 *enc*: 1
*Dagger*: 1 *damage*: 3 *edge*: G *injury*: 12 *enc*: 0
*Missing:localizeKey*: 0
*-Virtues-*: Woeful Foresight
*-Rewards-*: Lucky Armour
*-Gear-*

Leather shirt *enc*: 4
Buckler *enc*: 1
*Endurance*: 23 *Starting Endurance*: 23 *Fatigue*: 7 *Hope*: 19 *Starting Hope*: 19 *Shadow*: 0 *Armour*: 0 *Headgear*: 0 *Parry*: 4 *Shield*: 0 *Damage*: 0 *Ranged*: 0 *Wisdom*: 1 *Valour*: 2 *Experience*: 0 *Total Experience*: 0


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## Iron Sky (Sep 7, 2011)

@JoeNotCharles , when we come up with backstory/personality stuff, do you want us to post it in the thread or just PM it to you so we learn about the other characters as we go?

Also, could you clarify how the Virtues/Rewards things work? What do Valour and Wisdom do?

Were you wanting to do a step-by-step breakdown of character creation or just have us throw our builder characters up (as we have done)?

Could you also explain the basic mechanics? From what I could glean without having access to any of the rules, it's roll d12 add d6s equal to your "ranks" in the skill and try to get as high as possible at or above a target number set by the GM. You can optionally spend a point of Hope to add the related attribute (Body/Heart/Wits) or the Favored version of the attribute if it's a favored skill (presumably before you roll rather than after). There's special rules if you roll an Eye of Sauron(11) or a Rune of Gandalf(12) or a 6 on one of your skill dice. That about right?


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## JoeNotCharles (Sep 7, 2011)

Iron Sky said:


> when we come up with backstory/personality stuff, do you want us to post it in the thread or just PM it to you so we learn about the other characters as we go?




Up to you whether you want it to be open or keep it hidden.



Iron Sky said:


> Were you wanting to do a step-by-step breakdown of character creation or just have us throw our builder characters up (as we have done)?




I was planning on doing it step by step so that I could explain the mechanics used at each step, instead of having to dump all the mechanics on you at once.  Also so that if at any point you say, "Oh, so THAT'S what that means!  Well, that doesn't fit my character at all!" you have time to change the characters you've already generated.



Iron Sky said:


> Could you also explain the basic mechanics? From what I could glean without having access to any of the rules, it's roll d12 add d6s equal to your "ranks" in the skill and try to get as high as possible at or above a target number set by the GM. You can optionally spend a point of Hope to add the related attribute (Body/Heart/Wits) or the Favored version of the attribute if it's a favored skill (presumably before you roll rather than after). There's special rules if you roll an Eye of Sauron(11) or a Rune of Gandalf(12) or a 6 on one of your skill dice. That about right?




Yes, that's right.  I'll be explaining that, and how skills work, in my first mechanics post tonight, now that (almost) everybody's weighed in on a race (and usually more than that...)


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## JoeNotCharles (Sep 8, 2011)

I guess I'll continue, even though we're still waiting for [MENTION=84680]treex[/MENTION] to weigh in.  So far we have three dwarves, two hobbits, and an elf.

Your culture gets you 3 fixed things and opens up the next set of choices.  The three are *Standard of Living*, *Skills* and *Cultural Blessing*.  However, before explaining how skills work, I'll need to explain *Dice Rolls* and *Attributes*.

*Dice Rolls:*

The One Ring uses two types of dice: the _Feat die_ is 12-sided die numbered 1 to 10, plus the Eye of Sauron and the Gandalf Rune.  If the Eye of Sauron is rolled, the Feat die counts 0.  If the Gandalf Rune is rolled, the roll is an automatic success.  (We'll use either the forum's built in roller or invisiblecastle.com, and roll a d12 with 11 as the Eye of Sauron and 12 as the Gandalf Rune.)  As well as the Feat die, you roll a number of _Success dice_, each of which is a d6 with an extra Tengwar (the Elvish writing system) rune on the 6.

When I call for a die roll, I'll give you a target number and the name of a skill.  You'll roll the Feat die plus a number of Success dice equal to your rating in that skill, total them up, and try to beat the target number.  If you succeed and roll any Tengwar runes, it counts as an extraordinary success; if you didn't roll any Tengwar runes, you only narrowly succeeded.

So if you have an Athletics skill of 3, and you're trying to move a heavy boulder, I might hall for a TN 14 Athletics roll.  You'd roll d12+3d6, trying to beat a target of 14.  If you roll an 11 on the d12, the d12 counts 0 (but if you rolled high enough on the 3d6 you could succeed anyway).  If you roll a 12 on the d12, you succeed automatically.  And the number of 6's you rolled on the d6's tells you how impressively you succeeded.

Normally you will roll on skills, but you might also roll on *Wisdom* (which represents your experience and common sense) or *Valour* (which represents your courage).

*Attributes:*

Everyone has 3 attributes which are rated from 1 to 12: 1-2 is poor, 3-4 is average, 5-6 is good, 7 and higher are superior.  You don't roll on attributes: they only come into play after you make a skill roll.  Each skill has an associated attribute; after you roll, you can spend a point of _Hope_ (more on that later) to add your attribute value to the roll.

Each attribute has a _base value_ and a _favoured value_, which is 1 to 3 points higher.  If you're spending Hope to add to one of your _favoured skills_, you add the favoured value instead of the base value.

*Body* is your physical prowess.

*Heart* is your force of spirit.

*Wits* is your intelligence and cunning.

Attributes aren't set directly by your culture, so I won't explain how they're calculated yet: the important thing right now is the difference between base and favoured values, and how they add to skills.

*Skills:*

Everybody has the same set of *common skills*, but different cultures focus on different skills.  Skills are rated from 0 to 6, with 0 being unskilled, 1 being poor, 2 being average, 3 being good, and 4 or higher being superior.

As well as common skills, there are *weapon skills*, each of which represents your skill with a single weapon or group of weapons.  More on those later.

Common skills are arranged in a grid:






At the top of each column is the Attribute that's linked to that skill; its base value gets added to your skill roll if you spend Hope.  If the skill is _favoured_ (noted by _underlining_ it) you add the favoured value instead.

To the right of each column is the skill group, which is just used to organize the skills into logically related sections.

*Personality* skills are for social interaction: *Awe* is used to impress or intimidate someone with your sheer force of presence; *Inspire* is used to encourage people with stirring words and actions; and *Persuade* is used argue using truth or falsehood.

*Movement* skills are for physical exertion: *Athletics* is used to run, jump, climb and swim; *Travel* is used to withstand the hardships of long journeys; and *Stealth* is used to hide and move silently.

*Perception* skills are for seeing and noticing things: *Awareness* is used to keep track of your surroundings; *Insight* is used to understand others' motives; and *Search* is used to make a concentrated effort to find things.

*Survival* skills are for dealing with hardship: *Explore* is used to find your bearings when lost and deal with natural hazards (in comparison, Travel is used to avoid fatigue even on known roads - in unexplored wilderness, I'll call for both Travel and Explore rolls); *Healing* is used t o treat wounds; and *Hunting* is used to track animals and find food in the wilderness.

*Custom* skills are for civilized behaviour: *Song* is for singing, reciting poetry and knowing the words to epics; *Courtesy* is for etiquette and respecting traditions (often very important when you need to impress a great lord!); and *Riddle* is for deducing information and concealing it from others.

*Vocation* skills are for the tasks society calls on: *Craft* is for making and mending things and creating art; *Battle* is for knowledge of tactics and the ability to keep your head in combat; and *Lore* is for knowledge and learning.

Beside each skill group is a space to record *Advancement Points*.  I'll sometimes (not always!) reward advancement points after you make a skill roll; at the end of the adventure, you cash these in to improve your skills.  More on this later.

So, your culture determines your basic ranks for common skills, and sets a few to be favoured.  Later you'll have a chance to raise skills, and declare more of them to be favoured.

*Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain* start with Awe 0, Inspire 2, Persuade 0, Athletics 0, Travel 3, Stealth 0, Awareness 0, Insight 0, Search 3, Explore 2, Healing 0, Hunting 0, Song 1, Courtesy 0, Riddle 2, Craft 3, Battle 1, and Lore 0.  Note that Craft is favoured, so if you spend Hope after making a Craft roll, you add your favoured rating in Body.

*Hobbits of the Shire* start with Awe 0, Inspire 0, Persuade 2, Athletics 0, Travel 1, Stealth 3, Awareness 2, Insight 1, Search 2, Explore 0, Healing 0, Hunting 0, Song 2, Courtesy 3, Riddle 2, Craft 0, Battle 0, Lore 0. Note that Stealth is favoured, so if you spend Hope after making a Stealth roll, you add your favoured rating in Wits.

*Elves of Mirkwood* start with Awe 2, Inspire 0, Persuade 0, Athletics 3, Travel 0, Stealth 2, Awareness 2, Insight 0, Search 0, Explore 0, Healing 1, Hunting 1, Song 2, Courtesy 0, Riddle 0, Craft 0, Battle 2, Lore 3.  Note that Awareness is favoured, so if you spend Hope after making an Awareness roll, you add your favoured rating in Body.

It's a good idea to have all the skills covered between your party, so keep an eye on which skills everybody has.

*Standard of Living:*

This shows how prosperous your culture is.  At the beginning, all your equipment comes from this culture, although as you adventure and find treasure you can move beyond your culture's standard of living.

*Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain* and *Hobbits of the Shire* are _Prosperous_: almost all of them live in great comfort, and they spend a lot of effort on decorating their items and making them artistic.  Your weapons may not be more effective than others, but they're prettier.

*Elves of Mirkwood* are _Martial_: living among the dangers of Mirkwood, their culture is organized for war - their equipment (and especially weapons) are well made, but of plain appearance since they don't have much leisure to embellish them, and while they have plenty of food so no one goes hungry, much of it is hoarded against bad times so except at special feasts, nobody eats lavishly.

*Cultural Blessing:*

This is a special ability that's so ingrained in your culture, every member, from the lowest farmer to the greatest warrior, has access to it.  They're each a unique ability with their own rules.

*Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain* are _Redoubtable_: most people work out their *Fatigue* rating (the higher, the closer you are to becoming *Weary*, which is bad) by adding up the weight of all their gear; dwarves do the same, but then they subtract their favoured Heart score from the total.

*Hobbits of the Shirt* have *Hobbit-sense*: each hobbit in your group raises your *Fellowship* rating by 1 point (Fellowship is a pool of points that everyone in the group can draw on; you spend Fellowship to regain Hope), and when making a *Wisdom* roll (similar to a skill roll; your Wisdom represents your common sense - more on that later) you can roll the d12 twice and keep the best result.

*Elves of Mirkwood* are *Folk of the Dusk*: when they are inside a forest or under the earth, or it is night, elves use their favoured attribute rating every time they spend Hope, not just when they spend it for favoured skills.

Any questions on the above?  If not, I'll move on to describing your next choices: weapon skills and specialties.


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## JoeNotCharles (Sep 8, 2011)

*Weapon Skills*

Weapon Skills are just like Common Skills.  They're rated from 0 to 6, and are all linked to Body.  When you attack somebody with a weapon, you roll on your skill for that weapon.  If you spend a point of Hope, you can add your base Body score to your attack roll.

Weapon Skills can also be favoured, which lets you add your favoured Body score if you spend Hope.

A Weapon Skill always applies to one specific weapon: a normal Sword, a Short Sword or a Long Sword, for instance.  If you have a rank of 3 in Short Sword, and you pick up a Long Sword, your weapon skill doesn't help you - you still have a rank of 0 with Long Sword.

The one exception is *Cultural Weapon Skills*.  If the name of the weapon skill is in (brackets), it means that your culture is so well known for their use of that type of weapon that you can use all variants of it.  If you had a rank of 3 in (Swords), that would apply equally to Short Sword, Sword and Long Sword.

Cultural Weapon Skills can never by *favoured*, but if you have a cultural weapon skill you can split one single weapon out of it, and make that skill favoured.  (For instance, it's possible to have (Swords) 3, Long Sword 3.  Or even (Swords) 3, Long Sword 4.)

Each culture has a choice of two weapon skill packages.  Usually one of them contains a (cultural) weapon skill group, and the other contains a favoured weapon skill.

*Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain* can choose:


(Axes) 2, Short Sword 1, Dagger 1
Mattock 2, Short Sword 1, Dagger 1

*Hobbits of the Shire* can choose:


Short Sword 2, Bow 1, Dagger 1
Bow 2, Short Sword 1, Dagger 1

*Elves of Mirkwood* can choose:


(Spears) 2, Sword 1, Dagger 1
Bow 2, Sword 1, Dagger 1

I know you've already picked your weapon skills, but I was confused about what the (cultural) weapon skills meant the first time I read it, so if the explanation changed your mind about what you want, you can change it now.

*Traits and Specialties*:

Everyone can choose 2 from a list of traits that are considered their culture's specialties.  Traits are a general fuzzy category of "things that you're good at".  An example is "Boating" - if you have that trait, it implies that you know how to row and sail, and that you can keep a boat in good repair and judge whether craft are seawothy.

Traits come into play in three ways:


 If I call for a roll, and you can convince me that one of your traits applies to the current situation, you can automatically succeed without rolling.  (But this is counted as a minimal success, so you might want to roll anyway to see if you can get any 6's.)  For example, if I ask for an Athletics roll, TN 14, to hold your boat steady as you shoot the rapids, you can automatically succeed without rolling if you have the Boating trait.
 If I _don't_ call for a roll, because I've decided that something happens regardless of what you do, you can get a roll anyway if you can convince me that one of your traits applies.  For example, if I say that the sound of your oars carries a long way over the water so it's impossible to sneak up on somebody by paddling across the lake, you can ask for a Stealth roll anyway because you are an expert at Boating.
 As I mentioned above, after you make a skill roll I _may_ give you an *Advancement Point*, which can later be spent to raise your common skills.  If you have a trait that pertains to the current task, it's much more likely that I'll give you an Advancement Point.  You have to roll, though - you never get an Advancement Point for using a trait to auto-succeed.  (You also have to remind me, because I may not always remember which traits you have.)

Traits can either be something you know, like Boating, or describe some facet of your personality, like Wrathful.

*Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain* can choose any two of _Fire-making_ (lets you make a fire in extreme weather and difficult conditions), _Smith-craft_, _Smoking_ (helps you to relax and concentrate), _Stone-craft_, _Trading_ and _Tunnelling_.

*Hobbits of the Shire* can choose any two of _Cooking_, _Gardener_, _Herb-lore_ (), _Smoking_, _Story-telling_ and _Tunnelling_.

*Elves of Mirkwood* can choose any two of _Boating_, _Elven-lore_, _Fire-making_, _Mirkwood-lore_, _Swimming_, _Woodwright_.

*Backgrounds*

Now that you've chosen your overall culture, you can choose a more specific background from within that culture.  The backgrounds given are only samples, so we can make up our own following this pattern, but I'd prefer not to do that right now.

Each background gives you the base scores for your Attributes (Body, Heart and Wits), lets you make another common skill favoured, and lets you choose two more Traits.

I'm not going to list each background - there are two many (6 for each culture, so I'd need to copy out 18 entries).  You can find them at the character generator.  If you can't get to it for some reason, let me know and I'll list the backgrounds available to you.

*Adventuring Age:*

*Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain* start adventuring at 50 to 100 years old.

*Hobbits of the Shire* start adventuring at 25-60 years old.

*Elves of Mirkwood* start adventuring at 100 to 500 years old.

So, based on what I've explained so far, anybody want to make changes to what they've chosen already?  If not, I'll continue tomorrow with your *Calling*, *Gear, Endurance and Fatigue*, *Hope and Fellowship* and *Valour and Wisdom*.


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## Iron Sky (Sep 8, 2011)

There's a thread talking about the game here that has more information too.

I think I'm good with my character as is, I'll get to work on the background. To everyone else that's playing, do you all want to post your backstories publicly or submit them privately? It might also make sense for all the members of each race know and/or be related to each other having traveled together to get to Lake Town.

Can we pick whatever mundane gear we want and what do the various armors do?

The other thread has general combat rules but leaves a few things out - are you "Weary" when your Endurance drops below your encumbrance?

Mm... I'm going to have to push my roommate to finish with the Hobbit so I can read it again!


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## Voda Vosa (Sep 8, 2011)

I am with a lot of free time now: This matter as for this: I have made a table that depicts our balance on skills. I think it's pretty self explanatory. Seems that our weak points are social and exploration skills.


```
WD	VV	C	IS	G	FM	Skill totals	Skill group total
Awe		1	0	1	2	0	0	4	
Inspire		2	2	0	0	2	1	7		15
Persuade	0	0	2	0	0	2	4	
Athletics	1	1	0	3	1	1	7	
Travel		3	3	1	1	3	2	13		28
Stealth		0	0	3	2	0	3	8	
Awareness	2	0	2	2	0	2	8	
Insight		0	0	2	0	0	1	3		25
Search		3	3	2	1	3	2	14	
Explore		2	2	1	1	2	1	9	
Healing		1	0	2	1	0	0	4		15
Hunting		1	0	0	1	0	0	2	
Song		1	1	2	2	1	2	9	
Courtesy	0	0	3	0	0	3	6		26
Riddle		2	2	2	0	2	3	11	
Craft		3	4	0	1	3	0	11	
Battle		2	2	0	2	2	1	9		30
Lore		1	2	2	3	1	1	10
```


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## CaBaNa (Sep 8, 2011)

I really like my character, so I'll be keeping him as is. Nice chart Voda Vosa!


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## Voda Vosa (Sep 9, 2011)

I have made some modifications to Kurin Stoneshield. I won't be translating though, the wording is pretty similar and the location of things is the same, so you'll imagine. If not, it's a good chance for you to learn the best language in earth, Spanish. 


*Nombre:*  Kurin Stoneshield  *Cultura:* Enano de la montaña Solitaria  *Nivel de vida:* Rico
*Bendición cultural:* Temible  *Ocupación:* Buscador de tesoros  *Debilidad ante la Sombra:* Mal del dragon
*Especialidades:* Herrería, Cantería, Hurtar
*Rasgos distintivos:* Orgulloso, Terco
*Cuerpo*: 6 *Corazón*: 2 *Mente*: 6
*Cuerpo (favorito)*: 8 *Corazón (favorito)*: 3 *Mente (favorito)*: 9
*-Habilidades comunes-*
*Impresionar*: 1 *Inspirar*: 2 *Persuadir*: 0 
*Atletismo*: 1 *Viajar*: 3 *Sigilo*: 1 
*Alerta*: 1 *Perspicacia*: 1 *Buscar*: 3 
*Explorar*: 2 *Curar*: 0 *Cazar*: 0 
*Cantar*: 1 *Cortesía*: 0 *Acertijos*: 2 
*Oficio*: 4 *Guerrear*: 2 *Saber*: 2 
*-Habilidades de armas-*
*Piqueta*: 2 *daño*: 8 *filo*: 10 *herida*: 18 *Imp.*: 3
*Espada corta*: 1 *daño*: 5 *filo*: 10 *herida*: 14 *Imp.*: 1
*Daga*: 1 *daño*: 3 *filo*: G *herida*: 12 *Imp.*: 0
*Missing:localizeKey*: 0
*-Virtudes-*: Conjuros Rotos
*-Recompensas-*: 
*-Equipo-*
Cota de malla *Imp.*: 16
Capacete de hierro y cuero *Imp.*: 2
Escudo *Imp.*: 3
*Aguante*: 30 *Aguante Inicial*: 30 *Cansancio*: 22 *Esperanza*: 8 *Esperanza Inicial*: 8 *Sombra*: 0 *Armadura*: 0 *Cubrecabezas*: 0 *Parada*: 6 *Escudo*: 0 *Daño*: 0 *A Distancia*: 0 *Sabiduría*: 2 *Valor*: 1 *Experiencia*: 0 *Experiencia Total*: 0


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## CaBaNa (Sep 9, 2011)

Voda Vosa said:


> I have made some modifications to Kurin Stoneshield. I won't be translating though, the wording is pretty similar and the location of things is the same, so you'll imagine. If not, it's a good chance for you to learn the best language in earth, Spanish.
> 
> 
> *Nombre:*  Kurin Stoneshield  *Cultura:* Enano de la montaña Solitaria  *Nivel de vida:* Rico
> ...




There may be things which are incorrect, or untranslated. 


Name: Kurin Stoneshield culture: dwarf on the mountain solitary living standards: Rico
Cultural blessing: fearsome occupation: treasure hunting weakness before the shadow: evil of the dragon
Specialties: Metalwork, stonework, steal
Distinguishing features: proud, Terco
Body: 6 heart: 2 mind: 6
Body (favorite): 8 heart (bookmark): 3 mind (favorite): 9
-Common skills-

Impress: 1 inspire: 2 persuade: 0
Athletics: 1 travel: 3 stealth: 1
Alert: 1 insight: 1 search: 3
Explore: 2 cure: 0 Hunt: 0
Sing: 1 complimentary: 0 puzzles: 2
Ex officio: 4 war: 2 know: 2

-Weapons skills-

Pickaxe: 2 damage: 8 edge: 10 wound: 18 IMP: 3
Short sword: 1 damage: 5 edge: 10 wound: 14 IMP: 1
Dagger: 1 damage: 3 edge: wound G: 12 IMP: 0
Missing:localizeKey: 0

-Virtues-: broken spells
-Rewards-:
-Team-

Chainmail IMP: 16
Capacete of iron and leather IMP: 2
IMP shield: 3

Endurance: 30 hold initial: 30 fatigue: 22 hope: 8 hope initial: 8 shadow: 0 Armor: 0 Cubrecabezas: 0 stop: 6 shield: 0 damage: 0 distance: 0 wisdom: 2 value: 1 experience: 0 experience Total: 0


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## JoeNotCharles (Sep 9, 2011)

Iron Sky said:


> There's a thread talking about the game here that has more information too.




Seems like I'm just slowing everybody down at this point.   In that case, I'll just answer specific questions you guys have, and assume that the online character sheet gives you enough info to make your character otherwise.  (I'll be verbose about how the rules work once we start actually playing, thouhg.)

Still haven't heard anything from [MENTION=84680]treex[/MENTION] - if he doesn't at least post an "I'm here" by Saturday, [MENTION=51930]fireinthedust[/MENTION] can take his place.



Iron Sky said:


> Can we pick whatever mundane gear we want and what do the various armors do?




This is a point where I think the online character sheet gets things wrong, so check your gear and Fatigue carefully:

You start with a loosely-defined collection of gear called your "travelling gear", which contains whatever mundane items (not armour and weapons) you think are reasonable.  Summer travelling gear has an encumbrance of 1; winter travelling gear has an encumbrance of 2.

If you have any points in the Song skill, then yes your travelling gear can contain a musical instrument.  It can also contain anything reasonable for your profession.  (Which is just something you make up - if you say "I worked as a smith before adventuring", you are probably not carting an anvil around, but you probably have tongs and a small hammer and whatever else you need to shoe a horse.)

If you want to be carrying anything out of the ordinary, just ask and I'll decide that it's reasonable.

You also start with one weapon for each weapon skill you have (if it's a cultural weapon skill, you get one specific weapon from that group), armour, a shield, and a helm.  (You can skip any of these items that you don't want.)  Each of these has their own encumbrance.

I'll go through the items listed in the characters you posted so far in the next set of posts.



Iron Sky said:


> The other thread has general combat rules but leaves a few things out - are you "Weary" when your Endurance drops below your encumbrance?




Close.  You are "Weary" when your Endurance is *equal to or less than* your Fatigue.  Your Fatigue _starts_ equal to the total encumbrance you're carrying, but it can rise as you encounter hardships.  (So you could become Weary as you lose encumbrance in combat, or as your Fatigue rises while travelling.)  While you're Weary you get a substantial penalty to all rolls - I'll explain the exact penalty when it happens.

When your Endurance reaches 0, you fall unconscious.

Also, Voda Vosa was asking about Virtues and Rewards:

As well as the three Attributes (Body, Heart, Wits) and eighteen common skills, you have Valour and Wisdom.  These are rolled as if they're skills for certain important tests (generally to resist things) - for instance, Valour is rolled to resist fear, and Wisdom is rolled to resist the corrupting influence of the Shadow.

You start with 1 point in each of them, and can choose to raise one of them to 2.  Later, you will spend experience points to raise them.

Each time Valour is raised by a point (including at character creation!) you gain a Reward.  This is a physical item of exceptional craftsmanship (or an improvement to one of your items) that's bestowed on you in recognition of your valour.  There's a set of general items that anyone can take (for example, a "fell weapon" that does extra damage, or a "close-fitting helm" that has extra protection), and each culture has their own set of signature items you can choose from (for example, the Dwarves can take an "Axe of the Azanulbizar", a weapon used in a famous battle, while Elves can take a "Bitter Spear" made with wood from the barren hill that is now Dol Guldur.  Hobbits can borrow museum pieces from the mathom-house at Michel Delving.)

Each time Wisdom is raised by a point (again including at character creation) you gain a Virtue.  This is a special technique you are taught to reflect your knowledge.  Again there are some general ones (you can choose to be Dour-handed or Fell-handed to gain different combat bonuses) and culture-specific ones (among other things, Dwarves can learn the "Spell of Opening and Shutting", befriend "Ravens of the Mountain", or embrace their "Old Hatred" of orcs and goblins; Elves can learn "Deadly Archery" or "Wood-elf Magic"; Hobbits can learn the "Art of Disappearing" or become "Brave at a Pinch").


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## JoeNotCharles (Sep 9, 2011)

Everybody has basically the same choices of armour, headgear and shield:

*Armour:*

When an enemy rolls especially well, they may score a Piercing Blow on you (think critical hit).  When this happens, you roll to resist it with the regular d12 plus a number of d6's based on your armour.  You can spend a point of Hope to add your basic Body rating to this test.

You can choose from 2 types of leather armour and 3 types of mail:

A leather shirt weighs 4 and adds 1d6.
A leather corslet weighs 8 and adds 2d6.
A mail shirt weighs 12 and adds 3d6.
A coat of mail weighs 16 and adds 4d6.
A mail hauberk weighs 20 and adds 5d6.

*Headgear:*

A "cap of iron and leather" is a round helmet that covers only the top of your head.  It weighs 2 and adds 1 to your rolls to resist a Piercing Blow.
A "helm" also has cheek guards and a nose guard.  It weighs 6 and adds 4.

*Shields:*

When you are attacked in combat, you add your basic Wits rating to the TN to hit you, plus an extra bonus from your shield.

A Buckler weighs 1 and adds 1.
A Shield weighs 3 and adds 2.
A Great Shield weighs 5 and adds 3.  (Dwarves and hobbits are too short to use a Great Shield.)

I'll go through weapons separately for each character, since you all have slightly different choices.

You can always choose not to take any item if you don't want to carry the weight.

[MENTION=59043]Walking Dad[/MENTION]:

You're carrying a short sword and a dagger.  The character creator already filled in stats for these.

You chose the cultural weapon group (Axes).  So you can choose an Axe or a Great Axe.  (You can't choose a Long-Handled Axe because it's too big for dwarves.)

Axe does 5 damage - this is what's taken off an enemy's Endurance on a successful hit.  Great Axe does 9.  (Your short sword also does 5, and your dagger does 3.)

Both Axe and Great Axe score a Piercing Blow (ie. a critical hit) if the d12 on the attack roll is 12 (ie. the Gandalf rune).  Short Sword scores a Piercing Blow on 10 or 12 (not 11 because that's the Eye of Sauron).  Dagger scores one on 12.

If you get a Piercing Blow, the enemy rolls to resist it.  Their target number is 18 for an Axe or 20 for a Great Axe.  (It's 14 for a Short Sword, and 12 for a Dagger.)

An Axe weighs 2, a Great Axe weighs 4 (and is 2-handed, so you can't use a shield).  Short Sword weighs 1, and Dagger weighs 0.

Your Dwarf-Made Hauberk is a Hauberk (see above for stats), which uses your favoured Body rating if you spend Hope on a roll to resist a Piercing Blow.

You get your choice of headgear and shield.


[MENTION=82643]CaBaNa[/MENTION]:

You have a short sword, dagger and regular bow (since you didn't take any cultural weapon groups, there's nothing to choose here).  See Walking Dad's entry for the short sword and dagger stats.  The bow weighs 1, takes off 5 damage on a hit, and scores a Piercing Blow on a roll of 10 or 12.  Enemies need to beat a TN of 14 to avoid the Piercing Blow.  It's 2-handed, so you can't use a shield with it (although you can still carry one for when you're using your sword.)


[MENTION=60965]Iron Sky[/MENTION]:

You have a bow, sword and dagger.  Your bow is just like CaBaNa's, and your dagger is just like Walking Dad's.  Your sword weighs 2, takes off 5 endurance on a hit, does a Piercing Blow on 10 or 12, and the enemy's TN to resist the Piercing Blow is 16.


[MENTION=6078]garyh[/MENTION]:

You have the same weapons as Walking Dad.  Your Axe of the Azanulbizar is a Great Axe which can make enemies Weary if you roll a 12 on the d12 when attacking them.


[MENTION=88601]FourMonos[/MENTION]:

You have the same weapons as CaBaNa.

The sheet you posted has both a virtue and a reward.  That's not right - you should only have a reward, for your valour of 2.  (Also, you can't get Woeful Foresight as a hobbit - that's a Barding-only virtue.) So I'm going to assume you have the reward of Lucky Armour - if you'd rather take a virtue, change your Wisdom to 2 and Valour to 1.

Your Lucky Armour can be any type of armour listed above.  If you're hit by a Piercing Blow, you roll the d12 twice and keep the best result when rolling to resist.

You have listed that you're wearing a Leather Shirt (a Lucky Leather Shirt, I guess) and carrying a Buckler, but not helmet.  You can change these choices if you want now that I've posted the stats for everything - whatever armour you take is Lucky.


[MENTION=51271]Voda Vosa[/MENTION]:

By comparing the stats of your weapons to my table, I deduce that you're carrying a mattock, a short sword and a dagger.  The mattock is a two-handed weapon, so you can't use a shield while you're carrying it.  You should be able to figure out what the stats mean based on what I posted above.


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## CaBaNa (Sep 9, 2011)

what are the trait rules for being small?


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## Walking Dad (Sep 9, 2011)

Is there a benefit for me using an axe over a short sword (besides my currently higher skill).
Will maybe change to Mattock, but I don't find the stats for it above.


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## FourMonos (Sep 9, 2011)

[MENTION=82643]CaBaNa[/MENTION] I agree we should have our hobbits know each other, that would make sense and be more fun 

I'm going to look at the character builder again, tonight or this weekend, and see if I'm going to change anything now I know some more about the game. 

Thanks for all the info JNC!


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## Voda Vosa (Sep 9, 2011)

CaBaNa said:


> There may be things which are incorrect, or untranslated.
> 
> 
> Name: Kurin Stoneshield culture: dwarf on the mountain solitary living standards: Rico
> ...




That's pretty good! I bolded the incorrect words and replaced whit the ones it should be.

I like the verbose explanations. I enjoy reading.


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## JoeNotCharles (Sep 9, 2011)

CaBaNa said:


> what are the trait rules for being small?




There aren't any specific rules (unless I missed something), just a list of banned weapons and shields.



Walking Dad said:


> Is there a benefit for me using an axe over a short sword (besides my currently higher skill).
> Will maybe change to Mattock, but I don't find the stats for it above.




A regular one-handed axe will score a Piercing Blow on roughly 1 out of 12 attacks, but when it hits it will be very hard to resist (TN 18 - the average medium-difficulty TN is 14).  A short sword will score a Piercing Blow on roughly 1 out of 6 attacks, but you can expect enemies to resist these blows more often (TN 14).  Also the axe is twice as heavy (encumbrance 2 vs encumbrance 1).

Piercing Blows are good, because they inflict the Wounded status (which doesn't directly help get your opponent to 0 endurance, but gives them penalties to attack similar to Weary).

A mattock is that weapon CaBaNa has that's translated "pickaxe".  It's two-handed, so it's more comparable to the Great Axe.  Here's a chart:


```
| Weapon      | Damage | Piercing Blow | TN to resist PB | Enc | Notes      |
| Dagger      | 3      | 12            | 12              | 0   |            |
| Short sword | 5      | 10 or 12      | 14              | 1   |            |
| Sword       | 5      | 10 or 12      | 16              | 2   |            |
| Axe         | 5      | 12            | 18              | 2   |            |
| Great Axe   | 9      | 12            | 20              | 4   | 2H         |
| Mattock     | 8      | 10 or 12      | 18              | 3   | 2H         |
| Bow         | 5      | 10 or 12      | 14              | 1   | 2H, ranged |
```

So a mattock does slightly less damage on a regular hit than a Great Axe, but it does piercing blows as often as a sword, and those blows are as hard to resist as a regular axe.

Huh, I just noticed that a bow is basically a ranged short sword.


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## CaBaNa (Sep 9, 2011)

The Hobbit Virtue "Small Folk" says something about outside of combat I gain the small trait, see the traits chapter for details. I'm very interested to know what that could mean, and if I have the small trait otherwise?

also, please forgive me if you've already explained, but how often do "episodes" start? Are they like encounters, or rounds, or turns, or...


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## JoeNotCharles (Sep 9, 2011)

CaBaNa said:


> The Hobbit Virtue "Small Folk" says something about outside of combat I gain the small trait, see the traits chapter for details. I'm very interested to know what that could mean, and if I have the small trait otherwise?




So it does.  I missed that.

Well, it works just like any other trait - I explained those in this post.  You don't have the "small" trait unless you take that Virtue (or some other option that specifically says "you have the small trait").

The Traits chapter does have descriptions of all the traits you can choose at character creation, but not "small". For most of them, the descriptions aren't very specific, though:



> *Trusty* - You are reliable and faithful, and your word is a valid pledge.
> *Tall* - You tower above most of your folk.
> *Smoking* - You have mastered the art of smoking the herb called _pipe-weed_ or _leaf_, using a pipe of clay or wood. Practitioners of the art say it gives patience and clarity of mind, and helps them greatly to relax, concentrate and converse peacefully with others.




The meaning of "small" is pretty self-evident.

So with the "small" trait, you can gain an automatic success to common skill checks when being small would be an advantage.  (But you might want to roll anyway in order to try for an extraordinary success - that's one or more 6's on the d6's.)  Or for some situations you can get a roll when nobody else does.  ("The creature wriggles away through a tiny crack in the rocks.  No way you could fit in there."  "But I'm small!"  "Ok, roll to see if you fit in there...")  Also, if you make a common skill roll and being small is related, you have a higher chance of getting an advancement point for it (it's complicated to be more precise than that, so I figure I'll explain that when it comes up in-game.)



CaBaNa said:


> also, please forgive me if you've already explained, but how often do "episodes" start? Are they like encounters, or rounds, or turns, or...




An "episode" is a scene where we detail everything we're doing, as opposed to "narrative time" when we summarize.

For example: We track down a mysterious vagabond the inn in Bree, interrogate him to find out that he was supposed to meet with servants of the Dark Lord at Weathertop, and then the city watch bursts in thinking we're harassing an innocent citizen and we have a chase scene to flee town.  After escaping, the GM says, "The journey to Weathertop takes 5 days.  Make a couple of rolls to see if you encountered any hardships.  Ok, you gain a bit of Fatigue.  When you arrive, you spot a fire glimmering at its base..."  That's one episode in Bree (which is split into a couple of encounters - interacting with the vagabond, escaping the authorities), followed by a narrative journey, and then when we reach Weathertop we're starting a second episode.

If we'd played through every step of the journey ("Outside town the trail forks in two.  Do you want to go left or right?  There's something behind that bush - what are you going to do?  Yes, we're going to do the entire way to Weathertop in this much detail!") then the journey would be an episode of its own.


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## Iron Sky (Sep 9, 2011)

When we're traveling, aren't there certain roles (Scout, Guide, Look-Out) etc? How does that work.

It might be helpful if we, as a group, picked roughly what roles we intend to cover. For example, as an Elf of Mirkwood, my character has skill favored at night plus decent awareness which would make an ideal night-watch person.

Alternately, we could just jump in and not worry about it so we can get playing as soon as possible.

I'm picking a leather corselet, an iron-and-leather cap, and a buckler plus travel clothing. If we have winter clothing, does that cover summer too or do we _also_ need summer clothing?


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## JoeNotCharles (Sep 9, 2011)

Iron Sky said:


> It might be helpful if we, as a group, picked roughly what roles we intend to cover. For example, as an Elf of Mirkwood, my character has skill favored at night plus decent awareness which would make an ideal night-watch person.
> 
> Alternately, we could just jump in and not worry about it so we can get playing as soon as possible.




I'd prefer that.  Half the fun is finding out you don't have any good scouts and have to make do without!



Iron Sky said:


> I'm picking a leather corselet, an iron-and-leather cap, and a buckler plus travel clothing. If we have winter clothing, does that cover summer too or do we _also_ need summer clothing?




The way the rules are written, you actually just have one set of clothing that happens to weigh twice as much in the winter.   It's assumed that you re-equip yourself with the right clothing before any journey, so right now you only need summer clothing.


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## Iron Sky (Sep 10, 2011)

Well, I have a character description and basic back story done, I'll add more details as we go.

I think my character is complete. Switched to a mail shirt, added a name, few other minor tweaks.

She patrols the borders of Mirkwood, so I figure that her patrol just happened to take her to Laketown.

Ready to go!

[sblock=Authiel Silivrenniel]*Name:* Authiel Silivrenniel  *Culture:* Elf of Mirkwood  *Standard of Living:* Martial
*Cultural blessing:* Folk of the Dusk  *Calling:* Warden  *Shadow weakness:* Lure of Power
*Specialties:* Mirkwood-lore, Woodwright, Shadow-lore
*Distinctive features:* Hardened, Keen-eyed
*Body*: 5 *Heart*: 3 *Wits*: 6
*Body (favoured)*: 7 *Heart (favoured)*: 6 *Wits (favoured)*: 7
*-Common Skills-*

*Awe*: 2 *Inspire*: 0 *Persuade*: 0
*Athletics*: 3 *Travel*: 1 *Stealth*: 2
*Awareness*: 2 *Insight*: 0 *Search*: 1
*Explore*: 1 *Healing*: 1 *Hunting*: 1
*Song*: 2 *Courtesy*: 0 *Riddle*: 0
*Craft*: 1 *Battle*: 2 *Lore*: 3
*-Weapon Skills-*

*Bow*: 3 *damage*: 5 *edge*: 10 *injury*: 14 *enc*: 1
*Sword*: 1 *damage*: 5 *edge*: 10 *injury*: 16 *enc*: 2
*Dagger*: 1 *damage*: 3 *edge*: G *injury*: 12 *enc*: 0
*-Virtues-*: Wood-elf Magic
*-Rewards-*: 
*-Gear-*

Mail shirt *enc*: 12
Cap of iron and leather *enc*: 2
Buckler *enc*: 1
 *Endurance*: 25 *Starting Endurance*: 25 *Fatigue*: 19 *Hope*: 11 *Starting Hope*: 11 *Shadow*: 0 *Armour*: 2 *Headgear*: 1 *Parry*: 6 *Shield*: 1 *Damage*: 5 *Ranged*: 5 *Wisdom*: 2 *Valour*: 1 *Experience*: 0 *Total Experience*: 0 [/sblock]


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## JoeNotCharles (Sep 10, 2011)

Cool beans!

[MENTION=51930]fireinthedust[/MENTION], since we haven't heard back from treex, looks like you're in, so I'll need a character from you, too.

The rest of you, are you happy with your chars or still making mechanical changes?

After all the chars are finalized, we have one more thing to do, which is to work out the party's Fellowship score and choose Fellowship Focuses.  Then we can start playing!


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## fireinthedust (Sep 10, 2011)

Woo!  Blad I kept with this one.  But also Gah!  I wasn't sure I'd be in, so I didn't know who to make up.  So many options!

I'll think about it today and get back to you.

I'm interested in a Hobbit, but we have three; a dwarf, but we have two; and an elf would be fine.  But at the same time, we have no men, and that could be handy.


Where in the world are we starting out again?


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## JoeNotCharles (Sep 10, 2011)

Lake-town, at the tip of the Long Lake, just south of the Lonely Mountain.

Some thoughts: if you're an Elf, you could be an envoy sent by King Thranduil to carry a message to Lake-town. Iron Sky's Authiel could be escorrting you. (That would be a more convenient hook to get elves into the group than a warder on their own.)


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## CaBaNa (Sep 10, 2011)

I think we are 3 dwarves an elf and 2 hobbits. I've updated my sheet, it may change slightly, but the base mechanics are set. That would make you the third hobbit [MENTION=51930]fireinthedust[/MENTION]

Thanks for all the info JNC!


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## JoeNotCharles (Sep 10, 2011)

Having more dwarves or hobbits are fine, it just means it's a largwr family or whatever.

Also, I just figured out a way to integrate a lone Warder, so if you don't want to take an elf it won't screw anything up for me.


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## garyh (Sep 11, 2011)

I'll go with the hauberk, helm, and my great axe.  Since my great axe is two-handed, I don't think I'll bother with a shield.

WD, any ideas on our dwarves backgrounds?  We could be of the younger generation who grew up in exile (like Fili and Kili) come back to rebuild the Lonely Mountain.


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## CaBaNa (Sep 11, 2011)

@FourMonos , have you thought of a background for your character yet? Most of the background I chose, including the name, just fit really well for the characters traits. I'm open to changing most of it, if we come up with a great concept. What are your thoughts?

 @Iron Sky  I like the idea of each subgroup in the party having hidden backgrounds. It may be a little more difficult up front, but could lead to some really good RP.

 @JoeNotCharles  Can I have a pony? Please? 
EDIT: May I please have a Sickle for a dagger?



[sblock=For hobbits and JNC only]
[sblock=hobbits... and JNC... only...]

Just brainstorming; maybe the pony, the pipe-weed, and the seeds Hobnob is traveling with, are "borrowed". Hobnob intends to pay his father back, with interest, once he establishes business in the Wilderlands. 

Thoughts? 

[/sblock]
[/sblock]


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## fireinthedust (Sep 11, 2011)

Elf:  the issue being that I'm playing an elf in HM's Age of Worms game, and I worry it'd be the same character twice (granted, that one is an eldritch knight who hates undead, but still a warrior elf).
   On the pro side, other than the plot buy in, he'd have access to lore of the elves, like what I'm reading in the Silmarillion right now, and that could be lots of fun.  And wood elves are significantly different from Greyhawk elves.

Hobbit:  Really leaning hard towards this one, specifically because this is the only sort of game I could be one in!  Halflings in D&D just don't cut it for me, mostly because now they're short angry people.  Storytelling, smoking and Riddling sound like a fun combination!
   Con:  would three Hobbits hamper combat?  

Man:  The only con is that I can play a human in any setting.  Barding could be fun, but are they just humans who are less-good at crafting than dwarves?  Beornling, also fun, but the bear form doesn't seem to be as accessible as I'd want it to be (no carrying hobbits on my back).  Woodsman has the cool Radagast link, and I would love to play a Gandalf-type character (knowledgeable pilgrim wise to lore and the woods); maybe a pupil of Radagast, on a mission to learn what's up in the world?

Let me sleep on it.

I'd ask what roles are needed, but I also like the idea of jumping in.

JNC:  do you have a plot-role you need covered?  Like scholar of lore, a hobbit cook/storyteller/innkeeper of the Green Dragon?  Or someone affiliated with a particular patron, like Radagast?  (I could see a wood elf doing that as well as a woodsman)


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## JoeNotCharles (Sep 11, 2011)

CaBaNa said:


> @JoeNotCharles  Can I have a pony? Please?
> EDIT: May I please have a Sickle for a dagger?




You may have had a pony when you arrived in Lake-town, but alas, it sickened and died.  Or merely was lamed.  The long journey from the Shire was too much for it...

Yes, you can retheme any of the weapons to anything reasonable.



fireinthedust said:


> Con:  would three Hobbits hamper combat?




With 7 players, I'm already having to increase the encounter difficulty a lot.  If you have lots of non-combat characters, I just won't increase it as much.



fireinthedust said:


> Man:  The only con is that I can play a human in any setting.  Barding could be fun, but are they just humans who are less-good at crafting than dwarves?




Bardings are nobility, cast down by the dragon and living as poor fishermen until their fortunes were restored by the dragon's fall.  Now they are quickly rebuilding their heritage and making their kingdom grow again.  They have a mix of bitterness at their losses and pride at their heritage.  They're the buffer between the Dwarves and the Elves, having gained the friendship of both, but that also means they need to carefully balance between the two factions.  They're making a fortune from trade, which sometimes undermines their noble intentions.  They're somewhat similar to the Rangers (once kings who spent a period in exile and are now being restored), somewhat similar to Gondor (a human city of noble bloodline), and partly their own thing.  They're not just dwarves-light, they're an interesting faction in their own right.

Also they get one of the cooler Virtues, _Woeful Foresight_ - following Smaug's destruction of their city, some of the Bardings became sensitive to coming disaster, and can foresee looming catastrophe.  (Which makes me think of Wormtongue: "Lathspell, I name you: Ill-News.  And ill news is an ill guest.")



fireinthedust said:


> JNC:  do you have a plot-role you need covered?  Like scholar of lore, a hobbit cook/storyteller/innkeeper of the Green Dragon?  Or someone affiliated with a particular patron, like Radagast?  (I could see a wood elf doing that as well as a woodsman)




Basically what I need is for everyone to have a reason to accept a mission from the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain.  The 3 dwarves are covered; any Barding is close enough to them that they'd have a reason to help the dwarves out.  The Elves are toughest, because they're supposed to be insular and suspicious of dwarves, but I've got an idea on how to fit them in already. For hobbits and other men, it depends on why exactly they're in Lake-town, but the reason will probably be "seeking adventure, or knowledge, or fortune", and any of these would give them a reason to jump in when they find out there's a quest that needs doing.  Or they could already be friends of the group of dwarven PC's so they can just join them out of friendship.


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## FourMonos (Sep 11, 2011)

Okay, I did make some changes to my hobbit. Still a treasure seeker.

*Name:* Riggins Magby  *Culture:* Hobbit of the Shire  *Standard of Living:* Prosperous
*Cultural blessing:* Hobbit-sense  *Calling:* Treasure-Hunter  *Shadow weakness:* Dragon-sickness
*Specialties:* Smoking, Story-telling, Burglary
*Distinctive features:* Curious, True-hearted
*Body*: 3 *Heart*: 7 *Wits*: 4
*Body (favoured)*: 5 *Heart (favoured)*: 8 *Wits (favoured)*: 7
*-Common Skills-*

*Awe*: 0 *Inspire*: 0 *Persuade*: 2 
*Athletics*: 1 *Travel*: 2 *Stealth*: 3 
*Awareness*: 2 *Insight*: 1 *Search*: 2 
*Explore*: 1 *Healing*: 0 *Hunting*: 0 
*Song*: 2 *Courtesy*: 3 *Riddle*: 2 
*Craft*: 0 *Battle*: 1 *Lore*: 1 
*-Weapon Skills-*

*Short sword*: 2 *damage*: 5 *edge*: 10 *injury*: 14 *enc*: 1
*Bow*: 2 *damage*: 5 *edge*: 10 *injury*: 14 *enc*: 1
*Dagger*: 1 *damage*: 3 *edge*: G *injury*: 12 *enc*: 0
*Missing:localizeKey*: 0
*-Virtues-*: 
*-Rewards-*: Bow of the North Downs
*-Gear-*

Leather corslet *enc*: 8
Cap of iron and leather *enc*: 2
Buckler *enc*: 1
*Endurance*: 23 *Starting Endurance*: 23 *Fatigue*: 13 *Hope*: 19 *Starting Hope*: 19 *Shadow*: 0 *Armour*: 0 *Headgear*: 0 *Parry*: 4 *Shield*: 0 *Damage*: 0 *Ranged*: 0 *Wisdom*: 1 *Valour*: 2 *Experience*: 0 *Total Experience*: 0


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## Voda Vosa (Sep 11, 2011)

Well I'm pretty set on my dwarf, still to decide if mattok or axe and shield. Will figure out that later. 
As for background, I was thinking Kurin could be a lone wandering dwarf, travelling from town to town as his skills in stone and metal craft are very appreciated. Not sure if the other dwarves want to link backgrounds with him, or just "meet" him along the way. Or I could have linked background with any of the other characters. (Crazy we don't have no men... )


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## fireinthedust (Sep 11, 2011)

I'm going with a Wood Elf envoy.


Stats after work tongith!

expect bow and lore and travelling.


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## Walking Dad (Sep 12, 2011)

I think I will go with mattock, as axes cannot be favored, it seems.



garyh said:


> ...
> 
> WD, any ideas on our dwarves backgrounds?  We could be of the younger generation who grew up in exile (like Fili and Kili) come back to rebuild the Lonely Mountain.




Any suggestion regarding the orc-event that caused us to become 'Slayers' with an orc focus?


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## fireinthedust (Sep 12, 2011)

Okay, I couldn't get on last night to post the characters I'd opted to make.

WD:  The battle of Five Armies sounds like a good enough event, if you ask me.


I have two characters:  one is the elf, the other is a Woodsman apprentice of Radagast.  I'll post them both here.

Either one will have been at the battle of five armies, and in fact would have been involved with the razing of Dol Guldur and the Necromancer (obviously not directly, but with the other woodsmen and wood elves) which happened just before the battle (thus Gandalf being late to the mountain and just in time for the battle).

I'm tempted to go Spider Slayer myself, but I think I'll go Orc Slayer for either of them.

*Name:* Vardolas  *Culture:* Elf of Mirkwood  *Standard of Living:* Martial
*Cultural blessing:* Folk of the Dusk  *Calling:* Slayer  *Shadow weakness:* Curse of Vengeance
*Specialties:* Elven-lore, Mirkwood-lore, Orc-lore
*Distinctive features:* Fair, Swift
*Body*: 4 *Heart*: 4 *Wits*: 6
*Body (favoured)*: 7 *Heart (favoured)*: 6 *Wits (favoured)*: 7
*-Common Skills-*
*Awe*: 2 *Inspire*: 0 *Persuade*: 1 
*Athletics*: 3 *Travel*: 1 *Stealth*: 2 
*Awareness*: 2 *Insight*: 1 *Search*: 0 
*Explore*: 0 *Healing*: 1 *Hunting*: 1 
*Song*: 2 *Courtesy*: 0 *Riddle*: 1 
*Craft*: 0 *Battle*: 2 *Lore*: 3 
*-Weapon Skills-*
*Bow*: 3 *damage*: 5 *edge*: 10 *injury*: 14 *enc*: 1
*Sword*: 1 *damage*: 5 *edge*: 10 *injury*: 16 *enc*: 2
*Dagger*: 1 *damage*: 3 *edge*: G *injury*: 12 *enc*: 0
*Missing:localizeKey*: 0
*-Virtues-*: Wood-elf Magic
*-Rewards-*: 
*-Gear-**Endurance*: 26 *Starting Endurance*: 26 *Fatigue*: 3 *Hope*: 12 *Starting Hope*: 12 *Shadow*: 0 *Armour*: 0 *Headgear*: 0 *Parry*: 6 *Shield*: 0 *Damage*: 0 *Ranged*: 0 *Wisdom*: 2 *Valour*: 1 *Experience*: 0 *Total Experience*: 0 


*Name:* Olorin of Mirkwood  *Culture:* Woodman of Wilderland  *Standard of Living:* Frugal
*Cultural blessing:* Woodcrafty  *Calling:* Slayer  *Shadow weakness:* Curse of Vengeance
*Specialties:* Herb-lore, Mirkwood-lore, Orc-lore
*Distinctive features:* Cunning, Patient
*Body*: 3 *Heart*: 5 *Wits*: 6
*Body (favoured)*: 6 *Heart (favoured)*: 7 *Wits (favoured)*: 7
*-Common Skills-*
*Awe*: 0 *Inspire*: 1 *Persuade*: 1 
*Athletics*: 2 *Travel*: 1 *Stealth*: 2 
*Awareness*: 2 *Insight*: 1 *Search*: 0 
*Explore*: 3 *Healing*: 3 *Hunting*: 2 
*Song*: 2 *Courtesy*: 0 *Riddle*: 2 
*Craft*: 1 *Battle*: 1 *Lore*: 2 
*-Weapon Skills-*
*(Bows)*: 2
*Long-hafted axe*: 1 *damage*: 5/7 *edge*: G *injury*: 18/20 *enc*: 3
*Dagger*: 1 *damage*: 3 *edge*: G *injury*: 12 *enc*: 0
*Missing:localizeKey*: 0
*-Virtues-*: Herbal Remedies
*-Rewards-*: 
*-Gear-**Endurance*: 25 *Starting Endurance*: 25 *Fatigue*: 3 *Hope*: 15 *Starting Hope*: 15 *Shadow*: 0 *Armour*: 0 *Headgear*: 0 *Parry*: 6 *Shield*: 0 *Damage*: 0 *Ranged*: 0 *Wisdom*: 2 *Valour*: 1 *Experience*: 0 *Total Experience*: 0 


I'd like to go Woodsman, but can do the elf.


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## JoeNotCharles (Sep 13, 2011)

I'm going out of town for two days - when I'm back I'll take stock and see if we're still waiting for any last character updates before we start.

Er.  I mean, when I get back I'll explain about Fellowship, and THEN we'll start.


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## garyh (Sep 13, 2011)

Battle of Five Armies is good.  Perhaps we came from the Iron Hills with Dain, then stayed to rebuild the Lonely Mountain?


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## fireinthedust (Sep 13, 2011)

JNC:  excellent!  I'll agonize over who I'll be for this pbp (potentially a very long time!), and do some touch-ups.

Everyone Else:  Okay, so I'm stuck between so many options here.  I like both characters, the hobbit I could play, and now the Barding option with sword skills.  Fie!  I suppose the Woodsman would be fun, the problem being that I can't really do Wizard stuff, and this game isn't about that.  Maybe being an Elf would be better, and they do have some elf magic, and they do live forever, are the children of Eru, and know a lot of stuff... and the elf trait is pretty sweet.  On top of that, Vardolas would be pretty handsome, and lives basically forever (heck, even if killed they could ship my parts to the West and somehow I'm under the impression he'd get better in some way... well, unlikely as it may seem, this is Tolkien's elves... and that's pretty special).

Okay, Elf it is.  Born of the Wood Elves, with the blood of Noldor heroes in his veins.  Where is my fellow Silvan elf, that we may link our knowledge of things unknown to the children of Aule and the Shire?

Anyway, we're five years after the Battle of Five Armies, which affected everyone but the Shire Hobbits.  Beornings, Woodsmen, Men of Dale, Dwarves and Elves, and on top of that the events of the razing of Dol Guldur.  Big to-do, and likely everyone's still feeling it.


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## CaBaNa (Sep 13, 2011)

I like your woodsman [MENTION=51930]fireinthedust[/MENTION], (do you prefer first letter cap, or no?) if you shifted to a scholar, they would be very wizard-like. You'd also have access to awareness, enhancing their scouting abilities even more. Couldn't he even be apprenticed to Radagast?

Edit: I notice that your woodsman is our best hunter, he looks better and better.

Also, I want to stress that you should go with what calls to you as the most fun. Whatever that means for you, run with it.


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## fireinthedust (Sep 13, 2011)

CaBaNa:  I know!  I've got him as Radagast's apprentice, but I don't know what he'd do in the group.  I don't know if he's a frontline fighter or any good in combat, and he just kinda knows stuff about herbs.  No putting out fires with his brain, and he doesn't have the smoking ability (so no Gandalf smoke rings).  I'm not sure if he'd know about elven lore, either.  
   I suppose it would be fun, though, and I can always add the smoking somehow with xp(?)

What does Hunting do for the party?  Does it help with, say, finding food?


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## CaBaNa (Sep 13, 2011)

Take a look at staunching song if you want elf magic with the woodsman, hound of mirkwood also has Radagast involved. 

If you switched from bows to long-hafted axe, you'd be a good front line fighter, and sturdy with either herbal remedies or staunching song. 

Hunting is for; tracking, preparing traps, training dogs/birds/etc...

I'm sure he can smoke, even if he doesn't have the trait.

EDIT: None of us yet knows "our role" in the group.


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## Iron Sky (Sep 13, 2011)

My character is the other elf, a Warden type character (an Elven Ranger sorta thing, just not the D&D type... more like Strider... as an elf... with a bow). Figured she was involved in the battle for Dol Goldur, helping drive the necromancer out and has been patrolling Mirkwood trying to drive out the dark things that have pretty much overrun it.

I'd say play whatever you want to play most.


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## Walking Dad (Sep 13, 2011)

garyh said:


> Battle of Five Armies is good.  Perhaps we came from the Iron Hills with Dain, then stayed to rebuild the Lonely Mountain?




Sounds great! How close/far should the characters be related?


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## garyh (Sep 14, 2011)

I'm thinking cousins would be good.  And our names should rhyme.


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## fireinthedust (Sep 14, 2011)

I highly recommend rhyming names for dwarves, though that may be a brother vs. kinsman thing.  Brothers Balin and Dwalin are cousins of Gloin and Gimli, but I'm not sure about the others.

It turns out my day off now involves a four hour training session (so it doesn't interfere with my work?), so I'll try to get to the char gen tomorrow morning before I go in.

Whatever I end up with, I want to have it be useful and frequently so, and not something that gives the loremaster more work (like knowledge skills requiring them to pump out more exposition).

Whether I go with Woodsman, Wood elf, or a left-field Beorning, I think your Warden should know my character.


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## Iron Sky (Sep 14, 2011)

fireinthedust said:


> Whether I go with Woodsman, Wood elf, or a left-field Beorning, I think your Warden should know my character.




Any of those characters could have been involved in driving the necromancer out of Dol Goldur and/or involved with hunting down the critters in Mirkwood and could know my character that way - or whatever idea JoeNotCharles had.


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## CaBaNa (Sep 15, 2011)

Any character background ideas FourMonos? My character has been updated  with a small amount of back-story, want to link with that, or we could  make a new backstory up? I'm happy with either, and depending on what  fireinthedust picks, I may change a few minor mechanics anyway.


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## JoeNotCharles (Sep 16, 2011)

Ok, I've audited the characters that have been posted.  (I also put them into the online character sheet myself, and did "save as code" so that we can get a One True Version of each that we could each load.  I tried setting up the "Online Character Server" but I couldn't get it to work.)

Some of you just need to make a few additions or corrections (you may have already made these changes to your copies of your sheets, just not posted them):

[MENTION=82643]CaBaNa[/MENTION] - looks good, there are just a couple of values missing that the online sheet didn't fill in: Shield +1, Damage 3, Ranged 3 (the damage and ranged damage values are equal to your basic Body, since you have no items that alter them)

[sblock=Character Code]

```
{"name":"Hobnob Hornblower","culture":"hobbit","standard":"prosperous","culturalBlessing":"hobbitSense","calling":"scholar","shadowWeakness":"lureOfSecrets","specialties":"herbLore,smoking,rhymesOfLore","features":"merry,patient","favoured":"stealth,insight,craft,lore","awe":"1","persuade":"2","travel":"1","stealth":"3","awareness":"2","insight":"2","search":"2","healing":"2","song":"2","courtesy":"3","riddle":"2","craft":"1","lore":"2","undefined":"2","body":"3","heart":"6","wits":"5","favouredbody":"4","favouredheart":"8","favouredwits":"8","endurance":"22","startingEndurance":"22","fatigue":"4","hope":"18","startingHope":"18","shadow":"0","armour":"0","headgear":"0","parry":"5","shield":"+1","damage":"3","ranged":"3","wisdom":"2","valour":"1","experience":"","total":"","weary":"false","miserable":"false","wounded":"false","virtues":"artOfDisappearing","rewards":"","weaponSkills":"bow,true,5,10,14,1,2;shortSword,false,5,10,14,1,1;dagger,false,3,G,12,0,1;,false,,,,,0","gear":",;,;buckler,1;,;,","comments":{}}
```
[/sblock]

[MENTION=88601]FourMonos[/MENTION] - looks good, but is missing a bunch of calculated values: Armour 2d, Headgear +1, Shield +1, Damage 3, Ranged 3; also your Fatigue should be 14, not 13 (the online sheet doesn't include your standard "travel gear", which weighs 1 for summer travel and 2 for winter travel)

[sblock=Character Code]

```
{"name":"Riggins Magby","culture":"hobbit","standard":"prosperous","culturalBlessing":"hobbitSense","calling":"treasureHunter","shadowWeakness":"dragonSickness","specialties":"smoking,storyTelling,burglary","features":"curious,trueHearted","favoured":"stealth,awareness,insight,riddle","persuade":"2","athletics":"1","travel":"2","stealth":"3","awareness":"2","insight":"1","search":"2","explore":"1","song":"2","courtesy":"3","riddle":"2","battle":"1","lore":"1","undefined":"2","body":"3","heart":"7","wits":"4","favouredbody":"5","favouredheart":"8","favouredwits":"7","endurance":"23","startingEndurance":"23","fatigue":"14","hope":"19","startingHope":"19","shadow":"","armour":"2d","headgear":"+1","parry":"4","shield":"+1","damage":"3","ranged":"3","wisdom":"1","valour":"2","experience":"","total":"","weary":"false","miserable":"false","wounded":"false","virtues":"","rewards":"bowOfTheNorthDowns","weaponSkills":"shortSword,true,5,10,14,1,2;bow,false,5,10,14,1,2;dagger,false,3,G,12,0,1;,false,,,,,0","gear":"leatherCorslet,8;capOfIronAndLeather,2;buckler,1;,;,","comments":{}}
```
[/sblock]

[MENTION=6078]garyh[/MENTION] - looks good, but need a character name; I added Great Axe as a separate row to get the stats (even though you don't "really" have a separate Great Axe skill; it's equal to your Axes); missing the calculated values: Fatigue 27, Armour 5d, Headgear +4, Parry 5, Damage 6, Ranged 6

[sblock=Character Code]

```
{"name":"","culture":"dwarf","standard":"rich","culturalBlessing":"redoubtable","calling":"slayer","shadowWeakness":"curseOfVengeance","specialties":"stoneCraft,tunnelling,orcLore","features":"hardy,vengeful","favoured":"athletics,travel,craft,battle","inspire":"2","athletics":"1","travel":"3","search":"3","explore":"2","song":"1","riddle":"2","craft":"3","battle":"2","lore":"1","undefined":"3","body":"6","heart":"3","wits":"5","favouredbody":"9","favouredheart":"5","favouredwits":"6","endurance":"31","startingEndurance":"31","fatigue":"27","hope":"9","startingHope":"9","shadow":"0","armour":"5d","headgear":"+4","parry":"5","shield":"","damage":"6","ranged":"6","wisdom":"1","valour":"2","experience":"","total":"","weary":"false","miserable":"false","wounded":"false","virtues":"","rewards":"axeOfAzanulbizar","weaponSkills":"(axes),false,,,,,3;shortSword,false,5,10,14,1,1;dagger,false,3,G,12,0,1;greatAxe,false,9,G,20,4,3","gear":"mailHauberk,20;helm,6;,;,;,","comments":{}}
```
[/sblock]

[MENTION=60965]Iron Sky[/MENTION] - looks good; note that the only Wood-Elf Magic you can use right now is Stinging Arrow (the sheet doesn't have any way to break Wood-Elf Magic down into separate spells); your Armour should be 3d, not 2

[sblock=Character Code]

```
{"name":"Authiel Silivrenniel","culture":"elf","standard":"martial","culturalBlessing":"folkOfTheDusk","calling":"warden","shadowWeakness":"lureOfPower","specialties":"mirkwoodLore,woodwright,shadowLore","features":"hardened,keenEyed","favoured":"stealth,awareness,explore,hunting","awe":"2","athletics":"3","travel":"1","stealth":"2","awareness":"2","search":"1","explore":"1","healing":"1","hunting":"1","song":"2","craft":"1","battle":"2","lore":"3","undefined":"3","body":"5","heart":"3","wits":"6","favouredbody":"7","favouredheart":"6","favouredwits":"7","endurance":"25","startingEndurance":"25","fatigue":"19","hope":"11","startingHope":"11","shadow":"0","armour":"3d","headgear":"+1","parry":"6","shield":"+1","damage":"5","ranged":"5","wisdom":"2","valour":"1","experience":"","total":"","weary":"false","miserable":"false","wounded":"false","virtues":"woodElfMagic","rewards":"","weaponSkills":"bow,true,5,10,14,1,3;sword,false,5,10,16,2,1;dagger,false,3,G,12,0,1;,false,,,,,0","gear":"mailShirt,12;capOfIronAndLeather,2;buckler,1;,;,","comments":{}}
```
[/sblock]

And 3 of you still have mechanical decisions to make:

[MENTION=51271]Voda Vosa[/MENTION] - you said you're still trying to decide between Mattock or Axe & Shield; you need to pick 1 of the Broken Spells to know to start off; you've spent 14 Experience, you only get 10 (looks like the problem is you had Craft 3, Battle 1, Lore 1, and 4 XP left to spend - that's enough to get Craft 4 OR Battle 2, Lore 2, and you took both.)  You're also missing some of the calculated stats, but they depend on whether you take a shield or not.

[MENTION=59043]Walking Dad[/MENTION] - you haven't picked any headgear - you can choose a "cap of iron and leather" or a full "helm".  (Or maybe you're ok with nothing.)

[MENTION=51930]fireinthedust[/MENTION] - you said "Elf it is" but now it seems your still changing your mind about which character to pick.  Maybe it's time to flip a coin?  This is just one short adventure, not a full campaign, so you don't need to worry too much about getting the perfect character.

I'm itching to get started!  I'd like to start the adventure this weekend.


----------



## Walking Dad (Sep 16, 2011)

Ok, I change my old sheet's axe to mattock, no shield. Will take a full helm.

Will be very busy this weekend, so don't expect much until Monday from me.


----------



## Iron Sky (Sep 16, 2011)

I will also be gone all weekend. I may be able to get on Friday night, but definitely won't Sat and most likely Sun.


----------



## Voda Vosa (Sep 16, 2011)

I think I'll go with the mattock, makes sense for a miner dwarf methinks. Craft 3 Battle 2, Lore 2 will be my sill selection.


----------



## FourMonos (Sep 16, 2011)

[MENTION=82643]CaBaNa[/MENTION] Well, if I take off from your history, we could be cousins!

Our respective sides of the family would both be involved with the trade.  Your family was the growers, my family was the transporters/shippers.  Riggins traveled far and wide with his father and brothers, taking the family product throughout the Shire and neighboring lands.  He especially loved the time spent and Inns and markets where he absorbed every detail of the stories of dragons and orcs and treasure.  It didn't take a moments thought for him to volunteer to accompany his cousin on his new adventure to Laketown.  His skills with a bow grew from his time accompanying his father.  He has grand ideas of treasure and adventure.

What do you think?


----------



## fireinthedust (Sep 16, 2011)

i'll go with Vardolas, then, just to enjoy being a Tolkien elf.

[MENTION=53947]Iron[/MENTION]sky:  so my Vardolas is a noble elf, with some non-wood elf in him from somewhere, thus "the fair" as a title.  Really pretty, which is why he was named Vardolas, as in "similar to Varda".

I'm going to assume someone really close to him was killed during the razing of Dol Guldur, and that he pushed on to fight at the Battle of Five Armies.


1)  Where are we posting our sheets?

2)  the Generator doesn't seem to have equipment I can equip.  What should I be adding?  I'm thinking light armour, for bows and running in the wilds, that sort of thing.


----------



## JoeNotCharles (Sep 16, 2011)

fireinthedust said:


> 1)  Where are we posting our sheets?




So far just here.  I think we're supposed to make a thread in Rogues Gallery as well.



fireinthedust said:


> 2)  the Generator doesn't seem to have equipment I can equip.  What should I be adding?  I'm thinking light armour, for bows and running in the wilds, that sort of thing.




You automatically have one weapon of every time you have a skill for - if you have the (bows) cultural skill, what I would do is click on the empty line below Weapon Skills and add a single weapon skill for an individual type of bow to record the one you're actually carrying.

Then for armour / shield / helm, click on the line below Gear and then "add gear piece" to get the list of items you can take (you get one of each).


----------



## JoeNotCharles (Sep 17, 2011)

Voda Vosa said:


> I think I'll go with the mattock, makes sense for a miner dwarf methinks. Craft 3 Battle 2, Lore 2 will be my sill selection.




Ok, so that means you have Fatigue 20, Armour 4d, Headgear +1, Parry 6, Shield 0, Damage 6, Ranged 6.

Here's your updated character:

[sblock=Character Code]

```
{"name":"Kurin Stoneshield","culture":"dwarf","standard":"rich","culturalBlessing":"redoubtable","calling":"treasureHunter","shadowWeakness":"dragonSickness","specialties":"smithCraft,stoneCraft,burglary","features":"proud,wilful","favoured":"travel,search,explore,craft","awe":"1","inspire":"2","athletics":"1","travel":"3","stealth":"1","awareness":"1","insight":"1","search":"3","explore":"2","song":"1","riddle":"2","craft":"3","battle":"2","lore":"2","undefined":"2","body":"6","heart":"2","wits":"6","favouredbody":"8","favouredheart":"3","favouredwits":"9","endurance":"30","startingEndurance":"30","fatigue":"20","hope":"8","startingHope":"8","shadow":"0","armour":"4d","headgear":"+1","parry":"6","shield":"0","damage":"6","ranged":"6","wisdom":"2","valour":"1","experience":"","total":"","weary":"false","miserable":"false","wounded":"false","virtues":"brokenSpells","rewards":"","weaponSkills":"mattock,true,8,10,18,3,2;shortSword,false,5,10,14,1,1;dagger,false,3,G,12,0,1;,false,,,,,0","gear":"coatOfMail,16;capOfIronAndLeather,2;,;,;,","comments":{}}
```
[/sblock]

Which Broken Spells do you want to start with? *Spells of Opening and Shutting*, *Spells of Prohibition and Exclusion*, or *Spells of Secrecy*?



Walking Dad said:


> Ok, I change my old sheet's axe to mattock, no shield. Will take a full helm.




Ok, that gives you Fatigue 26, Armor 5d, Headgear +4, Damage 6, Ranged 6.  Here's your updated sheet:

[sblock=Character Code]

```
{"name":"","culture":"dwarf","standard":"rich","culturalBlessing":"redoubtable","calling":"slayer","shadowWeakness":"curseOfVengeance","specialties":"smithCraft,trading,orcLore","features":"bold,wrathful","favoured":"athletics,travel,craft,battle","awe":"1","inspire":"2","athletics":"1","travel":"3","awareness":"2","search":"3","explore":"2","healing":"1","hunting":"1","song":"1","riddle":"2","craft":"3","battle":"2","lore":"1","undefined":"2","body":"6","heart":"3","wits":"5","favouredbody":"9","favouredheart":"5","favouredwits":"6","endurance":"31","startingEndurance":"31","fatigue":"26","hope":"9","startingHope":"9","shadow":"0","armour":"5d","headgear":"+4","parry":"5","shield":"0","damage":"6","ranged":"6","wisdom":"1","valour":"2","experience":"","total":"","weary":"false","miserable":"false","wounded":"false","virtues":"","rewards":"dwarfWroughtHauberk","weaponSkills":"mattock,true,8,10,18,3,2;shortSword,false,5,10,14,1,1;dagger,false,3,G,12,0,1;,false,,,,,0","gear":"mailHauberk,20;helm,6;,;,;,","comments":{}}
```
[/sblock]



fireinthedust said:


> i'll go with Vardolas, then, just to enjoy being a Tolkien elf.




I really like the name!  Here's the sheet I have so far.  You just need to pick gear - armour, helm, and shield (if any).  Also, don't forget you can only use Stinging Arrow for your Elf-Magic for now.

[sblock=Character Code]

```
{"name":"Vardolas","culture":"elf","standard":"martial","culturalBlessing":"folkOfTheDusk","calling":"slayer","shadowWeakness":"curseOfVengeance","specialties":"elvenLore,mirkwoodLore,orcLore","features":"fair,swift","favoured":"inspire,persuade,athletics,awareness","awe":"2","persuade":"1","athletics":"3","travel":"1","stealth":"2","awareness":"2","insight":"1","healing":"1","hunting":"1","song":"2","riddle":"1","battle":"2","lore":"3","undefined":"3","body":"4","heart":"4","wits":"6","favouredbody":"7","favouredheart":"6","favouredwits":"7","endurance":"26","startingEndurance":"26","fatigue":"4","hope":"12","startingHope":"12","shadow":"0","armour":"0","headgear":"0","parry":"6","shield":"","damage":"4","ranged":"4","wisdom":"2","valour":"1","experience":"","total":"","weary":"false","miserable":"false","wounded":"false","virtues":"woodElfMagic","rewards":"","weaponSkills":"bow,true,5,10,14,1,3;sword,false,5,10,16,2,1;dagger,false,3,G,12,0,1;,false,,,,,0","gear":",;,;,;,;,","comments":{}}
```
[/sblock]


----------



## JoeNotCharles (Sep 17, 2011)

I notice all 3 Slayers took Orc-Lore.  Don't you want to spread the lore around a little bit?  Also both Elves took Wood-Elf Magic, which means you must start with the same spell.  No problem with that if you think it'll be useful to you, but you might want a little more variety?

We have an awful lot of bow users here.  One peculiarity of the combat system is that - unless you outnumber the enemy - you can only use a bow if 2 allies protect you by fighting hand to hand - otherwise the enemy can get close enough to make your bow useless.  So if 2 people are using bows, you need 4 people fighting up close - if 3 people are using bows, you need *6* up close!  And we have *4* bow users!  (However, unless you're ambushed you can usually get off a few shots with ranged weapons before closing in and switching to a hand to hand weapon.)

We have: Hobnob is good with a bow, Riggins is good with a bow or a sword (better with the sword, but owns a special bow), and Vardolas and Authiel are both specialized with the bow.  So Riggins is in pretty good shape - he can fire a few times and then use the sword.  But I'd strongly suggest that either Hobnob switch around Bow and Shortsword, so we can have 2 bow specialists, 1 person who can use a bow if there's an opportunity, and 4 who must fight up close; or have one of the elves change to 2 Bow, 2 Sword so that they can fight hand to hand, in which case we have 2 people always using bows (only one is really excellent at it though), 2 people who can use bows when there's an opportunity, and 3 who always fight up close.


----------



## CaBaNa (Sep 17, 2011)

Hobnob isn't much for combat in general currently. He is a farmer, give me a little to work on it.


----------



## JoeNotCharles (Sep 17, 2011)

CaBaNa said:


> Hobnob isn't much for combat in general currently. He is a farmer, give me a little to work on it.




I've been playing too much 4E, where everyone's got their combat role.   If you're fine with him hiding all combat anyway (that neat vanishing trick sure will help with that!) then it doesn't really matter whether he uses a bow or not...


----------



## garyh (Sep 17, 2011)

I'm going to go with Orin for my dwarf's name.  If you want to rhyme, Walking Dad, you could go with (_)orin or O(_)in as bases.


----------



## CaBaNa (Sep 17, 2011)

The plan was to vanish for most of combat, maybe stepping out to heal a wounded ally, or popping off a shot from the shadows at an opportune moment. How much of a role does combat play in this game? In 4e combat is much of the time spent at the table.

EDIT:

Here is the code for the changed character. JNC may I please change the trait "Cautious" back to the trait "Merry". Keeping the same background story, however changing Restless Farmer to Witty Gentleman. This is to reflect Hobnob's role in his family, he doesn't just work the soil, he also works the sale. 


```
{"name":"","culture":"hobbit","standard":"prosperous","culturalBlessing":"hobbitSense","calling":"scholar","shadowWeakness":"lureOfSecrets","specialties":"herbLore,smoking,rhymesOfLore","features":"cautious,patient","favoured":"persuade,stealth,insight,lore","awe":"1","persuade":"2","travel":"1","stealth":"3","awareness":"2","insight":"2","search":"2","explore":"1","healing":"2","song":"2","courtesy":"3","riddle":"2","lore":"2","undefined":"2","body":"2","heart":"6","wits":"6","favouredbody":"3","favouredheart":"8","favouredwits":"9","endurance":"22","startingEndurance":"22","fatigue":"6","hope":"18","startingHope":"18","shadow":"","armour":"","headgear":"","parry":"6","shield":"+2","damage":"2","ranged":"2","wisdom":"2","valour":"1","experience":"","total":"","weary":"false","miserable":"false","wounded":"false","virtues":"artOfDisappearing","rewards":"","weaponSkills":"shortSword,true,5,10,14,1,2;bow,false,5,10,14,1,1;dagger,false,3,G,12,0,1;,false,,,,,0","gear":",;,;shield,3;,1;,","comments":{}}
```

Fourmonos, I love that idea, and now that Hobnob uses a shortsword Riggins has cover.


----------



## Walking Dad (Sep 19, 2011)

garyh said:


> I'm going to go with Orin for my dwarf's name.  If you want to rhyme, Walking Dad, you could go with (_)orin or O(_)in as bases.




I will take Borin.

As we are of the same family, having the same 'slayer-incident', makes taking the same lore nearly a must.

Was away the weekend to visit my father-in-law with my family. I  returned and one relay station of my Internet provider is broken,  leaving me with no access at home. I'm currently in the local library,  but this slows down my posting considerably.


----------



## Voda Vosa (Sep 19, 2011)

JoeNotCharles said:


> Ok, so that means you have Fatigue 20, Armour 4d, Headgear +1, Parry 6, Shield 0, Damage 6, Ranged 6.
> 
> Here's your updated character:
> 
> ...




Thats strange, because when I pick Broken spells it doesn't allow me to pick another ability. I'll take spell of shutting and opening.


----------



## JoeNotCharles (Sep 19, 2011)

Voda Vosa said:


> Thats strange, because when I pick Broken spells it doesn't allow me to pick another ability. I'll take spell of shutting and opening.




Right, it's just fan-made, so although it's slick it doesn't support every option.  (It calculates your starting Fatigue wrong, for another example.)  The text of Broken Spells says, "You know _one_ of the following spells:" but the sheet doesn't support virtues with more than one sub-option.

You can learn more spells after the first by spending experience.


----------



## Iron Sky (Sep 19, 2011)

[MENTION=51930]fireinthedust[/MENTION], how about you stick with the magic and I'll switch to something else... maybe switch to valor and get a woodland bow for a bonus opening volley.

Have we resolved our melee/ranged line? Sounds like we need 5 melee, 2 ranged for the ranged to be able to focus on it. My character was designed to be an archer, but I could go in and tweak her to do something else...


----------



## CaBaNa (Sep 20, 2011)

I liked having both elves able to use magic, thought it would be useful, sad to see it change. I changed Hobnob from bow to short sword, and Riggins can work in either role, so I believe we're fine.


----------



## Walking Dad (Sep 20, 2011)

I tested to load a new sheet with the new code, but I only get a syntax error.

Help???


----------



## JoeNotCharles (Sep 20, 2011)

Walking Dad said:


> I tested to load a new sheet with the new code, but I only get a syntax error.
> 
> Help???




Works fine for me.  Are you sure you copied all of it?


----------



## Walking Dad (Sep 21, 2011)

Re-tried and it worked... strange...

*Name:* Borin  *Culture:* Dwarf of the Lonely Mountain  *Standard of Living:* Rich
*Cultural blessing:* Redoubtable  *Calling:* Slayer  *Shadow weakness:* Curse of Vengeance
*Specialties:* Smith-craft, Trading, Orc-lore
*Distinctive features:* Bold, Wrathful
*Body*: 6 *Heart*: 3 *Wits*: 5
*Body (favoured)*: 9 *Heart (favoured)*: 5 *Wits (favoured)*: 6
*-Common Skills-*

*Awe*: 1 *Inspire*: 2 *Persuade*: 0 
*Athletics*: 1 *Travel*: 3 *Stealth*: 0 
*Awareness*: 2 *Insight*: 0 *Search*: 3 
*Explore*: 2 *Healing*: 1 *Hunting*: 1 
*Song*: 1 *Courtesy*: 0 *Riddle*: 2 
*Craft*: 3 *Battle*: 2 *Lore*: 1 
*-Weapon Skills-*

*Mattock*: 2 *damage*: 8 *edge*: 10 *injury*: 18 *enc*: 3
*Short sword*: 1 *damage*: 5 *edge*: 10 *injury*: 14 *enc*: 1
*Dagger*: 1 *damage*: 3 *edge*: G *injury*: 12 *enc*: 0
*-Virtues-*: 
*-Rewards-*: Dwarf-wrought Hauberk
*-Gear-*

Mail hauberk *enc*: 20
Helm *enc*: 6

*Endurance*: 31 *Starting Endurance*: 31 *Fatigue*: 26 *Hope*: 9 *Starting Hope*: 9 *Shadow*: 0 *Armour*: 5 *Headgear*: 4 *Parry*: 5 *Shield*: 0 *Damage*: 6 *Ranged*: 6 *Wisdom*: 1 *Valour*: 2 *Experience*: 0 *Total Experience*: 0


----------



## fireinthedust (Sep 21, 2011)

Hey guys, sorry for being slow.  Working literally 7 days a week, so it's been hard to keep awake let alone fiddle with stats.  I'm still in, and tonight I'll try to get the equipment done.

I'm just happy to be an elf, due to the history.  If we're both archers/ranged (thanks, oh hobbit!), I don't mind.  Maybe we studied together?


----------



## JoeNotCharles (Sep 21, 2011)

Work unexpectedly picked up for me this week, too - I've pretty much been checking every second day or so.


----------



## JoeNotCharles (Sep 22, 2011)

Voda Vosa said:


> Thats strange, because when I pick Broken spells it doesn't allow me to pick another ability. I'll take spell of shutting and opening.




I just found out you can click on "Broken Spells" and it will give you an option to "Set Comment" - you can type "Opening and Shutting" there and it'll be shown as



> Broken Spells _(Opening and Shutting)_




So, looks like everybody's good except fireinthedust needs to pick equipment - one more step is the creation of your Fellowship.

You will meet in Lake-town, where you'll be given a comission by a prominent citizen.  Maybe you already know each other, or maybe you'll be brought together by your employer.  We've established the two Hobbits know each other, but do you two know the Dwarves?

I think it would work well if the two Elves don't know the others just yet - I actually have a hook to start them off in that case.

In any case, once you're brought together you will have a *Fellowship Rating* of *9* - that's 1 per member, plus 1 per Hobbit with the Hobbit-sense blessing.

Recall that you may spend a point of Hope after making a roll to add your Body, Heart or Wits to the roll (and if the roll was for one of your favoured[/b] skills, you add the favoured value instead of the basic one).  Hope _doesn't_ replenish at the end of an adventure.  The only way to recover it is by spending Fellowship.  Spend 1 point of Fellowship, restore 1 point of Hope.  You can do this at any time, and Fellowship _does_ replenish at the end of the adventure.  (This way, you can recover 9 points of spent Hope each adventure, spread out among the 7 of you.)

To spend a point of Fellowship, at least half of the other members of the company must agree, since a communal resource.  If you can't get at least 4 of 7 to agree, you can spend Fellowship anyway, but you gain 1 point of Shadow for every point you spend (for being so selfish).

Also, each character may choose a *Fellowship Focus*, another character who you're especially close to.  (Frodo was clearly Sam's Fellowship Focus.)  They don't have to reciprocate.  Your Fellowship Focus does two things: they're a *Source of Hope* (at the end of an adventure, you regain 1 point of Hope if your Fellowship Focus wasn't harmed; you gain 1 point of Shadow if they were wounded, or 3 points if they were killed) and they're a *Source of Inspiration* (if you spend a Hope point to add to a roll you were using to directly protect or favour your Fellowship Focus, and the roll succeeds, you immediately get your Hope point back).

So, think about this, and tomorrow I'll post the start of the adventure!  (If you haven't finished picking Fellowship Focuses, or if fireinthedust hasn't picked equipment yet, that's fine - there'll be some roleplaying before we get to the first journey into the Wild, so you still have a few more days to finalize things.)


----------



## Walking Dad (Sep 22, 2011)

Due to Internet problems at home I will be unable to post on the weekends until the nearby relay station is repaired.


----------



## Voda Vosa (Sep 22, 2011)

About the fellowship focuses, I don't think my character knows any other, or if he does, not enough for that kind of attachment. Perhaps it could be developed later?


----------



## JoeNotCharles (Sep 23, 2011)

Voda Vosa said:


> About the fellowship focuses, I don't think my character knows any other, or if he does, not enough for that kind of attachment. Perhaps it could be developed later?




Ok, so we have Orin and Borin are - brothers?  Cousins?

Kurin Stoneshield is another dwarf living in/around the Lonely Mountain who doesn't know them closely, although perhaps by sight or by reputation.

Hobnob and Riggins are business partners exporting pipeweed to (that's an awesome hook, BTW).

Authiel is one of the marchwardens of Mirkwood, and Vardolas is a noble at the court of King Thranduil.  Not sure if you guys know each other, but the hook I'm going to give works either way.

Have I got that right?


----------



## JoeNotCharles (Sep 23, 2011)

Game thread is up!


----------



## CaBaNa (Sep 23, 2011)

@FourMonos , I like your character background, PM me about any additional details, or if you want to have Hobnob and Riggins be each others fellowship focus.

 @JoeNotCharles  would it be alright to change the character trait "Cautious" to "Merry"? I think you've accurately described Riggins and Hobnob.



```
{"name":"","culture":"hobbit","standard":"prosperous","culturalBlessing":"hobbitSense","calling":"scholar","shadowWeakness":"lureOfSecrets","specialties":"herbLore,smoking,rhymesOfLore","features":"merry,patient","favoured":"persuade,stealth,insight,lore","awe":"1","persuade":"2","travel":"1","stealth":"3","awareness":"2","insight":"2","search":"2","explore":"1","healing":"2","song":"2","courtesy":"3","riddle":"2","lore":"2","undefined":"2","body":"2","heart":"6","wits":"6","favouredbody":"3","favouredheart":"8","favouredwits":"9","endurance":"22","startingEndurance":"22","fatigue":"6","hope":"18","startingHope":"18","shadow":"","armour":"","headgear":"","parry":"6","shield":"+2","damage":"2","ranged":"2","wisdom":"2","valour":"1","experience":"","total":"","weary":"false","miserable":"false","wounded":"false","virtues":"artOfDisappearing","rewards":"","weaponSkills":"shortSword,true,5,10,14,1,2;bow,false,5,10,14,1,1;dagger,false,3,G,12,0,1;,false,,,,,0","gear":",;,;shield,3;,1;,","comments":{}}
```


----------



## garyh (Sep 23, 2011)

I think we decided on cousins.


----------



## Iron Sky (Sep 23, 2011)

Since Vardolas is going with Elven Magic, I switched to valor and a Woodland Bow.  Final character is below.

[sblock=Authiel Silivrenniel]*Name:* Authiel Silivrenniel  *Culture:* Elf of Mirkwood  *Standard of Living:* Martial
*Cultural blessing:* Folk of the Dusk  *Calling:* Warden  *Shadow weakness:* Lure of Power
*Specialties:* Mirkwood-lore, Woodwright, Shadow-lore
*Distinctive features:* Hardened, Keen-eyed
*Body*: 5 *Heart*: 3 *Wits*: 6
*Body (favoured)*: 7 *Heart (favoured)*: 6 *Wits (favoured)*: 7
*-Common Skills-*

*Awe*: 2 *Inspire*: 0 *Persuade*: 0
*Athletics*: 3 *Travel*: 1 *Stealth*: 2
*Awareness*: 2 *Insight*: 0 *Search*: 1
*Explore*: 1 *Healing*: 1 *Hunting*: 1
*Song*: 2 *Courtesy*: 0 *Riddle*: 0
*Craft*: 1 *Battle*: 2 *Lore*: 3
*-Weapon Skills-*

*Bow*: 3 *damage*: 5 *edge*: 10 *injury*: 14 *enc*: 1
*Sword*: 1 *damage*: 5 *edge*: 10 *injury*: 16 *enc*: 2
*Dagger*: 1 *damage*: 3 *edge*: G *injury*: 12 *enc*: 1
*-Virtues-*: 
*-Rewards-*: Woodland Bow
*-Gear-*

Mail shirt *enc*: 12
Cap of iron and leather *enc*: 2
Buckler *enc*: 1

*Endurance*: 25 *Starting Endurance*: 25 *Fatigue*: 19 *Hope*: 11 *Starting Hope*: 11 *Shadow*: 0 *Armour*: 3 *Headgear*: 1 *Parry*: 6 *Shield*: 1 *Damage*: 0 *Ranged*: 0 *Wisdom*: 1 *Valour*: 2 *Experience*: 0 *Total Experience*: 0 
[/sblock]


----------



## Walking Dad (Sep 23, 2011)

Cousins it is.

Bad news. The internet relay station I rely for home access is still broken. I will not be able to post on weekends


----------



## Voda Vosa (Sep 23, 2011)

So are we in the town and free to post, or must we wait for our introductions? I like introductions. =)


----------



## JoeNotCharles (Sep 23, 2011)

CaBaNa said:


> @FourMonos , I like your character background, PM me about any additional details, or if you want to have Hobnob and Riggins be each others fellowship focus.




Hob can be Rigg's focus without Rigg having any say in it (or vice versa), BTW.



CaBaNa said:


> @JoeNotCharles  would it be alright to change the character trait "Cautious" to "Merry"? I think you've accurately described Riggins and Hobnob.




Sure!  Not sure if it's possible to change the traits on the live character sheet, but you can just add a note.



Voda Vosa said:


> So are we in the town and free to post, or must we wait for our introductions? I like introductions. =)




I'm going to introduce the characters one group a day or so, when it's clear what the people I've already posted are doing.  If you get impatient, feel free to post your character doing something in town or arriving in town, so I can work it in.

Do the Dwarves want to be already living in Laketown, or just visiting?  If visiting, what's your business?  (You could be employed by Gloin - either as part of his trading company, or on his small staff as official envoy of the Lonely Mountain to Laketown.  That'd be convenient.)


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## Voda Vosa (Sep 23, 2011)

Kurin can be employed at something, he is very good at at the smith and stoneworks


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## JoeNotCharles (Sep 23, 2011)

Voda Vosa said:


> Kurin can be employed at something, he is very good at at the smith and stoneworks




I don't think Lake-town has a smith or stoneworks - it's made entirely of wood and floats on the lake.  (They have somebody who can mend horseshoes and fix axles, but no major forge.)  Maybe you have a smithy at the Lonely Mountain and have brought goods down to Lake-town to trade? (Or simply to explore?)


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## Voda Vosa (Sep 24, 2011)

I like the trading thingy more. I suspected, from the background given about the Lakefolk being good smiths, that the town had at least one, in which Kurin could be teaching the humans how to do thing correctly.


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## CaBaNa (Sep 24, 2011)

Thanks for the info JNC!

Hobnob will have Riggins as a Fellowship Focus in that case.

Hobnob feels personally responsible for Riggins presence on this venture, and would feel incredible guilty if his cousin were injured on the journey. Likewise, having family around heartens Hobnob the Hobbit, and Riggins gives him the strength to carry on during their journeys together.

EDIT: I changed cautious to merry in the code, saved and imported back into the builder, worked just fine. Exported those results, and updated the threads first page character sheet to reflect changes. I'll be thinking up and adding gear tonight, let me know if you disagree with any of my picks, I'll post them here.

*-Gear-*

Shield *enc*: 3
Flint & Steel
Miniature torch
Short Sword
Sickle (Dagger)
Sling (Short Bow) and rocks (arrows)
Pipes; a wooden Strider, a wooden Gandalf, a clay Sherlock, and a clay Briar.
Three different types of pipe-weed, in bulk and seeds enough to test the nearby areas for growth potential.
Letterhead for potential contracts.
Horn
Water-skin
First aid kit (strips of cloth, varying herbs and poultices, sealed boiled water, thread and needle.)
Notebook with various herb-lore and medical information, pressed herbs between some pages.


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## JoeNotCharles (Sep 24, 2011)

Voda Vosa said:


> I like the trading thingy more. I suspected, from the background given about the Lakefolk being good smiths, that the town had at least one, in which Kurin could be teaching the humans how to do thing correctly.




There are 3 cities involved (see the map in this post):

Erebor, aka The Lonely Mountain, the Dwarven city/kingdom
Dale, the human city at the foot of the mountain
Esgaroth, aka Lake-Town, south of Dale on the Long Lake

Bardings (followers of King Bard of Dale) live in both Dale and Esgaroth, but Dale is the city that's learning smithcraft from the Dwarves.  Esgaroth is smaller and more rustic, but as it's on a crossroads for water traffic it's becoming a hub of trade.  (It's more convenient for men of Dale, Dwarves of Erebor, and outsiders to all bring goods to Lake-town to trade rather than forcing caravans from outside to travel further north upstream to Dale and the Lonely Mountain.)

The history (from The Hobbit): in olden times, the the Lonely Mountain was a mighty dwarfhold and Dale was the capital of a prosperous human kingdom spread out throughout the wide fertile lands at its foot.  But when the dragon Smaug came out of the north and drove the Dwarves out of the mountain, he also ravaged Dale, burning its fields and turning the entire surrounding countryside into a wasteland called the Desolation of Smaug.  The men of Dale who survived fled south to the Long Lake and founded Lake-town, while the Dwarves who survived fled east to the Iron Hills.

Many years later Smaug attacked Lake-town and, although he burned most of it, he was slain by Bard the Bowman, a descendant of the last King of Dale.  Dwarves of the Iron Hills returned to rebuild the Lonely Mountain, led by Dain Ironfoot who became its King.  Bard was proclaimed the new King of the humans, and most of the surviving men of Lake-town followed him north to rebuild Dale.  But some remained to rebuild Lake-town, and they also acknowledge him as King.


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## garyh (Sep 24, 2011)

Envoys of the Lonely Mountain to Laketown sounds good to me.


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## fireinthedust (Sep 24, 2011)

Authiel:  I'm good with Vardola knowing you.  A fellowship focus could also be good.  Keep in mind they're both anti-orc wood elves, so they could easily have met over the past 100+ years.


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## Iron Sky (Sep 25, 2011)

fireinthedust said:


> Authiel:  I'm good with Vardola knowing you.  A fellowship focus could also be good.  Keep in mind they're both anti-orc wood elves, so they could easily have met over the past 100+ years.




Sure, maybe we were together helping Gandalf drive the Necromancer out of Dol Goldur and been friends since?

I'm good with each other as a fellowship focus.


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## Walking Dad (Sep 26, 2011)

I feel that my world knowledge is to limited to keep up with the rest of you. Something similar happened again and I started to post less and less to avoid saying something "wrong".

I will respectfully bow out of this game and make room for someone else with a completer knowledge of Lord of the Rings.

Good gaming!


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## JoeNotCharles (Sep 26, 2011)

Walking Dad said:


> I feel that my world knowledge is to limited to keep up with the rest of you. Something similar happened again and I started to post less and less to avoid saying something "wrong".




That's too bad!  I hope you'll reconsider.  There's not really much world knowledge needed here - we're only covering a very small part of the area from Lord of the Rings.  I've covered pretty much all you need to know in the first  post in this thread and the one on Lake-town above.  You could always play an unsociable Dwarf who's been head-down in the forge and never paid any attention to news from outside, which would give you an in-character excuse to make all kinds of mistakes.

(Also, I'm probably making all kinds of mistakes myself, as this area is from The Hobbit and it's been ages since I read it.  So I'm not worried about accuracy.)


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## Walking Dad (Sep 27, 2011)

Ok, as you are all so nice 

Please excuse any dumb questions and erratic (character) behavior in advance. I feel sometimes lost between all the knowledge about the knowledge of Middle Earth history between you.


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## Voda Vosa (Sep 27, 2011)

Just act like a normal dwarf WD. You'll be fine =)


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## fireinthedust (Sep 27, 2011)

yeah, though less piratey and more craftsmanshipey than D&D dwarves.

Also:  Yay!

Also:  Frankly, there isn't a lot of information to go on unless you're an elf.  I have no idea the structure of erebor, or that the humans did what they end up doing in the game here.  Ditto the beornings and woodsmen.  Really, they're mentioned and hinted at, but not really described directly by Tolkien.  imho, most of what we're seeing in the game so far is conjecture on the part of the game designers, as well-informed as it may be. 

Unless you're talking elves, but I have a sense that most of that info has to do with Valinor and the West rather than middle earth (I dunno), and stuff that's ancient history and won't come into play in the game, in theory.  

Woo!  Game on!  Now I just have to figure out how to add equipment!


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## Walking Dad (Oct 17, 2011)

Can someone explain traits to me? Is 'Dwarf' a trait?

Are they chosen or automatic? What are Borin's traits?

(Got stuck in the IC thread as I realized I need a Gandalf to succeed.)


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## JoeNotCharles (Oct 17, 2011)

Walking Dad said:


> Can someone explain traits to me? Is 'Dwarf' a trait?
> 
> Are they chosen or automatic? What are Borin's traits?




You can see your traits in the on-line character sheet at The One Ring - Online Character Sheet - choose "Load Character From Code" and paste your character code, which I have saved as:


```
{"name":"Borin","culture":"dwarf","standard":"rich","culturalBlessing":"redoubtable","calling":"slayer","shadowWeakness":"curseOfVengeance","specialties":"smithCraft,trading,orcLore","features":"bold,wrathful","favoured":"athletics,travel,craft,battle","awe":"1","inspire":"2","athletics":"1","travel":"3","awareness":"2","search":"3","explore":"2","healing":"1","hunting":"1","song":"1","riddle":"2","craft":"3","battle":"2","lore":"1","undefined":"2","body":"6","heart":"3","wits":"5","favouredbody":"9","favouredheart":"5","favouredwits":"6","endurance":"31","startingEndurance":"31","fatigue":"26","hope":"9","startingHope":"9","shadow":"0","armour":"5d","headgear":"+4","parry":"5","shield":"0","damage":"6","ranged":"6","wisdom":"1","valour":"2","experience":"","total":"","weary":"false","miserable":"false","wounded":"false","virtues":"","rewards":"dwarfWroughtHauberk","weaponSkills":"mattock,true,8,10,18,3,2;shortSword,false,5,10,14,1,1;dagger,false,3,G,12,0,1;,false,,,,,0","gear":"mailHauberk,20;helm,6;,;,1;,","comments":{"":"Summer Travelling Gear"}}
```

Under Traits, you have "smith-craft", "trading", "orc-lore", "bold", and "wrathful".  (The first three are "specialties", meaning they're things you know how to do, and the last two are "distinctive features", meaning they're personality traits.  But the distinction between the two types isn't important - they all work the same.)  You chose those during character creation: the background and calling you took each gave you a short list that you picked from.

You can see exactly what each trait means by mousing over it - there should be a popup.  If it's not working for you let me know and I'll paste the descriptions here.

In this case, you're trying for insight into what Glóin, Dwarven master trader, is thinking.  So you could say that you are used to reading people's manner because you are good at negotiating, so your "Trading" trait would apply.  I don't really see any way any of your other traits would apply here.  (It's up to you to argue for why a trait would apply in a given situation.  I might say that "Trading" doesn't apply here because you're not actually involved in a negotiation, for instance.  But I'll allow it this time.  Whether it applies or not is a matter of consensus.)

Since "Trading" could apply to this situation, it can have one of three effects:

1. You can use it to get an automatic success (but not an extraordinary success!) instead of rolling.
2. You can use it to get a roll in a situation that most people would find impossible.  (For example, if you're being shaken down by bandits, maybe you could say that you're such a deft hand at Trading you can demand they give you something in return - it sounds crazy, so I wouldn't even let most people roll for that, but since you have the "Trading" trait I'd give it a small chance of success.)
3. If you're rolling normally (ie. not using one of the above two effects), and you succeed, you can ask for an Attribute Point (spent to improve skills after the adventure) as a reward for your roll.  (I might give you one anyway, but you get them more often if you can invoke a Trait with your roll.  You never get AP if you don't roll.)

In this case, since Hob already divined Glóin's secret, it's not critical that you make your roll.  So you could decide to roll anyway and hope for a Gandalf rune, and ask for an AP because of your Trading trait if you succeed (note that with 0 dice of Insight, you can't get an extraordinary success even if you roll).  Or you could just invoke Trading for an automatic success, but definitely not get an AP.


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## Walking Dad (Oct 17, 2011)

Trying to get an AP from an 'unimportant' roll seems cheesy. I will just invoke the trait.

So Trait is just another name for Specialties plus Distinctive features? Right?


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## JoeNotCharles (Oct 17, 2011)

Right.


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## Voda Vosa (Oct 24, 2011)

Just found I have no character sheet posted in forum format.

*Nombre:* Kurin Stoneshield  *Cultura:* Enano de la montaña Solitaria  *Nivel de vida:* Rico
*Bendición cultural:* Temible  *Ocupación:* Buscador de tesoros  *Debilidad ante la Sombra:* Mal del dragon
*Especialidades:* Herrería, Cantería, Hurtar
*Rasgos distintivos:* Orgulloso, Terco
*Cuerpo*: 6 *Corazón*: 2 *Mente*: 6
*Cuerpo (favorito)*: 8 *Corazón (favorito)*: 3 *Mente (favorito)*: 9
*-Habilidades comunes-*
*Impresionar*: 1 *Inspirar*: 2 *Persuadir*: 0 
*Atletismo*: 1 *Viajar*: 3 *Sigilo*: 1 
*Alerta*: 1 *Perspicacia*: 1 *Buscar*: 3 
*Explorar*: 2 *Curar*: 0 *Cazar*: 0 
*Cantar*: 1 *Cortesía*: 0 *Acertijos*: 2 
*Oficio*: 3 *Guerrear*: 2 *Saber*: 2 
*-Habilidades de armas-*
*Piqueta*: 2 *daño*: 8 *filo*: 10 *herida*: 18 *imp.*: 3
*Espada corta*: 1 *daño*: 5 *filo*: 10 *herida*: 14 *imp.*: 1
*Daga*: 1 *daño*: 3 *filo*: G *herida*: 12 *imp.*: 0
*-Virtudes-*: Conjuros Rotos
*-Recompensas-*: 
*-Equipo-*
Cota de malla *imp.*: 16
Capacete de hierro y cuero *imp.*: 2
*Aguante*: 30 *Aguante Inicial*: 30 *Cansancio*: 20 *Esperanza*: 8 *Esperanza Inicial*: 8 *Sombra*: 0 *Armadura*: 4 *Cubrecabezas*: 1 *Parada*: 6 *Escudo*: 0 *Daño*: 6 *A Distancia*: 6 *Sabiduría*: 2 *Valor*: 1 *Experiencia*: 0 *Experiencia Total*: 0


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## Walking Dad (Oct 30, 2011)

Seems like Kurin isn't a mechanically bad choice as a guide (3 and favored). For Borin, he has Hunting 1, but both Explore and Awareness 2. Sadly, none of them is favored.


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## CaBaNa (Oct 30, 2011)

that is one of the better explore scores in the group I think.


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## Voda Vosa (Oct 30, 2011)

Yep, That's why I chose to try to get a guiding role, as I saw I had Travel 3, explore 2, inspire 2, and knowledge 2.
So if anyone doesn't have any objection, Kurin will take the glory!


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## Walking Dad (Oct 31, 2011)

No objection now. But if you lead us to our doom, we know who to blame 

On second looks, Kurin looks to be our best scout with 2 and favored (or did I miss something).

As long as he wants to scout ahead, Borin could take the Guide responsibility, as they are matched in their abilities.

Could everyone post their Aware, Explore and stealth scores or shouldn't we decide by the numbers?


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## Voda Vosa (Oct 31, 2011)

Since Kurin is the eldest, he'll probably not be happy scouting ahead. It's tradition that the younger dwarves are the scouts and lookouts. I'm re-reading the Hobbit, and finding things like this is very rewarding! Also found that when dwarves make reverences, they flip-flop their hats or hoods over their knees and broom the ground with their beards. Funny stuff!


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## Walking Dad (Oct 31, 2011)

No wonder dwarfs are dying out, with the more experienced and old ones keeping back and let the lesser suited one dying


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## Voda Vosa (Nov 13, 2011)

So, how does AP work? Don't know if you already explained it already, but I can't seem to recall.


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## JoeNotCharles (Nov 13, 2011)

Voda Vosa said:


> So, how does AP work? Don't know if you already explained it already, but I can't seem to recall.




Experience points.   You spend them at the end of the adventure to increase your skills.

I didn't explain how much exactly it costs because it doesn't really matter at this point, beyond the obvious "more = better".


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## Voda Vosa (Nov 13, 2011)

Fair enough!


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## Walking Dad (Jan 17, 2012)

I still have not "got" the game and grow a bit frustrated with my inability to contribute much. Instead of further dodging posting I would like to get out gracefully and wish all of you a good time. Sorry it didn't work out with me.


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## JoeNotCharles (Jan 22, 2012)

Walking Dad said:


> I still have not "got" the game and grow a bit frustrated with my inability to contribute much. Instead of further dodging posting I would like to get out gracefully and wish all of you a good time. Sorry it didn't work out with me.




[MENTION=59043]Walking Dad[/MENTION]: sorry to hear that!  With 7 characters it can get a bit hard to distinguish yourself, especially with 2 social encounters in a row where your character doesn't have much of a motivation.  Spoiler: there's combat coming up soon.  Do you want to stick around for that and see how well you can contribute in a more physical encounter?  If not, I'll NPC Borin.


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## Walking Dad (Jan 22, 2012)

Please NPC him. I fear this invoking stuff and stances isn't for me. I wish you a great game and fun (so it should stay as it is as I gather from the other posters ).

I hope I will game with all of you at a later point with a system I can more easily wrap my mind around.


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## CaBaNa (Feb 1, 2012)

Thanks for giving it a go [MENTION=59043]Walking Dad[/MENTION], hope to play with you elsewhere too!


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## Voda Vosa (Feb 1, 2012)

Sad to see you go WD. See you around!


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## JoeNotCharles (Apr 1, 2012)

I've finally figured out how to use the online character server, so you can now see the same character sheets I'm using!  Go to The One Ring - Online Character Sheet, click on "Online Character Server" in the list of buttons on the right, and enter this info:

Group: JoeNotCharles-pbp
Password: enworld

Then click "Your Group's Characters", and it will give you a list of character sheets you can load and edit.  (If you change your sheet, you need to click "Online Character Server" again and then "Save Current Character" for it to save the changes.)


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## CaBaNa (Apr 30, 2012)

Redundant, deleted...


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