An idea for something we fans could work on and compile

After my latest session last night, and after looking at some other RPG discussion boards...I hit upon something that I haven't seen yet for the LOTR RPG.

Stats for various level bad guys and opponents.

You know how in the d20 SWRPG the back of the book has tons of stats for low, mid, and high level stormtroopers and other villains? Nothing like that really exists for LOTR.

What would be a handy tool would be a compilation of NPCs, statted out and advanced at a variety of levels. Such as:

Orc soldier
0-3 advancements (low)
4-6 advancements (mid)
7+ advancements (high)

Orc archer
0-3 advancements
4-6 advancements
7+ advancements

Easterling soldier
0-3 advancements
4-6 advancements
7+ advancements

etc. etc.

I could see how a Narrator who needs, say, 10 mid level Orcs, could just pull some out of the compliation and go, rather than having to create stats and add advancements to it. Call it a time-saving device...

Any ideas? :) I could see myself working up some stats from time to time...

Hate replying to my own threads, but...

How does this sound? We create a series of stats for varying levels of baddies, like so:

'Stock' baddie = 0 advancements

Low powered baddie = 4 advancements

Mid powered baddie = 8 advancements (could have an elite order)

High powered baddie = 12 advancements

Elite baddie = 16 advancements
(more if necessary)

Is that enough of a spread between advancements, or not enough? Thoughts?

Also, I'd recommend using the point allocation method of character generation, in an effort to keep all the NPCs consistent.

Hey Ineti! I really love the idea. However, you may (or may not :D) have noticed that I haven't been around on either of the boards much at all, and that's because I'm extremely busy these days and haven't had time for much LotR RPG stuff at all. There's tons of stuff I'd love to do for the RPG (i.e. The NPC Guide, another adventure like Barahir's Ring, this idea of yours, etc), but I just don't have the time right now. :(

So, I can't pledge my humble share of help, except for dropping in once in a while, until (best case scenario) Christmas break or (worst case scenario) Summer break.

I'll try to help as much as I can, but I can't put too much time into it right now. Sorry! :( Good luck and God bless! :)

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Originally posted by Ineti
Is that enough of a spread between advancements, or not enough? Thoughts?

Also, I'd recommend using the point allocation method of character generation, in an effort to keep all the NPCs consistent.

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I wonder how possible it is to achieve some sort of balance with this - as the CODA system seems quite easily bent to the goal of creating a combat monster through various Edges and abilities.

I think that if this project is begun, it might make more sense to get more granular with the specifications - such as:

Advancements - 8
Max Combat Rank - 9
Max Bonuses from Edges - +6
and so on...

I wish I could promise to contribute, but I am currently swamped with writing commitments (some of which are woefully overdue).

Ineti, you're just chocked full of good ideas! Something like this would be pretty useful, especially if organized as a quick-reference ready-to-go kind of thing. In fact, something like this sounds vastly more useful than the utterly worthless Fell Beasts book. I have found that in the official books the foes are, in general, too powerful for any reasonable "fellowship" against whom they might be pitted. I have had to "tone down" the basic Orcs and (especially) Uruks for my starting characters, using the listed book stats only for Goblins "champions" or Uruk-hai sergeants. And the drakes are so insanely powerful that only a platoon of heroes with 100 advancements apiece might be able to handle them. (Makes you wonder how Bard managed to beat Smaug?) So I would urge you to considering totally revising some of the book critters so that "stock" variants are actually manageable. I'm not saying that there should be a drake than any party of 4 starting characters could beat, but I would love to see some that are actually usable.

Also, I encourage you not to overlook something that is unforgivably absent in Fell Beasts: Unarmed Combat! After all, foes may every so often want to capture a character instead of mindlessly hacking away until death. (You know, like Goblins might want to grab some Dwarves and carry them off in sacks...)

i think that is a wonderful idea ineti.. and would be incredibly useful. I would be more then willing to help on this project any way i could.

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Originally posted by Scottomir
Ineti, you're just chocked full of good ideas! Something like this would be pretty useful, especially if organized as a quick-reference ready-to-go kind of thing. In fact, something like this sounds vastly more useful than the utterly worthless Fell Beasts book. I have found that in the official books the foes are, in general, too powerful for any reasonable "fellowship" against whom they might be pitted. I have had to "tone down" the basic Orcs and (especially) Uruks for my starting characters, using the listed book stats only for Goblins "champions" or Uruk-hai sergeants. And the drakes are so insanely powerful that only a platoon of heroes with 100 advancements apiece might be able to handle them. (Makes you wonder how Bard managed to beat Smaug?) So I would urge you to considering totally revising some of the book critters so that "stock" variants are actually manageable. I'm not saying that there should be a drake than any party of 4 starting characters could beat, but I would love to see some that are actually usable.

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Weird me coming to the defense of Decipher, but silly things do happen. Don't forget you can use the 1, 2 or 3 hit combat system. That way you can still have some good knock down drag outs, and still have the "heap of orcs killed by Boromir' kind of fun. It is one of the few outstanding things to have come from the company. Too bad the prices are way too high, but I won't get on that soap box.

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Originally posted by Phantom
Weird me coming to the defense of Decipher, but silly things do happen. Don't forget you can use the 1, 2 or 3 hit combat system.

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Yeah, and I could also toss pennies at a wall all night. In fact, Decipher's immensely lame 1/2/3 success rule is a lot like throwing pennies: heads you hit, tails you miss. It doesn't matter if you're a warrior with a longsword or a hobbit with a club, it doesn't matter if you're fighting a platoon of Uruk-hai or a gaggle of little goblins. If I'm going to play so that all of the other rules (Strength, damage, Health, wounds) don't matter, why did I pay $40 for the book? I could have just downloaded pretty stills from the LOTR website and free-formed my own crap-shoot rules.

Sorry, Ineti...I have a lot of respect for you and your great contributions to this board, but I loath that 1/2/3 system and the Fell Beasts part of the book (though Wondrous Items isn't bad).

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Originally posted by Scottomir
Sorry, Ineti...I have a lot of respect for you and your great contributions to this board, but I loath that 1/2/3 system and the Fell Beasts part of the book (though Wondrous Items isn't bad).

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Eh, the rules aren't for everyone. Doesn't bother me that you hate the rules; I didn't write them. :D

I like the mook rules because it makes combat fast, furious, and cinematic. It really gets my players into it as well; they can describe their actions in far more entertaining detail than "I hit for seven points."

I find I don't need a lot of crunch in my games to ensure a good time for my players. Cleaving an orc's skull with a sword and bashing its head in with a hammer are two different approaches with the same result - a dead Uruk. So what if a hammer should realistically do more damage than an axe or whatever; I want to know if the hero succeeded at killing the thing and moving on.

As usual, to each his own. :)

This does present a pickle for me, though. I create NPC sheets specifically built around the mook system I use. I don't create full stat sheets for opponents... I'll have to see how my initial stat sheets turn out. They probably won't be ideally suited for all Narrators.

Here is my first shot at doing something like this. I'm not sure I like the format of the 'character sheet.' What I did was create a step by step creation log for the character, then started adding advancements. I have stats for a 0 adv., a 2 adv., and a 4 adv. Easterling warrior. The advancement log and the stat blocks should add up correctly.

Note that on the 'character sheets,' the skills have the attribute and edge bonuses already added in. I did this because if this is going to be a Narrator's tool, the Narrator shouldn't have to stop to do the addition himself. It's already done for you. Also, the weapon damages already factor in the Strength bonus.

Suggestions, ideas? I want to make sure these are created in such a way that the Narrator doesn't have to page flip or really reference the core book...

Here's the stat sheets.

And here's the advancement log.

Oopsie! Noticed a little blunder. Will fix asap and get the files back up. :)

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Originally posted by Ineti
So what if a hammer should realistically do more damage than an axe or whatever; I want to know if the hero succeeded at killing the thing and moving on.

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Realistically Boromir would have died alot sooner then he did, Helm's Deep would have been a cake for 10 000 orc and Uruks. This is a game that models cinimatic scenes, not realism.

Here's the corrected stat sheets.

And here's the corrected advancement logs.

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Originally posted by Phantom
Realistically Boromir would have died alot sooner then he did, Helm's Deep would have been a cake for 10 000 orc and Uruks. This is a game that models cinimatic scenes, not realism.

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Exactly my point. :D

Very good work on the Easterling Temps. My only question is, given what was seen in the movie, shouldn't they wear scale mail instead of plate and chain?