Get Lord of the Rings RPG Now

[Sarge]

Just got mine from the FLGS today.

Wow.

Now I want to run a dozen different characters in half a dozen different eras. Great rules and great writing, and not just due to the great inspiration of JRRT. Everyone involved needs to give themselves a pat on their backs.

[Greg Davis]

I picked up my copy Friday at my new, FLGS (plus I got a nifty 20% off, as a 'new customer' bonus). Like most, I really like the look of the book, and it seems to, at first glance, handle the 'feel' of Tolkien very well.

I'll say more about it when I've given the book a more thorough read-through, but I have very positive feelings at this point.

As more people get copies of the Core Book, maybe we can get some adventure and chronicle threads going, to bounce some ideas of one another. If, for whatever reason, Don isn't going to add an exclusive forum for LotR discussion, there's no reason why we can't toss up thoughts, rules questions, possible errata and (as mentioned before, chronicle and adventure ideas) in the General Discussion forum.

For the sake of saying it, this is a game that I don't want to see curl up and die before it gets the chance to take off, due to lack of interest or whatnot. Perhaps by spurring some discussion here about the game, we might be able to draw some more attention to it, and encourage more people to get interested in it?

Just my thoughts....yours may vary!


Greg

[Dan Stack]

I spoke with my FLGS last week and was told "it's not out yet" - at least according to his distributors...

Though I like supporting my local store, I went ahead and ordered it on-line. I tried to order it via Decipher's website, but it went ahead and accepted all my info and when I submitted the order told me they were having trouble and that they weren't accepting orders at this time. HELLO!!! Maybe tell me before I START ordering?

Wound up ordering via ENWorld.org's shop. They shipped it last Thursday so I'll soon have it. (And neither bn.com nor amazon.com have it listed as available)

I wish the distribution network for RPGs was better. I wound up ordering half of my LUG-Trek books directly from LUG.

[Greg Davis]

I can sympathize, Dan...I usually get my stuff at either Waldenbooks or Barnes and Noble, and neither had any clue as to when it would arrive. Then, driving around town on Friday, I noticed that the local Comic Book store had a sign up that mentioned that they now sold roleplaying games, as well as miniatures. Intrigued, I stopped in, and lo and behold, they had 1 copy of the Lord of the Rings Core Book, along with the Star Trek Player's Guide and Narrator's Guide. Needless to say, I was shocked, even more so when the fellow told me that he'd give me a new customer discount of 20%. Heck, I was so happy that I purchased a membership in their gaming club, which gives me 20% off of anything in the store (as well as special orders) for a one-time only price of $20! No more need to renew my Walden card or my B&N card, either, it seems!

On a side note, I remember how tough it was to get LUG stuff, locally...Aside from the TNG Core Book, the Price of Freedom book, All Our Yesterdays, and the Starfleet Intelligence book, I ordered everything from LUG...



Greg

[tonyg]

Originally posted by Don Mappin
I've found one header typo/error and that's it. Take that for what you will...

Keep looking. There are more in there. And a few points that require clarification. Off the top of my head, I can think of:

-Small Shield: Defense against missles is 3 points in text, but 5 points on the table.
-Hobbits: Stoor and Harfoot hobbits get the same stat modifiers (this could be intentional).
-Racial Skills are not defined: Are they any skills that are available to a character due to thier race, or just those skills they select during character creation? Since racial skills can be improved at 1 per during advancement this is important.
Craftman's Shop: Earns 1d6 tharni per month, but the value of a tharni isn't given anywhere in the book (according the the decipher web site 1 tharni = 1 sp)
Mithril Chainmail: In one spot in the book it states that armor constructed from mithril has +10 protection over non-mithral versions, but elsewhere it lists mithral chainmal as having +12 protection.


Still, I really can't see holding stuff like this against the game. I buy RPGs to play them. The typos are minor, and in most cases are easy to fix.

Overall LotR is a very good RPG. Very flexible, and with a nice "feel" to it.

Character generation is a blast. There are a lot of options for rounding out a character!

[Greg Davis]

Well, I’m no expert, but I’ll take a shot at these with my interpretations and thoughts…

Small Shield: I would go with the text, as opposed to the table. As the penalty to ranged attacks seems to be based on the size of the shield (and thus the cover that it would provide), I fail to see how a small shield could provide the same level of coverage that a large shield would. Thus, I think that the texts statement of +3 to parry and -3 to ranged attacks would be appropriate.

Hobbits (and racial ability score adjustments in general): For this, I look at Merry (a Stoor) and Pippin (a Harfoot) as examples. Neither are so different, in terms of their subrace of Hobbit, to make them stand apart in terms of raw attributes. Granted, racial ability adjustments are often a point of contention for any game system, and I know of many who think that the racial adjustments are off (particularly for Elves, though I don’t feel as strongly about that as others). Still, it’s an easy fix, I think. Simply adjust them to suit your particular tastes. For instance, reading the Stoor description (p 67) “Broader and heavier than other Hobbits…” you could easily interpret that as meaning that Stoors might not need to suffer the same sort of Strength penalty that other Hobbits suffer, perhaps leaving them not as Nimble as the Harfoots. Again, though, I think that it’s something that’s really open to speculation and individual tastes.

Racial Skills: To my knowledge, Racial Skills are, for the purposes of advancement picks, the Languages and Lore skills of the characters race, and are not the list of racial skills that appears in each racial section. Those are, I think, more of a representative list of skills often, but not exclusively, found in members of each particular race.

Craftsman’s Shop: I think you’ve answered your own question here, as I would guess that the term ‘tharni’ is probably a racial term for a silver penny (sp). Perhaps in the upcoming errata Decipher will include terms for racial and regional monetary distinctions?

Mithril Chainmail: I think that, in this instance, I would go with the +10 found on Table 8.3 (p 208). For the example of Frodo’s Mithril chain, It would absorb +17 total points of damage (10 from it being Mithril, and another 7 due to it being Dwarf Chainmail). Given that, it would more readily allow for the damage Frodo takes from the thrown spear in the Fellowship of the Ring, wherein he is hit, but takes little damage, yet is damaged (through bruises and whatnot) but not seriously injured. As a spear does 2d6+3, plus Strength, it would have required a mighty throw from a powerful Orc (as it was described in the novel, an orc chieftain, thus probably an Orc with a few advancements) for Frodo to even have taken the bruising damage (with the damage roll probably having been maximized). Still, even with maximum damage, Frodo would have only taken a point or two of damage, at most, thus resulting in the bruising damage.

Again, though, these are just my thoughts and intrepretations. Perhaps Doug will swing by to give us his thoughts?


Greg

[Sarge]

In the character creation example on p 73, characters are assigned Wits x 3 points of "native skills". I haven't found any other references to native skills. From the examples, it seems to be all Language and Lore skills. Can anyone confirm or deny that native skills must be selected from Language and Lore?

[Greg Davis]

You're quite right, Sarge...the (Wits x3) point total is to be spent on language picks, as well as appropriate Lore skills. It may be that the Language picks are supposed to be selected from the 'Speech' section of each race (and sub-race) description, but I'm not for certain. I don't think that there is a specific set of Lore skills that you have to choose from, but, rather, you choose Lore skills that both player and Narrator feel are appropriate.

I think that it would have been nice if Decipher would have been a bit more clear about that, but I think that what they've done with the examples in the Core Book is what's supposed to be done.



Greg

[Erik Filean]

Originally posted by Greg Davis
You're quite right, Sarge...the (Wits x3) point total is to be spent on language picks, as well as appropriate Lore skills. It may be that the Language picks are supposed to be selected from the 'Speech' section of each race (and sub-race) description, but I'm not for certain. I don't think that there is a specific set of Lore skills that you have to choose from, but, rather, you choose Lore skills that both player and Narrator feel are appropriate.

I think that it would have been nice if Decipher would have been a bit more clear about that, but I think that what they've done with the examples in the Core Book is what's supposed to be done.



Greg

I think you're entirely correct; Language picks are to be spent on the languages listed in the "Speech" section of the racial descriptions.

Note that Westron should probably be listed in the "Speech" section for Dwarves, since even the names Dwarves use among others are of Mannish origin.

[Doug Burke]

Sorry i missed this previously, guys. Especially since I'm Net Rep for LOTR as well as Trek...

Originally posted by tonyg
-Small Shield: Defense against missles is 3 points in text, but 5 points on the table.

As greg suggested, go with the text.

Hobbits: Stoor and Harfoot hobbits get the same stat modifiers (this could be intentional).

This may very well have been intentional...

-Racial Skills are not defined: Are they any skills that are available to a character due to thier race, or just those skills they select during character creation? Since racial skills can be improved at 1 per during advancement this is important.

The best way to explain iot is to point out the CODA Trek equivalents:

Native Languages & Lore = Species Skills
Racial Picks = Personal Development
Order Picks = Professional Development

Craftman's Shop: Earns 1d6 tharni per month, but the value of a tharni isn't given anywhere in the book (according the the decipher web site 1 tharni = 1 sp)

Yep, 1 silver penny per tharni.

You know, every other answer I'm giving here is on the Decipher boards as well. Just wondering if you missed the posts?

Mithril Chainmail: In one spot in the book it states that armor constructed from mithril has +10 protection over non-mithral versions, but elsewhere it lists mithral chainmal as having +12 protection.

Still waiting for a reply on this one.

Overall LotR is a very good RPG. Very flexible, and with a nice "feel" to it.

Character generation is a blast. There are a lot of options for rounding out a character!

Glad you like it on the whole.

[Doug Burke]

Originally posted by Sarge
In the character creation example on p 73, characters are assigned Wits x 3 points of "native skills". I haven't found any other references to native skills. From the examples, it seems to be all Language and Lore skills. Can anyone confirm or deny that native skills must be selected from Language and Lore?

Sidebar, Page 60 "Native Languages and Lore". Think of them like Trek's Species Skills.

[Sarge]

How did I miss that sidebar on p 60? Suddenly all is made clear to me! Thanks, Doug.

[tonyg]

Originally posted by Doug Burke
Sorry i missed this previously, guys. Especially since I'm Net Rep for LOTR as well as Trek...


You know, every other answer I'm giving here is on the Decipher boards as well. Just wondering if you missed the posts?



Glad you like it on the whole.

Thanks for the feedback Doug. (and thanks to Greg for his rules interpretations, too!)


I was really just posting this stuff to point out that those nasty typo gremlins got into LotR.

Most of the errors/typos are easy enough to fix (the only one that actually game me any real trouble was the "racial skills" one, since the Language/Lore skills are not reffered to a racial skills in the Rules).

I only rarely get to check out the Decipher boards these days, so I didn't see many of the answers until well after I posted this stuff.

Rules Question-
If LotR is going to offical adopt the 12 max skill limit, then some of thewrite ups in the core book will need to be altered (Witch King's Intimidate skill for one).

Perhaps 12+Stat modifer might work out better as a skill limit for some of the more power characters?

[Erik Filean]

Originally posted by tonyg


Rules Question-
If LotR is going to offical adopt the 12 max skill limit, then some of thewrite ups in the core book will need to be altered (Witch King's Intimidate skill for one).

Perhaps 12+Stat modifer might work out better as a skill limit for some of the more power characters?

I suspect that the Lord of the Nazgûl's Intimidate +15 was very deliberate. I wouldn't let a player character buy a skill beyond +12; but then again, no player character in my game is likely to fill the role of Former Bane of the West and Chief Lieutenant of the Dark Lord Himself.

If you think that's bad, just count your lucky stars the developers didn't stat Sauron.

[Greg Davis]

Actually, it's my understanding from my reading of the Core Book that the limit for skills is 12 ranks + the appropriate attribute modifier. Given that, the Intimidate (Fear) skill rating of the Witch-king falls within the bounds of the rules, as he has a +5 attribute bonus from his Bearing attribute. So, 10 ranks + 5 attribute would equal his score of 15.

It is noted in the Witch-king's description, though, that "During the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, the Dark Lord granted him greater power still, making him the mightiest he had ever been." (p. 285) I don't think that these stats reflect that power boost, but, as he was defeated, I don't think that it really mattered.



Greg