New Elite Orders

[Elendur]

Here's some new orders me and my RPG group came up with. What do you think of them?


New Orders

Blade master-
Requisites- Nimbleness: 9+, Strength 9+, Swiftness: 4+, Armed Combat: +10,
Order Skills- Acrobatics, Armed Combat, Intimidate, Jump, Ride, Run, Siegecraft.
Abilities-
Weapon Focus: A blade master must take this ability first, he selects a weapon in which he has a specialty, and he gains a +4 instead of a +2 specialty bonus when using that weapon also he gains +1 to the weapon’s parry bonus, also +1 to the weapon’s damage. This can be selected once more gaining a new weapon. Also a blade master takes a -4 penalty when using any weapon in which he has no Focus in. Requisite: Weapon Mastery (your weapon). [Note this ability can only be taken once.]
Swift Strike- Same as Warrior, does not stack.
Precession Attack- Spend a point of courage and make a successful TN 10 Lore: Race (whatever-your-fighting) to gain a +4 damage to your next attack [Note: this must be with a weapon which you have a focus in].
Advanced Parry- If you parry an attack by 5 or more you gain one free attack of opportunity against that opponent. You can only use this once a round and it can only be against one enemy that must be picked during your turn. [Note: this must be used with a weapon which you have a focus in].
Technique- You receive one extra action a round for Parry/Dodge.
Special Move- You receive a +5 to any one special attack (Blunt, Power, Sweep). You may get this more than once but on a different move, it doesn’t stack. [Note: this must be used with a weapon which you have a focus in].
Stance- The blademster gains the use of 3 combat stances it takes 1 move action to set yourself in the stance it also takes one action to change stances. [Note: this must be used with a weapon which you have a focus in].
High Stance- Gives +2 to damage and -4 to defense and -3 swiftness.
Forward Stance- Gives +4 to attack and -4 to parry and -3 to swiftness.
Defensive Stance- Gives +2 to parry, Dodge, and Defense, -4 to attack and -3 to damage.




Burglar
Requisites- Nimbleness: 10+, Wits 10+, Stealth 8+, Observe 4+.
Order Skills- Acrobatics, Appraise, Armed Combat, Climb, Conceal, Debate, Guise, Inquire, Legerdemain, Lore, Mimicry, Observe, Persuade, Ranged Combat, Run, Search, Stealth.
Abilities-
Stubborn- You receive a +5 bonus to Willpower tests against anyone you think is trying to find out about your treasure, where you get your treasure,or your methods or anyone trying to dominate you.
Infiltration- By spending a point of courage and 30 minutes time your character spots a way into any Fortress, Hideout, House, etc. Requisite: 2 other Burglar Abilities.
Silent- Anyone who attempts a Observe (Listen) check against you receives a -6 penalty.
Crafty- You receive a +6 bonus to Legerdemain, Nimbleness, or Strength tests to break free from someone’s grip or to escape from being bound.
Dealer- You have someone who sells your stolen treasure on the black market. (Tends to tie PCs to one place)
In and Out- You receive a +4 bonus to all tests to get you in to steal something and to get you back out. (required two other Burglar order abilities)
Blade in the Dark- You are an expert in killing or knocking guards out without a sound. When you spend a point of courage to attack someone who can’t see you receive a +5 bonus instead of a +3.
Non-Order Skill- Does the same as all the Non-Order Skill abilities





Dragoon
Requisites- Strength 10+, STA 5+, Armed Combat +9,
Order Skills- Armed Combat, Climb, Debate, Healing, Inspire, Intimidate, Jump, Observe, Ranged Combat, Ride, Run, Siegecraft, Unarmed Combat.
Abilities-
Arsenal- Add 50 lbs. to each weight category for the purpose of determining loads.
Valiant Stand- To activate spend a point of courage for the next 1d6+6 rounds those around you receive +4 to all Willpower tests to resist fear, this can only be used in combat and only works if you are in a place were your comrades may see you fighting. If you are killed, fall unconscious, or are unable to continue to fight your allies are disheartened and take a -2 penalty to Willpower to resist fear for the next 4 rounds. [Requires Inspire +6]
Hard March- This is equivalent to the Barbarian Hard March Ability.
Impervious- You do not take any penalties from the Dazed Health Level or Winded Weariness Level.
Unit Combatant- You receive a +5 to all Armed and Ranged Combat tests while you are in a unit of 40 or more fighters.
Strength of Arms- You may apply your Str modifier instead of your Nim modifier to any Medium Weapon when determining to hit.
Foe of Evil- Once per session you may gain a +4 damage bonus against a true evil creature (orc, warg, troll, etc.)





Berserker
Requisites- Strength 10+, Vitality 8+, Armed Combat 10+, STA 4+, Battlefury.
Order Skills- Armed Combat, Intimidate, Jump, Run, Smithcraft, Siegecraft, Unarmed Combat.
Abilities-
Rage: Spend a Point of courage to activate. Gain +4 Str and +3 to hit for the next Vit/2 rounds. After this lose 2 Weariness Levels.
No Room for Pain: Spend a point of courage to activate to ignore all minuses from wound levels for the next 1d6+1 rounds. {Requires one other Berserker order ability)
No Room for Fear: You gain a +3 for willpower reactions against fear and domination while engaged in combat.
Heart of Fury: You gain a +1 to damage for Armed Combat for each wound level lost (limit +4).
Terrifying Presence: Gives you a +2 to all Intimidate tests made in combat.

[Greg Davis]

Firstly, welcome to the boards! It’s always good to have another person to weigh in all things Tolkien!

Now, on to your new Orders. It may sound like I’m nitpicking, but I’m really just trying to offer constructive criticism, so please bear with me.

Firstly, I think that all of your Elite Orders could do with a bit of descriptive text, and maybe an example from Tolkien’s writing for the Order, as well as an example of a character that would fit in that Order. Still, that’s not germane to the mechanics of the Orders, so let’s delve into that.

At first glance, it seems like your requisites are a bit high (though this is off-set by abilities that I think are a bit too powerful, but that’s for later). As evidenced by the Elite Orders in the Core Book, no requirement (either Attribute or Skill, is beyond 8) whereas most of yours are at 9 or greater, with many at 10, which will make them extremely challenging to qualify for.

I think that some of the ideas that you have for abilities are good, but I think that the bonuses that you are granting are a bit over the top, in my opinion. At the same time, if they work in your game, then that’s good, but something to consider might be: What if the PC’s ran up against a group of NPC’s with these Orders, and these abilities? How would they fare against them? Would they need to have these abilities to be able to stand a chance against them? Finally, how would the iconic Lord of the Rings characters (both good and evil) stand against characters who have these abilities and Orders? I’d wager that if you put Aragorn (arguably one of the best warriors of the Third Age, and of Men in general) against a moderately advanced Blademaster, he’d stand little to no chance for success, unless he possessed that Order and its abilities as well. For that matter, what if the Nazgul were Blademasters? How would anyone have a chance to fight them off (though this isn’t the best example, as the Nazgul are an almost impossibly tough fight as written). Still, it’s something to consider. If the only way to balance the abilities of the Order is by using the abilities of the Order, than there would seem to be an inherent issue with that Order.

For me to delve any deeper into these Orders, I’d really have to print them out, give them several look-overs, and maybe try some playtesting with them, to give a full opinion. Like I said though, at first glance, they seem to be a bit much. Maybe those of us here can help you tweak them to make them a bit more playable for a general Lord of the Rings game, if you’re interested (and if anyone shares my opinions about them). It could be that I’m just a bit off in my estimation, which certainly wouldn’t be the first instance …or the last.

Still, it’s more creative work than I’ve done with the system, so kudo’s to you for that! Once again, welcome aboard!



Greg

[Sarge]

After just one quick scan of these orders, I'm inclined to agree with Greg. Very creative and imaginative work, but the bonuses are awfully powerful. If you asked to run one of these in a camaign I was running, I would decrease a lot of the bonuses. But I would also congratulate you on the time and talent you put into these orders, and I'd use them to create NPCs to challenge you.

I hope you have more original work to share, Elendur. I enjoyed reading your first post here.

[Elendur]

THX for the critics guys.

Yes, the requists are high, but would a blademaster have less than 10 Arm Com. The requistes probably r to high for dragoon and bereserker.....

I know the bonuses are high, but I tried to make them worth the picks. No one will get something if they can just raise the reactions or skill ranks for cheaper. Plus most of the bonuses are only for certain situations. Most of the 'elite' orders I think should be charectors confined to specific roles.

[Elendur]

Yes, A blademaster might be able to take Aragorn, but a blademaster's specalty is in fighting one guy at a time with one specific weapon only. Fighting multiple targets, or fighting with other weapons seems to screw up blademasters pretty bad.

[Jason Durall]

Originally posted by Elendur
Here's some new orders me and my RPG group came up with. What do you think of them?

Blade master - this order, to me, indicates a type of martial culture which (in my opinion) Middle-earth doesn't really support. The notion of someone who spends all their time drilling to fight to some supreme degree is mostly a feature of Asian martial art traditions, and has been sort of co-opted into Western fantasy RPGs. A rule of thumb might be to ask if a character was trying to be a badass - is this the Order they would be above all others? I think so, which indicates to me that it's unbalanced and too narrowly-focused.

Burglar - not sure what this order offers that rogue or spy doesn't. Also, the sneak-attack stuff indicates to me more an assassin than a thief. Apparently, our visions of what Middle-earth is like vary quite a bit - I can't imagine a character like this surviving long in my ME - as they'd be quickly discovered and imprisoned. Where, for example, would you see Burglars operating out of?

Dragoon - not sure if you saw it, but some time ago, there was a large argument on the Decipher forums about the origin of Dragoons - the poster thought that they were some sort of pole-vaulting footmen, which historically, the name indicates a later-period class of horsemen who were also trained to fight afoot. The name, to me, is too modern, and I'm not sure what this order offers to make it stand apart from Knight or Warrior - aside from some arbitrary special abilities.

Berserker - no problems with a Berserker, though you should limit race to something appropriate like Beornings, Dunlending, or other Wild Men - or even have an Wits maximum for joining the order, i.e., if your Wits are above 8 and Wisdom is 2+, you can't be a Berserker.

Traditional myth has berserkers from Norse sagas shunning armor, chewing on their shields to invoke their battle-frenzy. Celtic berserkers shunned clothing altogether, charging into battle "sky-clad" (naked). Not sure about the historicity of this, but as one editor was heard to say, when in doubt, print the myth. Should your berserker order similarly shun armor?

The Rage ability especially needs more definition - Do you lose sight of who your allies are and potentially attack them? Can you come out of it willingly? Could it offer a temporary Armor of Heroes benefit? Does this work only with hand-to-hand weapons, or in combat? Could I rage if I was in missile combat? Could I invoke my Rage to open a door or bend a steel bar, or carry a heavy load?

The others have similar holes. You should examine each one and ask yourself when it would come into play, and how it might be exploited.

Hope this helps.