Ways to gain Corruption in a Fourth Age chronicle

[Ineti]

I call upon the Narrating and GMing skills of you all. Brainstorm some ways a hero could be tempted by corruption in a Fourth Age game, where the One Ring is no longer a factor.

[Greg Davis]

Well, off the top of my head, I can think of a few ways. There's still greed, lust for power, a driving sense of evil (not necessarily motivated by the ring, but by, perhaps, ones own desires and goals). Also, there might still be objects of Power (minor artifacts and whatnot) that the One Ring held no sway over, and would thus still exist at the end of the Third Age.

Along those lines, here's one I just thought of:

The Crown of the Witch King
This high helm, crafted in the style of the Numenorian lords of old, was once the property of the Lord of the Nazgul and was displayed prominately during his reign as the King of Angmar. Forged of gold and inlayed with blood-red rubies, it is a terrible weight upon the head of the wearer, but this weight is off-set by the image of power and authority that it bestows upon the wielder. However, like many items carried and worn by those who would bow to the will of Sauron through the Ages, it also carries with it the taint of Darkness, with the malice of the Witch-King lingering within, whispering dark throughts into the mind of the wearer.

Game effects might include a bonus to certain social tests (I'm not looking at my book at the moment, so feel free to use your imagination), and it also might be able to allow the user to subtley invoke Sorcerous or generally Magical effects (Display of Power, Evoke Fear and/or Awe, just to name a few). The effects, though, might come (eventually, when the wearer comes to rely upon the powers of the crown) at the cost of accepting Corruption, so that the more powerful the wearer becomes (through more and more reliance on the crown) the more Corrupt the wearer becomes.

You know, I might actually use this for a future chronicle. By simply noting a different name that the crown might be known by (and might have actually been, before falling into the hands of the Witch-King) player-characters might seek it out, perhaps as a gift to the King of the Reunited Kingdom (maybe to serve as a crown for the King while in the North, or perhaps as something worn by a Regent or Steward) only to discover that it causes more harm than good.

Anyway, Ineti, there's a suggestion or two for you. Hopefully you can draw something good from them.



Greg

[Phantom]

I would say that most of the sources listed would still be viable in a 4th Age game. I mean corruption is corruption, Sauron (and Morgoth) were just the larger personifications of that Corruption. Greed, Lust and Envy would still be rampant in ME even after the Corrupting influence of Sauron is removed. After all, like Morogth, not all of Sauron's lieutenants were destroyed.