Ranks per advancement

[Turloigh]

Hello everyone,
my group just recently started playing Decipher's LotR game. Between the official collected rulings/FAQs and the various inofficial revisions/compendiums, I hope we made the system work.
One question remains, and I'm sure you can help: when raising a skill, is there a limit to the number of ranks it can be increased per advancement?
If there wasn't, a character could put all his five picks into one order skill, and have it maxed out to 12 ranks after only 1 or 2 advancements.
Am I missing something? Any official or house rule for this?
Thanks,
Mark

[Ergi]

Yes, there is a limit. You cannot increase a skill by more than one each advancement. However, if your players fall for the temptation to overspecialize their characters in a certain area you might want to either talk to them about it, or diversify your adventures, so they realize not every problem can be solved with high combat skills.

[Turloigh]

Not to worry, my players may be completely nuts, but they're not combat munchkins.

Two more questions, though:
1. Where in the book can I find that?
2. What about the Warrior's Favoured Weapon ability? Is that an exception?
- If it's not, what is it good for?
- If it IS, are there more of that?

Anyway, thanks for the quick answer - now I know I'm in the right place!

[Ineti]

The chapter on advancement covers this. I don't have the book handy, but it's near the back. Also, the official errata covers skill ranks and such.

Basically, order skills may be raised a maximum of 2 ranks per advancement. All other skills may be raised by 1 rank.

Favoured Weapon is nice in that it gives you a two-for-one deal. Rather than spend two advancement picks to get +2 to the favoured weapon skill, you're getting +2 for just one advancement pick.

A hero with Favoured Weapon has the potential to be slightly more diverse in his skills and edges and such, since he's spending less advancement picks to raise the skill than someone without Favoured Weapon.

Hope that helps, and welcome!

[Turloigh]

So it's maximum TWO ranks per advancement, not one? Thanks for clearing that up, now everything fits together.

(Actually, I read the "Spending Experience" section on pages 279-281 several times to no avail. Neither could I find that particular answer in the errata, FAQ or collected rulings.)

[Ineti]

From page 2 of the CRF:

Page 278: There are limits to how much you can increase a skill with one Advancement. Order Skills: 2 Ranks, Non-Order Skills: 1 Rank.

(NOTE: this does not mean you get 2 Ranks for a chosen Order Skill when you spend an Advancement pick on it, merely that you can only improve any given Order Skill by a maximum of 2 Ranks per Advancement).

So it's maximum TWO ranks per advancement, not one? Thanks for clearing that up, now everything fits together.

Right. Two ranks for order skills (at a cost of 1 pick each rank) and one rank for non-0rder skills (at a cost of 2 picks each rank). However, the skills you selected with your racial picks (Languages and Lore), you can raise 1 rank at a cost of 1 pick.

[Turloigh]

Thanks, Ineti...
By now, I've run into another problem. I thought that player characters get a free specialty to all skills they have ranks in, but again, I can't find it in the book or elsewhere...
On p. 2 of the errata, it says: "Page 116: The first specialty is only free during character creation (includes racial picks and free picks)." This would imply that you do NOT get free specialties for Order Skills. That can't be right, can it? Where do I find the official answer?

[Ineti]

Originally posted by Turloigh
Thanks, Ineti...
By now, I've run into another problem. I thought that player characters get a free specialty to all skills they have ranks in, but again, I can't find it in the book or elsewhere...
On p. 2 of the errata, it says: "Page 116: The first specialty is only free during character creation (includes racial picks and free picks)." This would imply that you do NOT get free specialties for Order Skills. That can't be right, can it? Where do I find the official answer?

Unfortunately, the book is unclear and the examples aren't spelled out.

When you create a character, you get one free specialty per skill you put ranks into (assuming the skill can have specialties--some don't have specialties).

The second and subsequent specialties per skill are what you have to pay for.

Take a look at the example characters on pages 38 and 39. You'll see that they have specialties listed for most of their skills.

[Doug Burke]

Originally posted by Turloigh
"Page 116: The first specialty is only free during character creation (includes racial picks and free picks)." This would imply that you do NOT get free specialties for Order Skills. That can't be right, can it? Where do I find the official answer?

Actually the phrase "during character creation" means "prior to gaining any advancements." So that includes every skill you get from Native Langauges & Lore, Racial Picks, Order Picks and the Free Picks. Once you start applying advancements, then you do not get any more free specialties.

[Turloigh]

Originally posted by Doug Burke
Actually the phrase "during character creation" means "prior to gaining any advancements." So that includes every skill you get from Native Langauges & Lore, Racial Picks, Order Picks and the Free Picks. Once you start applying advancements, then you do not get any more free specialties.

This should probably be in the next errata, don't you think?

Thanks for the hand, Doug and Ineti, what would I do without you...?