A new Middle Earth d20 thread

Khisanth the Ancient · Jul 21, 2003

These are the large bees Beorn kept in the Hobbit.
Bees of Beorn
Diminutive Vermin
Hit Dice: 1/4 d8 (1 hp)
Initiative: +6 (+2 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative)
Speed: Fly 20 ft.
AC: 14 (+2 size, +2 Dex)
Attacks: Sting +3 melee
Damage: Sting poison
Face/Reach: 2 1/2 ft. by
2 1/2 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: Poison
Special Qualities: Vermin
Saves: Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +0
Abilities: Str 1, Dex 15, Con 10,
Int -, Wis 10, Cha 2
Skills: Climb +3, Hide +21,
Spot +7
Feats: Improved Initiative
Climate/Terrain: Warm land
Organization: Solitary, colony (8-16), swarm (20-120), or hive (100-400)
Challenge Rating: 1/8
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: -
Poison (Ex): DC 10, 1 Dex/1 Dex.
Vermin: Immune to mind-affecting effects.

Khisanth the Ancient · Jul 21, 2003

I use a low- to mid-level approach (Witch-King is CR11, Aragorn is 10-12th level, Bilbo 3rd level, Frodo 4th).

Here's Shelob, a Fiendish Huge monstrous spider without the web ability or web move (so I reduced her CR 1 point).

Shelob
Huge Vermin
Hit Dice: 10d8+10 (55 hp)
Initiative: +3 (Dex)
Speed: 30 ft., climb 20 ft.
AC: 16 (-2 size, +3 Dex, +5 natural)
Attacks: Bite +9 melee
Damage: Bite 2d6+6 and poison
Face/Reach: 15 ft. by 15 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Poison, smite good
Special Qualities: Vermin, cold resistance 15, fire resistance 15, DR 5/+2, SR 20, darkvision 60 ft.
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +3
Abilities: Str 19, Dex 17, Con 12,
Int 3, Wis 10, Cha 2
Skills: Climb +16, Hide +2,
Jump +4*, Spot +7*
Climate/Terrain: Any land and underground
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 5
Treasure: 1/10 coins; 50% goods;
50% items
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 11-23 HD (Huge)
Poison (Ex): DC 16, 1d8 Str/1d8 Str
Smite Good (Su): Once per day, Shelob can make a normal attack to deal 10 extra points of damage to a good creature.

ColonelHardisson · Jul 27, 2003

Hey, nice work! I thought this thread had long since passed away.

I've been playing a minicampaign using Decipher's Lord of the Rings game. After figuring out some of the bugs in it, it played really well. As it is, some aspects of the game I really like. Plus, a lot of it would be fairly easy to translate into d20 - Edges and Flaws, for example. Edges are very much like Feats. I recommend any fan to at least look at it and its supplements.

Olgar Shiverstone · Jul 28, 2003

Is it time to update Middle Earth to 3.5?

BTW, CH -- what supplements for Decipher's LOTR game are actually out? I have a hard time telling from their website. I've been looking forward to picking up Moria for a d20 conversion.

ColonelHardisson · Jul 30, 2003

Decipher has released The Fellowship of the Ring Sourcebook and Fell Beasts and Wondrous Magic, as well as the Narrator's Screen (which has a brief adventure in it). I have all of them. Supposedly the Two Towers Sourcebook is just about ready, or is in fact ready; my local shopkeeper says he was told it would be in this week or next.

All the supplements so far are very good. The FOTR book is perhaps the better of the two supplement books. The monster/magic book is also great, but is very brief, maybe only two-thirds the size of the FOTR book, and cost the same! I wish they'd included more monsters (although they seemed to cover most Tolkienian monsters) and the magic part of the book consisted of some often vaguely worded write-ups of a lot of items, and didn't include anything about construction of items.

Plus, the monster book improved on the monster stat blocks, which I found to be sort of deficient unless one redid them, but they didn't totally fix them. They need to group all the relevant combat stats near each other for ease of use; Defence and Armour need to be grouped right next to each other.

Additionally, the monster book provides a new stat for critters - TN, or Target Number, which is their version of Challenge Rating. TN really doesn't help all that much, as it's too vague. It's a bit useful, I guess, but after all the trial and error I've gone through in providing adequate encounters, I don't need them.

As for converting the MEd20 site to 3.5...well, that'd be cool, but I don't know who'd do it. There's so much that has to be gone through, and we really don't have anyone to do the code work on the site anyway. I still love the site, but interest in it in general really dried up, especially after the release of the Decipher game. If I get the time, I may update all my stuff, but when that'll be is unknown to me. Tracking down everyone else to update their stuff would be tough to do, I think.

Olgar Shiverstone · Aug 1, 2003

Well, if I get a free moment next week I'll try and update my submission and send it your way.

With the upcoming RotK release, we migth generate a bit more traffic. I may have to pick up some of the Decipher books myself, though I'm still most interested in Moria.

Eridanis · Oct 12, 2012

Casting a mighty "Raise Thread" due to a question in Tabletop Gaming.

I'm curious whether Pathfinder's forthcoming Mythic rules will provide a solution to some of the topics raised, like relative power of the "heavy hitters" like Galadriel, Gandalf, and Sauron. Mythic levels could reflect a level of grace given to those who serve without ramping up their straight character level.