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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Takeda" data-source="post: 610210" data-attributes="member: 6977">An addition to this stream of consciousness!Warning, ... a few spelling mistakes, ... too late to fix, brain almost dead.  Muuuust Sleeeeeep! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />Istari: Divine Rank (0), but forbidden to use all but the most minor of powers. Those that broke this rule were 'diminished', and were ultimately made weaker. The reason I see that Sauron created the One Ring was to bind people's will to him yes, ... but also to allow him to stop the Diminishing of his power. It cost him to make it, making him vulnerable, ... I.E. Ring being cut off effectively destroyed his physical form. But when he wore it his native powers were greatly enhanced. Thus his being diminished by creating monsters and using power more openenly did not have it's usual consequence. All Istari would have the usual 20d8 for being a Quasi-Diety and thus an Outsider, as well as 20+ levels of various other spell-casting classes. Thus with 20HD of Outsider and say 20 levels of Wizard they would have a BAB alone of +30! So levels of fighter to be able to use the sword effectively are unnecessary!Aragorn Ranger 5/Paladin 4/Fighter 6-8. He is a Dunedain, and thus ages slowly and is much older than he appears.Boromir Fighter, mid-teens. His desire to save Gondor and defeat Mordor was so strong it made him susceptible to the Ring's influence.Legolas as a Mid-teens fighter, concentrating on Archery and Two-Weapon/Ambidexterity.Gimli as a mid-teens fighter, concentrating on Dwarven Waraxe, and all axes in fact.Frodo, by the end of FotR, Rogue 1/Paladin 2/Aristocrat 1. Hard to explain my reasoning for this, ... basically comes down to his resolve and self-sacrifice. He is doing it all for the well-being of the all of Middle Earth. Anything he suffers along the way is just the way it is. He does it to protect the Shire and all that he loves, ... which thanks to Bilbo is quite a bit of Middle Earth through his stories, maps and copious treasures. He is not a religious paladin exactly, but more a philosophical one, ... "For the Shire!"Sam, by the end of FotR, Fighter 1/Rogue 2/Expert (Gardener).Merry, by the end of FotR, Rogue 3/Aristocrat 1.Pippin, by the end of FotR, Rogue 3/Aristocrat 1.Note: IMC (which is unashamedly Tolkienesque) Elves get Listen, Spot and Wilderness Lore as Class Skills regardless of chosen profession.Halflings Hide, Move Silently and Listen.Gnomes (which aren't Tolkienesque, but can't be ignored) get Listen, Hide and Knowledge (Tunneling/Engineering).Dwarves get Appraisal and Knowledge (Metallurgy/Architecture/Engineering/Mining)Humans get to pick two of their choice that aren't class restricted, to reflect their diversity and individual aptitudes.Orcs get Intimidate, Climb and Jump.Half-Elves and Half-Orcs get to pick which race they most closely resemble, and thus aptitudes.Orcs in Tolkien's work are much tougher than the D&D system allows, but at the same time damage inflicted has much more realistic consequences. ... a Dynamic that doesn't really work in D&D's High-Fantasy system.Arcane Spellcasters don't need spellbooks because the knowledge of the spell isn't burned out of them by casting it, ... it simply depletes the caster's fatigue, and dynamic not reflected in D&D.The Cave Troll in Moria was much tougher than a simple troll would be in D&D, .. with a huge amount of damage needed to kill it. Very tough tissue, many of the blows that hit it did nothing! ... Maybe Damage Reduction 10/- to reflect the incredibly tough hide, ... with Power Attack, Cleave and Sunder!?The Balrog from Moria, ... almost as powerful as the Istari, .. just a little lower on the Maiar scale, ... not sure how to represent that? ... Maybe give a Balrog from the MM +10 HD, ... I don't think many of the Fellowship had 'Anything' that would have touched it's Damage Reduction!?... That's all for now. ... Just my two pence!</blockquote>

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