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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Steverooo" data-source="post: 1268691" data-attributes="member: 9410">Here're my ideas:1) Agree with the spell lists (or chains).  Firefinger must come before Burning Hands, which must come before Fireball.  This means Wizards and Sorcerers must specialize.  (Gandalf specialized in fire magics!)2) No spell, nor magic item, can give you a skill boost of more than Character Level+3.  Jump, for instance, can only give you a +4 bonus, at first level (the same as a maxed out Class skill).  This makes skill as powerful as magic, but magic still useful, as it can allow you to use a skill you don't have.3) Since skill is so much more important, all classes need a boost in skill points (yes, even the Rogues)!  Two is the minimum, IMHO.  Also, you might want to consider a system of automatic Ranks/Class Level for each class (one Rank/Class Level?  1/2?)4) Magic can't do what skill can't - In LotR, you almost never see a character doing things with magic that they couldn't, without it.  No Teleport, no Dimension Door, etc.  Gandalf (with Narya, the Ring of Fire) does cast some fire spells in The Hobbit, when the Dwarves and Hobbits are captured by the mountain orcs, use Ventriloquism and perhaps Suggestion on the trolls, and certainly some powerful fire magic on the werewolves outside the elven door into Khazad-Dum, in Hollin, but then he is (like) 60th level.  Most of the spells are low level (Light after the door closes, Hold Portal against the Balrog, and what?  Shatter on the bridge?)In most cases, the things spells were used for could have been done normally...  Starting fires, throwing your voice, making suggestions, hurling alchemist's fire, lighting a torch, spiking a door, and breaking down a bridge.  If you want a LotR-like campaign, look at magic in the same way, and eliminate spells like Invisibility, Lightning Bolt, Fly, Teleport, etc.  (Remember, even Gandalf was trapped atop the tower of Orthanc, until a giant eagle rescued him)!5) Give back for what you take away - You disallow Rangers, etc., spells?  (Aragorn sang over the broken blade of the Morgul knife, while Frodo lay dying from it - what do you think he was doing?)  If so, then you need to give the PCs something back...  Extraordinary abilities are the best way to go, here...Almost EVERYONE in LotR and The Hobbit spoke with SOMETHING odd!  Thorin spoke with ravens.  Gimli understood "the night speech of rocks and plants" around Kheled-Zaram, and knew the quality of stone at Helm's Deep.  Gandalf could speak with the giant eagles.  Even Pippin, after leaving the marshes near Bree, mentions to Aragorn that birds' memories aren't long enough to know who built the ruins in Eriador.  Aragorn never "shows" us, on the books, but the men of Bree said that ALL Rangers could speak with animals.  Hence, Speak with Animals in (A)D&D.  Legolas, at Fangorn Forest and Helm's Deep, fells that he could learn to speak Huorn.  The Silmarillion also mentions that Elves go around "waking things up" (Awaken).So, look at the spell lists...  Rangers and Paladins have Cure?  Allow the Heal skill to do that.  (Personally, I'd allow Paladins to keep Lay on Hands and Remove Disease... YMMV).  Rangers can Pass Without Trace?  Give it to them as an Ex. Ability, from fourth level on.  Same with the other spells.  Endure Elements?  From 4+, they are immune to natural heat/cold.  Calm/Charm Animals?  Allow it to be done with Wild Empathy.  Snare?  They can set them with Survival skill.  Etc., etc.!6) Item Creation - This one's tougher...  Galadriel and her maidens managed to create Cloaks of Elvenkind for the entire Fellowship!  Magical swords were quite common (two from Gondolin, in the Trolls' cave, in The Hobbit, Sting, who knows how many, in the barrow mounds, the morgul blades carried by the nine, Aragorn's sword... and I'm sure the Elves had many more, which were never mentioned).  Magical armor is, to the best of my knowledge, never mentioned.  Rings are very, very rare.  Wands are never mentioned, but staves and rods are common, among the wizards.  Wizards are rare, in LotR, but not so much, earlier in ME (Middle Earth).  The Witch-King of Angmar, etc.So, maybe go back to the 1e version, where Enchant an Item was a spell that you had to be (IIRC) 11th level to cast?  Or make Sorcerer/Wizard/Cleric/Druid 11 a prerequisite for the Craft Wondrous Items Feat?  Actually, Character Level 11 and spellcasting ability might work just as well.Scrolls of spells do not seem to exist in ME.  Potions do, although they are apparently rarer.  Gandalf had some Elven Miruvor (Elixir of Endurance), and the orcs had some sort of fiery, nasty stuff to keep the prisoners running.  To make it a bit tougher, you might want to add "brewing time", and tie potion making to Alchemy and/or Profession (Herbalist), requiring 2x as many Ranks as the spell to be put into the potion (10 Ranks for a fifth level spell, etc).Just some ideas...</blockquote>

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