Balrog from Lord of the Rings (part 1)

[Aust Diamondew]

Naw, that's a bit much. Glorfindel singlehandedly killed one in the passes above Gondolin, didn't he? I think that just using balor stats'd work fine.

You forget Gandalf is a divinely powerful being as well.

But it does sound too strong to me too. Things in LoTR just aren't as powerful as things in D&D. But I suppose if you wanted to convert it you'd have to power it up accordingly.

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

You forget Gandalf is a divinely powerful being as well.

? I wasn't talking about Gandalf.....

 

[Hawken]

Things in LoTR just aren't as powerful as things in D&D.

How did you come up with that? If that is true, then Boromir never would have been killed by that Orc at the end of the first movie. And there's plenty from all movies to draw on to disprove that statement. Ents (Treants) stepping on Orcs like they were ants. I don't remember them getting a 'squash' attack in the MM. The undead from the mountain had a 100% miss chance (none of them were destroyed or even injured by their living foes).

If anything, things in LOTR are MORE powerful than in D&D.

 

[TanisFrey]

Naw, that's a bit much. Glorfindel singlehandedly killed one in the passes above Gondolin, didn't he? I think that just using balor stats'd work fine.

A lesser god in D&D can be "killed" by mortals. That is the Mortal can destroy the physical body but the spirit survives and will eventualy make a new body. Can't we say this is what happen to Suron? Glorfindel destroyed the body of a Balrog but Gandalf killed his Balrog.

 

[RedShirtNo5]

The balrog in LOTR corresponds pretty much directly to D&D's balor.

Type VI Demon for the AD&D purists.

-RedShirt

 

[VorpalBunny]

Naw, that's a bit much. Glorfindel singlehandedly killed one in the passes above Gondolin, didn't he? I think that just using balor stats'd work fine.

Let's also not forget that Glorfindel was a Noldor from the First Age - the time of Fingolfin (who faced Morgoth one on one and managed to wound him badly enough that even when Morgoth killed him he and his orcs didn't boast of the deed) and other uber powerful elves who weren't necessarily mere mortals.

Also during the Siege of Gondolin the Balrogs were baddass enough to drive dragons before them - and the dragons listened. Since the balrogs were Maia I think a divine rank of zero is appropriate.

 

[Endur]

ICE MERP made the Balrog level 60 if I remember right.

My interpretations:

So a triple strength Balor with Divine Rank 0 sounds good to me, although at that power level, everything can be modified, so even a normal Balor with 20 hit dice would make a good Balrog ... although I would advance the Monster Manual Balor to make him size Huge.

Sauron would probably have Divine Rank 5 (since he has worshippers who can cast black spells) and Melkor/Morgoth would have had Divine Rank between 15-20.

All of the Noldor from the first age have at least the Celestial template and most of them are probably EPIC level.

 

[Klaus]

The Balrog, as depicted in the movie, is definitely Huge.

As for the 'swords are no use here', just slap a DR 15/epic on the beast, instead of the regular DR. And just say that Gandalf's unarmed strikes (heh) and any weapons he wields can bypass DR as if they were epic.

 

[Orius]

My questions is has anyone tried to give Stats to this Balrog creature?

Yes.

And then they were pulled when the Tolkien Estate threatened to sue. At the same time, hobbits and ent were also removed from D&D.

 

[Orius]

Naw, that's a bit much. Glorfindel singlehandedly killed one in the passes above Gondolin, didn't he? I think that just using balor stats'd work fine.

Yes, but First Age Noldor are basically half-celestial elves with lots of epic levels, so it evens out.