Dlsharrock
First Post
Greetings to everyone whose expressed an interest so far: Fenris, Ilium, Shayuri, Redclaw, Binder Fred and renau1g. Hi to you all and thanks for showing an interest! I'm looking forward to seeing where this all goes.
No more player apps at this point please. I'd prefer the group to remain between 4 and 6 players, preferably less so I'm anticipating a few non-returners, but if not then I won't complain! If it looks very much like one of the applicants we've seen so far isn't going to further their character, then I'll open up spaces (if a previous applicant hasn't posted something by the time i get back from holiday on 13th April, for example). And if you've expressed an interest but now decided you don't want to play please let me know.
Below are the additional details I promised. Hopefully this will make character generation easier. Firstly, just to address comments made since my last post.
I positively encourage this kind of discussion! A settlement around Mirkwood would be doable, but dangerous. Settlers would be Woodmen, most likely, intermingled with refugees from the deep wilderness of eastern Rhovanian. This region (from the River Running to the Sea of Rhun) has been overwhelmed by the Wainriders (so called because of their fabulous many horse-drawn chariots called Wains) who are influenced by dark powers and the current greatest threat to the kingdom of Gondor. Some Beornings might also be present in the settlement, as they are allies of the Woodmen and Thranduil's Sindar Elves in north Mirkwood (might also be some of these helping the settlement defend itself).
I would actually suggest, if other potential players like this starting point idea, we use the existing town of Dale. This would put the initial game in a relatively safe spot. Given the dangers on all sides otherwise I don't know how long a settlement further south would last and I'd rather not start the game with a massive war
Dale, of course, is the town on the bank of lake Esgaroth and fans of The Hobbit will remember it as the town utterly destroyed by Smaug in 2770 of the Third Age. Our game is set in 1874, (that's way before even the dwarfs of Durin's line emerge from Moria and settle in the Lonely Mountain just north of Dale). The other settlement here is Lake-Town, a stilted town on the Long Lake itself. Lake-Town is less open to strangers, so you'd get less of a mix of characters. Dale, on the other hand, would likely be a thoroughfare for Thranduil's Sindar elves from Mirkwood, Beornings and even Eotheod from the north of the woods as they patrol the extent of their territory. In this time period it's also feasible refugees from Rhun might settle here, in which case you open characterisation to all sorts of new possibilities. Little is written about the indigenous people of Rhun, so you're free to embellish a bit or use some of the more unusual existing people (Dorwinians for example). The northerly town of Dale would also allow the inclusion of a Man from Forodwaith who might wander down through the pass between the Iron Hills and the Grey Mountains.
CHARACTER CREATION UPDATES
- Abilities:
Non-Standard point buy, 28 points. All players begin with 28pts, abilities start at 8. Allocate the abilities accordingly, but remember point costs rise if you increase the score above 14 (8pts for 15, 10pts for 16, 13pts for 17, 16pts for 18).
- Level:
All characters start at level 2, with 1000 +6HD XP (I'll trust you to roll yourself), max 5 ranks in any skill (2 and half for cross-class skills) and 1 feat. If you prefer, or if your character's background determines, you may start at level 1 and supply the number of XP you have.
- Starting gold:
Use the appropriate random roll for your chosen class then equip yourself accordingly. For purposes of expediency we'll assume D&D currencies and Middle-Earth currencies are one and the same. Metal worth is the key, rather than stamped coins, though some coins (like ancient Elven coins for example) might be worth more than others on rare occassions.
- Weapon/Armour restrictions:
Scimitars are Harad barbarian weapons, only found in the far south.
No tiny or small exotic weapons.
Armour is restricted to Hide, Padded, Scale or Splint and helms/shields/gauntlets. Banded and Plate are only available in Gondor or Rivendell at this time. Dwarfs will wear Dwarf mail (chainmail) which is as natural to them as skin to everyone else, despite Gimli's chainmail comedy moment in LotR. Any other character can also wear Dwarf Mail.
- Subraces/Races:
I've updated the first post of this thread to suggest which subraces you can use as templates for the various Middle-Earth races. Feel free to use a preferred race instead.
- Class restrictions:
Only elves may be magic users, and I'll be restricting the magic available at each level, in keeping with the low-end magic of the setting. I have to be quite careful here as even the most powerful wizards of Middle-Earth have only a fraction the power of your average D&D magic user. All spell casters are either bards, druids, clerics or sorcerers, with sorcerers being the preferred choice. Clerics will hail from Gondor or Arnor and will be trained from one of the major city chapels. Religion doesn't feature very highly outside the major civilisations, nor particularly within them, because faith is kinda defunct (when the devil just burned down your village and the gods live on a neighbouring continent, who needs faith?). Monarchy, heirarchy and spirituality are paramount.
Monks should be of exotic race, like maybe Forodwaith. Preferably no monk class, though.
- Skill Restrictions:
No scry. Scrying is restricted to the use of Palantiri.
- Feat Restrictions:
I'm feeling in the dark a bit here, but I'm inclined to suggest against Metamagic Feats. Item Creation Feats should only apply to Elves who are former Elven Smiths of Eregion, any survivors of which would have retreated to Rivendell or Lorien and should hail from that region. The Scribe Scroll Feat is probably inappropriate.
- Religion Restrictions:
Middle-Earth has its own group of godly beings. You might want to check out the Lord of the Rings wiki http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Valar for more information. Different races favour different Valar (the dwarfs were forged by Aule for example), while some races recognise all the Valar. As mentioned previously, there isn't really religion in Middle-Earth persay, just deep rooted spirituality and a clear-cut sense of good vs evil. Minas Tirith (Minas Arnor in our game) had a chapel, so presumably the Men of Gondor worshipped the Valar somehow, or they may have worshipped Eru, the One, (or Iluvatar) an omnipotent being who conceived all of creation, including the Valar. Certainly, none of the existing D&D religions apply.
No more player apps at this point please. I'd prefer the group to remain between 4 and 6 players, preferably less so I'm anticipating a few non-returners, but if not then I won't complain! If it looks very much like one of the applicants we've seen so far isn't going to further their character, then I'll open up spaces (if a previous applicant hasn't posted something by the time i get back from holiday on 13th April, for example). And if you've expressed an interest but now decided you don't want to play please let me know.
Below are the additional details I promised. Hopefully this will make character generation easier. Firstly, just to address comments made since my last post.
Binder Fred said:
I positively encourage this kind of discussion! A settlement around Mirkwood would be doable, but dangerous. Settlers would be Woodmen, most likely, intermingled with refugees from the deep wilderness of eastern Rhovanian. This region (from the River Running to the Sea of Rhun) has been overwhelmed by the Wainriders (so called because of their fabulous many horse-drawn chariots called Wains) who are influenced by dark powers and the current greatest threat to the kingdom of Gondor. Some Beornings might also be present in the settlement, as they are allies of the Woodmen and Thranduil's Sindar Elves in north Mirkwood (might also be some of these helping the settlement defend itself).
I would actually suggest, if other potential players like this starting point idea, we use the existing town of Dale. This would put the initial game in a relatively safe spot. Given the dangers on all sides otherwise I don't know how long a settlement further south would last and I'd rather not start the game with a massive war
Dale, of course, is the town on the bank of lake Esgaroth and fans of The Hobbit will remember it as the town utterly destroyed by Smaug in 2770 of the Third Age. Our game is set in 1874, (that's way before even the dwarfs of Durin's line emerge from Moria and settle in the Lonely Mountain just north of Dale). The other settlement here is Lake-Town, a stilted town on the Long Lake itself. Lake-Town is less open to strangers, so you'd get less of a mix of characters. Dale, on the other hand, would likely be a thoroughfare for Thranduil's Sindar elves from Mirkwood, Beornings and even Eotheod from the north of the woods as they patrol the extent of their territory. In this time period it's also feasible refugees from Rhun might settle here, in which case you open characterisation to all sorts of new possibilities. Little is written about the indigenous people of Rhun, so you're free to embellish a bit or use some of the more unusual existing people (Dorwinians for example). The northerly town of Dale would also allow the inclusion of a Man from Forodwaith who might wander down through the pass between the Iron Hills and the Grey Mountains.
CHARACTER CREATION UPDATES
- Abilities:
Non-Standard point buy, 28 points. All players begin with 28pts, abilities start at 8. Allocate the abilities accordingly, but remember point costs rise if you increase the score above 14 (8pts for 15, 10pts for 16, 13pts for 17, 16pts for 18).
- Level:
All characters start at level 2, with 1000 +6HD XP (I'll trust you to roll yourself), max 5 ranks in any skill (2 and half for cross-class skills) and 1 feat. If you prefer, or if your character's background determines, you may start at level 1 and supply the number of XP you have.
- Starting gold:
Use the appropriate random roll for your chosen class then equip yourself accordingly. For purposes of expediency we'll assume D&D currencies and Middle-Earth currencies are one and the same. Metal worth is the key, rather than stamped coins, though some coins (like ancient Elven coins for example) might be worth more than others on rare occassions.
- Weapon/Armour restrictions:
Scimitars are Harad barbarian weapons, only found in the far south.
No tiny or small exotic weapons.
Armour is restricted to Hide, Padded, Scale or Splint and helms/shields/gauntlets. Banded and Plate are only available in Gondor or Rivendell at this time. Dwarfs will wear Dwarf mail (chainmail) which is as natural to them as skin to everyone else, despite Gimli's chainmail comedy moment in LotR. Any other character can also wear Dwarf Mail.
- Subraces/Races:
I've updated the first post of this thread to suggest which subraces you can use as templates for the various Middle-Earth races. Feel free to use a preferred race instead.
- Class restrictions:
Only elves may be magic users, and I'll be restricting the magic available at each level, in keeping with the low-end magic of the setting. I have to be quite careful here as even the most powerful wizards of Middle-Earth have only a fraction the power of your average D&D magic user. All spell casters are either bards, druids, clerics or sorcerers, with sorcerers being the preferred choice. Clerics will hail from Gondor or Arnor and will be trained from one of the major city chapels. Religion doesn't feature very highly outside the major civilisations, nor particularly within them, because faith is kinda defunct (when the devil just burned down your village and the gods live on a neighbouring continent, who needs faith?). Monarchy, heirarchy and spirituality are paramount.
Monks should be of exotic race, like maybe Forodwaith. Preferably no monk class, though.
- Skill Restrictions:
No scry. Scrying is restricted to the use of Palantiri.
- Feat Restrictions:
I'm feeling in the dark a bit here, but I'm inclined to suggest against Metamagic Feats. Item Creation Feats should only apply to Elves who are former Elven Smiths of Eregion, any survivors of which would have retreated to Rivendell or Lorien and should hail from that region. The Scribe Scroll Feat is probably inappropriate.
- Religion Restrictions:
Middle-Earth has its own group of godly beings. You might want to check out the Lord of the Rings wiki http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Valar for more information. Different races favour different Valar (the dwarfs were forged by Aule for example), while some races recognise all the Valar. As mentioned previously, there isn't really religion in Middle-Earth persay, just deep rooted spirituality and a clear-cut sense of good vs evil. Minas Tirith (Minas Arnor in our game) had a chapel, so presumably the Men of Gondor worshipped the Valar somehow, or they may have worshipped Eru, the One, (or Iluvatar) an omnipotent being who conceived all of creation, including the Valar. Certainly, none of the existing D&D religions apply.
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