How to describe Strider's combat on Weathertop

[mmadsen]

Frodo seems to get a glimpse of this plane when he puts on the ring and when he is under the effects of the Morgul knife...

Is there any explanation for why Bilbo barely notices he has turned invisible when he tries on the Ring, if it gives you a wraith's-eye view of the world? Do we just accept that The Hobbit is a children's book? Or did the Ring change its behavior as Sauron grew in power?

 

[mmadsen]

Speaking of Glorfindel, just what is he, as a powerful elf lord, doing through most of the trilogy?

 

[Lord Ben]

Well, plenty of times in the book they said things like "It's not our time to fight each other yet" only more poetically. It could be that it wasn't time for Aragorn to confront the Nazgul, I mean they obviously knew that "no man would slay him".

 

[Lord Ben]

Is there any explanation for why Bilbo barely notices he has turned invisible when he tries on the Ring, if it gives you a wraith's-eye view of the world? Do we just accept that The Hobbit is a children's book? Or did the Ring change its behavior as Sauron grew in power?

Once he was outside they mentioned that everything was a bit fuzzier or something to that effect. I assume it's different once the ring started actively searching for his master instead of trying to remain hidden.

 

[mmadsen]

Okay how about the Nazgul have 4 hit die and only 30 hit points. Doesn't sound like a kick butt undead until youtake into account their immunites.

A common D&D Wraith would certainly "kick butt" in a Tolkien-esque world. Immunity to any non-magical weapon goes a long, long way when only a few dozen elf blades still exist. You hardly need even the five Hit Dice if no one can damage you, or if you're only afraid of fire.

 

[myrdden]

Is there any explanation for why Bilbo barely notices he has turned invisible when he tries on the Ring, if it gives you a wraith's-eye view of the world? Do we just accept that The Hobbit is a children's book? Or did the Ring change its behavior as Sauron grew in power?

I watched LotR last night and the same question sort of popped in my head. I recall in "The Hobbit" there was some mention that the world looked blurry or washed out, or something, when Bilbo wore the ring.

I generally separate the two books from one another due to their focus and writing style. I know they are connected to one another but I see them as slightly disjointed from one another.

Myrdden

 

[mmadsen]

BTW, let's not sell Glorfindel short. He's not just some elf, he's a terrible and mighty elf noble whose full glamour is terrible to behold.

Who must be doing something while the fellowship is off traipsing about; I just don't know what.

Further, trying to cast LOTR in D&D terms is an interesting mental exercise, but ultimately pointless. The LOTR world doesn't match D&D.

That's something I always found odd, given how many D&D elements clearly come from Tolkien -- the character races (and the notion of a mixed party, like the fellowship), the Ranger, Orcs, etc.

The good Colonel worked on a d20 LOTR project, and can speak better to this than I can, but the point is that many things operate differently in LOTR than in D&D 3E.

Very true, but what are the easiest ways to tweak D&D to get a Tolkien-esque feel?

 

[JerryLove]

I watched LotR last night and the same question sort of popped in my head. I recall in "The Hobbit" there was some mention that the world looked blurry or washed out, or something, when Bilbo wore the ring.

When he first puts on the ring in Gollum's passage, he doesn't notice anything at all. He's suprised when Gollum runs past. He also wears it for a long time without problem or comment in (for example) the Elf Kings fortress.

I would say that Jackson perhaps overstated the effect on the mundane world, probibly in order to give a visual way for us to understand a feeling described in LotR.

As to the reason that the feelings and impressions of the ring bearer are different from the Hobbit to LotR? Because the worl is different. In Hobbit, Sauron is arely capable of manifesting (is, in fact, in hiding as "the Necromancer" and is defeated by the wizards during the course of "the Hobbit"). So Bilbo does not feel the pull, because Sauron (of whom the ring is part) is not powerful.

Similaraly, the power of the Nasgul is directly related to Sauron's growing power.

This also explains how Bilbo went so very long with the ring with very little ill effect. (Gollum was just an obsessive kind of guy, most of his obsession was not the actual control of the ring, which Sauron comments had suprisingly little control of Gollum)

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Very true, but what are the easiest ways to tweak D&D to get a Tolkien-esque feel?

Go to the site in my sig and you'll see a number of examples by various people.

 

[Desdichado]

Originally posted by ColonelHardisson:
Go to the site in my sig and you'll see a number of examples by various people.

And very good examples they are. I highly recommend this site. Then again, when I did my own conversion, I used mostly my own stuff.

But when I converted my own stuff, it ended up being very similar to what the d20 ME Project has.