Lord of The Rings RPG Rules Supplement
Lord of The Rings RPG Rules Supplement
Lord of The Rings RPG Rules Supplement
DEFENCE
Instead of a flat value of 10 + Nimbleness modifier,
Defence is calculated by averaging the Nimbleness and
the Perception attribute score (i.e., Defence = [Nimbleness + Perception] 2). Round up the result. This score is
further increased by a shield parry bonus. A large shield
grants a +5 bonus to Defence, a small shield gives +3.
This shield bonus to Defence replaces the test result penalty mentioned on p.207 of the Core Book. A weapons
parry bonus does not affect Defence.
RACE ADJUSTMENTS
HOBBITS: All Hobbits receive a 2 modifier to their
Strength attribute score (instead of a 1 modifier). In
addition, the following racial abilities are changed:
SMALL FOLK: Instead of dropping one wound level
(i.e. the Near Death wound level), multiply a Hobbits
BARBARIAN PACKAGES
BEORNING BERSERKER: Famous for your rage and
strength in battle, as well as the skin-changing ability
those descended from Beorn himself display, you are an
unrelenting enemy of orcs and their kin.
FREE PICKS
The five free picks you receive at the end of character
creation (see CB, p.113) are treated exactly like advance-
NEW EDGES
PRECISION: You know the most vulnerable spots of
many creatures and races and how to inflict the highest
possible damage with your strikes. PICK COST: There are
two versions of this edge, Precision (Armed Combat) and
Precision (Ranged Combat). During initial character creation, each requires four picks. During advancements, each
requires three picks (this actually translates into six or
more advancement picks, depending on how many edges
you already have). If you cannot expend enough picks in
one advancement, you wont receive the benefits of this
edge until you have spent the remaining picks. EFFECT:
For each skill level (i.e., 6, 9, 12, 15, etc.) you have in the
related combat skill, you can modify a roll on the Critical
Strike table by +1. For example, if you have 12 ranks in
Armed Combat (bonus for specialties do not count) and
the edge Precision (Armed Combat), you can modify a
roll on the Critical Strike table by up to +3. IMPROVEMENT: If you have acquired either one of the Precision
edges, the second only requires two picks for edges.
LEARNING SPELLS
In addition to spending spell picks, a character must
succeed in a Wits test in order to fully understand and
learn a spell. The TN for the Wits test is equal to the
spells Weariness TN. The time to learn the spell depends
on the degree of success of the Wits test: A Marginal Success requires that the character studies it three times as
long as normal (usually, i.e. three weeks per spell pick), a
Complete Success requires twice the time, and a Superior
Success allows the character to learn a spell within the
normal time (i.e., one week per spell pick). An Extraordinary Success reduces the time by a number of days per
week equal to his Wits modifier.
A failure means that the character has to over start his
studies, but he receives a +1 modifier for each week lost
in his first, unsuccessful attempt to master the spell. Only
a Disastrous Failure will really hinder a characters progress in power in this case, he permanently loses all
spell picks devoted to the spell, and spends four weeks
per spell pick in vain.
If the character has a teacher (e.g., a wizard), the Narrator may allow to modify the students Wits test by the
teachers Wits modifier as well.
WEAPON
RANGED COMBAT
When using a bow customised for a very strong
archer, a character of sufficient strength can increase the
range of his shots. The price of such a customised bow is
equal to the base price (listed in the Core Book on p.205)
times a characters Strength modifier times three (i.e., a
bow customised for a character with a strength modifier
of +2 costs 2 x 3 = 6 times the listed base price).
All ranges for customised bows are cumulatively increased by its wielders Strength modifier in yards, and all
modifiers can easily be included in advance into the formula for determining ones initiative. By doing so, the
different amount of time it takes to attack with a twohanded sword and a dagger is simulated.
The character with the highest initiative has to state
and execute his first action (which could be a delayed action) before the next character can take his first action.
After this first initiative leg, all characters take their second actions, again in the order of initiative scores. If a
character wants to execute an extended action or one that
takes up two actions (e.g., some combat actions), their actions are resolved in the first initiative leg. If a character is
able to or chooses to take more than two actions in a
given round (see CB, p.214 and 216), these additional initiative legs are resolved after the two normal ones.
A parry/block or dodge can be attempted at any phase
of the round (granted you have any actions left or are
willing to take the 5 modifier for performing additional
actions), regardless of a characters initiative.
RACE
STRIDE MODIFIER
212 221 cm
x 1.2
202 211 cm
x 1.15
192 201 cm
x 1.1
181 191 cm
x 1.05
171 180 cm
x 1.0
161 170 cm
x 0.95
151 160 cm
x 0.9
141 150 cm
x 0.85
131 140 cm
x 0.8
120 130 cm
x 0.75
110 119 cm
x 0.7
100 109 cm
x 0.65
90 99 cm
x 0.6
79 89 cm
x 0.55
below 79 cm
x 0.5
At this point, you should record your characters unencumbered base movement rate. Round off the result to
the nearest yard or half a yard.
The third step is to introduce a more realistic Encumbrance and Movement Table (Table 9.2 Revisited) which
also provides guidelines for handling initiative and weariness. Initiative modifiers decrease a characters Swiftness
for initiative tests only. The Weariness TN modifiers apply both to Stamina tests to resist Weariness due to physical exertion (cf. Table 9.38, p.249, on time intervals to resist Weariness in such situations; as a rule of thumb, the
Narrator should ask for a Stamina test after the end of
combat) and to Endurance tests to resist the wearying effects of casting spells. (This rule also makes it less likely
that a spellcaster will run around in heavy armour.)
TABLE 9.2 REVISITED: ENCUMBRANCE & MOVEMENT
LOAD (IN POUNDS)
MOVEMENT
PENALTY/LIMITATION
No burden (up to Str x 2.5)
x 1.0
Light burden (Str x 2.5-5)
x 0.8
Average burden (Str x 5-10)
x 0.6; cannot sprint
Heavy burden (Str x 10-15)
x 0.4; cannot run
Very Heavy burden (Str x 15-25)
x 0.2; cannot jog
ENCUMBRANCE
INITIATIVE
WEARINESS TN
PENALTY
(10+ OR SPELL TN+)
No burden
None
+0
Light burden
-1
+3
Average burden
-3
+7
Heavy burden
-5
+12
Very Heavy burden
-9
+20
BASE MOVEMENT
x 0.33
x1
x2
x3
x4
PARRYING
ADVANCING SKILLS
Two major changes occur in the process of advancing
a skill. Especially the second option should be examined
carefully before introducing it into your game.
REVISED SKILL PICK COSTS
Note that there is a limit on increasing a skill within
one advancement: in an Order Skill, two ranks can be
picked, and in a Non-Order Skill only one rank can be
picked (this rule is changed by the second option presented below). Instead of referring to Table 11.1, Advancement Picks (Core Book, p.278), consult the Skill
Pick Cost Table below to determine how many advancement picks you have to devote to a skill to raise it by one:
FAVOURED NON-FAVOURED
REACTION
REACTION
#1
2 picks
3 picks
#2
3 picks
4 picks
#3 (max. for non-favoured) 4 picks
5 picks
#4 (max. for favoured reac.) 5 picks
N/A
Remember that reactions do not change if the corresponding attributes change. You may treat one reaction as
a favoured reaction. This initial assignation does not
change if you join a new order.
INCREASING ATTRIBUTES
No additional restrictions apply. The existing ones are
summarised for completeness: An attribute cannot be
raised above 12 + racial modifier, and the events of the
past adventures must warrant an increase. You may assign
two attributes as your favoured ones. When you increase your attributes later in the game through advancements, your reactions are not automatically adjusted. You
must spend Advancement Picks to increase your reactions
separately.
As with reactions, if your Vitality changes later in the
game, your health does not automatically change as well.
You can buy more health using advancement picks (see
below).
RESTRICTIONS ON HEALTH
The pick cost remains the same, but you may not raise
your Health above your Vitality attribute times 1.5,
rounded up (e.g., a Vit of 9 would limit the Health score
to 14).
NARRATORS SECTION:
MORE OPTIONAL RULES
UNCONSCIOUSNESS
Under the standard CODA SYSTEM combat rules, a
character never falls unconscious (unless of course he
fails a Stamina test to resist stun), even if hes down to the
Near Death wound level. This is neither realistic nor
satisfying, since you have to wear down all opponents six
wound levels.
A simple rule helps to solve this problem: a character
who reaches the Wounded wound level or who sustains
STUN ATTACKS
Just hitting someone with the flat of your blade or the
pommel of your dagger is not going to stun them. You
have to hit them in specific locations (usually the head or
back of the neck) to accomplish the desired effect. A
Called Shot to the head is at +12 TN. That means if you
are attacking a target with a Defence of 10, you have to
get a test result of 23 to get a complete success, a 28 to
get a superior success, or a 33 to get an extraordinary success.
LOW-POWERED CHARACTERS
Player characters developed with the normal rules presented in the Core Book are true Heroes of Middle-earth.
If a Narrator chooses to run a Chronicle with PCs of a
power level comparable to the average population, these
characters may not have more than four ranks in a starting
skill (instead of the normal limit of six ranks). The number of skill ranks for Native Languages and Lore (Core
Book, p.60) equals Wits times 1.5. Only Elves, Dnedain,
and Dwarves still receive a number of ranks for these
skills equal to their Wits x 3. Such characters also do not
receive the free advancement (see above, p.1).
Attributes are generated in one of two ways: The RANDOM METHOD requires the player to roll 2d6 eight times.
He discards the highest and the lowest result and keeps
the others. The PICK METHOD allows you to assign the
following scores to your attributes as you choose: 8, 7, 6,
6, 4, and 3. Then distribute 8 more points among your
scores (follow the guidelines presented in the Core Book,
p.46).
All other specs remain unchanged, including the number of edges and flaws a character may have upon initial
character creation.
If a Narrator wants the PCs to reach the normal power
level after a while, he should grant one additional advancement pick for each of the first five advancements.
Additionally, he may rule that the characters can increase
their attributes for free (i.e., no picks required) by a total
of three points for the first advancement, by two points
for the second, and by one point for advancements number 3 to 5. (NOTE: If a Narrator awards those free picks, a
starting low-powered character will almost be equal to a
normally created one after five advancements. Only the
Reactions will be a little bit lower, since they are not affected by the free pick attribute advancements.)
Sometimes things just go wrong. Whenever a characters test results in a Disastrous Failure, or whenever he
rolls double ones, his attempted action fails completely. If
the test was made for an attack or to withstand the loss of
weariness levels due to casting spells, consult the Weapon
Fumble & Spell Failure Tables on the right. The rule for
rolling double sixes applies to rolls on
this table. If the test was made for a
WEAPON FUMBLE & SPELL FAILURE TABLES
different purpose (e.g., a movement or
2d6
SPELL FAILURES
WEAPON FUMBLES
That gnat just landed in your ear. You may begin casting Your palm is sweaty. Maybe you will improve.
1-2
a lore test), the Narrator should make
the spell again, but you lose weariness levels as normal.
up similar results. Let something funYou cannot remember the final words for the spell and
Your feet get tangled. You miss the opportunity to get in
3-4
lose weariness levels as normal.
that vital blow.
ny happen (e.g., the character stumYour
head
pounds.
You
have
to
stop
casting
and
lose
Klutzy. Drop your weapon. You need two actions to re5
bles slapstick-like or is given an enweariness levels as normal.
cover it, or one action to draw a new one.
You are over-extended and strain a muscle. Take 1-2
You remember a childhood incident that was traumatis6
tirely wrong information)! Rolling
ing. You lose weariness levels as normal, but suffer a 3 wounds.
double ones is always bad for a chartest penalty for one minute.
A momentary mental lapse causes you to forget your
You trip over that uneven surface. Spend one round
7
acter. Not only he automatically fumplace in the spell. You lose an additional weariness level. staggering. You can still parry/block at 3.
bles his action, but even with a great
A muscle cramp in your jaw causes the spell to fail. Lose You try to impress your opponent with a spin manoeu8
vre. Too bad. Lose two actions while you recover.
an additional weariness level. You are numb for one
number of skill ranks or other very
round.
high test modifiers, he could make
You are seeing stars. You must cancel the spell and lose
You entangle your weapon in your clothes, causing it to
9
an additional weariness level. You are numb for one
get stuck. Spend three actions to pull it out.
things worse. Any time a character
round.
rolls double ones, he rolls an addiWhile casting, you notice that shadows are beginning to
You are suddenly very winded. Take two rounds to relax
10
move. You are scared and dont dare to cast any spells
(there is no effect to weariness levels, though).
tional die and subtracts it from the refor the remainder of the day.
sult. If this die scores a 6, roll another
You have been working too hard. The spell misfires
The excitement is just too much! Your momentary
11
badly. You take 1d6 wounds and are numb for 1/2d6
frenzy leaves you numb and unable to parry for one
die and subtract it as well, repeating
rounds.
round.
this process until he rolls something
The awkward attack has opened a hole in your defence.
12-13 You shouldnt dare to cast that spell soon again! Some
powers are not for the use of Iluvatars children. You ac- Your Defence is lowered by 5 for one round.
other than a 6.
quire one corruption point and lose an additional weariFAILURE & COMPLETE FAILURE
Please note that a Failure or a
Complete Failure usually does not call
for a roll on the Weapon Fumble &
Spell Failure Tables unless the character rolled double ones in the test! A
Narrator may also rule that the TN
penalty for a Called Shot does not
count when determining if the test
was a Disastrous Failure.
MODIFIERS
14-15
16-17
18-19
20-21
22-23
24+
ness level.
Severe power feedback knocks you down. Dont try to
master powers you do not understand! Take 2d6 wounds
and a Light critical (random body part).
If applicable, the spell affects a random, nearby ally.
Anyway, you feel guilty and acquire a number of corruption points equal to the number of picks you have spent
on the failed spell.
You suffer a mild stroke. Take 2d6 wounds and lose all
spell casting abilities for two weeks. In addition, you
will have a 3 penalty for 1d6 days.
You internalise the spell. Take 3d6 wounds and lose all
spell casting abilities for 1d6 weeks.
You now suffer from a nervous disorder (Narrators discretion, perhaps you acquire a mental flaw). You are
numb for 2d6 rounds and lose all spell picks dedicated to
this spell.
You suffer a severe stroke. You drop into a coma for 1d6
months.
You pulled something on that last swing and now it begins to hurt! You take 1-3 wounds and are numb for two
rounds while you recover.
You fall and smack your head on the ground. You are
down for two rounds. You cannot dodge, but you may
parry at 10. After standing up, you are numb for another round.
You execute a perfect attack against closest ally (or
yourself if no one else is around). Ally takes 1d6 wounds
and a Light critical (random body part).
You attempt to maim yourself. Take a Medium critical
to a random body part.
Worst move seen in ages! You are out for two days with
a groin injury. There is a 50% chance (1 to 3 on a d6)
your foes will be out for two rounds, laughing.
Your weapon brakes and one end hits you in the head.
You are numb and unable to parry for one minute.
GUIDELINES ON EXPERIENCE
The Core Book does not provide detailed guidelines
on handling Experience Point (EP) awards. While some
Narrators may be happy with the very simple system presented on p.279 of the Core Book, others may feel that it
both neglects the nature of the task accomplished by the
PCs (which may differ widely in terms of difficulty and
impact on the history of Middle-earth) and the size of a
group (since more PCs will be able to defeat more opponents). The guide-lines presented below they have been
developed according to the EP awards given in Through
the Mines of Moria Adventure Game and the way how
this issue is handled in AD&D and Rolemaster do involve more bookkeeping, but just remember Gimli and
Legolas counting the number of Orcs they slew in the battle at Helms Deep.
To cope with that problem, more detailed guidelines
on EP awards are presented below. These replace the
awards a group gains for fulfilling the primary and secondary objectives of a chapter, as well as the EP for completing a scenes purpose or the ones for a successful skill
test that is related to story objectives. Only the individually distributed EP for exceptional roleplaying are retained.
All EP gained according to the below tables are
summed up for the whole group and then divided among
the members of the group (unless stated otherwise).
GENERAL GUIDELINES
EP are only gained if some kind of danger is involved
in a situation. Also, EP are only awarded for successfully
and completely resolved actions or activities. In a combat
situation, no EP are earned for defeating a non-hostile
NPC or beast (in fact, defeating such a harmless NPC will
even be considered a homicide, and the character will acquire a number of Corruption Points at Narrators discretion).
Additionally, there must be a logical reason for the
character to perform an action, and the chosen action must
not harm any other PCs if an EP award is desired.
GROUP EP CATEGORIES
In total, there are six categories in which a group of
PCs can hope to gain EP: Manoeuvre & Spell EP, Sustained Damage EP, Elimination EP, Travel EP, Fulfilled
Objectives EP, and Individual EP.
10
TABLE EP 4: ELIMINATION EP
MODIFIED
EP
HEALTH SCORE
AWARD
below 5
5
5 to 6
10
7 to 8
20
9 to 10
30
11 to 12
50
13 to 14
70
15 to 16
100
17 to 18
140
19 to 20
190
21 to 22
240
23 to 24
300
25 to 26
500
27 to 28
640
29 to 30
780
31 to 32
920
33 to 34
1060
35 to 36
1200
37 to 38
1350
39 to 40
1500
41+
1500 + 150/pt. above 40
SUSTAINED DAMAGE EP
A group gets one EP for every point of damage a
character gains (i.e., 1 EP for each wound). In addition, a
group receives 10 EP for each Light critical strike one
of its members sustains, 25 EP for each Medium critical, and 50 EP for each Severe critical.
ELIMINATION EP
To eliminate a foe does not necessarily mean to kill
him. An opponent can be defeated in many ways. A group
gains the same set amount of EP, regardless if a hostile
NPC or an aggressive beast has been forced to retreat or
to change his plans, rendered unconscious, or actually
killed. However, to justify an EP award, there must be involved a risk for the characters of getting killed themselves, and they must have personally faced all foes for
whose elimination they claim the EP.
The amount of EP gained for eliminating an opponent
depends on his Health Score. Look up a foes Health attribute, apply any modifiers for special abilities from Table EP 3, and then consult Table EP 4 to learn how many
EP the group receives for eliminating this foe. Sample EP
awards for the servants of the shadow, fell beasts and
monsters introduced in the Core Book can be found in
Table EP 5.
11
INDIVIDUAL EP AWARDS
TRAVEL EP
A character receives one EP for every ten miles travelled on land in an unfamiliar area, and one EP for every
hundred miles if flying or at sea. The character must be
conscious and interacting with his environment.
TABLE EP 6: TRAVEL EP
REGION TYPE
MULTIPLIER
Civilised
x 0.5
Normal
x1
Moderately dangerous
x2
Extremely dangerous
x3
EXCEPTIONAL ROLEPLAYING
Lively acting or otherwise exceptional roleplaying,
good ideas and intelligent actions certainly warrant that a
player gets some additional EP for his character. No rigid
guidelines can be established on this issue, though. The
below table shows a few suggestions:
FULFILLED OBJECTIVES EP
Under this system, the number of EP a group receives
for fulfilling the objectives of a chapter are considerably
lower than under the standard guidelines presented in the
Core Book (p.279). This is primarily due to the fact that
the bulk of EP are awarded according to the difficulty of a
chapter (i.e., the number and kind of defeated foes, and
the skill tests needed for this task).
However, based on this difficulty level of a chapter,
additional EP can be gained for fulfilling its objectives.
When awarding EP for this, keep in mind the following
guidelines:
The number of EP awarded for fulfilling the objectives of a chapter must not surpass half of the total
number of EP awarded for eliminating or defeating
foes (see Table EP 3 and/or Table EP 4).
Additionally, the Fulfilled Objectives EP must not be
greater than:
100 x number of PCs in the group
x number of sessions required for the
completion of the chapter
EXAMPLE: A group of four PCs needs two sessions to
complete a chapter. Thus, a Narrator must not award
more than 100 x 4 x 2 = 800 EP for fulfilling the objectives of this chapter. However, if the PCs had only
defeated twenty Orcs over the course of the chapter,
he must not award more than 20 x 30 2 = 300 EP on
this.
A Narrator should always calculate the number of EP
gained by his group himself. But of course its the task
of the players to record who defeated which foe (and
how many of them, if applicable) and what skill tests
have been successfully made. Simply pass one trust-
TABLE EP 7: INDIVIDUAL EP
TRIGGER
EP AWARD
Exceptional roleplaying
1040
Player encourages others
1040
Player has a good idea
1030
Player saves the group
with an idea he had
30100
Character defeats foe in
single combat
EP value of foe
EP REQUIREMENTS FOR
ADVANCEMENTS
Even though the above guidelines on awarding EP are
not overly generous, a Narrator may be afraid that his
players characters will gain too many advancements in to
short a time. While advancements are in general not
particularly powerful (at least compared to the benefits
a PCs gets for raising a level in many other RPGs), it is
still problematic if a character is able to match prominent
NPCs after a couple of long chronicles. Therefore, use the
below table to determine how many EP are required to be
spent in order to undergo an advancement:
ADVANCEMENT TABLE
ADVANCEMENTS
EP REQUIRED
1 to 5
1000 EP each
6 to 10
2000 EP each
11 to 15
3000 EP each
16 to 20
4000 EP each
21+
5000 EP each
12