Sauron

Sauron, “the Abhorred”

Lvl: 180 (240); 360 with the One Ring. Race: Maia (Fallen). Profession: Mage/Sorcerer/Alchemist. Home: Originally Angband in northern Endor; later Mordor. Aka: Thauron (Q. “the Abhorred”); Gorthaur (S. “the Cruel”); Annatar (S. “Lord of Gifts”); Artano (Q. “High Smith”); Aulendil (Q. “Servant of Aulë”); the Deceiver; the Abominable; the Lord of Mordor; the Lord of the Dark Tower; the Dark Lord; the Black One; the Black Master; the Black Hand; the Shadow; the Unnamed; the Eye; the Red Eye; the Evil Eye; the Eye of Barad-dûr; the Lidless Eye; the Nameless Eye; the Nameless One; the Evil One; the Ring-lord; the Ring-maker; Lord of the Rings; etc.

RM Stats: St-100; Qu-100; Em-90; In-100; Pr-120 (200); Ag-101; Co-110; Me-102; Re-101; SD-99. MERP Stats: St-110; Ag-101; Co-110; Ig-102; It-100; Pr-120. Appearance: 02.

Sauron, “the Abhorred,” was seduced by Morgoth before the making of Arda. He was the greatest of Aulë’s People and the most powerful of the Maïar, save (perhaps) Eönwë and Ilmarë. Skilled in all crafts and a master of diplomacy, he proved a formidable servant of the Black Enemy. Until Morgoth’s fall, Sauron was his only lieutenant.

Sauron’s Tale

Sauron held the realm of Angband during the Black Enemy’s stay in the hellish hold of Utumno. Later, during the wars against Beleriand, he directed the forces of Evil whenever Morgoth was otherwise preoccupied. With the breaking of the siege of Angband, the Host of Darkness took the offensive against their Elven enemies, and it was Sauron who guided the army that ravaged West Beleriand. He imprisoned and slew Finrod and his Elves and dueled Lúthien and the Vala wolfhound Huan. Nonetheless, he could not match strength with the Host of the Valar. With the fall of Morgoth at the end of the First Age, he surrendered to Eönwë to stand trial in Valinor.

Sauron repented, but his pride betrayed him. Before facing the Valar in Aman, he fled and hid in the far reaches of Endor. Five centuries passed before he reappeared. He arose as heir to Morgoth’s claim as King of Men and began to seduce selected Mannish groups soon thereafter. By S.A. 1000 he acquired enough strength to take and fortify Mordor. The Black Land became his home, the place to which he always returned.

Sauron traveled to Eregion around S.A. 1200. Disguised as Annatar, the “Lord of Gifts” he befriended the Noldor smiths of Ost-in-Edhil. His ploy worked, for Annatar’s smooth manner and fair seeming incarnation swayed his hosts. Only Galadriel remained untouched by his diplomacy. Nonetheless, a similar journey to Lindon failed when the Noldor King Gil-galad turned him away, wisely mistrusting the pretender.

During the next three hundred and eighty-one years (S.A. 1200 – 1580), Annatar instructed Jewel-smiths of Eregion in the ways of Ring-making. Annatar’s aid proved great, for with the knowledge that Aulë and Morgoth bestowed upon Sauron, the Lord of Gifts taught the Elves new methods of forging metals and jewels.

In keeping with his subtle plan, Sauron sought to manipulate his hosts during his stay. Dissent in Eregion accompanied Annatar’s presence, growing with the passing decades. By 1350, the Smiths openly rebelled against the rule of the Noldo Galadriel and the Teler Celeborn. Twenty-five years later the two lords renounced their wardship over Ost-in-Edhil.

Annatar’s help enabled the great Smiths, led by Celebrimbor, to devise the Rings of Power. Actual forging began around S.A. 1500 — under the ever-watchful eye of the Dark Lord. Eighty years later, Annatar slipped back into Mordor and started forging the One Ruling Ring in the fires of Mount Doom (S. “Orodruin”). His plot against the Elves neared completion when Celebrimbor completed the Three Rings between S.A. 1580 and 1590. Only ten more years passed before he finished the One Ring, a device designed to control all the other Rings of Power.

In S.A. 1600, the Dark Lord believed that victory was at hand, but Celebrimbor and his compatriots realized their folly before it was too late. Instead of using the Three Rings, the Elves secluded them. Sauron grew furious and demanded that they be handed over; however, his pleas fell on deaf ears. Celebrimbor sought out Galadriel in Lórien and gave her Nenya, one of the Three Rings, that same year.

With the Elven refusal, Sauron resolved to destroy his foes using overt and overwhelming force. In S.A. 1693 the War Against the Elves began. The armies of Mordor took Calenardhon (later Rohan), marched into southern Eriador, and assaulted Eregion by 1697. The Dwarves closed Moria. Sauron’s minions slew Celebrimbor and Ost- in-Edhil fell, the survivors fleeing to Lórien, Lindon, or Rivendell. Gil-galad, King of Lindon and High King of the Noldor, prepared his land in defense as all of Eriador fell under the yoke of the Lord of the Rings (S.A. 1699).

Sauron’s forces reached the River Lhûn by 1700, but a surprise awaited him. A Dúnadan army from Númenór stood beside the Elven host defending Lindon. Led by Gil-galad, the Elves and Dúnedain crushed the Dark Lord’s warriors, driving the survivors eastward. Eriador was reclaimed, forcing Sauron to fortify the Gap of Isen (later Rohan). So, the Evil One turned his attentions eastward, in search of new recruits for his host.

During the long stalemate that followed the Battle of Lindon, Sauron looked to the Dwarves and the Men of the East as allies. Having possession of the sixteen remaining Rings of Power, he gave them to the Kings of the seven Dwarven Houses and to nine Mannish lords. His ploy to enslave the two races worked, but only in part, since the Dwarves (S. “Naugrim”) were unlike any other folk.

As creations of Aulë (whom Sauron once served), the Dwarves reacted differently than the Dark Lord had expected. The Seven Rings magnified the already-considerable Dwarven pride and greed; however, they failed to confer immortality on the Naugrim, nor did they enable Sauron to control the ring-wearers. While the Dwarf-lords used the Seven Rings to uncover new caches of wealth, the Evil One realized his failure and condemned their race.

The Nine Rings worked better, and around S.A. 2251 the nine Ringwraiths (BS. “Nazgûl”; S. “Úlairi”) first appeared. Enslaved by their rings and controlled by the One Ring, they proved to be loyal servants of the Lord of Mordor. Three were Black Númenóreans, others corrupted Kings from elsewhere in Endor.

The appearance of the Nazgûl coincided with a social rebellion in Númenór. Sauron’s carefully deployed diplomacy preyed upon the weaknesses of Men, and the Númenóreans, although strong, proved no exception. Dúnadan pride began to show as King Tar-Atanamir took the throne. Respect for the Valar waned as suspicions and jealousies directed toward the immortal Elves rose. Nationalism and racism gradually replaced respect for others, the Eldar in particular. During the centuries after S.A. 2200, the Númenóreans began to colonize and exploit Middle-earth. Dúnadan fleets brought warriors and regents rather than teachers and envoys.

The now-haughty Dúnedain began to openly dispute Sauron’s claim as King of Men. Their coastal holdings along the shores of Endor began to take on a new character; the Men of Númenór fortified their havens and prepared to challenge the Dark Lord militarily. Then, in S.A. 3261, the inevitable occurred; the Númenórean army under King Ar-Pharazôn landed at Umbar, intending to invade Mordor and put an end to Sauron’s pretensions.

The wily Dark Lord preempted these plans, however. Surrendering without a fight, Sauron was taken to Númenór as a prisoner the next year. His imprisonment sealed the Númenórean doom. Between S.A. 3262 and 3310, the Evil One successfully convinced his captors of his worth as an advisor and, playing upon their pride, convinced them of their invincibility and misplaced destiny.

Sauron’s counsel quickly corrupted Númenór. Elements of the outwardly unreligious society began to worship Darkness, sacrificing to Morgoth and building temples in honor of the Black Enemy. People abandoned things considered Elven and persecutions against the Faithful — those who remained respectful of the Eldar and Valar — reached a feverish level. Ar-Pharazôn eventually concluded that the immortality and apparent superiority of Elves was not inherent to the race; rather, it was their residence in Aman that conferred unending life.

In 3310 the Númenórean King ordered the Great Armament. Nine years later, the greatest fleet ever seen in Arda assailed the eastern shore of Aman. Defying the Ban of the Valar — the law against mortal Men setting foot in the Undying Lands — Ar-Pharazôn sought to defeat the Elves and establish dominion over Aman. Númenórean hubris, spawned by success and fed by Sauron’s soothing words, invited the destruction of the proud Dúnedain.

Swift and tragic retribution accompanied the Númenórean fleet’s arrival in Aman. Laying down their guardianship, the Valar called upon Eru to right the wrong and enforce the Ban. Eru responded by opening a chasm in the Great Sea between Aman and Númenór. Ar-Pharazôn’s fleet was swept eastward into the cataclysmic tumult, to be swallowed. Their great island home sank beneath the unyielding waves. The Downfall of Númenór was complete.

Only the small collection of the Faithful who heeded the warnings of doom survived the Downfall; the rest of the Dúnedain in Númenór perished. The Dúnedain of Endor no longer had a homeland. Those of Umbar and other southern and eastern havens, the so-called Black Númenóreans, turned away from their heritage. Others invited the Faithful survivors to rebuild the glory of old Númenór. In response, Elendil the Tall led the fleet of the surviving Faithful to Middle-earth to join their isolated brethren. Gathering with the Faithful of Lindon and Pelargir (on the Anduin), they began to carve out a new life, founding the Kingdoms in Exile: Arnor and Gondor.

Sauron also survived the Downfall, but his handsome body was destroyed in the wake of the flood. Still, the Evil One’s power enabled him to ’take shape” again, an act crucial to his involvement with those of Endor. As a Maia he always remained a spirit without need of a form; but like Morgoth, Sauron sought to rule Middle-earth, and in order to interact on a physical level he needed a body. Physical tools, including a corporeal form and all its trappings, were prerequisites to his dominion. At first, he could assume his necessary form by taking any shape he desired. With his envelopment in the Downfall of Númenór in S.A. 3319, however, he lost the strength to take a fair-seeming form. Sauron required a certain sturdiness of spirit to complete this transition and after his “death” in the crushing Downfall, he was never the same. Part of the Dark Lord perished with Númenór.

Nonetheless, Sauron survived and rearose in Mordor within a few years. The Evil One marshaled his forces and eradicated the vestiges of the Númenórean vigil. By S.A. 3429, he was able to wage war again, and in that year his armies struck westward at the young Dúnadan Kingdom of Gondor. His host took Minas Ithil and destroyed the White Tree, symbol of the Dúnedain; but Sauron was ultimately vanquished. The army of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men defeated him at the Battle of Dagorlad five years later and then besieged the Dark Lord in Barad-dûr. The Dark Tower fell in S.A. 3441, and in the ensuing combat Sauron slew both the Elven High King Gil-galad and the Dúnadan King Elendil. As his father fell, though, Elendil’s son Isildur deftly sliced off Sauron’s ring finger. The Dark Lord’s spirit retreated, overthrown and without the One Ring that lay before the victorious Isildur.

Sauron never again wore the Ruling Ring. Although Isildur died at the hands of Orcs but two years later, the Dark Lord’s minions failed to recover the prize. As he struggled through the brambles and rushes in hope of escape, the Dúnedain King lost the Ring in the fens by the confluence of the rivers Gladden and Anduin. The One Ring rested at the bottom of a muddy pool until recovered by the Hobbit Déagol in T.A. 2463.

Soon after his discovery, Déagol was murdered by his cousin Sméagol (Gollum). Sméagol sought the Ring and, in killing his kin, began a saga that saw the One in the hands of Hobbits until it perished. Sméagol, then Bilbo, and then Frodo bore Sauron’s great prize before its doom.

Without the One Ring, which embodied much of his essence, Sauron regained his strength very slowly. It took him one thousand years to recompose his spirit, take a new form, and manifest himself again in Middle-earth.

In the winter of T.A. 1050, Sauron entered Dol Guldur and took up residence as “the Necromancer.” This volcanic cinder cone, called Amon Lane (S. “Naked Hill”) by the Elves of nearby Lórien, rose out of the hilly landscape of southern Mirkwood. A secluded height rife with delvings that reached into the Underdeeps below the earth, it was an ideal refuge. The Nazgûl prepared this hold for their master’s return. There, he remained secluded and invisible for well over a millennium. All the ills that plagued Southern Rhovanion during his stay could be traced to the hold in the Naked Hill, but no one — not even the Wise — realized the gravity of the peril.

Even the Wizards believed the Necromancer to be an insidious legacy of the downfallen Lord of the Rings. Their fears and suspicions yielded a number of disturbing answers, but no one perceived that Sauron of Mordor had indeed rearisen from the ashes of his defeat at the hands of the Last Alliance. The Dark Lord’s guise as the “Necromancer” served to hide his nature and true purpose for many lifetimes, for his subtle mastery of Evil brought destruction without openly tying him to the sources. His hand, his Eye, was everywhere, and yet always unseen.

While at Dol Guldur, Sauron slowly reconstituted his awesome power, constantly restraining himself from any obvious outbursts of irresistible horror. Adopting the One, red Lidless Eye as his symbol and focus of form, Sauron bided his time. He acted solely through his agents, notably the wicked Ringwraiths.

Soon after taking his place in Dol Guldur, Sauron empowered the greatest of the Nazgûl to go further north and establish a realm to contest and ultimately destroy the Dúnedain’s North Kingdom of Arnor. The Lord of the nine Nazgûl became the Witch-king of Angmar, while six of the other eight Ringwraiths went to the East or South to do the Dark Lord’s bidding. Two Nazgûl remained by Sauron’s side in Dol Guldur as aides — messengers and envoys who spread his word. Of that pair, Sauron named Khamûl the Easterling, the second of the Nine, to stand as Keeper of Dol Guldur.

Sauron’s plan to crush Arnor succeeded. Sundered into three successor states (Arthedain, Cardolan, and Rhudaur) in T.A. 861, the Dúnadan North Kingdom was dis-unified and vulnerable when the Witch-king established Angmar in T.A. 1300. The Lord of the Nazgûl overran Rhudaur and Cardolan by 1409, reducing both states and isolating the Dúnedain of Arthedain. Then, after nearly six hundred more years of fighting, the Witch-king achieved his goal. His host of Angmarim swept across Arthedain in 1974 – 75.

As Arvedui — Arthedain’s last King — fled northward and perished in the icy waters of the Bay of Forochel, a fleet from Gondor led by Eärnur landed in Lindon. Although too late to rescue Arvedui, the Gondorians joined with the remnants of the Arthadan Army and decimated the Angmarim at the Battle of Fornost. The victors chased the Witch-king into the Ettenmoors, where he vanished. Both Angmar and Arthedain passed into history as lost kingdoms.

Sauron succeeded in his quest to destroy the North Kingdom, enabling him to turn all his attentions on the South Kingdom of Gondor. The Witch-king returned to Mordor and, after twenty years of preparation, gathered the other Ringwraiths for an attack on Gondor’s easternmost city, Minas Ithil. Two years later (T.A. 2002), the besieging army forced their way into the city. It fell together with its Seeing-stone (Palantír) and was renamed Minas Morgul. In the year T.A. 2050, the Witch-king slew Eärnur in a challenge duel outside the gates of Minas Morgul, ending the line of Gondor’s Kings.

Sauron still directed his forces in secret from his lair in Dol Guldur. Searching for the lost One Ring, he preferred not to reveal himself until his power was unmatchable. The Dark Lord kept the guise of the Necromancer until Gandalf threatened to uncover his ruse in T.A. 2063. Slyly, the Dark Lord fled to the East. Quiet settled in the West as the Watchful Peace began. During this era, the Ringwraiths remained in silent repose at Minas Morgul while their master marshaled his strength among the Easterlings.

With the return of the strengthened Sauron to Dol Guldur in T.A. 2460, the Watchful Peace ended. Orcs multiplied and wars followed, all fostered by the Evil One. The ensuing years saw Sauron’s power grow. By the time Gandalf confirmed his identity as the Necromancer (2850), he was nearly ready to unleash his final onslaught. Confident of his might, despite the absence of his Ruling Ring, Sauron returned to Mordor in T.A. 2941. Ten years later he revealed his presence and declared himself the Lord of Middle-earth.

The Dark Lord rebuilt Barad-dûr and renewed his search for the One Ring upon returning to the Black Land, but he hastened the course of armament. Knowing of its recovery, he fought time. Although he sent out his greatest servants — the Ringwraiths — in search of his prize, he was unsure of its fate. The Dark Lord realized that as long as the One Ring existed and was not employed by another, he was unassailable; but, in the hands of a foe, the Ruling Ring endangered his dominion.

Still, few had the strength to control the incredible power embodied in the Ring. After all, part of Sauron himself coursed through the One. It was also utterly Evil and unsuited to the nature of many of his foes. The greatest threat was the fallen White Wizard Saruman, who was then lord of Isengard. Like Sauron, he knew of the Ring’s reappearance. Saruman’s servants scoured the land far and wide for its location, but to no avail. Frustrated, the White Wizard turned to Isengard’s Seeing-stone in T.A. 3000 in hopes that he could wrest precious knowledge from the Dark Lord. Sauron proved too great a match for Saruman, however, and ensnared the Wizard’s probing mind. Thus, the Evil One’s principal rival fell under the spell of Darkness.

Sauron never suspected that the bearer of the One Ring would choose to destroy it rather than wield it for himself. The Dark Lord believed that even the good-hearted would attempt to use it, if for no other purpose then to defeat him. In doing so, the Ring would reveal them and enslave them, giving Sauron — its master — a chance to overcome the danger. This assumption doomed him.

The War of the Ring raged as the Fellowship made its way toward Mordor in late 3018 and early 3019. One of Sauron’s armies began the awesome assault on Gondor by assailing Osgiliath, the virtually — abandoned capital that commanded the Anduin crossing between the Black Land and Minas Tirith. While the Company relaxed in Rivendell, the Ringwraiths returned from their hunt for the One Ring, rejoined their Master, and prepared for the final thrust against the West.

Khamûl the Easterling directed the two armies that struck from Dol Guldur, and the Witch-king led the frontal assault against the gates of Minas Tirith. Overwhelming as these hosts seemed, however, the main body of Sauron’s minions remained in Mordor. No array fielded by the West could match its might.

However, the War of the Ring was not decided on the field of battle. The victory over Darkness at Pelennor Fields bought time, but it did not end the danger. Only the destruction of the One Ring could stay Sauron’s triumph. This was an act the Dark Lord never contemplated. Despite all his power, and his talents as a master of minds and a manipulator of emotion, the Dark Lord did not understand the nature of innocent and unwavering good. He directed his attentions outward, never looking in his own Black Land for the Hobbit that bore his doom.

When Frodo and Gollum returned the One Ring to the fires of the Crack of Doom — where the Ring was made and could be unmade — Sauron’s empire collapsed. All that Sauron built with the One was destroyed. The other Rings of Power lost all strength, leaving the Ringwraiths lifeless; and fear and dread settled in the hearts of the Evil One’s minions. Leaderless and broken, the armies of Darkness fled or were quickly vanquished. Barad-dûr perished, for its seemingly indestructible foundation had been enchanted by the Ring.

Sauron, of course, passed from Arda, unable to maintain any form. Too much of his essence died with the One Ring. In every act of creation, a part of the maker is left in his work, and this was true of the Ruling Ring as well; thus, the downfall of the Lord of the Rings.

The Nature of the Lord of the Rings

Sauron was of both this and the “shadow world” and is therefore wholly in neither. He appeared as an inexplicably elusive image, with a black and mottled “surface” which burned with an intense but often invisible fire. The flaming Eye, however, was ever-present, either in mind or in the viewer’s clear, unbelieving vision.

The Abhorrent One remained a servant of the Darkness that is the gift of his master Morgoth/Although he worshipped himself, Sauron was the embodiment of the Black Enemy’s legacy. Morgoth remained the Dark Lord’s mentor and master, for Morgoth was Evil incarnate. Even imprisoned in the Void outside Eä, the Black Enemy survived in the Evil he invented. Sauron and his followers, and those they dominated, worshipped this Evil in myriad ways. Fear of the power of Darkness, of course, stood as the ultimate incentive, spawning a reverence of Evil and its incarnations. Sauron promulgated overwhelming terror, and his thralls saw no other choice. Sheer strength and cunning deception enabled the Lord of the Rings to prey on the souls of Free Peoples and remold whole societies.

In building his kingdom of awful ire, Sauron carefully selected capable instruments of terror. His armies included countless Men, Orcs, and Trolls. However, just as Morgoth once molded peoples into mockeries of Eru’s children, Sauron sought to develop new warrior stock. Like his master the Black Enemy, he could not create life; but through breeding, the manipulation of minds and souls, and selective spawning the Dark Lord forged three new subject races: the Uruk-hai (BS. “Orc-people”), the Olog-hai (BS. “Troll-people”), and the Furolog-hai (BS. “Half-troll People”). These creatures could reason and operate in daylight, overcoming the principal flaws of their precursors.

The Evil One fed on misery and the unbridled anticipations of pain and suffering which gripped his countless victims. His agents used sheer force and silvery ploys to achieve Sauron’s goals in many ways; although the ends are one and the same, the overseer was rarely revealed. Through his minions, he strangled nations and crippled cultures all over Middle-earth: in the East and South his whip was greatest, but the Dark Lord plagued the West as well. There, the legacy of his most-hated foes remained intact, and there he planned his final, climactic gesture.

Sauron’s Nine Ringwraiths

The nine Nazgûl acted as extensions of Sauron’s vile will; they served as his “hands” The Nine did the Dark Lord’s bidding, fearing only him, for it was Sauron who enslaved them with the Nine Rings of Power, and it was he who gave them “life’ immortal. Without Sauron, the Ringwraiths had no focus, and without the power born by the Nine Rings Sauron held, they could not live.

The Nazgûl’s power, even before their corruption, was considerable. With their enslavement it grew. Their roots reached back to the Second Age, when they reigned as mighty Kings of Men, enabling them to draw on experience beyond the reach of other Men. With their submission to the Dark Lord, they became immortal, acquiring their skills over centuries. Yet, like Sauron, they existed in both this world and the realm of the shadows, but wholly in neither.

Whatever the Nazgûl gained, they possessed because of some loss. The Ringwraiths were immortal and undying, and yet they spoke as those who saw death and perpetually suffered through their last throes of life. Their tone caused the hardiest men to cringe or flee, but it was as much the shrill call of suffering as it was the cry of warning. The Nine enjoyed ‘dark-sight’ and their sense of smell empowered them to find things which would be invisible to others; however, they were virtually blind. Great and terrible beasts followed their call, but they trusted nothing and counted no one as a friend. Armies of men died for them, but they never stepped without Sauron’s favor. Normal weapons or spells could not affect the Ringwraiths; yet at the same time, they turned away from the commonplace: water, natural fires, and the name of the Vala Varda (Elbereth).

Of course, the Nazgûl’s ties to the One Ring provided their greatest vulnerability. All the Rings of Power lost strength when the One was destroyed at the end of the Third Age, making the Nine Rings of Men mere jewels. This change removed the enchantment that gave continuing life to the Ringwraiths; and so, with Sauron’s fall, the Nine passed into oblivion. (See Lords of Middle-earth, Volume 2, ‘Men’ for more on the nine Nazgûl.)

Sauron’s Special Powers

Domination: With his One Eye, Sauron can dominate any number of individuals, the sum of whose levels are less than or equal to the Dark Lord’s level. He can assert this power even through a Seeing-stone. All whom he effectively gazes upon must make a RR versus a 120^th level attack, lest they fall under the Lord of the Ring’s absolute control. Whenever Sauron breaks his concentration, victims get a RR; however, this domination lasts until the victim makes a successful RR, and so the effect may be indefinite.
Presence: Anyone coming within actual (as opposed to aided) sight of the Dark Lord must make a RR versus a 60^th Fear spell. With a RR failure of 01 – 50, the victim flees in fear for 1 – 10 minutes. If the RR failure is 51 – 100, the victim is frozen in place (stunned and unable to move or parry) for 01 – 10 rounds. Should they fail by 101+, they die of fright. (Note victims use their Presence stat bonus and get a position bonus like that given in melee combat: e.g., +35 from behind.)
Form: Sauron cannot be touched by normal weapons. Treat him as a ‘Large’ creature for purposes of critical strikes. Attacks against him which yield a critical strike roll require use of the Large Creature Critical Strike Table {Arms Law at 8.14; MERP at CT-10).
Spirit: Unless the One Ring is destroyed, Sauron’s spirit — his soul or essence — remains in Eä even upon the death of his body. In other words, as long as the One Ring exists, only his form can be slain. With the death of his body, however, Sauron cannot take another form for 2 – 2000 years.

Note: Roll two sets three of dice and add them together to get the sum of years his spirit needs to regain form. For each roll, use three percentile dice: one die representing the hundreds, one die representing the tens, and the third representing the ones digits. The result is a number between 2 and 2000.

Spells: T.A. 1 – 2459: 1200 PP; T.A. 2460 onward 4800 PP. Sauron can use all spell lists up to his level. In addition, he can simultaneously concentrate on a number of targets or spells equal to his level (total of spell lvls not to exceed Sauron’s lvl).

Sauron’s Principal Items

The Shadow Mace: +60 black, Ithilnaur mace which glows red when within 300’ of an Elf. In the hands of anyone but Sauron, the mace is –30. The mace becomes instantly invisible whenever the wielder concentrates this desire.
The Black Sword: (S. “Mormegil” Q. “Mormacil”) Not to be confused with Turin’s nickname Mormegil or his sword Gurthang, this is a +45 black, Ithilnaur, Elf-slaying broadsword. Enchanted and unbreakable (except against Eog), it cannot be fumbled. If a critical strike is yielded and wielder so desires, it also delivers a Heat or Cold critical strike of equal severity.
The Gauntlet of Slaying: Aka: “Narsil’s Bane” A black steel and dragonskin glove. Treat as a +15 mace or as a +10 shield. Should Sauron successfully parry a foe’s weapon (i.e., the foe delivers no damage), the Dark Lord may attempt to grab the weapon. In such case, the weapon must resist versus a 50^th level attack or it is destroyed. Weapons resist at the level of their wielder (+1 lvl/+5 bonus); however, magical weapons resist at a level equal to 20^th lvl plus their wielder’s lvl.
The Black Scale: Unencumbering black dragonskin and black Ithilnaur scale armor. Treat as plate (AT 20) with a DB of +80.

The One Ring

Aka “the Ruling Ring;” the “One;” the “Ring” A seemingly normal gold band, the One Ring will adjust to the wearer’s ring size or, if it so desires, it will expand to fall from the wearer’s finger whenever the ring feels the wearer is unsuitable (see below). The One’s hidden inscription glows when the Ring is placed in a fire. In Black Speech it reads:

“Ash nazg durbabatuluk, ash nazg gimbatul, Ash nazg thrakatuluk agh burzum is hi krimpatul”

The translation reads:

“One Ring to rule the all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.”

The One is a x18 PP spell multiplier which requires training equal to 600 days minus wearer’s level, lest the effects of its use be random or at the whim of the Ring. In addition, unless the wearer exerts control over the One, the Ruling Ring will act according to its own bidding — for it views a weaker wearer as unsuitable. Only Sauron, its maker, has absolute control; the One resists others as if it were 60^th level. Since it is a part of Sauron’s essence, it is irrevocably and irresistibly Evil. It enhances any desire the wearer might have — particularly the want for power. In time, anyone will succumb to their own inner feelings.

A Ring-wearer is invisible, although Sauron can be visible at will. The One also allows wearer to control or resist any device made with the Ring’s aid (e.g., the traps of Barad-dûr), with mere concentration on the wearer’s part. Ring controls all wearers of the Nine Rings of Power regardless of range, etc., although this power requires complete mastery of the One Ring permits wearer to cast spells at three times normal range or against any target wearer can see (even when the sighting is aided by some device), whichever is greater. Ring-wearer’s spells, physical attacks, and maneuvers cannot fail.

The Ruling Ring cannot be destroyed except in the fires of Orodruin (S. “Mount Doom”), where it was made.

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