High Level Characters

Using High Level Characters

Just as Eru prescribed a Balance of Things in Arda, most Gamemasters attempt to instill a balance of play in their role play¬ing games. There is undoubtedly more drama, and more fun, in a situation where the outcome is frequently in doubt. Poor play balance inevitably produces foregone conclusions, leaving players with an un¬fulfilling sense of futility.

Few things upset play balance like the improper use of high level characters — individuals who dominate the course of action, leav¬ing the players with few alternatives and too much or too little hope. This is particularly true for role playing games set in Third and Fourth Age Middle-earth, a land where relatively few high level individuals live.

The following two sections will help a Gamemaster decide when and how to use powerful characters in a Middle-earth role playing adventure or campaign.

Selecting High Level Characters

As its title states, LOME describes “lords,” individuals of substan¬tial power and/or impact in Middle-earth’s history. These characters are provided in order to give the Gamemaster some thorough background information, but they also serve as a framework for judg¬ing the appropriate level of power for characters of various races, numerous locations, and different temporal settings.

You may, of course, wish to use the characters from LOME as par-ticipants. This can be a rather delicate endeavor. In such case, take into account the following guidelines:

1. The later the setting, the less powerful the actors · ICE’s Middle-earth products are designed for games set in the Third and Fourth Ages of Endor, eras in which the number and strength of the continent’s powerful individuals were con-siderably lower than they were in the First and Second Ages. The further one goes back in the history of Middle-earth, the stronger the characters. Select high level characters accordingly. For instance, a Fourth Age setting in a given locale might be dominated by a few 11th level figures, while the same place in the Second Age might have been ruled by a dozen or more 20th level characters. The reasons for this situation are many, but the primary factor is that the original fathers of the various Free Peoples were exceedingly strong. The further the line evolves away from these individuals, the weaker the average member of the population. This is particularly the case with races other than Men (although this rule holds very true for the Dúnedain).
2. The Valar rarely come to Middle-earth · The Powers of Aman make few visits to Endor and, after the Change of the World near the end of the Second Age, this rule becomes stronger. Vala characters prefer to manifest themselves in¬directly, either through Maia emissaries (e.g., the Wizards), via natural forces (e.g., freak storms), or through dreams (e.g., Elbereth’s “visitations” to Elves).
3. The Vanyar confine themselves to Aman · The line of the Vanyar Elves historically stayed out of Middle-earth once they settled in the Undying Lands.
4. As time passes, there are fewer Elves in Endor · There are many reasons for the slow but steady Elven exodus from Middle-earth. Many Elves long “for the sea,” or for the glories of Aman. Others weary of Endor (or even Arda) and either depart for the Undying Lands or die. Still others seek their loved ones across the Great Sea.
5. More conspicuous individuals attract attention and often danger · A certain percentage of powerful individuals in¬variably die at the hands of rivals. The ranks of the power¬ful are pruned from within, and often at a faster rate than the influx of new powers can adequately replace.

Keep these factors in mind when determining the type, number, and strength of the powerful characters in your game.

Balancing The Use Of Powerful Characters

Middle-earth is a rich and varied place in which to adventure; but, like any well-developed world, it has been carefully crafted. It is also a modest setting, with relatively few extremely potent inhabitants. The vast majority of its peoples and creatures are low level, and on¬ly a few gifted and lucky figures ever reach 11th level. Fewer still ex¬ceed 20th level. Therefore, a Gamemaster must exercise prudent plan¬ning and a good deal of restraint when adding any of the characters found in LOME.

The following tips will help a Gamemaster maintain play balance while utilizing high level characters in his game.

1. Those who serve Eru, serve his Balance · The powerful servants of Eru subscribe to a code similar to that of the Order of Wizards (see Section 5.14). Overt power is used on¬ly in defiance of the Balance, for even well-meaning force can disrupt the Nature of Things. Thus, the loyal and Maiar who come to Endor deliberately restrain themselves. They attempt to work with, rather than dominate, lesser folk. Most of all, they avoid drawing attention to themselves out of con¬cern for inflicting fear upon others and out of need to avoid the watchful eye of any opposition. (Note how the Istari’s levels are characterized according to a dual scheme, with their offensive powers only about half to two thirds of their defen¬sive capabilities.)
2. Even the most powerful of Elves is bound by Fate · Fate grips the lives of the immortals to a much greater degree than it affects Men. The Elves of Middle-earth, for instance, fre¬quently find themselves drawn to some unswerving doom. Thus, even a powerful Elf’s life may run its course toward a particular end, regardless of the Elf’s attempts to divert Fate. The details of his destiny may not be dictated, but the result might be unavoidable. A Gamemaster can use this fac¬tor to preordain certain “balancing” results for Elves of great power, especially in the case of Elven Non-player Characters.
3. Even when they do come to Middle-earth, Vala and Maia characters adopt form (i.e., their fana) · When entering the very “material” setting of the world of Eru’s Children, the otherwise incorporeal Ainur take forms. This means that they must suffer from some of the weaknesses inherent in their adopted bodies (e.g., emotions like greed and jealousy). As a result, the Ainur who operate in Middle-earth act at a reduc¬ed level of effectiveness. (See Section 5.12 and note how the Istari’s levels were reduced when the Wizards took forms and entered Endor.)
4. Strength deteriorates over time · Even among the immortals, the use of power can drain an individual over time. This is particularly true of renegade Maia and Vala characters who use massive amounts of power outside the context of Eru’s thought. Unsanctioned and unrestrained, these out¬bursts of energy sap strength, making the character more and more dependent on outer means of support (e.g., items of his own creation). The loss of power may be enough to pre¬vent an otherwise incorporeal spirit from changing form. So, a powerful figure who has been around for a long time may well be weakened during his long stay.
5. Power attracts power · Powerful individuals tend to con-centrate, either to unite their strength, or to combat one another for control. This means that high level characters often impact only indirectly in most areas. In addition, a display of power may attract opposition from other well- endowed figures and can be unwise. For instance, Sauron no doubt enslaved or eliminated most of his significant opposi¬tion in many areas of Middle-earth. Thus, the powerful often hide their strengths.

These hints provide the Gamemaster with some reasons why high level characters might not operate at their peak of power. This means that there are some built-in checks implicit in any Middle-earth set¬ting. A Gamemaster need not feel compelled to avoid powerful characters simply because of their potential impact.

Generating High Level Characters

High level characters invariably produce a significant affect on the game’s setting and situation, so it is important to make sure that they are reasonably well detailed. At the very least, the Gamemaster should develop the character’s (1) stats; (2) background and personality; (3) skill and level bonuses; and (4) equipment.

Stats

High level characters are bound by normal stat generation guidelines (see MERP Section 3.1 or RM/ChL Section 2.0), although two other considerations should be taken into account. First, high level characters generally have better-than-average stats, since high stats give an adventurer a much higher probability of surviving for a long time. Second, characters sometimes attain high levels because of their racial makeup, as in the case of Vala and Maia characters. These groups may have some inherent stat bonuses (e.g., Elves) or they may have across the board additions to the stats themselves. For instance, we suggest that Vala characters receive a + 50 addition to some or all of their stats (as we have done in LOME). Maia stats should be increased by +25.

Example: Where a Man’s stat is 97, a Maia would receive a 122. A Vala character would then have a stat of 147. (See Section 3.4 for bonuses based on stats, including stats above 102.)

Background And Personality

A character’s background colors his outlook and provides “depth” to his personality. For Player Characters, a background facilitates both role playing and the adoption of clear goals.

High level characters, of course, tend to have a long and/or ex¬citing past which demands some sort of documentation. The most important points to consider when designing a background are (a) race; (b) culture; (c) place, environment, and circumstances of birth; (d) childhood and adolescent experiences; (e) family orientation; and (f) adult experiences.

Once a character’s background has been outlined, address his per-sonality, keeping in mind that the background should have some bear¬ing on your choices, Get a general picture first, determining certain pertinent features of the character’s makeup. For example, note whether he is surly or jovial, optimistic or pessimistic, generous or mean, withdrawn or outgoing, stable or unstable, bold or full of doubt, cautious or incautious, etc. Then, play with the specifics, such as preferences and prejudices, loves and fears, strange mannerisms, and so on.

Equipment And Magic Items

One of the key elements in creating a character is determining the character’s equipment and magic items. This becomes especially im-portant for high level characters because they normally have had the time and opportunity to accumulate quite a few items. In most cases, the GM can assume that the character has access to most normal, non-magic equipment.

The best and often the easiest way to generate a character’s magic items is for the GM to create and assign the items based upon the nature of the specific character. There is no substitute for a GM’s creative mind and his feel for play balance in his game. In this sec¬tion, we provide several options to aid a GM in generating a high level character’s magic items.

Option 1

Use existing tables for generating magic items: MERP Table CGT-2; RM/ChL&CaL Table 15.73; and RM/Creatures & Treasures Sections 3.0.

Option 2

Assign existing items from your or someone else’s game or items described in commercial products: MERP Part III, RM/C&T Section 3.0, any of ICE’s Middle-earth Modules, etc.

Option 3

Use the Equipment Generation Chart provided below to determine the base characteristics of a character’s items.

Equipment Generation Chart

This chart provides a tool and guidelines for aiding a GM in assigning magic items to a high level character. Remember that all magic items in a game must be allocated with care: it is very easy for magic items to become over-rare or over-abundant. One way to maintain this balance in magic items is to use this chart to make sure that the quantity and quality of the character’s items do not fall below or rise above a certain level.

For use with this chart, the GM may modify a character’s level due for special factors such as: + 5 to +10 for the Eldar, Maiar, Istari, etc.; -5 to -10 for Orcs, primitive men, etc.; +5 to +20 for special rank or position (e.g., kings, generals, rich characters, shamans, etc.). Additionally, the GM may wish to make a roll (1-100) and then add the following to the character’s level to be used on this chart: (roll - 50) / 5, rounding down.

Once a character’s level for this chart has been determined, the GM should refer to the the section of the chart corresponding to the character’s race. The item characteristics given in the chart are very general and should be fleshed out by the GM based upon the character’s nature.

Common Men

Elves and Special (like Istari)

Dwarves

Hobbits

Trolls, Half-Orcs, and Orcs (well equipped or rare individuals)

Orcs (Regular Tribe)

Skill And Level Bonuses

Since high level characters necessarily take a great deal of effort to generate, we provide the following chart covering typical skill and level bonuses.

Skill Bonuses Based Level Chart

This chart provides level bonuses based upon the amount of a character’s level bonus: +0/lvl, +l/lvl, +2/lvlor + 3/lvl (see MERP Section 2.4 and Table BT-6, and RM/ChL&CaL Section 4.0, Section 5.21, Section 14.22 and Table 15.72). After 20th level this chart assumes that the “ + 1/lvl” bonuses only increase at a rate of + .25/lvl, the “ + 2/lvl” bonuses increase at a rate of +.5/lvl, and the “ + 3/lvl” bonuses increase at a rate of + 1/lvl. These increases may vary depen¬ding upon the optional rules used by a specific GM (e.g., +0/lvl above 20th level for “ +1/lvl” and “ + 2/lvl” bonuses).

This chart also provides skill rank bonuses based upon the average number of “ranks/lvl” developed by a character: “2 ranks/lvl”, “1 rank/lvl”, or a rank evey two levels (i.e., “.5 rank/lvl”). These bonuses assume a +5/rank bonus for ranks 1-10, +2/rank for ranks 11-20, + l/rank for ranks 21-30, and +.5/rank for every rank over 30. See MERP Section 2.31 and Table BT-4, and RM/ChL&CaL Section 3.1 and Table 15.22. 

Converting Fantasy Hero

Fantasy Hero (FH) from Hero Games is part of the Hero System family of role playing products. It uses a significantly different com¬bat and spell system from those found in MERP and Rolemaster. The conversion of characters and creatures from one system to the other requires some mathematics but, if you play MERP or Fantasy Hero, the task should not present a great obstacle.

Skills And Skill Bonuses

MERP skills can be translated to Fantasy Hero skills by simply comparing the name of the skill. Bonuses may be converted by using the following conversion guideline: + 10 MERP bonus = + 1 FH bonus

Stats (characteristics)

The MERP/RM system uses percentile values (1-100) to describe a character’s stats (characteristics). FH uses an open- ended system with most values falling in the 5-20 range. We suggest the following conversion guideline:

MERP stat = FH stat x 5

FH stat = MERP stat / 5 (with a minimum value of 8)

Thus, a MERP character with a stat value from 01 to 42 would have an 8 value for his Fantasy Hero characteristic. The following con¬version table shows how MERP/RM stats and Fantasy Hero stats relate.

When two MERP/RM stats correspond to one FH stat (i.e., DEX, 1NT, and EGO), use the highest stat. Average FH STR and BODY to obtain the equivalent MERP/RM CO.

Spell Conversion

There is no room here to list each of the spell lists and the myriad spell descriptions found in MERP/RM, nor is there space to demonstrate how to construct Fantasy Hero spells which correspond to them. The easiest approach is to use the following guideline to relate MERP/RM spell lists “learned/picked” to FH spell-caster Character Points spent on spell construction:

1 MERP/RM spell list “learned/picked” = 10 to 15 FH Character Points

Note the common themes of the character’s spell lists and spells (e.g., “fire” in the Fire Law list) should be retained when converting.

Creature Conversion

Use following equivalences as guidelines for creature conversion:

When two FH stats are given for one relation (e.g., ED and PD for Armor Type), average them before converting to MERP/RM. When there are two relations given for one MERP/RMcharacteristic (e.g., OB and AT), calculate both resulting values and then average them for the final value.