ARDA MARREDA tabletop role-playing game set in

J.R.R. Tolkiens Arda

Rulebook

ARDA MARREDA tabletop role-playing game set in

J.R.R. Tolkiens Arda

DESIGN

Ardamir and Halion

PLAYTESTING

Ardamir, Halion and Terminator

VALUABLE INPUT

Kim, Terminator and Oski

ILLUSTRATIONS (with permission)

Ted Nasmith, Jef Murray, Anke Eimann,Svetlana Nikonova and Icy Maiden

BASED MAINLY ON

Drakar och Demoner (fifth edition, 1991),The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game

andOpen Role Playing (Beta Edition)

THANKS TO

AnyDice Dice Probability Calculator / Jasper Flick,Faehrengaust

andSandy Antunes

WEBSITE(S)

http://ardamarred.mymiddleearth.com/,http://ardamarred.merp.com/

andhttps://www.facebook.com/pages/

Arda-Marred-a-tabletop-role-playing-game-set-in-JRR-Tolkiens-Arda/

158620330834599

Certain knowledge of the author J.R.R. Tolkiens works is expected when playing this game, since it is set inthe mythology he created. It is recommended that one reads at least his most important writings (The Lordof the Rings, The Silmarillion and The Hobbit) in order to get the greatest possible enjoyment out of this gameand its world. In any case it is a great pleasure to read these works.

A new character has come on the scene (I am sure I did not invent him, I did not even want him, though Ilike him, but there he came walking into the woods of Ithilien) . . .

J.R.R. Tolkien in a letter to his son Christopher, May 6, 1944

Contents

1 Introduction 1-11.1 What is a Role-playing Game? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2

1.1.1 Pen-and-paper Role-playing Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-21.1.2 Gameplay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2

1.1.2.1 The Gamemaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-31.1.2.2 Campaign Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3

1.2 Dice Notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-41.2.1 Standard Notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-41.2.2 Zero-based Rolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4

1.2.2.1 D0100, D01000 and D010000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-41.2.2.2 D100, D1000 and D10000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-41.2.2.3 Exploding Zero-based Rolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4

1.2.3 Other Special Rolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-41.3 Characters in the Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5

1.3.1 Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-51.3.1.1 Agility (AGI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-51.3.1.2 Charisma (CHA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-51.3.1.3 Hardiness (HRD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-61.3.1.4 Hearing (HRG) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-81.3.1.5 Psyche (PSY) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-91.3.1.6 Sense of Smell (SML) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-101.3.1.7 Sight (SGT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-111.3.1.8 Size (SIZ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-121.3.1.9 Strength (STR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-131.3.1.10 Wit (WIT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-13

1.3.2 Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-131.3.3 Weakness Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-14

1.4 Final notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-14

2 Attribute, Personality Attribute and Skill Rolls 2-12.1 Chance of Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1

2.1.1 General Chance of Success Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-22.1.1.1 Darkness Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-22.1.1.2 Weakness Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-22.1.1.3 Weather Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5

2.1.2 Time Chance of Success Modifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-52.1.3 Handedness Modifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5

2.2 Hidden Rolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-62.3 Performance Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-62.4 Performance Difference Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-62.5 Attribute Rolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-62.6 Effect Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7

3 Experience, Aging and Earnings 3-1

3.1 Gaining Experience Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-23.2 Gaining Experience Points During the Time Between Adventures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-23.3 Using Experience Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-33.4 Aging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-33.5 Consequences of Attribute and Personality Attribute Value Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3

3.5.1 Attribute Value Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-33.5.2 Checking Attribute and Personality Attribute Value Profession Requirements . . . . . . 3-3

3.6 Earnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3

4 Personality 4-14.1 Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-24.2 Using the Personality Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2

4.2.1 Using Multiple PAs Combined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-24.2.2 Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-24.2.3 Description of the Personality Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3

4.2.3.1 Carefulness (CRF) Foolhardiness (FHD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-34.2.3.2 Diligence (DLG) Laziness (LAZ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-34.2.3.3 Evil (EVL) Goodness (GDN) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-34.2.3.4 Generosity (GNR) Greed (GRD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-34.2.3.5 Humility (HML) Pride (PRD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-44.2.3.6 Lust for Power (LFP) Modesty (MOD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4

5 Combat and Wounds 5-15.1 Start of Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2

5.1.1 Determining Normal and Maximum Movement Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-25.1.2 Reaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-25.1.3 Combat Situation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2

5.2 Combat Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-25.3 Weariness Modifier Decreases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-45.4 Information about the Combat Situation by the GM and Interruptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-45.5 Bringing forth/Putting away an object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-55.6 Normal and Maximum Movement Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65.7 Combat Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6

5.7.1 Close Quarters Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65.7.2 Ranged Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8

5.7.2.1 CS Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-95.7.2.2 Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-95.7.2.3 Unintentional Shots/Throws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-95.7.2.4 Protection by Shield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-105.7.2.5 Parrying and Dodging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10

5.7.3 Using other Objects as Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-105.8 Injuries and Healing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-11

5.8.1 Wounds in Close Quarters Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-115.8.2 Wounds in Ranged Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-115.8.3 Penetrating Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125.8.4 Effects of Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125.8.5 Healing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125.8.6 Recovery from Blood Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12

5.9 Sturdiness of Weapons and Armour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125.9.1 Clash of Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125.9.2 Sturdiness of Pieces of Armour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-135.9.3 Exceptions to Sturdiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13

5.10 Special Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13

6 Goods and Items 6-1

6.1 Money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-26.2 Tables of Goods and Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2

6.2.1 Prices, Availability and Weights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-26.2.2 Armour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3

6.2.2.1 Armour for the Arms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-36.2.2.2 Armour for the Arms and Trunk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-36.2.2.3 Armour for the Head . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-36.2.2.4 Armour for the Legs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-36.2.2.5 Armour for the Trunk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3

6.2.3 Clothing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-36.2.3.1 Clothing for Men . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-56.2.3.2 Clothing for Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8

6.2.4 Containers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-96.2.5 Cooking and eating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-106.2.6 Food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-11

6.2.6.1 Field rations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-116.2.6.2 Fish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-136.2.6.3 Flour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-136.2.6.4 Herbs, spices and flavourings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-146.2.6.5 Vegetables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-14

6.2.7 Locks and Lockpicks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-156.2.8 Outdoor Survival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-156.2.9 Tools & Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-186.2.10 Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-19

6.2.10.1 Close Quarters Combat Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-196.2.10.2 Projectile Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-226.2.10.3 Shields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-226.2.10.4 Throwing Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-23

7 Calendars/Random Date Generator 7-1

8 Skills 8-18.1 Burglary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-58.2 Climbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-58.3 Craft Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-68.4 Cultural Knowledge Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-88.5 Disguise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-148.6 First Aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-148.7 Geography Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-158.8 Healing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-188.9 Hiding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-198.10 Interrogation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-208.11 Language Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-218.12 Leaping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-248.13 Local Knowledge Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-248.14 Orienteering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-268.15 Perception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-268.16 Travelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-268.17 Weapon Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-288.18 Writing System Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-29

9 Character Creation 9-19.1 The Player Characters Attribute and Personality Attribute Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-29.2 The Player Characters Gender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-29.3 People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3

89.3.1 Attribute and Personality Attribute Value Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-39.3.2 Skill Value Modifiers, Spells and Special Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-5

9.4 Place of Abode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-199.5 Social Class, Wealth and Earnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-24

9.5.1 Social Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-249.5.2 The Player Characters Wealth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-249.5.3 Social Class-dependent Attribute Value Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-249.5.4 The Player Characters Earnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-24

9.6 Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-259.7 Experience Points and Wealth Coefficient for the Player Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-25

9.7.1 Age-dependent Attribute Value and Personality Attribute Value Modifiers for the PlayerCharacter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-26

9.7.2 The Fading of the Elves Attribute Value Modifiers for Player Characters . . . . . . . . . 9-279.8 Professions Available to the Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-27

9.8.1 The Share of Experience Points That May Be Spent on Spells Depending on the PlayerCharacters Profession(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-33

9.8.2 Choosing your Characters Profession(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-339.8.3 Drawbacks and Advantages of Having Multiple Professions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-36

9.9 Apply People-specific Attribute and Personality Attribute Value Modifiers, General Waningand Waning of the Dunedain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-379.9.1 People-specific Attribute and Personality Attribute Value Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . 9-379.9.2 General Waning for the Player Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-379.9.3 The Waning of the Dunedain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-37

9.10 Height and Weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-379.11 Handedness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-389.12 Need for Sleep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-389.13 Toughness Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-389.14 Levels of Burden for the Player Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-389.15 Further Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-41

9.15.1 Marital Status and Number of Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-419.15.2 Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-419.15.3 Friends and Acquaintances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-429.15.4 Property of the Player Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-42

9.16 Dates and Annals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-429.16.1 Birthday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-429.16.2 Current Date for the Player Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-429.16.3 Annals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-42

9.17 The Player Characters Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-429.17.1 Base Skill Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-429.17.2 Spending the Experience Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-43

9.17.2.1 Experience Points for the Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-459.18 Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-459.19 Non-Player Character Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-60

10 Creative Commons Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported 10-1

1-1

Chapter 1

Introduction

c Ted Nasmith

By some curious chance one morning long ago in the quiet of the world, when there was less noise andmore green, and the hobbits were still numerous and prosperous, and Bilbo Baggins was standing at his doorafter breakfast smoking an enormous long wooden pipe that reached nearly down to his woolly toes (neatlybrushed) Gandalf came by.

The Hobbit, An Unexpected Party

1-2 1.1. WHAT IS A ROLE-PLAYING GAME?

1.1 What is a Role-playing Game?1

A role-playing game (RPG) is a broad family of gamesin which players assume the roles of characters,or take control of one or more avatars, in a fic-tional setting. Actions taken within the game suc-ceed or fail according to a formal system of rules andguidelines.

The original form, sometimes called the pen-and-paper RPG, is conducted through speech, whereas inlive action role-playing games (LARP) players phys-ically perform their characters actions. In both ofthese forms, an arranger called a Game Master (GM)usually decides on the rules and setting to be usedand acts as referee, while each other player playsthe role of a single character. At the heart of theseformats is in-character participation in a collabor-ative narrative. Several varieties of RPG also ex-ist in electronic media, including text-based MUDsand their graphics-based successors, massively mul-tiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs).

Role-playing games also include offline role-playing video games in which players control a char-acter or team who undertake quests, and whose cap-abilities advance using statistical mechanics. Thesegames often share settings and rules with pen-and-paper RPGs, but do not enable the same collaborat-ive storytelling.

Despite this variety of forms, some game formssuch as trading card games and wargames that are re-lated to role-playing games may not be included.Role-playing activity may sometimes be present insuch games, but it is not the primary focus. The termis also sometimes used to describe roleplay simulationgames and exercises used in teaching, training, andacademic research.

1.1.1 Pen-and-paper Role-playing Games2

A pen-and-paper role-playing game or tabletop role-playing game is a form of RPG in which the par-ticipants describe their characters actions throughspeech. Participants determine the actions of theircharacters based on their characterization, and theactions succeed or fail according to a formal systemof rules and guidelines. Within the rules, playershave the freedom to improvise; their choices shapethe direction and outcome of the game.

Unlike other types of role-playing game, pen-and-paper RPGs are conducted like radio drama:only the spoken component is acted. In most games,

one specially designated player, the Game Master,creates a setting in which each player plays the roleof a single character. The GM describes the gameworld and its inhabitants; the other players describethe intended actions of their characters, and the GMdescribes the outcomes. Some outcomes are determ-ined by the game system, and some are chosen bythe GM.

The terms pen-and-paper and tabletop are gen-erally only used to distinguish this format of RPGfrom other formats, since neither pen and paper nora table are strictly necessary.

1.1.2 Gameplay3

Most pen-and-paper RPGs follow the pattern es-tablished by the first published role-playing game,Dungeons & Dragons. Participants usually conductthe game as a small social gathering. One parti-cipant, called the Dungeon Master (DM) in Dun-geons & Dragons, more commonly called the GameMaster or GM, purchases or prepares a set of rulesand a fictional setting in which players can act outthe roles of their characters. This setting includeschallenges for the player characters to overcomethrough play, such as traps to be avoided or ad-versaries to be fought. The full details of the settingare kept secret, but some broad details of the gameworld are usually given to the players. Games canbe played in one session of a few hours, or acrossmany sessions depending on the depth and com-plexity of the setting.

The players each create characters whose rolesthey will play in the game. As well as fleshing outthe characters personal history and background,they assign numerical statistics to the character;these will be used later to determine the outcomeof events in the game. Together, these notes tell theplayer about their character and his or her place inthe game world.

The GM then begins the game by introducingand describing the setting and the characters. Theplayers describe their characters actions, and theGM responds by describing the outcome of thoseactions. Usually, these outcomes are determined bythe setting and the GMs common sense; most ac-tions are straightforward and immediately success-ful. For example, if a player has their character lookaround a room, the GM will describe the room; ifthey have their player leave, the GM will describewhatever they encounter outside the room.

1 From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_game2 From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_game_(pen_and_paper)3 Partly from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_game_(pen_and_paper)#Gameplay

1.1. WHAT IS A ROLE-PLAYING GAME? 1-3

The outcomes of some actions are determined bythe rules of the game. For example, whilst lookingaround the room, a character may or may not no-tice an important object or secret doorway, depend-ing on the characters powers of perception. Thisusually involves rolling dice, and comparing thenumber rolled to their characters statistics to seewhether the action was successful. The higher thecharacters score in a particular attribute, the highertheir probability of success. Combat is resolved in asimilar manner, depending on the characters com-bat skills and physical attributes. In some game sys-tems, characters can raise their attribute scores dur-ing the course of the game (or over multiple games)as the result of experience gained.

The game continues in this manner until thecharacters meet the final challenge. This could be tofind a specific item of treasure, defeat a specific ad-versary, solve a mystery, or simply to survive untilthe end of the story. The GM then describes the con-sequences of their actions on the game world, andthe game ends.

It is unnecessary, if not impossible, to describeexactly what happens in a PCs life. For example, itis rather uninteresting to know how many steps upand down stairs the PCs have taken or what booksthey have read during their past lives. One needsonly note that they have gone up and down stairsor that they have read many books during his child-hood, and so on. One should remember, however,that the PCs background, profession and employ-ment between adventures plays an important rolein such factors as earnings and how PCs should beportrayed in the adventures.

1.1.2.1 The Gamemaster

It is the GM who governs the events of the adven-ture, check the rules and make sure everything con-cerning the PCs works. In short, the GM is the worldand a rules judge.

The GM is a person who has decided to allowhis/her friends to experience an adventure. Withthe help of his/her imagination the GM weave thestory, with some help from the rules and maybean adventure module. The players play PCs in thisstory and the GM plays all the NPCs (Non-PlayerCharacters) that the PCs encounter. The PCs arethose who are the storys heroes. They are the oneswho find the clever solutions to the most impossibleproblems, they usually greatly affect the storyline,take initiatives and deceive or defeat their enemies.

For the game to be exciting, it is important that

the GM thinks about what he conveys to the play-ers. The players should rather not know more thantheir Characters know. If they do, they should playas if they did not. This is also why only the GMshould read a campaign module, or the game wouldno longer be an RPG, but just a game. It is not excit-ing to see a movie if you know how it will end.

The GM can also play a PC in Adventures ashe/she is gamemastering the game, but it should bedone in a fairly limited way. Of course he/she maynot use his/her their position of GM to his/her PCsadvantage. Often he/she just hangs around.

1.1.2.2 Campaign Settings1

Each pen-and-paper RPG has a setting in which ad-ventures and campaigns can take place. Usually acampaign setting is designed for a specific game(such as the Forgotten Realms setting for Dungeons& Dragons) or a specific genre of game (such as Me-dieval fantasy, World War II, or outer space/sciencefiction adventure). There are numerous campaignsettings available both in print and online. In ad-dition to published campaign settings available forpurchase, many Game Masters create their own.

Campaign settings exist for almost all genres offiction; however, because the worlds most popularrole-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons, is part ofthe fantasy genre, fantasy is also the most playedrole-playing genre. RPGs of the fantasy genre aresometimes collectively called Fantasy role-playinggames (FRPG).

The use of the term world in describing a cam-paign setting is loose, at best. Campaign worldssuch as the World of Greyhawk detail entire cosmolo-gies and time-lines of thousands of years, while thesetting of a game such as Deadlands might only de-scribe one nation within a brief segment of alternatehistory.

There are three primary types of campaign set-ting. The first exists in genre- and setting-specificrole-playing games such as Warhammer or Worldof Darkness which exist specifically within one set-ting. The second type of setting is for games thathave multiple settings such as modern Dungeons &Dragons or those that were developed specificallyto be independent of setting such as GURPS. The fi-nal type of setting is developed without being tiedto a particular game system. Typically this last sortare developed first as stand-alone works of fiction,which are later adapted to one or more role playingsystems such as the Star Wars universe or Middle-earth.

1 From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_game_(pen_and_paper)#Campaign_settings

1-4 1.2. DICE NOTATION

The range of genres represented by publishedsettings is vast, and includes nearly all genres of fic-tion. While role-playings roots began in fantasy, sci-ence fiction has been used in settings such as Travel-ler, horror formed the baseline of the World of Dark-ness and Call of Cthulhu while Spycraft was based inmodern-day spy thriller-oriented settings.

1.2 Dice Notation (2012-11-11)

1.2.1 Standard Notation1 (2013-01-02)

Die rolls required by the game are given in the formNDS. N and S are variables, separated by the letterD, which stands for die or dice.

N is the number of dice to be rolled (usuallyomitted if 1)

S is the number of sides of the die/diceFor example, if the game calls for a roll of D4 or 1D4this would mean roll one 4-sided die. 3D6 wouldmean roll three six-sided dice. The results of theserolls are then added together.

To this basic notation an additive modifier canbe appended, yielding expressions of the formNDS + M. M is a number to be added to the sumof the rolls. The plus sign is sometimes replacedby a minus sign () to indicate subtraction. So,1D20 10 would indicate a roll of a single 20-sideddie, with 10 being subtracted from the result. Theseexpressions can also be chained (e.g. 2D6 + 1D8).

1.2.2 Zero-based Rolls (2013-01-02)

In special situations the rules call for making a zero-based roll. Such a roll is represented with a zero (0)as a subscript between the D and the S value inthe notation (for example D06). This means that astandard die with S sides should be used, but if (andonly if) the highest number on the die comes up, itis interpreted as zero (0). For example, if an eight-sided die comes up 8 (eight), the result is 0 (zero).The range of a D0S roll is equivalent to the one of aDS 1 roll (0 to (S 1)).

1.2.2.1 D0100, D01000 and D0100001 (2012-12-02)

Sometimes, a D0100 roll should be made. Although100-sided dice do exist, it is both more commonand more uniformly random to make two D010rolls, using either two actual D010s (ten-sided dicenumbered 09) directly or rolling two actual D10s

(numbered 110) zero-based. The dice should typic-ally be distinguished by colour. One of them rep-resents units and the other tens. A result of zero(0) on both rolls should be interpreted as zero (0).D01000 (using three D010s) and D010000 (using fourD010000s) rolls are also occasionally needed, andwork in the same way.

1.2.2.2 D100, D1000 and D10000 (2012-11-21)

Ten-sided dice can of course also be used for D100,D1000 and D10000 rolls, similarly to the correspond-ing zero-based variants. The obvious difference isthat a roll of 0 (or 10 if using dice numbered 110)on all dice should not be interpreted as 0 (zero),but as 100, 1000 or 10000, respectively.

Two ten-sided dice2

1.2.2.3 Exploding Zero-based Rolls (2013-01-02)

A zero-based roll can be exploding. This is repres-ented with an * (asterisk) as a superscript betweenthe D and the S value in the notation (for ex-ample D*012). This means that first a D0S roll shouldbe made. As long as the highest possible result ofthe roll comes up on the die (for example 9 on aD010 roll), an additional D0S roll should be made.When a non-highest result comes up, the results ofall the rolls are added together for the final, total res-ult of the exploding roll. A notation in the formof N(D*0S) means that N exploding rolls should bemade and then added together.

1.2.3 Other Special Rolls3 (2012-11-28)

There are a small number of special cases wherethere is no die that fits the roll that is needed. Some-times you will be asked to roll a D2 or D3. In thesecases, you must roll another die and interpret theresult.

To roll a D2, roll any die and if the numbershown is odd then you rolled a 1. If the number

1 Copied from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dice_notation and adapted3 Copied from Dark Dungeons (http://www.gratisgames.webspace.virginmedia.com/darkdungeons.html) and adapted

1.3. CHARACTERS IN THE GAME 1-5

shown is even then you rolled a 2.To roll a D3, roll a normal D6 and halve the

result (rounding up). The same halving method canbe used with a D10 in order to roll a D5.

1.3 Characters in the Game

1.3.1 Attributes

All Characters in the game, including the PlayersCharacters (Player Character will be abbreviatedPC from now on), but also Non-Player Characters(NPCs), basically consist of 10 Attribute Values (AVs)that usually range between 3 and 18 and describethe Characters. The greater the value, in general thebetter, except in Size where it can sometimes be use-ful for a Character to have a small value. The Attrib-utes (abbreviated As) are:

Agility (abbreviated AGI) Charisma (CHA) Hardiness (HRD) Hearing (HRG) Psyche (PSY) Sense of Smell (SML) Sight (SGT) Size (SIZ) Strength (STR) Wit (WIT)

The Attributes HRG, SGT and SML are called Senses.These differ from the others in that they do not dir-ectly affect any of the Characters Skills, and thatyou never make any Rolls when they are used.

Sometimes the Attribute Values or rather theeffect of them may increase or decrease tempor-arily, due to the effects of Spells or if your PC getstired, for example. Each of the Attributes are ex-plained below.

1.3.1.1 Agility (AGI)

AGI stands for Agility and is an important Attrib-ute for several Professions. AGI determines manythings, among others speed, accuracy, mobility,body control, agility and the ability of precisionwork. Your PCs AGI is often used when he/sheis trying to dodge a falling boulder or an attack-ing wolf, and in cases where you must determinewho will get to move first first in combat. Shortlyit can be said that a Character with a small AGI AVis quite bulky, immobile and uncoordinated, while aCharacter with a great AGI AV is fast, smooth, light-

footed and dexterous. If at any time a CharactersAGI Value becomes 0 or less, he/she becomes lame.

c Ted Nasmith

Dreary as had been his imprisonment and un-pleasant as was his position (to say nothing ofthe poor dwarves underneath him) still, [Bilbo]had been more lucky than he had guessed.

The Hobbit, A Warm Welcome

1.3.1.2 Charisma (CHA)

CHA implies such things as your PCs personalcharm, charisma and to some extent appearance. Ifyour PCs CHA AV is great, the chance that he/she can persuade people to do what he/she want isgreat and it is likely that he/she will be graciouslymet by strangers. However, if your PCs CHA AV issmall he/she will seem boring to other people and itcan be difficult for he/she to negotiate with or con-vince others.

Usually characters have normal hair, and thispresents no CSM to CHA. If a Character hasrumpled hair, which he/she got after combat orother physical activity, he/she receives a CSM of2to CHA; if a Character has fine, combed hair he/shereceives a +2 CSM instead. CS can improved tem-porarily by using a comb/hairbrush and/or mirror,see section 6.2 Tables of Goods and Items, p. 6-2.

1-6 1.3. CHARACTERS IN THE GAME

c Ted Nasmith

. . . Aragorn had been singing a part of the Lay of Luthien which tells of the meeting of Luthien and Berenin the forest of Neldoreth. And behold! there Luthien walked before his eyes in Rivendell, clad in a mantleof silver and blue, fair as the twilight in Elven-home; her dark hair strayed in a sudden wind, and her browswere bound with gems like stars.

For a moment Aragorn gazed in silence, but fearing that she would pass away and never be seen again, hecalled to her crying, Tinuviel, Tinuviel! even as Beren had done in the Elder Days long ago.

The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A Annals of the Kings and Rulers, The Numenorean Kings

1.3.1.3 Hardiness (HRD)

HRD is the measure of your PCs health, stamina,resistance to poison, diseases and weathering, andthe ability to heal from wounds. Like STR, HRD isan important Attribute for PCs who are Soldiers. If

at any time a Characters HRD Value becomes 0 orless, he/she dies.

When HRD is used directly by a Character (seesection 2.5 Attribute Rolls, p. 2-6), the concept EffectValue is used, see section 2.6 Effect Value, p. 2-7.

1.3. CHARACTERS IN THE GAME 1-7

c Ted Nasmith

. . . Fingon could not release the hell-wrought bond upon [Maedhross] wrist, nor sever it, nor draw it fromthe stone. Again therefore in his pain Maedhros begged that he would slay him; but Fingon cut off his handabove the wrist, and Thorondor bore them back to Mithrim.

There Maedhros in time was healed; for the fire of life was hot within him, and his strength was of theancient world, such as those possessed who were nurtured in Valinor. His body recovered from his tormentand became hale . . .

The Silmarillion, Of the Return of the Noldor

1-8 1.3. CHARACTERS IN THE GAME

1.3.1.4 Hearing (HRG)

HRG and is a measure of how good a Characterssense of hearing is. HRG is one of the Attributescalled Senses, and therefore no Attribute Roll ismade when it is to be determined whether a Char-acter can physically hear a sound or not; the PV isdetermined simply by calculating CS 11, and inorder to successfully hear a sound, the CharactersPV must be 0 or greater (if PV is exactly 0 the Char-acter will barely be able to hear the sound), and thusCS must be 11 or greater.

Below are examples of different sounds and con-ditions and the CSMs associated with them. Mul-tiple CSMs can be applied for a given situation.

Obstacles CSM

Log wall 7Stone wall/floor 10Wooden door 3

Distance to Sound Source, yds CSM

02 +8

36 +4

711 01219 32049 105079 2080149 30150274 45275449 60450649 80650999 100

10002199 15022003249 200

Sound Source CS Modifier

Body hitting the ground +8

Bow twanging +8

Door opening +8

Explosion +40

Footsteps (sound source is wearing shoes) +8

Footsteps running (sound source is wearing shoes) +10

Glass shattering +12

Horse galloping +12

Host marching +12

Minor battle +16

Punch +10

Rain +2 (drizzle) +8 (downpour)

Sneeze +10

Snoring +8

Sound source wearing metal armour +2

Speech +2 (whispering) +8 (talk) +16 (screaming)

Other Factors CSM

The Character causing the sound is using the Skill Sneaking [the sneakers PV] 17Echo +2

Headwind from the direction of the sound source 2Tailwind in the direction of the sound source +2

1.3. CHARACTERS IN THE GAME 1-9

If the sound may imply any specific information forthe Character, he/she must also make a successfulPerception Roll in order to understand the meaningof the sound (see section 8.15 Perception, p. 8-26).

If at any time a Characters HRG Value becomes0 or less, he/she becomes deaf. It is not possible toget Experience Points for HRG.

c Ted Nasmith

Well, thief! I smell you and I feel your air. I hear your breath. Come along! Help yourself again, there isplenty and to spare!

Smaug, The Hobbit, Inside Information

1.3.1.5 Psyche (PSY)

PSY stands for Psyche and covers quite manythings; willpower, magic power, self-discipline, per-sistence, intuition and resistance to magic. PSY is animportant Attribute for all kinds of Characters. If

at any time a Characters PSY Value becomes 0 orless, he/she loses all his/her mental strength, andbecomes unsuitable for further role-playing.

When PSY is used directly by a Character (seesection 2.5 Attribute Rolls, p. 2-6), the concept EffectValue is used, see section 2.6 Effect Value, p. 2-7.

1-10 1.3. CHARACTERS IN THE GAME

c Ted Nasmith

There were Nine Riders at the waters edge below, and Frodos spirit quailed before the threat of theiruplifted faces. He knew of nothing that would prevent them from crossing as easily as he had done; and hefelt that it was useless to try to escape over the long uncertain path from the Ford to the edge of Rivendell, ifonce the Riders crossed. In any case he felt that he was commanded urgently to halt. Hatred again stirred inhim, but he had no longer the strength to refuse. . . .

With a great effort Frodo sat upright and brandished his sword.Go back! he cried. Go back to the Land of Mordor, and follow me no more! His voice sounded thin and

shrill in his own ears. The Riders halted, but Frodo had not the power of Bombadil. His enemies laughed athim with a harsh and chilling laughter. Come back! Come back! they called. To Mordor we will take you!

Go back! he whispered. . . .By Elbereth and Luthien the Fair, said Frodo with a last effort, lifting up his sword, you shall have neither

the Ring nor me!Then the leader, who was now half across the Ford, stood up menacing in his stirrups, and raised up his

hand. Frodo was stricken dumb. He felt his tongue cleave to his mouth, and his heart labouring. His swordbroke and fell out of his shaking hand.

The Lord of the Rings, Flight to the Ford

1.3.1.6 Sense of Smell (SML)

SML is the measure of how sensitive a Charac-ters sense of smell is. SML is one of the Attrib-utes called Senses, and therefore no Attribute Rollis made when determining whether a Character canphysically sense a smell or not; the PV is determ-ined simply by calculating CS 11, and in orderto successfully sense the smell, the Characters PVmust be 0 or greater (if PV is exactly 0 the Charac-ter will barely be able to sense the smell), and thusCS must be 11 or greater. Below are CSMs (see sec-tion 2.1 Chance of Success, p. 2-1) for SML:

The Age of the Smell1 CSM

Up to half an hour 0For each additional hour up to 12 hrs 1

The Character must make a successful PerceptionRoll (see section 8.15 Perception, p. 8-26) in order toperceive and understand smells he/she is sensing.If at any time a Characters SML Value becomes 0 orless, he/she loses his/her sense of smell completely.It is not possible to receive Experience Points forSML.

1 If the source of the smell has been removed.

1.3. CHARACTERS IN THE GAME 1-11

1.3.1.7 Sight (SGT) (2013-06-09)

SGT is a measure of how sharp the eyesight of aCharacter is, and the ability to identify an object,and details on it, far away.

SGT is one of the Attributes called Senses, andtherefore no Attribute Roll is made when the GMwants to check whether a Character can see a par-ticular object, or how much of it. SGT is affected byDarkness Modifiers, see subsubsection 2.1.1.1 Dark-ness Modifiers, p. 2-2.

The table below gives three alternatives for what

value the GM may be interested to find out, andthe resp. formulas for calculating them, where Areais the (smallest) area (of a unit of measurement ofthe GMs own choice) from the Characters view-point of the individual object(s) that can or are to beseen, Information Level is the degree of detail andinformation about the object(s) that can or are to bediscerned (this is described further below), and Dis-tance, also of a unit of measurement of the GMsown choice, is the greatest or current distance atwhich the object(s) can or are to be seen.

To determine Formula

The minimum Area of visibleobjects

Area = ( Distance(705CS/10+18CS)Information Level )

2

The Information Level of a visibleobject

Information Level = Distance(705CS/10+18CS)Area

Greatest Distance at which a cer-tain object is visible

Distance = (70 5CS/10 + 18CS)Area Information Level

(2013-06-09)

The Information Level determines the amount of In-formation about the object(s) that can be discernedby the Character; the lesser the value, the more In-formation, but also the lesser the Distance. The tablebelow gives the basic Information Levels and their

resp. amount of Information. If the value falls some-where between these basic Levels, the GM must usehis/her common sense to decide how much Inform-ation can be discerned.

Information Information Level

Identity the identity of a Character1 or thing, eg. whose sword it is 0.5

Action the action of a Character, what he/she is doing2 0.9

Type what the object is, eg. what people a Character belongs to, the species of atree

1

Nul the object is only visible as a dot; no information other than colour can bediscerned

5

(2013-06-09)

In order for a Character to notice specific detailswithin his/her sight, he/she must make a success-ful Perception roll (see section 8.15 Perception, p. 8-26).

If at any time a Characters SGT Value becomes0 or less, he/she becomes blind. It is not possible toreceive Experience Points for SGT.

1 Does not take into account clothing the Character is wearing. If he/she is wearing certain clothes that are known to theobserver, it is much easier for the observer to recognize him/her. The GM must then choose the appropriate Information Levelneeded.

2 Applies only to creatures.

1-12 1.3. CHARACTERS IN THE GAME

c Ted Nasmith

As [Frodo] stepped out at last upon the lofty platform, Haldir took his hand and turned him toward theSouth. Look this way first! he said.

Frodo looked and saw, still at some distance, a hill of many mighty trees, or a city of green towers: which itwas he could not tell.

The Lord of the Rings, Lothlorien

1.3.1.8 Size (SIZ)

SIZ stands for a Characters size and is used primar-ily to calculate how much damage he/she can with-stand, and is also very much the basis of his/herphysical strength (the Characters STR Value). SIZcan also be used when a Character tries to sneak orhide, when someone tries to knock him/she over,or when randomly determining whether he/she ishit by flying objects. If at any time a Characters SIZValue becomes 0 or less, he/she dies.

1.3. CHARACTERS IN THE GAME 1-13

c Jef Murray

[Merry and Pippin] found that they were look-ing at a most extraordinary face. It belonged to alarge Man-like, almost Troll-like, figure, at leastfourteen foot high, very sturdy, with a tall head,and hardly any neck.

The Lord of the Rings, Treebeard

1.3.1.9 Strength (STR)

STR stands for Strength and is partly a measure ofyour PCs pure muscle strength, and partly a meas-ure of how well he/she can use it to best effect. STRalso determines how much weight your PC is ablyto carry. If at any time a Characters STR Value be-comes 0 or less, he/she loses all his/her strengthand ability to carry things.

When STR is used directly by a Character (seesection 2.5 Attribute Rolls, p. 2-6), the concept EffectValue is used, see section 2.6 Effect Value, p. 2-7.

1.3.1.10 Wit (WIT)

WIT stands for Wit and is a measure of how easy ordifficult it is for your PC to understand things, andis used for a lot of Skills that demand knowledgeand/or intelligence. In certain rare situations WITcan also be used to check whether your PC comes to

think about something that you dont come to thinkabout yourself, and vice versa.

If at any time a Characters WIT Value becomes0 or less, all his/her brain activity disappears, andthus he/she becomes unsuitable for further role-playing. It is not possible to receive ExperiencePoints for WIT.

. . . [Sam] also firmly held the incompatible be-lief that Mr. Frodo was the wisest person inthe world (with the possible exception of OldMr. Bilbo and of Gandalf).

The Lord of the Rings,The Black Gate is Closed

1.3.2 Skills

As explained above, the Attributes are a measure ofyour PCs personal characteristics. These are relat-ively invariant and serve as the basis for everythingthat he/she will learn. What a Character learns iscalled Skills and cover such things as experience andknowledge, i.e. things that he/she has learned.

How good your PC is in a Skill is expressedby a Skill Value (SV), which usually is somewherebetween 1 and 20. If he/she has an SV of 1 in a Skill,he/she is a complete novice, whereas a great SV, upto 1520, means that he/she is almost fully learned.If SV for some reason is less than 0 it counts as 0.

Each Skill is based on one of the Attributes, suchas WIT for Herb-lore, AGI for Swimming or CHAfor Acting. The Attributes will give your PC Skillsfor free when you create him/her.

You will choose at least one Profession for yourPC. Depending on which Profession you choose,you may raise certain SVs (your PC has already re-ceived Skills of some level for free). For example,a Solders History SV and a Loremaster or Wise-womans Weapon SV must not be raised. The otherway around, however, is fine.

When a Character uses a Skill, you should checkhow well he/she does so by making a so called SkillRoll: roll three D20s and choose the midmost value,i.e. the median of the three dice results. This is calledM20 from now on.

1-14 1.4. FINAL NOTICE

M201

If the result is less than or equal to the Chanceof Success (CS) (see section 2.1 Chance of Success,p. 2-1) that the Character has in the Skill he/she isusing, he/she has successfully used the Skill, or atleast used it well. If the result is greater, he/she hasfailed, or not used the Skill very well.

1.3.3 Weakness Modifiers

During the game all Characters have a number ofWeakness Modifiers (WMs) that show how tired and

in other ways physically weak and exhausted theyare at the moment. See subsubsection 2.1.1.2 Weak-ness Modifiers, p. 2-2 for how they work.

1.4 Final notice

The most common mistake you can make whenyou start playing a role-playing game is that youlet the rules restrain you too much; you see themas constraints rather than guidelines. In the mostcommon parlour games rules are something thatset up boundaries for what you may do and whatyou should do, but not in role-playing games. Herethe rules are recommendations and guidelines, notlaws. If you think a rule is wrong, stupid or strange,ignore it, or invent a new rule of your own. Inrole-playing games, rules are not the most import-ant thing the role-playing is. However, we recom-mend that you try to follow the lawsof Arda whencreating new rules, as you then get the best Tolkienfeeling when you play. For that is precisely whatthis game strives for to create in a unique way.

In the following chapters the gameplay ruleswill be presented. Thereafter rules for the Skills andSpells will follow, and lastly the Character Creationwill be described.

2-1

Chapter 2

Attribute, Personality Attribute and SkillRolls

2.1 Chance of Success

When a Character uses a Personality Attribute, or aSkill, or an Attribute directly, he/she has a certainchance of succeeding (well) when using it, calledChance of Success (CS), expressed as a value that isusually between 1 and 20; but may also be smaller,even less than 0, or greater than 20. Some Skills, At-tributes and PAs are such that the Character eitherwill succeed or fail, and that it does not matter howwell the Character succeeds or how badly he/shefails, while others are such that the Character can-not just succeed or fail; the degree of success of theperformance is important, i.e. the Performance Value(PV) (see section 2.3 Performance Value, p. 2-6).

CS is calculated starting from the CharactersAV/PAV/SV. His/her chances of succeeding in us-ing this A/PA/S (well) may have to be modified de-pending on the situation. For example, it is mucheasier to climb a rope ladder than to climb a ver-tical glacier. Therefore you should often apply oneor more modifiers to the CS. CS can be modifiedby various factors called Chance of Success Modifi-ers (CSMs) which constitute either decreases or in-creases of CS and vary in size. The CharactersWeakness Modifiers are important such factors (seesubsubsection 2.1.1.2 Weakness Modifiers, p. 2-2).Most other Modifiers are defined in the descriptionsof every Skill, Attribute and PA. If no Modifiersare mentioned, the following Difficulty Table may beused:

Difficulty CSM

Easiest thing in the world +20

Extremely easy +15

Very easy +10

Easy +5

Normal 0Hard 5Very hard 10Extremely hard 15Inhumanly hard 20

For example, if a Character tries to do somethingdeemed Easy by the GM by using a Skill with anSV of 10, the CS will be 10 + 5 = 15.

However, the GM should not feel hesitant to addthe factors he/she thinks the situation requires him-self/herself. It is not possible to anticipate all situ-ations in the game, and therefore the GM must beprepared to improvise a bit.

The sum of all CSMs is the Total CSM. Note!The Total CSM can never be greater than the AV/PAV/SV of the Character who is using the A/PA/S. Thus if a Character is using a Skill with an SV of1, the Total CSM can never be greater than 1, andthen the CS can never be greater than 2. The Player(or sometimes the GM) whose Character is going touse the A/PA/S in question then rolls M20 in or-der to see how well the Character performs (an ex-ception to this are the Attributes called Senses, seesubsection 1.3.1 Attributes, p. 1-5). If the result ofthe Roll is the same as the CS or less the Characterperforms well, but if it is greater he/she does not pe-form well. This is called a Attribute/PA/Skill Roll. The

2-2 2.1. CHANCE OF SUCCESS

GM should not automatically tell the players howdifficult a certain action is; this the Players shouldevaluate themselves.

If and only if a Character has a Value of 0 in aAttribute or Skill he/she can never execute it, evenwhen CS is 1 or greater. If the Value of a A/PA/Sis greater than 0 but CS is 0 or less, the Charactercan still use the A/PA/S, but most Attributes andSkills are such that they in that case are impossiblefor him/her to execute well.

2.1.1 General Chance of Success Modifiers

During the game, certain CS Modifiers will often beapplied to Attribute and Skill Rolls, for various reas-

ons. These are described in detail in the following.

2.1.1.1 Darkness Modifiers

It can naturally be varying light conditions duringAdventures, which affects much of what Charactersdo. This is simulated by CSMs called Darkness Modi-fiers. These affect the CS for the following Attributesand Skills based on them:

AGI1 SGT STR

The following table shows various Darkness Modi-fiers for resp. Peoples.

CS Modifier

Light conditions Dwarves Elves Orcs Others

Normal light 0 0 0 0Poor light / Dawn / Dusk etc. 2 3 1 5Pitch darkness 6 9 3 15Total darkness2 20 20 20 20

Some equipment such as torches and lamps bringabout a positive Darkness Modifier. Note! The TotalDarkness Modifier can never be greater than 0.

2.1.1.2 Weakness Modifiers (2013-01-14)

During the game all Characters have a number ofWeakness Modifiers, which show how tired or weakthey are in different ways at the moment. When theCharacters perform the tiresome actions or are in-volved in exhausting events, the values of the Weak-ness Modifiers will decrease. Their values can neverbe greater than 0, except for certain exceptions (forexample when the Character has eaten lembas); butthe total value of any Weakness Modifier can never

be greater than 0. The Weakness Modifiers work asCS Modifiers for these Attributes and Skills basedon them (Sleep Deprivation Modifiers also affect WITand WIT-based Skills):

AGI HRD PSY STR

The sum of all Weakness Modifiers is called TotalWeakness Modifier (TWM). Certain levels for theTWM are especially relevant, because when Char-acters reach them, something significant can happento the Characters. The levels are:

TWM Condition of the Character

0 The Character is in perfect condition energetically; CS = SV if CS is not modified by somethingelse.

2.1. CHANCE OF SUCCESS 2-3

In the Character Sheet there are fields for the Weak-ness Modifiers, but since the values may change fre-quently during the the game you will often have toerase and fill them in again. Therefore, it is conveni-ent to use dice to show the current values of theWeakness Modifiers during the game instead. Thevarious Weakness Modifiers are described in the fol-lowing.

Blood Loss Modifier A Characters Blood LossModifier (BLM) decreases when the Character hasone or more Bleedings; this is explained in detailin subsection 5.8.4 Effects of Damage, p. 5-12. It in-creases when the Character stops bleeding, which isexplained further in subsection 5.8.6 Recovery fromBlood Loss, p. 5-12.

Burden Modifier A Characters Levels of Burdendetermines the Burden Modifier he or she has, de-pending on how much weight he or she is carrying

at the moment. Each Level of Burden is the max-imum allowed carried weight for a certain BurdenModifier.

One should remember, however, that lifting isnot the same as carrying, and that even very lightitems may be impeding the ability to move. The GMdecides in these situations.

Note! In the old days people did not usuallycarry weapons in their hands if they did not needto (especially not in civilized areas if they did notdesire to pick a quarrel).

Note! The Levels of Burden can only change ifSTRV changes permanently, not because of CSMsfor STR. How to determine the Levels of Burden ac-cording to STRV is explained in section 9.14 Levelsof Burden for the Player Character, p. 9-38.

A Character neither can nor may cause his/herBurden Modifier to decrease so that his/her TWMModifier drops below 10, i.e. so that he/she be-comes unconscious or even dies.

c Ted Nasmith

Again [Sam] lifted Frodo and drew his hands down to his own breast, letting his masters legs dangle. Thenhe bowed his head and struggled off along the climbing road. . . .

Panting under his load Sam turned the bend; and even as he did so, out of the corner of his eye, he had aglimpse of something falling from the crag, like a small piece of black stone that had toppled off as he passed.

A sudden weight smote him and he crashed forward, tearing the backs of his hands that still clasped hismasters. Then he knew what had happened, for above him as he lay he heard a hated voice.

The Lord of the Rings, Mount Doom

2-4 2.1. CHANCE OF SUCCESS

Sleep Deprivation Modifier Sleep DeprivationModifiers affect not only the AGI, HRD, PSY and STRand Skills based on them but also WIT and WIT-based Skills. If a Character has slept too little onenight his/her Sleep Deprivation Modifier decreases by1 for every hour he/she slept too little that night(round up, see section 9.12 Need for Sleep, p. 9-38for the Characters Need for Sleep) until next nightssleep. He/she can sleep in the time remaining laterduring the day; for every hour he sleeps, the SDMincreases by 1. Note! Elves are an exception to thiswhen they are sleeping while not lying; if they thenhave slept too little, their SDM is decreased by 1 foreach 2 hours they have slept too little, and whenthey sleep in (while not lying) their SDM increasesby 1 each 2 hours they sleep. See p. 2-4 for more onhow Elves sleep.

Note! If a Character does not Sleep a sufficientnumber of minutes in order for his/her SDM toincrease by 1, you may count minutes passed tothe Characters benefit the next time the Characteris sleeping (however, SDM must not have for anyreason increased to 0 or greater in the meantime).For example, if a Character sleeps 45 minutes whenlying down, he/she only needs to sleep 15 minutesnext time in order for his/her SDM to increase by 1.

A Character cannot begin next nights sleep be-fore 22 hours have elapsed since he/she began theprevious nights sleep. A Character can thus sleepseveral nights in a row with resulting (but not ac-cumulating!) SDM and then sleep a normal nightssleep in order to raise it to 0. Raising the SDMis only possible through Sleep; it is not possiblethrough Rest or in any other way.

A Character neither can nor may cause his/herSDM to drop so much that his/her TWM drops be-low 10, i.e. making him/her unconscious or evenresulting in his/her death. Sleep can also be used toraise the Weariness Modifier, see below.

Weariness Modifier (2013-03-10) A Characters Wear-iness Modifier (WrM) drops when he/she per-forms a fatiguing action. How this happens is fur-ther explained where it is relevant, such as inchapter 8 Skills, p. 8-1. A Character neither can normay cause his WrM to drop so much that his/herTWM drops below10, i.e. making him/her uncon-scious or even resulting in his/her death.

There are two ways for Characters to make theWrM increase towards 0 again: Rest and Sleep.These have different characteristics:

Manner ofRecovery

Time (mins) Requiredto Raise WrM by 1

Description

Rest 20 The Character may only be sitting or lying. He/she receives a 5 Percep-tion CSM and must not perform any other action actively, like talking oreating. He/she may break off his/her rest whenever he/she wants to.

Sleep(whilelying)

101 The Character cannot use any Attributes or Skills except HRG and SMLwith a 10 CSM. The Character is sleeping2 until he/she is aroused or hasslept a sufficient number of hours in order for his/her SDM to be 0.

(2013-02-09)

Change in Weariness Modifier

Time Rest Sleep (lying down)

10 mins 0 +120 mins +1 +2

40 mins +2 +4

1 hr +3 +6

2 hrs +6 +12

3 hrs +9 +18

4 hrs +12 +24

5 hrs +15 +30

6 hrs +18 +36

7 hrs +21 +42

8 hrs +24 +48(2013-02-09)

Note! If Characters do not Rest or Sleep a sufficientnumber of minutes in order for the WrM to increaseby 1, you may count minutes passed to the Charac-ters benefit the next time the Character is Resting orSleeping (however, the WrM must not have for anyreason increased to 0 or greater in the meantime).For example, if a Character Rests 12 minutes, he/she only needs to Rest 8 minutes next time in orderfor the WrM to increase by 1.

Sleep is also used to prevent the Sleep Depriva-tion Modifier from dropping; see p. 2-4. Duringa single day, a Character may never Sleep for aperiod longer than his/her Need for Sleep (howNeed for Sleep is determined is explained in sec-tion 9.12 Need for Sleep, p. 9-38).

1 Also raises the Sleep Deprivation Modifier.2 The Elves sleep is special, see p. 2-4.

2.1. CHANCE OF SUCCESS 2-5

The Elves Sleep is something between wake-fulness and sleep; when they Sleep, they are halfaware of their surroundings and get a 10 CSM forPerception. They have to lie down for the WrM toincrease while they sleep, but otherwise they canwalk, ride and run while Sleeping. They cannot doany other active action.

. . . Legolas still stepped as lightly as ever, hisfeet hardly seeming to press the grass, leavingno footprints as he passed; but in the waybreadof the Elves he found all the sustenance that heneeded, and he could sleep, if sleep it could becalled by Men, resting his mind in the strangepaths of elvish dreams, even as he walked open-eyed in the light of this world.

The Lord of the Rings, The Riders of Rohan

Wound Modifiers (2012-10-25) When Characters arehurt, they receive Wound Modifiers (these are ex-plained in detail in subsection 5.8.4 Effects of Dam-age, p. 5-12). Wound Modifiers for Head and Trunkwork as Weakness Modifiers; i.e. these Wound Mod-ifiers are added to the TWM.

2.1.1.3 Weather Modifiers (2013-02-06)

The Lord of the Rings may be a fairy-story, butit takes place in the Northern hemisphere ofthis earth: miles are miles, days are days, andweather is weather.

J.R.R. Tolkien in a letter to For-rest J. Ackerman, June 1958

Just as in our day there were naturally varyingweather conditions also in the past. Depending onthe weather different Weather Modifiers occur. Theywork like CSMs for the following Attributes andSkills based on them:

AGI HRD STR

Below is a table showing various weather condi-tions and the resp. CSMs they implicate (some of theconditions may occur at the same time):

Weather CSM

Very Cold 41Cold 22Hot 22Very Hot 41High winds 2Rain (2) (5)

(2013-02-05)

These Modifiers may be increased or even nullifiedby sufficient clothing (see subsection 6.2.3 Clothing,p. 6-3), but it is for the GM to decide whether theCharacters clothing is enough.

2.1.2 Time Chance of Success Modifier

For many Skills, Attributes and PAs, CS is modifieddepending on how much time the Character takeswhen using them. A rule of thumb:

Factor with respect to normal time CSM14 2012 1034 5

1 12 +3

2 +5

3 +9

4 +12

5 +14

6 +15

However, this does not apply to all Skills not veryoften to Knowledge Skills for instance (you may notnecessarily get a better chance of knowing a familysarms even though you are mulling on it twice aslong). The GM may use common sense to determinewhether these CS Modifiers can be used dependingon the situation and the Skill, Attribute or PA used.

2.1.3 Handedness Modifier

For how Handedness is determined for PCs, see sec-tion 9.11 Handedness, p. 9-38. For how Handednessis determined for NPCs, see the NPC Creation Tablein section 9.19 Non-Player Character Creation, p. 9-60.

1 Hobbits: 22 Hobbits: 0

2-6 2.2. HIDDEN ROLLS

The hand that a Character normally uses (theright hand for a right-handed character) will hence-forth be known as the Preferred Hand, while the otherhand will be called the Non-preferred Hand.

If a Character uses an Attribute or Skill withhis/her Non-preferred Hand, e.g. any Weapon Skillor Drawing and Painting, he/she receives a 4 CSModifier. Note! This also affects Weapon (Shields).

If a Character is Mixed-handed, he/she is betterat throwing with his/her left hand, but other thingshe/she prefers to do with his/her right. If a Charac-ter is Ambidextrous he/she can use both hands sim-ultaneously for various things without any prob-lems. He/she can, for example, write with bothhands simultaneously.

2.2 Hidden Rolls

In some cases it is not appropriate that the Playerlearns whether (or how well) his or her Characterhas succeeded with his/her Roll or not. This is forexample true for the Skill Perception if the Playerknows that the Skill Roll succeeded and the GM an-nounces that despite this the Character did not findnotice anything out of the ordinary, the Player canbe sure that that is the case. Therefore it is recom-mended for many Skills, and in certain situations,that the GM makes hidden Rolls, i.e. only he/she isable to see the result of the Rolls, not the Players.

2.3 Performance Value

This is a concept that applies to all Skills, Attrib-utes and PAs, but is more important for some thanfor others, and is important in some situations espe-cially. The Performance Value (PV) is equal to the CSminus the result of the Attribute, PA or Skill Roll. IfCS is 17 and you roll 12, the PV is 5. If you roll aresult greater than CS, the PV is negative.

If PV is 15 or less, the performance is so poorthat the GM may decide that it has especially badconcequences. For example, for knowledge-basedSkills such as Cultural Knowledge Skills this meansthat the Character not only does not know the cor-rect answer, he/she believes that he/knows it.

When the name of a Attribute, PA or Skill ismentioned together with PV, for example STRPV, it means the PV obtained when making an At-tribute/PA/Skill Roll.

c Ted Nasmith

Poor little Bilbo was very nearly left behindagain! He just managed to catch hold of Dorislegs, as Dori was borne off last of all; and theywent together above the tumult and the burn-ing, Bilbo swinging in the air with his armsnearly breaking.

The Hobbit, Out of theFrying-Pan into the Fire

2.4 Performance Difference Value

This concepts usually occurs in Close QuartersCombat (see subsection 5.7.1 Close Quarters Com-bat, p. 5-6) and for certain Skills for which PVsare important. Sometimes in certain situations in-volving two or more Characters, you want to findout a winner. The Characters PVs (from theirSkill or Attribute Rolls) are then pitted against eachother the Character with the greatest PV wins, alsoif his/her PV happens to be negative. Each Charac-ters respective Performance Difference Value (PDV) isthe Characters PV minus the other Characters PV.

2.5 Attribute Rolls

Usually Skills are used, but in some situations thereare not really any suitable Skills when you need tofind out how well a Character manages; then theCharacter uses the appropriate Attribute directly in-stead, and an Attribute Roll is made. These situ-ations may for example include: when he or shemakes some unusual move that tests his or her Agil-

2.6. EFFECT VALUE 2-7

ity, when he or she uses his or her body weight tothrust a door or hatch in the floor open (SIZ), orwhen he or she is armwrestling (STR).

2.6 Effect Value

Certain Skills, such as Spells, and also the AttributesHRD, PSY and STR are all exhausting in the sameway and have therefore a lot in common, which isgiven in the following. They are:

Attributes Hardiness (HRD) Psyche (PSY) Strength (STR)

Skills Riding

Swimming Travelling Spells

The special feature of the above-mentioned Attrib-utes and Skills is that they all use a certain conceptcalled Effect Value (EV). Each time a Character usesany of these Attributes (directly) or Skills, PV is cal-culated as normal, but the GM/Player may thenchoose to decrease the Characters WrM, and EV isthen calculated using this formula:

EV = PV [new TWM]

EV is then used in different ways depending on theAttribute or Skill used. For resp. Skill, this is de-scribed further in chapter 8 Skills, p 8-1. For theabove-mentioned Attributes, EV is simply used asa new, final PV.

2-8 2.6. EFFECT VALUE

3-1

Chapter 3

Experience, Aging and Earnings

c Ted Nasmith

. . . [Morwen] cast back her tattered hood and lifted up her face slowly, haggard and hungry as a long-huntedwolf. Grey she was, sharp-nosed with broken teeth, and with a lean hand she clawed at the cloak upon herbreast. But suddenly her eyes looked into his, and then Hurin knew her; for though they were wild now andfull of fear, a light still gleamed in them hard to endure: the elven-light that long ago had earned her her name,Eledhwen, proudest of mortal women in the days of old.Eledhwen! Eledhwen! Hurin cried; and she rose and stumbled forward, and he caught her in his arms.You come at last, she said. I have waited too long.It was a dark road. I have come as I could, he answered.But you are late, she said, too late. They are lost.I know, he said. But you are not.Almost, she said. I am spent utterly. I shall go with the sun. They are lost. She clutched at his cloak. Littletime is left, she said. If you know, tell me! How did she find him?But Hurin did not answer, and he sat beside the stone with Morwen in his arms; and they did not speak again.The sun went down, and Morwen sighed and clasped his hand and was still; and Hurin knew that she haddied.

The Children of Hurin, The Death of Turin

3-2 3.1. GAINING EXPERIENCE POINTS

3.1 Gaining Experience Points (2013-01-14)

A PC can improve his/her Attribute (except HRG,SGT, SIZ, Sense of Smell (SML) and WIT) and SkillValues (or acquire new Skills) by gaining ExperiencePoints (XPs). When making an Attribute or Skill Rollfor a PC, if the AV/SV is less than 20 and the resultof the Roll is equivalent to the AV/SV or less, he/she gains an XP for the Attribute/Skill. If the AV/SV is at least 20 and at most 39 he/she automatic-ally gains an XP, and gains a further XP if the resultof the Roll is equivalent to [AV/SV-20] or less. If theAV/SV is at least 40 and at most 59 he/she auto-matically gains two XPs, and gains a further XP ifthe result of the Roll is equivalent to [AV/SV-40] orless, etc.

When a PC gains one or more XPs for a Skill, he/she also gains the same number of XPs for the Atti-bute the Skill is based on. When a PC gains one ormore XPs for an Attribute as a result of the Playermaking an Attribute Roll, the PC does not gain anyXPs for any Skills.

However, a PC can only gain XPs for each Attrib-ute and Skill once a Week at most. When your PCgains XPs for a certain Attribute or Skill, you markthis on his/her Character Sheet, for example with anasterisk (*) following the number of XPs your PChas in the Attribute or Skill. This mark indicates thatyour PC has gained XPs during the current Weekand that he/she cannot gain more XPs for the At-tribute or Skill in question before a new Week hasbegun (your PC can gain XPs for another Skill that isbased on the same Attribute, but then he/she gainsXPs only for that Skill, not the Attribute). When anew Week begins, you erase all markings you havemade for all your PCs Attributes and Skills.

In order to gain XPs for Skills and Attributesduring Adventures, the PCs should use them foruseful purposes, not just to gain XPs. If a Player forexample has his/her PC shoot with a bow at a treeeven though it does not have any significance in theAdventure, the PC does not gain any XPs.

During Adventures, the PCs gain XPs in the waydescribed above. During the time periods betweenAdventures, additional rules apply; these are ex-plained below.

3.2 Gaining Experience Points Dur-ing the Time Between Adven-tures (2013-03-10)

During the time (in Arda) between Adventures (orduring breaks in Adventures), the PCs make theirliving by practising their resp. Professions. They

also have some spare time during which they doother things.

A Player may make one Skill Roll for his/her PCeach full Week that passes for one of the PCs CurrentProfession Skills (see section 9.8 Professions Availableto the Character, p. 9-27) that is, only the Profes-sion Skills made available by the PCs Current Pro-fession, not those made available by the PCs otherProfessions.

All restrictions that applied when the PC wascreated apply now as well; for example, a PC whosePeople is Dwarves must not try to gain XPs forLanguage (Sindarin), even though his/her Profes-sion makes Language Skills available as ProfessionSkills.

Furthermore, a Player may make a Skill Rollevery two Weeks for a Skill, of his/her own choice,which is not one of the PCs Current ProfessionSkills. However, just like in the Character Cre-ation (see subsection 9.17.2 Spending the ExperiencePoints, p. 9-43) this is only allowed at the GMs dis-cretion after he/she takes into account everythingthat is known about the Character what he/shehas experienced in the past, where he/she lives orhas lived, what people he/she has come into con-tact with etc. The Character may have experienced alot, come into contact with alien Peoples, and maybemoved from his/her original Place of Abode afterhe/she started his/her first Adventure.

Thus for example during a period of eightWeeks, a Player may make 8 Rolls for any of the PCsCurrent Profession Skills and 4 Rolls for other Skills.

Note! During slavery and similar work, it is theGM who decides which these two Skills may be.

However, it is not necessary to make one Rolleach Week (or every two Weeks) if the same Skillis used several Weeks in a row the Player maychoose to make one Roll for a period of any num-ber of Weeks (at most 104 two years) during whichthe same Skill is used. This one Roll will decide theamount of XPs gained for each Week.

Note! As usual, a PC must have access to the ne-cessary Equipment for the Skills he/she is going touse. See chapter 8 Skills, p. 8-1.

Note! When a PC gains XPs in this way, onemust remember to keep track of the point at whichthe PCs SVs and AVs increase (see section 3.3 UsingExperience Points below). When this happens, thechance that the PC, for each Roll, gains XPs in theSkills and Attributes afterwards becomes greater.

Raising a Skill Value from 0 to 1 During the timebetween Adventures (or during breaks in Adven-tures), it is possible for PCs to gain a Value of 1 in

3.3. USING EXPERIENCE POINTS 3-3

Skills that they have no ability or knowledge in, i.e.have an SV of 0 in. This follows the rules describedabove, with an important exception:

The Player does not make any Skill Rolls in thiscase; instead, it simply takes 30 Weeks for a PC togain a Value of 1 in one of his/her Current Profes-sion Skills.

In a Skill that is not one of the PCs Current Pro-fession Skills, it takes 60 Weeks for a PC to gain aValue of 1.

This training does not need to be done all ina row; it can be done in multiple stages, but in thatcase the Player should make notes about it.

It is not possible for PCs to gain a Value of 1 in aSkill that they have a Value of 0 by Skill Rolls, sincean SV of 0 makes it impossible for them to gain XPsfor the Skill in question.

3.3 Using Experience Points (2013-01-14)

You should note down all Skills your PC gain XPsfor on your Character Sheet, and any XPs your PCgains at resp. Skill and Attribute. The XPs are thenconverted to SVs and AVs in the same way as theywere when you raised your PCs SVs and AVs inthe Character Creation (see subsection 9.17.2 Spend-ing the Experience Points, p. 9-43). For example, ifyour PC has the Value of 17 in a certain Skill, he/she needs to gain enough additional XPs to reach18, thus 94. If your PC received one or more Modifi-ers for the Skill in the Character Creation, you neednot worry about it now.

3.4 Aging

When a Character reaches his/her next Birthdayand becomes one Year older, you should check theTable on p. 9-26 whether your PCs AVs and PAVschange and apply any changes. If there are anyAV increases, you should also remember to checkwhether there are any further changes, see sec-tion 3.5 Consequences of Attribute and PersonalityAttribute Value Changes 3-3 below.

3.5 Consequences of Attribute andPersonality Attribute ValueChanges

3.5.1 Attribute Value Changes

When the Value of a PCs Attribute increases after asufficient number of XPs has been gained for the At-tribute, or if the Value increases in some other way,the Player should check whether other Values are af-fected. The Values that increase or may increase dueto an increase in an AV are:

BSV of the Attribute in question Toughness Value (if the SIZ BSV increases) Levels of Burden for the Player Character (if

the STR Value increases)

The Values of the Skills that are based on an Attrib-ute for which the BSV increases, increase immedi-ately by one level. In addition, one must rememberthat if the PCs STRV increases, he/she will meet theWeapons STR CS Requirements easier (see subsec-tion 6.2.10 Weapons, p. 6-19).

3.5.2 Checking Attribute and Personality At-tribute Value Profession Requirements(2013-01-14)

Whenever one of the PCs AVs or PAVs changes, youshould also check whether he/she still meets the Re-quirements of his/her Profession(s). For each of thePCs Professions, calculate adjusted AV and PAV Re-quirements by adding this sum to the Requirementsfor the Profession in question given in the Table onp. 9-36:

Dwarf & Elf Women Mod.1 + People-specificAV/PAV Mod. + General Waning Mod. + Waningof the Dunedain Mod.2

For the values of these modifiers for your PC, seesection 9.9 Apply People-specific Attribute and Per-sonality Attribute Value Modifiers, General Waningand Waning of the Dunedain, p. section 9.9.

Use these adjusted Requirements in the Table in-stead of the given ones and check whether the PCmeets them. If the PC does not meet an adjusted Re-quirement for a Profession he/she has, he/she can-not have that Profession anymore. Erase it then fromthe Character Sheet.

3.6 Earnings (2013-03-10)

How to determine a PCs Earnings in the CharacterCreation is described in subsection 9.5.4 The Player

1 Only applies to Dwarf and Elf PCs whose Gender is Woman.2 Only applies to Dunedain of the North and Dunedain of the South PCs.

3-4 3.6. EARNINGS

Characters Earnings, p. 9-24.When Characters make their living by practising

their resp. Professions they receive Earnings. Eachfull Week they receive their resp. weekly Earningsbased on their current CS for the same Skill (ofthe Characters Current Profession Skills) they havechosen to hopefully gain XPs for.1 This is a net in-come, which means that you do not have to takeinto account any of the Characters regular expensessuch as for taxes, food etc.

The CS for certain Skills may be raised by spe-cial equipment (see section 6.2 Tables of Goods andItems, p. 6-2).

You may exchange your Characters weeklyEarnings to as great monetary units as possible.

The GM may set restrictions on the Skills thatcan be used as the basis for Earnings at any time(and then it is not possible to gain XPs for themeither). In order to use certain Skills the Charactersmust sometimes travel long distances (for exampleRiding). A Mariner has to do it almost every timehe/she is practising his/her Profession. This can ob-viously affect how the (forthcoming) Adventure un-folds.

Sometimes Characters may practise their Profes-sions during Adventures, for example a Soldier maybe on duty. The GM decides whether (and in whatway) the Characters receive Earnings in such situ-ations.

c Anke Eimann

Gimli stood leaning against the breastwork upon the wall. Legolas sat above on the parapet, fingering hisbow, and peering out into the gloom.

The Lord of the Rings, Helms Deep

Druedain and Ents have no currency, and areonly engaged in barter. This is simulated by the factthat the GM or the Players whose Characters belongto these Peoples must have their Characters spendtheir Earnings immediately when it has been ob-

tained. The part of their Earnings that is not usedimmediately is discarded. During Adventures theycan obviously obtain money, but it cannot be usedin their cultures.

1 During slavery and similar work the Character does not receive Earnings.

4-1

Chapter 4

Personality

c Ted Nasmith

Suddenly Sam woke up thinking that he heard his master calling. It was evening. Frodo could not havecalled, for he had fallen asleep, and had slid down nearly to the bottom of the pit. Gollum was by him. For amoment Sam thought that he was trying to rouse Frodo; then he saw that it was not so. Gollum was talking tohimself. Smeagol was holding a debate with some other thought that used the same voice but made it squeakand hiss. A pale light and a green light alternated in his eyes as he spoke.

The Lord of the Rings, The Passage of the Marshes

4-2 4.1. BASICS

4.1 Basics

Arda Marred incorporates a personality system forCharacters which seldom has been seen before inthe context of role-playing games. This system is setup so that situations where Players have their PCsdo what you morally and psychologically are un-likely to do in real life are avoided, eg. killing in-nocent people, stealing or using all their savings toprepare for Adventures.

A Characters personality consists of six Person-ality Attribute Pairs. The Pairs are opposites; forexample Diligence Laziness, Generosity Greedand Evil Goodness.

The Personality Attributes (PAs) have almostalways Values ranging between 1 och 20, so thateach Pairs total value is always 20. For example,if a Character has a Generosity Value of 7, his/herGreed Value is 13. In this example, he/she would bequite greedy, because 7 is a fairly small Value and 13is quite great.

The Personality Attributes and their abbrevi-ations are:

Carefulness (CRF) Foolhardiness (FHD) Diligence (DLG) Laziness (LAZ) Evil (EVL) Goodness (GDN) Generosity (GNR) Greed (GRD) Humility (HML) Pride (PRD) Lust for Power (LFP) Modesty (MOD)

4.2 Using the Personality Attributes

The PAs should decide how the Character acts incertain situations, so the Player is not allowed to de-cide when the PAs have this effect, nor which PAsthat are used; all this is decided by the GM.

The GM must be attentive and notice those situ-ations where the Characters PAs should determinehow they (the Characters) act after all, role-playinggames are not real life, and therefore the Playersdo not possess the same morals and mentality inthe game as they do in real life. In these situationsthe Characters PAs are used to determine how theCharacters act, largely in the same way as Attrib-utes and Skills are used, but there are some differ-ences. As is the case for Attributes and Skills, theGM may modify the probability of what the out-come will be, i.e. apply one or more CSMs (for ex-ample, if the Character is ordered or forced to dosomething, then it should be fairly likely that he/she chooses to do it). In that case, the GM appliesthe CSM(s) to the appropriate PA in the PA Pair, anda corresponding negated CSM(s) to the other PA in

the Pair. Note! Remember that the resp. Total CSMsfor the PAs in the Pair must not be greater than theresp. PAVs, see section 2.1 Chance of Success, p. 2-1. If any of the Total CSMs are affected by this, thevalue of the other does not change. Then, PA Rollsare made for both of the PAs in the Pair, and thePA with the greatest PV wins. If the PVs happento have the same value, the GM decides randomlywhich PA wins. A PDV (see section 2.4 Perform-ance Difference Value, p. 2-6) may then also be cal-culated, if needed.

When PA Rolls are used, there is a certain ele-ment of randomness in how Characters act. Ho