Article:Taking the MIN/MAX out of Middle-earth Characters

From HofWiki

By Scottomir

One of the first things a player new to Decipher’s The Lord of the Rings RPG will notice is that starting characters can be surprisingly powerful. For new gamers possessing prior experience with D&D (D20 or otherwise), this can come as quite a shock. A starting D&D character is notoriously vulnerable: one solid sword-blow is usually enough to mortally wound a 1st-level wizard or thief. Decipher’s The Lord of the Rings RPG is a refreshing change in this regard, but the downside to this greater security for starting LOTR characters is that they can begin half-way to their maximum potential in their key areas. Characters can start out so well-developed that by the time they reach their 10th advancement they already will have 12 ranks in key skills, scores of 12 in key attributes, and all the best order abilities and edges. In short, the downside to the LOTR system is that starting characters are too easy, and too tempting, to “min-max” (which is when a player calculates character decisions to achieve the maximum power return for the minimum cost investment). This article will offer some optional rules making it harder for players to “min-max” their characters and, hopefully, extending effective lifespan of a character beyond 10 advancements (instead of front-loading so much of a character’s power into his initial development).

Perhaps the single most abusive loophole in the core book’s character-creation system is the attribute modifiers on Table 2.1 (p. 48). Especially when combined with the Pick Method (p. 46), it is too tempting to give a new character 4 or 5 in a couple attributes of lesser importance (since 4-5 doesn’t impose any penalty) in order to jack up all other attributes to 10, 11, or 12 (granting a +2 or +3 bonus to everything else). Fortunately, there is an easy fix: cut out of abusive 4-7 range for the +0 modifier. Consider this alternate distribution...

Table 2.1 (Revised): Attribute Modifiers
Attribute Level Modifier

While you’re revising the attribute modifiers, it may be a good idea to revisit the Pick Method specifically. As written, the Pick Method yields attribute scores considerably higher than the Random Method (on average), and the 8 free points makes it too tempting to “min-max” away all weaknesses. An interesting variant that keeps the spirit of the Pick Method while reining in the potential for abuse is to have the player select one of the following two sets of scores to distribute among his character’s attributes...

Set 1: 11, 10, 9, 8, 6, 4
Set 2: 10, 9, 8, 8, 7, 6

The character does not get 8 free points to distribute; he must use the scores in the set chosen, applying racial modifiers to determine the final rating for each attribute. The above sets are slightly less powerful than the standard Pick Method (48 total points compared to 50). They are also carefully balanced so that a character who wants great strengths will have at least one weakness, and no character can start out with the 12 maximum in any attribute. There should always be room to grow!

Another serious “min-max” problem is starting skill ranks. According to the core book (p. 77), a new character can start out with as many as 6 ranks in a starting skill. But, since 12 is the maximum this means that a brand-new character can be already halfway to his ultimate potential. Considering that a character can buy 2 ranks in an Order skill with each advancement, this means a character can reach 12 ranks in his key skills by his 3rd advancement. One very easy way to curtail this abuse is to decrease the starting rank limit from 6 to 3. If a character cannot start out with more than 3 ranks in any skill, this means that he won’t be able to reach 12 ranks in his key skills until his 5th advancement. Of course, Language and Lore skills, especially the “native” skills a character buys with his free ranks based on his Wits, should be an exception—these skills can begin with up to 6 ranks. Lastly, many of the Order abilities are written with the assumption that a character can start with 6 ranks (the Minstrel’s Inspiring Performance ability, for example). If you decrease the maximum starting ranks, you should also cut in half the Requisite skill ranks for these basic Order abilities (Inspiring Performance should have a Requisite of Perform +3). Please note: Specialties do not count toward the starting rank cap, and there is no limit to the number of extra specialties a character can buy for 1 rank each.

Edges, as written in the core book, are tremendously unbalanced. Why spend 6 advancement picks to raise your Willpower by 2 when you can spend 2 picks on the Strong-willed edge? Why spend 6 picks raising your Stamina and Willpower when you can buy the Resolute edge for 2 picks? Every Narrator is advised to amend these abusive edges so thatthe bonuses are not constant but instead apply only in certain situations (for example, the Resolute bonuses could apply only to opposed tests or tests to overcome distractions). Readers are invited to check out my attempts at balancing the unbalanced edges in my Revised/Optional Rules Compilation (available for download at: http://www.geocities.com/scott_metz/LOTRCODArevisions.doc - last checked on 2007-10-14). Furthermore, it is also a good idea to restrict the sheer number of edges a character can acquire. One option is to limit new characters to buying only one edge with their initial 6 picks for race (unless they are a part of an approved “background package”). Additionally, a new character cannot buy more than one edge with his final 5 free picks (p. 113). Thereafter, a character can buy only one new edge per experience advancement.

Yet another way to “min-max” new characters is with their language ranks. Why put more than 1 rank in a language? The core book doesn’t provide any reason. Fortunately, the official errata suggest that 6 ranks in a language are necessary for native fluency. Thus, a Narrator should require a new character to put 6 of his free ranks from Wits into his native language. The character should also strive to get 6 ranks in all of the other languages he needs to speak. One way to enforce this is to require that the player make a language skill test (TN 10) when his character uses a language in which he has less than 6 ranks in an important or dramatic situation; on a failure the character’s verbal gaffs cause a troublesome misunderstanding.

However, not all revisions to character generation need to punish calculating players. One way you can help out planning-minded players is by clarifying and reorganizing the combat skill groups (p. 119). As written, there are numerous skill classifications of very uneven value and unclear use. Consider tightening things up for your players. Armed Combat can be combined into just three skills: Hafted Weapons (axes, clubs, maces, hammers), Hilted Weapons (swords, daggers, knives), and Pole Weapons (spears, pikes, staffs). Ranged Combat consists of Bows and Thrown Weapons (including spears and, if you want to add them into the game, slings). Unarmed Combat consists of Wrestling and Brawling, although the core book doesn’t bother to define their use; the former could be used for all grappling attacks while the latter could be used for punch/kick attacks and shield bash attacks (after all, a shield bash is basically just a body slam while something happens to be on your arm).

Another character-development issue you can clarify for your players is how rank totals work for skill groups. For example, if you need 6 ranks in “Armed Combat” do you meet the requisite only if you have all 6 ranks in one specific skill or can you meet it by having 2 ranks in three separate skills? The core book does not specify, but you can use the following revision to clarify the matter. To determine if a general requisite (e.g., “Armed Combat 6+”) is met, total together all ranks in all skills in that group. Maximum rank caps and rank advancements apply to each skill in the group separately, not to the whole skill group. Any “special” benefits are gained only for the first individual skill in that group to reach the listed rank level, not when the total ranks in all skills in the group reach the required level (e.g., a character gains the +1 combat maneuver bonuses for Armed Combat only when the first individual skill in that group reaches ranks 6, 9, and 12).

In conclusion, it is not impossible to take the “min-max” out of making Middle-earth characters. By revising the attribute modifiers, reducing the limit for starting skill ranks, restricting the abusive edges, and enforcing the fluency ranks for languages, you can tone down the power of starting characters and draw out their development over a greater number of advancements.