7. GAME SYSTEM

1) Time and Movement

a) Time Scales

For game purposes, several time parts are defined. These are shown below:

1 Game Turn = 5 minutes

1 Combat Round = 12 seconds

1 Minute = 5 Combat Rounds

1 Game Turn = 25 Combat Rounds

1 Hour = 12 Game Turns

b) Daily Movement

For overland movement, we assume a ten hour travel-day with sufficient stops for rest. Consult the table below for daily distances. These values assume travelling along a road or trail, not cross-country

Pace	Distance (miles per day)
Walk	20
Forced March	40
Casual Horseback	35
Forced Horseback	40
Wagon Speed	10

Terrain and weather conditions then reduce these base figures as follows:

Terrain	Reduce By
Forest, rolling hills or desert	1/3
Mountains	2/3
Marshes or swamps	2/3 (or 1/3 if using boats or rafts)
Ice or snow	4/5 (or 1/3 if using skis or sledges)
Heavy Storms	2/3

A major river takes one full day to cross, unless bridged or fordable.

Terrain and weather modifiers are cumulative.

Travel by sea or river is also possible. Check the table below for typical sailing speeds.

Good or Poor conditions are governed by many factors such as: wind and storms; the tides; presence of rocks or sandbars. The type of craft and the experience of the crew are also important considerations. Captains should attempt Shiphandling skill rolls to achieve the best movement rates.

c) Scenario Movement

In combat or similar tactical situations where there is “time pressure”, the time scale switches to rounds. Distance moved may be critical, and knowing if your character can get from one side of a battle to the other becomes important. Typical movement rates are shown below:

• Double these distances if on horseback.

• Multiply by 2/3 if a Dwarf or Hobbit.

• If wearing plate armour and STR < 15 speed is reduced to 2/3 normal rates.

• If STR > SIZ , character is faster than average

• If STR < SIZ , character is slower than average

Average Movement Rates in Combat

2) Using Skills: Success or Failure

Whether your character is heroic or dastardly, you'll want him to act and succeed. In Basic Role-Playing your character can succeed in four ways: automatic actions; simple percentile rolls; skill versus skill; and the resistance table rolls. These four methods of determining success give you all the mechanics you need for a character to perform normal activities.

a) Automatic Actions

This term describes activities which are always successful under normal circumstances. There is no need to roll any dice for these. They are assumed 100% successful. These include walking, running, talking, seeing, hearing, and any other normal basic function.

Attempting to do these things under extraordinary conditions, or trying to do them with close scrutiny, requires a die roll, as outlined in the next section.

b) Simple Percentile Rolls

Ordinary actions performed under stress or requiring concentration need a die roll to be successful. This includes Climbing, Jumping, Spotting Hidden Items, Listening, or Moving Quietly. Further, any action which requires a specific special skill to do requires a die roll as well. Examples of these are Riding, Swimming, Throwing, or Picking Pockets.

A list of common skills is given below, with normal starting percentages.

Skill	Starting Percentage
Brawl	25%
Climb	25%
Dodge	DEX x 2%
Listen	25%
Hide	10%
See	25%
Move Quietly	10%

These skills are possessed in greater or lesser degree by everyone. Other skills may require special training. Perfect examples of such skills include Ride, Craft skills, Disguise, Language skills and Lore skills (academic learning).

In addition, derived characteristics like the Idea roll are expressed as percentages.

c) Skill Versus Skill – Method One

One skill can be used to guard against the use of another skill. For instance, Hide may be used versus Search or See; Move Quietly may be used against Listen; Appraise versus Persuade in a trading/bartering situation and so on. Further, it may be that the same skills can be used against each other: two politicians matching wits with their Persuade skills perhaps.

One of the skills must be designated the 'attacking' skill while the other is the 'defending' skill. For example, Hide could be the 'defender' while Search would be the 'attacker'. The defending character must successfully use his skill before it will guard him. If the defender is successful, subtract his skill percentage from the attacker's skill. The attacker must then make his skill roll at the reduced percentage in order to be successful. In a case where the defender's skill would reduce the attacker's skill to 5% or less, the attacker will always have at least a 5% chance of success.

If the defender unsuccessfully uses his skill, the attacker must make only a simple percentile roll to be successful.

For example:

A Man is hiding from an Orc. The Man has Hide 28% and the Orc has a See skill of 50%. The Man makes his Hide skill roll and succeeds. The Orc must then make a See skill roll of (50-28=) 22% in order to spot the Man. If the Man had failed his Hide roll, he would have had nothing to with which to 'defend' himself against the Orc's eyesight, and the Orc would have had a 50% chance to spot the Man.

d) Skill Versus Skill – Method Two (Experimental, untested)

These rules might suit “extended test” situations where two characters are locked in a struggle over a period of time. Such cases would include large scale tactical battles, games of chess, trading or diplomatic negotiations and so on.

Divide each character's percentile skill by 5 and round fractions normally. This will give a number between 1 and 20 (for most characters). Each character then decides their goal or the GM can determine the victory conditions. The contest then plays out as follows:

• Make a roll for each character on the Resistance Table

• If both succeed or both fail, there is no outcome yet and the contest continues

• If one side scores a critical success while the other scores a normal success (or a fumble and a normal failure occur) then the contest continues with the advantage - say an extra 1D6 onto the score - going to the side which scored the critical or normal failure

• If one character succeeds and the other fails, victory is achieved

• If a critical success or fumble is rolled, the winner scores a big victory

In an extended contest the GM can set a victory level (say, first to five) and the struggle would not be over after the first win. Such contests could take days or weeks of game time to conclude.

The winning character gets one skill improvement roll, no matter how many rolls he may have made.

For example:

Two characters are playing Chess and match their Games skills on the Resistance Table. Turgon has Games 84% and Bergil has Games 60%. Dividing by 5 and rounding normally gives Turgon a score of 16.8 (rounded up to 17) and Bergil has a score of 12. Turgon has a 5 point advantage over Bergil. On the Resistance Table, Turgon has a 75% chance of beating Bergil, whilst Bergil has but a 25% chance of besting Turgon.

The players make their rolls.

On the first round, Turgon rolls 56, a success, while Bergil rolls 22, also a success. Both players are in good form, matching gambits and tactics and neither can force a win. On the second round, Turgon scores 94, a failure, while Bergil rolls 95. Both players fail, so the contest continues. Finally, Turgon rolls 01, a critical success while poor Bergil rolls 84 and fails. In the Chess match, Turgon capitalises on an error by Bergil and sweeps to victory!

e) Resistance Table Rolls

The final method of determining success is by using the Resistance Table. It makes it easy to figure out if your character succeeds in pitting some characteristic of his against something else, also expressed as a simple number comparable to the characteristic. The Table is a ready-to-use version of the formula devised to solve such problems.

To use it, take the active person's characteristic and find it on the upper, horizontal entry. Then find the passive object's characteristic on the left-hand, vertical line. Cross-index them and you have the maximum number you can roll and still succeed in the task.

For instance, a character with a STR of 9 wishes to push open a door that is stuck. The referee determines that the door has STR 4. Checking the Resistance Table you'll see that he needs to roll 75% or less to succeed. If he rolls that, then the door has been pushed open.

A character's Courage and Fatigue Points are specific examples of how the Resistance Table can be used to resolve situations outside of the normal skill-system. Courage, the average of STR, POW and CHA, is used to resist Fear. Fatigue Points, the average of CON, STR and POW, are used to determine the effects of exhausting activities on the character. Specific mechanics for Courage are in the Middle-earth Special Rules chapter. Fatigue is discussed in the Game System chapter.

3) Skill Modifiers (optional, experimental, untested)

Sometimes things are not as easy as they seem. On other occasions, circumstances may make a task easier. In these cases, modifiers can be applied to the character's skill level before the roll is made. Common modifiers are shown below. The use of these modifiers is entirely at the GM's discretion.

a) Craft skills

Situation	Modifier
Complex Repair	-20%
Very Complex Repair	-40%
Don't have the right parts	-20%
Don't have the right tools	-30%
“Has never been done before”	-60%
“I've never done this before”	-10%
Complex Lock	-Builder's Craft: Locksmith Skill

b) Stealth Skills

Situation	Modifier
Performing secretive task while under observation	-40%
Target on guard or alerted	-30%

c) Terrain Effects on Stealth

Terrain	Hide	Move Quietly
Light
Scrub	5%	-5%
Brush	10%	-10%
Trees	10%	-10%
Medium
Scrub	10%	-10%
Brush	20%	-20%
Trees	20%	-20%
Heavy
Scrub	15%	-15%
Brush	30%	-30%
Trees	50%	-50%

If the terrain is flat, halve the Hide skill before adding the terrain modifier.

If the terrain is broken, double the Hide skill before adding the terrain modifier.

d) Terrain Effects on Perception

Terrain	See/Search
Light
Scrub	0%
Brush	-10%
Trees	-10%
Medium
Scrub	-10%
Brush	-20%
Trees	-20%
Heavy
Scrub	-15%
Brush	-30%
Trees	-50%

If the ground is broken, halve the Search skill and reduce See by 25% before subtracting the terrain modifier.

e) Terrain Definitions

• Light – No more than one item of the terrain type per 10'x10' area. Normal vision range.

• Medium – No more than five items of the terrain type per 10'x10' area. Half vision range.

• Heavy – More than five items of the terrain type per 10'x10' area. Quarter vision range.

• Scrub – Ground cover up to waist height, e.g. grass, light bushes. No movement penalty.

• Brush – Ground cover slightly over man height. Reduce movement by 15% to 30%.

Trees – Forest of trees several man-heights tall. Trees can support human weight. Movement reduced as per Brush.

f) Perception and Lighting

g) Encumbrance (Agility Skills, Attack and Parry)

Encumbrance Level	Modifier
Light	-10%
Medium	-20%
Heavy	-30%

h) Miscellaneous Modifiers

Situation	Modifier
Under Stress	-30%
Under Attack	-30%

i) Reputation and Social Skills

Reputation Score	Modifier
0-5	0%
6-10	+/- 5%
11-15	+/- 10%
16-20	+/- 15%
21-25	+/- 20%
26-30	+/- 25%
31+	+/- 30%

Area in Common	Modifier
Local	0%
Area	-10%
Region	-20%
Realm	-40%
World	-60%

4) Skill Affinities (Experimental, untested)

Some skills are related (even if not closely) and characters possessing such skills may be able to bring them to bear. This is called an affinity.

For each skill for which an affinity may apply the GM can determine one or two (maximum) related skills which may be applied in a situation. The player may then attempt skill rolls for the affinities before making the main skill roll. Each success in an affinity skill grants a +10% bonus to the “real” skill being used. These bonuses do increase the character's chance of making a critical success on the main skill roll. Critical successes or fumbles on an affinity roll do not grant any further bonuses or penalties to the main skill.

For example, the Healing skill is used to treat diseases, poisons and so on. But Lore: Plants includes knowledge of which plants may have beneficial healing qualities. With a successful Lore: Plants roll, the character using Healing skill gets a +10% bonus for that attempted treatment.

These rules show the value of Lore skills as they allow academic knowledge to be applied in practical situations. For example, when attempting to Persuade with a Dwarf Chieftain, a character with Lore: Dwarves has an insight into the Dwarven personality and mind-set which may give him an advantage in striking a deal.

If another character possesses a relevant affinity skill and is in a position to communicate the information to the skill user, successful affinity skills grant a +5% bonus.

5) Levels of Success

There are six levels of success or failure. From best to worst, these are described below.

a) Critical Success

Critical successes occur when the dice roll for a skill or resistance table roll is 1/10 of the required score. Fractions less than 0.5 are rounded down, those of 0.5 or greater are rounded up. For example, a character with a Climb skill of 62% will score a critical success on the roll of 6.2% or less on D100. The 6.2% rounds down to 6%.

A critical success represents a spectactular performance by the character. The GM should reward the character in some way. For example: a climber makes the ascent more quickly; a pick-pocket filches an item of high value; someone listening detects an enemy approaching much earlier than would be normal or can perhaps reckon the number of approaching creatures; a craftsman makes an item of exceptional quality. The exact effects depend on the circumstances and the skill being used.

Critical successes are very important in combat. Much greater detail is given to these critical hits in the Combat chapter.

b) Special Success

A special success occurs when the dice roll is between 1/10 and 1/5 of the required skill or resistance table score. Again, fractions less than 0.5 are rounded down, those of 0.5 or greater are rounded up. The climber above with 62% Climb skill scores a special success on a dice roll of (62 / 5 = ) 12.4% which rounds down to 12%. Therefore the climber would score a critical on 01 – 06% and a special success on 07 – 12%.

A special success represents a better-than-average performance in the skill by the character and the GM should reward the character in some way. The climber could make the ascent with ease; a pick-pocket might filch an additional item; a listener could be able to determine the enemy's direction of approach or the type of creature making the noise; a craftsman makes an item of above average quality. The exact effects depend on the circumstances and the skill being used, at GM's discretion.

In combat, special successes are also important and are discussed in the Combat chapter.

c) Normal Success

A normal success, or simply success, occurs on any dice roll higher than 1/5 of the skill score but less than or equal to the score. With a 62% Climb skill, the character above will score a normal success on a dice roll of 13 – 62%. The character's performance in the skill or resistance roll is sufficient to accomplish the task and the normal effects of the skill apply with no further bonus or penalty.

With a normal success, the climber makes the ascent; a pick-pocket gains an item of average value; a listener can hear something but cannot tell what it is; and a craftsman makes an item of passable or saleable quality.

d) Normal Failure

A normal failure, or simply failure, occurs on a skill or resistance roll higher than the skill score but less than 96%. In this case the character's performance in the skill is inadequate and the task is failed.

For example: a climber gets stuck and is unable to find a way up a cliff face (a cruel GM might ask for another Climb roll to be able to get back down!); a pick-pocket comes away empty handed; a character cannot hear anything untoward; a craftsman labours all day but his work is spoiled by poor quality materials or shoddy workmanship. Depending on the skill in question the attempt may be repeated, often with a penalty on the retry as the character exhausts his knowledge.

e) The Mishap

A mishap another type of failure. It is a minor but unfortunate event that accompanies the character's failed attempt. For characters whose skill level is less than 50% a mishap occurs on a dice roll of 96, 97 or 98%. For characters whose skill level is 50% or higher a mishap occurs on a dice roll of 98 or 99%.

Examples of mishaps include: the climber drops something while making the climb; the pick-pocket filches and item of superficially high value but which turns out to be worthless; the listener confuses the enemy approach with something innocent and may proceed with a false sense of security; the craftsman makes an item that, although functional, is either unpleasing to the eye or has a 50% chance of breaking whenever it is used.

f) The Fumble

The opposite of a critical, the fumble roll represents a spectacular failure in the character's use of a skill. If a character's skill is less than 50%, a fumble occurs on the D100 roll of 99% or 00% (100). If the character's skill is 50% or greater, a fumble occurs only on the roll of 00% (100).

As with critical successes, the effects of a fumble depend on circumstances and the skill being used. The climber may slip and fall; the pick-pocket is caught red-handed or filches an item which turns out to be cursed; the listener fails to hear the enemy and may be surprised when they approach; the craftsman makes an item of superficially high quality but which will break on first usage. The GM should rule on the fumble's detrimental effects.

Fumbles add a further element of risk to combat. More details on combat fumbles can be found in the Combat chapter.

6) Experience

a) Learning From Experience

A great pleasure of continued role-playing is watching and participating in the advancement of a character from his humble beginnings to his ultimate fate. Characters grow and change, generally getting better at whatever they attempt to do. There is real satisfaction in having characters be successful.

Success is measured in many ways. Your character may be important in whatever local game in which he participates. He may be a knight or warrior, a cleric or magician, a nobleman or a wicked tyrant. How this occurs depends upon how the particular game has been established.

These rules standardise another measurement, advancement through experience. Simply put, the more you use a skill, the more you learn about it and the better you get at it. This includes concrete skills, such as sword fighting or jumping, abstract ones such as Listening, or exotic skills in advanced versions of the game.

Whenever your character has finished an adventure, typically after play is done and before everyone goes home, you should check over his character sheet to see what skills were used during play. If your character succeeded in using skills, they should have been marked on the sheet. Just trying is not enough to learn by – you must succeed. No matter how many times a character succeeds in a skill, he gets only one chance, between adventures, to learn by experience.

For each skill he used successfully, roll D100 and try to roll a number higher than his current skill level. If you roll equal to or lower than the current skill, then the character hasn't learned from his experience. On a higher roll, the skill will improve as described below.

• For a chosen Class Skill, the skill increases by 1D10%

• For a non-Class Skill, the skill increases by 1D6%

This reflects the character channelling his energy into those skills which are really important to him i.e. those which are relevant to his profession. Other skills improve more slowly because the character pays them less attention.

When a skill reaches or exceeds 90%, do not roll the dice for improvement, simply add 1% to the skill.

Repeat the procedure for all the skills used in the adventure. Note here that a weapon's Attack and Parry and the Read/Write and Speak aspects of a Language are separate skills and improve independently of each other.

You can see that successfully doing something you're poor at is hard, but also that if you succeed at it then you're more likely to learn from the experience. Conversely, if you're good at a skill you'll usually succeed at it, but it will get progressively harder to increase your skills.

Finally, remember that derived characteristic rolls, such as the Luck roll, do not increase this way. Those are constant unless the characteristic itself should change for some reason.

b) Effects of INT on Learning by Experience

Characters who have high INT learn more quickly than their slower-witted counterparts. To reflect this, when making an experience roll as described above, add the INT - 12 to the D100 roll to see of the character improves. Thus a character with INT of 14 will add (14 -12 =) 2% to the dice roll for all skills that are eligible to be improved.

c) Skill Training

Characters who attain mastery in a skill (typically a score of 90% or higher) may train other characters in that skill. For weapons skills, a score of 90% or higher in both Attack and Parry are required to become a master of that weapon, unless one or the other of these would be inappropriate (a Longbow Parry skill would be somewhat difficult to justify, for example, and it would be possible to be a master of Shield Parry - because shields are primarily defensive - without having a similar level in Shield Attack).

Training is expensive. A Master-level teacher may charge whatever the student can afford in return for the training. Such payment need not be monetary: quests, tasks and return service are all possible repayments, depending on the Master. Furthermore, qualified teachers may be few and far between: it could be an adventure in itself just trying to find, then travel to see, a teacher.

The student must practice full-time with the master for at least one game week. The student can study with only one teacher at a time. At the end of training, roll D6-2 for the skill (or both Attack and Parry skills for a weapon) to see by what percentage the character's skill has improved. It is possible to get worse after studying with a Master, in cases where the Master's style differs radically from the student's, or where the Master and pupil do not get along.

d) Lore Skills and Learning

Lore skills are an important exception to the rules for learning by experience. Since they represent skills and knowledges learned from books, scrolls and teachers, they are in a way 'finite', that is, if one has not read the correct books or scrolls or been taught by a Sage, there are certain things that remain beyond one's knowledge. Not everyone knows everything.

Lore skills can only be raised by training with a Master in that particular Lore (as described above), by encountering other users of that Lore, or by conducting research.

When encountering another user of a given Lore, the two scholars can hold a prolonged talk, sharing anecdotes, trading secrets and comparing techniques to their mutual benefit. The skill of the lower Lore user increases by 1D6% while the higher user increases by 1D4%. If either adventurer has a skill of 90%, then the increase is only 1%. Further, if the lower skill is less than half the higher skill, that knowledge is so limited that the higher Lore user can learn nothing from his less experienced colleague, though the reverse is not true. Finally, an adventurer can learn only once from a particular individual in this manner. Such a conversation typically takes 2D6 days to complete.

A Lore user can perform research in a laboratory (in the case of Poison Lore, for instance) or library. For each year of uninterrupted study, the Lore skill increases by 1D10% until it reaches 90%, and at 1% per year thereafter.

Great libraries exist in Rivendell and Minas Tirith, for instance, but lesser libraries surely also exist. If the GM judges a library to be incomplete, then study may raise a Lore skill by a lesser percentage (D8%, D6% or even D4%). Further, the GM may rule that the study of a particular Lore skill may be impossible in a given place (learning about the Haradrim in the Shire, for example).

e) Increasing Attributes

There are a number of ways to increase attributes. However, most of these are rare. Such occasions are summarised below.

1. When the GM asks for an Attribute x 1 % saving roll (e.g. STR or less on 1D100 to move a huge boulder) and the character makes the roll, the player has the chance to increase his attribute. At the end of the adventure, the player rolls 2D6. If he rolls 7 on one try, the attribute increases by 1. If the roll is 2 (double 1 or snake-eyes), the adventurer has strained something and the attribute decreases by 1. Any other roll results no change to the attribute.

2. STR, CON, DEX, POW and INT can increase through a successful Resistance Table roll. The roll must be made in a dangerous situation against a foe whose corresponding attribute is higher than the character's own. On a successful roll, the character may roll to improve the attribute on 2D6 as described in 1 above.

3. SIZ cannot easily be changed, representing as it does a combination of the character's height, weight and body frame. However, with a strict regime of fasting or feasting, SIZ may be increased or decreased by one or two points but no more.

4. CHA cannot increase through a Resistance Table roll. With the correct training, in manners, dress, deportment, hygiene and psychology, the character can learn to create a more favourable impression on others. Such training takes at least one month and the character must be trained by a teacher whose CHA is at least 17 and higher than the character's own. At the end of the month, the character makes a 2D6 roll as described in 1 above. If successful, CHA increases by one point. The character can gain no more than three points of CHA in this way.

5. Magic can affect attributes both positively and negatively. The character on the receiving end of such magic may not have a choice in the effects!

6. Magicians who overcome the POW of their targets when casting spells may increase their POW as described in the Magic chapter.

Attributes may also go down. Most commonly this is through injury in battle, as described in detail in the Combat chapter, but is something which most players probably would not wish to dwell upon!

When attributes change, recalculate the character's Skill Group bonuses accordingly.

f) Treasure

Treasure is another measure of success in many fantasy games. Roleplaying in Middle-earth, however, does not glorify the “kill the monsters, loot the room” style of other games. While wealth is useful (for replacing lost weapons or broken armour, purchasing room and board at the Inn of the Prancing Pony) it is not the be all and end all. Characters would be well advised to be prepared to surrender wealth for the greater good.

g) The Cost of Failure

If success is rewarded, failure is not. It is painful to miss out on a chance, even if it has no immediate effect on your character other than not bringing home the rich merchant's daughter just then. While your character may get a bit hungry without money, that will only motivate him strongly on the next adventure. But there can be worse fates, such as the failure to finish climbing up that rope, or failing to make a parry.

7) Encumbrance (Experimental, Untested)

a) What is Encumbrance?

Encumbrance is a measure of weight carried by a character. Weapons, armour, ammunition, provisions, equipment and treasure all drag a character down, making him slower to react.

The maximum weight a character can carry is equal to his or her STR x 10 pounds. Encumbrance and its effects are then calculated in four bands: No Encumbrance, Light, Medium and Heavy. The Encumbrance Bands are shown below, along with the penalty assigned to Agility skills (such as Dodge and Climb) and Combat skills (Attack and Parry) at those levels of encumbrance.

Band	Min Load (lbs)	Max Load (lbs)	Penalty
No Encumbrance	0	STR x 2	0%
Light	STR x 2	STR x 5	-10%
Medium	STR x 5	STR x 8	-20%
Heavy	STR x 8	STR x 10	-40%

Dwarves, by virtue of their Tireless racial ability, ignore the penalties for Light and Medium encumbrance and halve (-20%) the penalty for Heavy encumbrance.

8) Fatigue, Weariness and Sleep (Experimental, Untested)

a) Fatigue Points

Fatigue Points (FP) represent a character's resistance to tiredness in the face of arduous activity, combat, travel, work or attention to detail. Fatigue Points are calculated as the average of CON, STR and POW, reflecting physical stamina, muscle power and willpower needed to carry on when tired. Round fractions normally. For example, a character with STR of 12, CON of 13 and POW of 10 would have Fatigue Points of (12 + 13 + 10 = 35 / 3 =) 11.66, which rounds up to 12.

b) Fatigue Levels

There are four Fatigue Levels, defined below

• Fresh – the character is completely rested

• Winded – the character is somewhat breathless

• Tired – the character is now in need of rest

• Exhausted – the character should rest as soon as possible

The Fatigue Levels impose penalties on a character's skills over the course of time, as shown below.

Fatigue Level	FP Remaining	Skill Modifiers
Fresh	Full FP	0%
Winded	3/4 FP	-10%
Tired	1/2 FP	-25%
Exhausted	1/4 FP	-50%

Dwarves, by virtue of their Tireless racial ability, halve all the penalties at each level of fatigue.

c) Fatiguing Activities

• Extreme – Combat, sprinting, some physical exercises

• Demanding – Sustained rigorous activity or attention to detail, running

• Standard – jogging, walking cross-country, social interaction

• Relaxed – strolling, reading, library research

d) Fatigue Tests

When engaged in fatiguing activities, make a Resistance Table roll matching the character's current FP versus the level of difficulty of the activity. Make the first check after the base time in the table below then, if the activity is sustained beyond that time, check again after every interval. After a while, the character will fail a Resistance Table roll and begin to accumulate fatigue.

Activity Level	Difficulty	Base Time	Interval
Extreme	18	10 minutes	5 minutes
Demanding	15	1 hour	30 minutes
Standard	10	2 hours	1 hour
Relaxed	7	4 hours	2 hours

The level of success in the Resistance Table roll determines how many Fatigue Points are lost, as shown below:

• Critical success – OK. Character gets his 'second wind' and regains 1D3 FP

• Special success – OK. Character draws on his reserves and regains 1 FP

• Success – OK. Character loses no FP

• Fail – Character is beginning to tire, lose 1 FP

• Mishap – lose 1D3 FP

• Fumble – lose 1D6+1 FP. Phew!

e) Encumbrance and Fatigue

Heavily encumbered characters risk losing Fatigue Points more quickly than normal. Apply the following modifiers to the base difficulty of the fatigue Resistance Table roll based on the level of encumbrance of the character.

Encumbrance Level	Difficulty Modifier
None	0
Light	+2
Medium	+4
Heavy	+6

Thus a warrior with a Heavy load engaged in combat (extreme activity) matches current FP versus a target of 18 + 6 = 24 for determining fatigue on the Resistance Table.

f) Recovering Fatigue

Rest and sleep are the best ways of recovering fatigue. In Middle-earth, special methods also exist, such as the Elven cordial, Miruvor, which wipes away fatigue.

• 1 hour's sleep restores 2 FP

• 1 hour's rest restores 1 FP

Miruvor restores 2D6 Fatigue Points per phial imbibed. It takes effect almost instantly, gladdening the heart, clearing the mind and revitalising the body. Certain stimulants (Orc brews, for example) may help negate skill penalties due to Fatigue but do not necessarily restore lost FP: eventually the character will need to rest.

9) Using Social Skills

a) Social Skills

These are the skills of Persuade, Oratory, Intimidate, Fast Talk and Insight. Social skills are those which govern interaction between characters. In many cases the situation should be roleplayed and the GM can decide the outcome based on the characters' persuasiveness, motivations, evidence and the player's skill at roleplaying their character. No modifiers are given, nor needed for such situations.

There will be occasions when a skill roll is needed. In such cases, make the skill roll and check for the level of success below.

Critical

• Fast Talk or Oratory moves the target(s) to immediate action. There is no “Idea Roll” save versus the Fast Talk.

• Persuade convinces the target or closes the deal with great profit or benefit to the skill user.

• Insight completely understands the target's motivations, emotions, intentions and character. Further Social Skills used against this target are at a bonus equal to the skill user's CHA%.

• Intimidate completely cows the target (or victim in this case) who complies with the intimidator immediately, perhaps to excess and for a long while.

Special

• Fast Talk or Oratory moves the target(s) to action. The “Idea Roll” save versus Fast Talk is halved.

• Persuade convinces the target or closes the deal at a profit or benefit to the skill user.

• Insight understands the target's emotions, intentions and character. The skill user says just the right thing to get immediate agreement.

• Intimidate completely cows the target who complies with the intimidator immediately.

Success

• Fast Talk or Oratory persuades the target(s) who respond in an appropriate length of time (whatever is realistic to the GM). An “Idea Roll” save versus the Fast Talk is allowed.

• Persuade clinches the deal or convinces the target.

• Insight correctly judges the target's character but Fast Talk or Oratory is still needed to convince the target to do something.

• Intimidate causes the target to comply with the skill user for a while.

Fail

• With Fast Talk, Insight, Oratory, or Persuade, no deal or agreement can be reached or information is forthcoming.

• A failed Intimidate roll means the target is unimpressed. The user may retry, however, once more information is known about the target. This may require further Insight, Persuade, Fast Talk or Oratory rolls, or a change of tack, e.g. threatening torture.

Mishap

• Fast Talk or Oratory backfires with some unexpected result (GM decision).

• Persuade causes the deal to result in a loss to the skill user.

• Insight misinterprets the target's intentions, emotions or character. Further Social Skill use against this target by the skill user is at a penalty of the target's POW.

• Intimidate leaves the target unmoved and perhaps even resentful of the intimidator. The target may bear a grudge for the fear inflicted by the intimidator.

Fumble

• Fast Talk or Oratory backfires with some unexpected result (GM decision).

• Persuade causes the deal to go sour or to result in a great loss to the skill user.

• Insight disastrously misinterprets the target's intentions, emotions or character.

• Intimidate leaves the target completely unmoved, perhaps even scornful of the user. No retry is possible until further information is received and further Intimidate rolls by the user are at a penalty of the target's INT + POW versus this target.

b) Countering Social Skills

Many social skill situations could be handled as Skill vs. Skill situations, where the skill of one user works against the skill of the other. For example

• Two merchants, haggling to get the best deal, use Persuade against each other.

• Demagogues debating in front of a crowd could use their Oratory skills.

• Bullies face each other down with their Intimidate skills. This might work particularly well for shows of strength between Orc captains.

Either of the Skill versus Skill mechanisms described earlier in this chapter could be used in these situations.

However, it may be possible to counter social skills with combinations of Attributes, particularly if Skill vs. Skill is inappropriate. For example:

• If Persuade is being used as a seduction skill, counter with INT + POW or INT + CHA, assuming the target does not want to be seduced.

• Oratory when used to sway an enemy or normally hostile crowd could be countered with the crowd's average INT + POW.

• Intimidate, when used to threaten torture, could be countered with INT + POW.

• But Intimidate when actually used for torture could be countered with CON + POW.

• Fast Talk when bluffing a guard or jailer, could be countered with INT + CHA.

• Intimidate when using assumed/bluffed/pretended Authority, Rank, or Majesty could be countered with INT + POW or INT + CHA.

• Intimidate when using real Authority, Rank, or Majesty could be countered with POW + CHA.

Either of the Skill versus Skill mechanisms described earlier in this chapter could be used in these situations.