10. MIDDLE-EARTH SPECIAL RULES

1) Fate Points

a) What are Fate Points?

Heroes in Middle-earth are fated to be that way. They are special. It may be that one of the Valar is watching over the character (not that belief in the Valar is widespread in Middle-earth) or that the natural magic of Middle-earth protects the characte r in some way. Heroes have Fate Points which measure this protection.

All Dwarves and Hobbits start the game with three Fate Points. Mannish characters, who have the Dominion of Man racial ability, start with four Fate Points (and, yes, this includes the Men of Darkness). Elves, whose time in Middle-earth is drawing to an end, start the game with but two Fate Points.

Spending a Fate Point has one of the following effects. This is usually the player's choice, except for the last option listed below.

• Provides a bonus to a skill roll of +20% per Fate point used

• Provides a bonus to an attribute of +2 per Fate Point used

• Avoids the effects of a single critical or fumble, whether for or against the character. This can be used to avoid a critical hit in combat (a death-blow is miraculously diverted by the character's button ...)

• Allows one to act in dire circumstances where the character would not normally be able to act at all

• Avoid the effects of Fear. A Fate Point may be spent to negate the results of a test and prevent the character from panicking and fleeing.

A maximum of two Fate Points may be spent in a single round. These can be used to augment a single roll (e.g. a vital attack may be augmented by two Fate Points to provide a +40% bonus to the attack) or for different purposes (in combat, when sorely pressed, a character may use a Fate Point to avoid the effect of a Critical Hit and then use a second point to increase his Parry skill).

Once a Fate Point has been spent, it is gone. They do recover over a period of time, depending on the character's actions. This is a GM call.

• Fate Points recover quickly if a character's actions are heroic or story-enhancing.

• Fate Points recovers slowly (or not at all) if the character's actions are unheroic, selfish or ignoble.

b) Gaining Fate Points

Possible ideas include:

• GM award. When Fate Points are used for extremely story-enhancing or truly Heroic actions, the GM can award an extra Fate Point to the character

• Skill improvement points. Those points gained by skill improvement rolls for skills used in dangerous situations (combat, stealthy reconnaissance of enemy positions, encounters with the servants of the Enemy) can be saved and “cashed in” to increase Fate Points. Twenty skill improvement points - no matter which skill(s) they were originally for - can be traded in for one Fate Point.

2) Fear and Courage

a) Courage

Characters in LOTR are heroes struggling against the forces of the Enemy, Sauron, the Lord of the Rings. One of the most potent weapons of the Enemy is Fear, the mind-crushing darkness that can leave a victim paralysed with terror, rob him of his will or cause him to flee in blind panic. Heroes are made of stern stuff, fortunately, and can resist this fear with pure hearts, nobility and determination. Courage is a ready means of determining the character's resistance to Fear. To calculate Courage, find the average of the character's STR, POW and CHA, rounding fractions normally.

b) Fear

Fear is a powerful force in Middle-earth. It is an especially potent weapon of the Enemy.

Sources of Fear include supernatural creatures such as Balrogs, Barrow-Wights and Ring Wraiths. Spells like Evoke Fear obviously are also sources of Fear.

Fear is measured in terms of its Force. To determine the effects of Fear, match the Force of the fear-inducer against the Courage of the target on the Resistance Table, then check below for the level of success.

Source of Fear scores a

• Critical – Victim flees, discarding weapons and gear to reduce encumbrance if necessary. Flee for 2D6 minutes, at the end of which roll Courage x 5 % to recover or flee for a further 2D6 minutes. Recover automatically after this second flight. If the victim encounters this source of fear again, its Force is increased by 1D6 points. The victim can use a Fate Point to avoid fleeing but the Force of the fear from this source is always increased by 1D6.

• Special – Victim flees for 1D6 minutes. The rest of the effects are as for a Critical.

• Success – Victim may do nothing except cower/whimper/whine/be rooted to the spot (GM's call) for 1D6 minutes or until the Fear source is removed. Roll Courage x 5% to perform defensive actions (move away, hide, dodge).

• Failure – Victim suffers no effect

• Mishap – Victim suffers no effect. At GM's discretion may get future bonuses to skill rolls versus this Fear source due to enhanced confidence against this foe

• Fumble – Victim suffers no effect. +10% bonuses to skill rolls versus this Fear source due to enhanced confidence against this foe

c) Fear and Intimidate

These go hand in hand. If a Fear source has, and successfully uses, Intimidate skill before attempting the Fear power, use the level of success in the Intimidate roll to determine a bonus or penalty to the Fear's Force before making the Force versus Courage roll.

d) Fear: Perpetual or Instant

Some sources of Fear have a single heart-stopping shock effect. Examples include being faced with a sudden fall from a great height., an Ambush or encountering a strange creature (an Oliphaunt, for instance). In general, such one-offs are resisted with a single Fear resistance roll. If the character passes the test, there is no fear effect again.

Other sources have Fear wrapped around them like a cloak or cloud that follows them whereever they go and never dissipates. Such sources include Undead creatures like Barrow Wights and Ringwraiths, demons like Balrogs and, of course, Dragons. When facing these creatures, the character may have to test versus Fear on first meeting and then at intervals throughout the encounter. For example, on meeting a Ringwraith, the character will be forced to test. If that test is passed, the character can function normally until circumstances change. If the character sees one of his companions die at the hands of the Ringwraith, another test may be called for. This is at the GM's discretion depending on the creature.

3) Corruption and the Eye of Sauron

Role-playing in Middle-earth is all about the struggle of Good versus Evil. While the forces of Good fight with honour, valour, courage and discipline, the forces of Evil have at their disposal many terrible weapons. One of these weapons is Corruption, the power to turn Good to Evil, truth to lies, peace to war, and freedom to slavery.

a) Essence

Every hero has a quality called Essence, which might be described as that person's life force, spirit, soul, Humanity or Sanity. The character's starting Essence (ESS) score is equal to his POW x 5%, modified by Race, as shown in the table below:

Race	Modifier
Dwarf	+10%
Elf
Noldor	+20%
Sindar	+10%
Silvan	+10%
Hobbit	+10%
Man
Dunadan	+10%
Middle	0%
Darkness	-10%
Wild	0%
Dark Numenorean	0%
Rohirrim	0%

Test for Corruption in the same way as a normal skill roll: on 1D100, aiming to score less than or equal to the character's current ESS. If the test is passed, the character has resisted the Corrupting effect of whatever stimulus caused the check to begin with. If it fails, the character has absorbed some of that corrupting influence, and his Essence score decreases.

b) Corrupting Influences

Some sample Corrupting influences and suggested Essence losses are shown below. This list is by no means exhaustive. The GM is encouraged to be creative when playing Corrupting influences.

Source	Essence Loss
Exposure to the One Ring
Normal circumstances	0 / D3
Near Mordor	D3 / D6
In Mordor	D4 / D10
Every time the Ring is worn	D4+1 / 2D6
Exposure to Temptation
Mild	0 / 1
Strong	1 / D6
Very Strong	D4 / D10
Dark Arts
Learning a Dark Arts spell or ritual	1 / 1D8
Casting a Dark Arts spell or ritual	D4 / D4 + Level of Spell
Other Actions
Committing murder	D4 / D6
Theft	0 / D3

Whenever a character is exposed to a corrupting influence, make an ESS roll, as directed by the GM. If the roll is made, the character suffers the ESS loss shown before the slash (/) in the chart above. If the roll is failed, the character suffers the ESS loss after the slash and must take the corrupting action.

c) Increasing and Recovering Essence

It is possible to increase one's ESS score and to restore points lost to corruption. Here are some possibilities.

• GM award for mission accomplished. Since most LOTR games will pit characters against the forces of the Shadow, and defeating Sauron is the over-riding goal of the game, the GM may award a flat number of points or a random dice roll to each character to be added to their current ESS. The award should be directly proportional to the risk involved.

• Defeating a Minion of the Dark Lord. This should be worth an ESS award of 20% of the Minion's Reputation score.

• Skill Mastery. When a character attains Mastery in a given skill (90%+) the discipline and self-esteem involved in such a feat allows the character to restore 2D6 ESS points.

• Roleplaying. Honest repentance and confession, noble and heroic deeds, or even specific quests may allow a character to regain or even increase their Essence.

d) The Eye of Sauron (optional, experimental, untested)

The flame-wreathed Eye, symbol of the Dark Lord Sauron, sees all. It is particularly drawn to Heroes and workers of Magic: these special individuals are both feared and hated by Sauron. Hated because they may one day supplant him; feared because those who stay true to their ideals may eventually defeat him. However, they remain of special interest to the Dark Lord as they can be Corrupted to his service.

The converse of a character's Essence is his Taintedness (TAINT). For beginning characters TAINT is zero. Each time the character fails a Corruption test the lost Essence points are added to his TAINT score. Thus the slow weakening of his resolve, nobility and purity-of-purpose (his ESS) manifests as a blackening of the character's spirit (and an increase in his Taintedness). Further, the TAINT score can also increase independently of lost Essence and some suggestions are shown below:

Action	Taintedness Increase
Associates with Servants of the Enemy	1D3 – 1 per week
Uses a powerful Magic Item	1D10
Uses a Palantir	2D10
Uses a Magic Ring	2D6
Uses the Dark Lord's name	1D3
Openly declares himself for Sauron	20
Performs a Corrupting act	Essence Loss

The character's TAINT score can be used in a number of ways.

• Firstly, it acts as an index of how easily other corrupted individuals or servants of the Enemy can spot the character.

• Second, the character's TAINT hangs about him like a cloud. This causes a negative modifier to the character's social skills.

• Third, if the character performs further corrupting acts, the TAINT may attract the attention of Sauron himself! Each time the character loses ESS, roll 1D100. If the roll is higher than the character's TAINT score, nothing happens. If the roll is less than or equal to the TAINT, the Eye of Sauron has momentarily fixed upon the character. What happens next is the GM's decision, but at a minimum, the character should make a POW or CHA roll (with a multiplier at the GM's discretion) to throw off the terrifying effects of the Dark Lord's attention. However, each time this happens, the character permanently loses one point of CHA.

Note that both heroes and villains may have a TAINT score. Saruman the White and Denethor, Steward of Gondor both fell to the Dark Lord in this way and Aragorn himself would have become tainted in some way when he used the Palantir of Orthanc.

e) Becoming Corrupt

When a character's ESS score reaches zero (or alternatively, when it reaches a level of the average of the character's CHA, INT and POW) the character becomes corrupted. A corrupt character serves Sauron, either directly or indirectly. He becomes an NPC, controlled by the GM.

4) Reputation

a) What is Reputation?

A character's Reputation is a measure of his or her fame, or, negatively, infamy. Reputation increases during play as a result of the players' actions. Such actions may be positive (defeating a servant of the Enemy) or negative (slaying a friend) but either way they contribute to the character's renown score.

Unless the GM specifies otherwise, all characters begin the game with a Reputation score of zero, and increase this score during play.

b) Sample Reputation Awards

c) Reputation Modifiers

Depending on the level of Reputation a character possesses, Recognition Tests and certain Social skill tests become easier, or harder depending on circumstances. The modifiers are shown below.

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

The modifiers are expressed as being either positive or negative. The attitude of the person making or on the receiving end of the test determines whether the modifier is applied positively or negatively. Reputation in many cases reflects how one feels about the person under consideration. Take Aragorn, for instance. Other Rangers know who he is and react positively, so the Reputation modifier would be a plus, here. But people in Bree, like Barliman Butterbur, who regard Rangers as strange and dangerous, would react negatively and the modifier would be a minus (even for Aragorn).

d) Recognition Tests

Use an Idea Roll or appropriate Lore skill, plus the character's Reputation modifier to determine whether a renowned character is recognised.

Modifiers used for Recognition tests are always positive. In such cases the recognising character's feelings count for little. Whether Aragorn was known in Bree for being a healer and wise man or a cold-hearted man of the wilds matters not. People recognise him as Strider and that is enough.

e) Geographical Considerations

Obviously, it is easier to be known in one's home town than it is to be known in a foreign country. When determining whether one character recognises another, use the area the two characters have in common as a further modification to the Recognition Test.

Area in Common	Modifier	Example
Local	0%	Within Hobbiton, within Minas Tirith
Area	-10%	Within the North Farthing, within Dol Amroth
Region	-20%	Within the Shire, within Enedwaith, within Eastfold
Realm	-40%	Within Eriador, within Gondor, within Rohan
World	-60%	Within Middle-earth

f) Reputation and Social Skills

The Social skills of Persuade, Oratory, Intimidate, Fast Talk and Insight are all directly affected by Reputation. Use the Reputation Modifier as a bonus or penalty to the character's skill depending on the regard in which the audience hold the skill using character. For example, were Aragorn to attempt to convince the people of Bree to arm themselves and attack the Ringwraiths, his Renown would probably count against him (a penalty to his Oratory skill) as the people of Bree generally distrust Rangers. However, when persuading the Captains of the West to march against Mordor (to cover the Ringbearer's secret mission) Aragorn's Reputation Modifier would be a bonus to his Oratory skill: the Captains all trust him and accept his Kingship of Arnor and Gondor.