Hi,

Firstly I have to say that this is an amazing, amazing game. Absolutely love it. I've been a fan of Middle Earth since I was a kid and I've played both MERP (Chris Achilleos cover) and Decipher's game and I believe that TOR captures the feel perfectly.

So, just a quick couple of rules clarifications please:

Let's say a group is fighting some Attercops. One of the companions is firing in Rearward Stance and an Attercop uses Great Leap to reach him.

A) I assume the Attercop and archer use a base TN 12 to hit. Is that correct?
can the archer still use a ranged weapon or is he effectively engaged in close combat and has to now pick a different stance?

Also, are any of the creatures in the book considered to be Small (with regards to the Hobbit Small Folk virtue)?

Finally has anyone actually run a combat against a Great Orc? Their protection roll is insane. 4d + 7 gives them a very high chance of making pretty much any protection test, even when weary. Has anyone found them to be particularly hard to kill?

Thanks in advance for any help here. Again I think this game is great and having read through nearly all of the forum posts it's great to see such a supportive, committed and friendly community.

James

A) Yes
B ) You have found one loophole in the game mechanics, so you will need to determine this yourself based on the situation. Given the usual mechanics for choosing Stances, I would allow the Archer to shoot in Rearward that round or take Rearward again in the next round. However, this can be undermined by Seize Victim, which unfortunately the Great Spider has as well. If Seize Victim is used, I would adjudicate that the Archer would need to choose a Close Combat Stance next round and be stuck in that Stance.

As for the Great Orc, Francesco has said that he would consider imposing Weary on a creature with Great Size reduced to 0 Endurance. This would dimish the Protection roll somewhat.

Thank you for the reply there Luke. Very much appreciated.

Did we have any answer regarding 'small' monsters? I wasn't sure how big some of the smaller goblins (or even attercops) might be considered.

The weary rule seems like a good idea. I sometimes find the heavy use of Intimidate to be a bit too much like gaming the system but maybe it will add to the flavour more. I definitely need to play out a few more games.

Again ... this really is just a wonderful game and the elegant subtlety of the combat system is exceptionally impressive.

A Wildman's Hound of Mirkwood with Harass Enemy (enemy count as Weary) coupled with a Beorning's Splitting Great Axe (on a G, enemy rolls one less protection dice).

I'm pretty sure this combo can kill Cthulhu itself: I hope it can fell the Great Orc too

Seriously: never run combat against such opponent. I think that you have to be Aragorn+Narsil to best it in single combat...

I believe I've found an even harder to wound character in Tales from Wilderness that gets 3d + 10 to their role (attribute level 6, protection is 3d + 4 and is favoured). Even with Weary they have little to no chance of ever taking a wound no matter what the injury value. Thankfully they are not of Great Size and can be defeated without requiring a Wound.