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Otaku-sempai wrote:

Glorelendil wrote:Would you use the same virtues/rewards/blessing of the Breelander? Seems odd for somebody living among Dunedain. Also seems odd that somebody with Dunedain blood, even just some, would have an attribute total of 13.

I guess I would apply the same Virtues/Rewards appropriate to the Culture that the character is connected to. A Bree-lander would choose from those for Man of Bree; a Man raised among the Rangers would have their Rewards and Virtues.

For your purposes, I would suggest an alternate Culture, Man of Eriador, with its own distinctive Virtues and Rewards.

That's basically what I'm doing, except it's not a "Man of Eriador" (which could mean a whole lot of things) it's a "Non-Heroic Ranger." I guess I'm not understanding your objection to that. Necessary? No. Potentially fun to play? Yes.

And, yes, one (less-interesting) option would be to just take the existing Ranger, reduce stats, starting XP, and weapons to normal levels, then eliminate the Hope/XP penalties, and be done with it. But that's not as much fun.

On a related note, now I'm forgetting everything that's in the AC...is there an existing official mechanic that allows more than one Fellowship Focus? Or is that only from our house rules discussions?

Glorelendil wrote:That's basically what I'm doing, except it's not a "Man of Eriador" (which could mean a whole lot of things) it's a "Non-Heroic Ranger." I guess I'm not understanding your objection to that. Necessary? No. Potentially fun to play? Yes.

Eh. You say 'to-may-toe' and I say 'to-mah-toe'. Non-heroic Anything as a Culture doesn't sound particularly interesting to me. I would just generate an otherwise normal Ranger who just happens to be of low character.

I'm not objecting to the character. I'm objecting to an alternate Non-heroic Culture of Dúnedain Rangers. I just don't think it fits in Tolkien's Middle-earth of the Third Age. Anti-rangers as a group is just something I don't see as a thing.

Having stated that, maybe a small number of the Dúnedain of Rhudaur survived and fell under the shadow of Angmar, mixing with the Hillmen. They could comprise the Culture that interests you (unless you don't see it as corrupted).

Otaku-sempai wrote:

Glorelendil wrote:That's basically what I'm doing, except it's not a "Man of Eriador" (which could mean a whole lot of things) it's a "Non-Heroic Ranger." I guess I'm not understanding your objection to that. Necessary? No. Potentially fun to play? Yes.

Eh. You say 'to-may-toe' and I say 'to-mah-toe'. Non-heroic Anything as a Culture doesn't sound particularly interesting to me. I would just generate an otherwise normal Ranger who just happens to be of low character.

I'm not objecting to the character. I'm objecting to an alternate Non-heroic Culture of Dúnedain Rangers. I just don't think it fits in Tolkien's Middle-earth of the Third Age. Anti-rangers as a group is just something I don't see as a thing.

Having stated that, maybe a small number of the Dúnedain of Rhudaur survived and fell under the shadow of Angmar, mixing with the Hillmen. They could comprise the Culture that interests you (unless you don't see it as corrupted).

Ohhhhhhh...major miscommunication. "Heroic" in the mechanical not moral sense.

I just want to play a Ranger who doesn't have Hope and XP penalties. That's what I mean by "non heroic". Not that they wouldn't be heroes.

Okay. So you just don't like the Rangers as written, period. I don't think we can expect anything official about that; I would say just use one of the home-brewed versions developed before the publication of Rivendell.

Glorelendil wrote:On a related note, now I'm forgetting everything that's in the AC...is there an existing official mechanic that allows more than one Fellowship Focus? Or is that only from our house rules discussions?

Not for Rangers. Men (and Hobbits) of Bree can do it, though. So it's a mechanic that the system definitely supports in theory.

Ok, Glorelendil, here's some bait to force you to show your usual genious ideas. And there's no irony intended.

As for Attributes, I'd say that these peoples are humans who have seen beyond the borders of their towns, that have sensed that "something's wrong" around them, and that have shown the courage to try do something.
That would lead to Heart being the highest Attribute.
Secondly, if they've been recruited and somehow trained by the Rangers, they need to have a good Body for the kind of stuff Rangers do: sleeping outdoors, walking long distances, exploring places,... They don't need to be Beornings, but they must be able to endure some toil and pain. Body is the second Attribute.
That leaves Wits the lowest.

Body 4-6 / Heart 5-7 / Wits 2-4

I don't have the books at hand, but Endurance and Hope should probably share the base of Bardings or some other average human Culture.

The Favourite skill could be Explore. I see them as being used as the eyes of the Rangers, but also that the Rangers take care not to put those people in the action: after all it's the Dúnedains Realm what's being protected, and that durty falls on the shoulders of the Dunedain themselves. Of course, other skills could be plausible, too. Inspire, for example, if they are portrayed as people who want to mobilize others in their communities to act against the menaces that surround them. Or Insight if the weight of the Culture is in how they have the spirit to see beyond the looks of peace and quietness in their everyday life.
But if they are to be "lesser Rangers", I think that Explore fits better the role a player would want to accomplish by choosing this Culture.

Later I will try to give a list of proposed Starting Scores for Common Skills.
As for weapons, I'd leave it at simple ones, usual for common folk:
Axe, Bow, Dagger
Spear, Sword, Dagger

As you know, every Culture has one Trait that's common to every Background. Could be Energetic (was it called so?).

Ok, those are the basics.

Skills, Traits, Virtues and Rewards should come later.

I agree with Falenthal's assessment.
By the way, some of the earliest, homebrewed Rangers were heavily based on the Bardings

@ Glorelindel

If I might interject at this point, do you mean a non advanced Ranger culture rather than a non Heroic one? All the playable cultures are defined as Heroic.

Also, is your intent to rationalise a situation where both advanced and non advanced Ranger Heroic cultures can be be present and used in the same setting?

Halbarad wrote:@ Glorelindel

If I might interject at this point, do you mean a non advanced Ranger culture rather than a non Heroic one? All the playable cultures are defined as Heroic.

Also, is your intent to rationalise a situation where both advanced and non advanced Ranger Heroic cultures can be be present and used in the same setting?

Zoinks!

O-S, I owe you an apology: somewhere along the line (I think because the appropriate section in Rivendell is titled "Heroic Cultures") I got my terms crossed. Yes, I meant "advanced" or "expert" cultures...whatever Dúnedain and Noldor are as a category.

My bad.