Magic Items, where are they??..multiple attacks ???

[Blustar]

1. I have everything released so far and I don't think I've found a magic item in any scenarios the heroes could acquire outside of the fellowship phase. Is this intentional? Doesn't this take a lot of the mystery out of the game? Glamdring and Sting were not found in a fellowship phase.. . anyways, anybody just put magic treasure in the scenarios anyway? I haven't combed every scenario in minute detail is there a magic item in one of them?


2. When a monster has two weapon selectiosn does that mean they get two attacks? The wolf leader on page 82 of the LM book has bite and rend, when does the monster get to use rend? Or does it use both?



thanks


Alex

[Rich H]

1. Magic items are awarded as part of increasing Valour but how are they acquired? In my campaign my players talk to me about how they want to develop their characters and part of that discussion involves them giving me insights into their Rewards. This allows me to setup points within adventures where a character obtains their Reward if necessary.

I don't see why you can't add magic items into an adventure randomly but unless they are tied to a characters reward spend then they are effectively getting the item for free so mechanical balance could be an issue unless all PCs receive something of equal quality. Not a problem for some game groups but it could be for others.

Also, 'magic' items in TOR have a lot of personal importance to their owners so it would be best not to overuse 'random drops' too much as I think that would quickly cheapen the game.

All the above, and more, are probably reasons why you're not seeing such things in official or fan made adventures.

2. No multiple attacks unless explicitly stated. Primary and Secondary weapons/attacks allow variation as if you take a look at them they generally offer some strategic variance even if it's just one attack having less chance to hit than the other but if it does it will do more damage or has more chance of wounding.

[Yusei]

I do the same as Rich. The players pick rewards during the Fellowship phase, but the characters sometimes find their rewards during the following adventure.

[Ferretz]

Magic items will appear in the Rivendell book, if I'm not mistaken. The Rewards are not magical, but more "exceptional" items.

One thing I've been trying to figure out is when a monster has a primary and a secondary attack. Which is what? Is the primary always the first on the list of attacks?

-E.

[Yusei]

In my version of Middle-Earth, magical and exceptionnal items are kind of the same thing. I've always felt that Tolkien thought that what was magical to hobbits was perfectly normal to elves. Even Galadriel seemed unclear regarding the proper definition of magic.

[Rich H]

In my version of Middle-Earth, magical and exceptionnal items are kind of the same thing. I've always felt that Tolkien thought that what was magical to hobbits was perfectly normal to elves. Even Galadriel seemed unclear regarding the proper definition of magic.

Completely agree with this. When handed elven cloaks in Lorien the hobbits ask if they are magical to which an elf replies "I do not know what you mean by that".

[Mim]

Rich & Yusei cover it well in terms of balance & capturing the feel of Middle-earth. The only thing I'll add is to point out that the adventures do sometimes contain appropriate magical items. Please take a second look at pp 86-87 of TfW for Radagast's Magical Boons as an example of items that you can (rarely) give during an adventure before your heroes reach the hoard at the end or a Fellowship Phase

[Garn!]

Besides the "pre-paid" option to gain magical items mentioned already, you can do a very slight variant: "pre-purchase".

In this instance you're providing the character with a magical item before they have completely earned the points to purchase it. However, during the course of the adventure, the character should have the necessary points before the storyline arc ends. Additionally, the magical item is required use within the current, or next, storyline arc of the campaign.

Note I'm not advocating dumping an item on a player unwillingly. I would still suggest asking the player what kinds and types of magical items they're interested in obtaining for their character. Thereby allowing the item, adventure and character expectations to mesh into an excellent fit.

[Beran]

I hope that some exceptional items are included in the Rivendell sourcebook, because the current system where the weapon gets new qualities all of a sudden during Fellowship phases makes no sense to me what so ever. I can see how a character can become better at using his weapon (ie a character getting Fell Handed), but what started out as an ordinary ax suddenly has the abilities of a Bearded Ax out of nowhere?

[Yusei]

What I do in those cases is that the player finds/gets a new item with the quality of his previous one, plus some additional stuff. They don't really have to keep the same sword for all their life, do they?

I don't really see rewards as specific items, more as "good stuff" slots that fit on items. To move a slot from one item to another one, just get rid of the first item.

It raised a good question, though: why can't Roger give his sword to Paul when he finds a better one? I usually try to find a good, plot-driven reason, but hopefully such occurences remain rare.