Rivendell Preview 1: What's in it?

[Falenthal]

New Heroic Cultures – Last but by no means least, Rivendell also includes rules for two new playable cultures, the Rangers of the North and the High Elves of Rivendell. Both are unique, in their own ways, as they are more powerful than any of those presented in The One Ring so far, and yet present a player with their own set of challenges

I like this A LOT, and is exactly the kind of view I had on those cultures: more powerful than the rest, but with problems of their own.

I just guess that they have to keep a low profile (the secrecy of the Rangers, Noldo keeping to themselves in sanctuaries) related with the new Eye of Sauron rules.

[Glorelendil]

New Heroic Cultures – Last but by no means least, Rivendell also includes rules for two new playable cultures, the Rangers of the North and the High Elves of Rivendell. Both are unique, in their own ways, as they are more powerful than any of those presented in The One Ring so far, and yet present a player with their own set of challenges

I like this A LOT, and is exactly the kind of view I had on those cultures: more powerful than the rest, but with problems of their own.

I just guess that they have to keep a low profile (the secrecy of the Rangers, Noldo keeping to themselves in sanctuaries) related with the new Eye of Sauron rules.

Yeah, getting back on topic, I 100% agree with Falenthal on this (even if he is known to spread vicious rumors on the Spanish forums). And it's completely in the spirit of Tolkien and the rest of the game. I can't wait to find out what those "challenges" are.

[Mim]

Don't worry, we will cover Bree in the future! But it didn't fit into this supplement, either thematically (like the Barrow-downs does) or physically (it's packed already)!

... Perhaps Bree will be covered in Ruins of the North? Maybe it's the basis of an adventure in that supplement so it gets detailed there? I'm not 'in the know' here but it does seem like an odd thing to leave out; especially considering that the Barrow Downs are getting covered.

... Or perhaps there's a "Shire and Bree" supplement on the way?

"The Adventurer’s Companion – Not long after the release of the new core manual comes the first supplement aimed squarely at players. Including a whole wealth of advice, ideas and background for making your own hero and company, as well as new Heroic Cultures including Bree-folk, Riders of Rohan, Dwarves of the Blue Mountain, the Elves of Lorien and Men of Gondor, a new Calling in the form of the Captain"

Andrew, Rich, Artaxerxes - thank you! I look forward to the fun we can have with the Bree-folk (& the Bree-land as a whole). There's actually a huge potential there & it's very similar to what C7 does with the Woodmen during the War of the Ring (significant open parts of Tolkien's writing about how/why the Ruffians move into the area & how the Bree-folk respond.

[Rich H]

I just guess that they have to keep a low profile (the secrecy of the Rangers, Noldo keeping to themselves in sanctuaries) related with the new Eye of Sauron rules.

... And maybe options such as not using their full power in order to remain less conspicuous; Cloaked and Uncloaked. That would be a nice quandary to place in front of the players of such characters: "do I exhibit, and use, my full abilities or remain cloaked and avoid the servants of the Enemy noticing me for what I truly am?"

[Rocmistro]

I'm also glad they are not adhering to a strict "everyone is equally powerful at character design" but I hope they've implemented this well so that not everyone rushes out and makes Dunedain and Noldor. I don't mind the character power imbalance, but a party full of Noldor is not terribly canonical.

Personally I prefer the "unlock" mechanism; once you reach a certain number of XP or whatever you can swap out your old character for a new one who starts at a reduced XP value.

[Glorelendil]

I'm also glad they are not adhering to a strict "everyone is equally powerful at character design" but I hope they've implemented this well so that not everyone rushes out and makes Dunedain and Noldor. I don't mind the character power imbalance, but a party full of Noldor is not terribly canonical.

Personally I prefer the "unlock" mechanism; once you reach a certain number of XP or whatever you can swap out your old character for a new one who starts at a reduced XP value.

Maybe Dunedain have a cultural restriction that they cannot work with other Dunedain, for safety/secrecy reasons, except for in extraordinary circumstances.

God I can't wait to see these rules!

clickclickclickclickclickclickclickclick....

[Falenthal]

I 100% agree with Falenthal on this (even if he is known to spread vicious rumors on the Spanish forums).

Call me "Wormtongue"!

[aramis]

I'm also glad they are not adhering to a strict "everyone is equally powerful at character design" but I hope they've implemented this well so that not everyone rushes out and makes Dunedain and Noldor.

Keep in mind that, at present, the munchkins play hobbits with bows...

I don't mind the character power imbalance, but a party full of Noldor is not terribly canonical.

It won't be an issue those who would have issue with it encounter. But there ARE parties of Noldor wandering around already - defending the valley, Occasionally going to councils called by wizards...

Personally I prefer the "unlock" mechanism; once you reach a certain number of XP or whatever you can swap out your old character for a new one who starts at a reduced XP value.

that sounds absolutely horrible.

[Rich H]

Personally I prefer the "unlock" mechanism; once you reach a certain number of XP or whatever you can swap out your old character for a new one who starts at a reduced XP value.

So, I'm new to TOR and want to play a high elf... LM: Sorry, you need to play a different character, amass 50 XP with it, and then you can have an elf; but with reduced XP. Hmmm, no, that sounds like a really poor way of dealing with this 'issue' from both a player perspective (I don't get to play the character I want, when I want) and GM perspective (I have to accommodate a character into the group and then have his player create another later on). This kind of solution feels very cumbersome and likely still wouldn't solve the initial issue of PCs of differing power levels anyway and would also add additional issues to the gaming table.

[Rocmistro]

Personally I prefer the "unlock" mechanism; once you reach a certain number of XP or whatever you can swap out your old character for a new one who starts at a reduced XP value.

that sounds absolutely horrible.

You might consider a better way to express your opinion.

I'm well aware of the unpopularity of such an implementation, but for me, what sounds equally as horrible, or worse, is a game that evolves in such a way as to leave all the simple folk of Middle-earth in the background, and a meta of heroes populated only by Dunedain and High elves. Francesco's line in the original game about "TOR is about playing a character who never strayed far from his own home, or is a memember of the wise and the powerful" (poor summary, I know). I'm concerned about this move changing things up in such a way that this wonderfully provincial sentiment dies out.