Strength<Body ; Courage<Valour

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Francesco
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Re: Strength<Body ; Courage<Valour

Post by Francesco » Wed Oct 22, 2014 10:49 am

Stormcrow wrote:Do we know for a fact that Francesco derived the characteristics from those quotes?
The first quote was the source, the second wasn't, at least in particular. It seemed to me that Tolkien used 'courage' more as a personal characteristic, and 'valour' more as a virtue as recognised by others.

The change from 'Strength' to 'Body' was a painful one. While the use of Tolkien of the word 'Strength' was perfectly suitable for the game, a round of playtesting rapidly demonstrated that the rpg definition of the term since its first use with D&D has confined its interpretation to raw physical power.

Francesco
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shipwreck
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Re: Strength<Body ; Courage<Valour

Post by shipwreck » Wed Oct 22, 2014 12:02 pm

Awesome! Thanks, Francesco, that's interesting to read.
Elfcrusher wrote:But maybe the most important difference is that in D&D the goal is to build wtfpwn demi-god characters. In TOR the goal is to stay alive long enough to tell a good story.
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Rocmistro
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Re: Strength<Body ; Courage<Valour

Post by Rocmistro » Wed Oct 22, 2014 1:26 pm

I suspected it had much to do with departing from associations with that double-D game, despite how appropriate it would have otherwise been.

Oddly enough, with my friends, the first time we played, everyone erupted into a chorus of Rod Stewart "if you want my body..."

So, really, Francesco, you can't win either way.
Rignuth: Barding Wordweaver Wanderer in Southron Loremaster's game.
Amroth Ol'Hir: High Elf Vengeful Kin Slayer in Zedturtle's game.
Jakk O'Malli: Dwarven Orator Treasure-Hunter in Hermes Serpent's game.
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Majestic
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Re: Strength<Body ; Courage<Valour

Post by Majestic » Wed Oct 22, 2014 4:09 pm

It was probably a good call, I think. SO many RPGs use Strength as an indicator of raw, physical power that I think many could have found it to be confusing (had the choice been to go with Strength instead of Body).
Tale of Years for a second, lower-level group (in the same campaign).
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Glorelendil
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Re: Strength<Body ; Courage<Valour

Post by Glorelendil » Wed Oct 22, 2014 4:13 pm

I think I would have just gone with Sexy/Heart/Wits.
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Rich H
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Re: Strength<Body ; Courage<Valour

Post by Rich H » Fri Oct 24, 2014 7:21 am

Rocmistro wrote:Thanks for the feedback, Rich! Great to hear.
No problem, it's deserved. It's really helped the players (and their characters) by provided an extra characteristic that further defines, and just as importantly, differentiates their PCs. There aren't many options in the RAW for spending XP so the addition of Might has really opened it up.
Rocmistro wrote:Out of curiousity, did you also use the differential max values and costs, based on the body/heart/wits (+ favored) values?
Not sure what you mean there but the rules I use are an altered/smaller/simpler version of your original ones, 'my' version found in here (p 14 onwards): https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/795 ... 0Rules.pdf
TOR resources thread: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=62
TOR miniatures thread: viewtopic.php?t=885

Fellowship of the Free Tale of Years: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=8318
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