Glorfindel

[Rocmistro]

Glorfindel would be one of the very few NPCs in Middle-earth to whom I would grant a 6 skill weapon rating.

Speaking of which, and derrailing the theme (sorry, Elfcrusher ):
What other NPC would you (or anyone) give a 6 skill in a skill?

Elrond has 6 in Lore (I thought he would have had a 6 also in Healing. Who, if not him, could possibly have a 6 in Healing in Middle-Earth, be it in the Third Age or not?).

Lúthien would have a 6 in Song?
Fëanor a 6 in Craft ? What would Telchar or Celebrimbor have? A 5 favourite?

But I think Third Age characters are more interesting to depict:
Beorn would be a 6 in Awe? His Personality is 5 Favoured, but this represents an average of his three skills in that category.
Aragorn a 6 in Inspire?
Bilbo a 6 in Riddle?
...

Bilbo 6 in riddle, not a chance. Maybe a 4, tops.
Aragorn 6 in inspire...feels wrong to me. But maybe the subtlety of his inspirational leadership is so sublime that it hardly is noticed, thus proving out a 6.
Beorn 6 in Awe seems wrong to me as well. Is that actually what he is given, RAW?
Saruman might have a 6 in Persuade.

[Glorelendil]

Yeah, I'm mostly with Roc. I wouldn't even give Bilbo a 4 in Riddle. He lucked out answering one of the Riddles, and then cheated. Maybe a 2.

Luthien 6 in song, yes. Feanor 6 in craft. Telchar and Celebrimbor? I'd probably give them both 6's as well, even if they can't match Feanor. (If there were a 7 Feanor would get that. Maybe Feanor has the equivalent of a Greater Blessing of Craft.)

Then again, maybe the old stories have grown with the telling.

Third Age:
Very few 6's. Glorfindel in weapon and Awe, in my opinion. Elrond in Lore, Saruman in Persuade...makes sense to me.

Aragorn...hmm. 6 in Hunting? The greatest huntsman of the age, after all. Maybe Travel?

Gandalf: 6 in Smoking. If there were such a thing.

Fun to think about.

Legolas gets a 6 in Athletics. Oh, wait, that's the movie.

[PST]

Bilbo 6 in riddle, not a chance. Maybe a 4, tops.
Aragorn 6 in inspire...feels wrong to me. But maybe the subtlety of his inspirational leadership is so sublime that it hardly is noticed, thus proving out a 6.
Beorn 6 in Awe seems wrong to me as well. Is that actually what he is given, RAW?
Saruman might have a 6 in Persuade.

I think Aragorn's 6 would more likely be in hunting given he's described as the greatest of the age, but yeah Inspire is close.

Then again, maybe the old stories have grown with the telling.

Thanks, that reminds me of a thread I wanted to start.

[Majestic]

Glorfindel would be one of the very few NPCs in Middle-earth to whom I would grant a 6 skill weapon rating.

Speaking of which, and derrailing the theme (sorry, Elfcrusher ):
What other NPC would you (or anyone) give a 6 skill in a skill?

Elrond has 6 in Lore (I thought he would have had a 6 also in Healing. Who, if not him, could possibly have a 6 in Healing in Middle-Earth, be it in the Third Age or not?).

Lúthien would have a 6 in Song?
Fëanor a 6 in Craft ? What would Telchar or Celebrimbor have? A 5 favourite?

But I think Third Age characters are more interesting to depict:
Beorn would be a 6 in Awe? His Personality is 5 Favoured, but this represents an average of his three skills in that category.
Aragorn a 6 in Inspire?
Bilbo a 6 in Riddle?
...

Should 6s be that rare, though? According to the rules, it simply means "Prodigious". Not that I think they should be common, mind you.

And I havent' seen the Rivendell supplement yet. Do the sons of Elrond have any 6s?

[Falenthal]

One of the things that has amazed me from TOR is that, though the rules state that a character can have 6 ranks in a skill, the reality is that most heroes never reach the top. And they still feel like heroes, with only one or two points rising in their main skills during their whole adventuring life. Most RPG games promote the constant increasing of skills, but TOR doesn't. In fact, I think that this helps get the feeling that your character evolves for better, but that he is still the same boy that left his town in Mirkwood to attend to the festivities in Dale.

The question that arises is then: what does it mean to have 6 in a skill?
Should there only be one or two persons per skill in the whole Third Age to have a 6?
In fact, can the Maia/Istar be described with the same mechanics as a Child of Eru? Saruman sure has a 6 in Persuasion, but can he be described with the same numbers and limits as a Hobbit?

I'll add to my guesses: Galadriel 6 in Insight.

[Glorelendil]

I'll add to my guesses: Galadriel 6 in Insight.

Ooh...seconded.

[Woodclaw]

Glorfindel would be one of the very few NPCs in Middle-earth to whom I would grant a 6 skill weapon rating.

Speaking of which, and derrailing the theme (sorry, Elfcrusher ):
What other NPC would you (or anyone) give a 6 skill in a skill?

Elrond has 6 in Lore (I thought he would have had a 6 also in Healing. Who, if not him, could possibly have a 6 in Healing in Middle-Earth, be it in the Third Age or not?).

Lúthien would have a 6 in Song?
Fëanor a 6 in Craft ? What would Telchar or Celebrimbor have? A 5 favourite?

But I think Third Age characters are more interesting to depict:
Beorn would be a 6 in Awe? His Personality is 5 Favoured, but this represents an average of his three skills in that category.
Aragorn a 6 in Inspire?
Bilbo a 6 in Riddle?
...

Should 6s be that rare, though? According to the rules, it simply means "Prodigious". Not that I think they should be common, mind you.

And I havent' seen the Rivendell supplement yet. Do the sons of Elrond have any 6s?

I disagree on the point that it should common, in my book a 6 equals an ability that has a superior quality that makes it appear almost unnatural (or supernatural) to everyone else. Personally I would be extremely careful to allow any PC to have any 6 on their sheet, since that would set them to be equal to the greatest warriors and loremasters of their age.

[PipeSmoker]

Galadriel 6 Insight and Awe?

[Falenthal]

Galadriel 6 Insight and Awe?

The problem I have with Noldo Lords is that they also have their Elven Rings, so I don't know if the 6 comes from their ability or from the Rings.

[Rich H]

One of the things that has amazed me from TOR is that, though the rules state that a character can have 6 ranks in a skill, the reality is that most heroes never reach the top. And they still feel like heroes, with only one or two points rising in their main skills during their whole adventuring life.

I think that's a deliberate design of the TOR rules and probabilities with regard to TNs, especially for Common Skills; there's not a lot of point for a player to increase their PC's [common] skills beyond 4 as the increase in success rate isn't really worth the AP expenditure. That, I believe, is very deliberate and therefore prompts players to strengthen their PC through diversification rather than overt specialisation *but* also means that those ratings of 5 and 6 are evident in the great Lords and Ladies of Middle Earth and not necessarily player heroes who have only been active for a few years. Francesco and crew work in subtle ways!