Hope vs Hate

[Southron]

I have not gone deeply into this, but it seems like hate is really powerful in the sense that adversaries have access to it for an encounter and then they are usually out of the picture. So burning through hate for an NPC doesn't seem like much of a problem. However, it seems that hope for PC's is a lot more precious as it has to last longer and can be easily depleted if used to match the hate spent by the enemy.

Any thoughts on this?

[Woodclaw]

I have not gone deeply into this, but it seems like hate is really powerful in the sense that adversaries have access to it for an encounter and then they are usually out of the picture. So burning through hate for an NPC doesn't seem like much of a problem. However, it seems that hope for PC's is a lot more precious as it has to last longer and can be easily depleted if used to match the hate spent by the enemy.

Any thoughts on this?

All very true, with one little caveat: Hope and Hate aren't the same resource, they're two different resources handled in different ways. While monsters can burn through their Hate pool with relative impunity this is (in my mind) justified by the fact that it's rather rare for a monster to reappear multiple times over a small period of time. I know that this is metagaming logic and not in-game logic, but I can see why a monster has to deplete its entire bag of tricks. Still fully empting one's Hate pool might not be a good idea, creatures with the Craven trait will flee at Hate 0 and all the others will suffer the penalities for being Weary. Hence having Hate 1 is actually much dangeroes since having a hero pulling an Intimidate manuever might cripple the monster's chances of being effective. Finally Hope can be used in ways that Hate can't (e.g. improving common skills rolls)

[Falenthal]

My opinion is that Hope and Hate can't be compared. They serve entirely different porpouses and have entirely different effects.

Monsters don't have Rewards or Virtues, nor do they have a Fatigue Threshold. They do have Special Abilities that can be triggered, which the players don't have.

Monsters and Players work in different ways (although similar) and we can't compare most of their numbers as if they were the same.

[Southron]

Thank you both for your insight.

[zedturtle]

Also worth considering is that most enemies have a Hate score that's closer to the Fellowship Pool, rather than a character's maximum Hope score. In other words, they are "disposable" points, more or less.

[Robin Smallburrow]

Southron Loremaster

Although I agree with what others have said here about Hate & Hope being different, one thing you might consider is the relative 'strength' of the Shadow throughout Middle-earth at different times -thus keep in mind that these stats for adversaries reflect TA around the time of the Hobbit.

By the time of the War of the Ring I would consider doubling these Hate scores (at least!), whereas for my Fourth Age campaign I often reduce Hate scores a little bit, to reflect the 'lesser' overall Shadow.

The other important point is that Hope is MEANT to be a dwindling resource, to be used carefully (if at all) -this is an important central theme of TOR.

Robin S.