Rangers, High Elves, and Mirkwood

[Willis]

Hi folks. I'm new to The One Ring. I have all of the books, and want to run a campaign for some friends. I'm wanting to do the Darkening of Mirkwood campaign, and I'm sure at least one of my people would want to be a ranger or a Rivendell elf.

With that in mind, is having everyone make basic starting characters the best option? Is the campaign harder and as such do I need to allow for additional starting experience? Should I allow players of standard cultures to have bonus experience if there is a ranger or Rivendell elf in the party?

Sorry if these are dumb questions, I just don't want to do it wrong and have to fix stuff later. That's always more of a pain.

[Falenthal]

I don't think you should do anything special. TOR is not entirely about balance of power. In fact, having one stronger character does also make the group stronger. Besides, Rangers and High Elves have their hindrances, which do balance the cultures.

If you begin using the Eye of Sauron rule, then there's another way of balancing Rangers and High Elves.
And also, you could also introduce in the game the fact that none of this cultures have a hometown in the Wilderness (where the whole campaign is taking place), so this could roleplay against them in some imaginative ways.

[zedturtle]

Since you are a new player, I would clarify that the "eye of Mordor" rules are what is being referred to. I think that they should only come in the play at 2951, but to each their own. As said above, The one ring is not about levels, gold pieces or accumulation of personal power or any of those D&Disms that permeate a lot of fantasy gaming, it is about being a hero in the face of a challenging world.

[Rocmistro]

I don't think you need to worry about any of the 'balance' or 'power' issues between or across characters.

The bigger challenge from using the Rivendell rules will be to you, as Loremaster, since it will involve learning/understanding a new game mechanic (Eye of Sauron hunt levels, revelation events) as well as the different ways that Dunedain and High Elves are limited while still trying to understand the basics. Let your High Elf/Dunedain player know that if they wanna go that route, they will be paying for it in the long run (Look at weapon, valor, and wisdom costs for them in the Rivendell rulebook.)

[Beran]

I am currently running DoW as a PbP with 2 Rangers (using a mix of unofficial and official rules) and a Woodman. They were starting characters and are doing pretty good...if some what off the script of the campaign (but then I was planning on using more of the listed background options rather then the actual scenarios anyway. They are much more interesting.)

So, you should be fine starting with beginning characters.