Experience Gap

[Angelalex242]

While it matters less in combat, it matters quite a bit with common skills. The way the One Ring is set up, there's literally no use whatever in letting a character with a lower rating attempt a check. After all, even on a social roll, if he tries and fails, the tolerance is lowered for his inept inexperience. And a junior healer, if he fails to heal, means the more experienced healer doesn't get to try.

So how, when there's a mismatch (say, a new player joins an existing established group, or a player retired his old character to start a new one), how does the new guy gain any AP? It isn't logical to ever let him try, but if he doesn't try, he doesn't grow.

[Glorelendil]

how does the new guy gain any AP?

1) Preliminary rolls
2) Any group rolls (i.e., "Ok, everybody roll Athletics")
3) Any rolls without consequences ("Anybody who wants to try to figure it out, roll Riddle")
4) He may, at a minimum, have to introduce himself as part of an Encounter
5) When Encounters are going well, the group could let the new guy take a shot at participating

In my experience the majority of rolls fall into these categories. One can't help but notice that every time this issue is brought up, the Healing example is used. I think it's because Healing, and Encounters, are the exceptions not the rules.

That said, a rule for allowing "assisted tasks" (as has been discussed in other threads) would be useful.

[Deadmanwalking]

Speaking on Encounters specifically, at the moment the group I'm playing in routinely waltzes through most encounters with almost no failures and we're at only middling-high xp (low 80s), though we are pretty solid socially (all of us have 3s or 4s in at least one relevant social skill). If someone with low xp had, say, a skill of 2? He's welcome to try it a couple of times, we can afford the Tolerance loss.

It's actually a lot easier to allow someone trying that sort of thing if you have an experienced PC or two, since the extra Tolerance from Valor and Wisdom (and possibly Standing) combined with good skills makes the company able to succeed anyway. Meanwhile in a party where you have all inexperienced characters and thus a Tolerance of 2 at best plus skills at 1-2, but this one guy got himself Persuasion 4...well, then you have a lot less room for anyone else to use social skills beyond basic introductions.

And on Journeys, they can serve as a secondary Lookout, Scout, or Hunter at no penalty to anyone assuming a group of 5 or more. In a group of 4 or less, he better be actually good (ie: skill 3) at one of those roles (or Guide) or there'll be trouble bigger than missed AP.

Add in the 'everyone roll this' and 'anyone can try this' rolls plus preliminary rolls that Glorendil mentions and honestly there are very few categories of roll they aren't getting to make. In fact, the only skill I see not getting to roll a lot is Healing, and that applies to everyone with less Healing than the highest in the group (whoever that happens to be).

Now...this all becomes notably more troublesome if using the Eye of Sauron rules, but even then it's more annoying than it is the end of the world.

[Stormcrow]

Create a character who isn't a lesser carbon copy of an existing character. Different characters have different strengths. Each member of the company has his role to play.

[Glorelendil]

Just thought of another option: during Encounters the LMC might pointedly ask questions of the newbie (sort of how Denethor grilled Pippin instead of talking to the more wily Gandalf). So even if the group is trying to avoid having the new guy talk...either because of roleplaying or minmaxing...the LM can give the guy a chance to roll some dice.

Healing is, I think, the only real hard ability to come up with other options on. Have other people used this skill in ways that are not in the category of "Somebody in the party make a Healing roll to help so-and-so"? I guess if a Woodman isn't the best healer in the group he will occasionally get to roll for his Hound.

In any event, good thing there are two other skills that can be used to collect Survival AP.

[Falenthal]

Have other people used this skill in ways that are not in the category of "Somebody in the party make a Healing roll to help so-and-so"?

I use Healing to indentify sickness or poisoning. Also can be used to identify herbs. And for "autopsies": that is, when a corpse is found, to verify how he was killed (if there aren't twenty arrow shafts protunding from his breast, of course).

For all of these options, various heroes can roll to see who beats the TN AND gets the most Tengwars for the best information.

[Otaku-sempai]

Okay, I like the mechanic of having another hero attempt to assist the one attempting a common still (like Healing) by making a roll himself (or herself). If successful then the character attempting the action gets one additional success die in his (or her) own attempt.