First Age campaign, and optional rules?

[Angelalex242]

The thing about the first age is that everyone is way, way more powerful. Of course, so are the bad guys. Your first age character with a sword of 2 is equivalent to a 3rd age character with a sword of 6. Or something ridiculous like that.

[Blubbo Baggins]

Why do that? Why not just use the same "power level" as the current RAW? If enemies are scaled the same way, then proportionately its the same thing, whether you're rolling 6 dice vs a TN of 26 or 28, or 2 dice vs a TN of 14.

The more powerful idea can be communicated in the narrative, without changing mechanics, imo.

I personally would prefer to have players be men or twilight elves or dwarves, facing up against foes who are in some ways vastly superior. It would make for a scary game, but there would be the wonder of a bigger world that you're more easily "swallowed up" in.

[Majestic]

I'm not that drawn to a First Age campaign, though I think it might be fun for a one-shot.

If I were to do it, though, I wouldn't keep them the same (as the Third Age characters). I'd want to capture that feeling of how much more powerful they are, and how epic. Not only that, but some of their foes might end up being at a lower power level (equivalent to what we see in the standard TOR game). Like Orcs, for instance. That powerful First Age character should be able to sweep through an army of Orcs in the same way that the LotR movies showed Sauron easily sweeping away scores of the Last Alliance soldiers.

[Blubbo Baggins]

I'm not that drawn to a First Age campaign, though I think it might be fun for a one-shot.

If I were to do it, though, I wouldn't keep them the same (as the Third Age characters). I'd want to capture that feeling of how much more powerful they are, and how epic. Not only that, but some of their foes might end up being at a lower power level (equivalent to what we see in the standard TOR game). Like Orcs, for instance. That powerful First Age character should be able to sweep through an army of Orcs in the same way that the LotR movies showed Sauron easily sweeping away scores of the Last Alliance soldiers.

Oh I could definitely see that being fun for a one-shot (or short) campaign.

[zedturtle]

Mechanically speaking, I think a Virtue/Reward that added a constant Ability to every check (much like favoured skills work for Adversaries) would do wonders for creating the epic feel. Against regular mooks it would become not 'if I hit' but 'how hard do I hit' and allow for some of the epic things that we are told about.

[Terisonen]

May be TOR system is not on the good range of power to play First Age scenarii. I would consider a completely different system for playing First Age campaign.

[Wbweather]

It would be possible to play lesser characters in a First Age campaign and still interact with the lords of the Noldor and the Edain without actually becoming one of them.

[Blubbo Baggins]

It would be possible to play lesser characters in a First Age campaign and still interact with the lords of the Noldor and the Edain without actually becoming one of them.

+1 Exactly Wb. This is just what I imagined. The thing is, having more powerful PCs doesn't inherently translate into more fun. More power doesn't equal more fun.

I would argue that limitations are what create opportunities for players (and the LM) to get creative and are the things that make books & stories interesting.

Which is more interesting - Gandalf the Grey or Gandalf the White?
The former, in my opinion. He isn't as clear about what he should do, he is more conflicted, he seems more frail (though he isn't exactly...), etc. The only real thing that changes is how powerful he is.

So you throw players into a game where their PCs aren't as powerful as some of the folk or Kingdoms around them, and suddenly the world is a BIG place, and the players get immersed...

EDIT:

All that being said, I think there are tweaks, as Zed suggested above, that are subtle that can definitely give PCs the opportunity to wield powers or objects of power that are mechanically balanced, but still evoke some of the things from the First Age that are not seen in the Third.
(I think the example of rolling a "G" on a skill test with a Wondrous Object is a perfect example of this - the RAW state, "Something magical/out of the ordinary happens" - what exactly it is is left up to the players and LM - rules that are PERFECT for this setting).

[Glorelendil]

One of the challenges of scaling TOR to an "epic" feel is that as individual characters increase in power their single-target damage scales, but their own survivability scales very slowly. Plus heroes, for the most part, can still only attack one adversary per turn. A maxed out character with magic weapons is still going to lose to two trolls, or a pack of orcs, nearly every time.

If you're going to house-rule an epic 1st age campaign you'll need something to handle multi-attack and hero survivability.

[Blubbo Baggins]

Yeah, how DID Hurin kill 70 trolls (or 100 Orcs) or however you interpret it?

'Last of all, Húrin stood alone. Then he cast aside his shield, and wielded an axe two-handed; and it is sung that the axe smoked in the black blood of the troll-guard of Gothmog until it withered, and each time that he slew Húrin cried: 'Aurë entuluva! Day shall come again!' Seventy times he uttered that cry; but they took him at last alive, by the command of Morgoth, for the Orcs grappled him with their hands, which clung to him still though he hewed off their arms; and ever their numbers were renewed, until at last he fell buried beneath them. Then Gothmog bound him and dragged him off to Angband with mockery.'