Has anybody houseruled Free Peoples diplomacy?

[Dedicemancometh]

Just wondering if anybody has put together rules regarding rallying the various cultures of Middle Earth.

I am running a campaign that is getting long-ish, and I am feeling like there is no specific mechanic to encourage that particular type of heroism. I sort of want to overlay the short-term goals with macro goals that include a kind of tallying of various cultures in either the Light or Shadow bucket. So that when the War of the Ring comes, much will depend on that tally. (Kind of boardgamey in concept, admittedly... but so macro that, session to session, it won't be felt.)

I could just telegraph this by having the Fellowship's patron (Gandalf, natch) dictate...er..."urge" them on ever more diplomatic-ish quests, but it would be nice if there was a mechanic to address this directly -- so that the players' more selfish motivations can be coopted so that they want to be peace-makers.

Has anybody handled this at all? How?

Suggestions?

[zedturtle]

I think you should set out War of the Ring and use it's tokens for the various factions.

On a more serious note, I think each Culture should have a 'Preparedness' value, ranging from 0 (Hobbits at almost any time) to 6 (Gondor once Othilien is taken), representing the readiness of that people to contribute to the common defense.

Each Culture should also have an Obstinance value, representing how hard it is to change their minds (for example, Hobbits probably have something like a 5, whereas Bardings probably have a 1 or a 2). In order to change the Preparedness value for a Culture, the heroes have to have more Successes (e.g. Successful Encounters or other things that count) than the Obstinance value.

Also, heroes must maintain the Preparedness of their allies at Year's End. Each hero can choose one culture (his own or another) to maintain the Preparedness... any cultures not sustained in this fashion lose one Preparedness.

This should make diplomacy extraordinary important, and should create a situation where the heroes have to choose which Cultures to press for... sure, raising the Preparedness of the Shire would be nice, but it's hard to do and you'd have to maintain it. There might be other cultures who'd they rather spend their time and energy on.

[zedturtle]

Oh, and this probably should have been in the House Rules section.

[Falenthal]

Great rules, zed!

A mix of War of the Ring and Standing from TOR, both of which seem very appropiate.
Besides, by using a so similar mechanic than Standing, there's no need for further "rules learning" on behalve of the LM.

[Glorelendil]

Sounds to me more like an adventure than a house rule.

[zedturtle]

Great rules, zed!

A mix of War of the Ring and Standing from TOR, both of which seem very appropiate.
Besides, by using a so similar mechanic than Standing, there's no need for further "rules learning" on behalve of the LM.

Thanks!

I didn't really get into what Preparedness means, of course. I figure DDMC has thoughts for that; one thing on my drive home today was (especially) Merry and Pippin coming back to the Shire from their adventure. They were in areas of high Preparedness (armour and weapons easily available, sentries posted, the economy on a war-footing) and then came home to an area of low Preparedness (even with the trouble, the Shire is nowhere near Rohan or Gondor in its armament or outlook).

Hopefully, the whole thing has been helpful...

[Dedicemancometh]

This is a good start! But the element that keeps recurring in the Trilogy and the Hobbit is the unwillingness of various factions to ally, to form alliances.

Gondor is hella prepared, but will they accept an Elvish Battalion within the walls of Minas Tirith? That kind of thing.

I am thinking of maybe complicating Standing (sound like the TOR game is a good place to start). Players have Standing among their peoples -- maybe individual Standings per culture? Doing great deeds among other peoples should not only give them some kind of +, but potentially their home culture gets some props from these much-aided foreign cultures ("That Dwarf from Erebor is pretty amazeballs; maybe they're all amazeballs.")

Or maybe willingness to Ally is part of Preparedness? Hmmm... still thinking.

[zedturtle]

Yeah, maybe at higher levels it should be... Rohan and Gondor have an arrangement, and Rohan rides to Gondor's aid. So maybe the lack of Elves at Helm's Deep or Minas Tirith is more at the feet of the Elves than the Men? (Elves must have a pretty high Obstinance value, as they're less likely to be listening to the younger races, figuring they've got time or at least their own concerns).

So examples from the War of the Ring:

So Imladris passes a critical threshold, and Elrond sends out scouts. Later, Lothlorien passes a lower threshold and gives aid but not people.

Rohan passes a higher threshold and sends an army to aid its ally. Gondor's at a high level and goes higher when it summons what forces it can from the outlying provinces to Minas Tirith.

I think that might be something to work with... maybe Prejudice affects Preparedness as well?

[Robin Smallburrow]

Using Diplomacy as the RAW stands you use either Valour or Wisdom with the relevant NPC's, and then check Tolerance, depending on what the PC's are trying to achieve, and then a relevant skill such as Courtesy. In my first adventure of my Campaign (A Kidnapping in Umbar, see my sig for link) one of the envisaged Encounters is that the PC's have to try and enlist the aid of the current ruler of Umbar, the Admiral of the Fleet, so I used the scale of successes idea introduced in TfW.

As I have mentioned in earlier threads, the rules for Standing are intentionally harsh because they reflect how the common people view adventurers (NOT the rulers) -witness Bilbo's reputation as 'the Mad Baggins'....

I don't understand what modifications you are proposing here to the existing Encounter rules, as to me they work fine. However, in the Fan Supplement is a new Calling: Emissary, which I reproduce for you below:

New Calling: EMISSARY
"We alone here represent our kindred. We also will come." --Gimli
For the safety and weal of your people you journey abroad, bearing messages, making alliances, and winning renown for your homeland.

Favoured Skill Groups: Custom, Personality
Trait: Diplomacy
Shadow Weakness: Curse of Discord

Calling Virtues;
Adamant Resolve
When making a Corruption or Valour test, add your Awe skill rank

Master Negotiator
Once per game session can reroll the Feat die for a social skill (Courtesy, Persuade etc.) and choose the better result.

Magnanimous Requisite: Master Negotiator
At the beginning of an Encounter you can make a Persuade test to endear yourself to the other party to improve their reactions to you. The TN depends on the other side's initial reaction: TN 12 (Co-operative), TN 14 (Indifferent), TN 16 (Unco-operative), TN 18 (Hostile).

New Shadow Weakness: CURSE OF DISCORD

"In nothing is the power of the Dark Lord more clearly shown than in the estrangement that divides all those who still oppose him." --Haldir

Parochial
A parochial hero is concerned only with matters that affect his home or his kin.

Quarrelsome
A quarrelsome hero is callous toward the plights of other folk, and tends to view them rather as rivals to confront than as potential allies to befriend.

Belligerent
A belligerent hero is not content unless the interests of his people are paramount. He is ready to fight before yielding an inch on his demands.

Hateful
A hateful hero has come to view others among the Free Peoples as the Enemy, even to the point of considering the Shadow as a possible ally against them.

Hope this helps!
Robin S.