Glor's Guide might have been written before Rivendell hit, at least it's in that vicinity.artuard wrote:Hello All,
I'm new to the system/forums - so please forgive me if this was already discussed elsewhere on this forum. As per topic, I'm going to play a ranger character and was wondering if someone ever considered optimizing this culture? Glorelendil's Character Optimisation Guide does not seem to touch on cultures from Rivendell.
And since I'm on this subject - was there ever an errata to ranger XP spending? Seems aweful lot ...
Thank you for any help
Art
It is an extra d6, which you can add to a roll that you make during a combat. Once you use the die, it's gone. However, you still can roll for regular Bonus Dice (see Preparatory Rolls, page 161 or therabouts), so you could have anywhere from 1-4 Bonus Dice for Combat, which is nice.artuard wrote:Much Obliged for your insight zedturtle!
I am fiddling with the online character tool and have picked ( at least for the time being ) ''Ways of the Wild''. Seems that you're right about the wilderness setting being pretty common! Not sure I get the 'free Combat Bonus Die', is it just an extra d6 to combat roll under those circumstances?
The rules for Rangers appeared in Rivendell and you'll need that book to make full use of their abilities.I was intrigued by the Heirloom of Arnor but I can't find the means to craft this item in the revised core book [ I have a pdf ].
Right, that does put you at a low Parry score. But bear in mind my advice about pumping up your weapon skill and staying in Defensive Stance. The other thing you could do is go for a ranged character and then you really don't need to worry (too much) about getting hit.I'm honestly at complete loss when it comes to Attributes. My current pick is :
-Attributes-
Body 8/11 Heart 6/8 Wits 3/4 ( Herald setting ) I figured this will make me a decent warrior.
But this probably indicates I will be hit a lot right?
Awareness 4 might be overkill, but it all depends on what you rather spend it on... it might be worth it, as you will never need to worry about raising Awareness again.As for skills, I went Awareness 4, long sword 3, Awe 1 <- from the starting XP.
So, here's the total munchkin powergamer thing to do: take the Heirloom in Song or Inspire, and in combat when your Fellowship Focus is below full Endurance use Rally Companions. On a success spend the Hope to turn it into a Magical Effect, and then get the point of Hope refunded because you directly benefited your Fellowship Focus.A hero using a Wondrous Artefact may spend 1 point of Hope to turn a successful die roll made using the affected skill into a Magical result.
Glorelendil wrote:Honestly I don't love the Ranger's choices for Virtues and Rewards.
Virtues:
Dauntless Guardians: if you know your LM is going to throw undead at you this is actually amazing. But if rarely/never see undead it's useless.
Endurance of the Ranger: this is my favorite virtue, as long as your gear choices are in line with the 14 Fatigue maximum. It really begins to shine at 4+ Travel skill. There's a Mastery that gives you the same +3 bonus to Endurance, but this one also lets you help your friends pass their Fatigue tests. And non-Weary friends will help you stay alive in the future. On a trip through Mirkwood with lots of fatigue tests you'll get LOTS of Tengwars. Make friends with a Beorning.
Royalty Revealed: man, this one is so tempting...the benefit is very potent, but the penalty is brutal. Take high Wits and use a shield if you go this route. If you take it late in your career with high Awe and 4+ Sword skill you could combine Intimidate Foe with a Called Shot; disarm your opponent ~50% of the time to mitigate the Hatred (Dunedain).
Rumour of the Earth: the daily Hunting check is hard to quantify, although the extra chance for an AP is nice. The second part you will hardly ever use because it requires spending Hope, the one thing you can't waste. If you're ever really truly screwed (being chased through the wilderness by Nazgul or something) and you'll be making a bunch of rolls is where it will shine.
Ways of the Wild: This one is fine, but in general I don't love bonus dice. Since they (technically) have to be spent before the roll you can't optimize them. If you hit approximately 50% of the time it means you will waste your bonus die 50% of the time (because you would have hit anyway), and some fraction of the remainder you will still miss. However, the relatively reliability of this Virtue (as long as you're in the wild) let's you treat it as a bonus die for Protection tests, letting you get away with lighter armour, so it has synergy with Endurance of the Ranger.
Rewards:
Heirloom of Lost Arnor: I love this one. The +2 bonus to a skill of your choice is nice, but it's the Magical Effects which is a ton of fun:So, here's the total munchkin powergamer thing to do: take the Heirloom in Song or Inspire, and in combat when your Fellowship Focus is below full Endurance use Rally Companions. On a success spend the Hope to turn it into a Magical Effect, and then get the point of Hope refunded because you directly benefited your Fellowship Focus.A hero using a Wondrous Artefact may spend 1 point of Hope to turn a successful die roll made using the affected skill into a Magical result.
Dirty, huh? Effectiveness depends on what your LM will allow for "Magical Results".
Star of the Dunedain: Great color, weak mechanics.
Numenorean Arrows: Can be amazing, but really depends on high Bow score (you don't want to miss) and of course scales with Valour. So I wouldn't necessarily make this a choice for starting characters. Take it when you up your Valour to 3 and your Bow to 4. Also has good synergy with Ways of the Wild: use your bonus die when using one of your arrows (and if you're an archer you're less likely to need Protection tests). Also, you can spend Hope when shooting a target that's attacking your Fellowship Focus because if you hit the target misses, which directly benefits your Focus.
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