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Hi

I think this may have been answered in the 'old forum' but I cannot locate it so would someone please enlighten me on how it works.

If in Mirkwood/Under the Earth/at Night, then an Elf adds Favoured Attribute to all skill rolls but does the elf has to spend hope to get the bonus?(effectively all skills become favoured)

or

the Favoured attribute bonus is automatically added (becoming an uber skilled character in the above conditions) without the requirement to spend hope?

Thanks

I haver always assumed it is the former. If you spend Hope you add your Favoured attribute to the roll. Otherwise you just roll normally. As you say, it is as if all your attributes were Favoured under these conditions. A very useful thing, but not overbearing due to the Hope economy.

He still has to spend Hope on each skill roll to take advantage of the attribute bonus but they are all at his Favoured ratings.

Also, note; I believe Francesco errata'd this rule and stated it only applied to Common Skills.

Thanks for the quick reply, however i'm not sure my wife will be so happy. She hoped it was option two.

Cheers

It would be somewhat over the top if this was the case, don't you think? Cultural bonuses do not tend to be that massive. You can always house rule it to be the second case. It will make an elf a powerhouse in the dark/gloom, so if you like high fantasy elves (like Jackson's) or it is a solo campaign you might want to do it.

I haven't yet actually played TOR (first game this Wednesday) so maybe somebody with experience can provide some illumination: if you have a cultural bonus (or virtue) that makes an attribute favoured under certain conditions, doesn't that just mean that you get a +1 to +3 bonus only as often as you spend points of Hope? Which means, very, very rarely?

Intuitively it feels..."lacking". I suppose the fact that it's a fixed, known bonus that you get to apply retroactively makes it more valuable than a random, pre-roll bonus, but still...

Or am I still stuck in a D&D mindset?

For normal rolls you do not add ANY attribute to a roll. Nil, zero, nope. You only get the Attribute bonus by spending Hope.

So, if you have a skill of 2 in Awareness (for example) and you roll a 7 + 2 + 4 your total is 13, even if your Body is 5 (7 favoured body).

Now, if in that same roll you spend a point of Hope, you get a 18 (13+5 for your Body attribute)
If Awareness is a Favoured ability and you spend a point of Hope, you get a total of 20 (13+7 for your Favoured Body attribute).

Dunno if that was your doubt. If you refer to it just being slightly better than a regular Attribute bonus when you spend a Hope point, yes, it is what it is. Most cultural blessings need some kind of trigger or apply in very specific circumstances.

Cheers,
Xavi

Yes, that is how I understood the rules work. Thank you for clarifying, though.

But my question is how useful/powerful that is. In the example you gave, spending a point of Hope (a very precious commodity) gives you a 20 instead of an 18. Getting a +2 approximately once per gaming session doesn't seem like a very powerful cultural ability.

On the other hand, I suppose that could be incredibly useful, in the right circumstances. I.e., if you have a "Daunting" challenge, and you happen to roll just 1 or 2 short, it gives you a free success. Again, the fact that you can use your bonus retroactively is what makes that useful.

Is that it? Is that why Favoured attributes are powerful?

Yeah, I think being able to apply after rolling is what makes it so useful. Unlike most games with some kind of "spend a resource to get a bonus" mechanic, it's never a gamble. Every point of Hope spent is going to translate to a success.

EDIT: Additionally, a bonus to a roll is generally more significant when you're totalling multiple dice because of the bell curve. The difference between TN 16 and TN 18 is more pronounced than, for example, DC 16 and DC 18 in D&D, so getting a +2 bonus could be a really big deal.

Shieldmaiden wrote: EDIT: Additionally, a bonus to a roll is generally more significant when you're totalling multiple dice because of the bell curve. The difference between TN 16 and TN 18 is more pronounced than, for example, DC 16 and DC 18 in D&D, so getting a +2 bonus could be a really big deal.

Excellent point.