We started this discussion in another thread, but the gist is... What magic system would work best for a Middle Earth game?
Quote:
Originally Posted by ericthered
I think Lord of the rings magic is mostly about mind control/influencing, crafting, and signature effects associated with individuals, like gandalf's skill with fire or the ring wraith's infection effects. Most magic only shows up at extreme power levels.
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Sorta. Gandalf's fire can be explained because he's the keeper of Narya, the Elvish ring of fire. But... What about the rekindling of Theoden's will to live? Is that just a metaphorical use of fire? Or some innate thing he did? Or just a rousing speech?
Then, there was Gandalf and Aragorn's idea that the ancient Elven lands south of Rivendell might have enough residual magic to keep Saruman's spies at bay. It didn't work, but even so, that's... hard to systematize.
In fact, an argument can be made that the Elves, Dwarves, and Men can ONLY do magic through items. Even Wizards seem to do much better when they have an item on hand. We don't see much done without a staff.
As I think about it, I would probably limit real magic to NPCs but allow some supernatural advantages for PCs. Something like the land connections seen with Faramir or Aragorn's healing. Maybe some limited shape-shifting Like Beorn, but that would be hard with a PC.
Does anybody have a fully fleshed-out model?