Lord of the Rings Stats?

XRaysVision · 07-21-2018, 09:02 AM

Being new to TFT and the community, I'll ask a simple question.

Has anyone made up TFT stats for Tolkien characters?

I have a ton of figures and would like to use them for both role playing and combat.

zot · 07-21-2018, 09:08 AM

Wow, that's a can of worms...

Terquem · 07-21-2018, 09:14 AM

yes, but the stats for a Can of Worms would probably be easier to create

larsdangly · 07-21-2018, 09:26 AM

Yes; I've got a beastiary of something like 30-40 Middle-Earth-appropriate critters and bad guys, and there is a web site out there where someone presents a TFT table top skirmish scenario based on one or another of the fights in Moria, and it includes pretty reasonable write ups of the fellowship.

And, I find TFT is a great system for gaming in middle earth; I've run a couple of campaigns and they were tons of fun.

zot · 07-21-2018, 09:33 AM

Here is Rick Smith's Ranger Prince post.

Rules for how many talents (skills) a character can have seem to be in a bit of a flux. Rick's post gives a fair approximation of an Aragorn-like character.

larsdangly · 07-21-2018, 10:09 AM

Here is a link to a more or less plausible application of TFT to a middle earth battle; you could fiddle with the details, but it is not so different from what I would do:

http://www.meleewizards.com/BridgeKhazadDum_2004.pdf

JLV · 07-21-2018, 10:31 AM

Didn't someone do one or maybe several posts (maybe on Brainiac?) many years ago that had a whole bunch of Tolkien creatures and characters? Everything from the Balrog to Wargs and from Frodo to Gandalf, as I recall.

Unfortunately, that was about four computers ago, and apparently that file didn't make the transfer during one of the moves...

Skarg · 07-21-2018, 10:40 AM

For the Fellowship party characters, there are a few possible ability levels you might choose to translate the more powerful characters into, depending on what sort of game you want.

* You could make them all beginning characters (if you like that balance level and don't care that they're legendary characters in the books).

* You could make the more powerful (i.e. all non-hobbit) characters into strong experienced but not legendary characters (36-40) points (if you want that power level).

* You could try to represent them as the legendary characters they are in the book (e.g. Boromir is a legendary human national champion, Legolas has many decades of experience, Aragorn has ancient regal semi-human blood and also decades of experience (he's 87 years old of an expected lifespan of about 250 years), and Gandalf is an immortal agent of divine origin who is the equal of the Balrog in face-to-face combat as well as a wizard etc...).

Skarg · 07-21-2018, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JLV

Didn't someone do one or maybe several posts (maybe on Brainiac?) many years ago that had a whole bunch of Tolkien creatures and characters? Everything from the Balrog to Wargs and from Frodo to Gandalf, as I recall.

Unfortunately, that was about four computers ago, and apparently that file didn't make the transfer during one of the moves...

Yeah, the TFT email list archives can be searched or Googled (include "brainiac" in the search terms and things like ST, DX, TFT).

e.g. here is one such thread.

The Wyzard · 07-21-2018, 12:15 PM

I think that you can tone down LotR characters a lot if you're careful about how you stat out the monsters. A ringwraith, for example, doesn't necessarily need to have armor that's much superior to any other knight on the battlefield if he has a kind of Fear Aura that makes it very difficult for low-IQ characters (e.g. probably most of Rohan's soldiers) to attack him. Gandalf sometimes saves the day not by casting a fireball, but by countering these mental/emotional effects.

NB: I think that any LotR-based campaign absolutely needs to have a Courage talent that helps you resist fear and despair, which would be some of the primary effects thrown around by the agents of the Dark Lord Sauron. We see again and again in the books that it isn't always the strongest or the most skilled warriors that carry the day, it's the ones capable of getting hit with a psychic attack and then stabbing someone anyway.

The Balrog, similarly, doesn't actually need to have Strength 100. He just needs an aura that deals fire damage to everyone within a few hexes of him, and incidentally makes him nearly immune to arrows or javelins. There you go, a monster that can casually wreck normal warriors in vast quantities, because they die if they come at him. But Gandalf has Narya, the Ring of Fire, and presumably it functions at least as well as a Ring of Fire Resistance in terms of letting him go up and stick Glamdring in a bad guy.

So anyway, that's my argument. Does Aragorn have better stats than a starting character? Oh hell yes. Do you need Ringraiths and Balrogs and so forth to be throwing around a lot of 20+ stats to do what they do in the books? Nah.

What makes an epic monster in LotR isn't that they're vastly stabbier than a dozen lesser creatures, it's measured in their other effects on the world around them. Work on modeling those.

07-21-2018, 09:02 AM	#1
XRaysVision Join Date: Jul 2018	Lord of the Rings Stats? Being new to TFT and the community, I'll ask a simple question. Has anyone made up TFT stats for Tolkien characters? I have a ton of figures and would like to use them for both role playing and combat.

07-21-2018, 09:08 AM	#2
zot Join Date: May 2018	Re: Lord of the Rings Stats? Wow, that's a can of worms...

07-21-2018, 09:14 AM	#3
Terquem Join Date: Apr 2018 Location: Idaho Falls	Re: Lord of the Rings Stats? yes, but the stats for a Can of Worms would probably be easier to create

07-21-2018, 09:26 AM	#4
larsdangly Join Date: Dec 2017	Re: Lord of the Rings Stats? Yes; I've got a beastiary of something like 30-40 Middle-Earth-appropriate critters and bad guys, and there is a web site out there where someone presents a TFT table top skirmish scenario based on one or another of the fights in Moria, and it includes pretty reasonable write ups of the fellowship. And, I find TFT is a great system for gaming in middle earth; I've run a couple of campaigns and they were tons of fun.

07-21-2018, 09:33 AM	#5
zot Join Date: May 2018	Re: Lord of the Rings Stats? Here is Rick Smith's Ranger Prince post. Rules for how many talents (skills) a character can have seem to be in a bit of a flux. Rick's post gives a fair approximation of an Aragorn-like character. Last edited by zot; 07-21-2018 at 09:35 AM. Reason: clarification

07-21-2018, 10:09 AM	#6
larsdangly Join Date: Dec 2017	Re: Lord of the Rings Stats? Here is a link to a more or less plausible application of TFT to a middle earth battle; you could fiddle with the details, but it is not so different from what I would do: http://www.meleewizards.com/BridgeKhazadDum_2004.pdf

07-21-2018, 10:31 AM	#7
JLV Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Arizona	Re: Lord of the Rings Stats? Didn't someone do one or maybe several posts (maybe on Brainiac?) many years ago that had a whole bunch of Tolkien creatures and characters? Everything from the Balrog to Wargs and from Frodo to Gandalf, as I recall. Unfortunately, that was about four computers ago, and apparently that file didn't make the transfer during one of the moves...

07-21-2018, 10:40 AM	#8
Skarg Join Date: May 2015	Re: Lord of the Rings Stats? For the Fellowship party characters, there are a few possible ability levels you might choose to translate the more powerful characters into, depending on what sort of game you want. * You could make them all beginning characters (if you like that balance level and don't care that they're legendary characters in the books). * You could make the more powerful (i.e. all non-hobbit) characters into strong experienced but not legendary characters (36-40) points (if you want that power level). * You could try to represent them as the legendary characters they are in the book (e.g. Boromir is a legendary human national champion, Legolas has many decades of experience, Aragorn has ancient regal semi-human blood and also decades of experience (he's 87 years old of an expected lifespan of about 250 years), and Gandalf is an immortal agent of divine origin who is the equal of the Balrog in face-to-face combat as well as a wizard etc...).

07-21-2018, 12:15 PM	#10
The Wyzard Join Date: Jul 2018	Re: Lord of the Rings Stats? I think that you can tone down LotR characters a lot if you're careful about how you stat out the monsters. A ringwraith, for example, doesn't necessarily need to have armor that's much superior to any other knight on the battlefield if he has a kind of Fear Aura that makes it very difficult for low-IQ characters (e.g. probably most of Rohan's soldiers) to attack him. Gandalf sometimes saves the day not by casting a fireball, but by countering these mental/emotional effects. NB: I think that any LotR-based campaign absolutely needs to have a Courage talent that helps you resist fear and despair, which would be some of the primary effects thrown around by the agents of the Dark Lord Sauron. We see again and again in the books that it isn't always the strongest or the most skilled warriors that carry the day, it's the ones capable of getting hit with a psychic attack and then stabbing someone anyway. The Balrog, similarly, doesn't actually need to have Strength 100. He just needs an aura that deals fire damage to everyone within a few hexes of him, and incidentally makes him nearly immune to arrows or javelins. There you go, a monster that can casually wreck normal warriors in vast quantities, because they die if they come at him. But Gandalf has Narya, the Ring of Fire, and presumably it functions at least as well as a Ring of Fire Resistance in terms of letting him go up and stick Glamdring in a bad guy. So anyway, that's my argument. Does Aragorn have better stats than a starting character? Oh hell yes. Do you need Ringraiths and Balrogs and so forth to be throwing around a lot of 20+ stats to do what they do in the books? Nah. What makes an epic monster in LotR isn't that they're vastly stabbier than a dozen lesser creatures, it's measured in their other effects on the world around them. Work on modeling those.