CHARACTERISTICS
“… you have been chosen, and you must therefore use such strength and heart and wits as you have.”
Heroes reveal themselves through their actions, as their strengths and weaknesses emerge when they are put to the test. They are a diverse folk, each with a unique combination of abilities and traits — some favour their strength and prowess to overcome the threats and difficulties they encounter, some rely on their fortitude and integrity to endure, and others appeal to their reasoning and astuteness to find a solution.
Skills
“There is food in the wild,” said Strider; “berry, root, and herb; and I have some skill as a hunter at need.”
In The One Ring, almost every action heroes can attempt is resolved using a Skill: whether a Player-hero is traversing the land trying to get back home (TRAVEL), running away from a threat (ATHLETICS), or listening intently to an orator’s speech to weigh their words (INSIGHT).
In game terms, Skills and their ratings represent what Player-heroes are able to do and how good they are at doing it. When using a Skill, players roll one Feat die and a number of Success Dice equal to the acting Player-hero’s Skill rank — rolling only one Feat die if a Player-hero is unskilled (rank 0). To succeed, the roll result must match or beat the Attribute TN corresponding to the used Skill.
FAVOURED SKILLS
A number of Skills can be marked as Favoured on a character sheet, checking the box to the left of their name. Favoured Skills highlight those abilities that come most naturally to a Player-hero. All rolls made using a Favoured Skill are Favoured rolls — the acting player rolls two Feat dice, keeping the best result.
Skill Categories
Each Skill belongs to one of three categories, based on which Attribute TN it’s rolled against. For ease of reference, the Skills are organised on a character sheet in three columns placed right under the Attribute box they depend on.
STRENGTH SKILLS
All Skills in this category rely largely on the Player-hero’s physical aptitude. An adventurer with a high STRENGTH score is more likely to be imposing (AWE), to have a clear singing voice (SONG), to be fit and agile (ATHLETICS), to have good sight and hearing (AWARENESS, HUNTING), and to possess skilful hands (CRAFT). STRENGTH Skill rolls are resolved using a Player-hero’s STRENGTH Target Number.
HEART SKILLS
The Skills under this category depend on the Player-hero’s force of spirit more than anything else. An adventurer with a high HEART score may be a charismatic leader (ENHEARTEN, BATTLE), an energetic guide (TRAVEL), a gracious gentleman (COURTESY), be able to read the hearts of others (INSIGHT), or to understand their hurt and how to heal them (HEALING). HEART Skill rolls are resolved using a Player-hero’s HEART Target Number.
WITS SKILLS
A Player-hero’s mental aptitude affects those Skills that rely on quick thinking and creativity. A hero with a high WITS value will quickly learn witty oratory (PERSUADE), the arts of a burglar (STEALTH), show attentiveness (SCAN, EXPLORE), and will be clever and studious (RIDDLE, LORE). WITS Skill rolls are resolved using a Player-hero’s WITS Target Number.
SKILL GROUPS
The 18 Skills can be considered to be categorised together also by affinity into six ‘Skill groups’ of 3 Skills each, with each group being associated with a different type of activity. Players may find this categorisation useful when identifying the right ability to use for a task.
Personality Skills (AWE, ENHEARTEN, PERSUADE). A hero’s personality comes through in their capacity to impress, encourage, and influence others. A good level of proficiency in all three Skills in this group is the mark of a leader.
Movement Skills (ATHLETICS, TRAVEL, STEALTH). Overcoming obstacles, enduring long journeys, and moving secretly are the stuff adventurers are made of.
Perception Skills (AWARENESS, INSIGHT, SCAN). The ability to catch hidden details often pays off, be it noticing an odd noise that gives away an ambusher, catching the gleam in the eyes of a liar, or spotting the crack in the wall that reveals a secret door.
Survival Skills (HUNTING, HEALING, EXPLORE). The three Skills of this group, essential for a roving adventurer, make for an invaluable member of a company.
Custom Skills (SONG, COURTESY, RIDDLE). While heroes are often held to be uncivilised brutes by the common folk, their lives can sometimes depend on knowing the proper words, wisest song, or cleverest answer. Excelling in these Skills is considered a noble achievement.
Vocation Skills (CRAFT, BATTLE, LORE). Before their resolve hardened and pushed them on the road to adventure, adventurers probably led a life much like that of ordinary individuals: learning a trade, defending their people, and absorbing their accumulated wisdom.
Skill List |
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Skill Categories | Skill Groups |
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Strength | Heart | Wits | |
Awe | Enhearten | Persuade | Personality |
Athletics | Travel | Stealth | Movement |
Awareness | Insight | Scan | Perception |
Hunting | Healing | Explore | Survival |
Song | Courtesy | Riddle | Custom |
Craft | Battle | Lore | Vocation |
Skills List
The 18 Skills cover wide areas of knowledge and ability, enabling players and the Loremaster to resolve most situations encountered during play. The following list presents the Skills in alphabetical order. A brief description is provided, to help players and the Loremaster to identify the type of actions that can be accomplished using each Skill.
ATHLETICS
ATHLETICS is a broad Skill, covering most of the physical activities that a hero might undertake while adventuring, including running, leaping, climbing, and swimming. Heroes with high ATHLETICS Skill scores exhibit a winning combination of physical prowess, grace, and control, generally gained through continuous exercise and daily exertion. A successful ATHLETICS roll produces a satisfactory outcome in the physical activity, while a failed roll might lead to serious harm, depending on the circumstances. A superior result suggests a spectacular achievement.
AWARENESS
The AWARENESS Skill represents a hero’s readiness to react and the ability to notice something unexpected, out of the ordinary, or difficult to detect. A high Skill score reflects both keen senses and the experience to understand what is seen or heard — a high level of watchfulness is extremely useful if a Player-hero serves as a look-out for the Company.
AWE
This Skill measures the capacity to evoke respect in onlookers, and determines the impression the Player-heroes make on someone they meet for the first time. Depending on the circumstances and on the player’s intentions, it can be used to instil wonderment, admiration, or even fear. AWE arises from a hero’s native charisma, but can also be engineered by a dramatic entrance or impressive attire. Successful use of the AWE Skill evokes the chosen effect, while failure can lead to the opposite result. Achieving a superior success means that a hero has won the hearts of the onlookers or cowed them into silent submission.
BATTLE
A rating in this Skill shows a firm grasp of the rules of battle and the capability to maneuver appropriately when involved in a violent confrontation. The BATTLE Skill can be used to gain an advantage when fighting against a group of foes, or leading a company of troops in open battle and maintaining order in the midst of chaos (individual fighting talents are covered by Combat Proficiencies on page 65).
COURTESY
The Free Peoples recognise common norms of decency and ancient conventions of behaviour. Observing these traditions demonstrates respect and is a way of quickly establishing a friendly footing even with complete strangers. Succeeding in a COURTESY roll might mean the Player-heroes know what to say at the right moment to make a good impression with their host, or are mindful of their manners when receiving guests.
CRAFT
The CRAFT Skill doesn’t really cover the whole range of abilities of smiths, wrights, and other artisans, but reflects a talent for making or mending things by hand. CRAFT can be used to repair the wheel of a cart, or construct an improvised raft with wood found on a river shore, or to start a fire on a windy hill. A high CRAFT score may indicate that the Player-hero was a craftsperson before starting a life of adventure. Some Cultures, such as the Dwarves and Noldorin Elves, revere crafts as the highest expression of creativity.
ENHEARTEN
Player-heroes can use the ENHEARTEN Skill to instil positive feelings in others, urging them to act on the matter at hand. They achieve this mainly through example, charisma, and personal conviction, rather than through the effective use of words (which falls under PERSUADE). This Skill can be used on individuals, but is particularly effective in influencing crowds. Player-heroes with high ENHEARTEN ratings can be forceful orators, passionate agitators, and well-loved leaders. A successful ENHEARTEN roll awakens a chosen feeling in the subject, as long as it is not in opposition to their current mood. A superior success is enough to influence wholly disinterested individuals, or turn rivals into supporters.
EXPLORE
Player-heroes rely on the EXPLORE Skill when they move through an unfamiliar area of the Wild. An EXPLORE roll may be required during a journey to find out where the Company is heading, or to get back on track after a detour; to cope with adverse weather conditions or other natural hazards; to create paths through the wilderness suitable for others to follow; or to choose a suitable place to set up camp. A high EXPLORE rating is an invaluable resource if a Player-hero is acting as a scout for the Company.
HEALING
The knowledge of how to relieve pain and apply remedies to restore health to the suffering is an ancient one, and treatments differ from culture to culture. However, almost all traditions agree on the treatment of serious injuries, which must be tended immediately to keep from worsening. The HEALING Skill includes bone setting and the use of herbs or salves, but the outcome relies on the ability of the healer to understand what ails the sufferer and determine what should be done to help them.
HUNTING
Knowing how to hunt is a fundamental skill, shared by most cultures of Middle-earth. A HUNTING roll may be required when pursuing a creature through wild areas, or to follow tracks and identify a quarry by its spoor. The HUNTING Skill also covers preparing traps and the training and use of hunting dogs or birds. In wilder areas, hunters learn to apply their trade to more dangerous quarries — such as Orcs, Spiders, or Wargs — or else risk becoming the prey.
INSIGHT
INSIGHT represents the ability to see beyond appearances and to recognise the hidden thoughts and beliefs of people. INSIGHT does not reveal if someone is lying, but the information it yields can be used to draw useful conclusions about people’s motives. Heroes with a high INSIGHT score are often recognised as being sensible and discerning individuals, and many may seek their counsel. A successful INSIGHT roll provides the Player-heroes with a reliable, but partial, portrait of the person they are observing. A superior success allows them to correctly guess additional details about an individual’s state of mind. INSIGHT tests may be rolled in opposition to an adversary trying to sway or convince a Player-hero of something.
LORE
LORE expresses a love for learning: be it a fascination with descriptions of distant lands or an interest in family genealogy. Whenever an action involves knowledge of some kind, a LORE test is required. Player-heroes are considered to be knowledgeable in the traditions of their own people, and so the Loremaster should rarely require a player to make a LORE roll for information regarding their own character’s Culture, Background, or the area they originally came from.
PERSUADE
This Skill allows the Player-heroes to apply their reasoning to convince other individuals of an idea or course of action. It can be used to influence small groups of listeners, but only if used in an appropriate context, such as a common hall. Persuasion requires more time than other Personality Skills, but can have a more lasting impact on other characters’ actions. A high PERSUADE score denotes an uncommon eloquence, a love of speech and knowledge of its proper use and its effect on listeners. Wise people, advisers to chieftains and kings, and their messengers all share this passion for the spoken word. The successful use of the PERSUADE Skill allows a Player-hero to convince an audience that their current position regarding a matter is flawed. A superior success convinces listeners of the quality of a hero’s stance, and may even turn them into ardent believers.
RIDDLE
Owing its name to the ancient game, the RIDDLE Skill represents the ability to draw conclusions from seemingly unconnected scraps of information by deduction, reasoning, and intuition. Adventurers also rely on RIDDLE whenever they are forced to talk about a subject but prefer to conceal part of what they know; for example, to tell something about themselves without revealing their identity. As an accepted custom among many cultures, speaking in riddles is usually allowed among strangers meeting for the first time and wanting to speak guardedly. This Skill is also used to gain helpful insight from a spoken or written riddle.
SCAN
Player-heroes can use the SCAN Skill when examining something closely or attentively. This Skill allows a Player-hero to skim through a book to locate a piece of relevant information, look for concealed doors or hidden inscriptions, recognise a familiar face in a crowd, or locate a set of tracks on the ground. SCAN rolls are generally initiated by the players rather than the Loremaster. One roll is required for each inspection of a small area, such as a room. AWARENESS, rather than SCAN, is used to see if a hero passively notices something. A successful SCAN roll generally lets Player-heroes find what they are looking for — if it is to be found at all. A superior success usually means the object is found more quickly.
SONG
Hobbits and Men, Elves and Dwarves, even Goblins and maybe Orcs: all creatures of Middle-earth celebrate by playing music and singing songs. Great deeds and grim misfortunes are remembered in verse, and pleasant or comic stories are told to ease spirits and find comfort. The SONG Skill is used to recite poems, sing songs, or play instruments suitable to a character’s Culture. It can also be used to learn new works or create original compositions.
STEALTH
Player-heroes resort to STEALTH whenever they need to act in a furtive or secret way. The Skill includes hiding, moving quietly, and shadowing others. These activities often rely on quickness and precision, so a stealthy Player-hero combines practised caution with the ability to judge the right moment to take a chance. Hunters, burglars, and solitary fighters use STEALTH to prosper in their trade. A successful STEALTH roll indicates that the hero has gone unnoticed, while failure almost certainly attracts unwanted attention. A superior success produces an outcome so flawless that it may even be impossible to notice the deed after the fact.
TRAVEL
In the Third Age, the cities, villages, and towns of Middle-earth are often separated by many leagues of wild or deserted areas. Roads that used to lead safely to distant realms now end in broken trails that go nowhere. Whichever way the Company chooses to go, it will be a long and weary way before they get there. A successful roll of TRAVEL may let a Player-hero estimate the length of a journey, read a map, and even evaluate whether a group of strangers on the road can be approached safely or if they should be left alone instead. A good TRAVEL Skill is an invaluable asset for the Guide of the Company when on a journey.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:50, Sat 16 Mar.