TEXT: QUICK-START ADVENTURE
  
  INTRODUCTION: 
  HOW TO USE THIS BOOKLET
  WHAT IS ROLEPL AYING?
  It’s a lot of things, that’s what. Here are a few of them…
  It’s fun for you and your friends. Roleplaying games are a group experience. Everyone works and plays together to have
  a good time. All but one of the players takes on the role of a character, a hero who sets forth on fantastic and dangerous
  adventures. One of the players, the Narrator, acts as referee. He comes up with the adventures and plays the roles of all
  the other people your heroes meet during their journeys.
  It’s a movie you write as you go along. The Narrator is like the ‘director,’ the person who sets the scene, describes the
  action, and speaks the dialogue for the extras and villains. The rest of you are like the actors who play the star characters!
  Like Viggo Mortensen playing Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings movies,you play your character’s part in the game—but
  unlike Viggo,you get to make up your own lines and make Aragorn do anything you can think of! How many times have
  you watched a movie and thought a character should have done something else—something much cooler? Well, roleplay-
  ing is your chance to do all those cool things the scriptwriters never thought of. And the rules of the game along with those
  numbers on your character sheet help the Narrator determine whether you succeed or fail in whatever actions you attempt.
  It’s ‘Cops and Robbers’with rules. When you were a kid,you’d run around the backyard playing ‘cops and robbers,’mak-
  ing pistols with your fingers and shouting ‘Bang! I got you,you’re dead!’Then,you’d argue over whether you were dead until
  you had the energy to start running around the backyard again. In The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game, the roll of
  the dice tells you whether you’re dead, or whether the robber—Orc—dies instead. This makes the game more fun and
  more challenging, and cuts down on the arguments.
  It’s a computer game run on the best video software ever. In a roleplaying game, there’s no graphics budget. All the Orcs,
  the walls and ramparts of a mighty stronghold such as Helm’s Deep or Orthanc, all your weapons and armour and the
  spectacular effects of magic spells come from your imagination and from the descriptions of the Narrator. You still have
  Wound Points, weapons, and special abilities on your character sheet,just like the stat bar in a video game. But you can use
  them in any combination, not just the ones the programmer thought would be useful. And best of all, you’re not restrict-
  ed to a glowing computer monitor to see the Orcs explode when you chop them in half. You use your imagination to envi-
  sion them in their final death throes.
  The rules presented here and the accompanying adventure, ‘The Road to Henneth Annûn,’ give you more specifics
  about roleplaying,including some examples and hints to guide you through the adventure. The Narrator can use this mate-
  rial to help make your first roleplaying experience easier and to introduce the rules of the game in small, manageable pieces.
  ‘The Road to Henneth Annûn’ will introduce you to the rules of the game as you play it through. So by the time you solve
  the final encounter, you will be confident roleplayers ready to develop your own adventures in J.R.R. Tolkien’s world of
  Middle-earth. Welcome to the grand adventure that is The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game!
  ii
  THE LORD OF THE RINGS DICE RUNES KEY
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  
  ‘But you have been chosen, and you
  must therefore use such strength and
  heart and wits as you have.’
  — Gandalf to Frodo, 
  The Fellowship of the Ring
  In these days of dark foreboding,
  Lord Faramir,who is the younger son of
  the Ruling Steward of Gondor and also
  the military commander in Ithilien,
  needs as many stout men and true as he
  can find to help defend this border of
  the realm. At this moment, the belea-
  guered garrison at Osgiliath needs a few
  intrepid messengers to get through to
  Faramir at the secret stronghold of
  Henneth Annûn and ask him to come
  to their aid. The fate of these brave
  men—perhaps even the fate of Gondor
  itself—hangs on successful delivery of
  this message. Who will accept responsi-
  bility for seeing it through?
  Welcome to the Fast Play rules for
  The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying
  Game and its accompanying adven-
  ture module, ‘The Road to Henneth
  Annûn.’ This product is designed to
  introduce you to The Lord of the
  Rings Roleplaying Game regardless of
  whether or not you have much experi-
  ence with roleplaying games. 
  The Fast Play rules themselves
  cover concepts that are important to
  understanding how the game works,
  and they are just detailed enough to get
  you through the adventure module. 
  After the Fast Play rules you will
  find three pre-fabricated, beginning-
  level characters designed for use with
  ‘The Road to Henneth Annûn.’ Each
  requires a little bit of customisation
  before they are ready for play—just
  enough to give you a taste of the char-
  acter creation process.
  The adventure requires a Narrator
  and 1–3 players, with each player tak-
  ing the part of one character, in order
  to play it. For their part, the players
  must guide their characters through a
  deed of valour upon which the fate of
  the Osgiliath garrison hangs, while
  the Narrator presents them with the
  challenges that come with the great-
  ness of the deed and adjudicates the
  success of their efforts. Only the
  Narrator should read the description
  of the adventure before play begins,
  however, as it would ruin the players-
  fun to know in advance the exact
  nature of the challenges they will face. 
  n the year 3018 of the Third Age of Middle-earth,a darkening storm
  gathers over Ithilien, once the fairest province of the old Kingdom of
  Gondor. The Dark Lord Sauron has drawn his minions about him
  and thrown an army against the causeway forts just outside the
  ruined city of Osgiliath, which are defended by a small, but determined, garri-
  son. And yet this is only the beginning of things. Soon, full-fledged war will
  break upon Middle-earth.
  I
  1
  THE LORD OF THERINGS
  ROLEPLAYING GAME: 
  QUICK-START ADVENTURE
  AUTHOR: Douglas Sun
  DEVELOPMENT AND EDITING: JeffTidball
  LINE DEVELOPMENT: JeffTidball
  CREATIVE DIRECTION: Christian Moore
  and Owen Seyler
  PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT, TOLKIEN
  ENTERPRISES: Laurie Battle
  PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT, NEW LINE
  CINEMA: John Mayo
  ASSET COORDINATION, WETA DIGITAL:
  Glen Sharah
  CARTOGRAPHY: Rob Lazzaretti
  ORIGINAL ART: Norman Lao
  VISUAL CREATIVE DIRECTION: Dan Burns
  ART DIRECTION: Jesse Cassem
  PRODUCTION DESIGN: Owen Seyler
  PRODUCED BY DECIPHER INC.
  12240 VENICE BOULEVARD, SUITE 15
  LOS ANGELES, CA  90066
  © MMIII New Line Productions, Inc. The Lord of the Rings,The Two
  Towers and the characters, events, items and places therein,TM The Saul
  Zaentz Company d/b/a Tolkien Enterprises under license to New Line
  Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. © 2003 Decipher Inc. Authorized
  User. Promotional dice manufactured by Games Workshop under license
  from the Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Tolkien Enterprises under license
  to New Line Cinema. All rights reserved.
  First Printing — 2003. Printed in Canada.
  
  FAST PL AY
  RULES
  ‘Let those call in the wind who will; 
  there are fell voices on the air, and 
  those stones were aimed at us.’
  — Boromir, The Fellowship of the Ring
  T
  hese Fast Play Rules represent a
  condensed version of the game
  rules found in The Lord of the Rings
  Roleplaying Game core rulebook.
  Everything you need to know in order
  to play ‘The Road to Henneth Annûn’
  is explained here,but the core rulebook
  provides more detailed rules governing
  every aspect of the game, as well as
  tools for extending your game experi-
  ence into a full-fledged chronicle con-
  taining many exciting adventures. 
  TIME
  This adventure, ‘The Road to
  Henneth Annûn,’ should provide you
  with up to an afternoon’s worth of
  gameplay, depending on how many
  player characters (or PCs) are
  involved. This time, the time you and
  your friends experience as you play, is
  called real time. During those few
  hours of real time, the PCs could
  spend several days adventuring. That
  time, the time characters experience, is
  called game time. Game time falls into
  one of two categories: action time and
  narrative time. 
  ACTION TIME
  Action time passes in rounds. A
  round represents about six seconds of
  game time. All participants, whether
  they’re PCs, or non-player characters
  (or NPCs) or monsters controlled by
  the Narrator, get to act twice each
  round. Moving,attacking,and casting a
  spell each cost one action. Characters
  may move up to 18 yards in a single
  move action. During action time, it is
  important to keep track of who goes
  when,what everyone is doing,and how
  long it takes. Life and death can hang in
  the balance of how long it takes to draw
  a weapon,for instance. Since time plays
  such an important role during combat,
  character location and movement
  become crucial. 
  NARRATIVE TIME
  Narrative time isn’t measured in
  rounds. It’s basically the time between
  combats. Narrative time can pass
  quickly or slowly depending on what
  the players do. It could take you 10
  minutes of real time to decide how
  you want your characters to respond
  to an encounter, even though they
  take their actions within a few seconds
  of narrative time. Likewise, if you tell
  the Narrator that you and the rest of
  the party are resting for the night, he
  might determine that nothing hap-
  pens while you rest. So, in just a few
  moments of real time,you skip over an
  entire evening of narrative time to
  awaken the next morning and contin-
  ue on your journey.
  ACTION SEQUENCE
  During a combat scenario or action
  sequence, all characters make initiative
  tests to determine who acts in what
  order. Each player rolls 2d6 and adds
  their character’s Swiftness reaction
  modifier. The Narrator makes one roll
  for all the villains and adds the highest
  Swiftness modifier belonging to a vil-
  lain in the group. Once every player
  totals their result,characters begin act-
  ing in order,from highest to lowest ini-
  tiative results. They maintain this
  order every round until the combat or
  action sequence ends. 
  SKILL TESTS
  Most of the things that PCs,
  NPCs, and monsters alike can do
  require particular skills, such as know-
  ing something about the history of
  Gondor (a Lore/Realms skill), follow-
  ing a trail (Track skill), or shooting a
  bow (Ranged Combat skill). Look at
  the skills listed on your character sheet.
  This list represents those things your
  character knows, or can do well, and
  make up your basic options during
  play. The numbers behind the title are
  called levels and represent how skilled
  the character is (higher levels being
  better). Any time you want to use a
  skill, do the following:
  1) Roll 2d6.
  2) Add your skill level.
  3) Tell the Narrator the total.
  The Narrator follows the same
  procedure when making skill tests for
  NPCs and monsters, except, of
  course, that he need not announce the
  numerical result. He simply describes
  the consequences (when the Orc
  swings its scimitar, does the blow
  strike home or miss?) if it’s something
  the players would see.
  The Narrator knows the number
  you need to beat in order to succeed at
  any given skill test. That number is
  called the target number, or TN.
  Situations can modify the target num-
  ber. For instance, it’s harder to track
  someone at night than it is during the
  day. These modifiers are accounted
  for by predetermined target numbers
  included in the encounter instruc-
  tions. The Narrator doesn’t have to
  worry about them unless he decides to
  alter the conditions surrounding a
  particular test.
  ATTRIBUTE TESTS
  Occasionally, PCs, NPCs and
  monsters want to do something sim-
  ple, like carrying a heavy object or
  remembering something that hap-
  pened earlier in the adventure. There
  are no skills for these basic tasks.
  Instead, they require an attribute test,
  using the appropriate attribute modifi-
  er in place of skill level. If you need to
  FAST PLAY RULES
  2
  
  3
  The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game: Quick-start Booklet
  make an attribute tests, the Narrator
  will tell you which attribute is being
  tested so you know which modifier to
  apply to your roll. To make an attrib-
  ute test, do the following:
  1) Roll 2d6.
  2) Add your attribute modifier.
  3) Tell the Narrator the total.
  As with skill tests, the Narrator
  handles attribute tests for NPCs and
  monsters.
  Attribute modifiers tend to be
  lower than skill levels. This is because
  skill levels happen to include attribute
  modifiers. You don’t see them because
  they are already factored into the
  character skill levels to keep things
  simple.
  REACTION TESTS
  Skills and attributes play a role
  when determining the outcome of
  actions initiated by the character. But
  some circumstances may force your
  character to react. In these situations,
  you make reaction tests. The Narrator
  will tell you whenever you need to
  make a reaction test. When making
  the test, do the following:
  1) Roll 2d6.
  2) Add the appropriate reaction
  modifier.
  3) Tell the Narrator the result.
  As with skill and attribute tests,
  the Narrator handles reaction tests
  for NPCs and monsters.
  You’ll know which is the right reac-
  tion modifier because the Narrator will
  tell you. He’ll say ‘make a Swiftness
  reaction test,’meaning ‘roll two dice and
  add your Swiftness reaction modifier.’
  NATURAL TWELVE
  Any time you make a skill test, an
  attribute test, or a reaction test and
  roll sixes on both dice (called a natural
  twelve),you get to roll another die and
  add it to your total. If you roll another
  six, you get to add 6 to your total and
  roll again. Keep rolling and adding
  until you roll something other than a
  six, add the last number rolled, then
  stop. Through this open ended rolling
  method, you could achieve very high
  scores indeed!
  MELEE COMBAT
  Striking with a weapon during
  close combat involves a skill test, just
  like using any other skill. Check your
  character sheet for skills that let you
  use weapons. These include ‘Armed
  Combat: Blades (Longsword)’ or
  ‘Armed Combat: Axes (Battle Axe).’
  As with any other skill test, you must
  roll 2d6, add your skill rating, and tell
  the Narrator your total. He will then
  tell you if you hit, based on the estab-
  lished target number (your oppo-
  nent’s Defence rating).
  RANGED COMBAT
  Shooting someone with a bow
  requires skill just like attacking with a
  sword. Like all skill tests, it involves
  rolling 2d6 and adding the attacker’s
  skill with a bow (‘Ranged Combat:
  Bows (Longbow)’ or some similar
  skill). The target number for ranged
  attacks is the target’s Defence, just as
  in melee combat, but range modifiers
  based on the distance to the target
  must be accounted also. As a general
  rule, add +2 to the roll if the target is
  within 5 yards, and subtract two if the
  target is more than 30 yards away.
  Each type of bow also has a maximum
  range, beyond which it cannot shoot.
  To make a ranged attack, do the fol-
  lowing:
  1) Roll 2d6.
  2) Add your Ranged Weapon
  skill level.
  3) Add the range modifier (penal-
  ty or bonus).
  4) Tell the Narrator the total.
  INFLICTING DAMAGE
  A successful combat skill test
  inflicts damage in Wound Points.
  Damage varies by weapon type, and is
  
  FAST PLAY RULES
  4
  always expressed in terms of number
  of dice rolled and, in most cases, an
  amount added to the roll. For exam-
  ple, 2d6+2 means roll two six-sided
  dice and add 2 to the result. The dou-
  ble sixes rule does not apply to dam-
  age rolls, but an attacker’s Strength
  modifier is always added to damage
  from melee attacks.
  WOUNDS
  The Wounds rating represents
  how much damage a character can
  suffer before dying. Reduce Wound
  points accordingly every time a char-
  acter or monster suffers damage.
  When a character or monster’s
  Wounds reach zero, he or it dies. 
  MAGIC
  Characters that have the order
  ability Spellcasting can also cast magic
  spells. A character with Spellcasting
  must make a successful Weariness
  test against the TN of a spell in order
  to cast it. If he fails, the spell has no
  effect, and he loses 1 level of
  Weariness. Spells vary in strength and
  type of effect, but as a general rule the
  more powerful the spell, the higher its
  TN and the harder it is to cast suc-
  cessfully.
  YOUR
  CHAR ACTER
  SHEET
  L
  ook at your character sheet. The
  first thing you’ll notice is the pic-
  ture of your character along with a
  bunch of terms and numbers. Here’s a
  brief explanation of all these elements
  to help you understand your character
  and his abilities.
  NAME, RACE, AND
  ORDER
  Your character’s name appears at
  the top of your sheet. His race and
  professional order are listed under-
  neath. To use the characters included
  with the adventure module as an
  example, Galathil is a Man and
  Warrior. Your character’s race confers
  certain strengths and weaknesses, just
  as his order makes him skilled in some
  areas and unskilled in others. 
  ADVANCEMENTS
  As your character completes
  adventures he gains experience points,
  which you may then use to purchase
  advancements. The beginning-level
  characters that the players will run in
  ‘The Road to Henneth Annûn’ have
  yet to earn any experience points. But
  some of the foes (or potential foes)
  that they will encounter have gained
  advancements thanks to their previ-
  ous exploits, and that fact is duly
  noted in their statistical blocks.
  ATTRIBUTES
  All characters are described using
  six basic attributes: Strength,Vitality,
  Nimbleness,
  Wits,
  Bearing,
  and
  Perception.
  STRENGTH represents how much
  your character can lift or how much
  extra damage he does when he hits
  someone with a melee weapon.
  VITALITY measures your character’s
  health and endurance.
  NIMBLENESS represents how fast
  and agile your character is.
  WITS reflects how smart your char-
  acter is and how fast he thinks on his
  feet.
  BEARING
  describes how regal,
  noble, or imposing your character
  seems to others.
  PERCEPTION measures your charac-
  ter’s ability to notice things in the
  world around him.
  Each of these attributes has an
  associated level or value and derived
  modifier. Some rules use the level,
  others use the modifier. The following
  chart shows attribute levels and mod-
  ifiers.
  REACTIONS
  Reactions work like attributes,
  determining your character’s ability to
  react to situations or cope with certain
  predicaments. Reactions are usually
  derived from one of two attributes,
  then elevated through edges. There
  are 
  four 
  reactions:
  Stamina,
  Swiftness, Willpower, and Wisdom.
  ATTRIBUTE MODIFIERS
  LEVEL/VALUE
  MODIFIER
  0-1
  -3  
  2
  -2  
  3
  -1  
  4-7
  0  
  8-9
  +1  
  10-11
  +2  
  12-13
  +3  
  14-15
  +4  
  16-17
  +5  
  18+ 
  +1 for every 2 levels  
  
  5
  The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game: Quick-start Booklet
  STAMINA allows you to resist poi-
  son and disease as well as tolerate
  extreme pain or fatigue. 
  SWIFTNESS lets you dodge incoming
  attacks or falling rocks, and perform
  other actions requiring you to move or
  act quickly.
  WILLPOWER lets you resist tempta-
  tion, mental control, and social domi-
  nation, including corruption and
  spells that affect your mind.
  WISDOM lets you perceive decep-
  tion and see things for what they are.
  It also enables you to realize the folly
  of actions you or your companions are
  about to take.
  DEFENCE
  All characters, heroes and villains,
  have a Defence rating. Your Defence
  rating serves as the target number
  (TN) your enemies need to beat with
  their attack rolls. When you roll to hit
  and add your bonuses, you’re trying to
  overcome your enemy’s Defence rating.
  RENOWN
  The Renown score measures a
  character’s fame (or notoriety)—how
  likely it is that a complete stranger will
  recognize him by reputation. A high
  Renown score can prove helpful in sit-
  uations that require Social skill tests.
  Since beginning-level characters have
  Renown scores of 0, it will not play
  much of a role in ‘The Road to
  Henneth Annûn,’ but more advanced
  characters will find it useful.
  COURAGE
  Your character is, by definition, an
  extraordinary individual, whether in
  fact or potential. To reflect this, he
  receives a number of Courage points
  that he may spend to increase a single
  test result. After you make a test, you
  can choose to improve your result by
  +3 for each Courage point spent. A
  Courage point spent is lost to you
  until the end of the scene in which you
  spend it.
  ORDER AND RACIAL
  ABILITIES
  Your character’s order and race
  may grant special powers and test
  bonuses during the game. For exam-
  ple, Rogues often have the ‘Fleet-
  Footed’order ability,which gives them
  a bonus when making a Run skill test.
  Racial abilities, such as the ‘Beast-skill’
  ability possessed by Elves, also confer
  special bonuses and abilities during
  specific situations in play.
  TRAITS: EDGES AND
  FLAWS
  Edges are special abilities that
  grant a specific bonus over the course
  of the game. For instance,Caranor has
  the ‘Furtive’ edge, which allows him to
  add +1 to his dice rolls when making
  Legerdemain and Stealth. 
  All characters begin with at least
  one edge. You may begin with more
  than one if you choose a number of
  flaws equal to the number of extra
  edges. Flaws are notable shortcomings
  that may hinder you in performing
  specific tasks or otherwise make life
  difficult for you. For instance, the flaw
  ‘Weak-willed’ gives you a –2 penalty
  to all of your Willpower tests.
  SKILLS
  Skills define the areas in which
  your character excels,
  including
  knowledge, socializing, and actions.
  Each skill comes with a number, or
  ‘level.’ Melephin, for instance, has the
  skill ‘Climb +1.’He adds ‘+1’to his die
  roll whenever he needs to make a
  Climb skill test. Some skills also list a
  specialty in parentheses, such as
  ‘Stealth (Sneak).’ If a skill test calls for
  a specialty that the player possesses,
  he may add +2 to his dice roll. If a test
  only calls for the skill or the skill (no
  specialty), he just adds his skill level
  normally.
  HEALTH AND
  WEARINESS
  Health and Weariness monitor
  your character’s physical state and give
  you an idea of how much harder you
  can push him before he collapses alto-
  gether. The Health score tells you
  how many Wound Points he can take
  before he drops to the next lower
  Wound Level. As a general rule, char-
  acters have 5 Wound Levels (‘Dazed,’
  ‘Injured,’ ‘Wounded,’ ‘Incapacitated’
  and ‘Near Death’) in addition to
  Healthy. Whenever your character
  takes damage, check off one Wound
  Point box for each point of damage
  you sustain. When you check off the
  last box in your Near Death Wound
  Level, your character dies. Each
  Wound Level other than Healthy is
  associated with a penalty that applies
  to all tests your character makes. If
  your character drops from a Healthy
  state to Dazed, for example, he suffers
  a –1 penalty.
  If your character wears armour, he
  can shrug off a certain amount of
  damage from each attack, thereby
  reducing the amount of damage that
  counts against his Wounds. The
  amount of damage that is reduced by
  armour is listed in parenthesis behind
  the armour type—for example,
  ‘Ordinary chainmail (5)’. In this case,
  wearing ordinary chainmail allows the
  character to ignore up to five points of
  damage from each attack, subtracting
  only whatever damage remains from
  his Wounds.
  Characters cannot recover Wound
  Points unless they rest. They may
  recover 1 Wound Point per day of
  complete rest. In addition, another
  character with the skill Heal may try
  to augment the process once each
  week. In this adventure, however, it is
  highly unlikely that characters will
  
  CHARACTERS
  6
  have the opportunity to recover
  Wound Points.
  Weariness measures your character’s
  level of fatigue. Characters may lose 4
  Weariness Levels (‘Winded,’ ‘Tired,’
  ‘Weary,’ and ‘Spent’) without becoming
  completely helpless. If they drop a level
  from Spent and become ‘Exhausted,’
  they may take no actions at all until they
  have rested enough to recover a
  Weariness Level. Winded characters
  suffer a –1 penalty to all tests. Tired
  characters suffer a –2 penalty. Weary
  characters suffer a –3 penalty. Spent
  characters suffer a –8 penalty.
  Characters may recover 1 Weariness
  Level by resting:10 minutes of narrative
  time for a Winded character, 1 hour if
  Tired, 2 hours if Weary, 4 hours if
  Spent, and 8 hours if Exhausted.
  Characters must make a TN 10
  Weariness test if they have been in
  combat for 10 minutes (60 rounds) or
  travelling for 4 hours.
  GRIMOIRE
  You must choose in advance the
  spells that you know well enough to
  cast. You select them when you choose
  Spellcasting as an order ability.
  GEAR
  Your character owns certain
  equipment he takes with him on his
  adventures. The ‘Gear’ portion of your
  character sheet lists all of the arms,
  armour, and equipment he’s carrying
  with him during the adventure. 
  CHAR ACTERS
  ‘And Aragorn is dangerous, and Legolas is
  dangerous. You are beset with dangers,
  Gimli son of Gloin; for you are danger-
  ous yourself, in your own fashion.’
  — Gandalf, The Two Towers
  H
  ere are three characters that you
  can play in ‘The Road to Henneth
  Annûn.’ We present them not to
  restrict your options as a player, but to
  get you started quickly in playing The
  Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game
  by skipping through most of the char-
  acter creation process (to learn in
  detail how to create characters, see the
  core rulebook). For the most part,they
  are ready to go. The passages in italics
  indicate choices that you need to make
  before the character is finished. Just
  follow the instructions to round him
  out. If you wish to run all three charac-
  ters through the adventure, but have
  less than three players, feel free to have
  one player run more than one charac-
  ter.
  The characters represent two of the
  Free Peoples of Middle-Earth—Elves
  and Men—and three different profes-
  sional orders. If you wish to play
  through the adventure with less than
  three characters, it doesn’t really matter
  which one(s) you pick. We have
  designed each with skills and abilities
  that will prove helpful in the adventure
  in mind. Even if you try to play with
  only one character,you should be able to
  follow a reasonable course of action in
  each encounter, making use of at least
  one of the character’s strong points.
  For the most part, the names of
  skills are self-explanatory. Racial abil-
  ities, professional abilities, and traits
  are explained in parentheses as neces-
  sary. If no explanation appears, the
  effects of most of these character ele-
  ments have simply been worked into
  the statistical blocks.
  MELEPHIN’S GRIMOIRE
  Melephin can choose five spells
  from the following list:
  BLINDING FLASH (Weariness
  TN 10, inflicts –5 penalty to all tests
  that require sight on one foe for
  1d6+1 rounds, duration halved if tar-
  get makes TN 12 Swiftness test, can-
  not select without Create Light)
  BURNING SPARKS (Weariness
  TN 8, cast sparks from an existing
  fire so that anyone within 10 feet of
  that fire suffers 1/2d6 damage, tar-
  gets may halve damage by making a
  successful TN 10 Swiftness test, can-
  not select without Kindle Fire) 
  CHANGE HUE (Weariness TN
  8, caster receives +5 bonus to all
  Stealth (Hide) tests for 100 minutes) 
  CREATE LIGHT (Weariness TN
  5, caster creates a light centred on
  his hand or the point of his staff suf-
  ficient to illuminate a 20-foot radius,
  negates darkness-related penalties), 
  EVOKE AWE (Weariness TN 10,
  caster gains +8 bonus to Intimidate
  test against servant or ally of
  Sauron)
  FIERYMISSILE (Weariness TN 7,
  caster can create up to 10 small flam-
  ing projectiles that he can throw up
  to 8 feet as a Ranged Combat attack,
  doing 1d6+1 damage each, cannot
  select without Kindle Fire)
  FOGRAISING (Weariness TN 8,
  caster can create a fog bank up to
  300 feet in radius and 500 feet
  away, +5 to the TN of all Combat
  and Observe tests within the fog
  bank, lasts until caster stops con-
  centrating)
  KINDLE FIRE (Weariness TN 5,
  sets any one flammable object
  touched by caster on fire, target
  with clothes afire suffers 1d6+3
  damage per round unless he
  spends an entire round extin-
  guishing himself and makes a suc-
  cessful TN 5 Swiftness test)
  
  7
  The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game: Quick-start Booklet
  MELEPHIN
  RACE: Elf (Silvan)
  RACIAL
  ABILITIES:
  The Art, Beast-Skill, Comfort, Elven Form, Elven-sense, Farsightedness, Ghost-scorn,
  Lightfootedness, Swift Healing, Woodsy
  ATTRIBUTES: Bearing 10 (+2), Nimbleness 8 (+1), Perception 9 (+1), Strength 6 (±0),Vitality 9 (+1), Wits 12 (+3)
  REACTIONS: Stamina +1, Swiftness +1, Willpower +3, Wisdom +3
  ORDER: Magician
  ORDER ABILITIES: Spellcasting 1 
  ADVANCEMENTS: 0
  SKILLS: Acrobatics (Balance) +4,Armed Combat:Blades (Longsword) +2,Climb +1,Debate +4,
  Healing +4,Insight +2,Intimidate (Majesty) +4,Language:Haradrim (Near Harad) +4,
  Language: Orkish +4, Language: Sindarin +9, Language: Silvan +9, Language:
  Westron +9, Lore/Realm: Mirkwood (Geography) +4, Lore/Group:
  Haradrim (Customs) +6, Lore/Race: Orcs (Tactics) +6,
  Observe (Spot) +5, Persuade (Charm)+8, Ranged
  Combat: Thrown Weapons (Dagger) +3, Run +4,
  Stealth (Hide) +4,Track (Orcs) +2
  Add +1 to any 5 of the above skills except Acrobatics
  (Balance), Armed Combat: Blades (Longsword), Climb,
  Language: Westron, Language: Sindarin, Language: Silvan,
  Persuade (Charm), Ranged Combat: Thrown Weapons
  (Dagger), Run, Stealth, and Track.
  EDGES: Fair, Keen-eyed, Swift Recovery (heal wounds twice
  as fast as normal), Wise
  SPELLS: Pick 5 from Melephin’s Grimoire (see page 6). 
  FLAWS: None
  HEALTH: 9 
  DEFENCE: 11 
  COURAGE: 3 
  RENOWN: 0
  GEAR: Longsword (2d6+5 damage), staff (2d6+2 damage)
  scale mail (absorbs 4 points of damage)
  BACKGROUND
  Melephin cuts an eccentric figure in Ithilien—a Silvan Elf of
  Mirkwood who wandered south in search of a broader knowledge of
  magical practice than he could get in his native realm. He even wan-
  dered as far as Near Harad, where he picked up some of the language
  and customs of the place. Recently, a Ranger patrol from Osgiliath
  took him into their custody. They didn’t know what to make of him
  at first,but he won many friends among the ruined city’s defenders
  and decided to stay with them and help defend the causeway forts
  as an informal and highly irregular soldier of Gondor.
  HEALTHY (0)
  DAZED (-1)
  INJURED (-3)
  WOUNDED (-5)
  INCAPACITATED (-7)
  NEAR DEATH (-9)
  HEALTH
  HALE (0)
  WINDED (-1)
  TIRED (-2)
  WEARY (-4)
  SPENT (-8)
  EXHAUSTED (-10)
  WEARINESS
  
  CHARACTERS
  8
  CAR ANOR
  RACE: Man (Middle Man)
  RACIAL ABILITIES: Adaptability, Dominion of Men, Skilled
  ATTRIBUTES: Bearing 10 (+2), Nimbleness 12 (+3), Perception 8 (+1), Strength 8 (+1),Vitality 6 (±0), Wits 8 (+1)
  REACTIONS: Stamina +1, Swiftness +5, Willpower +2, Wisdom +2
  ORDER: Rogue
  ORDER ABILITIES: Lurking in Shadows (+5 bonus when you spend a Courage point on a
  Stealth test) or Fleet-Footed (+2 bonus to Run tests)
  ADVANCEMENTS: 0
  SKILLS: Acrobatics (Balance) +5,Armed Combat: Blades (Dagger, Long Knife)
  +5, Craft: Calligraphy +4, Debate +3, Jump +2, Language: Westron +7,
  Legerdemain (Open Lock) +5, Lore/Realm: Gondor (Ithilien) +2,
  Observe (Listen) +3, Persuade (Fast Talk) +4, Ranged Combat: Bows
  (Longbow) +4, Ride (Horse) +2, Run +3, Search +3, Stealth (Sneak)
  +7
  Add +1 to any 5 of the above skills except Craft, Debate, Language:
  Westron, Lore/Group: Gondor (Geography), Ride, Run and
  Stealth. Instead of adding +1 to an existing skill, you may also
  add Climb +2 or Guise +2.
  EDGES: Furtive
  FLAWS: None
  HEALTH: 7
  DEFENCE: 13
  COURAGE: 4
  RENOWN: 0
  GEAR: Dagger, long knife (2d6+3 damage), longbow (maxi-
  mum range 200 feet), 20 arrows (2d6+2 damage), scale mail
  (absorbs 4 points of damage)
  BACKGROUND
  Caranor was born and raised in a farming village on the western
  bank of the Anduin,in east Anorien. When the army of Mordor issued
  from Minas Morgul and bore down on Osgiliath, he went there to vol-
  unteer his services in defence of Gondor, despite entreaties from his
  family not to risk his life. Impressed by his enthusiasm, the garrison
  commander Atanacar took on Caranor as a scout and messenger.
  He has since earned the affection of the garrison, who treat him as
  something of a mascot.
  HEALTHY (0)
  DAZED (-1)
  INJURED (-3)
  WOUNDED (-5)
  INCAPACITATED (-7)
  NEAR DEATH (-9)
  HEALTH
  HALE (0)
  WINDED (-1)
  TIRED (-2)
  WEARY (-4)
  SPENT (-8)
  EXHAUSTED (-10)
  WEARINESS
  
  9
  The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game: Quick-start Booklet
  GAL ATHIL
  RACE: Man (Dúnedan)
  RACIAL ABILITIES: Adaptability, Dominion of Men, Skilled
  ATTRIBUTES: Bearing 8 (+1), Nimbleness 12 (+3), Perception 8 (+1), Strength 10 (+2),Vitality 8 (+1), Wits 6 (±0)
  REACTIONS: Stamina +2, Swiftness +5, Willpower +1, Wisdom +1
  ORDER: Warrior
  ORDER ABILITIES: Warrior-born (you may spend a Courage point to receive a +2 bonus to all Armed Combat and
  Ranged Combat tests during a single battle)
  ADVANCEMENTS: 0
  SKILLS: Acrobatics (Balance) +5, Armed Combat: Blades (Longsword) +6,
  Climb +3, Healing +2, Intimidate (Power) +3, Language: Westron +6,
  Lore/Realms: Gondor (Geography) +3, Observe (Spot) +3, Persuade
  (Oratory) +2, Ranged Combat: Bows (Longbow) +6, Run +5, Stealth
  (Sneak) +4
  Add +1 to any 5 of the above skills except Acrobatics (Balance)
  Craft, Language and Lore/Realms: Gondor, Language: Westron.
  Instead of adding +1 to an existing skill, you may add Jump +3
  or Track (Orcs) +1.
  EDGES: Bold (spending a Courage point gives Galathil a +5 bonus
  when using any skill on his list except for Intimidate, Language,
  and Lore)
  FLAWS: None
  HEALTH: 10
  DEFENCE: 13
  COURAGE: 4
  RENOWN: 0
  GEAR: Longsword (2d6+5 damage), longbow (maximum
  range 200 feet), 20 arrows (2d6+2 damage), ordinary
  chainmail (absorbs 5 points of damage), large shield (–5
  penalty to ranged attacks against)
  BACKGROUND
  Like many Rangers of Ithilien, Galathil was born in Minas
  Tirith to a family that had once lived in the Anduin vales of
  North Ithilien. He just completed his basic military training,
  and was recently sent forward with a small detachment of sol-
  diers to bolster the garrison at Osgiliath.
  HEALTHY (0)
  DAZED (-1)
  INJURED (-3)
  WOUNDED (-5)
  INCAPACITATED (-7)
  NEAR DEATH (-9)
  HEALTH
  HALE (0)
  WINDED (-1)
  TIRED (-2)
  WEARY (-4)
  SPENT (-8)
  EXHAUSTED (-10)
  WEARINESS
  
  ADVENTURE: THE ROAD TO HENNETH ANNÛN
  10
  ADVENTURE:
  THE ROAD TO
  HENNETH
  ANNÛN
  ‘But however that may be, my lord
  Faramir is abroad, beyond the river on
  some perilous errand. . . .’
  — Beregond, The Return of the King
  A
  s an opening move in what will
  become The War of the Ring,
  Sauron launches an army against the
  garrison at Osgiliath. The ancient city
  is now only a ruin of its former glory
  and useful only in that it guards a
  strategic crossing point along the
  Anduin. It is just a probing attack,
  meant to test Gondor’s defences and
  mask the Harad Road,while the Dark
  Lord mobilizes for a full-scale assault
  on the Free Peoples of Middle-earth.
  But for the Rangers of the South who
  have been posted here, the situation is
  serious enough.
  They are a relative handful of men
  standing against the might of Mordor,
  for the rest of Lord Faramir’s Rangers
  are scattered throughout the province
  in secret bases like Henneth Annûn,
  from which they attempt to spy on
  stirrings in Minas Morgul and the
  Black Gate. Waves of attacking Orcs
  have crashed against the causeway
  forts east of the city proper and fallen
  back, but rumours abound that at
  least one Nazgûl will arrive soon to
  turn the tide. Atanacar, the captain of
  the garrison, realises that he needs
  more men to defend this important
  river crossing. He resolves to get a
  message to Faramir asking for rein-
  forcements.
  This is where your players and
  their characters come in. No matter
  which combination of pre-set charac-
  ters is participating, Atanacar consid-
  ers them suitable candidates for this
  mission,
  because 
  Caranor 
  and
  Melephin are irregulars and therefore
  not entirely reliable in close combat,
  while Galathil may be spared because
  of his inexperience. The captain sum-
  mons them into his presence and
  orders them to find Lord Faramir at
  Henneth Annûn, the Ranger sanctu-
  ary in North Ithilien, and urge him to
  come to Osgiliath with reinforce-
  ments. ‘Tell him that our situation is
  grim, and that his presence will steady
  the men. The fate of Gondor may rely
  on it, for if the Enemy takes the
  Anduin crossing, then nothing stands
  between Mordor and Minas Tirith.’
  Atanacar gives them no written
  message, lest they fall into the hands
  of the Enemy, but it is simple enough
  to remember in any case. He does give
  them a small parchment with a rough-
  ly drawn map (see pg. 17) showing the
  way to Henneth Annûn. It entails fol-
  lowing the Anduin north for 10
  leagues, or 30 miles, then cutting
  northeast toward the Ephel Dúath for
  another 10 leagues, until they reach
  the main road that runs north toward
  the Black Gate. From there, they
  should cut back to the northwest for
  another 6 leagues until they reach a
  steep, rocky slope. The entry to the
  sanctuary will not be obvious,but they
  will spot the sentries—or more likely,
  the sentries will spot them. When
  they meet the sentries, they should
  gesture with a fist held over the centre
  of the chest and say, ‘In the name of
  Lord Cirion, we come.’ This is the
  standing password among the men at
  Henneth Annûn.
  The journey should take about 4
  solid days of travel, assuming that the
  characters spend 10 hours per day on
  the march. The terrain through which
  they are to proceed, while not espe-
  cially easy, allows them to cover 2
  miles per hour.
  Atanacar dismisses them by once
  again stressing the need to make haste.
  He dashes off an order to allow them
  to draw rations and sundry items from
  the garrison’s stores, and orders them
  to depart as soon as they can. 
  Important 
  Note:
  Only 
  the
  Narrator should continue to read
  beyond this point, as the remainder of
  the text explains the challenges that
  the players will face, and knowing
  what they are ahead of time would
  ruin the surprise. Consider this an
  emphatic spoiler alert.
  ENCOUNTER 1: AN
  ORC PATROL
  ‘In the red glare Sam . . . caught a glimpse
  of his evil face as it passed . . . slaver
  dripped from its protruding fangs; the
  mouth snarled like an animal.’
  — The Return of the King
  Your players face their first chal-
  lenge shortly after their characters set
  out from Osgiliath. They slip away
  from the causeway forts by cutting
  through the heavy brush right on the
  banks of the Anduin, and soon they
  are behind the Enemy’s lines.
  But the besieging host of Mordor
  regularly sends out patrols to find out
  what is happening beyond the main
  area of battle. These almost always
  take place at night, since Orcs do not
  function well in daylight. Sometime
  on the first night of their journey, the
  characters stumble across such a
  patrol (or such a patrol will stumble
  upon them, however you want to look
  at it). It consists of two Orcs per char-
  acter, plus an Orc leader of more
  advanced abilities (see page 12 for sta-
  tistics).
  This encounter centres about a
  small clearing in the heavy brush 50
  feet in diameter. First, inform your
  players that the day is ending. If they
  decide to stop for the night to recover
  Weariness Levels, they come upon
  this clearing before they can find a suit-
  able place to shed their packs and sit
  down. If they decide to keep moving
  through the night, just ensure they
  
  11
  NARR ATOR MAP
  
  ADVENTURE: THE ROAD TO HENNETH ANNÛN
  12
  make Weariness tests (TN 10) every
  4 hours and spring this encounter on
  them at a time of your choosing.
  When they reach the edge of the
  clearing—but before you announce
  that they’re about to run into trou-
  ble—each of them must make an
  Observe test. The TN for the test is
  20 if they choose to use the Observe
  (Spot) specialty because of the dark-
  ness and the relatively impenetrable
  terrain. If they use any other type of
  Observe specialty, the TN is 10. At
  the same time, make a single,collective
  Observe (Smell) test (TN 10) for the
  Orcs. If at least one of your players
  succeeds, his character sees, hears, or
  smells something just on the opposite
  side of the clearing. If the Orcs also
  fail their Observe (Smell) test, the
  players surprise them and have one
  free action round to do whatever they
  wish before the Orcs may react.
  If the Orcs succeed in their test but
  all of the players fail theirs, then the
  Orcs achieve surprise and they get the
  drop. They then split their force and
  squeeze the characters on both flanks,
  skirting the edge of the clearing. The
  leader hangs back, hoping to pick off
  targets that pop into the clearing, then
  charges with his longsword if none do
  so. Make a Stealth (Sneak) test (TN
  15) for all of the Orcs. If they succeed,
  make an Armed Combat test against
  each character before they get to react
  (that is, one Orc per character gets in a
  free shot before combat begins). If the
  Orcs fail their Stealth test, then begin
  the combat with the Orcs halfway
  around the clearing.
  If both the Orcs and the players
  make successful Observe tests against
  each other,they spot each other simul-
  taneously, and they begin the combat
  facing each other directly across the
  clearing.
  Because of the nature of the ter-
  rain, all Ranged Combat tests against
  targets that are not in the clearing suf-
  fer a –6 penalty.
  If the Orc leader is slain, all
  remaining Orcs flee. If the characters
  choose to pursue them instead of
  either getting necessary rest or forging
  on to Henneth Annûn (thereby dis-
  obeying their orders), the fugitives
  lead them into a trap. The characters
  then find themselves surrounded on
  three sides by a force of Orcs equal to
  ten times their number, plus the sur-
  vivors from the original encounter. It
  is unlikely that they will survive such a
  confrontation, but let your players
  consider it a lesson from the Narrator
  in the consequences of straying from
  the orders of Lord Faramir!
  The Orcs carry no possessions of
  note other than their arms and
  armour, except for the patrol leader,
  who wears a silver medallion worth 2
  silver pennies for the weight of its
  metal. A successful Lore/Realms:
  Gondor test reveals that it bears the
  likeness of one of the early Ruling
  Stewards, Cirion, and was likely loot-
  ed off of a dead Gondorian soldier.
  ORCS
  RACE: Orc
  RACIAL ABILITIES: Curse of Daylight
  (-4 penalty to all tests in sunlight),
  Tough Skin
  ATTRIBUTES: 
  Bearing 
  6 
  (±0),
  Nimbleness 7 (±0), Perception 8
  (+1), Strength 8 (+1), Vitality 8
  (+1), Wits 5 (±0)
  REACTIONS: Stamina +2, Swiftness
  +1, Willpower ±0, Wisdom ±0
  ORDER: Warrior
  ORDER ABILITIES: Evasion (roll 3d6
  and keep the highest 2 when per-
  forming a Swiftness test)
  ADVANCEMENTS: 0
  SKILLS: 
  Armed Combat:
  Blades
  (Scimitar) +4, Intimidate (Fear)
  +4, Language: Black Speech +4,
  Language: Orkish +6, Language:
  Westron +2, Lore/Realm: Mordor
  (Geography) +4, Observe (Smell)
  +6,
  Ranged 
  Combat:
  Bows
  (Shortbow) +2, Ride (Wolf) +3,
  Run +3, Stealth (Sneak) +4,Track
  (Scent) +3
  EDGES: Keen-nosed, Night-eyed 2
  (penalties for seeing in the dark
  reduced by 7)
  FLAWS: Craven (must flee or cave in to
  the threat if a character achieves an
  Intimidate test result against them
  of 10 or higher)
  HEALTH: 9
  DEFENCE: 10
  COURAGE: 0
  RENOWN: 0
  GEAR: Scimitar (2d6+4 damage),
  leather armour (absorbs 2 points of
  damage)
  ORC PATROL LEADER
  RACE: Orc
  RACIAL ABILITIES: Curse of Daylight
  (-4 penalty to all tests in sunlight),
  Tough Skin
  ATTRIBUTES: 
  Bearing 
  6 
  (±0),
  Nimbleness 8 (+1), Perception 8
  (+1), Strength 8 (+1), Vitality 8
  (+1), Wits 5 (±0)
  REACTIONS: Stamina +2, Swiftness
  +1, Willpower ±0, Wisdom ±0
  ORDER: Warrior
  ORDER ABILITIES: Evasion (roll 3d6
  and keep the highest 2 when per-
  forming a Swiftness test)
  ADVANCEMENTS: 2
  SKILLS: 
  Armed Combat:
  Blades
  (Longsword) +5, Intimidate (Fear)
  +4, Language: Black Speech +4,
  Language: Orkish +6, Language:
  Westron +2, Lore/Realm: Mordor
  (Geography) +4, Observe (Smell)
  +6,
  Ranged 
  Combat:
  Bow
  (Shortbow) +6, Ride (Wolf) +3,
  Run +4, Stealth (Sneak) +4,Track
  (Scent) +3
  EDGES: Keen-nosed, Night-eyed 2
  (penalties for seeing in the dark
  reduced by 7)
  FLAWS: Craven (must flee or cave in to
  the threat if a character achieves an
  Intimidate test result against them
  of 10 or higher)
  HEALTH: 9
  DEFENSE: 11
  COURAGE: 0
  RENOWN: 0
  GEAR: Orc longsword (2d6+5 dam-
  age), shortbow (–2 penalty to
  Ranged Combat tests beyond 25
  yards), 20 arrows (2d6+2 damage),
  
  scale mail (absorbs 4 points of
  damage)
  If the characters decide to make a
  run for it instead of squaring off
  against the Orcs, you may treat their
  efforts in summary fashion by having
  each player make a Run test (TN 10).
  A successful test means that that char-
  acter can get away from the Orcs scot-
  free, and they will not pursue him
  effectively. 
  A failed test means that the Orcs
  continue to pursue that character.
  They split into two groups, with half
  and the leader staying directly behind
  and the other half moving to the char-
  acter’s flank to keep him pinned
  against the Anduin as he flees.
  Characters suffering this fate can only
  shake the Orcs by following a path
  that leads them along a high cliff over-
  looking the mighty river. The Orcs
  will not follow at this point, choosing
  not to brave the precipice. The charac-
  ters must then make a successful
  Acrobatics (Balance) test (TN 10), or
  else they fall into the Anduin and
  drown. If this happens to your play-
  ers, you might want to remind them
  before they accept this doom that they
  can spend Courage points to improve
  their test results.
  ENCOUNTER 2: MEN
  OF HARAD
  ‘Hard fighting and long labour they 
  had still; for the Southrons were 
  bold men and grim. . . .’
  — The Return of the King
  Assuming that your players keep
  to their orders, they head northeast
  after their encounter with the Orc
  patrol, through the vales of North
  Ithilien. This country is still lush and
  green despite its proximity to the foul-
  ness of Mordor. After covering 10
  leagues in this direction, the charac-
  ters come to a ridge overlooking a
  wide, well-travelled road. This is a
  fork of the old Harad Road,which the
  Kingdom of Gondor built in its days
  of glory to serve as the main overland
  conduit between the South of
  Middle-earth and Gondor and Arnor.
  At the moment, however, with the
  fortresses at Osgiliath masked by one
  of his armies, it functions as Sauron’s
  main avenue of communication with
  his Haradrim allies.
  At this point, the players should
  turn north, as per their orders. Before
  they can do so, however, each must
  make an Observe test (TN 10 in day-
  light,TN 15 if using the Spot special-
  ty at night). Characters that succeed
  notice a small group of swarthy men
  in scale mail and conical helmets pick-
  ing their way up the slope towards
  them. One of them also carries a long-
  bow and a small shield. They appear
  to be fanning out from the road, and
  they move swiftly and low to the
  ground, stopping from time to time to
  look around them. From where the
  characters are standing, the Haradrim
  then disappear from view behind an
  outcropping of rock, then reappear to
  their front, at a range of only 100 feet.
  HARADRIM WARRIOR
  RACE: Man (Man of Darkness)
  RACIAL ABILITIES: Adaptable, Skilled
  ATTRIBUTES: 
  Bearing 
  6 
  (±0),
  Nimbleness 8 (+1), Perception 7
  (±0), Strength 9 (+1), Vitality 8
  (+1), Wits 6 (±0)
  REACTIONS: Stamina +1, Swiftness
  +3, Willpower ±0, Wisdom ±0
  ORDER: Warrior
  ORDER ABILITIES: Evasion (roll 3d6
  and keep the highest 2 when per-
  forming a Swiftness test)
  ADVANCEMENTS: 0
  SKILLS: 
  Armed Combat:
  Blades
  (Scimitar) 
  +6,
  Healing 
  +1,
  Language: Haradric (Near Harad)
  +6, Observe (Spot) +4, Ranged
  Combat: Bows (Longbow) +6,
  Ride (Horse) +3, Run +2, Stealth
  (Sneak) +4,Track (Men) +2
  EDGES: Warrior’s Heart (+4 bonus to
  all Weariness tests related to battle)
  FLAWS: None
  HEALTH: 9
  DEFENCE: 11
  COURAGE: 0
  RENOWN: 0
  GEAR: Scimitar (2d6+4 damage), scale
  mail (absorbs 4 points of damage)
  HARADRIM LEADER
  RACE: Man (Man of Darkness)
  RACIAL ABILITIES: Adaptable, Skilled
  ATTRIBUTES: 
  Bearing 
  8 
  (+1),
  Nimbleness 8 (+1), Perception 7
  (±0), Strength 9 (+1), Vitality 8
  (+1), Wits 6 (±0)
  REACTIONS: Stamina +2, Swiftness
  +3, Willpower +1, Wisdom ±0
  ORDER: Warrior
  ORDER ABILITIES: Evasion (roll 3d6
  and keep the highest 2 when per-
  forming a Swiftness test)
  ADVANCEMENTS: 3
  SKILLS: Armed Combat +6: Blades
  (Scimitar), Healing +1, Inspire +2,
  Language: Haradric (Near Harad)
  +6, Observe (Spot) +4, Ranged
  Combat: Bow (Longbow) +6, Ride
  (Horse) +3, Run +2, Stealth
  (Sneak) +4,Track (Men) +2
  EDGES: Resolute, Warrior’s Heart (+4
  bonus to all Weariness tests related
  to battle)
  FLAWS: None
  HEALTH: 9
  DEFENCE: 11
  COURAGE: 0
  RENOWN: 0
  GEAR: Scimitar (2d6+4 damage),long-
  bow (maximum range 200 feet), 20
  arrows (2d6+2 damage), scale mail
  (absorbs 4 points of damage)
  The Haradrim Leader is an experi-
  enced warrior who also has the skill
  Inspire, which allows him to encourage
  those under his command to greater
  efforts through the sheer force of his
  presence. If he makes a successful
  Inspire test (TN 10), the Haradrim
  warriors under his command gain a +1
  bonus to their Armed Combat tests
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  ADVENTURE: THE ROAD TO HENNETH ANNÛN
  14
  during the next round. Attempting to
  Inspire requires 1 action.
  These strange-looking men are the
  outriders from a column of warriors
  from Near Harad marching north to
  the Black Gate. Their task is to screen
  the column from Gondorian spies,
  and so they are out beating the bushes
  well in advance of the main body.
  Basically, your players have three
  options here:fight,avoid them,or bluff
  so that the Haradrim will let them
  pass without incident. If they choose
  to fight, the Haradrim rank and file
  close and attack with their scimitars,
  while their leader hangs back slightly
  and looks for appropriate targets for
  his longbow. He also uses his Inspire
  skill (see sidebar) liberally to make
  their attacks more effective.
  If the characters decide to run
  away, they must each make a success-
  ful Run test (TN 10), or else the
  Haradrim catch up to them. If they
  decide to conceal themselves, they
  must each make a successful Stealth
  (Hide) test (TN 10). Since Stealth is
  a skill that may be used untrained, a
  character may use it even though he
  doesn’t have any levels in it. He simply
  adds his Nimbleness modifier to the
  result. The Haradrim fail to detect
  any characters that succeed, and pass
  by them without incident.
  Lastly, the characters may try to
  bluff
  their 
  way 
  past 
  these
  Haradrim—although,
  realistically,
  only Melephin may attempt this,since
  he is the only character who can speak
  their language. In order to communi-
  cate with them, he must make a suc-
  cessful Language: Haradric (Near
  Harad) test (TN 10). If he does so, he
  must then convince them that they are
  not, in fact, agents of Gondor. The
  player running Melephin should make
  up a cover story for the characters and
  tell you what it is. Then he should
  make a Persuade (Charm) test (TN
  15 or 20, depending on your judge-
  ment of how good it is). If he succeeds
  in persuading them, the Haradrim go
  on their way, allowing the characters
  to go on theirs.
  ENCOUNTER 3: THE
  WINDOW ON THE
  SUNSET
  ‘They named themselves Mablung and
  Damrod, soldiers of Gondor, and they
  were Rangers of Ithilien. . . .’
  — The Two Towers
  If the characters continue inland
  through the vales of northern Ithilien,
  the woodlands begin to thin out and
  they see before them a rocky slope
  with a roaring waterfall cascading
  down it. Trees and other vegetation
  obscure much of the base of the slope
  from view. Their orders tell them that
  Henneth Annûn should be some-
  where around here.
  As they approach the base of the
  slope, they see two large boulders on
  either side of a dimly traced path that
  seems to disappear into a sheer rock
  face. As they approach the boulders,
  two tall men in mottled green and
  brown cloaks worn over chainmail
  spring out to bar the way. One carries
  a sword and positions himself for-
  ward, while the other draws his long-
  bow and stands back. He also carries a
  hunting horn around his neck.
  They are Halond and Ilthimir,
  Rangers of Ithilien standing sentry at
  one of the sanctuary’s entrances.
  When they challenge the characters,
  they appear aggressive and hostile.
  This is not a good time for Faramir’s
  men. An Orc prisoner recently plant-
  ed in their minds the suggestion that
  the location of Henneth Annûn and
  all of the sentries’ signs and counter-
  signs have been betrayed to the
  Enemy. Furthermore, the prisoner
  also has the Rangers thinking that
  Sauron will send spies against them
  disguised as Gondorian soldiers.
  Halond and Ilthimir are therefore in a
  jumpy mood. When the player char-
  acters attempt to give the password
  they were taught at Osgiliath, the sen-
  tries’ eyes narrow, and they treat the
  characters with deep suspicion. The
  passwords were changed recently, and
  those that Atanacar gave to the PCs
  are now incorrect. 
  Quarrelling with the sentries is not
  a particularly good option for your
  players. These men are veterans, and
  individually they are more powerful
  than 
  beginning-level 
  characters.
  Besides, at the first sign of hostile
  action against them, the sentry with
  the bow looses a shot, then blows his
  horn. This alarm brings 20 more of
  Faramir’s men, with the first 10 arriv-
  ing within 10 rounds and the remain-
  der 10 rounds after that. Most impor-
  tantly, it’s just not something that a
  loyal servant of Gondor would do, no
  matter how stressful the situation.
  It would be much more sensible
  for your players to use their characters’
  Social skills to persuade the sentries
  that they are friends, not spies of the
  Enemy. If they seem stuck for a course
  of action, you might suggest that they
  choose one character to serve as
  spokesman for the party. That charac-
  ter may then make a Social skill test of
  his choice (TN 10 if Debate or
  Persuade,TN 20 if Intimidate) to try
  to convince the sentries to let them
  pass. You need not act out this
  encounter with your player (although
  you should feel free to do so, if you
  wish). The skill test represents an
  abstraction of what the character
  involved would say and do to get the
  sentries to see things his way.
  If he makes a successful test,
  Halond and Ilthimir look at each
  other doubtfully. Then Ilthimir
  motions for the characters to follow
  him, with Halond falling in line
  behind,his blade still drawn. If the test
  succeeds by more than 5, then their
  attitude toward the characters changes
  noticeably. They apologise for their
  wariness (the times being what they
  are, one can never be entirely certain
  whether strangers be friends or no,
  even if they are clad as friends), and
  treat them as friends hereafter.
  In either case, the sentries lead the
  characters through the brush to a
  
  cleared spot at the base of the slope.
  Ilthimir places a ring on his right hand
  against a spot in the rock. This ring is
  permanently enchanted with the spell
  Ithildin-fire, and it reveals the glowing
  outline of a door carved into the rock.
  He then cups his hand to his mouth
  and appears to whisper something to
  the door—a command word, no
  doubt. The door in the rock then eases
  open, and the sentries lead the charac-
  ters into the maze of caves and war-
  rens that is Henneth Annûn, the
  Window on the Sunset.
  HALOND AND ILTHIMIR
  RACE: Man (Dûnedan)
  RACIAL
  ABILITIES:
  Adaptability,
  Dominion of Men, Skilled
  ATTRIBUTES: 
  Bearing 
  8 
  (+1),
  Nimbleness 10 (+2), Perception 8
  (+1), Strength 10 (+2), Vitality 9
  (+1), Wits 7 (±0)
  REACTIONS: Stamina +2, Swiftness
  +4, Willpower +1, Wisdom +1
  ORDER: Warrior
  ORDER ABILITIES: Evasion (roll 3d6
  and keep the highest 2 when per-
  forming a Swiftness test)
  ADVANCEMENTS: 2
  SKILLS: 
  Armed Combat:
  Blades
  (Longsword) 
  +7,
  Climb 
  +3,
  Healing +1, Jump +3, Language:
  Sindarin +6, Language: Westron
  +6, Lore/Realm: Gondor (Ithilien)
  +3, Observe (Spot) +6, Ranged
  Combat: Bows (Longbow) +6,
  Ride (Horse) +4, Run +3, Stealth
  (Hide) +6, Survival (Woods) +5,
  Track (Orcs) +6
  EDGES: Warrior’s Heart (+4 bonus to
  all Weariness tests related to battle)
  FLAWS: None
  HEALTH: 11
  DEFENCE: 12
  COURAGE: 4
  RENOWN: 0
  GEAR: Longsword (2d6+5 damage),
  ordinary chainmail (absorbs 5
  points of damage). Ilthimir also has
  a longbow (maximum range 200
  feet), 20 arrows (2d6+2 damage), a
  hunting horn, and a ring perma-
  nently enchanted with the spell
  Ithildin-fire
  Halond and Ilthimir are more for-
  midable than the Orcs or Haradrim
  that the characters faced in the earlier
  encounters. They really qualify as
  non-player characters, or NPCs—
  characters run by the Narrator and
  which are usually placed in an adven-
  ture to help facilitate the flow of the
  story. If you wish to use Halond and
  Ilthimir in an ongoing chronicle, note
  that they are designed to place them
  on track to qualify for the Ranger elite
  order before very long (see the core
  rulebook for more about character
  advancement and elite orders).
  BEYOND THIS
  ADVENTURE: IN THE
  SERVICE OF GONDOR
  ‘So it must be, for you are appointed to
  the White Company, the Guard of
  Faramir, Prince of Ithilien. . . .’
  — Aragorn (King Elessar), 
  The Return of the King
  Once the characters convince the
  sentries that they are friends, they
  take them to Lord Faramir, who is
  enjoying a rare moment of ease deep
  in the heart of the sanctuary. He
  receives the news with great concern
  and resolves to set off for Osgiliath
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  The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game: Quick-start Booklet
  
  ADVENTURE: THE ROAD TO HENNETH ANNÛN
  16
  with 100 picked men as soon as they
  are ready. First, however, he thanks
  the characters for their service and
  rewards each of them with one of the
  following heroic arms or armour from
  the magazine:
  DÛNEDAN
  BLADE, 
  enchanted
  weapon: A longsword forged cen-
  turies ago by the Men of Westernesse.
  It contains a minor bane enchantment
  that grants a +2 bonus to Armed
  Combat tests against servants or allies
  of Sauron and a +3 bonus against
  Nazgûl or other supernatural foes.
  STAR OF OSGILIATH, heroic shield:
  A large shield with an enormous star
  embossed on it. The Princes of Ithilien
  wielded it during the glory days of the
  Kingdom of Gondor. It provides an
  additional +3 parry bonus against
  Orcs (see core rulebook for rules
  regarding parrying) and an additional
  –3 penalty to ranged attacks by Orcs
  against the wielder.
  MORDOR-BANE
  BOW, enchanted
  weapon:
  A longbow crafted in
  Rivendell for the Kings of Arthedain,
  and subsequently given to Gondor as
  a gift. It contains a minor bane
  enchantment that grants a +2 bonus
  to Ranged Combat tests against ser-
  vants or allies of Sauron.
  At this point, the adventure comes
  to its formal conclusion:The characters
  have successfully navigated the road to
  Henneth Annûn. They have dealt with
  the foes they met along the way, and
  they have completed their mission and
  received their just reward for it.
  But the chronicle of their deeds
  need not end there. Faramir may ask
  them to remain with his Rangers in
  the Window on the Sunset to serve as
  scouts or messengers, for he never has
  enough men to serve with him, and
  even fewer as brave and resourceful as
  our heroes. Or he may send them
  south to spy on the Southron peoples
  who have allied themselves with
  Sauron, for full-fledged war obviously
  draws nigh, and Gondor needs to
  know what is going on in these lands
  that will soon throw their might
  against it. If the Haradrim send more
  men north to Mordor, Faramir’s
  Rangers ought to know when they set
  out and in what strength so they can
  plan ambushes. As Narrator,you may
  design further adventures set in
  Ithilien or Harad and Khand that will
  take your players up to and through
  the tumult of The War of the Ring.
  If you wish, you can also work
  Halond and Ilthimir, the sentries
  from Encounter 3, into the chronicle
  as friendly non-player characters. One
  or both of them might go with the
  characters as guides or guards, being
  more experienced warriors and
  knowledgeable in the lay of Ithilien.
  Or perhaps they simply befriend the
  characters, giving them helpful advice
  and providing a little flavour to the
  chronicle between adventures. After
  all, it’s not that uncommon in
  Tolkien’s Middle-earth for characters
  who meet under difficult circum-
  stances to become friends. Recall that
  Aragorn and Éomer meet for the first
  time staring each other down blade-
  to-spearpoint. Yet, only a short time
  later, Aragorn vowed that they would
  draw their weapons together in battle
  as inseparable allies.
  If you choose to extend ‘The Road
  to Henneth Annûn’ into a chronicle,
  just remember to consult the rules
  regarding experience points and charac-
  ter advancement in the core rulebook
  before you go any further. Then go back
  through what your players did in the
  adventure and reward them experience
  points accordingly. Afterward, they’ll
  be well on their way to adding to their
  characters in ways that will prepare
  them for greater challenges to come.
  If the characters serve Faramir
  faithfully and well in whatever capaci-
  ty he chooses to employ them, their
  adventures need not end with the con-
  clusion of The War of the Ring,
  either. Surely Faramir, now the
  Steward of Gondor and Arnor under
  King Elessar, would recommend our
  heroes to the King,asking that they be
  rewarded for their valour during the
  war. And King Elessar might well
  commission them as ambassadors to
  the tribes of Harad or Khand, know-
  ing that while the Free Peoples had
  defeated Sauron utterly, many of
  Sauron’s allies still lived, and might
  still cause trouble in the future. By this
  point, it is obvious that our heroes
  know Southron folk better than most
  Gondorians (especially if they spent
  the war spying on them). The King
  would consider them ideal candidates
  to negotiate treaties with the various
  tribes of the South, by which they
  would swear fealty and pay tribute to
  the revived Kingdom of Gondor. At
  the very least, our heroes would make
  suitable spies to monitor the states of
  affairs among the tribes of Harad and
  Khand, and judge the extent to which
  they may present an ongoing threat to
  Gondor.
  Or it may be that they choose to
  leave Gondor and the South altogeth-
  er and head for the North-lands of
  Middle-earth, or that you wish to lure
  them there with the prospect of new
  and greater adventures. That’s perfect-
  ly acceptable, too. The Lord of the
  Rings Roleplaying Game core rule-
  book provides you and your players
  with a more detailed treatment of the
  rules (including rules that allow char-
  acters to improve their attributes,abil-
  ities, and skills through gaining expe-
  rience as adventurers), descriptions of
  the races and geography of Middle-
  earth, and advice for running an entire
  chronicle. Rules supplements such as
  The 
  Fellowship 
  of
  the 
  Ring
  Sourcebook and Fell Beasts and
  Wondrous Magic provide even more
  options for enriching your chronicle
  with elements from the fabulous
  world of Middle-earth, including sta-
  tistical blocks for important figures
  from the novels and movies. If you
  want to work Gandalf or Elrond,
  Saruman or Lurtz into your chronicle,
  these books give you the tools to do
  so! Taken all together,The Lord of the
  Rings Roleplaying Game allows you
  to explore the richness and wonder of
  J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth by
  making up your own adventures as
  you go along.
  
  PL AYER MAP
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Coda System/CODA - Decipher - Module - Quick Start Adventure.pdf