HoME Brainstorming Thread

[White Knight]

Originally Posted by Son of Arathorn

The Fellowship's just come out of Moria, orcs on their tails, and he heals Frodo's bruises from the Cave Troll. Not quite the middle of combat, but they're sure not resting for the night. Maybe add an "Aragorn must be unengaged to use Athelas Healing" stipulation?

He'll need a fire and a pot of water as well then. I read the Weathertop passage last night--you have to boil the Athelas before giving it. And after Moria, he put the Athelas in steaming water first before giving some to Sam and some to Frodo.

In both cases, they had stopped to rest. They weren't in the middle of battle, and they weren't in the middle of running away.

[infectedsloth]

Originally Posted by capsocrates

infectedsloth, I don't remember if it was ever officially stated anywhere, but as far back as I can remember two versions of Aragorn have been at least on the table if not assumed. I think many of us feel it will be easier to capture Aragorn as a Ranger as separate from Aragorn as King.

Well in that case healing should be saved for Elessar.

Just spitballing some suggestions...

A melee combat power to represent Anduril. This could be the one power that remains on both cards. After all he didn't change to the degree that Gandalf did.

Some sort of power to represent the fact that he is the greatest woodsmen/hunter/tracker (forgot the exact adjective) of his day. I'm obviously partial to my power below. It represents both his hunt for Gollum and the Orcs who took Merry and Pippin as well as the general fact that he was a great tracker.

Dunedain Tracking
Before the game choose an opponents unique hero. After the chosen unique hero takes a turn you may move Aragorn 2 spaces.

lastly a power idea that is a little out of left field. If would be a power that gives Aragorn the ability to synergies with a wide variety of units that he normally wouldn't be able to work with.

The power represents the way he helps a large variety of forces without them knowing who he is. Some examples are the Dunedain's protection of the shire and Breeland, as well as Aragorn's direct aid of Thengel in Rohan and Ecthelion under the Pseudonym Thorongil.

Originally Posted by capsocrates

How would Aquilla be a theme break?

He's got nothing to do with Dwarfs(Aquilla) but everything to do with Elfs(Ullar) and Men(Jandar/Einar). I don't see the reason for him to be Aquilla.

[caps]

I'm also feeling persuaded that a healing power doesn't fit Strider that well.

I think we will make a glyph for Anduril. I'm thinking we'll do glyphs for most of the named swords if major characters. They can be "Personal Item" treasure glyphs that can start on the cards in casual it scenario play and they can only be removed from the card when they die. Isn't Anduril The Sword That Was Broken until more than halfway through the books?

The tracking idea could work. It could even be "pick any unique Hero" or "pick a unique Hero you don't control." That way it could represent him following allies that don't even know he's there, like when he follows the Hobbits into Bree. Maybe even Unique Squad also, for added mechanical flexibility.

I don't see how the presence of those units under those generals would be a theme *break* but I certainly agree he has stronger thematic ties to the other two.

[Lazy Orang]

Originally Posted by capsocrates

I think we will make a glyph for Anduril. I'm thinking we'll do glyphs for most of the named swords if major characters. They can be "Personal Item" treasure glyphs that can start on the cards in casual it scenario play and they can only be removed from the card when they die. Isn't Anduril The Sword That Was Broken until more than halfway through the books?

Not entirely sure what you mean by the sentence in bold, but, as far as I remember, Aragorn had Anduril for the majority of the books - I believe he was actually given it when he left Rivendell with the Fellowship. Of course, in the films it was very different and Elrond gave it to him in the Rohirrim camp before he went through the Paths of the Dead.

[caps]

Yes I remembered that it was reforged earlier in the books, I think, but I couldn't remember how much earlier. Thanks for popping in; I see you are correct.

I think I would still prefer to make it a glyph.

[infectedsloth]

Originally Posted by capsocrates

The tracking idea could work. It could even be "pick any unique Hero" or "pick a unique Hero you don't control." That way it could represent him following allies that don't even know he's there, like when he follows the Hobbits into Bree. Maybe even Unique Squad also, for added mechanical flexibility.

I think some of those changes could work. For my original power, I was just trying to see how the general concept was received.

Originally Posted by capsocrates

I think we will make a glyph for Anduril.

Fine by me.

[White Knight]

I read through all of the battle scenes in LotR prior to the Paths of the Dead:

1) Weathertop
The book briefly mentions Strider rushing forward with flaming brands in both hands. Then Frodo passes out.

2) Wolves near Moria
Legolas uses arrows. Strider and Boromir each take out a wolf with their swords. Gandalf uses magical fire.

3) Moria
Strider uses his sword in Balin's Tomb to fight the orcs.

4) Helm's Deep
Aragorn uses his sword exclusively (no bow and arrow). He also spends a lot of time rallying the troops.

From the books, Strider/Aragorn uses Anduril for all of his fighting. I know that he has a bow in the movie, but in the books only Legolas uses a bow. (And in the books, there are no other elves at Helm's Deep.)

Extending the books to Heroscape, I think Strider/Aragorn should have a Range of 1, with some attack special ability such as Ranger's Assault. We might want to give him a leadership type of rallying ability as well. And I'm OK giving him a tracking type of ability.

[Lazy Orang]

Yeah, no bow for Aragorn in the books (explicitly stated that he had none when he left Rivendell, as I recall) and he only uses it once in the films. That said, I did give my Strider weak ranged potential, purely because my figure had a bow strapped to his back.

[Son of Arathorn]

I'm fine with Anduril as a Treasure Glyph, though I'm having trouble thinking of powers off the top of my head.

If we're looking at an Aragorn without a healing power, the question remains of what other qualities should be emphasized. I like a lot of the ideas for melee offense, tracking, minor leadership, and protection powers we've got circulating. Taking away his range works for me, so long as he gets a solid melee power in return.

[caps]

Okay, it looks like we're narrowing things down some. I'll throw this at the wall and see if it sticks:

NAME = ARAGORN
GENERAL = ULLAR
PLANET = ARDA
SPECIES = DUNEDAIN
UNIQUENESS = UNIQUE HERO
CLASS = RANGER
PERSONALITY = TRICKY?
SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM/5

LIFE = 5
MOVE = 6
RANGE = 1
ATTACK = 3
DEFENSE = 3
POINTS = 90

STRIDER'S ASSAULT
When Strider attacks an adjacent figure or destructible object, he may add 2 dice to his attack or attack one additional time.

RANGER OF THE NORTH
After taking a turn with Strider, if he is unengaged, you may choose an adjacent unengaged friendly figure. Strider and the chosen figure have no visible Hit Zones until the next time you reveal an Order Marker.

DUNEDAIN TRACKING
Before the game, choose a unique Army Card. After the chosen Army Card takes a turn, you may move Aragorn 2 spaces.

[Son of Arathorn]

The adjacency stipulation on Strider's Assault is unnecessary if he's not going to have a normal ranged attack.

Anybody feeling Engaging Strike? It might be better on a figure like Gimli, but I could see it working here too.

Not sure I'm feeling Dunedain Tracking. I know he's a Ranger (THE Ranger, in fact), but Ranger of the North is growing on me, and if we're trying to capture this character in its entirety pre-RotK, I think we should try to get most of his traits in there; two Ranger powers feels unnecessary at the expense of one that could portray his leadership with the Hobbits on the road to Rivendell and with the Three Hunters.

I'm going to counter caps's offer (yep, before anyone else gives feedback ) with this:

NAME = ARAGORN
GENERAL = ULLAR
PLANET = ARDA
SPECIES = DUNEDAIN
UNIQUENESS = UNIQUE HERO
CLASS = RANGER
PERSONALITY = RESOLUTE
SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM/5

LIFE = 6
MOVE = 6
RANGE = 1
ATTACK = 4
DEFENSE = 3
POINTS = 100

ENGAGING STRIKE 14
After moving and before attacking with Aragorn, if he was unengaged at the start of his turn, you may roll the 20-sided die once for each small or medium opponent's figure adjacent to Aragorn. If you roll a 14 or higher, that figure receives 1 wound.

RANGER OF THE NORTH
After taking a turn with Aragorn, if he is unengaged, you may choose an adjacent unengaged friendly figure. Aragorn and the chosen figure have no visible Hit Zones until the next time you reveal an Order Marker.

[MegaSilver]

That Dunedain Tracking power should be listed first, since it's a before the game starts kind of power, IMO.

~MegaSilver, dropping in.