Below are the Alternity character professions modified for Middle Earth.
Warrior: Treat exactly as a Combat Spec; for the Situation Bonus, choose one specialty skill from among those listed under the broad skills Armor Operation, Unarmed Attack, Melee Weapons, and Ranged Weapons.
Diplomat: Treat exactly as the standard profession of the same name. They may choose Warrior, Ranger, or Sage as a secondary profession; Diplomat-Sages can learn Magic with the same restrictions as the Sage, but they pay list cost +1 for Magic skills. Contacts can be lords or nobles in the realms of the West, granting the Diplomat a bonus on Interaction checks when trying to seek aid from them (a key element in the politics of Middle Earth).
Ranger: Treat exactly as a Free Agent. These characters may be true “Rangers” (the wandering Dunedain of the North), “scouts” (like Faramir's soldiers of Henneth Ammun in Ithilien), or simple “woodsmen” (like the Woodmen of Rhovanion).
Sage: Treat exactly as a Tech Op in terms of special benefits. The minimum ability scores for Sage characters are INT 11 and WIL 9. Furthermore, Sages can learn the broad skill Magic and may learn two Magic specialty skills, raising the primary skill as high as Rank 6 and the other skill as high as Rank 3. They pay list cost for Magic skills.
Wizard: Treat as a Mindwalker in
terms of special benefits, except the Situation Bonus applies to all Magic
skills. Wizards must buy the Magic broad skill, and they may buy all the
specialty skills and raise them as high as Rank 12. Wizards pay list cost
for Magic and its specialty skills. Technically, there were only five true
Wizards (Istari)
in Middle Earth, and they did not appear until the second millennium of the
Third Age. However, this profession could be used for other magic-users
like sorcerers, necromancers, or Eldar enchanters. Use
with caution for player characters.
Man: Use the standard rules for humans (+5 skill points, one extra maximum starting broad skill). The Northmen are the most common mannish race, followed by the “wild men” (see History and Languages). Dunedain (singular is Dunadan) are the least numerous by the end of the Third Age. Most men live less than one hundred years, but Dunedain can live well over two hundred. Man characters receive the standard starting broad skills for humans (substitute Animal Handling for Vehicle Operations), and they have the same Ability Score Limits as humans. Man characters also receive an additional special benefit based on the culture from which they come (see Societies).
Elf: Unlike humans, elves are immortal and do not die from age or disease. An elf can only be killed by wounds or venom. Elves possess Night Vision and Improved Senses involving hearing or sight (as the mutations). Elves also gain a -1 step bonus on all DEX skill and feat checks. An Elf character is normally a Silvan “wood elf” from Lorien or Mirkwood, but he can be a Sinda “grey elf” or a Noldo “high elf” with the Noble Eldar perk. Elf characters have the following Ability Score Limits: STR 4-14, DEX 8-15, CON 4-12, INT 6-14, WIL 4-14, PER 6-14 for Silvan elves; STR 4-14, DEX 8-15, CON 4-14, INT 8-15, WIL 6-15 PER 8-15 for the Sindar and Noldor. Elves receive the following starting broad skills: Athletics, Melee Weapons or Ranged Weapons (player’s choice), Stealth, Knowledge, Awareness, and Interaction. Sindar and Noldor characters may buy the Looks Fair and Heightened Ability perks for half-cost (round down), and Noldor characters may also buy the Vigor perk for half-cost (Sindar characters may have up to four perks maximum, and Noldor characters may have up to five).
Half-elf: Any person with at least one-quarter elven ancestry but less than full elven parentage is Peredhil (half-elven). Half-elf characters begin with the same benefits and Ability Score Limits as Elf characters, and they may purchase the Noble Eldar perk. They receive the same starting broad skills as Elves. At some point in their lives they face “the Choice” of selecting one race over the other. Most Half-elves remain among elven kind, becoming one for all intents and purposes. However, some (usually out of love for a mortal) choose to join the race of men: the Valar revoke their immortality (giving them the lifespan of a Dunadan), but they keep all other Elf benefits.
Dwarf: Dwarves are not immortal, but they can live as long as
three hundred years. Dwarves gain an increase of +1 to their
resistance modifiers against all forms of magic. Dwarves possess Enhanced
Senses (as the mutation) while underground. Dwarves also gain a -1 step
bonus on all CON skill and feat checks, and they automatically ignore 1
step of Dazed penalties due to damage. However, due to their smaller stature their
movement rates (Table P8) are one step lower than normal for their STR + DEX. Dwarf characters have the following Ability
Score Limits: STR 6-14, DEX 4-14, CON 8-16, INT 4-14, WIL 4-14, PER 4-12.
Dwarves receive the following starting broad skills: Athletics, Stamina,
Knowledge, Awareness, Resolve, and Interaction. Dwarf characters can be
from the noble line of “Durin’s
Folk” of Moria or from lesser houses in the
Hobbit: Unlike elves and dwarves, hobbits are not particularly
long-lived: any age over one hundred years is very respectable. Hobbits
can buy the Good Luck and Pure Heart perks for one-half cost
(round down). Hobbits also gain a -1
step bonus on all CON skill and feat checks as well as Stealth skill checks. However, due to their smaller stature their
movement rates (Table P8) are two steps lower than normal for their STR +
DEX. Hobbit characters have the
following Ability Score Limits: STR 4-12, DEX 4-15, CON 4-15, INT 4-14, WIL
4-14, PER 4-15. They receive the following starting broad skills:
Stamina, Stealth, Knowledge, Awareness, Resolve, and Interaction. Hobbit
characters are normally from the villages around Bree
(early Third Age) or The Shire (later in the Third Age).
Society |
Native Tongue |
Benefits and Restrictions |
|
Dunedain
|
Westron (Third Age) |
-1 step bonus on Culture, Leadership, and Rulership skill checks; must purchase the Man of the Westernesse perk (2 points) |
|
Eorlings (Rohirrim)
|
Northern Mannish |
-1 step bonus on all Animal Handling skill checks involving horses; may begin with a horse for half cost |
|
Lake Men
|
Northern Mannish |
-1 step bonus on all Trade skill checks |
|
Dorwinions
|
Northern Mannish |
-1 step bonus on all Trade skill checks |
|
Woodmen of Rhovanion |
Northern Mannish |
-1 step bonus on Investigate-Track and Investigate-Search and Awareness skill checks in forest terrain. |
|
Men of Umbar |
Westron (Third Age) |
-1 step bonus on all Navigation and Tactics-Naval skill checks; +1 step penalty on Corruption checks |
|
Men of Bree |
Westron |
-1 step bonus on all Craftsmanship skill checks |
|
Hillmen
|
Dunlendish (Third Age) |
-1 step bonus on all Survival skill checks in hill or mountain terrain |
|
Pukel Men |
Pukel |
-1 step bonus on all Survival skill checks in forest terrain |
|
Lossoth
|
Lossoth |
-1 step bonus on all Survival skill checks in tundra/arctic terrain |
|
Haradrim
|
Southron |
-1 step bonus on all Tactics-Land skill checks; +1 step penalty on Corruption checks |
|
Easterlings
|
Balcoth or Variag |
-1 step bonus on all skill checks for one selected Melee Weapons specialty skill; +1 step penalty on Corruption checks |
|
Noldor (High Elves) |
Quenya |
must purchase Noble Eldar perk (6 points) |
|
Sindar (Grey Elves) |
Sindarin |
must purchase Noble Eldar perk (4 points) |
|
Silvan (Wood Elves) |
Silvan |
None |
|
Khazad (Dwarves) |
Khuzdul |
None |
|
"Halflings"
(Hobbits) |
Westron (Third Age) |
None |
All characters begin with Rank 3 (full fluency) in the speech of their native land at no cost. Characters also begin with a number of extra skill points equal to their Intelligence score that can only be spent on language-related skills. For campaigns set in the Third Age, all characters should buy at least Rank 1 (limited fluency) or Rank 2 (basic fluency) in Westron, the "Common Speech" known even by many speaking beasts. Characters who wish to read and write must purchase the new Knowledge specialty skill Literacy. Rank 1 provides basic ability to read and write only the native language; Rank 2 provides the ability to read and write the alphabet of related languages (for example, all elven languages); Rank 3 provides the ability to read and write all languages spoken by the character; Rank 4 or more provides fluent writing ability using any alphabet (for example, ancient Quenya or Adunaic scripts).
Adunaic: the ancient “high mannish” tongue of the Edain; the official language of Numenor in the Second Age, it was largely archaic by the Third Age but still common among educated men of Gondor (and the Rangers of the North).
Bird Speech: Middle Earth was populated by intelligent birds (notably eagles, hawks, crows, and thrushes) of both normal and large size. Such birds could even speak other tongues. Some elves, dwarves, and even men learned the speech of birds.
Black Speech: the common tongue invented by Sauron in the Second Age for all of his minions; most also spoke native tongues (as well as Westron in the Third Age).
Balchoth: the “wild” Easterlings from Rhun and (presumably) their language.
Dunlendish: the “wild
mannish” tongue of the Hillmen descended from
the Men of the
Entish: the native speech of the tree-like Ents (Onodrim) of the Fangorn Woods.
Khuzdul: the secret language of the dwarves, known only to them; only a few words (mostly names) were known by foreigners; dwarves spoke Westron around outsiders.
Lossoth: the “wild” Snow Men of Forochel and (presumably) their tongue.
Northern Mannish: the collective name for all the closely
related dialects of the “men of twilight” distantly akin to the
ancient Edain; it included the native tongues of Eotheod (Rohan), the Woodmen of Rhovanion, the
Pukel: the “wild mannish” tongue of the aboriginal Pukel Men (Woses).
Quenya: originally the name for all elven tongues, it specifically identified the “high elven” speech of the Noldor; all other elf tongues were heavily influenced by it.
Sindarin: the “grey elven” tongue, closely related to Quenya; it was very influential and commonly known in the west; most places in Middle Earth have Sindarin names.
Silvan: the tongue of the “wood elves” (the descendants of the Nandor and Laiquendi); by the Third Age some of them had adopted the Sindarin tongue of their rulers (Thranduil and Celeborn were both Sindar).
Southron: the “wild mannish” tongue of the Haradrim, from south of Gondor.
Valinorean: the true language of the Valar, unknown to all but the oldest Noldor.
Variag: the “wild men” of Khand and (presumably) their language.
Westron: the “common speech” of western Middle Earth, descended from ancient Adunaic; it was a universal tongue among the Free Peoples in the Third Age.