Middle Earth for Basic/Expert Rules

I spent some time today on the Dragonsfoot forums for B/X D&D and found someone's post which struck a creative chord in me. The piece of genius that sparked this whole train of thought was that Tolkien's elves are CLERICS, not MAGIC-USERS!! This revelation was startling to me, since I've been trying to resolve the issue of clerics in a Middle Earth campaign for many years. Here's my take on the subject:

MIDDLE EARTH D&D Campaign

This conversion attempts to reconcile the books by J.R.R. Tolkien and the ruleset of B/X Dungeons & Dragons for use as a role-playing game experience.

Classes of Middle Earth

• Fighter: a fighting man using only weapons and armor; ex. Boromir, Faramir, Riders of Rohan
• Magic-User: a man using magic (sorcery); ex. Grima Wormtongue, various lesser sorcerers of Mordor
• Thief: a man using stealth, guile, and wits; ex. Bandits in Bree, scouts of Ithilien
• Elf: a demi-human elder race, fluent in the divine magic of Iluvatar; ex. Galadriel, Elrond, Legolas
• Ranger: a semi-divine race of humans with elven blood; ex. Aragorn, the Dunedain
• Hobbit: a demi-human race of comfort-seeking simple folk; ex. Bilbo Baggins, Frodo, Sam Gamgee
• Dwarf: a demi-human race of greedy miners and builders; ex. Gimli, any of the company of Thorin Oakenshield.

Note that there are no clerics in Middle Earth. The elves are semi-divine (have divine grace) and serve as the healers and defeaters of the undead in this world. Therefore, elves in Middle Earth are both Fighters and Clerics (not magic-users), although they may use any magic items of Elven origin (unless corrupted). They should also have the ability to Turn the undead as per clerics. Instead of having one god, they worship all the Ainur equally. The elven version of ‘the afterlife’ applies to elves only, and has them sailing west to Valinar, the Lands of the West. I believe that those of elven blood (the line of Numenor) would also be welcome in the West. What happens to the souls of those who are not elves? This is unknown.

NOTE: Characters such as Gandalf, Saruman, and Radigast are actually members of an immortal race descended from the gods (Ainur) and as such have internal powers of magic that mortal characters cannot achieve. Only those taught magic by masters of sorcery may cast spells, and this is mostly considered to be ‘dark magic’. The disciples of Sauron were known to be sorcerers of some power (he himself was known to be a Necromancer). As such, the Wizards (or Istari) are not available for Player Characters, and only the lesser sorcerers are allowed (most with dark origins).

Rangers are descended from the line of Numenorean Kings (and so have some elven blood) which allows them to tap into the divine magic of the elves. They achieve spell casting abilities more slowly, but are otherwise more like Fighters than Clerics. Rangers can never cast higher than 3^rd level cleric spells (Aragorn himself was known to be a healer of lesser power, and was able to speak with the dead and compel them into service based on their past oaths). Not all those descended from the line of Numenor were spellcasters; thus most were considered Fighters only. I see these rangers as having increased surprise capability, wilderness survival skills, access to low-level cleric spells (1st - 2nd, maybe 3rd level spells), and the ability to speak the elven language for free.

It is important to note that player characters are considered to be “better than the norm” and all those who seek adventure are, in some way, considered unusual for their kind (Bilbo, for example). Therefore, descendants of Numenor would be most likely to be human player characters (Fighters, Rangers, Magic-users), while the rest of humanity are considered un-classed Normal Men, Fighters or Thieves. Therefore, in order to be a true king, one must have elven blood or heritage (i.e. be descended from the line of Numenor), so only that line may advance past 8^th level in Fighter. This is important - since the Stewards of Gondor could never rightfully claim kingship as a result (no Lord title). A Magic-user (sorcerer) may rival the power of the Istari, but will never surpass their magical abilities (since they are supernatural beings of immortal-level power). It also explains why Gandalf or Saruman are never seen carrying around or referencing a spellbook of any kind. A soft cap for all characters would be 14^th level (the end of the Expert Rules), as most adventurers do, eventually, seek to settle down and live the good life. Since training is not an issue, large sums of treasure mean little other than to allow a means for characters to live in comfort the rest of their lives.

Elves should be considered immortal - able to die only by mortal wounds or by grief (or loneliness). An elf is able to will themselves to die (which they refer as going to the Halls of Mandos). If they grow weary of the struggle between light and darkness, they can opt to leave Middle Earth and journey West (to heaven). This would be some good explanation of why they are unaffected by some undead attacks. Not sure if the raise dead spell works on elves in B/X D&D, but it would also tie in to this theme since they are spirits cloaked in flesh, not beings with souls. They will, however, diminish in time, losing their power as the bloodlines of men come to rise in power. There would be much magic lost to the world.

One additional thing to mention is the creation of items of power (magic items). Apparently, magic items in Middle Earth are created by highly skilled artisans and develop a character (or taint) of their creator. Those items created by the elves (and even the master dwarves) are considered magical since they are imprinted with the psyche of their creator. Sauron learned his ring-crafting from the elves and used sorcery to pervert the nature of the rings to obey his will (thus corrupting them through the One Ring which held much his own psyche, and is probably the reason why he was able to achieve the things he did as a disembodied spirit after being defeated). The dwarven Arkenstone was probably imprinted with the greed of a dwarf for treasure, and so it amplified and magnified it to the point that the possessor became overcome with greed and selfishness (and this was probably not helped by the fact that it spent so long with the dragon Smaug). So, effectively, the creation of magic items has more to do with psychic impression than magic. Magic-users, who do not possess great skill in crafting can still enchant items, but they must be made by a master craftsman first and then laboriously worked on and instilled with magic by the sorcerer so desiring such an item. Magic items can also be corrupted through psychic connection with dark magic (as the Palantiri were by Sauron). I would allow an Elf character to create a magic item (and use any magic item created using elven magic) simply by crafting it (spending time and money, and perhaps imparting it with some spell ability of a generic nature). This would explain all those elven blades, mithril armor suits, elven cloaks and ropes, etc. This way ANYTHING made by the elves is considered magical unless no time or effort was put into its creation. I'm tempted to make there be an Experience Point cost (as in later D&D versions), but this might be too far from the B/X D&D paradigm.

Most of the monsters in the D&D books would not be used, unless the DM decided to simply use Tolkien's Middle Earth as a backdrop and place whatever he desired to use. Some monsters would probably be known by different names, or have different abilities. For instance, trolls in Middle Earth turn to stone when struck by the light of day. Creatures from Greek Mythology would be unknown here, as would most lycanthropes (werebears excluded) unless the DM had a slightly altered version of these. Other creatures like the Giant Eagles, or the intelligent crows of Saruman, may need some other explanation. The creature in the lake by the entrance to Moria is unknown in D&D terms. So too the Balrog in Moria - which is a demon of fire in the books - and should probably be considered an "immortal" like the Wizards.