# D & D on the Straight Dope setup thread. (In Middle Earth FA63) **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Tags:** middle-earth-game\ **Created:** [February 26, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276 "2008-02-26T20:17:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2008, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/141 "2008-03-01T19:02:00Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] For the benefit of the rest of the party: Gil-Gandel is an Elf, about six feet tall and slim built. He carries two swords and an elven bow, and goes booted and cloaked but unarmoured. Apart from his harp, he is very lightly encumbered. He rides a horse elf-fashion, without tack or harness; it looks swift but too light for combat. [/QUOTE] Ghan-Buri-Ghan is a Wose (aboriginal man), about four and a half feet tall. He has a blowpipe, but no melee weapon. He wears armour made of bark and carries many herbs in a pouch. He will either ride a pony, ask if he can ride behind someone, or just jog along. P.S. Thanks for the kind words, Jim. I’m going to enjoy this. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2008, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/142 "2008-03-01T20:13:12Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] You’re most welcome. I just read that Web Comic last week or the week before. Were you the one that recommended it the Questionable Content thread? It was very funny. I had to check, [it was squeegee](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9479665&postcount=78) [/QUOTE] There I go, day late and a dollar short, again. Someone emailed me that link, I didn’t see **squeegee** ’s post. I literally laughed out loud at the strip, especially the bit about “at my last level-up I took _Improved Hating This Campaign_ as a feat”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2008, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/143 "2008-03-01T20:48:43Z")
Deor is a human wizard-in-training, twenty years old and about six feet tall. He wields (with moderate effectiveness) a staff and does not own any kind of armor. He rides a good saddle horse, but plans to dismount in combat, so as to present a smaller target to enemy spellcasters and archers. He is nearly always accompanied by his hawk Folca, who commonly rides on his fist or shoulder, and with whom Deor shares vision, thanks to a magical pendant from his instructors in Minas Tirith. In combat, at least at first, he’ll be limited to Shield and Magic Missile, with the option of casting invisibility on someone, which lasts until that someone enters combat. (Burrahobbits get sneak attack bonuses, don’t they?) Deor has 3 gold, which he strongly suspects is not enough to buy anything of interest. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2008, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/144 "2008-03-01T21:33:48Z")
[QUOTE=glee] Ghan-Buri-Ghan is a Wose … He will either ride a pony, ask if he can ride behind someone, or just jog along. P.S. Thanks for the kind words, Jim. I’m going to enjoy this. 🙂 [/QUOTE] How do you feel about riding a Friendly Moose? This will be temporary, but he is a good friend of Radagast. He occasionally talks. Mostly about killing those foul burárum. You’re welcome of course. * * * \*\*Brin \*\* by the way will have a good light riding horse on loan. As a Scout of Dale you often get plum duties like messenger service. I forgot to let **Mulligan Took** know that he has a fine riding Pony, a gift from Uncle Pippin. 2HD, 10hp, Saddle & full tack. Is everybody OK with this staying the control and dicussion thread and actually kicking the game off in a new thread? I think it makes the most sense. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2008, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/145 "2008-03-01T21:47:25Z")
[QUOTE=appleciders] In combat, at least at first, he’ll be limited to Shield and Magic Missile, with the option of casting invisibility on someone, which lasts until that someone enters combat. (Burrahobbits get sneak attack bonuses, don’t they?). [/QUOTE] Yes, they do, and so do I (being part thief). I probably won’t need it as my stealth skills are pretty darned high anyway, and it’s a bit of a one-shot proposition for Mulligan Took. Do you have any other second-level options? Jim, go for it! ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/146 "2008-03-01T22:46:20Z")
Yeah, I have “Wizard Lock” for doors and stuff, and the counterspell “Knock”, and “Levitate”, which is a useful toy but not so much in combat. No, I figured that the Took could probably stand to be made invisible and then not need to be protected quite so much, and then deal out a sneak attack to finish off an enemy. And invisibility should make for excellent sneak-looting. Looking forward to beginning! ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2008, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/147 "2008-03-01T23:03:33Z")
_Levitate_ is useful, though - you can cast it on an enemy and hoist them up in the air, which is likely to inconvenience them to say the least. It won’t necessarily work, but on plain ordinary fighters it will much more often than not. The other two, I agree, unless you know some specific reason while you need them, though IIRC you can open your own _wizard locks_ at will and so it’s a handy spell to secure a treasure chest with. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2008, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/148 "2008-03-01T23:08:57Z")
The thing is, I won’t be bothering to prepare _Wizard Lock_ on the morning before unless I suspect I’ll have a specific reason to. No, it’s a good start and I’m not complaining. As I level up and have more level 2 spells each day, they’ll see more use. ---
**Author:** ![MHaye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bbe5ce/32.png) [@MHaye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MHaye)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2008, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/149 "2008-03-01T23:24:53Z")
I have just despatched the cantrip list to **Appleciders** cc **What Exit?**. I hope you find them useful. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2008, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/150 "2008-03-01T23:30:43Z")
[QUOTE=MHaye] I have just despatched the cantrip list to **Appleciders** cc **What Exit?**. I hope you find them useful. [/QUOTE] That was great. My wife was just checking the Email account and said what a strange spam title. She had no clue what a cnatrip was. She’s not a player. 😃 All the cantrips look fine, that you again. Jim ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/151 "2008-03-02T00:01:53Z")
I’ve reviewed the list of cantrips- very nice! I suspect that I’m going to use several of them regularly. Which reminds me- with cantrips, do I need to load particular spells daily, or should I not worry about it because they’re so small and fiddly? And is the table [here](http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/sorcererWizard.htm#wizard) accurate for how many spells I can cast per day, or do you have a variant of that too? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/152 "2008-03-02T02:35:13Z")
[QUOTE=appleciders] I’ve reviewed the list of cantrips- very nice! I suspect that I’m going to use several of them regularly. Which reminds me- with cantrips, do I need to load particular spells daily, or should I not worry about it because they’re so small and fiddly? And is the table [here](http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/sorcererWizard.htm#wizard) accurate for how many spells I can cast per day, or do you have a variant of that too? [/QUOTE] It is close, but you get more cantrips than that. I think it is 3 +1/level. I’ll check later. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/153 "2008-03-02T03:11:51Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] …In open ground we hope to see them coming, but hence the buddy system. If we _can_ circle the casters, so much the better; if we can’t, I should think Deor/Theogrim is one natural pairing, and I can team up with either Mal Took or Brin depending whether we’re above or below ground, and the other goes with Thoroncil. That way the weakest of us each have someone assigned to keep their eyes on him. Apart from me, and Brin I assume, who else is any good with a bow? [/QUOTE] Thoroncir would be glad to have a li’l buddy who needed a big hulking Fighter to keep an eye out for him. This Man of Gondor is also handy with a longbow. **What Exit?** asked, _“Is everybody OK with this staying the control and dicussion thread and actually kicking the game off in a new thread? I think it makes the most sense.”_ Yes, I agree. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/154 "2008-03-02T03:25:15Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] **What Exit?** asked, _“Is everybody OK with this staying the control and dicussion thread and actually kicking the game off in a new thread? I think it makes the most sense.”_ Yes, I agree. [/QUOTE] I’m totally good with that idea. That means this can also be the thread full of movie quotes, dorky asides, metagame discussions and other tangents that would probably clog and pollute the main thread. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/155 "2008-03-02T06:06:40Z")
If anyone is interested here is a link to [Gwaelur son of Gwaelin’s character sheet.](: [http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=d2kd2cg\_2sssfmzdh](http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=d2kd2cg_2sssfmzdh)) I will email What Exit? about making sure I am carrying the supplies that Mal listed. If anyone else has any suggestions as to things I should carry let me know. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/156 "2008-03-02T06:11:09Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] Is everybody OK with this staying the control and dicussion thread and actually kicking the game off in a new thread? I think it makes the most sense. [/QUOTE] Fine by me. So, never having done this process before, what else is involved in the DM preparing to start the game? Also, are we going to handle combat in a completely text-based fashion or what? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/157 "2008-03-02T07:21:59Z")
[QUOTE=NAF1138] If anyone is interested here is a link to [Gwaelur son of Gwaelin’s character sheet.](http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=d2kd2cg_2sssfmzdh) I will email What Exit? about making sure I am carrying the supplies that Mal listed. If anyone else has any suggestions as to things I should carry let me know. [/QUOTE] link fixed. A walking battleship, what a shock. 🙂 You must need those two ponies just to tote all the weapons. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/158 "2008-03-02T15:21:56Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] link fixed. A walking battleship, what a shock. 🙂 You must need those two ponies just to tote all the weapons. [/QUOTE] Holy hell, that’s a lot of weapons and armor. What’s with the Alignment: NG(LG)? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/159 "2008-03-02T16:47:07Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] Holy hell, that’s a lot of weapons and armor. What’s with the Alignment: NG(LG)? [/QUOTE] Neutral Good (Lawful Good tendencies). Believes that there should be a balance between benevolent regulation and personal freedom, but that the former works out somewhat better on balance; will take the law into his own hands if he thinks there is a really good reason, but has scruples about doing so. ---
**Author:** ![CatInASuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3be4f8/32.png) [@CatInASuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatInASuit)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/160 "2008-03-02T16:53:26Z")
Hi All, Mulligan Took is back and ready to go. **What Exit?** - I’ll email the rest of the equipment shortly. Thanks for the horse Uncle Pippin 🙂 As for me, I’m fine scouting above or below ground. In combat, you probably won’t see me once it gets started. Hopefully until it’s too late for the opposition. If I can get to the side or behind them, I’ll be concentrating on their support MU’s or archers. Otherwise, I’ll just stay out of trouble. Don’t worry about making me invisible, no-one’s going to notice me anyway. Of course, my more important skills will be locks related, much better to let me deal with it than waste a spell or cantrip. 🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276.md?page=9)