In reply to Berthold (msg # 10):

Income =/= disposable income.  I mean, it's a game system, so it's never going to be perfect, but that income, in the context we're describing, covers cost of upkeep, sufficient food and shelter to ensure the warrior is healthy, the cost of maintaining weapons, your horse, food and shelter for the animal, food and shelter for your depenendents, and so on.  And all of this without you having to farm, or whatever.

And yes, taking edges means taking Hinderances.  But Hinderences are part of character design, OF COURSE you take them.  I don't think I've ever made a SWADE character that didn't take the full 4 at CharGen, because, as you point out, that's precisely how you pay for upgrades and extras.

If you want a rohirrim, take Vow, Code of Honour, Rich, Filthy Rich, and you've got an extra "buy" to spend on whatever (because Code is a Major).  You're a pround, honourable warrior, with an oath of service to the King of the Riddermark (or whatever), and all the horse and armour shenanigans you want.

I'm afraid taking those hindrances would not compensate the two edges, as you need 2 hindrance points to buy an edge...

Or one Advance.

The economics of middle earth is also based on an ideal, not a reality.

Something that I only understood recently is, by the standards of the Shire, the four companions were not poor. Pippin was the son of the Thane (charged with keeping good order), Merry was in line to inherit Buckland after his father. Frodo is related to both of them and was adopted by the occupant of No. 1 Bag End, a sign Bilbo was well to do before going on an adventure with the dwarves and ending up with more money than he knew what to do with (by Hobbit standards). He had to buy back most of his possessions and still had more money than he could use in 17 years

Even Sam was due to inherit no.3, but frodo gave him no.1. At the start of the adventure, each of the four hobbits had claim to more realisable money than Aragorn, who traded mostly on reputation and friendship.

EDIT: I made a mistake Hamfast Gamgee (the Gaffer) was a Tenant Farmer, so Sam didn't have as much wealth as the other three.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:44, Thu 10 Mar 2022.

Contemporary costs are not a good variable either due to inflation Vs when rules were written. A £3k laptop over 3 years is less than £100 per month if you don't consider interest.

A prime, branded video game 30 years ago was £35 They can cost anywhere between £70 and £100 now. A certain miniature company sold 5 figures for 5.99 now it can vary between £35 for 20 or £60 for 3, and I'm not sure I chose the most expensive ones.

Your sword may be 60% of your starting wealth, but how often do you expect to change swords?

Anyway, I'm not sure this is a productive discussion, and it's certainly a silly thing to make mountain of ;)
This message was last edited by the player at 14:30, Thu 10 Mar 2022.

Thank you all so much for jumping in, helping one another, having serious discussions about wealth, etc. In general, I am not a stickler for exact rules. With the exception of a couple of your characters, you are all visiting the king in Minas Tirith and will not have access to all you might own after several years of advancement anyway. Make a reasonable list of what you think your character would have with them. Everyone will get a horse or a pony provided by the king if they do not already own one.

In terms of weapons and armor, pick what you would like that fits in with your character, and the setting (chain rather than plate, for instance).

We do have a large company, though I expect that the normal winnowing will bring us down to a handful within a few weeks. Here's how the grouping breaks down, in my imagination:

These characters are residents in Minas Tirith, serving the king directly, and they will know one another.

• Roclindhir - a knight of King Aragorn
• Mercury Fleetfoot - a female hobbit serving the white city in a military capacity

These characters are visitors to the city who arrived recently for their own reasons. The two dwarves, both from the cour of Dain II, King Under the Mountain, are likely they traveled together and will know one another

• Falin  - Dwarf and messenger of the court of Dain II
• Admina - Dwarf, daughter of Dwalin

These characters are visitors who are unconnected in any way until now:

• Adunaphel - a lady of the northern Dunedain
• Wort Halffield - a hobbit from the Shire
• Telric Traventor - elf from Mirkwood

These characters are Riders of Rohan, who only just arrived with the prisoner. They know one another:

• Herubrand -  scout in the Riders of Rohan
• Berthold - a Young Rohirrim

And finally, our wizard, Silence Mulciber, NPC

Yeah, my bad - was thinking in terms of advancements (where 1 adv = a minor Hindrance removed or a new Edge).

If you want to change the amount of starting money to account for the higher level characters that can easily be done by giving a number of months worth of income as spending cash, that could be as simple as picking a number like 6 or 12, or you could fix it to the same as the number of total advances on the character for a little bit more logic.

In reply to Incantrix (msg # 15):

I had talked with Herubrand, and he and Roclindhir are cousins-in-law. That being said, I like the idea of Roclindhir knowing Mercury.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:52, Thu 10 Mar 2022.

Rolling a 1 for advancements is not good luck, but it fits to the young warriopr I intended to play...

Here he is (unless the Gm wants to make some change)


============================= HALLS OF STONE ===================================
Character Name:    Berthold                 Character Rank    :  Seasoned
Character Race:   Human (Rohirrim)                  Total Experience  :
Concept       :     Rohirrim warrior                Unspent Experience:
Player Name   :  Lluís
==================================ATTRIBUTES==================================
Pace (6/6)   | Parry (6/6)     | Toughness (6/6)

Agility     D8 | Smarts         D8 | Strength D6 | Spirit       D6 | Vigor D8

====================================SKILLS====================================
Athletics   D4 | Academics      Dx |             | Intimidation D4 |
Boating     Dx | Battle         D4 |             | Performance  Dx |
Fighting    D8 | Common Know    D6 |             | Persuasion   D4|
Riding      D8 | Gambling       Dx |             |                 |
Shooting    D8 | Healing        D6 |             |                 |
Stealth     D4 | Language       D8 |             |                 |
Thievery    Dx | Notice         D6 |             |                 |
               | Occult         Dx |             |                 |
               | Repair         Dx |             |                 |
               | Research       Dx |             |                 |
               | Science        Dx |             |                 |
               | Spellcasting   Dx |             |                 |
               | Survival       D4 |             |                 |
               | Taunt          Dx |             |                 |

====================================EDGES====================================
Soldier
Command
=================================HINDRANCES==================================
Code of honor
Vow (minor) to the king of Rohan (and his allies by extension)
Loyal
====================================ARMOR====================================
Name           Locations Covered   Protection   Notes
Chain shirt torso and arms +3
Chain hood Head +3
===================================WEAPONS===================================
Name                 Range     Dam RoF   Ammo    Weight Shots Notes
Bow           12/24/48    2d6      1                        3
Longsword NA Str+1d6   3
==================================EQUIPMENT==================================
Horse (war if possible) and saddle
Bacckpak
Quilver (with 20 arrows)
Bedroll
Hooded cloack

=================================DESCRIPTION=================================
Berthold stand on nearly 6 feet and masses nearly 200 pounds weight. He’s blond, with short beard and blue eyes, and uses to stand tall, making an imposing presence.
He uses to be formal when speaking to strangers, but may be a good fellow when his trust is earned

==================================BACKGROUND=================================
Berthols’s father was among the Rohirrim standing with Eomer when he was disgraced for his challenge to Wormtongue, and was among the group who met Aragorn, Gimly and Legolas when they were looking for Merry and Pippin. He followed Eomer to Helm’s Deep, Minas Tirith and the Black gate battles, and after the war he served in the Rohan Army and married.
Berthold has also entered in the King Eomer army, and has been serving in the patrols since he was 16. Now, at 19, he was learning commanding troops, serving as a subordinate leader in the patrol that captured the wizard, and being sent with the troop that took it to Minas Tirith

================================ADVANCEMENTS==================================
1: attribute (+1 to Smarts)
2: +1 to both, Riding and Shooting
3: +1 to healing and common knowledge
4; edge: command


This message was last edited by the player at 02:54, Fri 11 Mar 2022.

Here's my WIP sheet - thanks to Telric for helping me since I'm new.

Name: Roclindhir
Race: Human
Profession: Knight of Gondor

Attributes
Agility D8
Smarts D4
Spirit D6
Strength D8
Vigor D8

Charisma: 0
Pace: 6"
Parry: 7
Toughness: 6

Skills
Athletics D8
Persuasion D6
Common knowledge D4
Stealth D6
Notice D4
Survival D6
Fighting D10
Riding D8


Edges & Hindrances
Edge • Notes.
Human
Free Edge-Aristocrat: +2 common knoweledge for nobles & +2 Persuasion when rank comes into play.

+1 Strength

Rich-More starting Money

Hindrance • Notes.
Code of Honor-Major

Enemy-Family of spouse who hates Gondor-Minor

Driven-Prove himself worthy of Family name-Minor

Fatigue & Wounds
Fatigue:
Wounds:

Equipment
Total Weight: 0 • Weight Limit: 0 • Encumbrance Penalty: 0
Armor:
• Head:
• Torso:
• Arms:
• Legs:
Gear:


Advances
Novice
- 5 xp: Fighting +1
-10 xp: Steady Hands: no minus when riding
-15 xp: Vigor +1

Seasoned
-20 xp: Combat Reflexes: +2 vs shaken/Stunned.

I'm still working on equipment and hindrances.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:04, Fri 11 Mar 2022.

I can do background connections with anyone who has spent a bit of time in Minas Tirith before the mission starts.

In reply to Mercury Fleetfoot (msg # 21):

Well, you'd definitely know Roclindhir and his two younger brothers, Mithrion and Northoron. You'd probably know their husbands as well - Deorwine, Fréawulf, and Aethelward respectively - granted, they split what time they can between Gondor and Rohan.

I'm afraid SWADE removed charisma...

In reply to Berthold (msg # 23):

Oh! let me see what I can do to fix it

Knowing young knights seems likely, Mercury isn't exactly one of them but their paths no doubt cross a bit.  Remembering their names and or family seems a lot less likely.

Valid. Well, 3 are in the same family so they hope that helps make it slightly easier

Hi all. This is my current thinking. I'm sure I made mistakes and I still have 3 advances left by my count.

Str d4
Dex d6
Smart d8
Spirit d8
Vigor d6

6 advances
Common Bond, Healer, Great Luck

Common skill: Athletics, Common Knowledge, Notice, Pursuasion, Stealth

Skills [12]
Athletic d4*
Fighting d4
Driving d4
Shooting d4
Stealth d4* +1

Common Knowledge d4* +1 (Shire)
Knowledge Herbs d4
Language d4
Healing d4 +2
Notice d4*
Survival d4

Performance d4
Persuasion d4*

--
Reduced Pace
Reduced Vigor

Lucky

In reply to Wort Halffield (msg # 27):

You should definitely raise your skills with your advances. Particularly healing.

So it looks like this now: he is kind of a one trick pony. He heals, and is a Benny slot machine. Not sure to add Academics d4 to represent the idea he is starting to come around to the idea he has to look up new (and old) healing practices in *on paper* (heart attack); or to increase herbology to d6. The d4 in language is so he actually can read and write. Because most Hobbits can't.

Str d4
Dex d6
Smart d10
Spirit d8
Vigor d6

6 advances
Common Bond, Healer, Great Luck, +1 smart, +1 heal. 1 left

Common skill: Athletics, Common Knowledge, Notice, Pursuasion, Stealth

Skills [12]
Athletic d4*
Fighting d4
Driving d4 (pony and cart)
Shooting d4
Stealth d6

Common Knowledge d6 (Shire)
Knowledge Herbs d4
Language d4
Healing d10
Notice d4*
Survival d4

Performance d4
Persuasion d4*

--
Reduced Pace
Reduced Vigor

Lucky

Quick question / rules call on Beast Master. Can it be a horse? I know the description points to a smaller animal, but, specific to Herubrand, it seems like the Rohirrim might have developed an uncanny bond between rider and mount.

Seems pretty clear in the rules that you need to take the Edge a second time to increase the size of the animal. If you agree that it is the very next Edge you will take, and since the Riders clearly do have a special connection with their mounts, I will allow it.

In reply to Incantrix (msg # 31):

I know I hadn't taken the Beast Master edge, but what size horse would Roclindhir have? Assuming he has one because he's a knight of the White City.

NOTE: I am using English 21st century names for these breeds. I have no idea what they would be called by elves, for instance.

Quarter Horse: This is the standard horse of the Rohirrim. Not as fast in a race as the Arabian, but able to ride all day. Height: 14 hands (56 inches) to 16 hands (64 inches) Weight: 950 to 1,200 pounds

Arabian: A rare and spirited breed, hard to handle. Light and fast, but not well suited for all day riding. A sprinter. Height: 14 hands (56 inches) to 16 hands (64 inches) Weight: 800 to 1,000 pounds

Apaloosa: A hardy, versatile horse is great for herding and long-distance trail riding. Equivalent in many ways to the Quarter horse, but not typical for the herds of Rohan. It will have come from elsewhere. Tends to have colorful coat patterns. Height: 14 hands (56 inches) to 15 hands (60 inches) Weight: 950 to 1,200 pounds

Pony: These smaller animals are strong, intelligent, gentle, and a bit wily. They can ride all day, but are not very fast in a sprint. Height: 7 hands (28 inches) to 11.5 hands (46 inches) Weight: 400 to 450 pounds

Pack Horses: These horses are very large and can carry heavy loads all day long. Not fast runners. In spite of their imposing size, pack horses are typically calm, docile, and eager to please. Height: 16 hands (64 inches) to 18 hands (72 inches) Weight: 1,800 to 2,400 pounds

Just for completness (I don't expect or any to appear in the game) you should include the Mearas...

In reply to Berthold (msg # 34):

I certainly do NOT have a Mearas...