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The fine Elven Mithril/Mithral Shirt from the Lord of the Rings movie


Ragitsu

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Re: The fine Elven Mithril/Mithral Shirt from the Lord of the Rings movie

 

Just because I'd model the 'never healing' nature of the Ringwraith's blade as a very long-term Drain... I'd throw some Power Defense on the mithril armor...

 

I'd put a limit on the drain, because it appears to need a killing attack to do BOD to start the process. If a morgul blade hit perfectly normal plate armour, nothing suggested it'd go through. It sounded like it was designed to stick into the victim.

 

As far as the mithral chain, all I'd do is write it up as normal chain mail, ditch the "real armour" limitation and class it as IIF. A suit of armour that gives the same protection as a chain hauberk, but which weighs nothing, never seems to need maintenance, and can be worn under clothing without giving itself away? That's plenty magical.

 

In my current game, the players have finally gotten themselves suits of magical armour. It's just regular plate armour without the real amour limitations. However, from their point of view, it's essentially weightless and makes no noise. They can swim in it, or climb in it, or stealth in it and take no penalties. Their DCV is improved. It doesn't rust or rot. They are awed by their new phat lewt!

 

cheers, Mark

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Re: The fine Elven Mithril/Mithral Shirt from the Lord of the Rings movie

 

I'd put a limit on the drain, because it appears to need a killing attack to do BOD to start the process. If a morgul blade hit perfectly normal plate armour, nothing suggested it'd go through. It sounded like it was designed to stick into the victim.

 

Definitely, it would be linked to the HKA like a poison is usually written up.

 

In any case, appropriate levels of armor for chain, without the 'real armor' limitation, as an IIF... plus the power resistance, plus if you feel the need to boost the armor more add a bit more defense (Combat Luck maybe?) as needed.

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Re: The fine Elven Mithril/Mithral Shirt from the Lord of the Rings movie

 

Ummm... Resistant Defense with a focus?

 

Sorry to be snarky, but really? It provides defense, and is an item = ResDEF + Focus. The fact that it is light means nothing... or at best means your don't apply a limitation to it.

 

Resistant defense is obviously the power, you just have to decide how much defense and what limitations/advantages to apply to it. How much DEF and the limitations and advantages will be campaign dependent.

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Re: The fine Elven Mithril/Mithral Shirt from the Lord of the Rings movie

 

Markdoc is saying Power Defense is superfluous due to the nature of the attack - as long as it blocks the HKA the Drain never goes off. I agree.

 

The reason I'd bother is because of how much focus the armor got for his ability to survive the attack... without the mithril armor he would have died... something beyond just the raw defensive capability kept it from being fatal (and, of course, only just barely). What that 'extra something' is, of course, could vary... and whether it was an advantage/power of the armor or a limitation of the attack is up to the GM writing the powers up.

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Re: The fine Elven Mithril/Mithral Shirt from the Lord of the Rings movie

 

The thing is' date=' once everyone knew he had a Mithril shirt, no-one seemed surprised he survived the attack.[/quote']

 

In many action movies, once the character shows he was wearing a bulletproof vest, no one is surprised he survives a hail of gunfire either. Presumably both the attack and the mithril shirt are well enough known that the characters would expect someone wearing a mithril shirt to survive an attack that would kill an unarmored target. In game terms, they probably know the DC's of the attack and the rDEF of the shirt.

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Re: The fine Elven Mithril/Mithral Shirt from the Lord of the Rings movie

 

I'd put a limit on the drain, because it appears to need a killing attack to do BOD to start the process. If a morgul blade hit perfectly normal plate armour, nothing suggested it'd go through. It sounded like it was designed to stick into the victim.

 

As far as the mithral chain, all I'd do is write it up as normal chain mail, ditch the "real armour" limitation and class it as IIF. A suit of armour that gives the same protection as a chain hauberk, but which weighs nothing, never seems to need maintenance, and can be worn under clothing without giving itself away? That's plenty magical.

 

In my current game, the players have finally gotten themselves suits of magical armour. It's just regular plate armour without the real amour limitations. However, from their point of view, it's essentially weightless and makes no noise. They can swim in it, or climb in it, or stealth in it and take no penalties. Their DCV is improved. It doesn't rust or rot. They are awed by their new phat lewt!

 

cheers, Mark

 

Yeah, the value of the Real Armor Limitation being absent is proportional to the effects of it being present. If the GM just lets the Limitation languish, "free points" and all, then the players won't give a flip about weightless armor and Mithril is just shiny mail. But if you actually play the checks and balances of armor, Mithril becomes something very special indeed.

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Re: The fine Elven Mithril/Mithral Shirt from the Lord of the Rings movie

 

The thing is' date=' once everyone knew he had a Mithril shirt, no-one seemed surprised he survived the attack.[/quote']Until Bilbo made plans to leave the Shire, figure he was wearing it when he left, the mail was on loan to a museum in Michel Delving. Merry, Pippin and Sam were all aware of Bilbo's original adventure and the part the mail played. Figure Aragorn and Gandalf had a more intimate knowledge of Bilbo and his mail. Gimli, and probably Legolas, knew what it was as soon as he saw it. That would leave Boromir wondering, and he was a little preoccupied with the possibility of more playmates.
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Re: The fine Elven Mithril/Mithral Shirt from the Lord of the Rings movie

 

Until Bilbo made plans to leave the Shire' date=' figure he was wearing it when he left, the mail was on loan to a museum in Michel Delving. Merry, Pippin and Sam were all aware of Bilbo's original adventure and the part the mail played. Figure Aragorn and Gandalf had a more intimate knowledge of Bilbo and his mail. Gimli, and probably Legolas, knew what it was as soon as he saw it. That would leave Boromir wondering, and he was a little preoccupied with the possibility of more playmates.[/quote']

My point is, if Mithril weren't known for being able to stop a giant troll from stabbing you like Meat-Ona-Stick, they'd have been surprised. As it is, they clearly reacted in a way that shows that Mithril provides considerably more protection than steel.

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Re: The fine Elven Mithril/Mithral Shirt from the Lord of the Rings movie

 

20 Pd/20ED armor, IIF, does not work vs Morgul blades, or under an intense magnetic field. Distintive Features: recognized all the time, Reputation: worth more than the Shire, kingly gift. 60 Active points, Real cost 5

 

Oh wait. +20 to Pre.

10D6 mind control, only to make orcs kill each other.

 

Hmm, (does bogus math) Final cost...7 points. Yeah. The GM will go for this!

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Re: The fine Elven Mithril/Mithral Shirt from the Lord of the Rings movie

 

20 Pd/20ED armor, IIF, does not work vs Morgul blades, or under an intense magnetic field. Distintive Features: recognized all the time, Reputation: worth more than the Shire, kingly gift. 60 Active points, Real cost 5

 

Oh wait. +20 to Pre.

10D6 mind control, only to make orcs kill each other.

 

Hmm, (does bogus math) Final cost...7 points. Yeah. The GM will go for this!

Why not under an intense magnetic field?

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Re: The fine Elven Mithril/Mithral Shirt from the Lord of the Rings movie

 

Didn't Bilbo give the shirt to Frodo at Rivendell? That is, after he was wounded by the Morgul-blade?

 

I wouldn't bother making any allowance for the Morgul-blade in the build. It has no magical effect unless it does body, and there's no reason to suggest it would do body through the mithril shirt.

 

Basically, it was good enough to stop the body from the troll's attack, but not the stun. It would be straight up resistant defences, bought through a focus but without the Real Armour limitation. Expensive, but easy.

 

I can't imagine why you would want to add 'intense magnetic fields" to the equation. They simply didn't exist in Middle Earth.

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Re: The fine Elven Mithril/Mithral Shirt from the Lord of the Rings movie

 

One thing we should all keep in mind is Tolkein never completely finished his Middle-Earth tales. If you read the Simerlarion (sp?) and his Unfinished Tales with commetary from his son, Chistopher, he was always refining and tweaking what he wrote. He had to revised The Hobbit to fit into the Triliogy. I lost the book, but it had an essay by Tolkein about myths and fairy tales. He wrote that there should be a mystery, and dangerous. So I'm not surprised that even Hobbits, we don't know for sure where they came from or what happened to them. As a side note, I do believe that Mithril is supposed to be real albeit ultra rare. And no one has access to a MERP book? I'd love to see what that rpg says about mithril,a the morgul blade come to think of it.

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Re: The fine Elven Mithril/Mithral Shirt from the Lord of the Rings movie

 

The Cave troll might have rolled 3 bod or some other crap roll. Happens all the time in my games.

 

That doesn't match the description, or the visuals in the film.

 

It was a good solid hit that would have skewered him without the shirt.

 

Given that it was really the only time the shirt really did anything, I'd go with a generous interpretation.

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Re: The fine Elven Mithril/Mithral Shirt from the Lord of the Rings movie

 

That doesn't match the description, or the visuals in the film.

 

It was a good solid hit that would have skewered him without the shirt.

 

Given that it was really the only time the shirt really did anything, I'd go with a generous interpretation.

Shelob went straight through it, but even Sauron was wary of Shelob.

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Re: The fine Elven Mithril/Mithral Shirt from the Lord of the Rings movie

 

It would be worth pulling out the text, but my copy of The Two Towers seems to be hidden deeper than my copies of the other two books.

 

The shirt certainly didn't cover all hit locations.

In the movie, she bit him in the gut, which I would be very surprised if the shirt didn't cover.

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