Words of Power for the Lord of the Rings Adventure Game

The Lord of the Rings Adventure Game is one of my favorite licensed Tolkien games. Pipedream is one of my favorite unlicensed Tolkien games.

In Pipedream, there is a very admirable system for Words of Power, where you invoke the names of not!Valar to perform some magical feat. This blog post adapts this system for Lord of the Rings Adventure Game. 

A continuation of posts that could be subtitled: "Why do I spend my time on these things?"

Words of Power

by Jian Guo

"Gilthoniel A Elbereth!"

And then his tongue was loosed and his voice cried in a language which he did not know: 

"A Elbereth Gilthoniel

o menel palan-diriel,

le nallon si di'nguruthos!

A tiro nin, Fanuilos!"

For every +1 bonus you did not assign during character creation, your character can call on the name of one of the Powers of Arda. 

Valar	Auspices	Invoke to:
Manwë	Lord of the Breath of Arda; the winds, airs and birds are his servants	Bless fulfillment of a duty Curse an oathbreaker
Varda	Elbereth Gilthoniel, Lady of the Stars; kindler of the stars	Bless travel by night Strike creatures of Shadow
Ulmo	Lord of Waters, Dweller of the Deep; devises the music of waters, bays, and rivers	Bless travel by water Heal magical curses
Yavanna	Queen of Earth, Giver of Fruits; responsible for all growing things	Bless agriculture Heal growing things
Aulë	The Great Smith, Father of Dwarves; concerned with rock, metal, and work of craft	Bless stoneworking Curse thieves
Mandos	Ruler of the Dead, the Judge, the Doomsman of the Valar; summoner of spirits of the slain, who forgets nothing	Bless funerals Compel a guilty party to confess Strike the un-dead
Nienna	Lady of Pity; acquainted with grief, and mourns for every wound that Arda has suffered	Heal 1d6 Endurance or major illness
Oromë	Lord of Forests; hunter of monsters and evil creatures	Strike with a missile weapon Compel hidden monsters to reveal themselves

Speaking Words of Power

When you invoke one of the words of power, make an maneuver and add your Magical bonus. The Δ is equal to how dire the situation is at hand; the Powers of Arda are not to be frivolously called upon.

In the sunlight of a Sunday morning in the Shire - Δ15

In the lonely lands and wastes - Δ11

While fighting servants of the Shadow - Δ8

In the land of Shadow - Δ6

If successful, you may choose one of the invocations of the Power that you invoked. If unsuccessful, you are fated to not receive such aid at this time. In either event, you may only invoke a word of power once per game session.

Invocations

Bless: When you Bless an activity, anyone participating in that activity can also roll a d12 whenever they would roll a maneuver. They may use the d12 result instead of their maneuver dice's result, if they wish.

Compel: When you Compel a target, they must obey your command or lose 1d6 Endurance.

Curse: When you Curse a target, they permanently lose all Endurance. This Curse can only be lifted if the invoker wills it, if the invoker is slain, or if the target receives Healing from another Valar.

Heal: When a target is Healed, they regain Endurance or are cured of a major illness, a curse, or magical affliction.

Strike: When you strike in the name of the Valar, you gain a +4 Offensive Bonus to your attack roll against the specified creature. Oromë can bless any attack with a missile weapon.