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OF THE MISTY MOUNTAINS BY MICHELE GARBUGGIO (AKA 'MICHEBUGIO ') EDITED BY RICHARD HARRISON FOR THE ROLE -PLAYING GAME

Artwork Credits Artwork found within this fan created compendium is strictly the copyright of the original artists and, if applicable, any publications associated to their printing and distribution and such usage in no way challenges this. Special thanks to all those artists (known and otherwise), including: John Howe, Angus McBride, et al.

- Orcs

of the

Misty

Mountains -

“ was marching north along the east banks of the River, and near the Gladden Fields he was waylaid by the Orcs of the Mountains, and almost all his folk were slain.”

DESCRIPTION Bred by the first Dark Power in the early years of the world to serve him in many wars, Orcs are an evil race of intelligent creatures. Their malicious spirit is ORCS AND SHADOW full of hatred for all living things including their Orcs are cruel and cunning, bearing orders for all own kind, and when left to their own devices they malevolent creatures with hate for the Free Peoples. often end up quarrelling fiercely over futile They are born in the taint of the Shadow and they questions. They are usually strong and agile, quick are often directly subject to the will of their Dark and robust, and ready to learn or devise new Lord: as such, they have totally succumbed to the methods or instruments of torment. Their Shadow. For this reason, characters cannot ever appearance and size differs from tribe to tribe, but accumulate Shadow points , nor can they ever many prominent features are common to all Orcs, choose the Heal Corruption Fellowship phase such as swarthy skin, short legs and broad, slanted undertaking. Instead, an Orc adventurer starts with eyes, wide mouths and long fangs. the Murderous Flaw and all the four negative Traits related to his Calling’s Shadow weakness (if his Of the several different breeds of Orc serving the Shadow weakness is the Curse of Vengeance, he Shadow, the Orcs of the Misty Mountains are must choose another Flaw among Cowardly , among the most numerous: they are used to living Thieving , Treacherous or Tyrannical , so to have a and making war in the deep places beneath the total of five negative Traits). earth, where their sight is keener than any other Orc. When they are encountered in their mines, they HATE are savage fighters and reckless in assault, but they Orcs do not have a score of Hope. They have a score leave the dark under the mountains only when of Hate instead, and they can use it to invoke marching to war or to avenge their fallen kind, as Attribute bonuses or to trigger the effect of a they suffer badly the light of the sun. Cultural Virtue. Similarly to Hope, if an orc

character finds his Hate score reduced to zero The Orcs of the Misty Mountains are a wild and points, he is spiritually spent and cannot bear to independent lot, bent on their own purposes and continue a struggle of any sort, so he will flee from aims when the Shadow’s influence is weak, but any source of danger or stress. Orcs may recover ready to obey the will of their Master when directly Hate during a game session spending Shadow subject to it. The smallest among them are often points (see below). referred to as goblins.

COWARDICE STANDARD OF LIVING Cowardice points reflect the marks left on an Orc- The Orcs of the Misty Mountains are a folk at war, character when his fighting spirit is weakened by and carve a living out of raids, lootings and doubt and despair. Starting Orc-characters begin depredations. They breed rapidly, and their the game with a Cowardice rating of zero. constant fight with the Free People and even between themselves leaves them struggling to do When the Hate score of an Orc decreases to reach more than simply feed their growing armies. Their his Cowardice rating, the Orc is considered culture ranks as Frugal . Miserable. Check the Miserable box on the character sheet, and apply the effects to the LANGUAGES character. Orcs generally speak the Common Speech (Westron)

in addition to the language of their kind, Orcish, When an Orc-character that has been made and some . Miserable by the Cowardice gets a icon on his Feat die, he experiences a bout of madness, in all regards equal to those of normal player ORC ADVENTURERS characters. In gaming terms, a player who suffered The Orc chieftains of the Misty Mountains cannot a bout of madness cancels all the Cowardice points really oppose the many young warriors who express he accumulated so far, and replaces them with a their desire to leave their tunnels to plunder and single ‘permanent’ Cowardice point. Differently prey upon the weaker of their own kind, or to exact from normal characters, an Orc cannot develop any revenge against the Free Peoples. Moreover, this more Flaws after suffering a bout of madness. tendency is a never-ending supply of enemies and adventurers from the Free Folks of the North, who An Orc whose permanent Cowardice points equal to frequently set out to hunt them. half his Hate score (rounded up) is lost and is taken out of play, probably as a consequence of a violent Suggested Callings: Slayer, Treasure Hunter. Orcs death by the hands of the Dark Lord or one of his make enemies readily, and many is the slaughtered lieutenants, who have no more use of such a chieftain’s son who goes seeking vengeance. Others, pathetic creature. though, seek only to steal the marvels of other folks.

SHADOW POINTS Unusual Calling: Scholar. Brutish and savage, Orcs Orcs may recover spent Hate by tapping into their take no interest in study. Shadow poolpool: for every Shadow point spent, a character may raise his Hate score by one. To do so, a player must get permission from at least half the other members of the war band. If this consensus cannot be found, he may either agree not to spend any points, or spend them anyway and gain a Cowardice point for each Shadow point used.

Players may recover a number of Hate points up to their maximum Hate score, as long as there are Shadow points left. For any other regard, Shadow points work exactly like Fellowship points (as per the standard rules).

Similarly to Fellowship rating, the number of Shadow points available to a war band of Orcs at the beginning of the game is equal to the number of Orcs in the group. Orc characters do not have any equivalent of a Fellowship focus, and may never choose one.

WHAT THE GREAT GOBLIN SAYS ... CULTURAL BLESSING

• BardingBardings:s:s:s: ‘We already slew a King of Men at the NIGHT -EYES Gladden Fields, we could have killed Bard the "There's only one thing those maggots can do: they Dragonslayer as well if their friends and can see like gimlets in the dark." Durin’s Folk didn’t help him! But his downfall is just a matter of time…’ The Orcs of the Misty Mountains are adapted to living in the pitch-black darkness of caverns and • BeorningsBeornings:::: ‘ the Skin-changer killed the tunnels. As such, all Orcs have the Night-eyes Trait great Bolg at the Battle of Five Armies. We will (see below) in addition to their normal Traits. For have our revenge on him and all his folk, soon!’ the same reason, though, they loathe the sunlight more than anything else: they lose 1 point of Hate at • Dwarves of the : ‘many of their the end of the first round of combat fought while ancient strongholds lie in ruins, or they already exposed to the light of the sun. belong to us. We’ll cut Durin’s Folk down to the last !’ New Trait: NightNight----EEEEyesyesyesyes • Elves of : ‘The thrice hated Elves are No darkness is too dark for the eyes of the Orcs. growing weak, and they are losing interest in They can see perfectly in complete darkness, and things outside their Realm in Mirkwood. Soon suffer no penalty related to dark environments they will not be a danger anymore…’ whatsoever.

• of : ‘I heard about this small folk who once defeated my distant ancestor STARTING SKILL SCORES Golfimbul, but I’ve never seen one myself. They must be good for a stew!’ COMMON SKILLS Copy the following skill ranks onto the character • Men of LakeLaketowntowntown:::: 'Weak and insipid merchants sheet and underline the favoured skill: and water-dwellers! These people trembled under the shadow of Smaug and they will cower Awe 1 Inspire 0 Persuade 0 in terror again.' Athletics 3 Travel 2 Stealth 2 Awareness 2 Insight 0 Search 2 • Woodmen of Wilderland: ‘Our closest enemies, Explore 2 Healing 1 Hunting 2 with that annoying Brown Wizard protecting Song 1 Courtesy 0 Riddle 0 them! But when rises again, we’ll 1 Battle 1 exterminate them and burn their forest homes to Craft Lore 0 the ground!’

WEAPON SKILLS Choose one of the following weapon skill sets, and record it on the character sheet:

1) (Swords) 2, Orc-spear or Broad-headed spear (choose one) 1, Jagged Knife 1

2) Bow of Horn 2, Bent sword or Broad-headed sword (choose one) 1, Jagged Knife 1

SPECIALITIES Choose two traits from:

Fire-making, Misty Mountains-lore, Mountaineer, Orc-work*, Smith-craft, Tunnelling

New Trait: OrcOrc----workwork Orcs make no beautiful things, but many clever ones including machines, tools and instruments of torture, and they are delighted by wheels, engines and explosions. You are especially crafty in these gruesome and dreadful ‘arts’.

2 - ESCAPED SNAGA BACKGROUNDS You are a snaga, a word that in the Black Speech means “slave”. Serving the Necromancer in Dol 1 - GOBLIN STALKER Guldur, you’ve always been considered a lesser Orc You are an Orc of Goblin-Town, and the endless by those stronger than you, no more than a hound cave systems below the Misty Mountains have used to track down the enemies of the Dark Power. always been your home. You travelled stealthily But when the Shadow was cast out of his fortress, from one tunnel to another, looking for new you managed to escape to the West, finding refuge passages and secret galleries, spying upon rival below the Misty Mountains. Now your tracking tribes and stalking incautious adventurers who skills only serve yourself, and you will finally have dared to come too close to Goblin-Town. You your share in the hunt of the Free People. learned that, more often than not, a well-placed arrow shot from the dark was enough to earn an Basic Attributes easy prize of meat and equipment. Body 3, Heart 2, Wits 6

Basic Attributes Favoured Skill Body 3, Heart 3, Wits 5 Hunting

Favoured Skill Distinctive Features Stealth (Choose two Traits from those listed) Cunning, Hardened, Hardy, Reckless, Small, Distinctive Features Suspicious, Swift (Choose two Traits from those listed) Cautious, Curious, Elusive, Hardy, Keen-eyed, Nimble, Small

3 – SON OF THE CHIEFTAIN 5 - MESSENGER OF LUGBÙRZ Your father is an Orc chieftain of Gundabad, who You are an emissary of Barad-dûr, sent on an earned his status by simply being the largest, most errand for your Master to spy upon the Free Folks of wicked and cruel of his war band. You do not the North and to rouse all creatures with evil intent admire him, nor do you feel proud for being his in Wilderland. You spread your lies and promises of progeny: as soon as your strength will match his, power among Orcs and fouler things, hoping that you will challenge him to become the new Chieftain one day you will command yourself a great army to of your tribe. Until then, you will prove your cruelty conquer the North and rule Men, Elves and on the battlefield, taking the lives of Dwarves, Men Dwarves with the iron fist of the Orcs. and Elves alike, and of whoever will cross your path to glory. Basic Attributes Body 4, Heart 1, Wits 6 Basic Attributes Body 4, Heart 2, Wits 5 Favoured Skill Riddle FavouFavouredred Skill Battle Distinctive Features (Choose two Traits from those listed) Distinctive Features Clever, Hardened, Hardy, Lordly, Secretive, (Choose two Traits from those listed) Swift, Wary Fierce, Hardy, Proud, Steadfast, Swift, Vengeful, Wilful 6 – EXILED URUK You are a -breed Uruk, stronger and more 4 – TOUGH GUARD cunning than most of your kind, living in the caves You were chosen among the strongest and boldest below the Redhorn Pass. Your ancestors were sent to guard the immense halls in the mines of , from Minas Morgul to reinforce the lesser Orcs of the ancient dwarf stronghold that now you call the Misty Mountains, and under their command home. There you learned to trust your senses to they ambushed and killed Isildur at the Battle of the recognize each and every of the slightest sounds Gladden Fields. Their strength in your black blood your ears could catch from the depths, from the still runs powerful, as well as your thirst for battle. creaks of feet on unsteady stairs to the distant splash of a rock dropped by someone in the water. Basic Attributes What couldn’t escape your attention could not Body 5, Heart 1, Wits 5 escape your blade, either. Favoured Skill Basic Attributes Athletics Body 4, Heart 3, Wits 4 Distinctive Features Favoured Skill (Choose two Traits from those listed) Awareness Bold, Fierce, Grim, Hardened, Hardy, Vengeful, Wrathful Distinctive Features (Choose two Traits from those listed) Bold, Determined, Hardy, Quick of Hearing, Robust, Suspicious, Wary

ENDURANCE AND HATE SERVANT OF THE SHADOW Starting scores: The Orcs in the service of Barad-dûr use the sign of the Red Eye. • Endurance = 23 + Heart • Hate = 8 + Heart Tell-tale scars and mutilations mark your long service under the Shadow. Acting as a lieutenant for the Dark Lord, you have been recognized as a ORC NAMES leader by the ranks of lesser Orcs. Orcs may take their name from either Orcish or the Black Speech. In battle, when you fight in an Open stance you may spend a point of Hate to attempt the Rally Comrades Male Names: Azog, Balcmeg, Boldog, Bolg, combat task in addition to your attack roll (instead Burzash, Ghor, Golfimbul, Gorbag, Gorgol, of forfeiting your action for the turn). Additionally, Grishnàk, Lagduf, Lug, Lugdush, Maghaz, Mauhùr, raise both your maximum Hate score and your Orcobal, Othrod, Radbug, Radgul, Shagrat, Standing rating by 1 point. Ubhurz. SNUFFLER Orcs were as keen as hounds on a scent, it was said...

Gifted with wide, snuffling nostrils, you are able to catch the scent of enemies from a distance, even after a prolonged period of time has passed. You may make a Hunting roll to get a useful piece of CULTURAL VIRTUES information about a quarry you are tracking or a Due to the variety of breeds, orcs are said to possess place you are seeking, if the Loremaster judges that all sorts of malicious and dangerous qualities. it can be obtained through a keen olfaction; the Many of these Virtues bear the taint of the Shadow, higher the quality of the success, the more and they could be attributed to the Dark Power's information you obtain. influence over the ages. What is certain is that nobody question the fierceness with which the Orcs In addition, if the Hunting roll was successful, you carry out their invasions, sparing no weapon at may spend 1 point of Hate: as long as you are their disposal. hunting the same quarry or seeking the same place for which you rolled for, every roll you make using a FIGHTING URUK -HAI Perception or Survival skill benefits from a free "We are the Uruk-hai: we do not stop the fight for Attribute bonus. night or day, for fair weather or for storm. We come to kill, by sun or moon." STEALTHY ARCHERY He leaped into the waters, but the Ring slipped from You belong to an improved breed of the uruks, his finger as he swam, and then the Orcs saw him black Orcs of great strength first appeared out of and killed him with arrows. Mordor. Not only you are larger, but you can withstand the light of the day without being Most members of your kin possess a natural talent weakened, and you've been trained to use better for moving and aiming in the dark when using their weapons. horn bows. You seem to possess that quality yourself, as your arrows find their target with Raise your maximum Endurance score by 3 points. deadly precision in the darkness, and your motions In addition, from now on you do not lose 1 point of are exceedingly confident. When you are in the dark Hate when fighting under the light of the sun, and (at night, underground or in a dense forest), add a the Encumbrance of any broad-headed sword and bonus equal to your basic Heart rating to your broad-headed spear you wield is reduced by 1. ranged attack rolls and to all Stealth rolls.

WARG RIDER How the wind howls!” he cried. “It is howling with wolf-voices. The have come west of the Mountains!”

You have made an alliance with a of the North, which you now use as a mount. Reduce by 1 the amount of Fatigue increase generated by each Fatigue test during any journey (as if you were riding a Pony), and you can now cover 30 miles of distance in an average day of travel, instead of 20.

You can make additional bargains with the Warg, to gain the same benefits as those described under the Hound of Mirkwood Virtue of the Woodmen of Wilderlands.

When you first choose this Virtue, the Warg agrees to assist you with one Common skill as described under Support (Adventurer's Book, page 133), without paying the Experience cost.

You can make additional bargains in order to be supported in further skills, as well as to be assisted in combat (through Harass Enemy and Protect), as a separate undertaking during later war band phases and at the price of additional Experience points, as described in the Virtue.

But such benefits come with a price: a Warg of the CULTURAL REWARDS Wilderlands is a vicious beast, always ready to The Orcs have gathered many uncommon pieces of betray his Orcish companion at the first sign of war gear under the Misty Mountains: the heirlooms weakness. If you become Wounded or Poisoned of ancient dwarven strongholds and the findings of during a fight, make a Valour check immediately years of life in the Wild. The Orc-smiths spend a lot after the battle ends: on a failure, the Warg attacks of time devising more efficient ways to defeat their to feed on you! Use the stats of a Wild Wolf for this enemies, and they can make very well weapons and fight (Loremaster's Book, page 82). The Warg poisons, or get other people to make to their design. automatically wins the initiative, and you must assume a Forward stance for the whole duration of ORC POISON (piercing weapons) the fight. Your companions can join the battle and Your weapons have been coated with a powerful help you fighting the beast only starting from your poison, brewed by cruel arts. When you are second turn of combat, if they wish; and if you are attacking an enemy with a piercing weapon (a bow not already dead. of horn, a spear, a broad-headed spear or a broad- headed sword), if you roll a great or extraordinary The Warg stops fighting when reduced to half his success you may choose not to apply your Damage Endurance or less, or if he becomes Weary. At this rating and poison your enemy instead. point, he will keep assisting you and will not attack again while you are healing from your injuries. If A poisoned opponent becomes partially blind after you kill the Warg you don't lose the benefits already a number of rounds equal to his Attribute level, or gained with this Virtue, but you won't have the half his Attribute level (rounded down) if the attack assistance of another Warg until the next roll was an extraordinary success. A blinded Adventuring phase. opponent cannot make ranged attacks and suffers a modifier of +6 to the TN of all actions for the remainder of the combat.

SPEAR OF BOLDOG (spear or broad-headed spear) When you take this Reward, choose one Cultural These iron spears are made after the one that the Reward from the lists of Bardings, Elves of Great Orc Boldog used to fight in single Mirkwood, Men of the Lake, Beornings, or Dwarves combat back in the First Age, and they are balanced of the Lonely Mountain. Once chosen, it cannot be to make close stabbing thrusts and viciously strike changed. From now on, you can use that Reward as unprotected areas. if it was an Orc Cultural Reward.

When you make a melee attack roll using a Spear of This benefit comes with a price, however. Any Boldog, you roll the Feat die twice and choose the opponent belonging to the Culture you “stole” your best result. Reward from will double his efforts trying to retrieve what you have unjustly taken, and gains Hatred SPOILS OF WAR (Orcs of the Misty Mountains) special ability, A malicious habit of the Orcs is that of looting and attacking you when given the opportunity. In stealing weapons and armours from the dead addition, you also gain 1 point of permanent bodies of their fallen opponents. When they find Cowardice. something of particularly good quality, or that they deem otherwise useful, they keep it and carry it with them both as a trophy and as an instrument of battle.

APPENDICES - ORC WEAPONS

Weapon Dmg Edge Injury Called Shot Enc Notes Jagg ed knife 3 C 14 - 0 Bent sword 4 10 14 Disarm 1 Orc -spear 4 9 12 Piercing 1 Broad -headed sword 5 10 14 Piercing 2 Broad -headed spear 5 9 12 Piercing 2 Can’t be thrown Orc -axe 5 C 16 Break shield 2 Heavy scimitar (2h) 7 10 16 Break shield 3 Bow of horn (2h) 4 10 14 Piercing 1 Ranged weapon