I’m starting a campaign with Realm Guards hack and my players wanted to play rohirrim - men of Rohan. The character creation does have questions only for Nature (Dunadan) which differs from men in lot of ways.
So I am here to seek help to decide are the three Nature descriptions for Men valid (Pride, Community and Preservation) and how to plan pattern of questions to determine how “menly” the player is.
Before I start planning the questions I think I want to change some of the descriptions, because they are not limiting the characters for my opinion. I think that replacing Pride with “Desire for Power” would be justifiable according to Tolkien’s stories (Boromir is only one example). Maybe they are also more “Hasty” than “Preservation” because of the Gift of Mortality. Elves and Dwarfs are almost immortal and do things with an slow pace and are more unwilling to make big decisions fast. Men are mortal and they have to get things done in 50-60 years max.
If someone would offer you a position of rule, could you deny it?
If so, decrease Nature by 1
Is it uneasy to be obeyed by higher authorities?
If so, increase Nature by 1
Do you feel sometimes that life is short and you have to try making the best of it?
If so, increase Nature by 1
Do you want to accomplish something great with your life?
If so, increase Nature by 1
Are you usually content with the state of your life?
If so, decrease nature by 1
Do you sometimes feel that you should be valued higher?
If so, increase nature by 1
I also thought that description “afraid of death” would be really good. It stems from the influence of Morgoth that changed the mens idea of “gift of men” into “doom of men.”
We’ve learned a lot about nature since we helped with Realm Guard.
The prime element of nature descriptors is that they all must be actions like Running, Hiding, Singing. You can get a bit more elaborate than that, but in general nature descriptors should be simple.
You can see the secondary element in the Realm Guard descriptors: Nature descriptors should be counter or resistant to the tendencies of the character/class. Thus if you’re making solitary ranger men, your descriptors should pull them back toward community and preservation. And to take this further, the best nature descriptors push the character to act badly.
In Torchbearer, we gave men Boasting, Demanding and Running. These are also useful traits, but relying solely on them makes you a loud-mouth, selfish coward.
So for the Dunedain and the Rohirrim, you need one descriptor that they share in common and two that set them apart.
Dunedain might be “Defending, Watching and Riding.” This makes them a cautious, proud people—someone who would settle into Gondor and hold it no matter the cost.
Rohirrim might be “Boasting, Giving and Riding.”
Then you back these up with trait selections:
Proud, Arrogant or Wise for Dunedain
Grave, Fierce, or Proud for the Rohirrim.
Thus you can see that Boromir acts only in his Nature, trying to do the best thing he knows how—to defend his people against the Enemy. But he’s Proud and Arrogant, and thus turns down a dark course…
We create the characters today so I think we use the next formula:
Nature of Rohirrim: Boasting, Pursuing, Caring
Do you like to point your superiority to people lower you?
If so, increase Nature by 1
Do you avoid using symbols of power in public?
If so, decrease Nature by 1
Is your life goal to leave mark in the history of Ardan?
If so, increase Nature by 1
If you see a beggar on the streets, do you avoid his gaze. After all you have earned the money by yourself?
If so, decrease Nature by 1
Do stronger people have the duty to help the weak.
If so, increase Nature by 1
Do you feel sometimes that life is short and you have to try making the best of it?
If so, increase Nature by 1
I liked the Boasting theme because it appears a lot in men’s nature in Tolkien´s stories. Then I decided to take the Giving -aspect but just changed it to Caring. And I wanted to keep the aspect of “desire for power” and “haste”, so I created the “Pursuing” description.