Reign of Fire

Welcome to the second installment of D&D Theater. This time I’m taking on what is almost certainly the best fantasy movie to come out in the last 20 years, and perhaps the best of that genre that Hollywood has ever produced.

There’s really not much point in me going on about the movie here—you’ve either seen it already (multiple times, if you’re like me), or no amount of persuasion is going to get you into the theater. If you’re one of those who can’t see past the “purity” of Tolkien’s text to appreciate what Peter Jackson & crew have created, I truly pity you—you’re missing out on a triumphant piece of filmmaking. Suffice it to say that I think this movie was the best thing that’s hit the theaters in a number of years, and despite my bias against including recent films in my “personal favorite” category before they’ve stood the test of time, this is threatening to turn my “holy trinity” of favorite movies (Star Wars, The Godfather, and Casablanca) into a quartet.

Anyway, let’s get down to brass tacks. In addition to being a fantastic film, this movie is simply a must-see for D&D players. Forget about all the quibbling about “hobbits vs. halflings” or “Rangers vs. rangers,” this is just plain old fantasy adventuring at its best. From the breakneck pursuit of the hobbits by the Nazgul across the Shire to the breathtaking archery of Legolas, from the magical realms of Rivendell and Lothlorien to the classic dungeon represented by the Mines of Moria, this movie has more material ripe for the plucking than any in recent memory. And why not? After all, D&D owes much of its heritage to Tolkien’s creations, so it shouldn’t come as any surprise that you can still learn something from the master.

Many D&D monsters are drawn at least partially from those found in LotR, including orcs and trolls. But the creatures bearing those names in this movie don’t really match their Third Edition D&D namesakes. Here I present three sets of variant monster statistics that reflect something closer to what we saw in the film.

The orcs we see in Fellowship aren’t quite the muscle-bound, aggressive humanoids of the Monster Manual. They seem much more like the goblins of D&D, cringing before more powerful masters and finding bravery only in numbers. They wear scale or similar armor, and wield any weapon they can find. They can scuttle up and down stone walls with ease, as demonstrated in the movie (represented by their Climb speed given below).

Orc: Medium-size Humanoid; CR 1/2; HD 1d8; hp 4; Init +1; Speed 20 ft., climb 15 ft. (base 30 ft., climb 20 ft.); AC 15 (touch 11, flat-footed 14); Atk +2 melee (1d8/19-20, longsword, or 1d8/x3, battle axe) or +2 ranged (1d6/x3, short bow); SQ low-light vision, light sensitivity; SV Fort +2, Ref +1, Will -1; Str 12, Dex 13, Con 11, Int 8, Wis 8, Cha 7.

Skills and Feats: Listen +4, Spot +3; Alertness.

I modeled the statistics for the cave troll encountered in Moria on the D&D hill giant, with some minor modifications. It has 10 points of natural armor bonus (the better to fend off stray arrows and sword-swings).

Cave Troll: Large Giant; CR 7; HD 12d8+48; hp 102; Init -1; Spd 30 ft.; AC 18 (touch 8, flat-footed 18); Atk +16/+11 melee (Huge greatclub, 2d6+10); Face/Reach 5 ft. by 5 ft./10 ft.; SQ Scent; SV Fort +12, Ref +3, Will +4; Str 25, Dex 8, Con 19, Int 4, Wis 10, Cha 5.

Skills and Feats: Climb +9, Jump +9, Spot +3; Cleave, Great Cleave, Power Attack.

The result of Saruman’s interbreeding of men and orcs, the fighting Uruk-hai are stronger and smarter than the average orc, resulting in a superior warrior. The one described here wears a breastplate and wields a longsword and shield, but variations are common.

If you were looking to use this half-orc race as a PC, I’d probably rate it as having a level adjustment of +1 due to its favorable ability score adjustments.

Half-Orc: Medium-size Humanoid; CR 1; HD 1d8+1; hp 5; Init +1; Speed 20 ft. (base 30 ft.); AC 18 (touch 11, flat-footed 17); Atk +4 melee (1d8+2, longsword) or +2 ranged (1d8+2, mighty long composite bow); SQ low-light vision; SV Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +0; Str 14, Dex 13, Con 13, Int 11, Wis 10, Cha 10.

Skills and Feats: Intimidate +2, Listen +2, Spot +2; Endurance (racial bonus feat), Weapon Focus (longsword).

A Final Note: When I originally envisioned writing this column, I had another idea in mind for inclusion: a new archery feat demonstrated by Legolas. However, I ended up liking it so much that it made its way into the Epic Level Handbook (in both an epic and non-epic version), so I can’t publish it here. However, I’ll give you a hint by divulging its name: Manyshot.

Back when D&D Theater visited Fellowship of the Ring, I mentioned a “Legolas feat” inspired by that movie. Now that the Epic Level Handbook has hit the streets, you can see that I was talking about Manyshot, which allows characters to fire more than one arrow with a single standard action, and which appears in that book on page 70. Extended playtesting has suggested that the feat may need a small tweak to better balance it for characters of levels 11 to 20 or so.