The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, "Helm‘s Deep"

Did Aragorn have hit points? How much damage did Boromir take before he fell on Amon Hen? Did Gimli have to wait around to heal up after the battle at Helm‘s Deep? How much mana did Gandalf have, how much did using his powers drain him, and how long did it take him to recover from his exertions?

Most RPGs use fairly traditional means to indicate a character‘s status – health, hit points, vitality; mana, energy, spell points. Despite the different names given to these stats, the bones of the system remains the same: a character has a certain quantity of hit points to represent physical damage and spell points to power spell casts, with the occasional stamina or other stat thrown in for good measure. The max stat quantities are increased as the character gains experience. It‘s a tried and true way to let the player know how they‘re doing and help them manage their character‘s physical resources on the fly.

During LOTRO‘s development, we‘ve seen several potential vital systems come and go as we searched for the proper balance between adhering to the lore of Middle-earth and the need for fun, functional, recognizable gameplay. These systems have changed and evolved into the current incarnation: the Morale system, which we believe satisfies the needs of both gameplay and lore without unacceptable compromise.

    
        
            
        
    

Her vast belly was above him with its putrid light, and the stench of it almost smote him down. Still his fury held for one more blow, and before she could sink upon him, smothering him and all his little impudence of courage, he slashed the bright elven-blade across her with desperate strength.‘              The Two Towers: The Choices of Master Samwise

This wonderful harmony came from a central theme that runs throughout The Lord of the Rings: Hope. Hope is a powerful force that can carry those who have it through the darkest of times, and it was this theme that led to the creation of the Morale system.

Pondering the nature of Hope in desperate times brought us to the idea of heroic perseverance, which is the ability to keep going where others might fail. It is the knack of a determined hero to defend against an incoming attack and, at the very last instant, turn it before it strikes true. This courage manifests itself repeatedly in the books, be it when Sam fights Shelob at Cirith Ungol or as the Fellowship continues its quest after Gandalf‘s fall at Durin‘s Bridge in Khazad-Dûm.

How will this translate to a roleplaying game? In our combat system, there is no Morale cost to a character who cleanly blocks, parries, and evades incoming attacks. When they are unable to cleanly stop an incoming attack, however, the struggle to prevent the attack from striking true does have a cost to the character‘s Morale. A character can only be defeated once they have lost all Morale; only then, bereft of hope, are they vulnerable to suffering bodily harm. This reinforces the idea that Heroes aren‘t Heroes because they can take a beating, but rather are Heroes because they can avoid a beating while giving one.  

    
        
            
        
    

‘At length even the stout-hearted would fling themselves to the ground as the hidden menace passed over them, or they would stand, letting their weapons fall from nerveless hands while into their minds a blackness came, and they thought no more of war, but only of hiding and of crawling, and of death.‘              The Return of the King: The Siege of Gondor

The Morale system is a powerful tool for us (and the players). It‘s similar enough to standard hit-point based systems to be immediately recognizable and understood by most gamers – even armour works to embolden a player, and keep their morale high by saving them from glancing blows – and yet it still allows us to link it into the lore of Middle-earth in creative ways. It empowers us to tie events taking place in the world around you into changes in your character‘s Morale. For example, depending on your race and class, you could gain Morale when you defeat an enemy in combat. Potentially, you could even pass on this benefit to the rest of your Fellowship through abilities that are unique to your character‘s class. Perhaps a minstrel NPC could raise the overall Morale of a party by singing a rousing song, as could the successful completion of a critical stage of a quest. The appearance of a Nazgûl could lower the Morale of anyone nearby. By its very nature, Morale is more easily tied into the world of Middle-earth than a traditional health point system.

There are, of course, classes that focus on raising the Morale of a Fellowship. One class wades into the fray like Aragorn or Théoden, and in "leading by example," replenishes their fellowship‘s morale. Another class inspires others through word and song, as seen throughout the books, and less by direct conflict. 

Morale affects gameplay in other ways. While there are targeted Morale replenishing skills that influence only a single target, due to the nature of Morale most skills will affect multiple targets. Using the Morale system also means that there will not be a resurrection class; rather, any class could potentially be able to rouse a fallen ally.

In its current incarnation the Morale system provides a solid play experience; it is familiar enough that the overall mechanic is instantly recognizable, but distinguished in a way that allows us to introduce new mechanics for manipulating player vitals while maintaining the appropriate feel for Middle-earth.