Building Productive and Powerful Middle-earth Charactersby Jeffrey L. Zaugg
IntroductionA key to successful play in Middle-Earth PBM games is the development of powerful player characters. Many positions in the game begin with powerful characters or characters with the potential to become powerful, and many positions have weak characters with the potential to become dead. For those nations with weak characters orthose nations who had the misfortune to get their strong characters killed, here are some insights and possible strategies to build productive and powerful characters.
ProductivityThe productivity of a nation's characters depend on how many orders and how well they can execute them. The efficiency and productivity of characters are often related to the number of skills and their level of development. Multi-class characters have thepotential to improve your nation's productivity, but without proper planning they may become ineffective. When creating new characters, it is important to assess their potential and plan their development.
Single Class CharactersOne advantage of a single class character is that they can develop rapidly, since they can concentrate all their energies on one specific skill. This can be beneficial at the beginning of the game, when the acquistion of higher skill ranks can help to insure the success of crucial orders. They are also good to have around to give those miscellaneous orders that crop up from time to time while running a nation. However, a drawback to the single class characteris that they are limited to only one skill order, which often throughout the game cannot be used due to the lack of some prerequisite. Often these characters end up issuing meaningless miscellaneous orders for this same reason.
Double Class CharactersDouble class characters generally are slower to develop higher skill ranks. However they can develop as rapidly as single class characters depending upon their skills and wise management. They are more productive than single class characters in that they may give two separate skill orders, thus maximizing their potential. This type of character often works well in a company.
Triple Class CharactersTriple class characters are next slowest at developing their skills. Since there are only two orders available per turn, you must choose which two skills to develop each turn. This may cause the character to have one high skill with two mediocre ones. However, there are possible ways to develop the third skill indirectly, increasing the character's potential. This type of character can prove to be quite versatile with the proper training.
Quadruple Class CharactersIf chance has it that the GSI computers smile upon you, and you obtain a quadruple class character, you have obtained an invaluable resource. However, quadruple class characters are the slowest and most difficult to develop due to the multitude of possible orders they may perform. They usually become the best at one or two skills and mediocre in the rest. They are on the other end of the spectrum from the single class character in that they may issue productive orders anytime.
Skill ClassesCommandThe command skill is one of the more important skills, even if you are operating as a character nation instead of a military one. The command skill is required to perform most of the nation orders (at least the important ones), military operations, and control of companies. Without characters with command skill, it is difficult to remain in the game. for these reasons it is important to have a surplus of command skill within your nation. The command skill works well for single class characters, but limits their overall productivity. Double class characters with command as one of their skills work well for company commanders or backup commanders in an army. This gives them the opportunity to use a second skill within the company or army. I also consider command skill to be the perfect third skill class for a triple class character, since it canbe improved indirectly when the character is in an army with a commander training it.
AgentThe agent skill is probably the versatile skill available in the game. It can be easily developed due to the few prerequisites required for most of its orders. It works well as a major skill for double and triple class characters. Characters with agent skill are probably the most effective tool for instilling fear into your opponents, than any other character skill in the game.
EmissaryEmissary skill is the most important skill in the game when it comes to your nation's economy. It also plays a small part in your nation's espionage efforts. Single class characters with emissary skill are effective in developing your nation early in the game, but their small number of miscellaneous orders reduces their effectiveness later on. Emissary skill works well as one of themajor skills of a multi-class character.
MageMage skill is probably one of the harder skills to develop due to the character's need to be at one of your nation's population centers, but it can be one of the most beneficial. Through mage skill, hidden information is obtained, military operations are supported, and fear instilled in your opponents. Mage skill is probably the only skill that is highly productive for a single class character, since it can give two skill orders per turn as opposed to only one for the other individual skills. Characters with mage skill may also do well as multi-class characters, but they take even longer to develop than other multi-class characters with the same number of skills. This is due to their need to research spells.
Development StrategiesIt should be understood that strategies vary from game to game, player to player, and nation to nation. There are as many different strategies as there are players in the game, and very seldom does your nation face the same situation twice. The Following are some strategies, which may or may not fit into your current style of play, but can be used to develop your characters' full potential.
CompaniesThe use of companies can be an effective and productive way to develop your characters skill ranks, especially those with emissary or agent skills. Companies with characters having agent and/or emissary skills, can be used effectively to guard, influence and upgrade your own population centers (defensive companies),but when the skills of those characters improve they can be moved into companies to perform agent and emissary orders against other nations (offensive companies). These companies are even more effective when the commander for the company has a secondary skill associated with its purpose. Using multiple companies, characterscan be moved from defensive companies to offensive companies as heir skills develop. Another strategy is to develop multi-funtional companies, such as emissary/agent or agent/curse companies, to further increase those character's abilites to inflict damage on the enemy. These companies can use all character classes, but double class characters are the most efficiently used in them. Companies may also be used as a way to protect mages as they research and develop their skills. There is always the possibilityof placing these developing mages in a defensive company.
ArmiesArmies are the only place where command skill improves. The good thing about this is that a character with the army does not necessarily have to issue a command order for their skill to improve. Since the commander of the army trains it, any other character with command skill receives some benefits. This makes a perfect training ground for the triple class characters with command skill who can receive the indirect improvement of their command skill while developing their other two skills. It is also a good place to develop double and single class characters, since they can issue command orders and increase the rate of their improvement. Emissary and mage skill do not usually develop well in an army, unless the army is stationary for long periods of time to allow for influencing of population centers or prentice magery. However, in combat, mage skill can prove to be an invaluable resource to any army, if the proper spells are known.
ConclusionTo develop characters to their full potential, there is a need to exercise patience. Throughout the game, there are countless times when advantages may be gained by using one or more of a developing character's skills. In this way many multi-class characters never grow to their full potential, since they were required to perform their duty and never returned to their training. Then when the time came to try to develop their skills, they were too valuable performing their first skill. With the proper planning character's skills can improve together, making them more productive and a greater asset to your nation. I realize that opponents and strategies vary from game to game, and that some of the ideas that have been presented may not work in every situation, but that is what creates the challenge. Good Gaming.
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