THE LORD OF THE RINGS
THE LORD OF THE NAZGUL
Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 18 DEX 24 13- OCV: 6/DCV: 6 18 INT 8 13- PER Roll 11- 25 EGO 30 14- ECV: 5 35 PRE 25 16- PRE Attack: 7d6 5 SPD 25 Phases: 3, 5, 8, 10, 12 Total Characteristics Cost: 109 Movement: Running: 6"/12" Swimming: 2"/4" Cost Powers & Skills Combat Training: 40 Combat Skill Levels: +5 level w/All Combat Nazgul Powers: 118 Variable Power Pool (65-pt Pool); Restricted Type of Powers Available; Change Powers as 0 Phase Action; No Skill Required for Change; Extra Time: 1 turn; Gestures; Incantation; Affects Real World 40 The Black Breath: 2d6 Drain: BODY (Return/week); Gradual (every 6 hours); Charges: 4; Continuing Charges: Full Phase; Continuous; Uncontrolled, Area Effect (Radius): 17" radius; Affects Real World 17 The Black Breath: 1d6 Drain: CON (Return/week); Gradual (every 6 hours); Charges: 4; Continuing Charges: Full Phase; Continuous; Uncontrolled Area Effect (Radius): 17" radius; Affects Real World 169 Mind Control: 9d6, Telepathic; Reduced END: Zero; Affects Real World 52 Change Environment: Aura of Fear (4" rad.); Reduced END: Zero; Affects Real World 10 Images (Normal Sight, 1" radius); Only to Create shadowy self-image; Actions limited by Image; No Range; Always On; Reduced END: Zero & Persistent; Affects Real World 66 Telekinesis (STR 25); Manipulation: Fine; No Range; Only as if a body; Affects Real World; Reduced END: Zero 10 Astral Vision 19 Detect: Magic (+2 to PER); Ranged; Discriminatory 15 Normal Vision 15 Normal Hearing 10 Tracking Scent Equipment: 16 The Mace Morangurth: HKA: 2 1/2d6, OAF (-1), STR Min 13, END 4 6 The Mace Morangurth: +3 Combat Skill Levels 15 Morgul Knife: HKA: 1d6+1, Increased STUN Multiplier, OAF (-1), END 3 5 Morgul Knife: Transform: 1/2d6 to Servant wight (Major, Single Object); Knife Must Do Body Damage; Gradual (every six hours); Continuous; Uncontrolled; 0 END (+1/2), Persistant (+1/2), OAF (-1) 8 Ring of Power: END Reserve: for VPP (60 END, 6 REC/turn), OIF (-1/2) 2 Ring of Power: Mind Link: w/Sauron; Only to Summon Nazgul, OIF (-1/2) Background Skills: 6 Contact: Other Nazgul 15- 7 Contact: Sauron 16- 3 Bureaucratics 16- 3 Deduction 13- 5 High Society 17- 11 Interrogation 20- 9 Navigation 14- 3 Oratory 16- 9 Riding 16- 3 Shadowing 11- 11 Tactics 17- 3 Tracking 13- 1 TF: Flying Beasts 6 WF: Common Melee Weapons, Common Missile Weapons, Lances, Whip 3 Linguist 1 Adûnaic (Native Accent); Literacy 5 Black Speech (Imitate Dialects); Literacy 3 Haradrim (Completely Fluent w/accent); Literacy 2 Quenya (Basic Conv.); Literacy 3 Westron (Completely Fluent w/accent); Literacy 3 Scholar 2 Knowledge Skill: History of Middle-Earth 13- 3 Knowledge Skill: Peoples of Middle-Earth 14- 6 Knowledge Skill: Sorcery 17- 6 Knowledge Skill: Will of Sauron 17- 3 Traveler 8 Area Knowledge: Angmar 19- 4 Area Knowledge: Eriador 15- 3 Area Knowledge: Gondor 14- 5 Area Knowledge: Mordor 16- 2 Area Knowledge: Numenor 13- 4 Area Knowledge: Rhovanion 15- 779 Total Powers & Skills Cost 888 Total Character Cost 75+ Disadvantages 20 Distinctive Features: Ringwraith; Concealable; Reaction: Extreme Hunted: 20 Normal Characteristic Maxima Package Bonus: Physical Limitation: 15 Cannot Survive Destruction of One Ring (Infrequently, Fully) 20 Must Move as a body (Frequently, Fully) Psychological Limitation: 25 Dominated by Sauron (Very Common, Total) 20 Fear of Fire and Water (Very Common, Strong) 20 Hatred of Free Peoples (Common, Total) 10 Public ID: Witch-King of Angmar Reputation: 5 Cannot be slain by man (8-) 15 Evil Sorcerer (11-, Extreme) 5 Susceptability: To Weapons not wielded by Man (1d6 STUN/Instant); Condition: Uncommon 10 Vulnerability: Magic Weapons (2x BODY); Attack: Uncommon, Watched: 13 Sauron (11-); More Powerful; Non-combat Influence; Harsh 5 The Wise (8-); As Powerful; Harsh 630 MIB Bonus 888 Total Disadvantage Points
HISTORY
The Lord of the Nazgul was the first and greatest of Sauron's mortal servants to fall under the sway of the Rings of Power. A Numenorean lord of the line of Elros, he had come to worship Morgoth under the influence of Sauron, and had become a powerful sorcerer and necromancer. The gift of the Ring of Power sealed his fate, completely submerging his will to that of his evil master and granting him immortality at the cost of becoming a wraith. He served his master as Warden of Dol Guldur in the Second Age, but hid when his countrymen of Numenor came to take Sauron in chains to their island. He returned to serve his master during the War of the Last Alliance.
He rose again in Third Age 1300 to found the northern realm of Angmar, in the guise of the Witch-King. His goal was to weaken the crumbling dunedain realm of Arnor for Sauron. Arnor first split into three squabbling nations and then finally crumbled. But the Witch-King's forces were routed in Third Age 1975 at the Battle of Fornost, and he was forced to flee to his master. It was on this occasion that the elf Glorfindel spoke the prophetic words that The Witch-King would not be slain by any man.
Twenty-five years later, in 2000, he led the assault on the Gondorian city of Minas Ithil, which he then renamed Minas Morgul. This paved the way for Sauron's return to power in Mordor. In 2043 and 2050, he challenged E‰rnur, king of Gondor, to single combat. E‰rnur's horse had fled from the Lord of the Nazgul in terror at the battle of Fornost, and the king was shamed by it. In 2050, he came to Minas Morgul to accept the challenge and was treacherously slain.
Around 3010, Sauron became aware, through Gollum, that the One Ring had probably been found. The Lord of the Nazgul was sent to lead the search for the Ring, and hunted Frodo from the Shire to Rivendell. He nearly killed him at Weathertop (Amon S˚l). During the War of the Ring, he led the army that assaulted Minas Tirith. Although the gates of the city were shattered, he was prevented from entering by Gandalf and the timely arrival of the Rohirrim. He killed King Théoden of Rohan on the Pelennor Fields, but he was himself slain by the woman Éowyn and the hobbit Merry Brandybuck.
The Nazgul-king became invisible when he passed into unlife. Thereafter, he could only be perceived as a mannish form wreathed in shadow. Only someone perceiving him through magic could see his own, terrible face. Like all of the nine nazgul, he feared water, possibly because of the power of Ulmo, the only Valar who never left Middle-Earth.
The Lord of the Nazgul has many names. The Black King, The Witch King, The Morgul King, The Morgul Lord, The Lord of the Nine Riders, The King of the Nine Riders, The King of Minas Morgul, The Black Rider, The Black Shadow, The Dwimmerlaik and the High Nazgul. The word 'nazgul' is Black Speech for "Ring-wraith".
Iron Crown Enterprises excellent "Middle-Earth" series of gaming supplements has The Lord of the Nazgul as MurazÙr, twin of the Numenorean prince ImrazÙr, who founded the Gondorian line of the Princes of Belfalas.
NOTES
1. The many helpful notes I received after my first draft prompted me to rethink this character. Specifically, I rethought his defenses and decided he was best modelled using the Spirit Rules. Consider: the nazgul were swept away by the flood Elrond raised and Gandalf augmented. Their steeds were killed but they were unharmed. Merry's barrow-sword was able to very seriously wound the nazgul, yet even Éowyn's (as far as we know) non-magical sword harmed the nazgul, despite the fact that millennia of wars against the Dúnedain had produced not a scratch.
The truth is that Tolkien is not concerned with the sort of consistency that makes for good game mechanics. I think this construct will serve to represent the nazgul's partial invulnerability, however.
2. The Bureaucratics skill is a result of seven centuries of rule over a large kingdom. He isn't a paper-pusher, but he knows how things are run. Admittedly, there aren't many fancy soireÈs in Mordor: the High Society skill is meant to reflect the nazgul's origin as a Numenorean prince. He still knows all the courtly graces, but more importantly, he knows how to think like a nobleman.