Thanks for the time and feedback. By no means do I think of it as "rude". I think you're are being sincere, and that I appreciate.
Regarding to your note about elves, I must say that you're (partially) right. I had the same argument with myself: should elves (specially Noldo) be better than the other races, like Tolkien describes them, or should they be balanced, like in the HARP core rules?
My own decision to make them better had two main reasons. First, if I wanted to play in Middle Earth and was making an adaptation therefore, I should make the rules fit the setting, not the other way round. If Tokien says that they're inmune to disease and that they recover faster from wounds, I can't ignore that if I want to play in Middle Earth. If Legolas crosses the snow storm of Caradhras without feeling cold or leaving traces, and it is said that that's normal for elves and not only for Legolas himself, as well as his keen senses, I have to reflect that somehow in the rules.
And second, I always thought that, while elves where described as better by Tolkien, they also had "something" that made them the "losing" race in the long run. Humans were able to survive and grow in Middle Earth, while elves were always less numerous and less powerful. How do you represent that in game terms? Because that is what balances elves to other races.
In my rules, elves do have less Fate Points that the rest of races: Noldo 1 FP, Sinda, silvan (and dúnedain) 2 FP, the rest 3 FP. In the rules that I attached in this thread I didn't include another change that I apply now: each race has a maximum of FP as well: Noldo 3FP, Sinda, silvan and dúnedain 4FP, the rest 5 FP.
The idea comes from the fact that Tolkien himself says that elves are bound to Fate more than humans. My interpretation of that is that they're less capable of changing destiny or fate. Elves are better in normal tems than a human, but a human can change the course of history more often or better than an elf.
Beren stole a Silmaril from Morgoth's crown, Isildur cut Sauron's finger and took his ring, Bard killed Smaug with a single arrow, Eowyn killed the Witch King,... Did Fingolfin against Morgoth, Celebrimbor or Gil Galad against Sauron, Glorfindel against the Witch King, etc manage to do such a feat? No, elves are normally better, but they can't do impossible things. Humans can.
In my games, Fate Points are important (they are used once or twice a game), and it is a big difference to have 1 or to have 3.
Also, another way of balancing races (although, as said, that's not my real concern), is that elves have higher numbers per race, but they are not flexible to choose anything (or nearly). That is, a Noldo makes the best scholar or magician, but if you want a warrior, it's not the best choice. Choose a human with a +3 to Strenght, a +3 to Agility and a +2 to Constitution, spend the 5 free skill ranks in weapons and put the +10 bonus on your primary weapon. Compare that to even a silvan archer and your human bowman will beat him. Of course, with a human, you have to use all your racial bonuses to equal an elf on it's specialization, but the good point is that you can choose where to allocate this bonuses, while with an elf you can't.
Also, in my opinion racial stat bonuses doesn't make a lot of difference. They're sometime more "symbolic". A Noldo may have a +4 to Presence and Dwarves a +0 to it. But if the dwarf is interested in, let's say, being a good trader, he just has to spend 1 more rank than the Noldo and he'll have the same total bonus to the skill.
Finally, I have to say that I'm lucky with my players. When they choose their characters, they don't look at the stats, racial bonuses, etc. They just think of the kind of character they want to play and build it. Right now we're playing in the Kin-Strife war and there's a Urban Gondorian, an Éothed (Rohirrim) Bard, a lesser dúnedain Fighter and a dúnedain Ranger. No elves, no dwarves, no magicians,.... all have very mundane reasons to be in Osgiliath (it's their hometown) when the war explodes and that's what they wanted. No one even thought about having a Noldo Warrior-Mage in Gondor's capital during the Third Age.
Excuse for the long post, but I wanted to share my view on the rules I attached here. I perfectly remember your own changes, Ecthelion (they were the first ones that I read!), and I must say that, while I not only liked them, but also copied some things from you
, reasons like the one we discuss here made me do my own adaptation rules.
Enjoy!
