Well, over the years I've written a bunch of house rules (mostly profiles, some special rules that tack on to existing models though), and thought I'd just go ahead and list 'em all here. It's a bit of a big post, but I'll do my best to organize them:

Add-on Rules:

The Nine Abroad
The Nazgul are strengthened and emboldened in one another's presence. To represent this, when 3 or more Nazgul are present in the same force, they may add +1 Attack. When 6 or more Nazgul are present in the same force, they may add +1 Fate. When all 9 are present in the same force, they may add +1 Wound. These bonuses are cumulative. These bonuses are optional, and cost 5 points per bonus per wraith. All wraiths in the force must take the same bonuses. Additionally, no wraith may purchase an upgrade without having bought the earlier upgrade. For instance, if you are fielding 9 wraiths, you may not purchase +1 Fate for each if you have not already purchased +1 Attack.

The Black Shadow
Any model who successfully causes an unsaved wound in close combat against a Nazgul suffers a Strength 4 hit, made against their Courage instead of their Defense.

Banner of the Dead (1 per hero of the dead in the same force) - 35 pts.
In any fight within 3" of a Banner of the Dead, the good player may force his opponent to re-roll his highest die roll to determine who wins the fight. If a fight takes place within 3" of both a Banner of the Dead and a regular banner carried by an opponent of the Dead, then the effects are cancelled and neither warrior has to re-roll.

The next few are based on the "Third Age" video game, which was a console RPG:

Berethor the exile - points: 50
F/S S D A W C - M/W/F
4/4 4 6 2 2 4 - 2/0/2

Equipment
Berethor carries a sword & shield and wears armor.

Special Rules
Morgul Wound. Due to the shard of a Morgul Blade imbedded in his shoulder, Berethor is unable stand against the Nazgul. He may never harm a ringwraith with a ranged weapon and if he wins a fight against one in combat he cannot strike blows.
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Berethor, Captain of Ecthelion - points: 100
F/S S D A W C - M/W/F
5/4 4 7 3 3 6 - 3/2/2

Equipment.
Berethor carries a sword & shield and wears heavy armor.

Special Rules.
Company Valor. All good models within 6" of Berethor recieve +1 courage.
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Elegost of the Dunedain - points: 80
F/S S D A W C - M/W/F
5/3 4 4 2 2 5 - 2/2/2

Equipment.
Elegost carries a sword and a long bow.

Special Rules.
Skilled Archer. Each turn, Elegost may either take two shots or ignore any in the way rolls, including rolling to hit a mount/rider.
Woodland Creature.
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Idrial of Lothlorien - points: 100
F/S S D A W C - M/W/F
6/3 3 4 2 2 6 - 2/4/2

Equipment
Idrial carries an elven blade and wears armor. For an additional 5 points she may wear heavy armor.

Special Rules
Woodland Creature.
Aura of the Valar. When Idrial suffers her last wound, and it is not saved by Fate, she may sacrifice any combination of 3 points of Might, Will, or Fate to ignore the wound. If she does not have at least 3 points of Might, Will, and Fate combined then she is dead.

Magical Powers
Nature's Wrath. Dice score to use: 4+
Renew. Dice score to use: 3+
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Hadhod of the Clan of Fundin - points: 80
F/S S D A W C - M/W/F
5/4 4 7 2 2 5 - 2/2/2

Equipment
Hadhod carries a Dwarven axe of the First Age and wears heavy dwarven armor.

Special Rules
Dwarven Axe of the First Age. This axe is treated as an elven blade, but confers an additional +1 to wound.
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Morwen, Maiden of Rohan - points: 45
F/S S D A W C - M/W/F
4/4 3 4 2 2 6 - 3/1/1

Equipment
Morwen wears armor and carries two axes and throwing axes.

Special Rules
Twin Axes. Morwen recieves +1 attack in the fight phase as long as she did not use her throwing axes in the shoot phase of the same turn.
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Eaoden of the Rohan Royal Guard - points: 90
F/S S D A W C - M/W/F
5/4 4 6 2 2 5 - 2/3/2

Equipment
Eaoden carries a spear and wears heavy armor. For an additional 10 points he may ride a horse.

Special Rules
Wrath of Rohan. When supporting with his spear Eaoden makes his full number of attacks instead of the usuall 1 attack.
Expert Rider.
Bodyguard. (Eaoden may only be assigned to named heroes)

Magical Powers
Renew. Dice score to use: 4+

These profiles were all done up for the Battle of Five Armies:

Thorin Oakshield - Point Value: 80
F S D A W C - M/W/F
5 4 6 2 2 6 - 3/2/2
Thorin wears dwarf armor and carries Orcrist, giving him a +1 bonus on wound rolls.
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Fili & Kili - Point Value: 60 for both
F S D A W C - M/W/F
4 4 6 1 1 5 - 0/0/1
Fili & Kili wear dwarf armor and carry hand weapons.
Special Rule: Unbreakable Bond
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Bard - Point Value: 100
F S D A W C - M/W/F
5/3 4 5 2 2 5 - 3/2/2
Bard wears armor and carries a sword and a long bow.
Special Rules: Expert Shot
The Black Arrow: Once per game, Bard may elect to fire the Black Arrow before rolling to hit. If this attack hits, it is resolved at strength 6 and causes D3 wounds.
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Beorn - Point Value: 130
F S D A W C - M/W/F
5 6 7 3 3 6 - 2/2/2
Beorn carries no weapons or armor but suffers no penalties to his die rolls. No one else may benefit from his Stand Fast! rolls or Heroic actions.
Special Rules: Woodland Creature
(this is to represent beorn in his bear form only)
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Lakemen - Point Value: 6
F S D A W C
3/4 3 4 1 1 3
Lakemen wear armor and carry either a hand weapon or a two-handed weapon. They may be given the following wargear:
spear - 1 pt.
shield - 1 pt.
long bow - 2 pts.
banner - 25 pts.
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Taurdirim - Point Value: 8
F S D A W C
5/3 3 3 1 1 5
Taurdirim carry hand weapons. The may be given the following wargear:
armor - 1 pt.
shield - 1 pt.
wood elf spear - 1 pt.
elf blade - 1 pt.
elf bow - 2 pts.
elven cloak - 5 pts.
banner - 35 pts.
horse - 6 pts.
Special Rules: Woodland Creature, Bodyguard
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Bolg - Point Value: 90
F S D A W C - M/W/F
5 4 6 2 2 4 - 3/2/2
Bolg wears heavy armor and carries a mace. He may be given the following wargear:
warg - 10 pts.
Special Rules: Iron Fist
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Bolg's Guard - Point Value: 9
F S D A W C
4 4 5 1 1 3
Bolg's Guards wear heavy armor. They may be given the following wargear:
shield - 1 pt.
warg - 6 pts.
banner - 30 pts.
Special Rules: Bodyguard
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Bolg’s Warg Riders - Point Value: 9
F S D A W C
2/5 3 4 1 1 2
Bolg’s Warg Riders wear armor, carry hand weapons, and ride wargs. They may be given the following wargear:
orc bow – 1 pt.
shield – 1 pt.
throwing spears – 2 pts.
banner – 25 pts.
Special Rules: Crude Throwing Spears

This next bunch are more or less miscellaneous, I'll add a little quip about each one:

Mostly I just wanted orcs to have some toughened up heroes. With the Black Guard out, however, they're kind of obsolete.
Warlord of Durghaz-Nar - Points Value:70
M F S D A W C - M/W/F
6 5 5 6 2 2 4 - 2/2/2

Wargear.
A Durghaz-Nar Warlord carries either a hand weapon or a double handed weapon (choose one or the other) and wears heavy armor.

Special Rules.
Elite of Barad-Dur. So long as The Mouth of Sauron or Sauron himself is on the table a Warlord of Durghaz-Nar will automatically pass all courage tests.
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This is a character of my own invention, and was originally envisioned as a captain of the Taurdirim.
Hirumith - Points Value: 75
F S D A W C - M/W/F
6/3 4 4 2 2 5 - 3/2/2

Wargear
Hirumith carries a finely wrought elven spear. At additional cost he may also be given the following equipment:
elven bow - 5 pts
armor - 5 pts
shield - 5 pts
elven cloak - 10 pts
horse - 10 pts

Special Rules
Woodland Creature.
Expert Rider.
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I was generally underwhelmed with the original WD version of Thranduil, so I made this profile. Nowadays I generally use the official one, instead.
Thranduil - Points Value:110
F S D A W C - M/W/F
6/3 4 4 3 3 6 - 3/3/3

Wargear
Thranduil carries an finely crafted elven dagger. At additional cost he may also be given the following equipment:
Elven Blade - 5 pts
Elven Bow - 5 pts
Heavy Armor - 10 pts
Shield - 5 pts
Horse - 10 pts

Special Rules

Woodland Creature.
Lord of Greenwood The Great. Such is the loyalty of Thranduil's warriors that the range of his "Stand Fast!" rolls is 12" for all elves on the battle field. The range for men is still only 6"; dwarves do not benefit from Thranduil's "Stand Fast!" rolls.
Cunning Leader. Thranduil is known for his cunning and tactical prowess, and as such at the beginning of each game, before the first movement phase, up to 1/3 of the models in the good army may take one free shot. All of the models shooting must be elves and the evil player may allocate any hits. The shots are taken as normal shots, not volley fire.
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The name belongs to one of the orcs from Cirith Ungol, but I modelled this guy more or less after the orc at Orthanc who spoke with Saruman about cutting down Fangorn. He's pretty much been replaced by the orc taskmaster.
Lagduf - Points Value:35
F S D A W C - M/W/F
3 3 4 2 2 3 - 2/0/2

Wargear
Lagduf carries a crude orc blade. At additional cost he may also be given the following equipment:
Armor - 5 pts
Whip - 2 pts

Special Rules
Where there is a whip, there is a way. As long as Lagduf has both of his wounds remaining all orcs within 8" will pass any courage tests they are required to make.

And this last group comes from the Silmarillion, and were characters that I found particularly interesting:

Tuor - Point Value: 80
F S D A W C - M/W/F
5/3 4 4 2 2 6 - 3/2/2

Wargear
Tuor carries a bow and an axe. At additional cost he may also be given the following equipment:
Armor of Nevrast - 10
Shield of Nevrast - 10
Elven Axe - 10
Mantle of Ulmo - 10

Armor and Shield of Nevrast. These items count as a normal shield and suit of armor, with the exception of their effect on Tuor's special rule detailed below.

Elven Axe. Tuor's Elven Axe has such a fine edge that it can cut straight through opponents' armor. In melee combat Tuor's opponents reduce their defense by 1.

Mantle of Ulmo. The Mantle of Ulmo counts as an Elven Cloak.

Special Rules
Raiment of Nevrast. If Tuor is wearing both the Armor of Nevrast and the Shield of Nevrast, he gains 1 free might, will, or fate per turn as long as there is at least one elven hero within 12".

Chosen of Ulmo. Once per battle, Tuor may have all of the dice in a single combat re-rolled. Tuor must be involved in the combat.
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Turin Turambar - 90 points
F S D A W C - M/W/F
6/3 4 4 3 3 6 - 3/1/3

Wargear
Turin carries an elven blade. At additional cost he may also be given the following equipment:
Armor - 5
Shield - 5
Elven Bow - 10
Horse - 10
Gurthang, The Black Blade - 20
The Dragon-Helm - 25

Special Rules
Gurthang, The Black Blade. Gurthang counts as an Elven Blade. Additionally, any model wounded by Gurthang is slain outright. Wounds caused by Gurthang may be saved by Fate, but if a single wound is caused the target is slain regardless of how many wounds it had remaining.
The Dragon-Helm. The wearer of the Dragon-Helm causes Terror and has Magic Resistance. In addition, a model wearing the Dragon-Helm may use one free Will per turn only to resist a magical power used against him.
The Curse of Morgoth. When using Fate, Turin only prevents wounds on a roll of 5 or 6.
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Beleg Strongbow - 110
F S D A W C - M/W/F
6/2 4 5 2 2 7 - 3/2/2

Wargear
Beleg carries an elven blade and an elven bow, and wears armor. At additional cost he may take the following wargear:
Horse - 10
Elven Cloak - 10

Special Rules
Woodland Creature.
Expert Shot.
Keen Sight. When making ranged attacks, Beleg can ignore obstacles between himself and his target. When shooting at a mounted target, Beleg does not have to roll and can instead choose whether he is targeting the rider or mount.

EDIT: Forgot the Blue Wizards! Here they are:

The Blue Wizards:
Alatar the Blue - 170 pts
F S D A W C - M/W/F
5/- 4 5 1 3 5 - 3/6/3
Alatar carries a Staff of Power, granting him one free point of Will
per turn, which may also be used as a two-handed weapon in close combat. He also carries a long dagger. Alatar knows the following spells:
Sorcerous Blast (5)
Immobilise (2)
Command (3)
Terrifying Aura (2)
Sandstorm (4) – If successful no enemy may move to within 4” of Alatar this turn. He counts as having a single obstacle in the way in terms of shooting.
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Pallando the Blue - 170 pts
F S D A W C - M/W/F
5/- 4 5 1 3 5 - 3/6/3
Pallando carries a Staff of Power, granting him one free point of Will per turn, which may also be used as a two-handed weapon in close combat. He also carries a long dagger (hand weapon). Pallando knows the following spells:
Nature’s Wrath (4)
Immobilise (2)
Command (3)
Terrifying Aura (2)
Plague (12”, 5) – If successful, the target must roll a die every time he attempts to use a point of Might, Will, or Fate for the remainder of the battle. On a roll of 1-3 he is unable to do so. The Might, Will, or Fate is not lost, it returns to his permanent store.

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Well, that's my 2 cents.

Holy Cow!!!!!!!!!!!

Thats alot of house rules, nice profiles on the 3rd age game and just in general some nice special rules. However Lagduf should not cost 35 points really, having Orcs pass ALL courage tests will win a game for you, especially if you have superior numbers, and if you are that bothered about him taking a wound, you could hide him behind a bush or something. I would say maybe 50 points. Otherwise, great house rules.

OT: I think my thread will die a death now, i mean, how can i compete with all that!? ^^

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Sun is by sea-men always hoped for,
when they fare away over the fishes' bath,
until the brine-stallion they bring to land.
OERP

Haha, well, that's pretty much all I've got, so I imagine it'll burn out quick. Slow and steady wins the race, as they say I don't really write many new house rules anymore, mostly because I don't know what's left that I feel like doing. Maybe I'll get around to expanding on Dale/Esgaroth at some point, and the Lossoth are kind of interesting in theory but there's really not that far you can take them.

Good call on Lagduf, too. I've never actually used him, but at least when I wrote the rules I had much smaller games in mind. I can see where he would be devastatingly effective in a large game, though. I could also see keeping him at 35 points, but giving his rule a limited range.

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Well, that's my 2 cents.

WOW! that's a lot of house rules! i havn't had a chance to read them all, but what i have read they are great !

The banner of the dead is interesting, and I may even consider adopting it as a house rule of my own. I think it better reflects the nature of the dead themselves than an inspirational benefit would. I will have to think about the cost of it though.

As I don't play SBG much, I shall only comment on the first three rules as there are simple enough to follow.

The Nine Abroad: Sounds very interesting and makes them worth taking as more than just sorcerers. I always hated that they only had one wound as it doesn't make them as threatening as they should be. However, does the +5pts/+10pts/+15pts apply to each model or in general, like a WotR Battlehost?

The Black Shadow
Sounds very good, but also perhaps a little powerful. Maybe change it to Sauron/the Necromancer must be in their army or all 9 must be present or change it to 5+ (maybe even 6+) or make it cost a few points...

Banner of the Dead: Sounds very interesting, but I'm intrigued as to whether it is instead of normal standard rules or as well? Also, you may wish to say something about when they are in range of that standard and their own. It sounds very characterful for it to make them re-roll their fight rolls and have no affect on your own troops (they're dead, they don't care, lol). Maybe add in that if they are in range of their own banner, they cancel out and no re-roll is taken?

Hey guys, thanks for the replies!

I edited the original post to clarify, but here's a breakdown:

The Nine Abroad: The points increase is per wraith, as these are very good stats to have increased, and well worth 5 points for a hero.

The Black Shadow: I discussed this with some other guys when we first introduced it, and we decided not to change the wraith's point cost at all. Our reasoning was that it really doesn't help the wraith at all - it only triggers when he dies, and it's more a deterent to attack him in melee more than anything else. If I were to assign it a value, I guess I'd just say 5 points, though.

Banners of the Dead: I use these rules instead of normal rules, because when I made them up there were no bnners available to armies of the dead. In fact, I still don't know what their banners do, are they the same effect as normal banners? In terms of cost, I feel like they're about equally effective as normal banners, so I just gave them a normal cost.

I also like the addition that, if a fight is in range of a Dead banner and a normal banner, no re-rolls are taken (since both warriors would be re-rolling, what's the point?).

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Well, that's my 2 cents.

that´s a LOT of special rules!!!!

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"I will take it. I will take the Ring to Mordor...though I do not know the way."
—Frodo, at the Council of Elrond

I'd assumed that it was per wraith, as you said they're pretty decent things to get, but just wanted to make sure Always best to assume the reader is an idiot (without htinking that they are) when creating a rule's wording.

I agree with that and more than 5 points would be overpirced. Even 5 points might be. Should the rule be changed to when the ringwraith dies though? Considering it can be used in conjunction with the nine are abroad to get two wounds, in which case, he can kill two models from them killing him, lol. Also, would a courage test or take the hit be more thematic? Maybe a courage/defence test or take a wound (to save on rolling)? Sounds more in keeping with the fear aspects is all.

Banner: The WD official rules just say that they may have a banner (I think at 35 points) and it's used as normal. I think it's much more fitting for the sight of a tattered dread banner to reduce the enemy's morale than to increase your own (represented in-game with re-rolls). I agree with it costing the same as a normal banner (especially the more expensive kind because of the no re-rolls affect).


So, job well done!

These are all good points. To be honest, the 2-wounds and Black Shadow thing has never come up (I don't think I've ever actually fielded all 9 together). My inclination is to say that it still triggers whenever the wraith is wounded, though, based on Merry and Eowyn's encounter with the Witch King (Merry was effectively a casualty, certainly taken out of the battle, after stabbing the Witch King).

Initially, I had the model just suffer a Strength 4 hit, but someone pointed out to me that wearing a lot of armor wasn't going to save you if you killed a Nazgul. So then I went with a flat 4+. However, I do like the idea of Courage somehow playing a part in it. What about borrowing from the armies of the Dead, and saying the model suffers a Strength 4 hit, but replaces their Defense value with their Courage value? This means most warriors will still be hurt on a 4+, but the more stalwart warriors and heroes have a better chance of surviving.

Thanks for the input!

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Well, that's my 2 cents.

With that reasoning, I agree whole-heartedly. It makes sense, makes it easier, makes it more potent and, most importantly, has precedence.

As to the "Spirit Grasp" style rule (don't know if it's called that in SBG), I agree. It can be worded "Every time a Nazgul suffers an unsaved wound in close combat, the wounding model must take a S4 hit against their courage instead of their defence."

Job's a good 'un!

I just refined the wording on The Black Shadow to include the new Courage-as-Defense part.

Thanks for the input, it is much appreciated!. It's nice to be able to refine house rules through another player's eyes, they always end up much more balanced!

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Well, that's my 2 cents.

I find it really beneficial to get feedback from others as well, for the same reason and to make sure that it's interesting for everyone and not just me.

Glad I was of help and wasn't problematic

The great thing about "The Black Shadow" is that it encourages you to either use heroes (Aragorn, Gandalf and Eowyn [I guess Merry too] were the only ones to stand up to the Witch-King or something similar) or to avoid them in combat, reinforcing that idea of: fear is their weapon and only the most courageous (Aragorn here, not so much Eowyn, lol ) will be able to stand up to them.

Good luck with the other stats and let me know if you make more rules (as I can help with those ^^ ).

While getting the stats of the Nazgul improved as you field more of them is good, perhaps the upgrade should cost less as:

1. Nazgul have a limited amount of will, which limits how effective they can be in combat;
2. Fielding 6 or more Nazgul is complete overkill even in very large battles, so you will be paying an enormous amount for them already;
3. I would like to see a battle with large numbers of Nazgul, so this could serve as an incentive to field more.

You could probably just give it to them for free. After all, how often do you need more than 3 spell casters?

Giving it to them for free has MANY bad connotations: what incentive would there be to not upgrade them in this way? What incentive would there be to avoid fielding 9?

At 55 points a head, 495 points for the 9.
With the special rule, they survive twice as long, can deal twice as much damaged and can survive an extra wound.
This thusly means getting 18 ringwraiths (minus the spread and spellcasting ability of such) for 495 points in your ruling or 70 points a head in the current version, coming in at 630 points. 145 points to get those bonuses isn't an insignificant amount, but also doesn;t dissuade from purchasing it.

Factor in The Black Shadow rule and you have 9 models that people want to avoid in close combat, can do well in it, are tough to kill out of it, but also have magic to boot!

However, I've just had a thought: are the upgrades optional? E.G. Can you have 6, but only buy the 5 point upgrade?

The way I've always looked at them, you pretty much have to decide if your nazgul is going to run around casting spells, or fight, and commit him to that role. With that in mind, their massive amount of Will really isn't much of a limiting factor. At the worst, you're going to have 7 Will - how often does any one figure fight 7 rounds of melee? This can also mean he'll have the odd point of Will to transfix or compel an enemy. So when dedicated to combat, between their Terror, Defense 8, and these boosts, they can really be quite nasty.


Yeah, it's really not designed with competitive gaming in mind. The idea is entirely for thematic scenarios, in which you might find all 9, and really more than anything else just for fun. If you were fielding just the 9 wraiths, for instance, this would give them a bit of a boost.


Me too. I take back my earlier statement about fielding all 9 - we have once when playing a Black Gate scenario. It was a massive battle that took a really long time, but it was fun. I didn't get the impression that the evil side was hindered by having all of them, but the good side had its fair share of high-cost heroes too.


Well, part of the purpose of the rule is to give players a little incentive to play them as more than just spellcasters, giving them a little combat value. Ironically, these rules don't really help out the main "combat" wraiths all that much (The Witch King has 3 attacks with the Crown of Morgul, and The Knight of Umbar's combat stats get replaced), but if you are fielding several then it will offer them a little more protection.

Taking all your points into account, however, I can see where it would be a little expensive. It seems fine on an individual level, but since the ability only kicks in when there are many wraiths, and therefore you're paying for it many times over, maybe it should be in increments of 2 points instead? I do feel like it should cost something.

EDIT: just saw Hashut's Blessing's post - I do like the idea of the upgrade being optional. It gives players a choice in whether or not they want to sink points into this or more troops.

DOUBLE EDIT: If optional, however, I do feel that it has to be an "all or nothing" kind of rule. If you have 6, either all of them pay for and recieve the bonuses, or none of them do.

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Well, that's my 2 cents.

I had intended my post to mean that all of them have to buy the upgrades and all of the upgrades must be the same, but was merely saying that they don't HAVE to have ANY upgrades OR can have one that isn't the top tier for their number (E.G. Nine Wraiths have first bonus at +5pts/model).

Ah, I see what you're saying, and that makes a lot of sense. Now I'm just trying to think of a good, clear way of wording it (so that you can purchase the "lower tier" upgrades, but don't have to purchase the "higher tier" upgrades). I'll go ahead and edit the first post, but if you think of a better way then let me know.

Thanks again, guys!

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Well, that's my 2 cents.

I think it's been explained as clearly as it could be, without it becoming overly convoluted

Perhaps include an overall example "If you purchase 9 ringwraiths and choose to have the second tier ability, you must pay 15 (or 10 points?) per model for the +1 Fate and +1 Attack. Alternatively, you may pay +5 points per model and receive just +1 Attack. You do not have to buy any upgrades at all."

That's something, are the points costs cumulative (so, for tier 3 +30 points/model) or the overall cost (E.G. tier 3 = 15 points/model)? Wait, I just rechecked and the wroding was changed to compensate for this.

Tier 0 = base cost
Tier 1 = base cost + 5
Tier 2 = base cost + 10
Tier 3 = base cost + 15