Tom Bombadil

ResRef

tom

Tag

Tom

Race

Halfling

Appearance

Halfling

Class(es)

Bard 60/Sorcerer 60/Magical Beast 60

HP

18,100

CR

8219.0

Faction

Good (id 5)

Conversation

—

Where to find

Placed directly

Abilities

Classes

Within The Lord of the Rings, Tom Bombadil is a mysterious figure who functions as a deus ex machina. He and his wife Goldberry, the "Daughter of the River," still live in their house on the Withywindle, and some of the characters and situations from the original poem are recycled directly into story-elements for The Lord of the Rings. In the book, he is described as "Master of wood, water and hill," and nearly always speaks or sings in stress-timed metre: 7-beat lines broken into groups of 4 and 3. He appears in three chapters, "The Old Forest," "In the House of Tom Bombadil," and "Fog on the Barrow-Downs." He is also mentioned briefly in the chapter "The Council of Elrond" and at the end of the story in "Homeward Bound" and "The Grey Havens". Behind Bombadil's simple façade are hints of great knowledge and power, though limited to his own domain. Tom first appears within the story after Merry and Pippin are trapped by Old Man Willow and Frodo cries for help. Tom commands Old Man Willow to release them, singing him to sleep, and shelters the hobbits in his house for a couple of nights. Here it is revealed that the One Ring has no power over Bombadil. He can see Frodo even when the hobbit wears the Ring, and Tom (an immortal) does not turn invisible when he wears the Ring himself. He even tosses the Ring in the air and makes it disappear, but then produces it from his other hand and returns it to Frodo. While this demonstrates he has unique and mysterious power over the Ring, the idea of giving him the Ring for safekeeping is rejected within Book Two's second chapter, "The Council of Elrond." Gandalf says, rather, that "the Ring has no power over him", and believes that Tom would simply not find the Ring to be very important and so might simply misplace it. Frodo spends two nights in Tom Bombadil's house, each night dreaming a different dream. The first night he dreams of fearful things. The second night he dreams of a grey rain-curtain turning all to silver glass and rolling back, and white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise. Before sending the hobbits on their way, Tom teaches them a rhyme to summon him if they fall into danger inside his borders again. This proves fortunate, as the four encounter Barrow-wights during "Fog on the Barrow-downs," the eighth chapter of The Fellowship of the Ring. After saving them from the Barrow-wights, Tom gives each hobbit a long dagger taken from the treasure in the barrows. As the hobbits leave the Old Forest, he refuses to pass the borders of his own land, but before he goes he directs them to The Prancing Pony Inn at Bree. Towards the end of The Return of the King, when Frodo and Gandalf take their leave, Gandalf mentions that he wants to have a long talk with Bombadil, calling him a "moss-gatherer." Gandalf also says, in response to Frodo's query of how well Bombadil is getting along, that Bombadil is "as well as ever" and "quite untroubled". Gandalf also states that Bombadil is "not much interested in anything that we have done and seen", save their visits to the Ents. At the very end of The Lord of the Rings, as Frodo sails off on the High Sea and passes on into the West and leaves Middle-earth, he has what seems to him the very experience that appeared to him in the house of Bombadil in the second night of his dream.

Combat

Saves shown = stored bonus + ability mod + item bonuses (Saving Throw Bonus: Specific); class-table progression and feat bonuses (Great Fortitude, etc.) are applied at runtime.

Abilities & combat properties

Dodge AC and save bonuses are factored into the main combat stats above. Dodge AC stacks (cap +20); haste adds +4 more (separate). All other same-type bonuses do not stack — only the highest is shown. Regeneration stacks without limit. Immunities marked (racial) are granted by the creature's racial type by the engine, not by its equipment.

Weapons

Spells

Bard

Special abilities

Equipment

Inventory (12)

Feats (40)

• Armor Proficiency (light)
• Armor Proficiency (medium)
• Bard Song
• Bardic Knowledge
• Curse Song
• Death Attack (+20d6)
• Defensive Awareness (1)
• Defensive Awareness (2)
• Defensive Awareness (3)
• Devastating Critical (dagger)
• Epic Bard
• Epic Weapon Focus (dagger)
• Epic Weapon Specialization (dagger)
• Extra Music
• Fearless
• Good Aim
• Great Charisma I
• Great Charisma III
• Great Charisma IV
• Great Charisma V
• Great Charisma VI
• Great Charisma VII
• Great Charisma VIII
• Great Charisma X
• Improved Critical (dagger)
• Lasting Inspiration
• Lingering Song
• Lucky
• Overwhelming Critical (dagger)
• Quicken Spell
• Scribe Scroll
• Shield Proficiency
• Skill Affinity (Listen)
• Skill Affinity (Move Silently)
• Small Stature
• Spell Focus (Abjuration)
• Two-Weapon Fighting
• Weapon Focus (dagger)
• Weapon Proficiency (simple)
• Weapon Specialization (dagger)

Skills

Scripts