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Post by tkdco2 on Oct 19, 2022 22:47:30 GMT -6
Old-school LOTR miniatures by Citadel and Grenadier
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Post by tkdco2 on Feb 5, 2023 18:41:11 GMT -6
I've been thinking of what elements to put in a fantasy adventure to make it feel like it's in Middle-earth. Here's a partial list.
Travel: Not all journeys need to be long, but they are a good way to introduce new allies and foes. A safe haven would be good to have for longer journeys.
Riddles: These are useful for spicing up any game. Use them to help the players find the safe path or avoid being eaten by Gollum. Issues #175 and #271 of Dragon Magazine include articles on the subject.
Songs/poems: Don't worry if you don't have any talent in this area, Just use a few lines from an old ballad or poem. You don't have to use the entire work. You may also find inspiration online.
Of course, geography and history count toward the setting, but they may not be enough to get the proper feeling of adventuring in Middle-earth. I'll try to come up with more ideas.
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Post by tkdco2 on Feb 6, 2023 13:07:25 GMT -6
Here are a few more tips.
Mine other games, including MMOs, for material and details for your game. LOTRO does a reasonably good job at sticking to the lore; I can't speak for other games based on Tolkien's works. Don't feel constrained to stick to Middle-earth games. I plan to use some riddles from Conquest of Camelot for my adventure currently in the works.
Reskin your monsters as needed. You can use a 7 HD hellhound as a wingless dragon, a kobold as a weak goblin, or even a minotaur as a cave troll (since Middle-earth trolls don't regenerate damage). The stats and xp values remain unchanged. Since almost every edition has differences in stats and mechanics, this method is usually less work than converting monsters.
It's also okay to add monsters not included by Tolkien, as long as they don't break the lore. The Fellowship never encountered giant centipedes, or cave locusts, but these creatures wouldn't seem out of place in Moria or other underground locations. Efreet can be fire demons who are less powerful than Balrogs.
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Post by jamesmishler on Feb 6, 2023 16:57:44 GMT -6
Adding to the lore is a great tip. So many people feel that it is almost sacrilegious, but forget that for all that Tolkien describes, he only only deals with a small (if important) portion of the entire world of Middle-earth.
Plenty of room for all the D&D monsters in Middle-earth. Even the Valar and Maiar did not know all there was to know...
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Post by tkdco2 on Feb 6, 2023 19:24:58 GMT -6
Definitely you can add to the lore. The MERP rpg did that in many areas, like having a half-troll warlord carve out some territory for himself when Cardolan fell. The MERP game's default setting was just after the Great Plague, long before Eorl the Young was alive to found Rohan, so the ancestors of the Rohirrim/Eorlingas were called the Eothraim instead.
LOTRO also did that by detailing areas only mentioned by Tolkien, such as the Gondorian towns Calembel and Linhir. LOTRO also added monsters such as snow beasts, swamp lurkers, and cave claws. Fun fact: Carrion crawlers (yes, they use that name) can be found in some areas of Mordor.
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Post by tkdco2 on Mar 1, 2023 23:38:57 GMT -6
I'm including this musical piece here because it's in the LOTRO soundtrack (ignore the unreleased bit on the title). However, you can use it in any game that turns into a TPK.
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Post by tkdco2 on Mar 8, 2023 0:10:05 GMT -6
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Post by tkdco2 on May 2, 2023 14:06:47 GMT -6
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Post by tkdco2 on May 5, 2023 16:36:41 GMT -6
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Post by tkdco2 on Jun 1, 2023 3:46:09 GMT -6
Just for laughs:
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Post by tkdco2 on Aug 24, 2023 17:57:39 GMT -6
Reenactment of a scene from the film:
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Post by tkdco2 on Sept 30, 2023 18:22:41 GMT -6
I've been toying with the idea of a low-magic Rolemaster Classic campaign. I may try it in Middle-earth, but I would probably try it first on a homebrew setting.
Only a few professions from the core rulebook will be allowed: most of the non-spellcasting classes, and one of the pure users of each realm. Hybrid and semi spell users are out. The allowed classes are fighter, thief, warrior monk, alchemist, healer, and seer. These are enough to keep the roles of each one distinct.
I am considering removing the idea of realms altogether. All the spellcasting classes draw upon innate power or learning. I'm still considering what armor restrictions will apply.
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Post by tkdco2 on Oct 2, 2023 13:21:28 GMT -6
I don't know if anyone else plays the HERO System, which is why I'm putting these entries here instead of making a new thread. Here are a few ideas I came up with back in the 1990s, when HERO was in its 4th Edition (it's currently in its 6th Edition). Elf Package DealsSpell Colleges for Middle-earth ReligionI also did Package Deals for different types of Men, converted from MERP. However, these notes were lost a long time ago.
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Post by tkdco2 on Oct 31, 2023 20:14:40 GMT -6
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Post by Falconer on Oct 31, 2023 20:49:39 GMT -6
Yeah, man, I love that soundtrack and listen to it a lot. It once came out on CD and I have a nice clean rip of it, it sounds great.
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Post by Greyharp on Nov 1, 2023 4:06:31 GMT -6
Me too, love it. For me the songs are right for the poems and when I hear other versions, the music just doesn't sound right to me. I have the LP still and give it a spin now and then. And I have the BBC radio play burned on discs, which I've been thinking lately that I should have a listen to again because it's been years.
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Post by doublejig2 on Nov 6, 2023 17:40:22 GMT -6
I'm re-reading the Lord of the Rings for the first time since 1994. Is the first half of the Fellowship of the Ring, the best fantasy ever penned? I think so.
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Post by tdenmark on Nov 7, 2023 2:10:03 GMT -6
Same here. I just got the Illustrated Hobbit, full of JRR Tolkien's illustrations. Sets a completely different tone than Peter Jackson's version. I'd like to see a whole animated series of Tolkien's middle-earth work from Silmarillion to LotR done in his style.
The Silmarillion is full of fantastic stories, I just wish they were written in prose like LotR and less straight exposition.
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rhialto
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 121
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Post by rhialto on Nov 7, 2023 4:25:17 GMT -6
I just finished re-reading The Hobbit (after some 45 years?), also the 75th anniversary edition with Tolkien's art, and very much enjoyed it. Funny how memories differed from the re-read: I had completely forgotten how...bumbling?...the dwarves are: always getting captured, frequently cowering and quailing. I suppose this makes sense, since it's "The Hobbit", and not "An Early Fellowship". I skipped the last two Jackson Hobbit movies, but did watch the clip of Bard vs. Smaug right after reading the chapter, and good grief...why? Visually spectacular, dramatically divergent and discordant.
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Post by Finarvyn on Nov 7, 2023 5:31:15 GMT -6
I'm re-reading the Lord of the Rings for the first time since 1994. Is the first half of the Fellowship of the Ring, the best fantasy ever penned? I think so. Certainly, one of my all-time favorites. Same with the movie, which is my favorite of all six. In Fellowship the ring moves around 2/3 of the way to Mount Doom, with further movement of the remaining 2/3 in Two Towers, and the final push in RotK. I believe that this was deliberate by JRRT to give the feeling that it's harder and harder to reach the final destination. With that in mind, FotR introduces the hobbits, Strider in Bree, Nazgul chasing the hobbits, Elrond and Rivendell, megadungeon of Moria, the Balrog, and Galadriel in Lothlorien. That's a lot. The first half of FotR brings us (I think) all the way to Elrond. Still a lot.
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Post by Falconer on Nov 7, 2023 7:07:20 GMT -6
The Silmarillion is full of fantastic stories, I just wish they were written in prose like LotR and less straight exposition. The Silmarillion is specifically curated to only include writings in the summary style, but full prose versions do exist and they’re amazing: Unfinished Tales - The Children of Húrin - Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin The Book of Lost Tales - 16 Tales The Lays of Beleriand - The Lay of the Children of Húrin - The Lay of Leithian Morgoth’s Ring - Finwë and Míriel - The Debate of Finrod and Andreth The War of the Jewels - The Awaking of the Quendi - The Wanderings of Húrin The Peoples of Middle-earth - The Shibboleth of Fëanor
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Post by tdenmark on Nov 7, 2023 14:05:44 GMT -6
The Silmarillion is full of fantastic stories, I just wish they were written in prose like LotR and less straight exposition. The Silmarillion is specifically curated to only include writings in the summary style, but full prose versions do exist and they’re amazing: Unfinished Tales - The Children of Húrin - Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin The Book of Lost Tales - 16 Tales The Lays of Beleriand - The Lay of the Children of Húrin - The Lay of Leithian Morgoth’s Ring - Finwë and Míriel - The Debate of Finrod and Andreth The War of the Jewels - The Awaking of the Quendi - The Wanderings of Húrin The Peoples of Middle-earth - The Shibbboleth of Fëanor Yes, I have several of those. They are still written in mostly exposition. Don't get me wrong, I love them. They are amazing works of literature. It is just that LotR (and The Hobbit) is written in such beautiful prose I want more!
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Post by doublejig2 on Nov 16, 2023 18:30:51 GMT -6
I'm re-reading the Lord of the Rings for the first time since 1994. Is the first half of the Fellowship of the Ring, the best fantasy ever penned? I think so. Certainly, one of my all-time favorites. Same with the movie, which is my favorite of all six. In Fellowship the ring moves around 2/3 of the way to Mount Doom, with further movement of the remaining 2/3 in Two Towers, and the final push in RotK. I believe that this was deliberate by JRRT to give the feeling that it's harder and harder to reach the final destination. With that in mind, FotR introduces the hobbits, Strider in Bree, Nazgul chasing the hobbits, Elrond and Rivendell, megadungeon of Moria, the Balrog, and Galadriel in Lothlorien. That's a lot. The first half of FotR brings us (I think) all the way to Elrond. Still a lot. Something to that - the length of the chapter on Treebeard seems to convey Treebeard all the more.
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Post by tkdco2 on Nov 22, 2023 14:25:40 GMT -6
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Post by Porphyre on Nov 22, 2023 14:38:39 GMT -6
Same here. I just got the Illustrated Hobbit, full of JRR Tolkien's illustrations. Sets a completely different tone than Peter Jackson's version. I'd like to see a whole animated series of Tolkien's middle-earth work from Silmarillion to LotR done in his style. The Silmarillion is full of fantastic stories, I just wish they were written in prose like LotR and less straight exposition. My idea of a tv version of the Silmarillion would be an animated anthology, with each chapter animated in a different graphic style.
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Post by tkdco2 on Nov 22, 2023 22:25:21 GMT -6
The Silmarillion is my favorite book. It changed the way I look at the world.
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Post by tkdco2 on Dec 5, 2023 17:46:03 GMT -6
Here's a video showcasing a bunch of old-school LOTR miniatures. www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6x9gNs08rs&t=944sI have the GW Elrond model, along with the Fellowship from a different line. This gave me an idea. I have the miniatures of the Fellowship. I also have their AD&D stats via White Dwarf #38. What if I went off script and run some one-shot adventures using them? Forget canon and continuity. Anyone who gets "killed" will be out of the fight for the rest of the adventure and will come back in the next game. I know some Tolkien fans will balk at the idea, but it sounds like fun.
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Post by Falconer on Dec 5, 2023 21:36:07 GMT -6
I run an annual game with basically that exact premise. It’s wildly fun!
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Post by tkdco2 on Dec 23, 2023 4:16:42 GMT -6
Sauron's Lullaby
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Post by grodog on Dec 29, 2023 17:48:10 GMT -6
Adding to the lore is a great tip. So many people feel that it is almost sacrilegious, but forget that for all that Tolkien describes, he only only deals with a small (if important) portion of the entire world of Middle-earth. Tolkien firmly believed in other folks developing Middle Earth within the bounds and scopes that he had laid out. In the introduction to the second edition of The Silmarillion, one of Tolkien's letters is quoted that talks to this idea (page xii; my emphases): Allan.
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