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Post by jeffb on Sept 12, 2022 9:56:47 GMT -6
Good (series of) article(s) from a few years back- overviews of regions and peoples, times, and approach to using D&D for ME. Basements & BalrogsOh. Hey. That’s fun. Nice and simple and straightforward in an almost beginner friendly manner. I read it. Decent lil ‘campaign guide’ without too much mess.I think I’ll save and read again on an off day. Thanks, man. Exactly- fun and a good guide for someone who 1) is a novice, or 2) someone who just isn't steeped in the details of the lore, or 3) knows more than enough to get them in trouble and ruin a game/campaign yet wise enough to cater to the players to make sure they have fun and don't get bogged down in details..i.e..me |
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Post by tkdco2 on Sept 12, 2022 13:32:14 GMT -6
Good (series of) article(s) from a few years back- overviews of regions and peoples, times, and approach to using D&D for ME. Basements & BalrogsThat was a great series. Pity the author didn't continue. It looked like he was going to talk about the other races but never got around to it. |
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Post by tkdco2 on Sept 12, 2022 13:43:42 GMT -6
If we're allowed only one MERP product, are we allowed other resources? There are books and maps on Middle-earth, but they're not intended as gaming material. Are they allowed in order to expand the campaign? That said, you can keep your campaign in a single location. The MERP books include lots of information about the area they cover. Yeah. My ‘thought experiment’, such as it is….was simply as I said in my OP… That you have your single source of D&D rules for the time….but, you have only one single MERP RPG source c. 1986/7...if you’ve Robert Fosters book or other stuff like The Tolkien Companion, etc. no matter…. Of course you own the trilogy +…why would ya not, if you want to play a Middle-Earth game in your excitement over this new game you’ve grown/known to love? In short…. What iteration might you have of D&D (photocopies of this and that even count)? And which single MERP supplement do you choose to purchase with your hard-earned lawn-mowing money that you don’t spend on the new Dio album? lol Kinda torn between B/X and AD&D. Depends on the folks I'm playing with. Some of my early solo games may have set in Middle-earth even before I heard about MERP. All I had back then were the Basic Set and the Rankin/Bass cartoons (I knew about the Bakshi film but didn't get to see it until much later). I started a few threads in Dragonsfoot about translating Middle-earth to AD&D, including 2e spheres for specialty priests. |
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Post by Finarvyn on Sept 12, 2022 15:07:56 GMT -6
I’m interested that Marv would rather delve into the “Lords” series rather than a location and, as I dug those as a young person, I can kinda see how that may work from an inspiration just as much as a locale. I’d not considered that. I guess I look at it this way: (1) I'm not likely to use a lot of rules for MERP, and certainly not in a "D&D plus one" style campaign. My thought is that I need monsters or treasures or the like more than too many rules. D&D supplies some generic stuff, but some of the Lords of Middle-earth books have specific items which could be useful. (2) My Hobbit and Lord of the Rings books have maps, so I don't really need those. Or I could grab maps from SPI's War of the Ring. Or from one of the other RPGs on my shelf. So part of the advantage of a regional sourcebook is lost if I don't need the maps. (3) Unless I'm planning an extended campaign much of my action would probably occur around the Shire, Lonely Mountain, Mirkwood, Rivendell, Moria, Mordor, Rohan, Lothlorien, or maybe Mordor. I can "wing it" for those places, I think. Most of the major NPCs are ones I can hand wave. (4) I did run a game in the wilderlands north of Bree once, so I suppose I could use a gazateer for thereabouts, but there isn't much on the map and I mostly had the PCs hunting orcs. So, really it comes down to my style of play and how I want to run a game. The One Ring 1E chose to put an entire campaign around the time of the Hobbit and center it around Mirkwood and the Lonely Mountain. TOR 2E chose to center theirs around the Shire. I guess if I had a specific location where I wanted to contain my players, a sourcebook for that location could be nifty. I suppose a "better" (different) question might have been to ask what location in Middle-earth could make the best D&D campaign? |
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Post by jeffb on Sept 12, 2022 16:31:46 GMT -6
I suppose a "better" (different) question might have been to ask what location in Middle-earth could make the best D&D campaign? Old Arnor (all three kingdoms)- slightly after the Witch King destroyed the final remnants, and the refugees became the Rangers of the North. So much going on, tons of ruins, intrigue, wilderness adventures- a good amount of tension, but not Epic level tension. |
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Post by tkdco2 on Sept 12, 2022 20:29:04 GMT -6
Also consider the time as well as the place. The MERP products generally set the adventures just after the Great Plague, where the general depopulation of Middle-earth has begun, but not yet to the extent seen in LOTR. Centuries of war will finish the job.
In the default setting, Arthedain and Gondor still have kings, Rohan is not yet a nation, and the Dwarves still live in Khazad-dum. Sauron has not yet revealed himself (except disguised as the Necromancer), but Angmar is still a power to be reckoned with. The One Ring still lies submerged in the Anduin and will do so for centuries.
But very little is recorded about those years. This gives the DM a fair bit of freedom in developing his campaign. And the players can create their stories without fear of being sidelined by the major players.
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Post by jeffb on Sept 13, 2022 5:21:12 GMT -6
Again, I'm in agreeance with tkdco2 IIRC, MERP's official "Start date" is 1640 T.A, and I always found that (as well as slightly later- 2000-ish- as I mentioned previously) to be a perfect time for a ME game. No baggage from The Trilogy or The Hobbit, but a time with lots of great adventure gaming potential. |
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Post by geoffrey on Sept 13, 2022 13:10:02 GMT -6
...what location in Middle-earth could make the best D&D campaign? My current campaign uses six RPG books: 1. AD&D Monster Manual 2. AD&D Players Handbook 3. AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide (with D3's descriptions of mezzodaemons and nycadaemons taped in) 4. Holmes basic D&D rulebook 5. B2: The Keep on the Borderlands 6. Rob Kuntz's The Original Bottle City Literary sources: The Hobbit in the context of REH's Conan, Vance's The Dying Earth (first volume only), the first seven Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories, the first five Elric stories, and Merritt's The Moon Pool, The Face in the Abyss, and Dwellers in the Mirage. My campaign map:  |
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Post by Finarvyn on Sept 13, 2022 14:09:21 GMT -6
Geoffrey, I'm glad you weighed in on this. I would love to play in that campaign!
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Post by tkdco2 on Sept 13, 2022 17:09:54 GMT -6
How about Thieves of Tharbad as your go-to module? Unlike the majority of MERP products, this module is set in 1409, right after the last King of Cardolan and all his sons fall in battle against Angmar and Rhudaur. The characters can be survivors of that disastrous battle, making their way to a safe(?) haven. Combine it with Dark Mage of Rhudaur to make a long-lasting campaign. *No spoilers included in the links provided. |
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Post by machfront on Sept 23, 2022 5:46:45 GMT -6
Don’t wish this to die on the vine or anything, as I started it.
So, I just wanted to say, I’m still reading and thinking/considering….and, most of all, being inspired by the suggestions.
I thank you all. Really!
I bought Thieves of Tharbad back in a MERP buying frenzy in around about 2007-2009 when I began to become afraid of super sharp upticks in price ….and well…yeah…yeah….we all know. Hahah!
At the time I was obsessed in a minor way of Lahkmar-like stuff I wanted to experiment with it elsewhere…hehehe…
I dunno I could do it now in ME….but….but… it could be a fun distraction from this to that.
Also…I do dig Dark Mage of Rhudaur.
I wish I had a much wiser ME fan who could sift over my stuff, beat me about the head and neck with a couple of them for reasons…and then I’d do. Hahah! 🙂
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