Are any of the Tolkien RPGs any good?
I heard that there are three big ones, namely "Middle-earth Role Playing" by Iron Crown Entertainment, "The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game" by Decipher, and "The One Ring" by Cubicle 7. I'm inclined to look at the latter since it's the newest but I suppose that doesn't mean best.
Also, anyone got any stories for inspiration?
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I sort of like the Decipher one myself, but honestly, a lot of my biggest problems with Tolkien based RPGs have more to do with the setting and less to do with whatever system you play. Don't get me wrong, I love Tolkien, the sort of guy who reads HoME and his various letters for fun, but unless you're willing to play a very specific kind of game, I don't think his world is great for an RPG. Especially not the sort of RPG that most people who are interested in Tolkien games want to play, where they're Big Dudes who wander around and fight Nazgul and hobknob with the other big cheeses of the setting.
That being said, a long time ago, I once played a very nice game which was a stealth tolkien one; it was only towards the end that we realized these raiders from across the sea were the Numenoreans in the second age.
Can't talk about any but "The One Ring" and that is awesome. I can't stress it enough that if there is any Middle Earth focused RP anyone should try, it's that one.
1 minute apart but extremely different opinions. Any chance for exposition on either post?
The ICE one is the most fleshed out one but the other two have the better mechanics.
Isn't there a book that details it as a D&D 5e setting now?
DESU, I agree. I'm not sure the world gives the kind of fantasy RPG an RPGer expects; it has this weird issue of defying fantasy tropes it heavily influenced in the first place.
>Isn't there a book that details it as a D&D 5e setting now?
Not that I've heard of, but I could be mistaken
Googling suggests that's the Cubicle 7 one they're talking about
Cubicle 7 also has Adventures in Middle Earth
Yes, TOR is superb.
I had such impression and strayed far away from ME as campaign setting before, but then I read TOR rulebooks, and especially setting material (The Heart of the Wild/The Darkening of Mirkwood) proved my previous doubts wrong.
Now I'm running it for bunch of people who aren't even tolkien fanboys like me, they got the feel quickly and seem to enjoy it very much. It clearly goes against the expectations of average D&D player, but it's not like people can't enjoy it if they try It did probably help that my players weren't average D&D players but newbs from vidya RP freeform mixed with WFRP players
>Are any of the Tolkien RPGs any good?
An RPG can't be good if the source material isn't good, so the answer is "no", OP.
Try ASOIAF RPGs instead.
Now news came to Hithlum that Dorthonion was lost and the sons of Finarfin overthrown, and that the sons of Fëanor were driven from their lands. Then Fingolfin beheld... the utter ruin of the Noldor, and the defeat beyond redress of all their houses; and filled with wrath and despair he mounted upon Rochallor his great horse and rode forth alone, and none might restrain him. He passed over Dor-nu-Fauglith like a wind amid the dust, and all that beheld his onset fled in amaze, thinking that Oromë himself was come: for a great madness of rage was upon him, so that his eyes shone like the eyes of the Valar. Thus he came alone to Angband's gates, and he sounded his horn, and smote once more upon the brazen doors, and challenged Morgoth to come forth to single combat. And Morgoth came.
That was the last time in those wars that he passed the doors of his stronghold, and it is said that he took not the challenge willingly; for... alone of the Valar he knew fear. But he could not now deny the challenge before the face of his captains; for... Fingolfin named Morgoth craven.... Therefore Morgoth... issued forth clad in black armour; and he stood before the King like a tower, iron-crowned, and his vast shield, sable unblazoned, cast a shadow over him like a stormcloud. But Fingolfin gleamed beneath it as a star; for his mail was overlaid with silver, and his blue shield was set with crystals; and he drew his sword Ringil, that glittered like ice.
Then Morgoth hurled aloft Grond, the Hammer of the Underworld, and swung it down like a bolt of thunder. But Fingolfin sprang aside, and Grond rent a mighty pit in the earth.... Many times Morgoth essayed to smite him, and each time Fingolfin leaped away...; and he wounded Morgoth with seven wounds, and seven times Morgoth gave a cry of anguish, whereat the hosts of Angband fell upon their faces in dismay, and the cries echoed in the Northlands.
But at the last the King grew weary, and Morgoth bore down his shield upon him. Thrice he was crushed to his knees, and thrice arose again and bore up his broken shield and stricken helm. But the earth was all... pitted about him, and he stumbled and fell backward before the feet of Morgoth; and Morgoth set his left foot upon his neck.... Yet with his last and desperate stroke Fingolfin hewed the foot with Ringil, and the blood gushed forth black and smoking and filled the pits of Grond.
Thus died Fingolfin, High King of the Noldor, most proud and valiant of the Elven-kings of old.
Nice try GRRM.
Merp has tons of content, from detailed location sourcebooks to full campaigns.
If you find it too rules-light you can just upgrade to Rolemaster without any issues.
The rules are very oldschool though, which is not everyone's taste,
but don't listen to people who tell you it's overly complex, because it really isn't.
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>disliking Tolkien
>liking Martin
I bet you think Salvatore is the pinacle of fantasy literature.
Just stick with D&D
But it must be better because it's darker.
No one in Lord of the Rings says fuck or rapes little girls on a pile of corpses.
D&D is pretty awful for a Tolkien game, especially vanilla D&D. There's an actual Adventures of Middle-Earth supplement that introduces or changes several major mechanics and completely changes all the classes, if you REALLY want to do it with D&D
But being honest it's probably best used as a completely unrelated, 5e-based system for running more down-to-earth games with a strong hint of Tolkien rather than Tolkien games
Oldschool in what sense? Extremely challenging?
If you want detailed source material, go with MERP - nothing else comes close. Old school rules, so it's vaguely dndish, but better imo and deadly. Uses criticals and fumbles. Fairly simple percentile system. Massive source material support.
Oh, and Tolkien games are totally playable. People saying you can't play in middle earth are memeing trolls.
MERP is terrible unless you are really into the random bullshit crit tables.
In which case it's sort of lolrandumb, but that's why you are here.
>random bullshit
Yeah, no. Combat is well-though-out and lethal, but certainly not random bullshit. You will die in MERP, make no mistake about it, unless you know a powerful healer nearby. But fighting is dangerous business in real life too. Forces players to be tactical and a bit thoughtful, not random murderhobos.
Burning Wheel as an rpg I feel like represents each of the Tolkien races very well
Elves are generally OP and have semi-magical versions of skills meaning they're basically great of everything. They also have a constantly growing grief about the beauty of the world fading and so eventually can't bear it and have to sail west.
Dwarves are slightly above human in terms of abilities but their main thing is they make the best stuff. Their equipment is OP as hell. They also have a very important greed mechanic which is usually a mix of good and bad.
Orcs tend to be weaker than the others overall, but they have a lot of good skills related to causing harm and generally being dicks to other people.
I haven't had a chance to run either, but both TOR and adventures in middle earth are for running a very specific kind of fantasy and a very specific kind of Tolkien, skewing closer to the hobbit than the trilogy, for which i think they are better off. I really like the systems though, and I dig that aside from baddies and the growing evil, one of your main obstacles is the weariness and depression of being on a long journey in a foreign land. Most rpgs have either treated journeys as either hexs to be cleared or quick cut scenes. These games really seem to want to convey both mechanically and in mood that the travel itself is a big deal, and not just a thing to occur between fights.
>burning wheel
>intothetrashitgoes.jpg
I can't imagine setting a tabletop game in anything but the First Age. It could have potential to be cool, though.
Middle Earth is huge and has a history that stretches for over 6000 years, not counting First Age. Why would you limit yourself to the time when the Gods walk the land and everyone dies??
Cubicle's TOR is my all time favorite system and I play it twice a month since it's came out. AMA
Well, it depends on what kind of campaign you want to run. I think it would be nice to stage a campaign amidst all of the great battles, where the races are all decently powerful and present. It would have the most variety, I think, and I feel like the Silmarillion fleshes it out well but not TOO well which would allow for a good amount of creativity from your DM.
>Isn't there a book that details it as a D&D 5e setting now?
AiME is a TOR port to 5E. It's also very, very good. I prefer TOR but if I just started to play this setting today I might have chosen the 5E version too since I also like 5E. But I think TOR fits Middle Earth better.
Tbh First Age is probably the worst period to play a Tolkien game in. Feels like you are an edgy asshole who wants to duel Balrogs and blablabla. A real tolkien game is set in TOR campaign.
That's a very high level campaign - and a great one! But your players hafta be on board for some major high-level shenanigans. Unless you play as the wee folk trying to avoid all that first age nonsense.
I like MERP's choice: they give info for all eras, but tend to focus on the mid third age. Complete room to forge your own tales without fucking with continuity; a big bad to fight (Angmar); works for all levels of play, from beginner to over-powered.
And gorgeous maps.
MERP is the worst RPG i've ever played. Hands down.
>scan of the MERP map without any lousy fold lines
I love you user
The problem I always had with ICE, was that they really failed to capture the "feel" of Tolkien. It felt more like generic fantasy with Tolkien trappings. System wasn't great either.
Decipher was much better in terms of feeling like Tolkien, but the system was only mediocre.
The One Ring is great for both system and feel, and I think the period between the Hobbit and LotR has a great deal of potential. It could certainly be used for an earlier period where Arnor still exists, though I think it them loses a lot of that melancholy desolation of Tolkien.
Can you talk more about the mechanics of travel fatigue?
>MERP is the worst RPG i've ever played. Hands down.
For us uninitiated into the system, why do you say that? It's getting a lot of love in this thread so far
He's memeing.....
This right hereMERP is getting slagged only because there are new games on the market that don't want you to know about MERP. Seriously: if you love Tolkien, get yourself into the MERP sourcebooks - you will not look back, and the grin on your face might not go away.....
Take or leave the system (each book has some guidelines on how to convert MERP to other rpg's); but the source material is gob-smackingly awesome.
(generally speaking of course - there are some less good modules)
If you like Tolkien, sure, get into the MERP sourcebooks. If you LOVE Tolkien, avoid them at all costs. The source material is so jarringly different than the world laid out in The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings that they may as well be describing different settings entirely.
For example, see pic related.
My one and only brash with MERP ended when a large crow ripped off a guys arm on a crit.
It's stupid. Tactics barely exist. Everything is random and lethal, so much so you never want to get into a fight.
The Fall of Arnor in the Long War against Angband and it's Witch King makes a pretty epic tragic campaign.
>oh gods, what did I do?
Fuck, no.
No, no, no.
Fluff wise it is rich, but far from great. Tons of material, but little of it word using. Impressive attempt at turning Tolkien's world into your generic fantasy shittery and losing all the charm in the process. Average tolkien famnboi (and who else would be interested in running tolkien's RPGG?) could probably make better shit up on spot so why even bother using it?
Mechanics wise it's so obsolete it's hardly worth even commenting.
You just roll a fatigue roll every several days. If you fail, you gent fatigue points that might make you tired or be disadvantage in combat. If you fail badly you may trigger a hazard episode with more serious consequences, requiring another roll. It could end very staple if you just roll it inconsiderably each time, but it can be great if incorporated into narration with more care. Still, it is not one of the strongest points of the system, which doesn't mean it's bad, but there are just plenty of more memorable parts.
Did you ran/play Darkening of Mirkwood?
Did you finish it?
Generally speaking, MERP was fine as long as it stuck to expanding on the written source material. Harad and the Nazgul were nice (though I'd argue giving each Nazgul individual personalities sort of misses the point) but the further they went east and south, the dumber the content got.
Like, 'Dark Lords as strong as Sauron and half-Valar OC' dumb.