Narrators, what are you looking for supplement-wise?

As a LOTR RPG Narrator or player, what kind of supplements do you need/are you looking for in your games?

You know what Decipher is coming out with by looking at the product schedule. From that, you can extrapolate more products likely to be released.

What would you like to see that you don't think Decipher will produce? What would you like to see that Decipher isn't allowed to produce thanks to their licensing agreement?

Here's a short list for starters. Please add to it and discuss.

• A sourcebook for The Silmarillion.
• Alternatively, a sourcebook for the First Age and a separate sourcebook for the Second Age.
• Complete adventures.
• Horses of Middle-earth sourcebook, detailing lots of info and new rules for horses and horsey-related stuff.
• A guide to medieval musical instruments that minstrels and other characters could use in a LOTR game.

1. More region sourcebooks. Especially anything that shows all the little villages and towns that can be visited. I'm sure that Bree wasn't the only quiet little hamlet in Middle-Earth!

2. Adventures would be nice.

Silmarillion Sourcebook (or separate First Age and Second Age sourcebooks) would be amazing, but of course they can't make those. I believe a fan-driven project could do it, the people on this message board are great! :)

A booklet on the Rohirrim, with a large section devoted to horses, would be perfect. :)

Complete adventures would be nice, I must admit. It's hard for a 15 year old who is new-to-RPGs-with-no-friends-who-have-played-RPGs to think up the best chronicles. ;)

Quote:

---

Originally posted by ben hur
Silmarillion Sourcebook (or separate First Age and Second Age sourcebooks) would be amazing, but of course they can't make those. I believe a fan-driven project could do it, the people on this message board are great! :)

A booklet on the Rohirrim, with a large section devoted to horses, would be perfect. :)

Complete adventures would be nice, I must admit. It's hard for a 15 year old who is new-to-RPGs-with-no-friends-who-have-played-RPGs to think up the best chronicles. ;)

---

Noted, noted, and noted. ;)

A suplement with some iron and beta carotenes, perhaps..? :D

Quote:

---

Originally posted by qerlin
A suplement with some iron and beta carotenes, perhaps..? :D

---

Ah-haha-ha! Ha-haha!

:rolleyes:



;)

I would like to see a lot of scenarios, from big "War of the Rings" level epic campaigns, to collections of smaller one-shot style of campaigns.

How about a Rangers of Ithilien setting sourcebook circa the War of the Ring, with the chances for mass combat, guerilla combat, and missions against the Dark Lord.

The Kin-Strife in Gondor is also covered in the Appendices, and would be a tremendously cool setting for a Gondoran campaign. MERP's own module on this is considered to be a pretty solid scenario.

>- Horses of Middle-earth sourcebook, detailing lots of info and new rules for horses and horsey-related stuff.

Hmmm... I'd just integrate this in whatever Barbarian/Warrior/Commander/Knight sourcebook is planned.

>- A guide to medieval musical instruments that minstrels and other characters could use in a LOTR game.

If there's a Minstrels book, that would go there, wouldn't it?

How about a Strongholds book with rules for how these might work and be built?

Rules for naval combat and a book about the ships and vessels of Middle-earth.

Obviously, a "The Hobbit" sourcebook.

More realm books, ala Rivendell, Lothlorien, Minas Tirith, Pelargir, Dol Amroth, the Grey Havens, etc.

Strongholds of evil, such as Dol Goldur, Mordor, Mount Gram, Mount Gundabad, and Angmar.

How about a sourcebook specifically about Dragon-kind, expanding on the stuff in Fell Beasts, but also giving writeups of the major dragons to appear in LotR and The Hobbit, including Smaug, Scatha, Ancalagon the Black, and making up a number of others who might exist.

Alternately, one could do a adventure sourcebook of the early days of the Eotheod and their battles with Scatha and the Dwarves of northern Rhovanion.

Great list, Jason.

"I would like to see a lot of scenarios, from big "War of the Rings" level epic campaigns, to collections of smaller one-shot style of campaigns."

Adventures seem to be a popular need.

"How about a Rangers of Ithilien setting sourcebook circa the War of the Ring, with the chances for mass combat, guerilla combat, and missions against the Dark Lord."

That would be cool.

"The Kin-Strife in Gondor is also covered in the Appendices, and would be a tremendously cool setting for a Gondoran campaign. MERP's own module on this is considered to be a pretty solid scenario. "

Not familiar with MERP, but another good idea.

>- Horses of Middle-earth sourcebook

Hmmm... I'd just integrate this in whatever Barbarian/Warrior/Commander/Knight sourcebook is planned.

The outline I have for it is almost entire horse-specific, though I'd be adding rules on horses in combat, more elite orders, more order packages (esp. for craftsmen) and the like. I'm sure I'll be influenced by what I see in the B/W book.

>- A guide to medieval musical instruments that minstrels and other characters could use in a LOTR game.

If there's a Minstrels book, that would go there, wouldn't it?

Probably.

>How about a Strongholds book with rules for how these might work and be built?

That could be cool.

>Rules for naval combat and a book about the ships and vessels of Middle-earth.

Hmm, probably in a possible Mariner book?

>More realm books, ala Rivendell, Lothlorien, Minas Tirith, Pelargir, Dol Amroth, the Grey Havens, etc.

Sure.

>Strongholds of evil, such as Dol Goldur, Mordor, Mount Gram, Mount Gundabad, and Angmar.

If not one big book o' evil.

>How about a sourcebook specifically about Dragon-kind, expanding on the stuff in Fell Beasts, but also giving writeups of the major dragons to appear in LotR and The Hobbit, including Smaug, Scatha, Ancalagon the Black, and making up a number of others who might exist.

I'm not familiar enough with the other publications to know how huge a role dragons were. I'd think Smaug would fit best in the Hobbit sourcebook

>Alternately, one could do a adventure sourcebook of the early days of the Eotheod and their battles with Scatha and the Dwarves of northern Rhovanion.

And another good idea.

I'm sure I'll surprise no one by saying that I'm looking for ideas for more fan-made work, and all of these comments are getting my brain firing. Thanks a lot, everyone! Keep the ideas coming.

And, of course, if there are enterprising fans out there who want to tackle some of these, go ahead and start posting threads and ideas. I'm game for a LOTR fan project. :)

I'll add my votes for sourcebooks on mariners (including ships, characters, sea monsters, naval battle rules, exploration, and adventures), Dol Amroth, and Rangers of Ithilien.

Incidentally, I'm working on deck plans for a Teleri swanship. If I ever decide they're fit to share, I'll find someone with a scanner and notify the forum.

For what it's worth, Sarge, I recently finished compiling information for a write-up of Dol Amroth. It'll include geographic and historical information on the region of Belfalas, as well as the city of Dol Amroth itself. I plan on including a new background package or two, as well as unit information (for mass battles) on the Knights of Dol Amroth. There will also be a full write-up of Imrahil, as well as capsule information on his children.

While Tolkien's writings on things will be used to their fullest extent, I'll have to include some things that are my own thoughts on the area, so it won't be completely 'canon' or anything, but, still, Dol Amroth is one of my favorite areas, and Imrahil is one of my favorite characters, so it's something that I'm looking forward to really working on.

I should have Imrahil finished early next week, so I might post him here to get some feedback, if people are interested.




Greg

Sounds very interesting good, Greg, I'd like to see Imrahil when you're done! (don't forget he is Elven-blooded; since he's your favorite, I'm sure you haven't forgotten, hehe) :)

Sounds great, Greg! More stuff for the design studio. :D Send it along when it's ready to be looked at.

Oh, I certainly haven't forgotten that he's Elven-blooded, and it's actually one of the things that I've been giving the most thought to, in terms of game mechanic expression.

At this point, I'm leaning heavily towards making a 'special' background package for Imrahil (and his kin) called 'Elven-blooded', which would cover many of the edges that the Elven-blooded section of the Core Book recommends (since edges and skills are of equal worth for backgrounds).

Either way, it looks like he's going to weigh in with a pretty high number of advancements (less than Aragorn, but more than Boromir, as a range example). I'm going to stat him the way I think he should be, and then see how many advancements he adds up to, and then add or subtract as I feel appropriate.

Still, I'll be looking for feedback from the boards, so he'll certainly be open to revision, as necessary.



Greg

Darkness / Servants of the Shadow / Chaos - Source book on that which most Parties will face. Or, conversely, what some parties will choose to run to go against the Fellowship and their own. Not just Fell Beasties, but things that you'd find in something akin to Fiend Folio / FF II.

Dragons - Smaug isn't the only dragon. Most lived in the North - some are discussed in the Similarion (spelling?) I know that they are discussed in Fell Beasties - but there's something about seeing pages upon pages of Dragons!!

Combat - Large scale, 1-on-1, party v. party, ship based, siege, siege-craft / city defenses, armor, weapons - things that go boom & thud!! If it's a horse, it had better be able to wear it's weight in armor (or light armor, we all learned from the 30 Years War that heavy horse & rain = stuck horses and knight poles). What type of armor / weapon is best for what situation?

Rogues Source Book - Circle, Sneak, Backstab. What other fun things can we do as Rogues?

Cross-class / Cross-order - I'm a ranger who has spent a lot of time wandering with a wizard. I've learned a few things over the last 10 years. Azbazrat taught me how to conjure fire to make my meal and/or throw up a fire ball to disuade Orcs from following me.

Guide to gaming in the LotR environment. Power gamers need apply? Storytellers only? What to expect in the "normal" campaign: story, combat, romance, mixture of all? I know it depends on the indivudal DM, but the general feel that I get from the books is Power Gamers leave your dice at the door.

If yer doing something on horses, then perhaps all manner of mounts. Dragons, Eagles, horses, wargs, etc. Not all of the races of Middle-Earth are keen on horses.

Potential story-arcs. "Canned" campaigns / modules. Not all those who want to be a DM have time to write / think of a campaign. A module would allow them to run the game and let the PCs still get their game on. I know that some modules can feel "canned", but I've always felt that it's the DM / PCs that will make it work or not - not the module per se. But, those have been my experiences with those I've gamed with.

Magical Items - What is already in existence that is not "Sorry, you're not Aragorn nor Gandalf, so it won't let you wield it - look don't touch!!" What can a lore master / wizard "create" / enchant? Not just spells, weapons, and armor, but something akin to the Moon-letter note / map that was discussed in another thread here. Sigils / wards that prevent the entrance of those not aligned with the creators of such wards. "Sending" - elves normally can do this anyway, but Wizards with enough time & practice may develop the skill or if twins / triplets are born and have a common feel / link. General paranormal - ghosts, spectres, hauntings, auras, etc. Dark Magics - if anything survived the War of the Ring or was undiscovered prior.

Idiots Guide to Elvish and Dwarven language. What do the names mean? Where did the language come from (aside from Tolkien) - Valor breathed and the Elves understood their breath and thoughts as language? The Dwarves heard a pattern in Aule's hammering of the rock and strung it into a language? Historionics and Linguistics behind the languages - speaking 4 languages myself, knowing the culture that went into the language makes a huge difference in understanding the words, phrases, and content. HTF do you pronounce THAT?! What made the Elves (and Dwarves) all decide to speak different languages (similar question can be asked of current humans, many branching off from key regional languages: Latin, Chinese, Arabic / Hebrew, etc.) - did the natural barrier cause a rift in their meeting, which caused them to have their own dialect - not having any outside contact?

Idiot's Guide to the humans of Middle-Earth. Who's who? Why does X not like Y? Why do they both not like Z?

Guide to Heroes - Who's who? Who has what abilities? How can my character achieve that level of demi-godhood? What level is Aragorn? How many Orcs could Gimli take before he tired and could possibilly falter? How many arrows can Legolas fling in a round at melee? What makes Gandalf #2 for so long and then #1 among the Ishtari? How did defeating the Balrog make him uber-powerful? etc.

Key story-arcs. Outline of Tolkien's core books: The Hobbit, The Similiarion (spelling), LotR - how they tie together? What is a legend to where and whom? How do other books by JRRT & CRT fit into the core books (e.g., War of the Ring series)? How can these story-arcs be used by DMs to put together a campaign? What is concidered JRRT canon? JRRT & CRT books, Jackson's LotR, stories not by JRRT that are in Middle-Earth, etc.?

Food-stuffs. Probably a part of adventuring supplement. What foods can be found in the different towns, villages, cities of the different regions? What can be found on the trail? What do Dwarves eat? Elves? Orcs? Hobbits? Trolls? Giants? etc. Do different Inns serve different foods - based on region (wouldn't expect Fish in the Mountains), local customs - feasts, serving rituals, etc. What can be packed for the trail and what will spoil - how long with a loaf of bread last free of mold? Beer, ale, wine, water - what is the drink of choice or what different types are served?

Good ideas there, Grutos. I can see where a lot of that stuff is or will be covered by a Decipher supplement, but I see some stuff fans could work on and publish too.

Keep 'em coming, folks! :D