The Lord of the Rings RPG 2nd ED...or...MERP 4th ED
Dear Fans of Tolkiens Middle-earth!
I have been working on an enhanced edition of the DEC Lord of the Rings RPG throughout the past year. It was technically meant to be some sort of a 2nd edition but has become much more.
When I set out on this task I intended to take the CRB and incorporate the official errata and collected rulings. But since I do have so much material for the game and this approach didn't seem satisfactory all the time, I expanded my to-do list to include most of the stuff from the HT, the HoF and all the other official DEC products.
But it didn't stop there. The game does indeed have some flaws I wanted to do away with all the while there were some missing things I desired to include. Therefore it now contains some rules that were not originally in the game but, at least to my taste, enhance it significantly.
Some of these rules were inspired by Rolemaster, some by Chronicles of Ramlar and others even by games like GURPS and the Hero system, DSA, ICON and others. For the most part you won't recognize these systems anymore but they are there.
With all my modifications I have tried to either simplify the original CODA rules or at least keep the spirit and simplicity of them. At the same time playability and support of "good roleplaying" was my highest goal.
What is now taking shape is a "tome" of more than 800 pages that not only incorporates rules and options but also texts of various sources to supplement the background. I have firmly set the game in another than the original War of the Ring timeframe providing all the necessary information for the period to create believable and consistent adventures in the spirit of Prof. Tolkien.
The year I have chosen is 2790 of the 3rd age. The reasons for this are many and have been discussed in length with more than a dozen scholars and fans of Middle-earth.
Further more I have commissioned some artists to do original art for some of the chapters. Some of these do it out of reference to the source, some out of friendship...and some are, though being honored, in it for the money I pay.
Another friend is doing the layout so it will (and already does in parts) look like a finished book ready for publishing, in the end. The only things missing for the last step are artists doing the front piece...and a publisher having the money to afford the license to do it.
Now why do I do all of this if I never could hope to get this off the ground? Because I love Prof. Tolkiens creation and I have spend many a day walking it's secret paths in my youth and even today. The book is therefore a tribute to Tolkien...and to the heroes that have accompanied me all my life.
It is meant for my gaming group. It can't be distributed in any way. As I said: I don't have a license to do so and am in no position to pay for any fines imposed on me if this work would ever happen to be released through...channels....
Furthermore I have included the texts of so many authors who would have a say in this and would want to get money out of it that it would be a practical impossibility to get all this sorted out.
But...what I could do would be to give "parts" of the final pdf out to gaming groups willing to play-test my changes and report back so I could further streamline the project. This is ONLY for paly-testing! Of course I can't check if you would delete the files after testing or if you destroyed all physical copies.
Nevertheless what is absolutely FORBIDDEN is printing out the the pdf for selling it or selling the pdf itself!!!! NEVER NEVER NEVER!!!! If you would do something like that you would truly proof to be a Gollum-like, wretched creature that can be sure to have put me and my family in danger for the rest of our lifes. And you would piss on the efforts all the people have taken, that have contributed to this project.
For all others...though it might still need a couple of month to be finished, most of the work is done. But some remaining aspects also could need some help. Things like equipment lists for example. Or...if you are an artist willing to work for free, we need some more art. It's all black and white except for the cover. And I'm in no position to pay anymore for it. It already stretched my limits too far. Yet there are still many parts of the book without illustrations.
"People of Middle-earth" is in progress. "Creatures" is not certain yet. All the other chapters could be supplemented in any way you like as long as it stays in line with "People".
If anyone of you knows Larry Elmore truly good...or Angus McBride...these two would be my favorite choice for the cover art. So, help is highly appreciated to get them into this project!
I expect the work on the final PDF to be finished by the end of '11. If anyone is interested in being updated on the progress or has questions about details feel free to send me an email.
This posting is for information only and will be removed again in the next couple of weeks.
Best regards,
Storm of the Million Spheres.
PS: IMPORTANT notice: What I REALLY desperately need are proofreaders!!!! As you will have noticed I'm no native to english. Since the book is in english nevertheless and shall have the quality of a publishable work, I will not be satisfied with my bad english. So if you are VERY good at language (american or british is all the same to me) please feel free to dump yourself in tons of unpaid, voluntary work for many month to come!!! ;-)
