Narrating Tips for Lord of the Rings Newbies

[Liquidator Queeg]

Does anyone have any tips for rookie Narrators taking up the chair and running a Lord of the Rings game?

Obviously, being well-versed in Tolkien lore is essential, at least if you're running a very simulationist campaign without lots of "made up stuff." So any advice saying "read Tolkien" doesn't cut it for this thread.

I've used some short-cuts over the years that have helped me run my games more smoothly. Here's two of them:

1) Keep a copy of The Complete Guide to Middle-earth by Robert Foster hidden behind your game screen. OK, maybe not hidden, but keep it on hand.

Seriously, this can be a life saver. Especially when you Narrate players who know more about Tolkien lore than you do. Most of the entries are relatively short, so you can read 'em in a minute or so at most.

One thing I do is allow players of Elf characters to use a copy during the game. They may reference it at their leisure. Elves, after all, know lots about lots o' crap, so this can greatly help out a player who may not have an extensive knowledge of Tolkien lore. I might alow the player of a Dunadan character access to the guide, but it depends on his background and skill set.

2) Tie your players' characters in with characters from the Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit (or the Silmarillion as the case may be) right from the get go. Players will love you for it, trust me. It shows you're willing to make them feel special by weaving them into the grand scheme of Middle-earth in the ways that matter most -- thorugh the little details.

For example, in my upcoming 4th Age campaign, one of my players is a Man of Rohan and his "auntie" is Eowyn. He's not actually blood-related, but as a child he spent a lot of time with Faramir and Eowyn's children in the Prince's manor at Emyn Arnen. Also, I have an elf character who served under Thranduil in Mirkwood during the War of the Ring, and is buddies with Legolas.

Does anyone else have some thoughts on this topic? Or have some tips for newbie (or veteran) Narrators of Middle-earth RPGs?

Steve

[Greg Davis]

Let's see...narrating tips. Here are some that come to mind:

1) Know the rules. I know this seems kind of obvious, but not having to fumble through the rulebook at key game moments (especially dramatic or heroic moments) will do alot to keep the focus on the game, where it belongs. Also, like I pointed out in my review, the Narrating chapters in the Core Book have a fantastic number of tips for Narrators, particularly new Narrators.

2) While I agree that the Foster's Complete Guide to Middle-earth is a useful tool for both players and Narrators (and, to my mind, not just Elves and Dunadan, but rather any character who is sufficiently skilled in various Middle-earth Lores), I think that visual aids, like a good map or book of maps (like The Atlas of Middle-earth, by Karen Wynn Fonstad) and art/visual books, like The Tolkien Years, by Greg and Tim Hildebrandt. Additionally, technology can help. For instance, being able to cue up a scene from the Fellowship of the Ring, to show what an area looks like or to try to get some point across to the players could really help. Sometimes, a good picture really is worth a thousand words.

3) Don't go overboard trying to make the game seem like a new Tolkien novel. Now, when I say this, what I mean is simply this: capture the spirit, flavor and essence of Tolkien, but try to not get caught up in every little detail. For instance, I don't think that someone playing an Elf has to talk in Elvish, or 'counsel' this or that all the time (something that my own players have made a bit of fun of, with an Elven Archers catch-phrase being the dramatic use of the word 'counsel' at every possible opportunity). At the same time, I wouldn't expect to see players having characters say things like, "Dude, I wonder what the Nazgul are up to? I think we should kick their butts!" A little extreme, to be certain, but still, you never know...

4) Like Steven, I think finding ways to bridge the gap between Tolkien's writings and your own Chronicles are important, and sometimes characters make the best links. For instance, if there's an Elf in the party, maybe he's lived in Rivendell, or the Wood Elf Kingdom, or perhaps Lothlorien. Even further, maybe he knows someone of note. Using Steven's Fourth Age Chronicle as an example, having an Elf Warrior from Rivendell who has fought against Orcs with the Rangers of the North an d Elladan and Elrohir (the sons of Elrond) might provide a good link. I think that there are tons of ways to accomplish this, and is really only limited by the imagination of the players and the Narrator.

5) This one sort of ties into the previous point: Help the players figure out their history. History and lineage plays a very prominent role in Tolkien, and if the characters are old enough (or are Elves or Dwarves), helping them figure out where they were when key events took place might help them have a better understanding of their characters. For instance, having an Elf character who was born in the Second Age (for a Third Age Chronicle) is all well and good, but it doesn't do much for the player if he or she isn't really aware of what's gone on during that time, and the sort of things that their character could have witnessed, the people that they could have met, and so on. It may not give them any extra skill picks or anything, but having an Elf character who could say "I remember when Elrond let us from Eregion to the valley where we helped him found Rivendell" would be cool, or perhaps the character could recall the Last Alliance of Men and Elves, as the forces gathered and went off to fight against Sauron.

Granted, this one is a bit tricky, and has a strong potential for abuse, but, in the hands of a mature roleplayer, it could be a very flavorful additive to a Chronicle.

5) Don't be afraid to take things a bit slowly at first. The first Chapter doesn't have to lay everything out, and it doesn't have to bring every Tolkien element you can think of into the game. If it turns into some sort of NPC Parade, with the players meeting famous person after famous person, it can be a bit overwhelming and, perhaps, a bit boring. Trying to use prominent NPC's for flavor, or to illustrate a point, or perhaps to get the Chapter or Chronicle started (or to help keep it moving) is certainly all well and good, but, if the players are to be the main characters of the Chronicle they may feel a bit intimidated if they're surrounded by famous (and mighty) heroes and other legendary figures.

I'm certain that there are dozens of good tips that Narrators could (and might) use, and the ones that I've detailed may or may not fall into that category. Naturally, the most important one is the old maxim: It's a game...try to have fun! If things aren't going good, don't be afraid to take a pause and think about how things have gone, and how you see things going. If it doesn't look good to either the players, the Narrator, or both, then perhaps declaring 'Do Over' might not be so bad. If you and your group have never tried to play in Middle-earth before, this will be a learning experience on multiple fronts (like learing new rules and dealing with a new setting). Mistakes will probably be made, but if they can be learned from, then that's all the better for all involved, and should lead to a stronger group, and a stronger Chronicle, in the end.

Anyway, like I started to say above (before I started to ramble) I hope that these help. I'll certainly be interested in seeing what others think on this subject.

As a side note, perhaps getting a 'Chapter / Chronicle' thread started might not be a bad idea, to get some ideas flowing and to give each other some ideas for what we're each going to be doing, and what we might want to consider trying in our games.



Greg

[Cdr Scot II]

I'm setting up a game myself at the moment for a new group, so I've been giving these topics a bit of thought. The whole theme of the LOTR game is 'epic, high fantasy', which I really like, but these players are an unknown quantity to me, and I suspect that at least one of them is the sort who'd want to play a Dark Jedi in every Star Wars campaign - I wanted to find some sort of middle ground that maintains the heroic nature of the game but that allows for a little more grittiness. I finally plumped for setting the game in 2758-9, during the Great Winter and the Dunlending invasions of Rohan (and Corasir invasions of Gondor). It's close enough to LOTR that everything looks pretty much like it will 300 years later, and there's plenty of action going on. I can even give characters connections (as ancestors or great grand-uncles) to the LOTR heroes themselves. It's being run as a one-off, but I'm hoping to start a campaign out of it if I can.

Anyway, waffle apart, I'm wondering what people's favourite settings for LOTR games are (time period and location), and why?

[Imagus]

Originally posted by Greg Davis
5) Don't be afraid to take things a bit slowly at first. The first Chapter doesn't have to lay everything out, and it doesn't have to bring every Tolkien element you can think of into the game. If it turns into some sort of NPC Parade, with the players meeting famous person after famous person, it can be a bit overwhelming and, perhaps, a bit boring. Trying to use prominent NPC's for flavor, or to illustrate a point, or perhaps to get the Chapter or Chronicle started (or to help keep it moving) is certainly all well and good, but, if the players are to be the main characters of the Chronicle they may feel a bit intimidated if they're surrounded by famous (and mighty) heroes and other legendary figures.

This might be in the book but I haven't had a chance to read it from cover to cover yet, but one thing I remember about both the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings itself is that they start small, then get big. What I mean is that they start with apparently insiginificant characters in an apparently insignificant neighbourhead, doing every day things. Then they get dragged into larger events they don't initially understand.

I'd think the first Chapter should work the same way. Start the characters on something local, then work in the larger elements as the Chronicle builds. Don't throw in more than one or two major NPC's, and keep the history out of it for a little while. Then hit the players with the background in a nice big council scene somewhere in the middle of the Chronicle

[Ineti]

I'll be keeping a close eye on this thread. I just finished reading Fellowship of the Ring for the first time, and will be starting The Two Towers soon. I've read the RPG book pretty much through, and love the setting and the themes behind it. I want to run a LOTR game.

I don't know much about Middle-earth other than what I've read in the RPG book, FOTR, and seen in the film. I still have ideas for game scenarios, and I wonder if I can "wing it." We shall have to see.

[RaconteurX]

I'm a long-time Pendragon veteran, and it has much in common with Lord of the Rings insofar as epic tone is concerned. Make the players feel as if their characters had an important part in the greater course of the backstory, even if it is merely as those who pave the way for the canonical characters to succeed. Let them change established canon in ways both great and small, even.

In a Pendragon campaign in which I played, one player-knight defeated Sir Lamorak at the Wedding Tournament. He might have eclipsed Sir Lamorak in fame and prowess, later going on to meet that worthy's canonical fate instead, or the two could have become fellows after a brief rivalry and eventually die back-to-back fighting off the Orkney kin.

Do not fear integrating the characters deeply into the Big Picture. To use a Star Wars analogy for a moment, just because the players' characters are not the Lukes or Hans or Leias does not mean they cannot be the Wedges and Zacks and Hobbies. No setting is without its minor-yet-vital characters.


"Cut to the left. I'll take the leader."

[Calcoran]

Nice topic Steven!
Actually I've been toying with the idea of playing a high powered first age campaign for a while now ... and I've been asking myself the same kind of questions: what is it that makes Middle-earth special ... <I>and</I> would fit easily within RPG constraints.

The answer (for now) is: I wonder ...

[calguard66]

I've been playing ICE MERP off and on for years, with a few extensive campaigns and many short mini-series games.

My favorite age is the Fourth Age... you can use all the history from the past ages and the War of the Ring to fill out characters and places, and there is a decent-but-not-too-detailed timeline for the first century or so of the Fourth Age that allows you to add flavor by having events happen around the characters, while not locking history into a set path.

I find that if I play in any other Age, history has already been set. My players either have to remain insignifigant in the big picture, adventure in an area far from the "main focus" of the books, or change the history of Middle Earth.

I've been wavering on buying ICON MERP... I really live ICE's toned-down Roleplayer version for ICE MERP.

Originally posted by Cdr Scot II

Anyway, waffle apart, I'm wondering what people's favourite settings for LOTR games are (time period and location), and why?

[Phantom]

Is there a section detailing what equipment each player gets? By Order or any other way?

[Greg Davis]

Originally posted by Phantom
Is there a section detailing what equipment each player gets? By Order or any other way?

Not that I'm aware of, Phantom. Only recently on the Decipher boards has the issue of starting money been resolved (and then only vaguely, at best), with characters receiving 1d6 sp, modified by Order and starting location (which creates modifiers that are at the discretion of the Narrator).

Personally, I'm probably just going to let characters pick equipment based on their Order and location, and probably not worry too much about money. I mean, before they left Rivendell, did the Fellowship all huddle together to see how much cash they had?

I can just imagine, though, the scene in Moria, after Gandalf dies, and the Fellowship weeps, not because they lost a friend, but because Gandalf was the one carrying the cash!



Greg

[Phantom]

Originally posted by Greg Davis


I can just imagine, though, the scene in Moria, after Gandalf dies, and the Fellowship weeps, not because they lost a friend, but because Gandalf was the one carrying the cash!

Greg

LOL. That's a good one.

[Liquidator Queeg]

IIRC, in the equipment section it says that characters start with whatever equipment the Narrator deems appropriate to their order and station ... or something to that effect. I think characters all start with 1d6 silver unless they have the Hoard edge, which gives 'em more.

In other words, take whatever you want so long as it's not ridiculous.

Steve

[Cdr Scot II]

Or, to put another way, if a player is trying to "munchkin-out" in LOTR, they've really missed the point...

[Greg Smith]

Originally posted by Greg Davis

I can just imagine, though, the scene in Moria, after Gandalf dies, and the Fellowship weeps, not because they lost a friend, but because Gandalf was the one carrying the cash!

Greg

Yeah, but when Boromir dies someone should have shouted "I grab the horn. How many GPs is it worth?"

[Cdr Scot II]

OMG, I can just see that too - oh, and "if I also get a few blows in on the Balrog can I get a share of the experience for slaying it?" Reminds me of when I used to run Spacemaster many aeons ago - one measure of experience was the tonnage of ships your character blew up. We worked out that using those rules Luke Skywalker went from 1st level to 15th level in about 5 seconds !

Given the whole heroic approach of LOTR, I guess the best approach is to try to get across that wealth is irrelevant - it's the world-shaking epic story that counts. After all, they can have as many mansions in Minas Tirith as they like, it's not going to help them much when they're stuck in a ruined tower in Rhovanion on a winters night with the werewolves closing in...