First off, I wasn't sure whether to put this on this forum or the Gaming Hub area since I'm not sure if non-Trek related things go in the hub, but here we go.
I posted a thread in the gaming hub area awhile ago about playing an RPG game via the message board here at TrekRPG.net- you can read the thread there if you want more info about what I'm talking about when I say "play-by-message-board." But I thought of a great campaign idea for LotR that I could GM in the General Chat forum if anyone wanted to join in.
Here's the idea:
ERA: Before The war (see the core book for info about era), a few years prior to the War of The Ring.
SYNOPSIS: The White Wizard, Saruman, has put out a call to adventurers who would be willing to investigate several leads he has found as to the locations of ancient tomes of magic and lore that would be invaluable to the wizard's Order. These rumors lead adventurers all over much of the eastern part of Middle Earth- Gondor, Rohan, and the wild lands surrounding Mordor.
Eventually, when the players have uncovered several of these tomes and artifacts that Saruman searches for, the events of LotR itself begin, and Saruman's treachery is revealed to all. I don't know if I'll continue the campaign into the War itself after that, since finding a place for characters in a well-defined epic like LotR would be challenging, but we'll see.
My biggest worry about this campaign is whether I can make it feel, to use the words of the core book, "Tolkienesque" enough. Any comments pertaining to that?
I don't know if I'll actually go through with making this a campaign, but I would like to experiment with the message-board style of play. If anyone's interested, please post a reply here. I hope to get a group of at least 4 players so we can have a normal-sized RPG group but I could run it with as few as 2 people if I had to.