Greetings

[Vagabond]

Hi all this is my first post here.
I saw this in the thread about what orcs eat, and thought I would comment.


LT. Dade,

I feel much the same way you do about trying to run a game of any sort in middle-earth. It's so small ( well the portion we are introduced to) that there really isn't any place to go adventuring. And with the limited number of creatures to fight it seems that it would get old. Orcs? anyone?

I'm trying to open my mind away from D&D and tell a good story rather than set up small battles that in turn lead you to the main bad guy, but the adventure in the NS seems to do just that. I really don't know where to start on my campaign.

[Calcoran]

Just steal Aslanc's ideas ... or if you think (like I do) that he hasn't given enough details about his campaign, ask him for more .

[Ineti]

Originally posted by Vagabond
I feel much the same way you do about trying to run a game of any sort in middle-earth. It's so small ( well the portion we are introduced to) that there really isn't any place to go adventuring. And with the limited number of creatures to fight it seems that it would get old. Orcs? anyone?

Er, wha...? Are you reading the same LOTR that I'm reading? The one I read, along with The Hobbit, has lots of creatures to fight: orcs, trolls, giants, ents, dragons, Balrogs, unpleasant birds, wraiths, ghosts, vampires, werewolves, giant spiders, Krakens in the water, and on and on and on.

"Limited number of creatures to fight" Pshaw.

And don't even get me started on the "isn't any place to go adventuring" bit.

[Ineti]

Originally posted by Calcoran
Just steal Aslanc's ideas ... or if you think (like I do) that he hasn't given enough details about his campaign, ask him for more .

Or better yet, ask the membership at large to provide ideas. AslanC does so and he gets great responses!

[AslanC]

Originally posted by Ineti
Or better yet, ask the membership at large to provide ideas. AslanC does so and he gets great responses!

I agree.

And please feel free to take what I have created and use it. Not like I will ever get the chance (we lost one of our players to a job, so good thing we called LOTR off when we did, otherwise we would be good and attached to it by now).

This place is still one of the most creative exchange points period.

Very talented and creative people hang out here

[Don Mappin]

Originally posted by AslanC
Very talented and creative people hang out here

Don't forget well-mannered as well!

[Ineti]

Originally posted by Don Mappin
Don't forget well-mannered as well!

Especially when there's a moratorium on political threads!

[Lt. Dade]

Hi there,

Just this weekend, I got to play in a demo game of LotR run by Jeff Tidball, the line developer, and it did wonders to demonstrate how to play at the feet of Tolkien's big creation. We had rangers, and Moria and all that which was plenty comfortable and fun.

The issue, I think, is this for me: I'm not a Tolkien scholar, so I don't have a great deal of confidence in my ability to go wandering about in his world. If I'm going to deviate a great deal, I'd rather make up my own world. I think this is a problem for many Narrators, too. How do we grow more comfortable and confident striking out on our own in Middle-Earth?

It's essential to come to terms with the fact that whatever you do to Middle-Earth isn't going to be recognized by most fans and, so, will be free from whatever scrutiny you're probably worried about. This is an easier concept to get at in Star Trek, where so many different takes on the universe (official and unofficial) are already on display.

The sense of small-ness in Middle-Earth, and I know exactly what you mean, isn't so much about size as it is about freedom, right? I quite like the atmosphere all around Eriador, but I'm concerned that at any moment I'm going to make some statement about this forest or that town which a player will directly contradict with some passage from the books. The above sense of confidence helps to get past this, and I think that confidence comes with the realization that the chains which bind Middle-Earth Narrators have no locks. Shrug them off and tell your story.

Being on the search for confidence is troublesome, and the suggestion that your fears are unfounded or blind is actually not a helpful one, in my (ahem) opinion. Instead, scour these boards for examples of how the more comfortable LotR Narrators do it. If you have the Star Trek Narrator's Guide, read the sidebar "On the Shoulders of Giants" again. Don't think that feeling constrained by the books makes you unfit to explore Middle-Earth or to tell your own stories there. A great many Narrators feel that way until they either strike out wildly on their own, or watch someone else do it and succeed.

I'm a prolific Narrator and GM for a great many games, and Middle-Earth has obviously reacquainted me with my doubts and shaken my confidence. Start small, and remember that the stories you tell aren't subject to the approval of anyone but you and your own players.

This is the advice I wish I'd been given. I think maybe it's so obvious to the LotR Narrators who don't feel overwhelmed by the looming force of fandom that it doesn't seem like it needs to be said. I feel pretty comfortable with Star Trek, for example, so I might find it surprising to hear that someone wasn't comfortable writing their own episodes for that universe. Suffice to say, you have folks on these boards whose leads you can follow and there's no shame in doing so. I come here for advice, too, and I do this for a living.

Best to you all!

word,
Will

[C5]

Hey guys, why not opening a series seed thread like on the ST forum (not that I think I'd ever contribute to it since my knowledge of Tolkien is so far limited to The Hobbit and the two movies) ?

Maybe a "LOTR atmosphere elements" thread would be nice too.

Just my 0.02 €

[Lt. Dade]

Oooh, I think that's a great idea. I'd get quite a lot of use out of that, I think. Which also means that, until someone more qualified decides to start it, all I can do is try and be encouraging.

Go, team!

word,
Will

[RobRobBinks]

My problem when writing my Chronicle was that Middle Earth was too big, and too well documented...

..all except for Mirkwood, which I posted to the Adventure thread....

I know that my players will not want to be stuck in Mirkwood for the entire Chronicle, but it seemed like the safest place for me to experiment!

[Ineti]

For what it's worth...

I read The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit for the first time last year. I had seen the cheesy animated versions as a kid, but had never read the books. It was the recent movies that really got me into LOTR, and it didn't hurt that my wife is a big Tolkien reader.

When the RPG came out, I was swept away by how well it represented the setting which I had just become familiar with. Now I'm running a Fourth Age chronicle.

I picked the Fourth Age because it's a timeframe I thought would be good, since very little is written about it, so the chances of screwing up something would be minimized. The Fellowship had their moment in the spotlight, and are done with their story, and it's a chance for a new group of heroes to have adventures.

While I'm running this, I'm reading other Tolkien books (esp. the Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and some of the History of Middle-earth volumes). As my knowledge of ME grows, I'll be able to run better, more detailed games.

Someday I may even try my hand at a Third Age game or earlier.