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Five Things I Want To See In The Lord Of The Rings Middle Earth Setting Being Developed for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition

5/4/2016

7 Comments

 
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Let’s make this clear: I love Lord of the Rings (LOTR). Hearing that a game is in development that would allow my friends and I put ourselves into a world we’ve largely committed to memory, makes me giddy with joy. And so, as a fan of LOTR and D&D 5th edition, I want to posit 5 things I would like to see in the latest RPG rendition of Middle Earth.
​1. No common language
It wouldn’t be Tolkien without well-developed languages helping to define the cultures and territories in Middle Earth. Do us gamers a favor, give homage to Tolkien, and remove the “common” default language that everyone speaks, and give us language barriers. I think we’re strong enough to tackle this challenge. It will be difficult for players and DM’s at first, but having everyone speaking their own tongue (and maybe a few others that they learn) makes for excellent role-playing development.
 
 To help those who find language barriers difficult, the game could include a feat/class in the game to address this. I imagine something like “linguist”, which would enable them to decipher foreign tongues, would fit the bill. Language barriers would be important obstacles to overcome as adventurers travel to new lands- especially if they go to the East (see below).

2.. Corruption Mechanic
Nothing besides language brings Tolkien’s epic to life as much as having corruption affect the players. There could be charts, abilities and rules to govern this. I think it would be similar in effect to Ravenloft’s “dark powers” checks, which players have to make a roll every time a character does something “evil”. It would be wise to include in Middle Earth an external force affecting characters and their alignments and dedication to good or evil. These forces could be hidden in powerful artifacts or in cursed places such as Utummo, or other mysterious forces.
 
The acquisition of power can be intoxicating and the whispers of evil make enticing offers to all races. This mechanic would call for be a saving throw to be made in order to resist sinister inclinations. The more powerful your character becomes, the more forces of corruption seek to control them, and therefore saving throws become more difficult. Or what if you had to make a saving throw every time you leveled up? Scary? It should be!

3. Set it in post “War of the Ring” time
Don’t set this game up to be at the time of the “War of the Ring”. It’s been done many times, and I don’t want my adventure to just be a sideshow to the real thing. It is said that the age of magic ended with the War of the Ring. Therefore, if the game is set post-war, there would be no magic at all (at least how Gandalf and the council envisioned it).
 
Post war would be the most interesting, having the players rebuild a world that’s been ravaged by war. Having a power void left by the departing Maiar, with the possible exception of a undiscovered Balrog or two (I say undiscovered because there is no way that Gandalf would leave knowing that a Balrog was still out there), and determining which groups and creatures fill that void lends itself to excellent fantasy. You give acknowledgment to the seminal work already done, but still forge ahead on new and unique adventures, leaving that melted ring behind you.

4.Make it a Low Magic World  
Those who wield magic in LOTR are demi-gods. There are none like Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast, and two mysterious blue wizards who went to the East before the War of the Ring. Likewise, Balrogs would be awesome villains for adventurers to face- but it would be the pinnacle of their experience. Defeating a Balrog is like defeating “Evil Gandlaf, because Balrogs, like Gandalf, are one of the Maiar: the angelic/demonic creatures of Middle Earth.
 
That’s not to say there isn’t a place for having blue or green wizards in the game- they could be interesting plot points, or give quests in visions. But they would be far too powerful as NPC’s to be engaging in combat. Think about Gandalf- we rarely see him fighting- its usually manipulation of world events and influencing others (like Bilbo, Sam, or the Dwarves) to do things for good. Granted the movies take liberties with special effects, lazers and light shows, but really, the books tell us about most of Gandalf’s magic use anecdotally. Sorry magic fans, I think that to stay true to the books, magic needs to be extremely rare, and since we are (hopefully) playing after the War of the Ring, Gandalf himself said that the “time of magic has ended”. Let’s respect the council’s decision.

5.Travel East (Harad, Far Harad, Rhun, Khand, Fortress Utumno)
​
The East contains lands that we don’t really know much about, and therefore, they have the most potential for fresh ideas and world creation. Four of the Dwarven Kingdoms were there, as were the lost elves, Avari and Umanya. That just tickles the imagination, doesn’t it? These lands were also the first kingdoms of men to ally themselves with Mordor. Sauron had many agents in the kingdoms of the East: Harad, Far Harad, Khand and Rhun. There is also the Fortress Utummo, a stronghold of evil, which could hide ancient powers...
 
Since the defeat of Sauron, the agents of darkness have likely gone underground. However, they would likely have the same evil desires still burning in them. Perhaps they are forming counterculture movements, seeking to control the cities and people, or bring back the reign of evil.
 
Lets not forget here the tragedy of the missing Entwives. Somehow, the Ents don’t know where they are. Wouldn’t it be awesome to go on a mission to find the Entwives (perhaps in the East)? Quests such as this would be an outstanding way to bring the works of Tolkien to life. Perhaps the Entwives have been <shudder> killed in the East, or perhaps they too lament losing the Ents, and are searching. The players can have the potential to save an entire species from extinction!
 
Conclusion
 
The point is, if you want to make a great, fresh-feeling and exciting take on the Lord of the Rings, give the players a sense of power by having them involved in a changing world. Language, low magic, and a corruption mechanic will keep you true to the source material, while travelling to the East, and setting it in post War of the Ring time enables creative world building and a fresh fantasy world for LOTR fans to enjoy.


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7 Comments
Matt
5/4/2016 10:47:38 am

And make a 2nd edition version.

Reply
Dustinoplis
5/4/2016 05:47:26 pm

That would be nice! There are a lot of similarities between 2e and 5e...

Reply
Derrik
5/4/2016 02:07:55 pm

"Make it a Low Magic World," so what, only rogues fighters barbarians and rangers, magicless rangers at that, in the game? Why even make D&D content if you are going to take two thirds of the game away by restricting classes so tightly. If you are just talking about restricting magic items that only really hamstrings non-arcane classes. No, there is no reason you couldn't either 1. do a low magic campaign where the availability of magic items is low but a few do pop up here and there, relics from ages past, or 2. have the setting be in the east where the council does not have sway and magic is as prevalent there as it was in the west in ages past. I find it hard to believe that going into a campaign that there will be restrictions such as, "OK characters cannot be wizards, sorcerers, warlocks, bards, druids, clerics, or rangers. And you cant use certain sub-classes of each of the available classes either!" no thanks I will buy another adventure and I think a lot of other people would too.

Reply
Dustinopolis
5/4/2016 05:45:37 pm

Great points, Derrik. Thanks for commenting! I agree that using magic is an integral part of the d and d experience. I think that you could justifiably want to run a low magic campaign and have magic users still in it- but you must think about: to what end? The argument I have is that magic use should stay true to the books, and be something amazing that is a rare sight for most people. You could still have a wizard or sorcerer class, but with the caveat that you are one of the rare few with this power. (Perhaps the corrupting powers would be more drawn to you too..)

Another option, to satisfy the magic yearnings of many gamer would be to justify the continuation or adaptation of magic after the age of magic has ended. This could be done by having, like you mentioned, magic relics from the ages past which grant magical powers to their bearer. Or else, your idea that the setting happens in the East, where the council doesn't have sway (another reason to push for an eastern-based campaign). There could be a morphing of magic to something that Gandalf wouldn't call magic such as mental manipulations, psionic powers, or the like. Another neat experience could be to have the magic users become the reincarnation of a new blue or green wizard as time goes on.

It will be interesting to see which way this company develops their ME setting. Thanks for your input Derrik- I agree that you don't want to overly limit the classes too much- because after all, this is a fantasy game and a fantasy world that we all know and love.


Reply
SgtBiscuit
6/4/2016 12:57:18 pm

Most everything you've mentioned here has already been excellently developed by Cubicle7 titled the "One Ring" and packaged in an amazing game system that avoids excessive number crunching (and promotes actual roleplaying). The quality of that system is the best I've ever seen. Check it out. I'd hate to see a LotR conversion for 5ed tbh...just my 2c

Reply
Dustinopolis
6/4/2016 10:43:37 pm

The One Ring has developed a nice set... if you're willing to learn their rules, and play along in the recognizable worlds of the films. That's not to say what they've developed isn't good- it is. But I want to go east, Sgt. Biscuit. I do like how the one ring books are set 5 years after the battle of the 5 armies, which offers some fresh ideas for world building. But I think to blend the worlds of d&d 5e and LOTR would be the equivalent of Apple merging with Samsung. Earth shaking stuff. Surely two giants of fantasy can work together without needing to create an entire new set of rules for play?

Reply
SgtBiscuit
14/4/2016 02:00:54 pm

Hello! That's for replying and sharing your thoughts. The reason why I'd hate to see a conversion to 5ed is specifically for 1) the lack of a system in 5ed to portray the story level importance of epic journeys / traveling (which almost all great adventures have!), staying for long periods in special places resulting in positive effects on character enhancement etc. 2) Cubicle7 dev team spent A LOT of time and energy in understanding and translating the key elements of Tolkien's legendarium in a way that makes balanced sense to an rpg system. 5ed is restricted in this way. It's a ballache to learn a new rule set, sure, BUT when it's a perfect fit for the original story (not the shitty movies) it becomes a real gem and truly shines. It's really worth a closer look IMO.




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