Middle Earth D20 Conversion
- Thread starter Wolfspider
- Start date
Raflar
First Post
another website that I own is Waterdeep - City of Splendors... you might want to check that out for ideas as well...
http://www.raflar.com/waterdeep/index.html
I haven't really updated it since 3e came out but it still gets a TON of hits, so I assume I'm doing something right...
http://www.raflar.com/waterdeep/index.html
I haven't really updated it since 3e came out but it still gets a TON of hits, so I assume I'm doing something right...
Wolfspider
Explorer
Thanks for the offers of help! When we get our act together, I think the end result will be pretty impressive....
Things have been pretty quiet here lately. Any ideas on the conversion? Anyone want to share details on Middle Earth campaigns they're currently in?
Things have been pretty quiet here lately. Any ideas on the conversion? Anyone want to share details on Middle Earth campaigns they're currently in?
I play tested some of the material thats been posted here Sunday night with my group. I got some rather inciteful feedback (none of them are big Tolien fans, btw) and so I'll present that here.
First, I used Gothmog's monster conversion, Red Baron's spellcasting system (with his classes) and a modified ranger class. I used CH's races (my players didn't like the fact the Noldor were so powerful, but if they read the books they would understand). Anyway, i beleived any Tolkien campaign should allow for more "legendary" gameplay, and thus tried to reflect this. As a result, I used a simplified WP/VP system (for now) and allowed for Legendary Successes/Failures on all checks. I'm not sure if this idea has been explored before, but I allowed the players to, if they rolled a natural 20, to reroll and add that score on again. This might be going to the extreme a bit, but they really enjoyed the fact that they could really feel like "Legendary Heroes." One of my players told me the one encounter reminded him of the battle that took place in Moria (in the movie). I myself have compiled about 70 pages worth of postings and my own material (it is mostly CH's, Red Baron's, and Gothmog's work) for use with my group, , and if anyone is interested I will try to upload it to the yahoo club site. It is about 3 megs thoug, so ill cut out the graphics.
First, I used Gothmog's monster conversion, Red Baron's spellcasting system (with his classes) and a modified ranger class. I used CH's races (my players didn't like the fact the Noldor were so powerful, but if they read the books they would understand). Anyway, i beleived any Tolkien campaign should allow for more "legendary" gameplay, and thus tried to reflect this. As a result, I used a simplified WP/VP system (for now) and allowed for Legendary Successes/Failures on all checks. I'm not sure if this idea has been explored before, but I allowed the players to, if they rolled a natural 20, to reroll and add that score on again. This might be going to the extreme a bit, but they really enjoyed the fact that they could really feel like "Legendary Heroes." One of my players told me the one encounter reminded him of the battle that took place in Moria (in the movie). I myself have compiled about 70 pages worth of postings and my own material (it is mostly CH's, Red Baron's, and Gothmog's work) for use with my group, , and if anyone is interested I will try to upload it to the yahoo club site. It is about 3 megs thoug, so ill cut out the graphics.
Wolfspider
Explorer
Graphics? Cool. I think there's room in the group for a 3 meg document. Go ahead and post the whole thing if you want. You've got me curious.
Well, it went rather well. One player created an Avari (Silvan) (CH's conversion) True Spellcaster, 2nd level (courtesy Red Baron), another created a Dundain (CH's conversion) Ranger, 3rd (taken and slightly modified from the Narosia Primer, has since been dropped) which used a slightly modified PP amount (85% of what a Pscionic Warrior(?) gets), the third made a Rohirrim fighter, 3rd(Rohirrim = normal human template with a +2 ride, ride as class skill always modification) and the fourth and last insisted on being a hobbit from the LotR, so he used Red Baron's conversion of Sam Gamgee (I beleive it has been posted on this thread).
The players extremely enjoyed the game, and the "feel" of Middle Earth. Granted, it only lasted about 4 hours, and consisted mainly of two or three combat encounters, but they insisted we play it again.
The only glitches I caught was a lack of "standard format" stat blocks in Gothmog's monster covnersion, which was completely acceptable and understandable. I hadn't realized this when i threw the party up against an Olog Hai (sp?) and some Uruk Hai and Common Orcs (i had planned to scale their equipment to make it an acceptable encounter level while playing, but couldn't) and even then the players managed to still defeat them.
My initial thoughts after about four hours of actual gameplay have changed little from before. I think that a WP/VP system is a must, and possibly a defense bonus (maybe like WoT, but i don't own teh book so i can't really say), and would also suggest a type of "magical awareness system" (I used Red Baron's, and it worked fine) and possibly a restructured alignment system (something of Allie - Neutral - Enemy) was also suggested by a player.
I think though, the most important aspect to keep in mind is the strong "cinematic" feel that Middle Earth has, where a lowly hobbit can battle a monstrous, evil spider and a trained ranger can track a small sized creatures through a forest months after it has already passed. In keeping to that, I allowed for a sort of "critical skill check", where, after a natural 20 was rolled, the player would roll again and add both. This allowed for some truly amazing gameplay. The Rohirrim fighter killed the Olog Hai in a few rounds, dropping him to near death with a fantastically rolled critical (it was max/near max damage, which went to WPs). Following the same system, a Uruk that had been peppering the party with arrows from the second story of a ruined tower fumbled a Dex. check, and plummetted from the tower. It hit the debri covered ground and broke a leg (at which point the players burst out laughing).
I'd say my final thoughts are to use most of the standard classes (i rule 0ed clerics and druids as pc classes in my campaign, and am planning on creating a spell casting, "wilderness" ranger (no favored enemy, maybe more specail abilities), and have since replaced the bard (the magican classes Red Baron wrote more or less replace the bard) with the expert. I'd also recommend WP/VP, more "high danger, high suspense" gameplay, possibly with the Legendary Sucess/Failure rule.
I'm planning on playing again Saturday with a different group of players, and I'll keep you informed on what occurs.
The players extremely enjoyed the game, and the "feel" of Middle Earth. Granted, it only lasted about 4 hours, and consisted mainly of two or three combat encounters, but they insisted we play it again.
The only glitches I caught was a lack of "standard format" stat blocks in Gothmog's monster covnersion, which was completely acceptable and understandable. I hadn't realized this when i threw the party up against an Olog Hai (sp?) and some Uruk Hai and Common Orcs (i had planned to scale their equipment to make it an acceptable encounter level while playing, but couldn't) and even then the players managed to still defeat them.
My initial thoughts after about four hours of actual gameplay have changed little from before. I think that a WP/VP system is a must, and possibly a defense bonus (maybe like WoT, but i don't own teh book so i can't really say), and would also suggest a type of "magical awareness system" (I used Red Baron's, and it worked fine) and possibly a restructured alignment system (something of Allie - Neutral - Enemy) was also suggested by a player.
I think though, the most important aspect to keep in mind is the strong "cinematic" feel that Middle Earth has, where a lowly hobbit can battle a monstrous, evil spider and a trained ranger can track a small sized creatures through a forest months after it has already passed. In keeping to that, I allowed for a sort of "critical skill check", where, after a natural 20 was rolled, the player would roll again and add both. This allowed for some truly amazing gameplay. The Rohirrim fighter killed the Olog Hai in a few rounds, dropping him to near death with a fantastically rolled critical (it was max/near max damage, which went to WPs). Following the same system, a Uruk that had been peppering the party with arrows from the second story of a ruined tower fumbled a Dex. check, and plummetted from the tower. It hit the debri covered ground and broke a leg (at which point the players burst out laughing).
I'd say my final thoughts are to use most of the standard classes (i rule 0ed clerics and druids as pc classes in my campaign, and am planning on creating a spell casting, "wilderness" ranger (no favored enemy, maybe more specail abilities), and have since replaced the bard (the magican classes Red Baron wrote more or less replace the bard) with the expert. I'd also recommend WP/VP, more "high danger, high suspense" gameplay, possibly with the Legendary Sucess/Failure rule.
I'm planning on playing again Saturday with a different group of players, and I'll keep you informed on what occurs.
ColonelHardisson
What? Me Worry?
I don't know about anyone else, but I've been having a very hard time accessing these boards, let alone posting to them, the past couple of days.
Anyway, Palcadon is busy working on the site pages, and when he's ready to show them, we'll take a gander. We'd both like feedback from those contributing, and those using the material.
Once all the material that has been posted here has been HTML'ed and such, then we'll ask Morrus to post 'em (the pages) and *hey presto* we'll be open for business. So to speak.
We'll continue to take submissions, but there are a few not-so-strict guidelines:
* Please let us know how you want to be identified/credited.
* Please date your submission. The reason will become clear below. The best way to be assured of the material being dated with no chance of confusion is to post it here on this forum. If I receive material via e-mail, and similar material is posted here, whichever is dated earlier gets priority. I'll let you know in case of such an occurrence.
* Complete thoughts only will be posted - that is, whatever is submitted must be completely thought out. Post it here first, and see if anyone has questions. You could always e-mail it to me, but feedback may come more quickly here.
* Material that duplicates, or comes close, to what is already posted will not be posted. What we want to encourage is a wide variety of takes on Tolkien's work. Individual monster and character write-ups are welcome, but are subject to this also; that is, if submissions are very similar - and this is determined at my discretion (sorry; the buck has to stop somewhere) - then the earliest will be posted.
* Remember this is a fan effort. It's unofficial game material using one of the most well-known books ever written as source material. If you have an innovative new system for, say, magic, and you have any incilnation to publish it in some form on your own at some point for a game that is unrelated to Tolkien, you may not want to have it posted. This caveat occurred to me because the current high profile of LotR may result in (relatively) lots of people using the material, and I don't want anyone's pet project disseminated across the internet unless they're sure that's what they want. Ya just never know
So how's that? Not too draconian, I hope.
We also could use more monster and character write-ups, as well as gazetteer-type material. If you have any leads on art or graphics (let's stay away from copyrighted material, please), either e-mail me or Palcadon, or post about it here.
Anyway, Palcadon is busy working on the site pages, and when he's ready to show them, we'll take a gander. We'd both like feedback from those contributing, and those using the material.
Once all the material that has been posted here has been HTML'ed and such, then we'll ask Morrus to post 'em (the pages) and *hey presto* we'll be open for business. So to speak.
We'll continue to take submissions, but there are a few not-so-strict guidelines:
* Please let us know how you want to be identified/credited.
* Please date your submission. The reason will become clear below. The best way to be assured of the material being dated with no chance of confusion is to post it here on this forum. If I receive material via e-mail, and similar material is posted here, whichever is dated earlier gets priority. I'll let you know in case of such an occurrence.
* Complete thoughts only will be posted - that is, whatever is submitted must be completely thought out. Post it here first, and see if anyone has questions. You could always e-mail it to me, but feedback may come more quickly here.
* Material that duplicates, or comes close, to what is already posted will not be posted. What we want to encourage is a wide variety of takes on Tolkien's work. Individual monster and character write-ups are welcome, but are subject to this also; that is, if submissions are very similar - and this is determined at my discretion (sorry; the buck has to stop somewhere) - then the earliest will be posted.
* Remember this is a fan effort. It's unofficial game material using one of the most well-known books ever written as source material. If you have an innovative new system for, say, magic, and you have any incilnation to publish it in some form on your own at some point for a game that is unrelated to Tolkien, you may not want to have it posted. This caveat occurred to me because the current high profile of LotR may result in (relatively) lots of people using the material, and I don't want anyone's pet project disseminated across the internet unless they're sure that's what they want. Ya just never know
So how's that? Not too draconian, I hope.
We also could use more monster and character write-ups, as well as gazetteer-type material. If you have any leads on art or graphics (let's stay away from copyrighted material, please), either e-mail me or Palcadon, or post about it here.
ColonelHardisson
What? Me Worry?
Atilary - outstanding feedback!
Regarding the Noldor, do you have any thoughts about them? I've been thinking that, in lieu of ratcheting down their power level, to strongly encourage that if they are used as PCs, that they only be used if the party is mid-to-high level. Either by starting the campaign that way, or using a Noldor as a replacement character if the party loses a member after gaining several levels.
Regarding the Noldor, do you have any thoughts about them? I've been thinking that, in lieu of ratcheting down their power level, to strongly encourage that if they are used as PCs, that they only be used if the party is mid-to-high level. Either by starting the campaign that way, or using a Noldor as a replacement character if the party loses a member after gaining several levels.
I agree completely. While a more "playable" version might be better suited to lower level campaigning, the Noldor themselves were much more powerful than the other races, and the rules should reflect this. When a human warrior comes face to face with a Noldor warrior, he should both fear and respect him. Also, I'd suggest allowing ECL+3 races to be used as 3rd level characters, just make them apprentices rather than full-level characters (until the party advances to 4th level, then they became a full 1st level character).
As for my compiled materials, I'm not sure if i should post them , as they contain things written by others (mostly CH and Red Baron), i did try to cite them where possible though.
As for my compiled materials, I'm not sure if i should post them , as they contain things written by others (mostly CH and Red Baron), i did try to cite them where possible though.
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