What's the Best System for Running LotR?

gamerprinter · Oct 11, 2012

The One Ring is your only real choice.

Anything else is trying to shoehorn Middle Earth into an existing game system, and in all such cases they fail (from 20 years experience attempting so with different systems).

innerdude · Oct 11, 2012

If you want it to feel like the Lord of the Rings BOOKS, I'd unequivocally vote for The One Ring. Highly evocative of the literature. I have the boxed set, and I LOVE it.

If you want it to feel like the MOVIES, i.e., more "high adventure," you could do worse than Savage Worlds + the SW Fantasy Companion. Use the "Gritty" campaign setting traits, house rule a weapon proficiency system of some kind, limit magic access, and treat travel as a "dramatic event" using the Deluxe rules, and you'd create a semi-facsimile, though it'd still feel more like "Battle of Five Armies" than "Riddles in the Dark."

Olgar Shiverstone · Oct 12, 2012

D&D. Gandalf was a 5th level wizard.

There used to be a page around EN World with a 3E LotR conversion for D&D. I wonder where that page wandered off to?

Orius · Oct 12, 2012

Never tried it myself, but I'd say D&D is a horrible match for LotR. Way too many differences in flavor and player expectations. If you don't believe me, go read DM of the Rings.

Nytmare · Oct 12, 2012

Olgar Shiverstone said:
D&D. Gandalf was a 5th level wizard.

There used to be a page around EN World with a 3E LotR conversion for D&D. I wonder where that page wandered off to?

It wasn't 3E. The article was written almost 35 years ago, and makes a case for D&D actually being a lousy model for Lord of the Rings.

Gandalf was only a Fifth Level Magic-User!

Ulrick · Oct 12, 2012

I really liked MERP.

DragonLancer · Oct 12, 2012

My experience is that ICE's Middle Earth was the best system for playing in Middle Earth. Nothing else has ever quite worked the same way for me.

mmadsen · Oct 12, 2012

DragonLancer said:
My experience is that ICE's Middle Earth was the best system for playing in Middle Earth. Nothing else has ever quite worked the same way for me.

Best system or best materials?

Matchstick · Oct 12, 2012

I would recommend The One Ring without any hesitation. I played the heck out of MERP back in the day, and had fun, but it was always playing Rolemaster in Middle Earth if that makes sense.

The One Ring is well designed, well presented (barring the index, and there's now a free much improved index for download), beautiful, and tremendously evocative of the setting. There's a great community on the Cubicle 7 site.

Eridanis · Oct 12, 2012

Olgar Shiverstone said:
There used to be a page around EN World with a 3E LotR conversion for D&D. I wonder where that page wandered off to?

Is this what you're thinking of? Probably, since you contributed to the thread!

http://www.enworld.org/forum/conversions/20298-new-middle-earth-d20-thread.html - August 2002

I remember it for some great discussion and some sublime epic spells contributed by Sepulchrave II. (In fact, that's how I found it - I went to my old 3000-page 3E spell document to get a spell name, then searched for the thread...)