A Brief History of Tolkien RPGs

[Ulrick]

Middle Earth suffers from the same problem of all literary fantasy settings (Wheel of Time and Dragonlance included)- there just isn't enough room for the PC's to do anything very interesting- they're completely overshadowed by the plot of the main stories.

I've played MERP and it turns out that there is still plenty to do before or after the fall of Sauron. The sourcebooks offered a plethora of information of adventures and hooks. Characters in MERP can't take on Sauron anyway and expect to win. But they can explore Moria and all get killed (which happened in a campaign I was in). The plot of the main stories didn't overshadow the campaigns I was in.

But you're right about Dragonlance. Cool setting, but the gods seemed to interfere (or not, depending on the era). The problem with Dragonlance is that they keep coming out with books with world-shattering events that redefine everything.

At least with Middle Earth, world-shattering events happen once every couple thousand years and end with the dawn of the 4th age.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Middle Earth suffers from the same problem of all literary fantasy settings (Wheel of Time and Dragonlance included)- there just isn't enough room for the PC's to do anything very interesting- they're completely overshadowed by the plot of the main stories.

Sure, you can go to an earlier or later era- but you can't create a greater enemy than Sauron or Melkor.

However, people have had quite a bit of fun with WW2 games without having them kill Hitler, right?

I think that Middle Earth provides an interesting enough setting that you could have dozens of interesting stories (even during the time of the book) with the opportunity for personal triumph or disaster. I've not run anything in that milieu, but I'm pretty sure I could come up with engaging adventures against the backdrop either of the war of the ring, or before it, or after it.

Just 2cp.

 

[Mark]

Middle Earth needs cleaning up in a post-Sauron world and many factions are jockeying for power. Plenty to do for everyone.

 

[Eridanis]

Very interesting to think about what would have happened if TSR had gone with the Tolkien RPG in '92 - would TSR have been able to hold off its financial problems a few years later? Probably not, but who knows.

 

[xechnao]

Very interesting to think about what would have happened if TSR had gone with the Tolkien RPG in '92 - would TSR have been able to hold off its financial problems a few years later? Probably not, but who knows.

Btw, the revelation of this article and its revelations make me curious if threre is actually something in the air right now.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Well, that was a bit depressing.

As for Middle Earth's suitability as a RPG setting. . . of course it is suitable. So much opportunity for adventure and discovery and heroism, the mind boggles! OK, no, it goes into overdrive thinking about characters and events and places, etc.

 

[Drowbane]

"...Uou can't create a greater dragon than Glaurung or Smaug..."

Smaug? Really? He got one-shotted... by an NPC!!!

 

[darjr]

The pig snouted orc came from TSR trying to get out from under? From claiming that it was an Irish term for pig? Not a word coined by Tolkien?

Is this true?

 

[darjr]

Thanks for posting this, very interesting.

 

[Betote]

Smaug? Really? He got one-shotted... by an NPC!!!

Well if Smaug was a minion, that was bound to happen... 1 out of 20 times