D&D 4E 4e Design and JRR Tolkien

[Irda Ranger]

Game-mechanics on the other hand, that has nothing to do with Lord of the Rings... Well, unless you allow Elves to surf down stairs on a shield and slay some hundred orks, and then single-handedly slay those Oliphant-thingies with all their riders, which then means that 4th edition should try to make this possible.

Are you asking if I allow Elves to take Skill Focus (Balance) and be a 15th level Ranger?

Yes; yes, I do.

 

[tenkar]

M'kay! 4th Edition is bad... m'kay. The gnomes and bards are gone... m'kay.
At will abilities will rot your teeth... m'kay. Warlords are bad... m'kay.

Who knew Mr. Mackey was a secret DnD Grognard?

 

[Charwoman Gene]

yoo fogetz teh funee i thinks

Seriously.

 

[Doug McCrae]

Lord of the Rings is popular but other D&D fantasy isn't. I don't see a resurgence of interest in REH, Leiber or Vance at the moment.

The other huge fantasy success story right now is Harry Potter. So by your logic D&D should try to emulate that while excising Conan, Fafhrd and Cugel the Clever. Hey, no barbarians in the PHB, maybe that's what they are doing.

 

[Wolfspider]

So, how did Decipher's Lord of the Rings RPG do again?

The Core Rulebook is lining the litter box in my bedroom right now.

 

[tenkar]

The Core Rulebook is lining the litter box in my bedroom right now.

I don't think I was able to finish reading the damn thing myself. Shame. Great source material with about the same taste as the paper it was printed on.

 

[Doug McCrae]

D&D 4e still has orcs, elves, wizards, magic rings, etc. I don't think WotC will have a problem marketing it as Tolkienesque fantasy if that's their aim.

Also 4e is higher powered - PCs stronger at level one, faster levelling, epic levels included in PHB1. Doesn't that make it closer to the epic action of LotR than previous editions?

 

[tenkar]

D&D 4e still has orcs, elves, wizards, magic rings, etc. I don't think WotC will have a problem marketing it as Tolkienesque fantasy if that's their aim.

Also 4e is higher powered - PCs stronger at level one, faster levelling, epic levels included in PHB1. Doesn't that make it closer to the epic action of the LotR than previous editions?

The only epic level character in the main party in LoTR is Gandalf.... Aragorn is also a possible. The rest of the party was not epic IMHO (in the standard DnD definition). Epic levels do not an "Epic" make.

 

[Merlin the Tuna]

The only epic level character in the main party in LoTR is Gandalf.... Aragorn is also a possible. The rest of the party was not epic IMHO (in the standard DnD definition). Epic levels do not an "Epic" make.

Does anyone believe they were epic in terms of D&D levels? Aragorn usually gets pegged around 6th level.

 

[Wormwood]

Does anyone believe they were epic in terms of D&D levels? Aragorn usually gets pegged around 6th level.

The OP is specifically referring to the film trilogy.

Therefore, all references to 'epic action' are limited to Orlando Bloom.