Ilbranteloth
Explorer
I'm currently re-reading the Lord of The Rings (man, this takes me back. I was 14 years old when I first read that scene where Gandalf faced the Balrog. Blew me away!) and well... has anyone used the game itself to run a Middle-Earth game? Does the 5e version work?
The last Middle-Earth campaigns I ran was using ICE's Middle Earth Role Playing (MERP), which did a great job of evoking the feel. In reading the 5e version, I get the sense that it will do an even better job of that. The classes, backgrounds, and new rules all fit together and tie closely to the setting, something D&D in general doesn't do well. But that's partially because D&D has to be the base for many settings.
Having said that, it's still up to the DM to make Middle Earth come alive. Everybody's interpretation of what is Middle Earth will vary, but I think the system will support most approaches well. One of the things I think it will also do well, is focus on the character and their development. While I approach these sorts of problems a bit differently, their approach of one major journey/adventure cycle per year, along with their Fellowship Phase to tie their growth to downtime and the setting, further helps immerse players in the setting and alter the focus away from the magic, treasure, and the usual D&D feel and approach. All good things in my opinion.
While I might modify some of the rules, I'm seriously considering running the first adventure that comes out shortly, and it has been probably 20 years since I've run an alternate game system or setting, so that's saying quite a bit about how impressed I am with it. For the most part I'll run it as is, to see if the different approach might surprise me and work better for my other campaigns than I think. Regardless, there is still a lot I'll be taking from their approach to improve my regular D&D game.