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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jacob Lewis" data-source="post: 7941260" data-attributes="member: 6667921">I highly recommend trying The One Ring for that Tolkeinesque feel, and to a lesser extent, Adventures in Middle-Earth for 5e. Both do an amicable job of capturing the emotion and conflict of that world. The latter does a fair job of porting over many of the thematic elements, but conventional trappings of a level-based, combat-centric game like D&D somehow cheapens the experience when compared to the original game system. TOR, on the other hand, makes use of unique mechanics built from the ground up and thematically tied into the world itself. I mean, what can be more dreadful than seeing the eye of Sauron show up on the die face to show how things just got worse? More importantly, and closer on point with this topic, is the element of fear and despair in the form of Shadow. In D&D, its all about hit points and super-heroics. But Shadow represents the emotional toll of the characters as they succumb to the growing threat and corruption that the forces of Sauron (Evil) represent (i.e. the greed of the dwarves, the desire for power of men, etc.). That, I believe, is what stands apart between RPGs and stories, like Tolkien's work.The real trick is finding players who are willing to portray characters as flawed, vulnerable, or otherwise imperfect. In other words, like a real human being.</blockquote>