D&D comes to Middle Earth (from Cubicle 7)

I have high hopes that the 5E OGL will really start to open up the game...and this would seem to qualify! Very excited for this.

 

[Ampolitor]

umm when did I say otherwise, I can't wait for it,

 

[ChrisCarlson]

It really does pain you to see people still might like the class, doesn't it.

Are you serious?

 

[BrockBallingdark]

What pains me... getting more info on how this will look for 5E!

 

[Polyhedral_Columbia]

Canonical peoples, plus close inferences based on 900AD-era ethnology (and 1897-era for Eriador)

Peoples:

Hobbits:

• Shire-hobbit [=1897-era Warwickshire geographically, but culturally all counties of England; for example, Yorkshire in the Hills of Scary, the West Midlands and Welsh Marches in the East Farthing and the Marish, and Warwickshire (specifically) around Hobbiton.]
• Buckland-hobbit [=1897-era Monmouthshire, Wales]
• Bree-hobbit [=1897-era Buckinghamshire, the location of the real world "Brill/Bree-hill" and "Coombe"]
• Outsider-hobbit from the West of the World [=Remnants of other counties of 1897-era England]
• Wild-hobbit of the River Gladden [=900-era West Saxons]

Elves:

• High Elf (Noldo) from Lindon, from Rivendell, from Lorien, or in Aman
• Grey Elf (Sinda) from Lindon, from Rivendell, from Lorien, from the Woodland Realm, or in Aman
• Wood Elf (Nando Silvan Elf) from Lorien, from the Woodland Realm, from the Wandering Companies of Eriador, or in Aman. These are the native elves of Eriador and of Rhovanion (along with the Penni Avari). The Wood Elves of Dol Amroth sailed to Aman. The language (to the extent it survives) is, or was, Leikvian (East-Danian), an Old Norse-flavored Elvish. In one place JRRT says the language is no longer spoken, but in another place he says that it is the main language of Thranduil's Realm. So for diversity's sake, it might as well still exist in the Woodland Realm.
• Sea Elf (Teleri/Falmari) from Alqualonde, or from Tol Eressëa
• Fair Elf (Vanya) of the Blessed Realm
• Green Elf (Cwenda Nando, West-Danian, Ossiriandic) of Lindon. Possibly merged with the Grey-elves of Lindon by the late Third Age. Or possibly not. Either way, there are families of that ancestry. (The Cwenda language is Old English-style Quendian.)
• Penni (Avari Silvan Elf) from Lorien, or from the Woodland Realm. The Penni and Nando are both called "Silvan/Wood Elves", and they are probably merged by the late Third Age, though families would be aware of their Penni ancestry. They are native elves of Rhovanion/Wilderland, along with the Nandor. (The Penni language is Gaulish-style Quendian.)

• Hill Elf (Cuind) of the West of East? (Old Irish-style Quendian)
• Windan of the the North of East? (Old English?-style Quendian)
• Twilight Elf (Hwenti/Hisildi) of the Midmost Regions (Palisor) (Hwenti = Gothic-style Quendian; the Hisildi of Palisor are the ones who first spoke to Ermon and Elmir, thereby imparting the quasi-Germanic phonaesthetic flavor to the first Mannish language.)
• Kindi of the South of East? (Hindi-style Quendian)
• Kinn-lai of the East of East? (Chinese-style Quendian)

Dwarves:

• Longbeard Dwarf of the Blue Mountains, of the Grey Mountains, of the Iron Hills, or of the Lonely Mountain (after the War of the Ring: of the Glittering Caverns)
• Firebeard Dwarf of the Blue Mountains, of the Grey Mountains, of the Iron Hills, or of the Lonely Mountain
• Broadbeam Dwarf of the Blue Mountains, of the Grey Mountains, of the Iron Hills, or of the Lonely Mountain
• Ironfist Dwarf of the East
• Stiffbeard Dwarf of the East
• Blacklock Dwarf of the East
• Stonefoot Dwarf of the East

(The Hobbit mentions "Wicked Dwarves of the East"; so at least one of these houses is under the shadow.)

Mannish cultures are reminiscent of 900-AD, except for those of Eriador (minus the Dunedain), which are 1897-era.

• Dunadan of the North [=remnants of the Arthurian, Carolingian, and Holy Roman realms]
• Bree-man [=1897-era Buckinghamshire]
• Man of the Hunter-folk of Eryn Vorn [=1897-era Cornishmen]
• Beorning of the Upper Vales [=Bernicians of Northumbria]
• Horse-lord of Rohan [=Mercians]
• Lake-man of Esgaroth [=Geats of Lake Vättern]
• Dale-man [=Svear of Dalecarlia]
• Northman from West of Dale, or from South of Dale [=Norwegians or Danes]
• Woodman of Western Mirkwood, of the Middle Vales, or of the Lower Vales [=Germans; Old Saxons in the northern town, Old Franconians in the southern town; Middle Vales =Mercian remnants + newly arrived Saxons and Franks; Lower Vales = Franks of West Francia]
• Man of Dorwinion [=Georgians, the land of wine and youth]
• Man of Gondor [=Byzantines]
• Snowman of Forochel [=Skridfinns/Saami]
• Man of the Fisher-folk of Western Enedwaith [=Cruithne of Ireland]
• Wose of Druadan Forest [=Picts of Thrace/Agathrysi]
• Pukel-man of Druwaith Iaur [=Picts of France/Aquitani]
• Dunlending [=Old Irish]
• Man of Nurn [=Armenian]
• Corsair of Umbar, or from other Havens [=Arab/Saracen of Tripoli and the other Barbary Coast kingdoms]
• Variag from Khand, or from the Wide East [=Varangian Northman]
• Man of Khand [=Khazar]
• Black Numenorean from Umbar, from Near Harad, or from Far Harad [=Copt]
• Vinith of Eastern Mirkwood, of Southern Mirkwood, of the Bight, or of Northern Rhovanion [=Western Slav: Wend/Polabian/Lusatian, Slovene, Czech/Moravian, or Pole]
• Near Southron [=Arab/Saracen]
• Easterling from the Horse Plain [=Hungarian/Magyar]
• Easterling from the Kine Plain [=Cuman]
• Far Southron (Troll-man, Silharrow, or Elephant-lord) [=Fur, Ethiopian, or Ghanaian]
• Man of Angmar (Kern, Gallowglass, Redshank, Hillman, or Reiver) [=Scots: Highland Gael, Norn, Pict, Cumbrian, or Lowland Scot]
• Man of the Balchoth of Southern Rhovanion [=Bulgars]
• Axe-Easterling from the Wide East [=Rus]
• Worm-Easterling from the East of East [=Chinese]
• Strange Men of the Land of Magic (New Lands, Lands of the Sun, the Burnt Lands, Easternesse) [=Indigenous Americans]
• Men of the Dark Land (Southland) [=Australian Aborigines, Melanesians, and other peoples of "Lemuria."]

 

[Maxperson]

High Elf from Lindon, from Rivendell, or from Lorien
Grey Elf from Rivendell, from Lorien, from Lindon, or from the Woodland Realm
Wood Elf from Lorien, or from the Woodland Realm
Dark Elf (Penni) from the Woodland Realm
Mountain Elf
Hill Elf (Cuind)

Let's not forget

Sea Elf (sailors, not the kind that live underwater) from the Grey Havens

Fair Elf (also known as Vanyar) from Valinor

 

[SilentWolf]

On Twitter, Mike Mearls has definitively clarified the Cubicle 7 license question: it's an OGL.

https://twitter.com/mikemearls/status/710340192738017281

 

[CapnZapp]

Interesting

 

[Morrus]

On Twitter, Mike Mearls has definitively clarified the Cubicle 7 license question: it's an OGL.

https://twitter.com/mikemearls/status/710340192738017281

No "D&D" on the cover, then!

 

[JPL]

I feel like this needs an "Adventurer" class . . . something to cover the guys like Frodo and company who aren't really fighters, rogues, or rangers (much less wizards), but nevertheless have some combination of heart, luck, and courage which enables them to survive giant spiders, orc hordes, etc. Actually, I'd love to use that in a regular D&D game, too . . . someone who has few or none of the tangibles we associate with heroism (extraordinary martial skill or physical attributes, or specials powers like spellcasting), but discovers that he or she has the intangible qualities --- heart, luck, courage.

 

[Guest 6801328]

The thing that has kept TOR from becoming my favorite is the core dice mechanic. It just seems too odd and wonky for me to really enjoy. I was part of the playtest for TOR and my groups largest complaint was about how weird the core mechanic was, they made some great fixes, but didn't change it enough so that my group would be willing to play the game.

Oh, that really surprises me. I love the TOR dice mechanic. I really don't like rolling a single d20 for success...I hate the flat probability. Nor do I like the fiddly wonkiness of Star Wars. TOR strikes a nice balance for me of richness and variability in a clean, easy to understand system.

For the uninitiated, here's how TOR works:
- You have a relevant skill or (sometimes) attribute, rated 0 to 6.
- You roll a d12 and as many d6 as the relevant skill/attribute, and total the numbers versus a Target Number
- In most circumstances you do NOT add +'s or -'s due to stats, gear, etc.
On the d12:
- A 12 (the Gandalf rune on the official dice) is an autosuccess
- The 11 (the Eye of Sauron rune) counts as 0, and sometimes means Bad Stuff
On the d6's:
- Each 6 counts as an extra success. E.g. bonus damage on an attack roll. (You don't roll damage separately.)
- If you are Weary, 1's, 2's, and 3's count as zero.

On attack rolls, your weapon type has an "Edge" rating. If the Feat die is equal to or higher than Edge, your opponent must make a Protection test, which works just like any other roll but "skill" is determined by the armor worn. E.g. 5 dice for a a Mail Hauberk.

And that's it. Pretty much every roll in the game works this way. It's very rare that you you make any roll other than d12 + Nd6.

EDIT: Sure, I suppose you can describe d20 as "You just roll a single die and that's it." But that leaves out adding up bonuses, with vary depending on what ability you are using, and figuring out how many damage dice of which sort to roll, and whether or not you include an ability modifier, etc. etc. By the time you include all the fiddly bits you need to know, I actually think that TOR is simpler.