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Message: <blockquote data-quote="innerdude" data-source="post: 7018615" data-attributes="member: 85870">So, I'm somewhat hesitant to throw this out here, for reasons I'll explain in a minute, but in a nutshell: If you were trying to create the best possible Lord of the Rings game for a group that is primarily "gamist" with touches of "narrativist" as its main modes of play, what system would you use?Now with that question in mind, let me set the boundaries:<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">The basic setup will be highly specific, and I assume that my players will have buy-in to the scenario. If you yourself wouldn't buy in to my proposed scenario, I'm not particularly interested in that opinion; what I am interested in is your opinion of what system would work best.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Systems I am currently seriously considering include: Fate Core, Dungeon World, The One Ring, 5e with the Middle-Earth source books, and Savage Worlds.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Systems I will absolutely NOT consider for this game: GURPS, Runequest, HERO, so please don't recommend them.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Systems I am not seriously considering, but could be persuaded to consider if someone convinced me: Pendragon, Burning Wheel.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">If you're just ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that there's some other system I should be considering but am not currently, please note it in your post.</li> </ol>The Setup: The game will be set post-Third Age, twenty-five years following the downfall of Sauron. I'm not going to bore you with all of the details, because I always hate it when people do it, but to give you some idea of the basic concept, all of the PCs will be children/heirs of the heroes of the War of the Ring. This will not be optional to the players. I will give them options as to who their parents will be--Eomer and Lothiriel, Imrahil and his wife of unknown appellation, Faramir and Eowyn, Erkenbrand and his unknown wife, a sibling of Eldarion (son of Arwen and Aragorn). If they want to be elves, they can be a child of Elladan or Elrohir (I'm retconning that they haven't left Rivendell yet). If they want to be a dwarf, they can be a descendant of Gimli or any of the companions of Thorin Oakenshield, or a descendant of Dain Ironfoot. If they want to be a hobbit, they are a child of Sam, Merry, or Pippin (though frankly I'm debating allowing hobbit PCs at all. I've always been a Gondor and Noldor guy myself). I realize this setup is purely an exercise in vanity and self-gratification, and I don't particularly care. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />What it does for me, however, is sort of set this backdrop of, "You are NOT the greatest heroes of your age. In fact, you're not even close. There's almost nothing you can do that will outshine the deeds of your parents . . . so what kind of person are you? What drives your motivations if there's no glory in the world you can attain that will be greater than your parents?"I really want this game to be character-driven---meaning, I want events to unfold based on how the characters view themselves within their place in the world. Their parents are pushing them into "greatness," expecting their children to do great things of their own accord, but how does that fit within the PCs' need to maintain their family's honor, traditions, while continuing to fight for what their parents fought for?Okay, enough of the setup. I'm almost boring myself here. So, the real meat of my post: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Which of my current systems under consideration would best suit this sort of setup and desired feel?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If my players are very much into the tactical combat aspect of RPGs, can any of the more "narrative" style systems still work for them?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Understand too, if I don't get buy-in to the basic premise, I'm totally willing to scrap it and do something else. If we try it and after 2-3 sessions it doesn't work, I have no qualms saying, "Yeah, I can see this isn't quite what we want. Let's try something else" and move on.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I'm most curious about Dungeon World and Fate, specifically, A) is there enough "meat" in Dungeon World do to an extended campaign of broad scope using its rules, and B) are there enough tactical combat elements in Fate to make it worth considering?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I know nothing of Pendragon, but have heard that it might be uniquely suited to this kind of game.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Burning Wheel might be a very good fit, but I just know that it will be very, very  hard to get buy in from my players on a system that's so complex. Understand, they're fully embedded in Savage Worlds right now, and going to anything more "crunchy" could be a turn off for several of the players.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I'm totally confident in my ability to GM Savage Worlds in a certain "style," but would want to find ways to turn and twist some dials to get the right feel. For example, I'd absolutely incorporate some kind of stat for "family honor" and "shadow influence" if I were to use Savage Worlds. But frankly, I'm ready to try something besides Savage Worlds.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">My hesitation for using the One Ring is the opposite of Burning Wheel---I'm worried it's not crunchy enough. I know one player who would certainly balk at using a system with only 3 core stats. I'm also worried combat won't be satisfying to this group.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">With D&D 5e, I pretty much know what I'm getting . . . and while there's some comfort in the "consistency" of what I'll get, I'm not really sure D&D is the right fit for what I'm really trying to get at.</li> </ul></blockquote>

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