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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mmadsen" data-source="post: 2115016" data-attributes="member: 1645">To get back on topic, in an old (long dead) thread, nsruf had this to say: Ah, Middle-Earth! The original fantasy setting, but is it also a typical one? I have run ME adventures in the past (not recently and mostly on MERP and GURPS) and tried to stay true to Tolkien's original "vision". Reading the Silmarillion and related works, I have found some interesting differences with your "run-off-the-mill RPG setting", which makes it hard to adapt e.g. DnD to ME (IMO even MERP failed in major points), which I assume you are working at. Gods and Religion ----------------- Faramir above gave a good summary of the gods, but what about religion? There seems to have been no formalized religion, no church or priests, at any time during the first three ages of the world (except maybe with the primitive people of the far south and east). Instead, people relied on informal and personal relationship to the gods. And this can be "personal" in the "meet and shake hands sense", mind you! Many of the oldest elves (e.g. Galadriel) spent their youth (i.e. countless centuries) in Valinor, the land of the gods, after the Valar invited them there. And most major characters in the LOTR know some of the Istari (Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast) or Elrond (whose father Earendil became the morning star and who is also related to the Maiar spirit Melian). Thus, there was probably no need for formalized religion. In DnD terms: There are no clerics, druids or paladins. Rangers probably have no divine spells (Aragorn's healing abilities seem to be "royal heritage"). Magic ----- ME is actually a low-magic setting, at least if you consider spellcasting. Truly powerful magic is only found as being "inherent" to items (e.g. the various Rings of Power) or creatures (e.g. dragons). The "classical" wizard of ME is Gandalf, who is an angelic being or demigod of sorts. And you have to admit that his spellcasting abilities are pretty poor for that  Also, his magic seems to stem partially from his wand and probably from the Ring of Power he carries (as revealed in the last chapter of the LOTR). There are some mentions of minor spells and curses throughout Tolkien's work (not by name or effect), but none of them seem to be particularly powerful or reliable. However, the names of certain elven lords (e.g. Gil-Galad) seem to frighten evil creatures. In DnD terms: there are no bards, sorcerers and wizards. A truly devoted craftsman could enter a prestige class capable of forging magical items. Elves ----- The high elves (Noldor, Sindarin) seem to be on par with the lesser gods or angels. They have been around for centuries or millenia and should be treated more like the Celtic Sidhe (which probably inspired Tolkien) then just another demihuman race. In DnD terms: High elves are all into epic levels. Only the lesser elves, whose ancestors never lived in Valinor (e.g. woodelves), seem to be suitable as PCs. Population ---------- At least at the time of the LOTR, the northwest of ME is very sparsely populated. Apart from the places described in the books, almost everything else is uninhabited wasteland (except for Gondor). This makes it hard to place your campaign in a "historically accurate" fashion, without recycling all stations of the LOTR ("Oh no, not Rivendell again!"). Consequences ------------ I love Tolkien's work (don't we all) and would be very interested in a "true" conversion to an RPG setting. However, looking at what I just said, this would impose a lot of ugly restrictions on most available fantasy RPGs (in DnD: PC classes limited to fighter, rogue and a ranger variant without spells). So one of the worlds actually created for use with DnD or any other system may be the better choice. Still, if you want to give it a try (and nobody says you have to be as restrictive as I proposed), you should get a copy of the Silmarillion and "derivative material" [listen to me, I must've read to much of the OGL discussion ] I like the "Atlas of Middle-Earth" by Karen Wynn Fonstad, for example.</blockquote>

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