Tolkienised DnD
- Thread starter Spyritwind
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ruleslawyer
Registered User
I don't actually see what any of those have to do with Tolkien. 
The ME d20 folks really have some good stuff. One issue is when your campaign takes place. If it's during the Third Age or later, you may have a suspension-of-disbelief problem for spellcasters. In general, though, Tolkien dramatizes and metaphorizes so much of his world that you should be able to drop in anything you like. (Elven craft, for instance; is it magic? Amazingly perfect workmanship? Is Anduril a magical weapon or simply fearsome because it's a symbol of the return of a true king to the world of Men? Are Saruman's "spells" technological know-how or actual wizardry? Et cetera.) In general, I've found that I am particularly fond of an ME ruleset (I ran a Fourth Age game for a while) with the following elements from ME d20:
1) Jeff Black's races and monsters, except the Nazgul (I prefer SH Jones's version, although the Nazgul had a, er, special treatment IMC...)
2) SH Jones's Magic Awareness feat and spellcasting classes. I probably would not use his paladin and ranger mods, though; IMHO, it is easier and more appropriate to use the non-spellcasting paladins and rangers detailed in The Complete Warrior.
Very few other changes from core d20 are necessary, IMHO. VP/WP are a nice system, but really only because this variant makes more sense across the board, not because of any particular character to Tolkien's universe.
The ME d20 folks really have some good stuff. One issue is when your campaign takes place. If it's during the Third Age or later, you may have a suspension-of-disbelief problem for spellcasters. In general, though, Tolkien dramatizes and metaphorizes so much of his world that you should be able to drop in anything you like. (Elven craft, for instance; is it magic? Amazingly perfect workmanship? Is Anduril a magical weapon or simply fearsome because it's a symbol of the return of a true king to the world of Men? Are Saruman's "spells" technological know-how or actual wizardry? Et cetera.) In general, I've found that I am particularly fond of an ME ruleset (I ran a Fourth Age game for a while) with the following elements from ME d20:
1) Jeff Black's races and monsters, except the Nazgul (I prefer SH Jones's version, although the Nazgul had a, er, special treatment IMC...)
2) SH Jones's Magic Awareness feat and spellcasting classes. I probably would not use his paladin and ranger mods, though; IMHO, it is easier and more appropriate to use the non-spellcasting paladins and rangers detailed in The Complete Warrior.
Very few other changes from core d20 are necessary, IMHO. VP/WP are a nice system, but really only because this variant makes more sense across the board, not because of any particular character to Tolkien's universe.
Lord Morte
First Post
The trick is the spell-casters. Based on his movie appearances, from a DnD POV Gandalf is closer to a cleric or a druid than a wizard. I'd remove all other spell-casting classes and only use something like cleric, favoured soul from the Complete Divine, or the generic spell-casting class from Unearthed Arcana.
ruleslawyer
Registered User
Hence why I like SH Jones' generic spellcaster rules. Much much more flavorful than just using the Favored Soul or UA generic spellcaster.
AFGNCAAP
First Post
If you want a fair amount of work to do, then consider using the Generic Classes from Unearthed Arcana; essentially have 3 basic class concepts instead of the core classes of the PHb & other books. Many of the LOTR characters would basically be multi-classed PCs of one sort or another. For example:
Gandalf: expert [scholarly]/spellcaster (or expert/divine spellcaster/arcane spellcaster)
Frodo: expert (linguist & generally well-educated gentleman)
Samwise: expert/warrior (or even a straight-up warrior, with a lot of ranks in Profession [gardener])
Merry: expert
Pippin: expert
Aragorn: expert/warrior (focusing on the ranger from the wild aspect)
Legolas: warrior
Gimli: warrior
Boromir: warrior
Eowyn: warrior
Eomer: warrior
Theoden: warrior
Denethor: expert
Faramir: expert/warrior (seemed to be more of a well-educated nobleman)
Elrond: expert [scholar]/spellcaster (focused on role of a seer)
Galadriel: expert/spellcaster
Arwen: expert [noble/aristocrat]
Saruman: expert [scholar/tech]/spellcaster (maybe divided up as arcane/divine as well)
Grima Wormtongue: expert [spy/speaker]
Names orcs & uruk-hai: warriors (never really shown any other sort of orckind)
Mouth of Sauron: expert [speaker]
Nazgul: a mix. Some may just be warriors; the Witch-King could be a warrior/spellcaster or even an expert/warrior/spellcaster.
Bilbo: expert
Thorin Oakenshield: warrior
The other dwarves: warriors or expert/warriors.
Beorn: warrior
Bard the Bowman: warrior (archery-focused)
Radigast: expert [nature]/spellcaster
With the generic classes, it's more or less selecting the right feats or class-ability feats for the characters. After the rise of the 4th age, I'd keep all spellcasters as arcane (the elves & Istari may have had some divine spellcasters, but they really had close ties with the Powers).
Gandalf: expert [scholarly]/spellcaster (or expert/divine spellcaster/arcane spellcaster)
Frodo: expert (linguist & generally well-educated gentleman)
Samwise: expert/warrior (or even a straight-up warrior, with a lot of ranks in Profession [gardener])
Merry: expert
Pippin: expert
Aragorn: expert/warrior (focusing on the ranger from the wild aspect)
Legolas: warrior
Gimli: warrior
Boromir: warrior
Eowyn: warrior
Eomer: warrior
Theoden: warrior
Denethor: expert
Faramir: expert/warrior (seemed to be more of a well-educated nobleman)
Elrond: expert [scholar]/spellcaster (focused on role of a seer)
Galadriel: expert/spellcaster
Arwen: expert [noble/aristocrat]
Saruman: expert [scholar/tech]/spellcaster (maybe divided up as arcane/divine as well)
Grima Wormtongue: expert [spy/speaker]
Names orcs & uruk-hai: warriors (never really shown any other sort of orckind)
Mouth of Sauron: expert [speaker]
Nazgul: a mix. Some may just be warriors; the Witch-King could be a warrior/spellcaster or even an expert/warrior/spellcaster.
Bilbo: expert
Thorin Oakenshield: warrior
The other dwarves: warriors or expert/warriors.
Beorn: warrior
Bard the Bowman: warrior (archery-focused)
Radigast: expert [nature]/spellcaster
With the generic classes, it's more or less selecting the right feats or class-ability feats for the characters. After the rise of the 4th age, I'd keep all spellcasters as arcane (the elves & Istari may have had some divine spellcasters, but they really had close ties with the Powers).
VoiceOfReason?
First Post
All seriousness aside, if you really want to make the game feel Tolkein-esque, I have 4 words for you:
DIARRHEA OF THE MOUTH
go ahead, take 4 pages to describe Legolas' hair. 2 paragraphs on the way the sun shines off Gimli's forehead?...better make it 6. i.e. each round of combat should take roughly 1 session (assuming 4-6 hour sessions), and skill checks would be a thing of the past (if it takes the player less than 20 minutes to declare his action in poetic and eloquent terms, he fails).
Disclaimer: I love tolkein's work as much as the next nerd, and have little if anything constructive to add to this thread. If I were running the game though, I'd make magic and spellcasting accessable by PRC only. Magic, while rampant in Middle Earth, is wielded by a very few (and they being uniformly exceptional) individuals.
DIARRHEA OF THE MOUTH
go ahead, take 4 pages to describe Legolas' hair. 2 paragraphs on the way the sun shines off Gimli's forehead?...better make it 6. i.e. each round of combat should take roughly 1 session (assuming 4-6 hour sessions), and skill checks would be a thing of the past (if it takes the player less than 20 minutes to declare his action in poetic and eloquent terms, he fails).
Disclaimer: I love tolkein's work as much as the next nerd, and have little if anything constructive to add to this thread. If I were running the game though, I'd make magic and spellcasting accessable by PRC only. Magic, while rampant in Middle Earth, is wielded by a very few (and they being uniformly exceptional) individuals.
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Except that Tolkien never does any of that. In fact, most of the action is described sparely. Even major battles pass in a few pages.VoiceOfReason? said:
More accurately, you could recommend reading (aloud) the appropriate chapters out of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting as the party passes through each region.
Ranger2001
First Post
It's all about mood
I read Tolkein once every five years or so. I've got a buddy who reads the LotR through each year. When do we read it? For some reason, it's always in autumn. There's something to be said for when the leaves turn and when the breeze gets cooler that puts me in the mind for adventure...
So what I'm saying is that a Tolkein-eque has less to do with the rules, but more to do with atmosphere. It has to do with creating a more elevated campaign where your characters have a sort of high dignified approach, and their goals are similarly heroic. As already discussed, combat should be rare, as should obvious magic, like Arcane spellcasters in D&D. Magic in Tolkein should be mysterious, and therefore, magical. There should also be a focus on the idea of the chase. Bilbo and Frodo are always running from something/someone - so brush up on your movement rules.
Rumour has it that Tolkein was planning another book before he died - it would have taken place in the 4th Age where the sons of Aragorn start dabbling in the Dark Arts in order to gain eteranal life, similar to how the Numenorians did several ages before...That in itself could provide the basis for a 4th Age campaign....
I read Tolkein once every five years or so. I've got a buddy who reads the LotR through each year. When do we read it? For some reason, it's always in autumn. There's something to be said for when the leaves turn and when the breeze gets cooler that puts me in the mind for adventure...
So what I'm saying is that a Tolkein-eque has less to do with the rules, but more to do with atmosphere. It has to do with creating a more elevated campaign where your characters have a sort of high dignified approach, and their goals are similarly heroic. As already discussed, combat should be rare, as should obvious magic, like Arcane spellcasters in D&D. Magic in Tolkein should be mysterious, and therefore, magical. There should also be a focus on the idea of the chase. Bilbo and Frodo are always running from something/someone - so brush up on your movement rules.
Rumour has it that Tolkein was planning another book before he died - it would have taken place in the 4th Age where the sons of Aragorn start dabbling in the Dark Arts in order to gain eteranal life, similar to how the Numenorians did several ages before...That in itself could provide the basis for a 4th Age campaign....
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Evilhalfling
Adventurer
Merps is lovely for relative powere levels but I could never wrap my head around the fact that in LotR casting spells was very rare and in MERP everyone got spell lists.
Im watching the comentary on RotK As i type this, and it occurs to me that I have never read the appendicies - even thought I have been through the series 3 times, and several other adaptations.
In a ME campign how do you have any spell casters ?
Im watching the comentary on RotK As i type this, and it occurs to me that I have never read the appendicies - even thought I have been through the series 3 times, and several other adaptations.
In a ME campign how do you have any spell casters ?
