D&D Realms: Middle-Earth

A lot of folk tend to think that Middle-Earth, as an RPG campaign setting, is the exclusive province of Iron Crown Enterprises' Middle-Earth Roleplaying or Deciphers' Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game.  However, both of those are long out of print - and for some Decipher's game just didn't hit the spot, which presumably led to its' demise long before the planned three books (based on the movies) actually were published.  Rolemaster was fallen back on, since it's by and large what MERP was anyway.

I think there is a huge gap somewhere in the list of largely acceptable systems to run your Middle-Earth game in.  That gap's name is Dungeons & Dragons.

I've heard a lot of arguments why D&D isn't a good choice for this sort of campaign.  These run the gamut of the preposterous to the mildly poignant - but I want to talk about why Middle-Earth is a good fit.  In this article I will be referring to 3rd Edition.

Which basically makes this a non-article.  D&D is pretty much the base-level for fantasy games, mechanically speaking.  Everyone seems to know how to play, and 3rd Edition, in our experience at any rate, is quite intuitive.  New players pick it up easy.  Best of all...absolutely no changes to rules are necessary.  It's a fantasy game based on a fantasy world.

Middle-Earth itself is sort of a "base-level" for RPG's, as everyone can admit to being familiar with it since the movies made it cool again...but it still has a hidden mystique about it.  Not everyone has pored over all the books written about Middle-Earth...and in fact, an alarming number of gamers haven't read too far into Tolkien's works.  There's a lot of Middle-Earth that we've not explored before.

We're probably going to see a lot of Middle-Earth rpg using D&D at the Wargate, though the specifics of each session may vary from campaign to campaign.  For instance, Jerry is running "Orcs in Mordor" currently, and we've spoken at length about a great number of other possible campaigns.  There are a lot of nifty campaign ideas, being bandied about, but I'm not going to spoil those here just yet.

The only real "question" you can level at D&D's ruleset for Middle-Earth games is how it treats magic.  Changing or limiting magic in general is the standard practice, because of the Middle-Earth setting's fiddliness with such things.  There are several ways to fix the issue, but care must be taken with tinkering with the ruleset.  This is especially true since D&D's mechanics weigh heavily on how the progression must be handled.

Each DM will have his own ideas, but things to expect will include one or more of the following.

1. Limiting of spell selections.
2. Abrogation or redaction of class features.
3. Limited Race and Class selection.  Usually involves "Wizard", "Druid" and "Cleric" removed entirely.
4. DM Fiat "Feats" or "Features", earned in game by roleplaying.  Certain DM bonuses may change the dynamic or can be used to help the party along in the progression by performing a critical role.

The list goes on, but this is pretty basic.

I've got a few Middle-Earth stories of my own to tell, and Jerry's already fired up about "halflings".  

Remember, Krampus Day is almost here!  We'll be celebrating the festivities on Sunday, December 4th here at the Wargate!  Bring your Krampus Day cheer and we'll make it a year to remember!

See you on Game Day!