Recruitment thread; SDMB Middle Earth D&D Game.

The Game Room
21

The real basics are as follows:

1st: Group meets in the **Elf Stone Inn **in Minas Tirith and ride to rescue a family in nearby Stonewaith Valley with Meridoc and Gimli and Caramir the younger son for Faramir. In rescuing the family, discover a bigger plot than just orcs acting as highwayman and kill a low level evil wizard.

2nd: This leads to an scouting in force of several locations that the Wizard seemed to be possibly tied to. The party rides out under Prince Caramir to Ered Lithui (Northern Mountain range of Mordor). The clear a small orc liar and help lure out a larger orc group and seriously wipe out the army of orcs and the powerful orc shaman that led the orcs in the area and appeared to be organizing a new plot against Gondor. A group of orcs cooperated and were allowed to flee east.

3rd: Working with a powerful Ranger of Ithilien named Riglo the party investigates strange happenings a bit more to the east and find and seriously damages an orc liar built under an old hill fort. They also discover these orcs worship/fear a local Ancient Vampire. (Silmarillion style not D&D or Dracula type). They manage to defeat the Vampire when they took refuge on his lair. They met two interesting figures in this adventure. Elenwë the sister of Legolas who rides a Unicorn. They also meet Hodwain a traveler from Rhûn who is a Beorning Bard who was bringing a message to Minas Tirith of an Eastern Conspiracy and seeking help from the King.

4th: A simple journey to Rivendell turns out to be more as the ancient Noldo Smith Curunauth they are escorting turned out to effectively be a monster magnet. (I’ll fill in more later is a player doesn’t in the meantime.)

22

That’s a lot of Orc liars we have dealt with. We let the ones telling the truth run away :stuck_out_tongue:

23

Thoroncir finds deceptive orcs to be highly offensive. Off with their heads!

24

I’m willing to give it a shot, given what people say the time requirements are. The latest mafia game is likely winding down soon, so I should be able to shift my mafia time over to here. I’m fine playing a fighter-type if that’s what is needed.

I’m pretty familiar with Middle Earth, having read the trilogy and Hobbit multiple times, and seen the movies multiple times. That said, I’ve never been able to plow all the way through the Silmarillion and my knowledge is more broad than deep :stuck_out_tongue:

I haven’t played 1st edition D&D in 20 years, although I’ve DMed 2nd and 3rd edition on and off for years. Is there an electronic version of 1st edition rules I can look at, or is that already linked to somewhere and I missed it?

25

There isn’t a free one, and I am getting by ok without having ever played D&D at all before, and according to What Exit? his game is as much his own system as it is 1st edition, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Glad to see you want to join, it’s a fun game. Drag Hoopy along with you.

26

There is a PDF version available for only $5 or $6. I ordered it from DriveThruRPG.

Let me know what you would like to try and play. Post here, Email me or PM. If you want, I will even give you a call to talk through details.

27

OK, I’ll try to figure it out by tonight, as well as read through the set-up thread. Am I starting at Level 1?

28

The lowest level characters are 5th, pushing close to sixth so I think starting you and anyone else at the beginning of 5th is fair.

Again, while a Brick/Front Line fighter is what the party lacks the most and are of course the easiest to play, I am open to any non-thieves. We have as many as the game can support.

29

Ok, Elendil’s Heir has somewhat piqued my interest. I have a better than passing knowledge of ME and I have played D&D on and off since I was a kid in the mid-80s. I am a little concerned because, to be honest, I am somewhat allergic to 1E and I find very low-level play to be hard to reconcile with the epic flavor of ME. I am willing to be convinced, of course. How tactical would you say the game is? Or if you think I am not a good fit for the game under the circumstances, please let me know! For what it’s worth, I recently played a high level 3.5E game set in the First Age that ran beautifully and captured the epic flavor very well.

30

I’m still playing 1st Edition after 29 years :eek:, but I don’t need all that acquired knowledge as What Exit? runs a straightforward game (with his own touches).

If you’re playing a Fighter-type (which we could do with anyway), your orders will be straightforward, taking only a few minutes per day.
Decide where you go in the marching order and who you protect in combat. Pick your favourite weapon.

You can enjoy the background of Middle-Earth and help the party make decisions without knowing too much about the rules.

31

The basics are 1st Ed as in Stats, stat bonuses, spells and the basics of the classes. From there I work magic differently as your spells represent instead your spell power and how many you can memorize each day.
Any spell may be cast up to the casters level times.
If you want to trade down a spell is worth 1sp less so a 2nd = a 1st or a 3rd = a 2nd or two 1st.
So if a 5th level MU takes Sleep, Magic Missile, Identify and Shield he can cast any of those spells up to his level (5). To get the 5th Sleep spell though he would sacrifice a second level spell.
You can trade up but at a 50% penalty and round up. So to get to a 3rd requires 3 1st and a 2nd or a 1st and 2 2nd or 5 1st.

Druids and Clerics are based off the Valar and each type generally specializes appropriately.

I’ll be honest that I rarely played beyond 2nd Edition D&D and overwhelmingly have played 1st or early on D&D (Like Glee I started before AD&D existed).

The characters are heroic. The stats are high, the magic items a fairly abundant and they have been running in circles that include big names and royalty. The whole point is in fact the characters are heroes and not just adventurers. They are involved in wars and are beginning to step up to something greater. At this point that are working with Elladan, Elrohir, Glorfindel and a member of the party is a young healer who is the daughter of Aragorn and Arwen.

The game plays much like an interactive story and can be heavy on the Role playing itself. I’m not sure what you mean by tactical other than when the party plans well and works with the NPCs they usually come through it fine.

As to level the party is mostly 6th already and the new characters will probably start at 5th.
The first age game sounds very interesting. I tend to run Fourth Age. I think this is my 7th campaign in Middle Earth that I have run over the years. I use some stuff from MERP as aids and I rely heavy on the books.

I hope that managed to answer your questions.

32

I haven’t looked at a set of 1st Ed D&D rules in several years as I prefer 3rd Ed and I see no reason for this to change.

This game is a lot more about playing your character and the actions you can take, leaving the stats to **What Exit? **to figure out and given the clues we have just picked up, this will lead towards an Epic level game sooner or later.

33

I hadn’t played any RPGs in 20-some years (and even then, it was AD&D), and I’ll tell you, getting into this game was like putting on a pair of comfortable old shoes. What Exit?, our DM, runs the show and does it with style and a deep appreciation of, and knowledge about, Middle-earth. We’re not rolling dice or haggling over saving throws; our characters have taken on some pretty fearsome foes and have gotten banged up now and then, but no one’s died… yet. As I see it, the key things to this are being prepared for the surprises thrown at us, developing our characters, enjoying Tolkien’s vision and having a helluva lotta fun together.

34

Consider me all but in at this point then. I’m even going to get that PDF of the PHB, just because it’s cheap.

I’ll probably play a straight up fighter for a couple reasons.

  1. It’ll be easier to do timewise since there’ll be less planning.

  2. I’ve played a 2nd edition paladin, a 3rd ed dwarven tanking cleric, a 3rd ed fighter/rogue, a 3rd ed fighter/scout, a 3rd ed wizard, a 3rd ed druid, a GURPS War Priest (it was essentially a homebrewed Paladin type without the magic), a GURPS thief, a 3rd edition two-handed fighting rogue/swashblucker with the stony template, and a D20 Jedi, but I’ve never played a straight up fighter (though, the War Priest did come close–he fought with a two-handed weapon). I think it’ll be a nice change.

I probably won’t get around to making the character until next week, since this weekend’s going to be busy.

35

Actually Email/PM me and let me know what race and ideas you have and questions. I’ll end up generating the character anyway and sending it out. Welcome to the game.

36

What Exit?, Elendil’s Heir emailed me about this game; I’m a D&D noob but I have played RPG on the computer.

I do have some questions about character type and from the sound of it you are heavy on Elves and magic users which are my favorite type of characters to run. I can be flexible though, if you want to let me know what you need maybe I can work with you and see what happens.

37

I think it would be extra tough to play a MU without the book and some idea of the game mechanics. I’m going to reserve the next Wizard for someone that knows the system already. There is no reason you could not have an Elf however and almost any other of the Good Races of Middle Earth are available, no Ents or Eagles though.

Hobbits run lucky in my world but all others thrive and have distinct and strong advantages. Elves of course have probably the most but also have many restrictions. They and the Hobbits are natural archers. The Elves have the best bows and a natural +1 but Hobbits get a +3 to hit with bows.

Dwarves are natural bricks and front line fighters. They almost always start with the best Armor Class. Dúnedain can be almost anything and excel at many. Then there is the common man that has no restrictions and can be any class.

The non-humans can also be multi-class meaning they are working in two classes at once. Gil-Gandel (Malacandra’s Elf) is a Fighter/Thief that once he hits 6th will undergo his final training and become a Bard instead. The Hobbits are both straight treasure finders but Mulligan’s (CatInASuit) brother is an Archer/Thief.

This is the current party:
Gwaelur son of Gwaelin – NAF1138 - Fighter, Dwarf of the Glittering Caves. 5th level
Sir Thoroncir Knight Errant– Elendil’s Heir - Fighter, Man of Gondor a Sea-Knight of Linhir 6th level
Gil-Gandel – Malacandra - Trainee bard, Sindar (“Grey Elf”) 5th level
Miron Daelhind - Omi no Kami – Ranger/Archer, young Silven Elf of Ithilien 5th level light on tracking, good with Herbs & healing.
Ghân-buri-ghan – glee - Druid, Wild Man (“Wose”) 6th level (he’ll need to visit Radagast soon for adv. Training)
Deor – appleciders – Mage or Rohan (Brother of Theogrim) 5th level
Mulligan Took – CatInASuit - Burglar, Hobbit (Sister-Son of Peregrin Took himself) 6th level
Elfstan Fairbairn – RogueRacer - Burglar, Hobbit (Son of Elanor the Fair, so heir to Samwise Gardener) 6th level
Brin – D_Odds – Ranger of Dale 5th level Off Hiatus? Returning to Dale but only got as far as Old Ford Town*
Princess Gilraen(Renee)- NPC – Beautiful young woman of Gondor and trained Healer of Estë 5th level

For humans there are Woses, Beornings, Rohirrim, Common, Dúnedain and Southrons.
**Woses **are the only ones that can be Druid/Thieves and make for good Druids and decent Rangers. They have some odd powers and natural fire resistance and magic resistance. They are also very short lived. Living only 30-50 years.
They are restricted from Cleric, Paladin, MU, Illusionist & Bard. They have –1 Cha and +1 Con.
**Rohirrim **make the best Paladins by far and get a bonus +1 charisma and Strength as Paladins. They make good fighters and can be anything else.
**Humans **make the best Clerics and very good Druids (+1 Wis), Mages and Illusionist (+1 Int) . They get +1 Strength as fighters and +1 Charisma as Paladins. They can be any class to any level.
**Southrons **only really excel as Monks.
**Dúnedain **get a +1 to Con, make the best Rangers with the best Herbology and Tracking bonuses.
**Beornings **get –1 Int/Cha and +1Str/Con. They have a chance of being shape shifters (Were Bears). They make great fighters, Warrior Clerics and good Druids. They are restricted from MU, Illusionist, Paladin and Monk.

Three types of Elves:
Noldor: +1 Dex can be Fighters, Rangers, Mages but never get 9th level spells and suffer experience penalties above 11th level (they do get a +1 Int though). Illusionist but never get 7th level spells and suffer experience penalties above 9th level, Thieves (XP Penalty of 50% always) and Elven Bards.
Silvan: +1 Dex, Same classes as Noldor but more XP penalties and a max of 17th level as a MU. However as fighters they get +1 strength and –1 intelligence. They can be Fighter/Thieves.
Sindar: +1 Dex, Same classes as Noldor but no MU. Make for good Bards.

Two types of Dwarves (maybe 3 is anyone really wants a gnome)
**Khazâd **can be Clerics of Aulë; they are among the best fighters with a +2 to Con and some important saving throw bonuses and great Orc Fighters. The only other class is Thief.
**Non-Khazâd **who honestly have no advantages over Khazâd except that Khazâd cannot lie.
**Gnome **or Petty Dwarf: Make for bad fighters, but good Illusionist and Thieves and may be Ill/Thief. Most Dwarves and Elves despise them and they suffer a –1 Cha and Wisdom but do get the +1 to Con.

**Hobbits **of course: In general a Hobbit get +1 Dex and –1 Strength. The various types of Hobbits may be Limited Clerics (8th level), Fighters, no restrictions but percentile Strength is right out and they tend to specialize as Archers, Slingers or Knife/Dart throwers. They can be Rangers and the Fallohides make exceptional Paladins. The Tooks and Brandybucks are mostly Fallohide. They get a +1 Str bonus and +2 Charisma. They can also be Thieves (Burglars or Treasure Finders of course and good alignment, Fighter/Thieves or there are rumors that they can be Bards but only those friendly to Tom Bombadil. It is possible they could be Druids too.
Whatever missile they put their mind to they get a +3 to hit. They also get a Con based Saving Throw bonus, are very hard to hit by Trolls and Giants (-4). Have a natural silence ability but not as good as elves.

38

I’m thinking Paladin. Nothing like some Lawful Goody-Two-Shoes to annoy the party, right? :smiley: IIRC, Paladins have to be human, so I don’t think I have any choice there. I guess I should probably just email this to you, What Exit?, but I thought people might want to know what I was thinking.

ETA: Now you just posted all that juicy info and I’m thinking Monk is also possible…

39

Hobbits make good Paladins and you didn’t get a chance to read it but there are 6 type of men and some are better than others at being Paladins. Especially the Rohirrim.

40

Hmm…I’d love to play but I don’t want to slow everything down.

Do you think if I just lurked through a campaign or two that I would get a fairly decent feel for it? Or should I just jump in with both feet and destroy your party! :smiley: