Tolkien or RPG fans in or near Wisconsin/Iowa [April 24, 2010]

The Game Room
1

Anyone one for some not-quite-live-action-roleplaying? I’m heading out to Ring Game on April 26th in Dodgeville, WI. It’s a day-long event that is held twice a year, and has been going on for over 30 years!

While a costume of some sort (believe me, the bar is very low) is required, this isn’t a LARP. It’s basically a Capture the Flag game with a much more expanded ruleset, and the characters taken from The Lord of the Rings. Think of it as a board game with moving pieces. :slight_smile: It’s a team game so you don’t need to do much except show up to learn how to play - you play with either Good, or as Evil with Sauron or Saruman.

The size of the game varies; I’ve seen games as small as 80 and as big as over 150. We tend to get a good mix of people - students from UW, older professionals, families with kids, people from Madison/Green Bay/Milwaukee/Minneapolis and points farther removed.

While character picks have already happened, I always take a pretty lowball character so it’s a ‘no pressure’ game for me. Also, you do not need to sign up for a character in advance - Red Eye Orcs or White Hand Orcs have unlimited slots so you can show up as one of those, or you can just show up and see what’s available. (You can also call for a role, there are plenty of open slots left.)

Basically, it’s a fine excuse to enjoy good company, walk or run about in a beautiful state park, indulge in a little good-natured smack talk and hopefully kill (or assist them, if you’re one of those do-gooder types) a few hapless hobbits on the way. We all go to A&W for root beer afterwards.

If anyone’s interested, PM me or go to www.ringgame.net. (I am not affiliated with the game management or the website, by the way. I just play.) There is also a Yahoo! Groups discussion list as well.

Don’t be intimidated by the pictures - a lot of people make very elaborate costumes, but it’s just for the sake of getting more “points”. Battles are won by the most points (base point for your role + costume + weapon + armour), but don’t worry - the more people, the bigger the armies, so everyone’s always welcome. Back when I started playing in 2001, my shield was a pizza pan with a duct tape handle. Ah, memories. If you’ve got nothing at all, I have enough stuff to lend out to costume several evil players.

In the extremely unlikely event that any Iowa Dopers want to go, I have room to take folks along this year. I can pick you up along my route or meet you someplace. Also, if you’re in or near Madison, there are usually rides available, let me know and I can point you in the right direction.

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Is there a point value for each char somewhere on the site?
And the complete rules (out of curiousity)
I remeber a “Ring War” circa 1983 which has to be the same thing. IIRC Gimli was 12 points. Some friends of mine have participated in the past.

Brian

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I’m going to bump this to express my regret that the event is far too far away for me to even think about attending.

I need to at least get to a Renaissance Faire this year.

Have fun at it fluiddruid,
Jim

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Ring War is indeed the same game. The name was changed before my time – from what I was told, it was because the word “war” in the game name was “attracting some of the wrong people”.

There is no online rulebook of the current rule set, as the guys who run the game do not maintain a site and other people have had some concerns. There is an older rulebook in the “Files” section of the Yahoo group:

This is a pretty old ruleset but not a ton has changed. Notably, some new roles have been added. The Dunlanders were added as a separate group than Wild Men for the people who insist on wearing Scottish garb. (In the books, the Men of Dunland were the same as the Wild Men, I believe). They start somewhere else, too. I can’t remember where. Citadel Guards were added as unlimited once the games got really huge during the years the movies were coming out, because it got to the point where Good was entirely filled and Evil still had a huge number advantage. (We had 53 white hand orcs one year! 53!!!) That may have changed back by now as the numbers have decreased a bit from peak. Also, the Menace’s base points now are based on the points in the game, I believe, and increase during the game as he gets kills.

There is also now a second game (run by a different group) in the fall called “Second Age”, which is based on the second age in Tolkien and the first war against Sauron.

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Thought I’d give this one more ‘bump’ before the weekend.

One point of note is that Ring Game has been going on since 1978. The owner of the non-official website recently came into ownership of some pictures from the early 1980s, which I find terribly interesting:

http://www.ringgame.net/Trove/JeffM/index.html

All of the trappings of yesteryear and not a single person I recognize. Woo-woo!

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Hey, how was it?

Brian

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Update: It was good. :slight_smile:

Just bumpity-bumping this old thread that I’m headed to Ring Game again this Spring. If anyone’s interested, PM me and I can give you more info, or give you the phone number of Jeff, the guy who runs it.

Wewt! I’m a Nazgul! First time since 2002. Seems like some good roles are still available. I have plenty of extra gear, too, so if you don’t have a costume, no worries.

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I’ll have to try this sometime. Alas, this year is out.

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Actually, it’s on twice a year, April and October, with a third game based on the Second Age (basically the prequel) in September.

Second Age is a different experience, though - smaller game, with a lot more variables, and each player has a lot more swing on the eventual fate of the game. Citadels can be re-established and the victory is based on points, rather than the fate of the Ring, so it can get really interesting. Oh, and dwarves have their own ‘neutral’ faction. They’re fun to play. Dates for September are up already. :slight_smile: