Hey guys... Middle Earth

[Leonides]

Hey all.

I picked up BW about 6 months ago, and really enjoyed its fresh look, attitude, and rules. I was especially interested in running a Middle Earth campaign with it (I was stuck between BW or Harnmaster... still haven't chosen yet). Anyway, I was wondering if you thought the lifepaths for BW would be suitable for Middle Earth, or if I would have to make up whole new ones. Do you think the Elves are close enough? The Dwarves? What about the Hobbits? How could I work in the racial differences between Gondorians, Rohirrim, Corsairs, etc?

Any and all help would be appreciated.

[Judd]

Hey all.

I picked up BW about 6 months ago, and really enjoyed its fresh look, attitude, and rules. I was especially interested in running a Middle Earth campaign with it (I was stuck between BW or Harnmaster... still haven't chosen yet). Anyway, I was wondering if you thought the lifepaths for BW would be suitable for Middle Earth, or if I would have to make up whole new ones. Do you think the Elves are close enough? The Dwarves? What about the Hobbits? How could I work in the racial differences between Gondorians, Rohirrim, Corsairs, etc?

Any and all help would be appreciated.

I think the Elves and Dwarves in BW are more Tolkien than any other game on the market right now.

Hobbits, Men of Gondor, etc. could easily be done with some Common Traits.

No problem.

[Kaare Berg]

do a searh on this forum for hobbits/haflings and see what you come up with. I know some have been done.

[Kublai]

I think BW is the best for playing in Middle Earth and you'll find it a perfect fit.

The way we differentiate our human races in our games is to assign them Cultural Traits. Choose three traits that make them stand out from other humans and give them for free. For example, the men of Gondor may - depending on the Age - might have the traits Resolute, Brave, and Bitter. Numenorians are only problematic to the degree that you have to fiddle with the Age Chart for humans - a result of the Long-Lived trait. They may also get a +1 Physical and +1 Mental Stat for a trait such as Gone West.

[Drozdal]

As Kublai said - cultural traits are great way to handle different cultures within one race. Cultural traits should be free (treat them as guidelines for players), just two or three will do. Use your common sense or copy them directly character descriptions in MERP rulebook :). Similar approach can be taken on rest of tolkien races. There were a lot of small differences between Dwarfs raised in Blue Mountains and those who hailed from Iron Hills. Saurman and Sauron crated orcs were also definitely different.

Drozdal

[Leonides]

Common traits... good idea guys! I'll have to start working on that. I have ALL of the MERP books (literally every one) so that shouldn't be too hard. Once I'm done, I'll let you guys take a look. Maybe it will be useful for other people.

[Kaare Berg]

Once I'm done, I'll let you guys take a look

Great, love to ee what you come up with.

[Leonides]

Hey guys. Back again, this time with some stuff I've cooked up!

I'm only finished with the Edain (that is, the Men) of Middle-earth, but they're really the toughest part, I think. I've put what I've got up here:

http://pages.emerson.edu/Students/Jesse_Hill/middle_earth.htm

Please let me know what you think, and I'd love any and all suggestions or comments you might have.

I introduced the notion of "Cultural Traits" along with my "Common Traits." I thought this would help get the destinctive cultures across while not somehow making, say, Rohirrim genetically predisposed to riding horses! Basically, the Cultural Traits are optional for all characters. If they won't their character to be different from the cultural norm, that's fine but they'll have to take an "Outsider" trait or something like that to reflect this. I really tried to get the different feel for the cultures here.

Oh, and soon there will be a description for the other races just like I have for the Beornings.

[Kaare Berg]

Great work so far, keep it up. Can't wait to enjoy the fruits of your labour. :twisted: