I look forward to more about this new system - but don't misunderstand me - I don't dislike the casters in the party, or their abilities. It's just that the sessions I have been in have been centered on fights and vast amounts of items. Lando mentions a puzzle - Id ask what puzzle! I was told just to come kill orcs. It's only by chance we came down to the tunnels. If there's more of a plot, no one has seen fit to tell me. It's been fight after fight. And so far I can live with it; seeing meta gameing, and learning that most PCs are looking like min/max type characters is annoying me. You may say that the games I wasn't here for were more in line with roleplaying. Doesn't help me. That's akin to saying to someone "The four face transplants before yours went well, so don't feel bad that you look like an orc with a spike up its butt"!

The Metagame and item aspects concern me most. Secondly would be the shear volume of fights. To be honest - after we battled spiders, moved a short ways down the tunnel, and then a rock I throw onto stairs (1) Fails to do anything about the traps (once again reminding me that if a warrior tries anything that's not hitting things it's gong to fail and that skills > ideas) and (2) instantly wakes up a drake that slumbered through the whole fight and then us talking beneath it and rummaging through the crypt, I was fairly close to leaving the game. With the *only* thing the dwarf has as good is it's hits (not got the best amour, nor the best attacks, even tho he's a warrior, because of the rules-caresses) it just smacks more and more of a DnD min/max dungeon crawl.

I get on with the players and I enjoy the bits we RP for, if I didn't I wouldn't be awake at 2am my time to turn up! But I could play WoW or Guildwars for the amount of proper RP we have done of late.

[Nice to be able to air these comments to sensible people btw, as opposed to a bunch of players who flame away!]

Not much I can say except that you can in to the campaign during a point of intense action and we are still working through that. If you want to discuss our earlier adventures or have any campaign/rules questions at all I would advise you to download/install Skype if you haven't already. I keep that on a lot and during our sessions sometimes. I can voice chat to you through it during our next session and discuss these matters with you....or anyone else that may be interested.

My comments about the magic casting is that it scares me that having casters that can through electric bolts and create force fields is not really in line with Tolkien-esque magic, as far as I can tell. The MERP system is overly brutal not only in the sense that character deaths can occur at any time and frequently but also in that it overly punishes characters in terms of competency. I am a Dunedain Ranger of the north and I feel often that I am a bumbling moron, not able to do the things well that a Ranger should be able to do well...stuff like tracking, perception, moving in armor, etc. Heck, just moving more than 10 feet in armor is oftentimes a struggle. The system feels way too AD&D at times. I don't feel honestly that the system is a good fit for the FEEL and spirit of the works of Tolkien. The supplements written for the game are awesome for the breadth of knowledge they contain about Middle Earth but the system itself fails to capture the feel of the source material well, in my opinion. Magic is a big gripe with me for this game too. The One Ring RPG goes a LONG way to capturing the feel of Tolkien in the very mechanics of the game itself more-so than any RPG before it. I really think you all should give it a look over once I get my copy next week on advance preorder. They are sending me the PDF and the physical game as well.

I'm not playing, but I often lurk in Lando's games and played in one years ago...he runs GREAT games. And this line is spot on...Lando and his games seem to attract sensible people. =)

Hell, I'd play in a heartbeat if I could get into the MERP book I picked up without getting a headache and having flashbacks of math finals....

a pdf hu?

I have skype, but I dont use it usually. It's annoying

Riodrian - join in! the math in play isnt too bad, and Im sure chargen can be gone yhtough with somone. (I want the next bard tho! lol)

First, I apologize for any statements which may have diminished anyone's gaming enjoyment. I have never played DnD, so I have no idea what you may be referencing. I have never participated in an online tabletop rpg, so where normally my communication would be in person and generally game time..it does not take that form here. These would be things I would need to learn. Also, my sharing was meant to be IC..when I said "creature lore" I was referring to what my character might know about creatures based on my profession as an Animist and having been brought up among the Silvan Elves of Mirkwood, which would have much lore of Dragon kind due to the "Withered Heath" to their north.

I agree that Lando is doing a fine job of Gming. All that being said, I should be the one to step out if I am the one who has in some way taken your rping experience away from what you as a group desired it to be. This is your "party" and I am just trying to tag along. It would seem that I am unaccustomed to the preferred style and I am definetly missing many details of this foray. Once again, my apologies for causing any discomfort or unrest.

Sincerely,

Aldamir

Traps just don't go off throwing a rock randomly at stairs. They don't do that in other RPGs either typically. Perception and your scout should be used to find traps.

The appropriate lore skills would be just fine to use in game and if you wish to use them in game that'd be fine. Yes, Silvan elves will have experience concerning the Weathered Hearth and of course Smaug's reign in the Lonely Mountain. Elves and dwarves would remember dragons and drakes from the time of Morgoth too (so would certain men lineages like Numenoreans).

JRR Tolkien's novels are full of magic and treasures. All the items from the Rings to Narsil even. Don't tell me magic and sorcery isn't in Tolkien. It is and its high magic at that. I can quote you mages and sorcerers too beyond Gandalf, the WitchKing and others.

Evidently you forgot the runes/puzzles and riddles in finding the secret stairwell and the armory to begin with. I got more afoot.

Could just up the whole thing and go full Rolemaster too, but I had hoped to do that later. I am trying to level the pcs for the bigger threats down the road. Since going into the ruins of Angmar and the like would not be ideal at 2nd lvl.

Finally, if you wish to rant about my game, please take it somewhere else. I'm getting annoyed at this all over my game thread. If it's not to your liking then I'm sorry you don't like it. Play with someone else then.

The party defeated the spiders and acquired some ancient treasures that will be useful to them in their fight against the darkness. However, they have come upon ancient dwarven ruins dating back to the war against Morgoth and guarding them is some ancient evil, a drake, descendant of the ancient dragons of Morgoth. Will they stand against this evil and possibly gain more ancient treasures and secrets or flee to the surface in this deadly trapped place?

All current players should consider themselves level 3 and adjust their sheets accordingly.

Game Time/Day: Saturday evenings 9 pm-12:30 am EST.
Session #17
Game Server: Mayhem
Backup: Blackstar
Game Room: Middle-Earth Roleplay
Timeline: Fourth Age 1
Game: MERP 2e rules with possible Rolemaster expansion later on.
Level: 3
House Rules: 100 gp to start (ignore 2 gp starting funds), you may pick your background options or roll them randomly. However, if you wish to combine them all into one mighty magic item/heirloom or the like, you must seek approval from me first. You can buy minor magic items with your gold or herbs or the like. See pgs 258-260 MERP 2e.

Magic Items/Background Options
Magic items come in all shapes/sizes and they can make up for low stats and they can grant you PP as well if you need some to learn / cast spells.
Depending on how you wish to spend your background options will give you different options to choose from. You can roll randomly or pick or work up something with my help.

Here are some examples:

You can substitute any style sword/axe/weapon for these..

1 background option: +15 Broadsword (made of Arborang with Numenorean runes) with scabbard
OR
+1 spell adder (wand/staff or something) or x2 power point multiplier (ring, amulet, brooch etc)
2 background options: +30 Broadsword (made of Arborang with Numenorean runes) with scabbard
OR
+15 Broadsword (made of Arborang with Numenorean runes) with scabbard
+15 Bow or Thrown missile weapon made of some fine wood/steel (I'll look up the material)

You could spend more pts to get something like "of Slaying Orcs" or the like too. Or you could spend an option to get an item like a pair of magic boots/cloak or some other device that enhances a skill +15 bonus or something.

There are lots of examples in the books/supplements or just run your ideas by me.

Also no Orcs/Trolls/Corsairs/Easterlings/Haradrim/Variags/Black Numenoreans as pc races. Noldor are also going to be rare. Sindar or Silvan elves ok, most other men and dwarves, hobbits are alright. Also you may reroll your attributes if they're all lower then 65 one additional time, keeping the results. Remember that you can replace your lowest stat with a 90 for your prime attribute. Also remember any stat below 20 can be rerolled at any time.

Sheets should be in .doc/.rtf/.txt/,pdf or pc node files preferred, but the .xls file that trollblood offered will work too. Send me your completed sheets to my email at landothearchmagi at comcast.net.

House Rules
Every PC starts a game session with 3 Fate Points.

A Fate Point may be spent to:
- Add a +50 bonus to a Maneuver or Attack roll if declared before the dice are rolled
- Add a +25 bonus to a Maneuver or Attack roll if declared after the dice are rolled
- Add +25 to DB against one attack
- Save you from an instant death crit table result, instead placing you in a coma for 1d10 hours

Fate Points may not be spent on Resistance Rolls.
No more than 2 FP may be spent on any one roll.
(Note that this heavily favors action and offense over defense. This is intentional as I want to encourage heroic action and attempting wild stunts rather than turtling.)

You gain 1 FP by performing heroic deeds and acting with valor. You can keep doing this until you're up to your full allotment of 3 FP. You may never hold more than 3 Fate Points at a time and they do not carry over from session to session. Each session you begin anew with your allotted 3 Fate Points. When spending Fate Points on a wild maneuver or attack you should describe the cinematic action you perform vividly and with flare. Villain NPCs do NOT have Fate Points, except for important main villain NPCs, at the GM's discretion. So an average orc would never have Fate Points but the Witch King of Angmar likely would.

Roleplay encouraged. Please be sure to state your actions clearly.

NPCS (who hired the pcs) (brother/sister)
Grithnir - Dunedain Warrior (uses a fine sword of ancient Numenor make, probably from his father)
Morwen - Dunedain Warrior/Animist (prefers to use a fine bow)

PARTY
daddystabz-Dunedain Ranger
debo11-Ashetar Noldor Elven Mage
Maltar - Dunedain Scout (played by Kyanna)
Max - Olrin Dwarven Warrior
Aldamir-Animist
TheVoid-PC reviewing
Opening-any class
Opening-any class

I'd like to sit in and watch this week if it's not a problem. Maybe seeing how the game flows will help me wrap my head around some of the mechanics, because it looks like something I'd really like to play.

I read the books when I was younger and watched the movies, of course. I even played Lord of the Rings Online for awhile. I am not a Tolkienphile by far, and not super-knowledgeable about the lore.

I think the point is that magic in Middle Earth in terms of people that can cast it, like mages, are supposed to be exceedingly rare. The Istari were special. There wasn't a lot of hedge magic or Noldor running around in the third age casting electric bolts and force fields. TOR doesn't even allow player casters at all due to this. That was my concern. As for the future, I'll let you know.

You're more than welcome to come lurk. The game flows pretty good overall, the system is an older classic game system and its based on early Rolemaster. It can work with the newer FRP Rolemaster too without too much change. No worries, I'm fairly close to being a Tolkien expert myself, but then again I have been reading and enjoying JRR Tolkien since age 7.