Tongue in cheek "heroic" LOTR with BRP

[Karandras]

So over on the RPGnet forums I just got what I think is an awesome idea for an LOTR game. Sett in the early parts of the war of the ring(most likely), everything is according to canon at game start. Then I have the players make their characters and things go into the left field from there. I will ask them to make proper hardcore munchkin characters (shaolin death monk hobbits have been mentioned. ) and the seriousness ends.

Let them run roughshod ALL over the setting, exploit some of there meta game knowledge and generally have fun.

The reason I come here is of course that I am pretty sure I'm going to use BRP for it, and looking at the BGB the question rises in my mind : What options to include?

I want the players to be bad ass(so increased HP seems like a shoe in), but this will be my first time actually USING the BGB(have some experience, many years ago with RQ3, and have played and know CoC fairly well), so I thought I'd ask for ideas from the experts.

[Chaot]

I dig it. Are talking just the BGB?

I think the key thing is to grok how skills over 100% work. Once you get that, most of your core work is done. You can peg you encounters so that your heros are bad-asses. The rest is flavoring. A quick look through the book sets a highly trained NPC's top combat skill at around 65%, meaning that they'll roll a Special Success at 13%. I'd peg a competent combatant at 45%, giving them a 9% for a Special Success. If your PC is running around with and attack skill of 150%, they'll have a 30% for a Special Success, putting them at a significant advantage.

Then there are the increased HP and including the Fate rules. I think you should definitely through those in. You'll need to make a choice on wether you want Major Wounds and Random Armor (like Elric!) or Hit Locations and Fixed Armor (like RQ). My preference is Elric!, as I find it faster in play. However, I urge you to go check out Simon Phipp'swebsite and read his stories on high level RQ play. There's something oddly compelling about having limbs and heads flying off in all sorts of directions.

Then you'll want to figure out how you want to handle magic. The answer here really depends on what you would like to see your players able to do in game. I would recommend that you have some items of power floating around in game. Check out BGB 243-247 for how to do that.

If you were using other books I would recommend Elric! for the weapons. Let your players stat out a 16mp Demon Item and then replace the word Demon with Elvish, Dwarven or Orcish.

Check out the monograph Gods of Law, which is available free over at stormbringerrpg.com and look at the Minion Rules. Also take a moment and read the rules on Skill Focuses and Using POW to see if you might be interested in including them.

Since you mentioned shaolin death monk hobbits, I feel I should mention Dragon Lines as an excellent source for martial arts play. I'll also mention a house rule that I've now used once or twice. Break the Damage Bonus up into Brawn and Finesse. Brawn is calculated like you normally calculate Damage Bonus. To calculate Finesse, swap SIZ out of the equation and substitute DEX. Finesse can only be used with small weapons. Give them Hobbits a fighting chance!

"I sit on the floor and pick my nose

and think of dirty things

Of deviant dwarfs who suck their toes

and elves who drub their dings."

[Merak Gren]

If you haven't already, make sure to check out the Middle Earth BRP files on the downloads section. Its an ongoing project, but there's enough material to kick start a game.

http://basicroleplaying.com/downloads.php?do=cat&id=32

I am loving your idea of gonzo ME. I pretty much run gonzo on established settings, the Young Kingdoms, Tragic Millenium, Earth etc to;

1. Maximise game fun

2. Free me from analysis of the purists.

This may put off some purists but they'll only nit pick if you try to get it right.

Please to tell us how it goes.

In terms of tweaks, Chaot pretty much sums it up.

Use Hero / Fate / Bennies points.

Consider using the HerQuest rule for skills over 100%.

That will make for very heroic combat.

[Mugen]

In my opinion, I think you should play with the Characteristics scale, not rules.

I mean, if your character has CON 52, there's no reason to double its hit points to make him incredibly more resistant than a CON 4 orc.

You could consider to not use SIZ for Hit points and damage bonus calculation, so that hobbits can will not be penalized for their tiny stature.

You could also borrow MRQ2's treatment of Combat Action. In this game, the number of actions (both offensive and defensive) available in a combat round is equal to (INT+DEX)/12, rounded up.