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Middle-earth Basic Roleplaying preview


Fergo113

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I haven't seen Decipher, although the reviews I read led me to think it wasn't a good match as far as the magic system went. And although I own boxes of ICE products, the system was just too clunky for me.

What I am leaning towards Baron, is the name and description of the spells as found in Deciphers LotR RPG, but using that name and description to produce a BRP spell list. The methods for casting spells will be three fold:

i) your standard BRP way of casting a spell, ie need to speak and gesticulate with hands to cast the spell;

ii) Runes that are the equivalent of the old RQ2 spell matrixes that are engraved onto items. The user does not need to know the spell, merely touch the runes and provide the power points to activate it. The knowledge of the spell is inherent within the runes and if the weapon or item is broken, the runes are rendered inoperable. This is the standard "magical" method that Dwarves use magic (tending to shun any other form of magical use); and

iii) Songs of Power where the caster takes twice or three times as long to cast a spell, having to sing the spell (obviously requires that the caster can sing, but they do not necessarily have to gesticulate with their hands), but the effects are far more powerful and longer lasting. This is more of a "ritual" kind of spell and is used more by Elves than anyone else and would be seen in spells that heal and protect.

As for the spells themselves, they fit into 'groups' or 'lists' that the PC can learn as a skill (like the new BRP magic requires that the magical spell has a skill % associated with it). The caster only needs to have a skill % in the spells 'group' or 'list' as spells with similar capabilities and origins are grouped together. This is more a game mechanic that gets away from having to have a skill % for every spell the caster knows. There are currently 12 of these 'groups' or 'lists' that are called "Magical Specialities." The 12 Magical Specialities are:

Air & Storm, Alteration, Beasts and Birds, Ceremony, Fire Smoke & Light, Illusion, Mysticism, Restoration, Ritual, Secret Fire, Sorcery, and Water.

Sorcery is used the same as per the BRP rulebook and is a channelling from the Dark Lord (or other fallen Maiar such as the Balrogs). Secret Fire are spells that are channelled directly from the Valar (all other spells are manipulations of the Song of Creation that was sung, and still underlines, the creation of Arda). A caster cannot have Sorcery and Secret Fire spells in their book as they are mutually exclusive and opposed to one another’s nature.

The magic, on the whole, will be like that found in BRP and RQ2 where its subtle and supports the characters, aiding them. It will not be overt as in D&D or MERP where you can level a city with a fireball. You see major restraint being used by those who could wield magic in Tolkiens books and I very much want to respect that. Magic should be very limited in its use and would primarily be found in the form of Elven and Dwarven runes forged into items such as weapons. Of the six PC's playing in my ME-BRP campaign right now, only two of them know any magic (one knows two spells and the other knows three). The only magic they consistently use is the Healing spell and they have a bracelet with Level 2 Heal runes cared into it.

So the magical system as I am using right now is far more subtle and hidden than in other fantasy RPG's and leans more towards how BRP, RQ2 and Decipher's LotR make it than MERP or D&D.

Hope that gives some better idea of where I am heading with it. My notes for that chapter are currently all over the shop, but when I have finished the Free Peoples chapter, Magic will be the next one I tackle. :thumb:

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Hope that gives some better idea of where I am heading with it. My notes for that chapter are currently all over the shop, but when I have finished the Free Peoples chapter, Magic will be the next one I tackle. :thumb:

It sounds pretty good, although I'm not familiar with the Decipher spells. I like the singing, and the runes. Looking forward to the chapter when it's done.

The dwarf and Noldor write-ups were also very satisfying, thanks.

Baron

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Making the magic chapter workable is going to be the biggest challenge of this project, so I will be looking for some good advice when I start writing up the final notes for the magic chapter.

My RPG group haven't played with magic too much (other than healing spells) so this will need a thorough workout before its finished. I will probably post the magic chapter "in-progress" to see what people have to say about what will work or does not work.

So stay tuned! :thumb:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Halion,

I did tamper around a bit with Decipher's LotR Traits with a view to making them more like the Legendary Abilities you see in Mongoose RuneQuest. I didn't get very far in doing this however, mostly because my rpg group had never played any BRP based games before (HEATHENS!!! :mad: ) and when I first started running ME-BRP (using the RQ2 ruleset) I was having to teach them the rules whilst deprogramming them from the D20 brainwashing they had recieved over the years, and adapt the MERP campaigns I was using. I am still planning on returning to this at a later stage.

SDLeary,

I have never played Pendragon sadly, though I do have pdf's of both the 1st and 4th editions of the rules, so I am unfamiliar with the pairings from Pendragon. I'll have to have a look at the pdf's and see what you mean. So how do the Pendragon pairings work?

Cheers,

Fergo113

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SDLeary,

I have never played Pendragon sadly, though I do have pdf's of both the 1st and 4th editions of the rules, so I am unfamiliar with the pairings from Pendragon. I'll have to have a look at the pdf's and see what you mean. So how do the Pendragon pairings work?

Cheers,

Fergo113

The 4th edition is the best to look in for this, despite layout issues that make it slightly difficult to follow.

The way the Traits work is the same, but the actual pairings are a better fit for a heroic environment like Literary Britain or Middle Earth, imho.

The interesting things about Traits in Pendragon is that they play into Belief/Religion, and if you use the additions to the magic rules from Beyond the Wall, into Shamanic interactions with spirits.

For Religion, each is defined by a set of five Virtues, which are Traits that the Religion value over others. If all five Virtues have scores of 16+, then the character receives a Religious Virtues bonus. Example:

Pagan Virtues -- Generous, Energetic, Honest, Proud, Lustful

Bonus if all over 16 -- +2 Healing Rate

Christian Virtues -- Chaste, Modest, Forgiving, Merciful, Temperate

Bonus if all over 16 -- +6 Total Hit Points

Virtuous Traits have been taken further. IIRC, there is a Digest entry somewhere that listed the Virtues for the major Gloranthan gods aimed at using them in Dave Dunham's PenDragon Pass rules (If your interested I can see if I can find this.)

Traits can also be directed. A character might have a Directed Trait of Mistrust (Romans) at +3. If required to make a Suspicious roll against a character that happened to be Roman, then this would apply a +3 to the roll.

Also, if you are in Europe, one of the Jeffs (Richards?) distributed a Gloranthan Pendragon at Tentacles 08, which doesn't seem to have made it to the states. <sniffle> :( You might want to see if you can borrow a copy of that to see how Traits are handled in a less literary setting.

SDLeary

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Hmmm, thanks SDLeary :thumb:

I'll have a look at the 4th edition Pendragon and read up on this.

I was thinking of using the Allegiance rules from BRP in regards to a characters leaning towards the Free Peoples or the Shadow. Currently I have been using an immature and ad-hoc "corruption point" system (if you’r bad you earn corruption points, if you cast sorcery spells, you earn corruption points etc). But the Allegiance rules make far more sense.

I think the Pendragon virtues would fit right into this and be something that provides characters with unique progression traits. Needs a lot of work, but I have been at a loss as to how to do the overall Traits for ME-BRP and was thinking of dropping traits altogether.

Cheers,

Fergo113

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IIRC, there is a Digest entry somewhere that listed the Virtues for the major Gloranthan gods aimed at using them in Dave Dunham's PenDragon Pass rules (If your interested I can see if I can find this.)

SDLeary

If you can easily find this information, it would be great to have a look at. :thumb:

Thanks :)

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Hmmm, thanks SDLeary :thumb:

I'll have a look at the 4th edition Pendragon and read up on this.

I was thinking of using the Allegiance rules from BRP in regards to a characters leaning towards the Free Peoples or the Shadow. Currently I have been using an immature and ad-hoc "corruption point" system (if you’r bad you earn corruption points, if you cast sorcery spells, you earn corruption points etc). But the Allegiance rules make far more sense.

I think the Pendragon virtues would fit right into this and be something that provides characters with unique progression traits. Needs a lot of work, but I have been at a loss as to how to do the overall Traits for ME-BRP and was thinking of dropping traits altogether.

Cheers,

Fergo113

Allegiance combined with Personality Traits would work well. Allegiance appears to simply be a stripped down version of the Passions from Pendragon.

In addition to Allegiance/Corruption, you could also have negative Personality Traits, such as Suspicious, checked instead of awarding points. Or give a negative Directed Trait... A very good fit for the noble ME world.

SDLeary

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Ask and ye shall receive! :D

SDLeary

Thanks mate, :thumb:

I will certainly look at and work on all this. I haven't been happy with the Corruption system I have been using and had skipped over the Allegiance system in the BRP rules as I had never played a BRP game before with it. But having read the BRP Allegiance rules and having a flick through Pendragon, your right and it should work in very well with ME-BRP. It will be a while before I can get around to playing with it (I am still bogged down on the Elves in the Free Peoples chapter) but I will work on it as soon as I get the Magic chapter finished.

Cheers,

Fergo113

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Would it be possible to get versions of the Middle Earth Downloads without the pictures? I like the bestiary, but would prefer a version that is more printer friendly.

****************************************

But, when at the last the arm of Skarl shall cease to beat his drum, silence shall startle Pegana like thunder in a cave, and MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI shall cease to rest......Lord Dunsany

Responsible for: https://ancientvaults.wordpress.com/

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Would it be possible to get versions of the Middle Earth Downloads without the pictures? I like the bestiary, but would prefer a version that is more printer friendly.

I could do it, but that wouldn't be very easy right now. I am pretty busy with work as its our summer over here. That's really limiting the amount of time I can spend to transcribe my notes and dig though my MERP stuff in order to produce something cohesive and legable in a BRP format.

Currently I am going at a snails pace :o through the Free Peoples chapter and I want to get that finished as it complements to Creatures chapter.

I'll see what I can do but I can't promise anything for now.

Sorry :(

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Oh, by all means, enjoy your summer, that's what summer is for. As I write this it is snowing outside, which is dashing our plans for the day as it was dry outside yesterday.

Whenever you get a chance is fine or I can do it for my own use in OpenOffice. If I do this myself it will just be for my own use as I am not going to alter somebody else's work for display.

****************************************

But, when at the last the arm of Skarl shall cease to beat his drum, silence shall startle Pegana like thunder in a cave, and MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI shall cease to rest......Lord Dunsany

Responsible for: https://ancientvaults.wordpress.com/

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Oh, by all means, enjoy your summer, that's what summer is for. As I write this it is snowing outside, which is dashing our plans for the day as it was dry outside yesterday.

Hehehe, sorry I should probably explain that statement about summer over here :o. I am a fireman and we have hit a very busy time with bushfires over here and so I have been working some very late shifts. Tends to stuff up the chances I get to work on ME-BRP. What free time I do have off-shift, my family tends to demand that I spend some time with them as well. :rolleyes: They just aren't committed to BRP ;)

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  • 2 weeks later...

The MiddleEarth downloads have now been removed from the download section, after much consideration. They are a great pice of work, but the copyright issues made it difficult to keep distributing in such a "public" way.

I hope Fergo113 would continue to keep us updated on his project (and I'm sincerely hoping for a copy of the next chapter whenever it's done!). :o

:beetle:

Ef plest master, this mighty fine grub!
b1.gif 116/420. High Priest.

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The MiddleEarth downloads have now been removed from the download section, after much consideration. They are a great pice of work, but the copyright issues made it difficult to keep distributing in such a "public" way.

I hope Fergo113 would continue to keep us updated on his project (and I'm sincerely hoping for a copy of the next chapter whenever it's done!). :o

:beetle:

Indeed I will and Trifletraxor has graciously offered to act as the key point of contact regarding this. :thumb:

This thread will stay open too and I will keep you all posted on its latest developments. Work on it has slowed to a snail’s pace due to my work commitments but I am still slowly but certainly working on completing the Free Peoples chapter and will keep those interested updated.

Cheers,

Fergo113

:)

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  • 2 weeks later...

After having some discussions with Trifletraxor we decided to pull the imaged copy of the ME-BRP Creatures chapter from the site :( (he still has the imaged copy if you desperately want it, so pm him).

In its place, :) I have done an non-imaged, printer friendly version of that chapter and placed it in the new re-vamped Middle Earth section in the downloads area of this site. The only image within the document is one that Pilous from our site here as given for me to use.

I have also uploaded eight groups of ready to run baddies for use with ME-BRP (or any fantasy setting for that fact) that were developed by using the Chaosium BRP Character Generator 4.10 :thumb: from www.edu-web.de

It’s a great bit of software that can really speed up the creation of foes for use against your pc's. As long as the baddies are humanoid in nature, this easy to run software will speed the production of up to sixteen bad guys in a few moments.

Enjoy!

Fergo113

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the Chaosium BRP Character Generator 4.10 :thumb: from Edu-web.de - edu web Resources and Information.

It’s a great bit of software that can really speed up the creation of foes for use against your pc's. As long as the baddies are humanoid in nature, this easy to run software will speed the production of up to sixteen bad guys in a few moments.

That site seems to have expired, so here is a 'Wayback Machine link' directly to the English language version of the page for the Character Generator: Chaosium BRP Charakter Generator 4.10 (Freeware)
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That site seems to have expired, so here is a 'Wayback Machine link' directly to the English language version of the page for the Character Generator: Chaosium BRP Charakter Generator 4.10 (Freeware)

Nice find Halion :thumb:

I've tried to email the programmer of the software but had no reply. Thanks for posting this link.

Cheers,

Fergo113

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  • 4 months later...

Well after many more months than I would have liked, I have finally finished the next chapter of my Middle-earth BRP project. Chapter 9 covers the player character races of Middle-earth, the "Free Peoples".

Currently it is with the Travelling Beatle and he will arrange for it to be loaded onto the Downloads section in the coming weeks. It's around 16meg is size.

The next chapter I am working on currently is the Magic chapter. No eta for this one at this time.

Cheers,

Fergo113

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