First look at the upcoming Tolkien RPG:





-Havard

I got my PDF of this the other day but haven't been able to spend much time looking at it. It's visually striking and I love the maps, but it's too early to know if I'll like the mechanics. However, I keep hearing good things about it.

Is this made by WoTC?

I responded to this new shadow by bidding on "Ardor - The Lands of the South" on ebay.

MERP 1980s setting books > EVERYTHING!!!

I'm torn on getting this. On the other hand, I don't really need another Middle Earth game. MERP and the ICE Lord of the Rings game are well enough for me - MERP for real gaming and LotR for oneshots. But then again, that beautiful hex map... Maybe not worth of the money just for the map, but still. Does anyone know if they sell the map separately?

I guess this game is out now. Has anyone taken a look at it yet? :)

-Havard

Looking for some last-minute Christmas present, my dear viking?

As a long-time MERP gamer, collector and overall Tolkienian enthusiast I will... Likely pass.

It's basically the "Hobbit Movie RPG", and produced as a rather standard introductory piece;
light and limited on rules and content, and of average production quality.

In short, nearly every other installment of Tolkien-related gaming gives you more for your money.
Nearly every other rules-light game is better balanced and supported.
Nearly every other sourcebook on Tolkien has better content.
Nearly every other Tolkien-based adventure module is better than the one presented in the book.

In short, for 50 €, you can get better stuff.



Also, rumor has it, there might be a Beleriand-themed RPG coming out some time in the future.
Save your money for that.

No offense mate, but I would also like to hear from someone who has actually read through the game :)

And I think you are mistaken about it being a The Hobbit RPG, especially since you apparently cannot play a Hobbit using the core rules.

MERP had great supplement products, but I will never ever GM using that system.

-Havard

Oh, sorry, my mistake, I actually own it. Put that bad. I doubt I will ever run it, though.


Now, don't get me wrong, if you like it good for you.

From reading through the two books, I can already state pretty safely that I will likely never run it.

It's very inspired by World of Darkness 1e, but the thing is, there are better,
free conversions of that system to fantasy than this one. (BTW, of course you can play hobbits in TOR!)

The big flaw is though, that apparently, the license C7 were given allows them to do a book based on the LotR trilogy and the Hobbit ONLY,
excluding all the other primary sources, which obviously means to castrate a setting as rich as Middleearth.


Personally, I grew up with MERP, and later with the ME card game. I would have loved this to be great.
But, honestly, as a stand-alone product, this set is pretty average and expensive.

Now, if C7 lets some good supplements follow, the game can still be saved,
but as a customer, you might want to wait for that.



EDIT: THREE books?! I must have hit my head...