Middle Earth roleplaying
Jul. 27th, 2004 12:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Finished off my Middle Earth RPG last Saturday.
In the previous session, the heroes led thier army from Dale to Dol Guldur, to do battle with the werewolf Gwathgaur, minion of Sauron. And as they charged the tower, Gwathgaur laughed at them, told them they had fallen for his trap, and raced off north to invade Dale with his second army while the heroes were stuck fighting one there.
So, the campaign finale was a series of epic battles. The heroes beat a bloody retreat back to Lothlorien. Since it had been foretold that only they could slay the wolf, they persuaded some giant eagles to carry them to Dale. And there they foought a second battle, this one involving trolls, and an army of dead men who once swore allegiance to Sauron, and now found their oath bound them even in death.
It was an epic session: 6 or 7 hours long. And even then, the ending felt abrupt.
I enjoyed it. I think my players did too. There were no great plot twists or character revelations - they all happened last session. It was very much fight fight, fly on eagles, fight fight fight. So big props to Alex, whose farewell letter did a good job summing up where each of the characters were, neatly tying it in to his ranger's own life experiences.
(I know, I know - a good GM is like a parent. He has no favourites, and loves all his players equally.)
---
And thus ends our visit to Middle Earth.
Part of me wants to run more. But I'm tapped out of ideas. It's difficult running games in a someone else's setting, because eventually you start to bang your head against continuity.
And more importantly, I don't think I have anything more to say. Darkness and hope, destiny and choice - we dealt with these. Anything more would just be repeating myself.
Okay. I lied. I do have some ideas.
Part of me would love to run a Fall of Numenor game, at the end of the Second Age - sailing with Ar-Pharazon to captured Sauron, taking him back to Numenor, battling against the evil that spreads from his corruption, and finally racing to the nine ships as Numenor sinks beneath the waves. Epic stuff. But so far removed from the familiar places and people of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings that only a Tolkien geek would really appreciate it.
The Fall of Arnor in its battles against the Witch King would be more familiar ground - nazgul, Rivendell, Elrond. I think even Gandalf may have been around then.
Or I could go for a happy ending, and run the coming of the horse-lords to Rohan.
So I have some ideas. But I still don't have anything new to say. And without that emotional foundation, we might as well just go dungeon-bashing.
In the previous session, the heroes led thier army from Dale to Dol Guldur, to do battle with the werewolf Gwathgaur, minion of Sauron. And as they charged the tower, Gwathgaur laughed at them, told them they had fallen for his trap, and raced off north to invade Dale with his second army while the heroes were stuck fighting one there.
So, the campaign finale was a series of epic battles. The heroes beat a bloody retreat back to Lothlorien. Since it had been foretold that only they could slay the wolf, they persuaded some giant eagles to carry them to Dale. And there they foought a second battle, this one involving trolls, and an army of dead men who once swore allegiance to Sauron, and now found their oath bound them even in death.
It was an epic session: 6 or 7 hours long. And even then, the ending felt abrupt.
I enjoyed it. I think my players did too. There were no great plot twists or character revelations - they all happened last session. It was very much fight fight, fly on eagles, fight fight fight. So big props to Alex, whose farewell letter did a good job summing up where each of the characters were, neatly tying it in to his ranger's own life experiences.
(I know, I know - a good GM is like a parent. He has no favourites, and loves all his players equally.)
---
And thus ends our visit to Middle Earth.
Part of me wants to run more. But I'm tapped out of ideas. It's difficult running games in a someone else's setting, because eventually you start to bang your head against continuity.
And more importantly, I don't think I have anything more to say. Darkness and hope, destiny and choice - we dealt with these. Anything more would just be repeating myself.
Okay. I lied. I do have some ideas.
Part of me would love to run a Fall of Numenor game, at the end of the Second Age - sailing with Ar-Pharazon to captured Sauron, taking him back to Numenor, battling against the evil that spreads from his corruption, and finally racing to the nine ships as Numenor sinks beneath the waves. Epic stuff. But so far removed from the familiar places and people of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings that only a Tolkien geek would really appreciate it.
The Fall of Arnor in its battles against the Witch King would be more familiar ground - nazgul, Rivendell, Elrond. I think even Gandalf may have been around then.
Or I could go for a happy ending, and run the coming of the horse-lords to Rohan.
So I have some ideas. But I still don't have anything new to say. And without that emotional foundation, we might as well just go dungeon-bashing.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-27 05:15 pm (UTC)I know you had trouble working out how your character was. But in a way, that worked: your character had trouble worknig out who he was.
So when are YOU going to run something for us, huh?
no subject
Date: 2004-07-27 08:04 pm (UTC)me run something? that would involve me having to write and right now im kinda tapped out without anything to really say. i would like to run a superhero story... i just have to figure out what i want to say and how to do it. it's really the only genre i want to play with right now (i just feel it's never really been done right - and ive played a few).
so dont hold your breath, but you're definitely on the list for one of the few i think would appreciate it (along with mr hammond of course)
jason badower
no subject
Date: 2004-07-27 08:26 pm (UTC)Occasionally, when strange moods take me, I think it might be fun to run a superhero game.
But then I start the planning it out. And I realise that I have nothing orginal to say about them, and that I just don't have enough love of the genre to repeat what someone else has said before.
It's a bit like D&D - I'm happy to play, but I just can't take it seriously enough to run anything.