[LFG] Adventures in the Wilderlands (pre-Hobbit)

[tibbius]

I'm looking for other players and a DM who would like to run Ray Otus' very simple rules for adventuring in the Wilderlands setting of the 1937 Hobbit book. Before the discovery of the One Ring, before Gandalf was retconned to be an angel ... when the Necromancer of Mirkwood was just a mortal man, and dwarves and elves weren't allied, and giants roamed the Misty Mountains. (Whatever happened to the giants in Lord of the Rings?)

Please post interest, especially if you'd like to be the DM! (I want to be a player in this one.)

Note on probabilities (will make sense after reading the two page rules): if your character has no trait relevant to what they want to attempt, you have 1/3 chance of success. If they have a relevant trait, you have 5/9 chance of success. If they have a relevant skill, you have 19/27 chance of success! Obviously want to play to your strengths ...

This should be a romp through the wilderness looking for trouble and treasure.

[roryb]

Cool! You know, I came upon those rules once upon a distant time. That happens to be my favorite writing from Tolkein in some ways -- more whimsy and greatly imaginative. I will certainly cast interest -- potentially to GM. I'm in two games so far, and three would be my absolute limit (so that would have to bag the other game we discussed over on GitP for a while). Let's see how much interest we get and see what the next few days reveal.

Note: I'm in the Seattle area, and the virus scare has almost completely turned the city upside down. On the plus side, things are getting cancelled left and right, leaving more potential time. But right now we are quickly adapting to the situation. Lots of uncertainty.

[Rex]

I will read it after work and I might be in for it. The 37 version of the Hobbit is my favorite Tolkien book.

[StevetheNPC]

This sounds very cool! I don't feel like I know Middle Earth well enough to run an interesting and engaging game, but if you need another player I would love to give this a go.

How do you think the advantage/disadvantage mechanic will play out in a PBP format? It sounds like a "negotiation phase", which may require a bit of back-and-forth before rolling a test.

[roryb]

I would think one could always roll 3 dice and the GM could adjudicate, using them in order according to his assessment. Downside would be players wouldn’t be able to narrate the outcomes. That seems a reasonable trade off and would eliminate some back and forth.

[OGRE MAGE]

If someone agrees to run this, I would definitely be interested in playing!

[tibbius]

How do you think the advantage/disadvantage mechanic will play out in a PBP format? It sounds like a "negotiation phase", which may require a bit of back-and-forth before rolling a test.

I would think one could always roll 3 dice and the GM could adjudicate, using them in order according to his assessment. Downside would be players wouldn’t be able to narrate the outcomes. That seems a reasonable trade off and would eliminate some back and forth.

Generally this is a player-focused set of rules. A lot of room for players to narrate actions and results. I think we could trust players to be honest about their own characters' advantages or disadvantages. However, it would be a bit trickier if an opponent had an advantage. Would the GM have to publicize that ahead of time? Or would the GM need to retcon that surprise in the first contest? ("You thought your thrust went home ... but at the last moment, the tricky goblin struck your elven sword aside with its crudely forged axe, and charged in at you. Take 1 wound.")

I'm thinking about corner cases, e.g., a player's halfling huntsman foraging (shooting and tracking) sneaking (moving silently) goes up in a drinking match against a big burly human warrior fighting (swords and brawling) carousing (drinking). Only one roll gets made, by the player, whose character has no appropriate trait and therefore is at a disadvantage (should roll only 1d6). But the opponent has an advantage (the drinking skill). How should the single roll account for both the character's disadvantage and the opponent's advantage? I'd argue by saying simply that the character loses. If the player doesn't want to narrate that, then they need to narrate a way out of the drinking match.

Conversely, what if the player's character is the warrior and the opponent is the huntsman. Should 4d6 be rolled? Instead, I'd prefer to say that the warrior simply wins.

I really really hope someone will be willing to GM this!

[roryb]

I don't really see much problem. I've been playing games requiring a bit of negotiation in pbp a fair bit. Only if the posting rate is really low would we have to be very conscious of trimming the excess. Which brings up the question: what kind of posting rate are we after? I generally like daily posting games. If that's the case, I could run this. Ca. 2000-2005 I ran a fair bit of Middle Earth stuff. That would tickle an itch. Looks like there's plenty of interest.

[Rex]

I would be in as a player. Now we just need a GM.

[StevetheNPC]

Pretty sure that @roryb has offered. Twice.

I can generally post once a day, most days twice (morning and evening MST), though there might be the odd day that I have to miss occasionally.

[roryb]

Pretty sure that @roryb has offered. Twice.

Indeed! I look forward to it. The game looks charming, and I haven’t run anything Middle Earthish for some time. I’ll have to figure out this board’s gizmos and doodads.

I’d really like to go for the zany and whimsical tone of The Hobbit’s ‘37 print ... some harrowing storytelling with danger and wilderness and wonder, but not too serious or dark.

I’ll look about on the boards for tutorials and work on getting a forum set up. In the meantime, feel free to discuss what sorts of concepts you all like. It looks like if you don’t see a skill you imagine, making one up is easy to do.

I can generally post once a day, most days twice (morning and evening MST), though there might be the odd day that I have to miss occasionally.

Similar to me, and I’ll have the odd days out too.

[tibbius]

I also can do daily posts during the week (almost always), many times on weekends (like this one).

Once we get a glimpse of the adventure set up I'll come up with a character. That should take literally a few minutes.

[Rex]

I can post at least once a day, twice during the week. Weekends are more erratic and almost never in the fall. I am on a different schedule than most so my posting occurs around this time and then again when I get home from work after midnight EST. roryb, your idea looks great to me.

[roryb]

Still digging around for ideas. I am thinking we’ll stick to the east of the Misty’s where things are more untamed. Hopefully I’ll have some ideas up by later today.

[Mr Stereo1]

I'm absolutely up for this concept, but I'm still digging around for the right concept. The more lighthearted tone of the Hobbit should make for a great setting and the rules are the kind of simple I like for PbP, but there's too many ideas to narrow down just yet.

[roryb]

Welcome, @Mr Stereo1! Perhaps once I get something more tangible nailed down, it can help you decide. Tolkein's world is both very wide open and confoundingly constrained.

[tibbius]

Yay! roryb is an excellent DM.

Looking forward to whatever you nail down, rory.

[roryb]

I’m working! I’ll come up with some ideas yet tonight...

[roryb]

Okay, here’s a germ of an idea. It’s vague and malleable by design…we can set it anywhere if it better suits your character origins, purposes, and ideas. Since this is the game of “only The Hobbit exists”, we are free to use maps and set it anywhere freely ignoring (or borrowing) lore from later sources. I will be borrowing heavily upon themes from The Hobbit, and of course the bulk of this will be centered on a great journey.

The Silver Mirror
(or, A Lost and Overgrown Path)
(also known as, Stay the F*** Away from This Game, Peter Jackson!)

The king sits idle while a grudging rival lets an old truce decay. The king slumbers day and night, overcome by some nameless grief. His council of attendants search high and low for his beautiful looking glass — a mirror bound in the purest silver into which the king once admired himself and drew strength. This wondrous glass was a gift from the elves and was said to grant long life, wisdom, and rejuvenation. But the king gave it to his only son who embarked on a far away exploration never to return nor send word. Can the heroes seek out whither the prince journeyed, and what happened to him? Can they find and return the mirror to save the kingdom? Either mirror or the prince himself are needed for the realm to endure, for the king left no other heir.

That’s a start, but this can take a much better shape with a little input. Or we can scrap it altogether. It’s got far less whimsy than I intended, but I always feel some pressure to find suitable ideas for Middle Earth. Maybe we can lighten the tone with some amendment. I might have a better idea after sleeping on it. This idea can be set anywhere and involve a realm of dwarfs, elves, hobbits, men, whatever. Some characters can be heirs or counsel of the king (who could be of any people from any realm). Pathfinders, lore masters, minstrels or diplomats would be welcome, as could burglars and wizards.

I imagine we’d visit some of the places and peoples from the Hobbit, but I’d almost prefer if we’d keep this more spiritually connected and explore unmentioned lands rather than crossing too many of the same faces and places. There are wide open places east of the Lonely Mountain. The dwarfs of the Iron Mountains live there, but there’s little else mentioned there. Surely these lands are peopled too?

Here are some themes and seeds I’d like to touch upon. If you want to add or nix any of these, do let me know.

• Everything involves a journey
• The world has grown wild
• Places have personalities (and teeth!)
• Consequences follow every action, for good or ill
• Havens draw you in
• Every place has a denizen, even if it seems empty
• Music, rhyme, and riddle
• Greed, trust, and fellowship
• A lost and overgrown path
• Comic relief
• Tightening our belts
• Grudges run deep
• A barrel of wine, a tun of ale
• Mushrooms!

[tibbius]

It's a well-defined quest with strong themes! Great fairy tale material. Sounds kind of like Tolkien (Smith of Wooton Major). Good start.

Could be cool to have the weary king rest in Gondor, and go explore Erebor, but equally cool to start from and explore the unknown regions around the Sea of Rhun. Or Harad ... ? No preference.