d&d has plenty of monsters. Use some of them.

I got a whack of The One Ring books from a Bundle of Holding sale and after reading it over I think the system is elegant and well suited to the setting so I don't see any reason to get this D&D conversion.

Quote from: Voros;943951I got a whack of The One Ring books from a Bundle of Holding sale and after reading it over I think the system is elegant and well suited to the setting so I don't see any reason to get this D&D conversion.

That is probably true if all the players you are likely to run for agree with your preference.

My version of this game: 1E AD&D hardbacks, and the Atlas of Middle Earth. Who actually needs to be told what Middle Earth is all about? Didnt we all read a 1500 page book about it?

Quote from: Larsdangly;944001My version of this game: 1E AD&D hardbacks, and the Atlas of Middle Earth. Who actually needs to be told what Middle Earth is all about? Didnt we all read a 1500 page book about it?

That's nice, but for those of us who find that lacking, there's this.  And now everyone can play!  Isn't that great?

Quote from: Skywalker;943971That is probably true if all the players you are likely to run for agree with your preference.

Well my table isn't welded to one particular system so I don't think that will much of a consideration. We do like 5e though. Curse of Strahd and Out of the Abyss have gone over well but we like to mix it up with shorter games and one shots too.

I would like to tackle The Darkening of Mirkwood but I'm not sure we'll be able to finish it. May try one of the shorter supplements instead.

Does anyone know if the physical book is out or just the PDF? I asked at my local game store and the owner didn't think it was out yet, but he sometimes misses the obvious...

Quote from: finarvyn;944213Does anyone know if the physical book is out or just the PDF? I asked at my local game store and the owner didn't think it was out yet, but he sometimes misses the obvious...

Just the PDF. With Cubicle 7, the physical book usually follows the PDF after a month or two so it shouldn't be a very long wait.

Quote from: finarvyn;944213Does anyone know if the physical book is out or just the PDF? I asked at my local game store and the owner didn't think it was out yet, but he sometimes misses the obvious...

Players Guide is out physically. The LMG is likely an April release for the physical book.

Quote from: One Horse Town;943881d&d has plenty of monsters. Use some of them.

While not a bad idea, there are some definite needs to modify the D&D monsters if you like the idea of not having the entire party being crushed by creatures where the players won't have the tools to deal with the creature or the consequences.  Or else something like a D&D wraith is going to be utterly dreadful.  Which I guess might be the point, for some types of settings.

Glad to learn that this is out now (at least the PDF). Thanks for the heads up, Skywalker.

I quite liked the Players' book. My only quibble with how C7 is doing this is that the core rule books seem closely tied to a particular campaign (setting + time). I wish the rules would simply give DMs and players what they need to run the game anywhere in northwestern Middle-earth in the mid-late 3rd Age. While I think that post-Hobbit Mirkwood is a very good campaign area, I would prefer it described in its own book(s).

My own plan (should I get to run this sometime) is to convert the MERP Kin-strife campaign...

Quote from: Votan;944220While not a bad idea, there are some definite needs to modify the D&D monsters if you like the idea of not having the entire party being crushed by creatures where the players won't have the tools to deal with the creature or the consequences.  Or else something like a D&D wraith is going to be utterly dreadful.  Which I guess might be the point, for some types of settings.

It's not too bad. And as you say, it makes them appropriately scary

Quote from: Votan;944220While not a bad idea, there are some definite needs to modify the D&D monsters if you like the idea of not having the entire party being crushed by creatures where the players won't have the tools to deal with the creature or the consequences.  Or else something like a D&D wraith is going to be utterly dreadful.  Which I guess might be the point, for some types of settings.

This is the best thing about using D&D in a middle earth setting! Middle Earth is crawling with all sorts of D&D-ish monsters (not surprisingly, given the influence of the books on the game), and it is obvious from the texts that we are supposed to think that what you see is just the tip of the ice berg (side bar: worst mistake people make running middle earth is presenting only people, monsters, items, concepts, etc. that appear in the book: the author clearly wants you to think the world is much bigger than that!). Anyway, side-bar off: dealing with monsters you can't beat in the standard-issue 10 turns of combat is where the game gets interesting, not where it breaks. There is nothing more tedious than a D&D fight where everyone knows you have the firepower to win but you have to go through the hour long kabuki play it takes to resolve a fight in one of the more modern systems. You should be bummed out if your game world mostly contains things that can be nuked by one of the clubs in your golf bag. It means the game world is sort of crap and not that worth exploring.

I've read through it and I'm really happy with the book. I'm not a big fan of TOR but AiME hits the sweet spot for me when it comes to what I want from a Middle-earth game.

I've got it but haven't had a chance to read it yet. In the meantime, for those that are interested Game Geeks just put up a review of the Loremaster's Guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLOUxYvweVo

It sounds like a lot of the actual GMing advice, such as not feeling the need to stick too closely to canon, is carried over from TOR. Just glancing over the PDF, I have a feeling I will like AME a lot more than vanilla D&D5 since it heavily downplays monster resistance/immunity and the need for saving throws compared to a typical magic-heavy game full of weirder enemies.