LotR The Hall of Fire Magazine 40.pdf

IIII IIII IIII sss ssss ssss sss ssss ssssue Fo rrrr rrrr rrrrt y y

Ap rrrr rrrr rrrr iiii iiii iiii llll llll llll 2007

Boromir Ï Simply

Simply the Best

the Best Ï by

by Catherine Karina Chmiel

Catherine Karina Chmiel

Boromir

Simply

the Best

I N THIS ISSUE

A N ARRATOR ’ S S O - CALLED L IFE

G REETINGS ,

Salutations.... Hello All!

• Developing a Chronicle

F AN F LAVOUR

• Of the Noegyth Nibin

Just when Tolkien couldn't feel more dead, his son Christopher

comes through for us hard core fans. Earlier this week, The

Children of Hurin was released. This book is based upon the

lives of Hurin and his children, Turin and Nienor. From most

all accounts, this book is well worth the time and money to

invest. Though this announcement isn't closely gaming

related, I thought its significance bears some mentioning.

• The Petty-Dwarves (Noegyth Nibin)

• New Packages

• Club of Bullroarer

• Ents

Now to #40... only a few more to go, but I'm still having fun!

This month we've got some things you haven't seen in awhile

and some brand new things: the first in a series of A Narrator's

So-Called Life about developing a chronicle, some info on the

Petty-dwarves (the same sad creatures featured in The

Children of Hurin), new racial profiles for PC's, plus a whole lot

more!

A LLIES AND A DVERSARIES

• Mordirachas (Elf of Dark Despair)

• Gazhur

• Maudush

F IELD G UIDE TO C REATURES OF M-E

Happy Gaming to all!

• Equines: Horses, Ponies and Mearas

Matthew Kearns

aka GandalfOfBorg

Editor

A RT C REDITS

C ALLING ALL GAMERS / C REDITS

CONTACT THE HALL OF FIRE AT:

CODAWEBZINE@HOTMAIL.COM

CREW

MATTHEW KEARNS (GANDALOFBORG), EDITOR, WRITER

ultimac@hotmail.com

PETER MERRYMAN, ARTIST

DAVID D. (ISSACHAR), WRITER, PROOFREADER, LAYOUT

issachar44@yahoo.com

This is an unofficial fan webzine created for players of Decipher's The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game and the world of Middle-earth created by

J.R.R. Tolkien. There is no affiliation between the creators of this webzine and Decipher, Tolkien Enterprises, or any other related corporation. All

material is either direct from Tolkien sources, Decipher, opinion, or has been created for the said purpose of roleplaying in the world of Middle-earth.

Some images are used herein for the purpose of adding flare to the webzine, but are owned by varied sources mentioned in the Credits on the last page.

THIS DOCUMENT IS NOT FOR RETAIL SALE AND INDIVIDUALS MAY PHOTOCOPY AND PRINT FOR THEIR PERSONAL USE.

Issue Forty

T HE H ALL OF F IRE

April 2007

Hall of Fire * The Unofficial Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game Webzine

Issue 40 * April 2007

A N ARRATOR ’ S S O -C ALLED L IFE :

D EVELOPING A C HRONICLE

by Matthew “GandalfOfBorg” Kearns

This is the first in a short series of articles aimed at helping a Narrator out with developing through ending a game for The Lord of the

Rings Roleplaying Game. Suggestions and advice come from running and playing successful and unsuccessful games along with input

from other gamers. To start things off with, let's get a game going.

1. You have an interest in roleplaying games. Check!

2. You have friends with an interest in roleplaying games. Check!

3. You have an interest in running a game in world of Tolkien and you're pitching the idea to your friends. Check!

So what's next?

There are a number of factors that go into creating a chronicle for a Narrator to consider. The following are most prominent in my

mind, but there are probably others that I am missing that you might find more important than these.

F OCUS

First, when I create a chronicle I

look what I want to be my primary

focus of the chronicle. I look at

Focus as kind of a sliding scale with

Story at one end and Character at

the other. The reason for the sliding

scale as you can always add chapters

that can be oriented towards

developing the story, investing time

to develop characters and their

background, or a mixture of both.

C HRONICLE ' S P ARAMETERS

Next comes more of the crunchy bits that frame your story

or character-driven drama. The parameters of the chronicle

help both the Narrator determine what's in and what's out,

but inform the players as to what the constraints on the

game will be.

A GE OF M IDDLE - EARTH

Prior to the First Age: During this time, the world is shaped

and Eldar are brought into the world. There is some

opportunity for adventure such as during the migration to

Valinor, but it might best serve as some story or character

origin information.

When I create long-term games, my

style lends more towards Story-

centric while attempting to

intertwine the characters personally

into the central story or at least have

background arcs focussing on the

characters.

First Age: Morgoth and Ungoliant destroyed the Trees, stole

the Silmarils and set in motion the strife that belabors the

world unto this day. The Kin-slaying occurs at Alqualonde,

the Noldor cross over to Middle-earth from Valinor, the

Eldar and eventually Men make war upon Angband, and

the age ends with the sinking of Beleriand and the rise of

Numenor.

C HARACTER - CENTRIC

Using player background and traits as fodder for adventure.

Second Age: The Golden Age of Men. The sea-faring

kingdom explores Middle-earth far and wide and develop

great amounts of deep lore, which will soon be lost in the

sinking of the isle. War is made upon Sauron, former

lieutenant of Morgoth and he is captured. When Numenor

is sunk, he barely escapes. The end of the Age occurs at the

end of The Last Alliance when Elendil and Gil-galad are

lost while dueling Sauron and The One Ring is cut from the

hand of the Dark Lord by Isildur.

S TORY - CENTRIC

Using an underlying plot that the characters interact with while

maybe incorporating aspects of the characters themselves into the

story.

Besides what you decide, listen to what your players want to see in

the game as well. If you are doing a combat-intensive game, those

characters who don't show much prowess in fighting may be turned

off to the game and vice versa. Do your best to cater a little bit to

everyone, but don't go overboard.

Hall of Fire * The Unofficial Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game Webzine

Issue 40 * April 2007

Third Age: This Age is marked by the decline of the kingdoms of

all Free Peoples: elves begin massive migrations to the coast to

catch ships bound for Valinor, never to return to Middle-earth,

dwarves seclude themselves in their kingdoms while battling

against wyrms and orcs, and the kingdoms of Men dwindle in

strength as the age-old shadow of Sauron gains strength over

time. The Dark Lord appears once again towards the end of the

age and the age culminates with the final destruction of Sauron

and The One Ring, the crowning of the king of Reunited

Kingdom, and the passing of the Ringbearers into the Uttermost

We s t .

R ACES ALLOWED

The story focus, age, and lands can determine how a Narrator

chooses which races are appropriate as PC's in the game. If a

story is centered around The Shire, Elf, Man, or Dwarf characters

are probably not advisable to be allowed unless under extreme

circumstances with the Narrator and possibly other players

agreeing.

A DDITIONAL A DVANCEMENTS

A few advancements (2-3) to start off with can help characters be

a little more customized and competent in some areas while quite

a few (5+, and really above 7) can make characters quite

powerful, so a Narrator should be quite familiar with both the

rules and have a mature game focus to the game to start with

otherwise issues will creep up.

Fourth Age: Known lore focuses on the reigns of Elessar and

Eomer and gradually into the reign of their sons. Eventually a

new dark power arises, though much is unknown about it.

S UPPLEMENTS ALLOWED

Supplements are great for fostering ideas for characters, stories,

side adventures, new and corrected rules, and extra character

features. A Narrator should review the supplemental material

that players may be interested in before allowing anything new

into the game.

L ANDS

Eriador: Eregion, Dunland, The Shire, Rivendell, Lindon, Arnor

and its child realms Cardolan, Arthedain, and Rhudaur, Angmar,

The Northern Wastes, and the sparsely inhabited lands of

Minhiriath and Enedwaith.

R ULES INCORPORATED AND HOUSE RULES

The Hall of Fire, Decipher messageboards, and even official

supplements offer up ideas for supplemental and house rules that

address areas in the rules that others don't think quite work for

them. I would suggest running the game out of the book for

awhile before implementing any changes that you've devised or

read about somewhere to make sure you are comfortable with

changing them.

Rhovanion: Dale, The Lonely Mountain, Iron Hills, The

Woodland-realm, Anduin Values and Carrock, Rhosgobel, and

Lothlorien, Mirkwood

Gondor, Rohan: Provinces of Gondor, Rohan, Fangorn Forest,

Dead Marshes, White Mountains, Harondor

Numenor

Beleriand: Doriath, Gondolin, Angband, Nargothrond,

Ossiriand, Belegost and Nogrod

Rhun: Khand, Dorwinion

Harad (The South)

Mordor

Hall of Fire * The Unofficial Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game Webzine

Issue 40 * April 2007

R ESEARCH

All of the suggestions given below I believe are top-notch resouces for researching backgrounds, plots, and general information about

people and places in Tolkien's world.

• The Encyclopedia of Arda

The best resource anywhere for quickly finding information on all sorts of topics.

http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/default.asp

• Silmarillion and Histories

• The Children of Hurin

Read these for more in-depth information in preparation of the games played up through

the 2nd Age.

• The Hobbit

• The Lord of the Rings

The best sources for northwestern Middle-earth during the last 100 years of the 3rd Age.

• Appendices (in back of

The Return of the King)

A great source for info for the rest of the 3rd Age and for other regions of Middle-earth

during the time of the War of the Ring and on into the 4th Age.

• Online Resources

Published and prior licensed games and supplemental sources: The Hall of Fire, Decipher

Messageboards, MERP

K NOWLEDGE OF S ETTING AND S YSTEM : N ARRATOR VS . THE L AWYERS

Be clear, be consistant, be fair. Lay down ground rules that all will

abide by when the Narrator invariably contradicts setting canon

or a situation occurs where there is no clear rule on how to

address it. Suggestions to help mitigate these occurances are to

set the game in little known periods of time and regions with

sparse detail along with keeping appearances of big name

characters to a minimum.

Out of all phases of a game, the initial player buy-in and chronicle

outline to me are the most difficult and time consuming.

Ultimately I also feel it is one of the most rewarding as I can

always find interesting bits of lore I missed previously or rediscover

something that captured my imagination before.

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