@Sigurd I'd say the general tone of the setting would be somewhere between Warhammer Fantasy and Munchkin. The villains should, as undead warlords, be eccentric but threatening. The rest of the setting should probably be at the same general level as Lord of the Rings. Something somewhat dark, but not too dark, you know?
You'll be able to make your own story, and flesh out the setting in your own way, or, if you don't want that, you can happily play along with the other players who do!
What a relief!
Why the heck not? I'll join.
One question, though: How serious in tone is this RP?
I am asking because I'd like to join something that's not too comic.
I am just going to copy-paste everything from the interest check thread (you can find it here) to spare myself unnecessary typing.
Lord of the Rings RPG
Story:
The game takes place in the Third Age, during the War of the Ring, roughly at the same time the Fellowship set off from Rivendell. We will be playing another fellowship with a different task in the North, led by one of the long lost Blue Wizards (the GM, AKA me), suddenly come back from his wanderings with a warning of a great Black Númenórean sorcerer mustering his dark forces in secrecy in the far northern reaches, which could be fatal for to-be-king Aragorn if the Ring-Bearer fails. The party, blessed by Lady Galadriel who is glad to see another of Istari come back, must discover the sorcerer and destroy him, before it is too late.
I plan this to be a short game, since it's my first time being a GM here. Maybe later we'll have another adventure.
This will be a cold, wintery setting, as you can tell from the geographical location, with towers, caves, woods, orcs and beasts.
It is a casual game, so no dice rolling. You don't have to post big passages, one or two paragraphs should do. I made the CS a bit 'complicated' simply because I am feeling (shocker...) a bit nostalgic, but don't think about it too much, it's mostly there for the old-school aesthetics, although I will pay attention to your actions and items during the game.
GM: I am the only magic user in this game, since I believe that gives the party a cozy Gandalf feel.
*** Important: If I missed something, made mistakes or contradictions in this, please let me know so that I can fix them. Suggestions are encouraged, too! And if this doesn't work out the way I imagined it, we can always have a regular game with regular character creation system. Just let me know.
Races:
Human Specials: Doomed to die... ''That was a joke. Tolkien left men with free will, that's their special ability -- to make what they want of their destiny... Before they die. They're doomed to die fast, but that's why they thrive all the time. For example, an elf would prbably stay away from a sinister place of dark magic or most likely wouldn't go against any fair elven norm, so to say, because it's in their nature to cling to the pure; but a human would most likely go and explore that place or try to think outside the box.'' - copy pasted my post from the interest check thread.
Dwarf Specials: Smithing and crafting
Elf Specials: Night vision and far vision
Hobbit* Specials: Small and sneaky
Note: Dwarves and hobbits can only ride ponies. Dwarves and hobbits cannot be hunters. Dwarves cannot be rogues.
*Because I don't want to 'nerf' hobbits too much, all weapons will be smaller in scale for hobbits, so no worries when getting weapons and armour. :-)
Classes:
Fighter (Shieldmaiden if female and from Rohan) Armor: Any Weapons: Any Specials: None Restrictions: None Starts with: a backpack, a week's worth of rations, small tent, whetstone, bandage x 2.
Hunter Armor: Any Weapons: Anything, as long as it's not two-handed Specials: Animal taming, tracking, and scouting. Restrictions: You are not as good in close-range combat. Starts with: A human/elvish bow and quiver, a small tent, a backpack, a tinder box.
Rogue Armor: Cloth, leather Weapons: Knives, daggers, throwing knives, short sword, slingshot Specials: You can pull off insane stealth, climbing, evasion, and put targets to sleep, too. Restrictions: You are not as good on the battlefield unless you are stealthed. Starts with: 25 meters of rope, a hook, a single torch, lockpick x 5, dart dipped in sleeping poison x 3.
Bard Armor: Cloth, leather Weapons: Knives, daggers, throwing knives, short sword, staves, small axes. Specials: You know all languages of all the fractions we encounter, which can be useful. Restrictions: You may not be taken seriously by NPC's at first, if they have no love of art. :-) Starts with: A musical instrument of your choice, a pen, five sheats of paper, a flask of wine, a back pack.
Character creation sheet:
Name: Age: Sex: Race: Apperance: Class: Equipment: (please list all you bought and your starting, defaul class equipment!) Background story:
Note: Each class starts with some preassigned items and chooses other items from the list. You can take as much as your money limit allow you.
Starting money: 100 sp
Equipment list of things you can buy:
Backpack x 1 5sp Blanket x 1 15sp A week's worth rations x 1 15sp 25 meters of rope x 1 10sp Hook x 1 10sp Tinder box x 1 5sp Chalk x 5 5sp Pen x 1 5sp Paper x 5 5sp Oil (one bottle) x 1 10sp Torch x 1 3sp Tent x 1 15sp Large tent x 1 20sp Whetstone x 1 5sp Lock pick x 10 10sp Vial x 1 5sp Flask x 1 5sp Lantern x 1 10sp Mirror x 1 5sp Bandage x 3 15sp Wine (one flask) x 1 5sp Small pot set (one set of two: one small and one medium pot) x 1 15sp Large pot set (one set of three: one small, one medium, and one large pot) x 1 20sp Empty scroll x 3 3sp A small sack x 1 3sp A large sack x 1 6sp A handmade walking staff x 1 5sp
Equipment list of weapons you can buy:
Knife x 1 10sp Dagger x 1 10sp Short sword x 1 15sp Elvish short sword x 1 20sp Long sword x 1 20sp Elvish sword x 1 25 sp Two-handed sword x 1 30sp A staff x 1 10sp A polearm x 1 15sp A spear x 1 15sp A sling shot x 1 10sp A manmade ax x 1 20sp A dwarf-made ax x 1 25sp A humanmade two-handed ax x 1 30sp A dwarf-made two-handed ax x 1 35sp A mace x 1 20sp A two-handed warhammer x 1 35sp A manmade bow with a full quiver x 1 25sp An elf-made bow with a full quiver x 1 30sp Throwing knives x 4 12sp
List of armour you can buy:
Cloth armour 10sp Leather armour 15sp Leather elvish armour 20sp Mail armour 20sp Mail elvish armour 25sp Small wooden shield 10 so Large wooden shield 15 so Castle made Gondorian shield 15 sp Rohirrim wooden shield 15 sp
Everyone gets a cloak for free, the colour is of your choosing.
List of transportation means you can choose from, free of charge:
A saddled pony A saddled horse
List of transportation means you can buy:
Horse from Rohan 50 sp ...which does nothing, just looks nice. :-)
Note: You can share items with members of the party as well.
Another post of mine from the interest check: ''Also, It's up to you to describe your character's appearance. Armour items I listed are not the only things you'd wear. You have to wear something under it and/or above it. As I've said, the CS is more of a nostalgic touch for me, you can be creative while making a character, although I will pay attention to the item choice during the game. You can bring fur office you wish, of course. But if you forget any type of armour you'll have a bad time when shit hits the fan.
P.S. It's not like it's a north pole setting. It's, imagine, like the surrounding area od Winterfell in the first season of Game of Thrones with some snow falling now and then. It's the area where Dunedain rangers scout and all that. For the beginning, that is. Later it will be super cold and fur will come into play.''