Hello everyone! I am nearing the end of my work on a Lord of the Rings setting for Genesys, and before I finished I wanted to get some suggestions from all of you. What do you want to see from the expansive world of Middle Earth?

Social Combat... I haven't gotten social combat from Genesys on my table yet but I hope it plays out well as i think LOTR is a setting that would benefit from this.

Large scale combat. LotR have a lot of important massive fights. Despite the fact that usually the main characters are there, fighting and leading the troops, some fights doesn't count with them and specific rules to resolve could be very useful.

3 minutes ago, Bellyon said:

Large scale combat. LotR have a lot of important massive fights. Despite the fact that usually the main characters are there, fighting and leading the troops, some fights doesn't count with them and specific rules to resolve could be very useful.

True. I am currently working on putting Mass Combat rules into the pdf.

I would like to see unique abilities for each of the species/archetypes in the setting, stuff that's very unique. In addition, it would be great to see species/archetype specific talents, as the races of Middle Earth have their own little quirks.

Magic weapons should probably be a thing as well, considering like the entire main cast of LotR has something magical on them.

Maiming and decapitation should probably come up more often in this setting vs enemies. Maybe that could be a unique houserule for the setting or maybe that could just be clever narration on the part of the players when they defeat enemies.

Depending on whether you are basing this on the movies or the books should probably determine how you handle traveling (in the books it is not skipped over whereas in the films they quickly montage their way across the land except for the exciting moments or character-building moments).

1 hour ago, Johan Marek Phoenix Knight said:

True. I am currently working on putting Mass Combat rules into the pdf.

The Age of Rebellion book don't have anything about this that could help?

A bestiary with Orcs, Orogs, Uruk, Drakes, Olag, etc.

Been playing alot of Shadows of War lately...

10 minutes ago, Bellyon said:

The Age of Rebellion book don't have anything about this that could help?

I’m mostly transcribing the rules from the Lead by Example book, with a few variations. The only issue is that it is time-consuming.

7 minutes ago, ESP77 said:

A bestiary with Orcs, Orogs, Uruk, Drakes, Olag, etc.

Been playing alot of Shadows of War lately...

I do feel the need to note that Shadow of War basically spits on Tolkien canon. They don’t even try to stay true to Tolkien’s works. But I do have stats for orcs, uruks, trolls , Olog-hai, and two different types of dragon: wurms (the wingless kind) and drakes (the ones with wings, but cooler than the wimpy drakes in Shadow of War).

4 minutes ago, Johan Marek Phoenix Knight said:

I do feel the need to note that Shadow of War basically spits on Tolkien canon

Not disagreeing with you, however slaughtering orcs is hella fun!

Should also include giant ?

5 minutes ago, ESP77 said:

Not disagreeing with you, however slaughtering orcs is hella fun!

Should also include giant ?

True. As much as I am annoyed with the story of that game series, I cannot deny that the gameplay is incredibly fun. And yes, giant spiders are included!

I'm not sure how you address it mechanically, but in the Silmarillion many of the stories were driven by epic emotional stakes. There are destructive and intense loves, betrayals, deceptions, and great oaths of vengeance. The obvious allusions to Greek and Roman mythology, and the tragedies that inform all of our literature today are integral to Tolkien's work.

Maybe a system like Obligation from EotE, that tracks the duties, oaths, and familial debts that characters carry could capture this sort of theme.

3 hours ago, O the Owl said:

I'm not sure how you address it mechanically, but in the Silmarillion many of the stories were driven by epic emotional stakes. There are destructive and intense loves, betrayals, deceptions, and great oaths of vengeance. The obvious allusions to Greek and Roman mythology, and the tragedies that inform all of our literature today are integral to Tolkien's work.

Maybe a system like Obligation from EotE, that tracks the duties, oaths, and familial debts that characters carry could capture this sort of theme.

Oh, that is actually really nice. Well, off to create an Oaths section.

Edit: Though I think it will be an optional rule. While big in the Silmarillion, oaths don’t play much of a role in the Hobbit, and the main role they play in LotR is giving Aragorn the opportunity to summon the Oathbreakers.

Pippin also swore an oath to Denethor. Great idea.

There should be a consequence for being an Oath Breaker. Some curse that imposes a setback until atonement.

5 hours ago, O the Owl said:

I'm not sure how you address it mechanically, but in the Silmarillion many of the stories were driven by epic emotional stakes. There are destructive and intense loves, betrayals, deceptions, and great oaths of vengeance. The obvious allusions to Greek and Roman mythology, and the tragedies that inform all of our literature today are integral to Tolkien's work.

Maybe a system like Obligation from EotE, that tracks the duties, oaths, and familial debts that characters carry could capture this sort of theme.

You have any ideas for different Oaths?

My D&D 5e group has been playing Adventures in Middle Earth for nearly a year now. Those books, also available as PDFs from Drive Thru, are full of great source material in a game-mechanics format. Might be useful for you.

18 hours ago, ESP77 said:

Pippin also swore an oath to Denethor. Great idea.

There should be a consequence for being an Oath Breaker. Some curse that imposes a setback until atonement.

As I recall, particularly with the army of the dead, it wasn’t just breaking their oath that cursed them, but Elendil who pronounced the curse as punishment for breaking their oath. So it’s a bit more like, if you break an oath, the person you swore the oath to has the moral authority to pronounce a fitting punishment, perhaps based on their own might. I doubt the Gaffer could curse an entire people to endure forever until they fulfilled their vow, no matter what the vow was, but the Numenorean King of Gondor could.

18 hours ago, Johan Marek Phoenix Knight said:

You have any ideas for different Oaths?

Oaths

Assuming an Oath system resembling Obligation in EotE, between sessions the GM rolls to see if anyone’s Oath triggers. Here are some possible types of Oaths and plot hooks should they trigger.

Cause - The character has sworn themselves to a cause, such as restoring a people to their ancestral home or driving out any evil that threatens a consecrated forest. If this Oath is triggered their cause is threatened, and the character must respond, or a clue is discovered that can further the character’s contribution to their cause.

Fealty - The character has sworn their life and service to a Lord or Regent. If this Oath is triggered, the character may be called upon to perform a task or to return to their Lord in person to account for their recent actions.

Friendship - The character has sworn fast friendship with another, often a member of another kingdom or race. If this Oath is triggered, something has happened to strain the bond of friendship or the character is called upon to assist their friend in a heroic endeavor.

Love - The character has sworn their undying affection for another. If this Oath is triggered the character’s love may be endangered and must be rescued or is perhaps doubting the character’s commitment and requests a favor to validate the professed love.

Revenge - The character has sworn revenge on another. If this Oath is triggered, the character hears that the focus of their Oath has grown in power and prestige, or finds that they are nearby and can be challenged or thwarted in some way if the character acts quickly.