Shadows in the East/ discussion

[Legolas]

Everything looks just fine. We may begin just now.
About my bow - may any of you enlighten me and translate "darkness slayer" to Quenya? That would be my bow's name.

[afro-elf]

Morinehtar would be the name is Sindarin

which would probably be your first langauge if you are an elf of mirkwood


if you want quenya maybe you should PM inoldonil

[Elvellon]

Hi Afro-Elf!
I just saw you were beginning an adventure in the RPG forum.
Is it still open? (I know, I know, I’m late, but I have only seen it now).

How does one play this kind of RPG?

[afro-elf]

I'll send this to you as a PM also to make sure you get it.


Basically you tell me what type of character you would like to play

give a detailed desciption

I'll go over it and if i like it you can start

basically its interactive story telling

Like D&D with no dice

the idea is to just tell good story and have fun

Just review what I wrote earlier ( I changed a lot of ideas since the very first post)

[afro-elf]

Ok I'm going to call this game

THE IRON WOLF


let me know how often you think that you be able to post.


I'm hoping that we can all post at least twice a week.

once again to nariel, legolas and evellon thanks for joining

and I hope that my 1st venture here goes well


I'll PROBABLY post a beginning to the Iron Wolf thread in a couple of hours

let's use this for discussion and the other for the game

legolas and nariel you can post as soon as I do there
Evellon let rewiew your character here before you post there

I'm gonna post some stuff on magic and tolkien's world here on this thread

to give some more "feel" to this story

also evellon you have some MERP experience and really wanna seperate MERP magic for Tolkien magic and basic RPG Vs. tolkien

[Elvellon]

Ok, here is my character, feel free to change it as needed:



Avari Name:
Gallastor (Little Tree)

Sindarin Name (nickname that the people of Thranduil gave him):
Dévellon (“Gloomy Elf” but also Gloom Lover”)

History:
Avari elf, from a forest far to the east of Mirkwood. Recently his old home was attacked by invading easterlings. Many avari elves died defending their home, including the PC’s wife and his two brothers. His younger sister disappeared and is presumed dead by the PC. After that, he found that he could no longer live in his beloved home; to many painful memories for him there. So he went west with a small group of like-minded elves (in the search of the fabled West, to were their kin is said to have departed eons ago) Eventually they reached Thranduil’s kingdom and asked for sanctuary (perhaps for just a little while, before returning to their journey).

Appearance:
Like the other avari of his clan, he is somewhat short, only 5’10’’ height. Slender and swarthy of skin, with near black eyes and raven hair. He looks youthful, but those who look into his eyes can perceptive age (he is over 1000 years; old for an avari). He is not talkative and lacks the usual playfulness of the sylvan elves of Mirkwood, and so he earned his nickname.

Weapons:
He uses a small bow, and poisoned arrows, something usual among is folk (but probably frown by Thranduil’s folk). Woe to the creature wounded by his arrows; it will be dead in less than half an hour. His other weapon is a long dagger, of dwarvish manufacture.
He is proficient in the use of his weapons, but not exceptional, as far elves go. (Compared with human archers he is still quite good).

Languages:
Kin-Laya (his native avari tongue); Sindarin (he speaks it with a strong, musical accent and is still not entirely proficient in its use); several easterling dialects (with most he have only a limited ability)

Skills:
The PC excels in herb lore. He has great interest in finding new species of herbs in Mirkwood, and in finding new uses for them.

Optional Magical Skills:
I don’t know if this is appropriate for your campaign. Feel free to deny it’s use if you think they are not appropriate.

The PC has limited magical abilities that he has learned with his people.
For the most part his powers are limited to the weaving of illusions and spells of misdirection and concealment)
Examples:
Spell of Illusion
“The elf concentrated and whispered a few words. Suddenly, light grew dim, as if a cloud had blocked the sun, and shadows grew under the branches of the trees. Despite warned, the elf’s companion was alarmed with the change in the forest. The once familiar trees seemed somehow menacing, as if something evil had awaken inside them. For a moment, when he looked at a tree, he believed to see a grotesque face looking evilly at him, and then it was gone. Soon he grew aware how the branches of the trees seemed to move, ever so slightly. Yet, no wind was blowing, not even a breeze.”

Spell of Misdirection:
“The orcs were following the two companions. The human was wounded and couldn’t go far. Seeing this, the elf told his companion to hide in a nearby bush while he did the same. As the orcs moved into sight of the two hidden friends the elf whispered an incantation. With a cry of triumph, the orcs launched themselves in pursuit of the fugitives, running in the direction were they had glimpsed a human running. As the orcs disappeared in the woods the elf smiled, amused with the easiness how he had fooled the orcs with an illusion.”

Spell of Concealment:
“Wanting to hide himself and his companion, the elf wove the lights and shadows around them in such a pattern that, under the cover of a half naked bush, a casual observer would not see them, even if near them.”

Prejudices:
He distrusts humans, thinking most of them are like the easterlings he has met. Curiously, his people (and himself) are in good terms with the dwarves.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


To me I’m fine with the twice a week posting, but, if agreed , I can do more.

[afro-elf]

Excellent

I like everyone's characters

as for magic here are some thoughts
that i collected froma around the web ( mostly from the up coming decipher rpg)

Overall, I would say that the game is more "low-key" than many fantasy RPGs; players can't conjure demons, pick up castles with their bare hands, fly around on enchanted carpets, or what have you. On the other hand, they are capable of amazing and heroic feats that are dramatically appropriate to the setting: Gimli kills 42 Orcs in a single battle, Frodo resists the power of the Morgul-knife, and so on.

The game tries, naturally, to allow for the proper type of heroic feats, without opening the door to ridiculousness (assuming the players and Narrator understand the difference ). In short, it tries to emulate that wonderful "Tolkien feel." That's about as close to an answer as I can give you.


. Magic is intrinsically tied to nature and life(stream that makes fall asleep those who fall in it (The Hobbit), storm on Caradhras, the ford of bruinen) rather than "I'll burn them with my fireball! And after that I'll blast their ashes with my lightning bolt, then, to finish the job, I'll summon a storm during a calm, cloudless day to blow what's left of them to separate places in the world.". The latter sort of magic is almost always found in FRPG, to the point where you might wonder why peasants keep getting surprised each time the forest burns down because some stupid mage just used a fireball to finish off a goblin. What is surprising is the fact they don't take the mage to court "Mage Blofatof, you are hereby accused of Magical Abuse and Being Just Plain Dumb, how do you plead?" .


My feeling is that magic/spells should suit the setting. In M-E, magic is subtle, flavorful, and evocative, and so it should be in the game. In M-E, spellcasters don't toss fireballs around, fly, walk through walls, summon demons, or anything like that, so they can't in the game, either.

Some examples of spells, off the top of my head:

Animal Messenger
Beast-Speech
Blinding Flash
Create Light
Guarding-Spell
Kindle Fire
Lightning
Victory-Spell

There's a Healing Skill that PCs can use to treat wounds and such, and AND SOME SPELLS TO AUGMENT. But it's nothing like most FRPGs; it's not instant curing of damage. Typically characters are most likely to recover their Wound Levels through good old-fashioned time and recuperation

Well, there are plenty of rules for magic, certainly. I suppose the closest thing to a Skill-oriented mechanic is that characters have to make a Stamina Test to resist weariness -- magic is tiring. If they fail, the spell fails, and they lose a Weariness Level. The more spells they cast in rapid succession, the harder it becomes to make the roll.

[afro-elf]

after this post I'll start posting the game under THE IRON WOLF

I will TRY and hope that you attempt also to keep the following in mind


I would like to tell a good story not just kill stuff

Wonder
In LotR, the characters meet some things that belongs to legends and wonder about them or face them but still stays on the surface, not piercing the mystery of these wonders. In FRPG, the first thing a player will do when seeing a creature from another age is "Is it hard to fight? How many Exps? I hope we get some good lootz!!!" (Okay, I exaggerate, but if you can consider DnD a roll-playing game, then I hope I can make my points on that assumption, especially since the goal of most FRPGs is to raise in level by killing, killing and maybe a small roleplaying bonus at the end). There is no sense of wonder, only down-to-earth thoughts, maybe a consequence of our scientific and materialistic society, or from the wargaming roots or some RPG. There is also the tales and legends of Middle-Earth which are more than history tales, but are filled with emotions and interesting characters.

Storytelling

In everyday life, you judge everything by comparing it to what you know. Therefore, if your character has known only heroic quests, they are unlikely to feel thrilled about "another heroic quest", while those with peaceful and mundane background will feel much more heroic for doing the same quest. In LotR, the beginning, criticized as too slow by many, is mundane and slow, so when the heroic quest begins and the peaceful hobbits, who lived their whole lives in a small town, meet armies of thousands and cities of high walls made of stone and having building the heights of hundreds of meters, the reader feels more impressed and has that epic feeling inside him. And I always personally liked the dialogues, long and with a little something that makes them more meaningful. Long texts, in my minds, allow readers or listeners to imagine what is being said without being pulled too quickly into another subject, this is a strength of Tolkien.


In FRPG, there is always a chance that a disruptive player will become bored if you use long texts and dialogues. Maybe even all players will want the discussion to end if it is long, why? I lay again the blame on our society, always quick and shorter deadlines (Will this attract the attention of Steve Long? Just as a test DEADLINE, DEADLINE, DEADLINE). This makes in the collective mind a need of doing things faster and faster, while LotR belongs to more ancient styles of writing, making it original because it is too old.

[Legolas]

I have decided to name my bow just 'Morinehtar'. May all darkness followers tremble!!!
About posting - I think 5 times a week at least (assuming there are another posts for me to respond to).

[afro-elf]

i was just hoping that we could post AT LEAST twice a week.

But the more the merrier

[Elvellon]

Afro-Elf I've just sent you a PM

[afro-elf]

what does Hawair mean?

[Legolas]

Nothing. Really nothing. I just thought of any name, and it first come to mind.

[Elvellon]

What happened to the Moot colours?

[Elvellon]

I was under the impression that the Devellyn (Gloom Lovers) lived in the region were the werewolf was sighted, but your last post, Afro-Elf, gave me the opposite impression


I’m going to send you a PM with some info about Rhovanion.

[afro-elf]

sorry for the confusion


the idea is that just there is an area in Rhovanion that men have lived in for a while and now a group of your tribe is moving in because it recalled to them your homelands in the east.

Things were going smoothly between the to races until recently

when the wolf began to appear and now the two sides are becoming polorized. To prevent a race war Thranduil has been asked to send in moderators

[afro-elf]

here is some stuff that elvellon sent me that we all could use

This is MERP information.
Here are some names of places in the Mirkwood region and other Rhovanion places, you might like them:

Emyn Engrin = Iron Hills

Annen = Long Lake

Emyn-nu-Fuin = Mirkwood Mountains

Taurduin = Forest River

Gûlduin = Enchanted River

Caras Amarth = City of Fate (supposedly created by Oropher. Despite using the word Caras it is a subterranean city. It is, perhaps, now abandoned?
It’s location is in the Northwest of the Emyn-nu-Fuin and Southwest of the current Elven capital. Remenber, this is non-cannon MERP).

Aradhrynd = Royal Halls the present elven capital of Thranduil.


Some info about the Elven armies:
Oropher army during the War of the Last Alliance: 40000 elves, ¼ of the total army of the Free Peoples.

Thandruil’s army is significantly smaller (I’ve yet to find the numbers)

The elven army is divided in brotherhoods:
The Pengwador, or Brotherhood of the Bow is the largest (includes 1/3 of the army)
The Pelegwador or Brotherhood of the Axe (the second largest)
The Egwador or Brotherhood of the Spear (the main strike force in open ground)
The Magwador or Brothrerhood of the Sword (the smallest of the forces, the great battle swords they use are very costly).

Only a part of the elves of these brotherhoods are in active service (for instance, as the guarnition of the Aradhrynd)

Besides these forces there are smaller, and more permanent forces:
The King’s Guard; the Woodland Warders (including an elite small force that is responsible for the missions in enemy territory).

Feel free to use (or not to use) this

[afro-elf]

elvellon

did you get the last PM i sent you about the Lords of ME


to everyone check out this site for some cool Tolkien RPG stuff


www.otherhands.com

[Elvellon]

Yes I got your PM, I haven’t answered because I wanted to send you some of the stuff you requested as soon as possible. Unfortunately, I’ve been quite busy and I still haven’t completed the first part.

[afro-elf]

no tain problema

a former girl friend from brazil told me that

is it the same in the mother country?