Adventures in Middle Earth

[zarion]

Has anyone played it? Has anyone used the Mirkwood Campaign? What did you think of it? Good? Bad? Playable? Unplayable? House rules? Mods? Opinions?

I am actually thinking of doing some 5e D&D as other games have withered on the vine and I am really not a fan of vanilla D&D but I think (after rewatching LotR and watching RoP [I like it!] think D&D AiME might do it justice) I might enjoy it?!?

Just looking for opinions or advice on running an AiME game. Thank you for any replies!

 

[Grelan]

Paging robertsconley

 

[Akrasia]

Yes -- I ran a very successful campaign using AiME (2017-18)! It's a great system (better than "core" 5e IMO).

I praised it here at the Ye Olde RPG Pub last February.

The campaign took place in Mirkwood and the surrounding regions—the Long Lake area, the ‘narrows’ north of Mirkwood and south of the Grey Mountains, and the Anduin Vale—during 2946 and 2947 of the Third Age (about five years after the events described in The Hobbit).

I drew on a number of different resources for this campaign. In addition to the works of Tolkien, I made use of some of ICE’s old MERP materials, especially their Mirkwood setting book, and the more recent books from Cubicle 7, especially the Loremaster’s Guide and the Rhovanion Region Guide. However, I changed a lot in what I took from the ICE and C7 materials.

The campaign idea was inspired partially by an old White Dwarf MERP adventure—‘The Dawn of Unlight’—written by Graham Staplehurst. I used little from the adventure itself except for the core idea: a secret ‘cult’ devoted to Ungoliant. I always liked Staplehurst’s adventure, namely its idea of an evil organization unrelated to Sauron.

This was one of the most satisfying campaigns I’ve ever run. I enjoyed all of the adventures and it ended on an exciting high note.

More info from my blog: https://akraticwizardry.blogspot.com/2018/07/spider-cult-of-mirkwood-campaign.html

 

[Rich H]

Akrasia's reply is great but just to add...

I ran a lot of The One Ring and I'm not a fan of modern D&D. However, I houseruled loads of elements from AiMe into TOR around journeying and audiences as they were set up far better, and far more interesting and easier to use, than the bespoke system that was created for The One Ring. I think that says just how good a job they did of these 5e rules. I also use the character classes for my 5e Beowulf game too. I highly recommend trying to get hold of a copy.

 

[Necrozius]

I’ve both run it as a DM and played as a character.

I liked the system so much that it actually ruined “vanilla” D&D 5e for me. The low-magic Classes, the Journeying rules and the way magic items are handled. All of it was so much more compelling than the usual. I think that they did D&D “better” than WotC, frankly. At least better suited to my tastes.

I later used the AiME classes for a Witcher campaign too. Worked splendidly. Set the tone really well and reduced dependency on the usual 5e spells and powers. Much more character focused instead of power focused?

I’m no longer a 5e fan, but if I had to run it again, I’d use this system instead, even if not set up in Middle Earth.

Edit: my players (in both campaigns, the Middle Earth one and the Witcher) both really liked the "Ranger" class, preferring it over the D&D one).

 

[robertsconley]

Has anyone played it? Has anyone used the Mirkwood Campaign? What did you think of it? Good? Bad? Playable? Unplayable? House rules? Mods? Opinions?

The campaigns and adventures are pitch perfect whether you use AiME or ToR. They are basically the same supplement for both.

I am actually thinking of doing some 5e D&D as other games have withered on the vine and I am really not a fan of vanilla D&D but I think (after rewatching LotR and watching RoP [I like it!] think D&D AiME might do it justice) I might enjoy it?!?

There is a good chance you will. It is 5e but it also it own thing. But not so far so that regular 5e player are scratching their head going huh? The impact of AiME changes to the rest rules is straight forward. But the reworking of classes, feats (now virtues) and melding of race and background into cultures will take some getting used too. Like the book the result is one where magic is pervasive but very low key. For example Dwarves of the Lonely Mountains can take a virtual call Ravens of the Mountains and get a raven that acts basically as a friend. Not quite a familiar but useful in specific situation.

Just looking for opinions or advice on running an AiME game. Thank you for any replies!

1) Don't be beholden to the audience rules to adjudicate social encounters. But pay attention to the specific for various encounter. I like to do the "funny voices" and dislike a lot of rolling for social stuff. I do have rolls but as flavor. But for AiME, specific NPCs will have specific traits or concern that listed in a more or less standard format because of the audience rolls. That part is very useful specially the numbers they associate with each item.

2) Study the journey rules. They are fantastic part of AiME that makes resolving journeys of hundreds of miles a snap. The general gist is that

• It has the party organizing themselves in a way that makes for travel.
• Mechanically it distill the entire trip into a handful of encounters at most.
• The individuals encounters are structured just enough to make it mechanically interesting but also free-form enough that you riff easily off of it.
• Later supplements offers specific implementation of the core book's more general encounter so once you have everything you will have a treasury of material to use.
• The Shadow system seems at first like an asshole of an alignment system as even punishes ordinary adventuring. But in the first campaign I ran, we all realized that occupies exactly the same role that the insanity mechanic of CoC does. The shadow is a actual supernatural force trying to corrupt everyone and everything in Middle Earth. When you look at it that way it make perfect sense including the stuff that punishes ordinary adventuring. So somewhat like CoC, a AiME is not just being Heroes in Middle Earth with a capital H. It about doing what right despite the threat of corruption by the shadow. How long can the hero do what needs to be done until they are corrupted or forced to retire in order to avoid corruption.
• The Fellowship phase is not just another downtime mechanics but crucial to how the campaign flows over time. For one things it allows character to recover from effects of Shadow which means they can keep on adventuring. There also opportunities for advancement as some virtues can be improved.
• Everything I mentioned above is a good mix of combat and roleplaying opportunities. So different groups with different interest can be easily accommodated.
• Middle Earth monsters are tougher relative to the character than their 5e counterpart. While AiME has fewer varieties of creatures, they more variations.
• The OP combat tactic in AiME is for every character to have a shortbow. Because they are considered a simple weapon even Scholars can use them. If the groups figures this out more power to them. What it means everybody can attack at range and thus contribute to the fight. And given the challenges, they will need it.
• A lot of character, creature, and other stuff are a mix of mechanical and roleplaying stuff. AiME works better if you emphasize the roleplaying part the descriptions as well as the mechanical stuff.

That it for now. Let me know if you have further question.

 

[Necrozius]

As an aside, having a good Ranger (the AiME name for which escapes me at the moment) means that most journeys will be a breeze, and very uneventful (you’d be surprised how easy it is to get bonuses to the various rolls).

As the DM, don’t feel shackled by the system. If you feel like the tension should be higher, or that the journey should be fraught with greater peril, adjust things as you see fit (after running a few regular journeys first).