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What’s better than taking one of the most recognizable properties in fantasy and media, and bringing it to your table, allowing players to live out the fantasy in a familiar system? Having The Lord of the Rings as that property and bringing the immersive and rich world over toDungeons & Dragonshas created a space where players and Dungeon Masters can live out their own Lord of the Rings adventures.
Adjusting core components of the fifth edition experience, The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying is a unique way to roleplay your games as if you were in Middle-earth itself, so here’s everything you need to know about how to play in this world with 5E.
As a supplement to Dungeons & Dragons, you will need basic knowledge and understanding of how to play D&D 5E to be able to play Lord of the Rings Roleplaying. This is not a stand-alone tabletop game.
Changes And Adjustments For Fifth Edition
Naturally, while the game mechanics are the same, you’ll need to make a few adjustments to begin playing adventures in Middle-earth. First, there are a few minor changes to note when stepping into this role, with some quick translations.
Classes
Callings
Success dice can also be uesd for players familiar with The One Ring ruleset in place of the D20.
This guide will refer to the Lord of the Rings Roleplaying terms regarding each.
Adventuring And Fellowship Phases
The game isplayed in two phases, theAdventuring Phaseand theFellowship Phase. The Adventuring Phase falls intothree distinct categories. Those categories are:
Your usual D&D 5E combat encounters tailored for Middle-earth
Council
A character comes forward representing the group and can engage infull interactive dialogue with important NPCs. The phase ends in success or failure based on the rolled results of the group and the representative.
Journey
Use the attached map in the adventure totraverse the world on an epic journey. Traveling is a core mechanic of the game. Players choose journey roles, and each one does their part when traveling to different areas. Each new area creates a new journey adventure.
Fellowshipis quite different. It’s anumeric value the group possesses,shared across all Player-heroes, that can be turned in to benefit them. This includes granting advantage for the entire party for ability scores, attack rolls, or saving throws.
Fellowship points can also be used for the group Patronto grant bonuses to the Player-heroes as well.Each Patron offers a different boon, such as rolling an additional d20 during an ability check or after an attack, depending on your Patron.
Patrons include options such as Gandalf the Grey or Bilbo Baggins. This allows the Player-heroes to speak to and fellowship with some iconic Lord of the Rings characters.
Adventuring and Fellowship are the two phases in which you’ll play the game. Otherwise, it’s like any other adventure in Dungeons & Dragons. You’ll be familiar with the mechanics of how D&D works; you’ll just segment them to ensure that your Player-heroes get time with NPCs and each journey has a complete wrap-up before moving on to the next adventure.
New Skills
Along with all the skills you know and use constantly from 5E, Lord of the Rings Roleplaying adds a few more skills to the fray, replacing some older options to make sure they fit the Middle-earth theme. You’ll have access to the following skills on your character sheet:
Description
Explore
AWisdom checkthat allows you to find the perfect place tocamp, or how to navigate detrimental weather, or find where you’re heading.
AWisdom checkforfollowing tracks, hunting animals, fishing, traps, and more.
Old Lore
AnIntelligence checkforrecalling information and lore about the world. From ancient tales to genealogies and more, you learned from several different ways, and attempt to recall old lore.
Riddle
Deduction,reasoning, and intuitionfall under this new skill. AnIntelligence checkthat helps Player-heroes gain Insight.
Travel
Used for learning thedistance, time, and expectations of a journey, reading a map, and encountering others on the road, aWisdomcheckis used for the Travel skill.
Several Skills are missing from Lord of the Rings Roleplaying, including:
The game also has its own character sheet that will come with it, reflecting these changes.
Other Variant Rules
Aside from what was mentioned above,new rules for encumbrance, resting, rewards, and virtuesare also detailed. These include options such as how to calculate encumberance to know whether Player-heroes are hindered by their weight, to only allowing them to rest in sheltered and safe refuges like safe houses,not allowing them to rest on the road. You can find these detailed within the adventure module.
Character Options
There are a few options available when it comes to character-specific roles for Player-heroes. First, you’ll need to know where and when the adventure takes place before you can begin building your character. The game takes place in the year 2965 of the Third Age.
This is approximately 20 years after Bilbo Baggins disappeared and reappeared with stories of his travels with Gandalf and Thorin Oakenshield.
Dwarves, Elves, and others are on the move, prepping to survive against The Shadow of Middle-earth. The one ring lies dormant in Erador, and that’s where the player-heroes will traverse throughout their journey.
Erador is a rich and storied location, with old lore and varied species (known as heroic cultures) to choose from.Player-heroes can choose between the following heroic cultures, each with its own traits.
Hobbits of the Shire
Courageous, curious characters smaller than both Men and Dwarves (averaging about three feet tall). They have three distinct subcultures, each changing their ability score spreads and additional abilities.
Dwarves of Durin’s Folk
Strong and sturdy, Dwarves have three different subcultures, including Dwarves of the Iron Hills, Dwarves of Erebor, and Dwarves of the Blue Mountains. Each provides a unique Ability Score improvement and an extra ability. Uniquely, Dwarves who don’t travel to any of these locations are known as Wandering Dwarves, and Player-heroes can play out this heroic culture as well, which makes for a unique story.
Bardings from Wilderlands
Noble Northmen from Wilderland, the Bardings are strong, fearless, and have long hair and beards. Sturdy, strong, and proud people, they’re quite tall and adept at trading. Choosing a background will provide more information on your chosen Bardling style.
Elves of Lindon
Members of the Firstborn, the Elves are wise and full of vitality. Though they rarely leave their sanctuaries, their vitality keeps them living for a long time and makes them resistant to illness. Only Elves of Lindon are available as a subculture here, granting them tool and skill proficiencies that fit this trend.
Men of Bree
Brown haired, short, and stocky men, usually under five feet tall. They’re simple, yet independent and wise, preferring simple weapons and a simple way of life. Backgrounds differentiate them from one another.
Rangers of the North
The last descendants of North of the Dúnedain, they are tall, lordly men who were once among Kings. They keep the people of Eriador safe, with their wise and mature countenance. Their backgrounds will give players specifics for how to play them.
The Shadow And Its Purpose
Player-heroes will accumulate Shadow points on their journey. These are represented in character by the fear and dread of facing off against a formidable foe.Shadow can be accumulated during the Adventure Phasebased on rolls and Player-hero actions.
TheseShadow points can be removed during the Fellowship Phasethrough a number of options, including Saving Throws. Characters with a high accumulated number of Shadow will be detrimental to the party, as their state will affect everyone else. This can include adisadvantage on ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws, alongsidedecreasing the group’s Fellowship ratingand even falling into madness.
Dread, Greed, and Misdeeds can all lead to Player-heroes gaining Shadow points from corruption through desire for their own magical weapons to committing nefarious acts, violent threats, treachery, torture, etc.
Player-heroes are expected to balance this as they adventure through Erador, juggling their phases and their characters' abilities throughout this epic journey.
