In the event that I do start up an online game I was trying to come up with something that describes the game to the veteran RPG player and what they should expect in terms of the feel and play of the game. This is my rough draft, any suggestions would be welcome:

Setting: The game will initially start in 2946 of the Third Age five years after the end of the The Hobbit and take place in the Wilderland, east of the Misty Mountains and north of Rohan and Mordor.

Intent: Create the saga of a group of adventures in the later part of the Third Age. Drawing upon literary devices like those found in Beowulf and other Nordic and Anglo-Saxon story telling traditions.

Game Play: The game lends itself well to narrative play and I think would be ideally suited to a play by post or email game. The focus is on narrative, theme, and exploring the setting and nuisances of Tolkien’s Middle-earth. Things will tend to be stereotyped into “good” and “evil” as over arching concepts. As such the characters will be a force of good where intent and style count as much as actual deeds and actions. The concepts of good and evil and how they affect a character are represented by hope and shadow points. As such characters through the horrible things that they encounter or a drift towards evil and corruption will have effects on game play.

A fundamental part of this game is fellowship. The characters have an interest and bonds between the other characters in the group and this is represented in game mechanics. The game mechanics are deisgned for characters to work together and look out for each other. Think of it in terms of the Hobbits setting out together when they leave the shire (Fattty is an NPC).

This game also borrows some similar concepts from Pendragon. The game is divided into the adventuring phase and the fellowship phase. In the first the characters are actively adventuring, this can be a few weeks or months. The fellowship phase is the device used to pass time and improve the characters. The idea being that your characters will go out and confront obstacles, achieve their goals, grow weary, age, and eventually pass the torch on to their successor. Time will pass in this game. Travel is also a fairly important part of the game with the characters having to plan how to travel and the fatigue and incidents that can occur. If one looks at travel as a thematic and story device in the Lord of the Rings as something that affects the characters bodies and souls its pretty close to the mark.

Combat is somewhat abstract and not as detailed as the tacticals that have developed out of other d20 games. In this respect the game is a bit like 3:16 for those who have played that. Also treasure and rewards work a little different as well. Characters will not receive treasure in the form of copper pieces and silver pieces. Instead they may find or be given heroic items or treasure in the form of points that allow a life style living etc.

Objective: Spoil the plans of Sauron of course!

very good

i find the combat / grid / initiative very reminescent of Agon if you have played that.

That's quite nice. A notable mention might be how the game leans towards well-rounded roleplaying. Otherwise, it leaves a player with the feeling some mechanics/attributes/traits are undervalued. By this I mean play that is more than combat and treasure-grabbing so to speak. The really shines in adventures where a lot of different skills are called into play; and this allows the invocation of attribute bonuses in a variety of circumstances.

Eluadin great suggestion thanks!

Hmm nope never played Agon.