Need help understanding TOR

[Glorelendil]

Glad to hear you didn't give up, Vaeldroth! The rules-muddling will go away fast, I think. TOR's rules are very consistent.

Any suggestions for motivating PCs who haven't read the books, and maybe saw the movies awhile ago?

I'd recommend two bits of the TOR Adventurer's Guide: the descriptions of the cultures on pages 12-14 and the descriptive text given for the Background each player chose.

The culture descriptions outline the themes and struggles of each group, and the backgrounds always have little nuggets of story written into them that a player can build on. Those two things are probably enough for people to come up with some basic ideas you can hone in play.

As an extra step, I asked each player three questions tailored to the culture, background and calling they chose. For most characters I pulled an NPC from Tales of Wilderland or the Marsh Bell and asked the player what their relationship with them was. Here are the questions I asked:

For the Barding Scholar:

• You lived in Lake-Town 5 years ago when Smaug, the Chiefest and Greatest of Calamities, descended the mountain and burned the town to ash. What did the Dragon take from you that night?
• You have the Birthright virtue. The Bardings have rebuilt the city of Dale, but barely begun reclaiming the lands around that made up their lost kingdom. Tell us something about the lands that are rightfully yours.
• Your calling is Scholar. What's a secret or mystery you're desperate to uncover?

For the Beorning Warden:

• Oderic is a young (19 years old) beorning warrior fostered to Helmgut in the village of Stoneyford. He's capable, prone to moods, and determined to make a name for himself. What's your relationship with him?
• Tell us about your parentage. In which I believe Beorn features prominently.
• Your calling is Warden. Recently, you encountered an orc-chief called Ghor. Ghor was no ordinary orc. Tall, strong, cunning, his helm bore a mark: a red eye. Ghor still lives. What did he leave you to remind you of him? And one gift deserves another: what did give him in return?

For the Dwarven Wanderer:

• Oin and his brother Gloin were companions of Thorin Oakenshield on his quest to reclaim Erebor. How do you know them, and why do you consider yourself in their debt?
• What shameful, secret, or desperate deed have you used your Broken Spells for?
• Your calling is Wanderer. Which part of Wilderland have you been to that you hope never to go to again (pick somewhere from the map).

For the Woodman Treasure-Seeker:

• Magric the Trapper is tall, handsome, and well-spoken for one of the woodmen. It's said there's Elvish blood in his family. He lives alone, hunting and trapping in the vales of the Gladden River, coming to Mountain Hall once each month to trade. What's your relationship with him?
• The wizard Radagast taught you old forest-songs and the healing arts. What apparently innocent item did he entrust to your safekeeping before you left?
• Your calling is Treasure-Seeker. What was it that kindled the gold-hunger in you?

It's often easier for players to come up with answers to specific questions than to invent stuff from thin air, I think. And the answers they give will always surprise you!

Reviving an old post. I think this technique is excellent. It reminds me of the "bonds" in Dungeon World.

[Otaku-sempai]

Not exactly. Pretty early in the 4th age, all elves and dwarves are pretty much gone. Hobbits may be gone too. So you've got...just humans, since the other races aren't worth the paper they're written on in 4th age.

Well, the Eldar would continue to leave Middle-earth or remain and fade. But, the Wood-elves and any other groups of remaining Avari would have continued to thrive for centuries before fading from the knowledge of Men. The Dwarves would eventually disappear, but that would also take centuries. Tolkien left hints that Hobbits would survive even to the present day, although not in large numbers and easily overlooked by Big Folk.

I don't understand how you determine that the abilities of the non-human races are not useful in the early Fourth Age.

[DavetheLost]

If the rules of the game are good then it would make sense to play the game with a different setting.

Not if the rules were designed to emulate a particular setting. King Arthur Pendragon mechanics are pretty tightly bound to a setting of chivalric knights. They might work for other "heroic" cultures but I wouldn't want to try running a Spaghetti Western with them. I would have no problem using Traveller or D&D to run a Western though.

A lot of the concepts in TOR are pretty closely tied in to Tolkien's philosophy and to Middle Earth in the late Third Age.

There is more to game rules than just a task resolution system.