Players: What do you want out of The One Ring?

[zedturtle]

Note: This is not intended to call out any of my players, who often post and/or lurk on these forums. Instead, it's more about trends and ideas.

Every once in a while, I've written a little bit about what I think players want out of TOR. And I know I've (on occasion) said something about GMing TOR. But I'm quite often wrong about such things (or at least it feels that way) and I'd like to know more.

When you play The One Ring are you:

• Wanting to interact with the world (visit places, regardless of whether or not 'anyone' is there)?
• Wanting to interact with the famous people of the world (do you want to hold forth with Gandalf, bandy words with Saruman, try to impress the Elf King, etc.)?
• Wanting to interact with the 'little people' of the world (do you care what the name of Barliman's grandfather was? Are you curious about how Beorn gets his honey? About the trade imbalances in Lake-town)?
• Wanting to engage the Enemy (maybe not directly, but fighting Orcs or worse)?
• Wanting to solve mysteries (figuring out how things came to be, or what's going on with that shady guy in the corner)?
• Wanting to make changes (throw canon out the window, or maybe you're the reason why the world looks the way it does in the books)?
• Wanting something that I forgot to list here (there's probably a thousand things, at least)?

[Wbweather]

All of the above with the exception of breaking canon.

[aramis]

Note: This is not intended to call out any of my players, who often post and/or lurk on these forums. Instead, it's more about trends and ideas.

Every once in a while, I've written a little bit about what I think players want out of TOR. And I know I've (on occasion) said something about GMing TOR. But I'm quite often wrong about such things (or at least it feels that way) and I'd like to know more.

When you play The One Ring are you:

1. Wanting to interact with the world (visit places, regardless of whether or not 'anyone' is there)?
2. Wanting to interact with the famous people of the world (do you want to hold forth with Gandalf, bandy words with Saruman, try to impress the Elf King, etc.)?
3. Wanting to interact with the 'little people' of the world (do you care what the name of Barliman's grandfather was? Are you curious about how Beorn gets his honey? About the trade imbalances in Lake-town)?
4. Wanting to engage the Enemy (maybe not directly, but fighting Orcs or worse)?
5. Wanting to solve mysteries (figuring out how things came to be, or what's going on with that shady guy in the corner)?
6. Wanting to make changes (throw canon out the window, or maybe you're the reason why the world looks the way it does in the books)?
7. Wanting something that I forgot to list here (there's probably a thousand things, at least)?

Mind you, I normally GM...
Items 1,2,3, 4, 7 - to challenge my players with items 1-5, and 7 - To have a great story emerge from play.

[jamesrbrown]

I'm normally the Loremaster, but if I'm ever the player, I cannot wait to fight Orcs and other foul creatures!

[shipwreck]

I'm happy to say I just joined one of Vardaen's PBP groups and I'm pretty excited to finally get to play, rather than LM (#lmproblems). I'd say the first thing I want out of the game is a good storytelling/gaming experience. One thing I've learned is that if it bends (or even breaks) canon a bit, not in an outrageous way but just a bit, in the name of a good time I'm actually okay with that. My primary lens for said 'good time' is the land. I think it's the land, probably even moreso than the characters, that really grabs me with Middle-earth. It all starts from the ground. Tolkien's maps and descriptions of locales is so grand and wonderful and the land is so wonderful, that that is what I want to interact with in a game of TOR as much as anything else.

tl;dr - the first bullet

[Glorelendil]

What I love most about any RPG, and this especially true in Middle Earth because of how much we know about the world, is the denouement when you realize that this "thing" you've gotten yourself tangled up in is bigger and darker and more important than you realized.

[Rocmistro]

What I love most about any RPG, and this especially true in Middle Earth because of how much we know about the world, is the denouement when you realize that this "thing" you've gotten yourself tangled up in is bigger and darker and more important than you realized.

This, but I'd take it out to even one step further.

For me, a good RPG is about re-creating and retelling the Great Myth. (big Joseph Campbell fan here).

Mythology is the art of making complex truths simple. When my buddies and I get together to play RPGs (or when I write something for Huff under Zed's banner), we are all co-opting into the retelling of the Great Myth. Playing a role-playing game, we are part of a ritual that upholds 'a' truth of our world, whether the details of that story are the theme of love/courage conquers all, or sacrifices must be made, or strength & skill do not come without hard work, or it's a dangerous business going out your front door, or roads go ever ever on, or this shadow is just a passing thing. And when that's being done well, I think everyone is drawn in by it, and benefits from it.

I think plugging into myth is what makes a game great, and retelling that myth is generally what I want out of it.

[Earendil]

Note: This is not intended to call out any of my players, who often post and/or lurk on these forums. Instead, it's more about trends and ideas.

Every once in a while, I've written a little bit about what I think players want out of TOR. And I know I've (on occasion) said something about GMing TOR. But I'm quite often wrong about such things (or at least it feels that way) and I'd like to know more.

When you play The One Ring are you:

• Wanting to interact with the world (visit places, regardless of whether or not 'anyone' is there)?
• Wanting to interact with the famous people of the world (do you want to hold forth with Gandalf, bandy words with Saruman, try to impress the Elf King, etc.)?
• Wanting to interact with the 'little people' of the world (do you care what the name of Barliman's grandfather was? Are you curious about how Beorn gets his honey? About the trade imbalances in Lake-town)?
• Wanting to engage the Enemy (maybe not directly, but fighting Orcs or worse)?
• Wanting to solve mysteries (figuring out how things came to be, or what's going on with that shady guy in the corner)?
• Wanting to make changes (throw canon out the window, or maybe you're the reason why the world looks the way it does in the books)?
• Wanting something that I forgot to list here (there's probably a thousand things, at least)?

Well, I've only ever run the game, I've never played it. But if I was a player, I'd say yes to all but making changes. I'd be most interested in fighting bad guys and monsters, and interacting with the world and its canonical characters . The other thing that springs to mind is my character becoming renowned as a hero in Middle-Earth: who wouldn't love that! Tales From Wilderland allows the characters to become heroes to the Beornings and the Woodmen, so that when they face the final conflict they're already earned plenty of renown.

I also agree with what Rocmistro said about the power of myth.

And Barliman Butterbur's grandfather is called Barnabas in my game!

[zedturtle]

All of the above with the exception of breaking canon.

What I love most about any RPG, and this especially true in Middle Earth because of how much we know about the world, is the denouement when you realize that this "thing" you've gotten yourself tangled up in is bigger and darker and more important than you realized.

For me, a good RPG is about re-creating and retelling the Great Myth. (big Joseph Campbell fan here).

Mythology is the art of making complex truths simple. When my buddies and I get together to play RPGs (or when I write something for Huff under Zed's banner), we are all co-opting into the retelling of the Great Myth. Playing a role-playing game, we are part of a ritual that upholds 'a' truth of our world, whether the details of that story are the theme of love/courage conquers all, or sacrifices must be made, or strength & skill do not come without hard work, or it's a dangerous business going out your front door, or roads go ever ever on, or this shadow is just a passing thing. And when that's being done well, I think everyone is drawn in by it, and benefits from it.

I think plugging into myth is what makes a game great, and retelling that myth is generally what I want out of it.

Great stuff, which is (one of the reasons) why y'all make great players!

[zedturtle]

I'm normally the Loremaster, but if I'm ever the player, I cannot wait to fight Orcs and other foul creatures!

Next time I see you, I promise to throw you to the Wargs!