Playing TOR sans storytelling aspect? Possible?

[Glorelendil]

Also, think about what the players would have to do in that scenario in order to be cautious themselves: every time they finish a combat they would have to tell the LM that they are going through the bodies and making sure they are all dead.

I have a hard time imagining Frodo or Aragorn or Gandalf doing that.

[Blustar]

Yeah I see what your saying Glorelendil, maybe it's not as powerful as it seems. . .they still have to roll and I could base the TN on how cautious they were up to that point. ( or at least have it be a factor somehow)

[aramis]

It's possible, especially if you stick to mission oriented, and call out their traits as to when they're appropriate...

... but it works better to simply reduce the narrative input by players than eliminated it entirely.

[Falenthal]

To me, as LM, Traits and Specialities have even helped have some control over the roleplaying. While they're mostly used as the other comrades told here, sometimes I refer to them when a player wants to do something that's really out of character. With personality things I try not to interfere. But if a True-hearted Hobbit player tells me he's going to lie, steal and murder for money, I'd ask him to rethink twice his actions or his character. If he goes on with it, I'll grant some Shadow points and move on.
But sometimes there are issues with knowledge, telling apart what a character does know from what the player knows. Specialties help a lot with that. If a player tells me, when facing a stone-troll under the eaves of Mirkwood "We run so that he chases us to a sunny spot!", I'll ask him if he has Enemy-lore (Trolls). Otherwise, he doesn't have a clue about Trolls turning to stone under the sun. He might still roll for Lore, or invoke another trait like Folk-Lore to allow for a roll, but that's ok then. Traits and Specialties allow to make a difference between the characters and the players, and that's good to keep abusing know-it-alls in line (or in character).