Question About Character Progression

[Wbweather]

I was looking through Youtube for some tabletop gameplay but I am just not sure which one would be the better one to watch for me to really understand whats going on .... any suggestions?

I am in the same boat as you Amy, I have been searching for a TOR game session on Youtube so I can actually "SEE" how the game is played, but everyone i find, half the players you cannot understand and the video quality looks like it was recorded with a potato.

If anyone knows of some recorded game sessions that really show off the game, please link them, this is what I really want to watch to see how the gameplay is actually done.

The best way to understand the game is to see it being played. We run a weekly game using Fantasy Grounds, Thursday nights Central Time in the US. I would welcome anyone who would like to pop on to join us and see how one of our game sessions flows. PM me and I'll send the info to join us.

[Wagyora]

A: You should definitely read Tolkien's books, maybe borrowing them from a local library. They're much better than the movies, believe me. Peter Jackson misrepresented Tolkien's Middle-Earth.

While I very much agree that people should be encouraged to read the books, which are absolutely brilliant, I don't feel it's accurate to say that PJ "misrepresented Tolkien's Middle-Earth". The craftsmanship, care, and authenticity that went into all six movies was nothing short of amazing, and rightfully won many awards for their painstaking detail and artisanship. They worked incredibly hard to make sure languages were done right, cultures were correctly shown, and strived for authenticity by literally crafting chain mail armor one link at a time.

Now many of us were disappointed in some of the silliness, especially in the Hobbit films. And not everything might be to a particular person's personal tastes. But the movies are too often denigrated here, as if they were sloppily or carelessly made, and that's just plain not factual. Overall they are wonderful representations of Middle-earth, and I think it's important to remember that some people here (myself included) might actually really love them!

I never denied his cast of brilliant actors (Ian McKellen, Ian Holme, Christopher Lee, Andy Serkis, Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman et al), nor the excellent WETA artwork, as well as Howard Shore's music, sound effects, scenario, special effects etc. But he simply destroyed The Hobbit's plot by adding unnecessary elements, instead of simply cutting parts not fit for the big screen. Besides, I think he didn't really explore the wonderful team of actors he casted. Furthermore, I hated how he portrayed King Thranduil being ruthless and violent toward an orc prisioner who had just cooperated... he is a respectable sinda elf king! Beorn was weak and confused, Radagast looked rather like a senile pothead, albeit powerful. Saruman should have been more charismatic, since his main power was his mellifluous words. The trilogy was thin, like butter scraped over too much bread.

Yet, to be fair, I must admit The Lord of The Rings wasn't that bad. And Gollum was a masterpiece.

I think PJ should rather be a producer, but he's in no position to rewrite the stories and put important characters in minor roles (e.g. Beorn), while making absurd reinterpretations, such as a dwarf and an elven maiden falling in love. That just doesn't make sense in Tolkien's universe. For me, that's short of fanfiction.

[Glorelendil]

Uh-oh, another thread that is turning into a debate about PJ.

Can most of us agree that they are beautifully produced, entertaining movies that are only about 80% faithful to the literature of Tolkien, and that we differ on how important that last 20% is?

[Earendil]

Uh-oh, another thread that is turning into a debate about PJ.

Can most of us agree that they are beautifully produced, entertaining movies that are only about 80% faithful to the literature of Tolkien, and that we differ on how important that last 20% is?

I completely agree about the LOTR movies.

Claim the Hobbit movies are 80% faithful, though, and I'll spit on your cat.






(Seriously, yes, let's not start yet another debate about the movies.)

[Majestic]

I am glad to see this will not devolve into a debate, and I agree with most of your points, Wagyora. To me the Lord of the Rings movies are much more faithful to the source material, and I also wish he'd done less improvising for the Hobbit trilogy. I know Philippa Boyens (their most knowledgeable Tolkien guru) was involved with the Hobbit movies, but I wonder if she had less of a voice in those later movies.

Still, they're gorgeous films, the music is spectacular, New Zealand does an amazing job simulating Middle-earth, and to many fans they're still a very important cultural touchstone. The LotR movies are for my family some of the most important films in their lives (my daughters have a tradition of bringing boyfriends over for LotR trivia night). I still maintain that it's wisest not to denigrate any of the movies too much, as you never know who might really appreciate them and greatly enjoy them.

[jamesrbrown]

If I thought I could produce some footage worth watching, I might have recorded pieces of a session by now. I don't know...I dread the editing process and time it would take to upload, etc. Maybe this Monday I can record during our session and then upload it to YouTube. We'll see...

As far as character progression goes, I would say that TOR characters generally increase in common skills faster than they increase in weapon skills and special advantages (called Virtues & Rewards). Each skill has a rating from 1-6, which represents how many 6-sided dice to add to the roll of a 12-sided dice when making a skill test. A test of moderate difficulty has a target number (TN) of 14 (or TN 14). Therefore, every die of skill increases the average result by 3-4 points, making it easier to succeed. Most players will never increase their skills above 4 levels, or if they do, they will only do this with 1 or two skills. So, the power differences between starting heroes and seasoned adventurers is noticeable, but not a huge issue like in games that use levels.

In fact, The Adventurer's Companion introduced rules that allow less experienced heroes to learn from more experienced heroes through a mechanic called Courage.

[Hermes Serpent]

As multiple people have posted varying degrees of information to help the OP make a choice and there has been no real forward movement and no-one can point to a video of actual play that appears to help the OP I suggest we leave this thread and not post any more. If the OP wishes to make a decision and puts some effort in to such it's probably not worthwhile pursuing this thread any further.

[AmySmith]

As multiple people have posted varying degrees of information to help the OP make a choice and there has been no real forward movement and no-one can point to a video of actual play that appears to help the OP I suggest we leave this thread and not post any more. If the OP wishes to make a decision and puts some effort in to such it's probably not worthwhile pursuing this thread any further.

Gameplay: https://www.twitch.tv/encounterroleplay
These guys are really good and I am learning a lot. James turned me on to these guys btw



I have decided to roll with AiMe BUT ................. after a long discussion with my players, we have decided to convert AiMe back to classic 1st edition D&D rules. So ours will be classic 1st ed rules with I am sure a lot of house rules =P but hey ............. Middle-Earth RPG is Middle-Earth RPG right?

Also I have talked with James who has also just arrived and we agree that we will work together in the conversion. He has already started a Blog for our game. His group as well as my group will both be using the same conversion rules.